CHAPTER 31: CHAPTER 31: NO LOOSE ENDS

By the time Arden stepped out from the cave’s deeper chamber, the air outside was thick with smoke and silence. The fight had ended, though the tension still hung like a veil.

Zephyra paced near the entrance, her body crackling faintly with lingering heat. Nearby, Nyra stood over one of the creed members, who was bloodied, barely conscious, but still breathing.

She struck him again, and again, and again, each blow coming harder than the last, her hands coated in ice that cracked on contact.

Arden didn’t speak at first. He just watched.

Nyra’s breathing was uneven, her fists shaking. She wasn’t fighting anymore. She was remembering.

He stepped forward, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"That’s enough."

She froze at his voice. Her hands dropped, trembling. She didn’t look back, but she stepped aside slowly and said nothing.

Arden crouched beside the man, his tone low and calm, like a whisper that still somehow demanded attention.

"You’ve got one chance to live through this," he said. "Speak, and you’ll walk out. Lie, and i won’t let you make it to the next breath."

The man spat out blood, shaking. "I told her.. I told her already... I don’t know much, I swear. We were just sent here to keep guard. We don’t decide anything."

Arden tilted his head, studying him. "That’s not what I asked. I don’t care what you decide. I care what you know."

He reached out, placing two fingers just below the man’s collarbone. A thin wisp of life energy slipped in, pressing down gently on nerves that weren’t meant to be touched. The man screamed, his body twitching violently.

"I can keep this going for hours," Arden said flatly, "or we can end it now. Your choice."

The pain returned in small pulses, just enough to blur his vision, but not enough to kill.

The man broke quickly.

"They’re building something," he gasped, "A project... they’ve been calling it ’The Forge’- but I don’t know what it means. It’s big. They’ve been rounding up dual affinity users faster than before... anyone they can get. They say they’ll make them into something new, something that can’t be stopped."

Arden frowned. "Where?"

"I don’t know all the bases. Just in this zone, there are three others in caves, not far from here. All under old maps, but never marked. They’ve been running for years. But no one checks."

Arden studied his face, then reached in deeper with his life sense. The panic was real. So was the fear. But beneath that, it was something held back. One small, bitter corner still clutching to a half-truth.

"You’re still hiding something."

"I’m not—"

The pain returned, sharper. This time, the man didn’t even scream. He just whimpered.

"Alright! Alright! The main lab... it’s not in this zone. It’s deeper, near the sunken ridges. But I don’t know where exactly. Only the higher ranks go there. We were told to prepare... they said they’d call us soon when the test phase ends."

That was enough.

Arden stood, letting the man slump back against the rock.

He glanced at Zephyra. One short nod was all it took.

The beast moved without hesitation. No theatrics, no unnecessary violence, just a clean end.

The man’s body slumped, breath gone. Arden didn’t even watch.

Nyra looked at him, quiet now. "You promised."

"I didn’t kill him," Arden replied. "Zephyra did."

Zephyra growled low, almost amused.

He didn’t smile.

"We can’t afford loose ends," he added, voice low. "They saw your control, Nyra. If they connect it back to you, to me... the wrong people will start asking questions."

Nyra looked away but nodded. She understood.

Arden turned to the path ahead, adjusting the unconscious boy on his back. "Let’s move before more of them show up."

With that, they acted quickly, taking valuables from the members of the creed.

In no time, they left the cave, shadows at their back, but more questions ahead.

The sun had barely pushed past the treetops when they left the cave behind. The trail was quiet, only the soft rustling of leaves and distant calls of magic beasts in the outlands keeping them company.

Nyra walked a little ahead, her gaze on the ground. Then, without looking back, she spoke.

"So... what’s your plan for the boy?"

Arden shifted the weight of the unconscious boy slung across his back and didn’t answer right away. He could tell from her tone, she’d figured it out too. The unstable core, the reaction from when the chains broke... his connection with the Creed, it was obvious.

"He’s like you," he said finally. "Or close enough."

Nyra gave a small nod.

"I’m not trying to play hero," Arden added. "But leaving him there? That would’ve made me worse than the people we just silenced."

Nyra slowed her pace so they walked side by side. "So what now? He stays with us?"

"For now," Arden said. "He’ll ride with us while we hunt. See how he holds up. If he trusts me enough, I’ll help him stabilize his core permanently."

Nyra glanced at the boy again. "That’ll make him a target."

"So are we," Arden replied.

There was no sarcasm in his voice. Just a fact.

"And besides," he went on, "if the creed is collecting people like him, like you... might as well start messing with their plans while we’re still breathing."

He looked forward again, jaw tightening slightly. "Call it curiosity. Or payback."

Zephyra gave a low grunt beside him, her scales still dim from the earlier fight.

She didn’t speak, but Arden didn’t need words from her. She understood his anger too well. They’d messed with her once, too.

The silence that followed wasn’t heavy. Just settled. Nyra didn’t ask more, though Arden could sense something weighing behind her eyes, something old and something painful.

But he didn’t push.

If she ever wanted to talk about it, she would. Until then, they’d fight side by side. That was enough.

And so they moved on, quiet and alert, vanishing back into the brush of the Outlands, with one more reason to keep their blades sharp and their steps sure.

The hunt wasn’t over.

A/N:

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