“What the hell happened in there?” Veolo stood leaning against the truck at the back of the convoy, her hoof scuffing against the hard-packed dirt with idle aggression. The young warrior had been standing out in the sun waiting for them and her short silvery hair was slick with sweat from the late afternoon sun beating down on her. There was no way she hadn’t noticed something going on while they were inside, not with the way that power had affected… everything.

  “Get in the truck,” Aurania said without looking at her. “You’re riding with Amalia.” Aurania’s headache was pounding, and the day’s events were leaving her too exhausted to explain anything to Veolo at the moment. Tempers were short all around.

  Veolo blinked and opened her mouth to respond, but she caught sight of Riza carrying a busted cannon, thrashed armor, and a badly bruised wrist. Wide-eyed, Veolo shut her mouth with a light click and walked toward the lead truck without another word.

  The jungle passed in blurs of green and gold as they rumbled eastward. Leaves slapped against armored panels, and every now and then, the terrain shifted beneath the tires, roots still creeping through the hard-packed sand.

  Aurania said nothing.

  Riza was a statue beside her, the remaining half of her helmet tucked under her left elbow. She was silent. Lethal.

  That was what Aurania needed right now. Not comfort. Not explanation. Silence. And yet, the silence didn’t hold.

  “So did he hurt you?” Riza’s voice caught Aurania off guard. “Or were you just putting up a tough front?”

  Riza wasn’t the type to poke at feelings idly. If she was asking, it meant today’s events had managed to rattle her more than Aurania realized.

  She didn’t answer right away. She held onto the steering wheel, her eyes fixed on the road ahead, but her mind was still back in that lab. The way he checked in on her, even after she had attacked him. “No,” she finally said. “He didn’t hurt me.”

  A pause. The engine thrummed beneath them.

  “What about you?” Aurania asked. “That wrist looks painful. And judging by your armor, I’m a little surprised you walked away at all.”

  “Elias said nothing’s broken,” she answered simply.

  “What about your favorite rifle?”

  Riza made a quiet tch sound, a sharp little breath through her teeth. She kept looking out the window, but a faint smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth as she gently shook her head. Finally, she said, “If I had dodged an instant later, I probably would be dead. But just like always, I was lucky because… eh, nevermind.”

  Aurania didn’t respond right away, she could tell Riza was shaken more than she was letting on. She always did that, tried to deflect. “You didn’t answer my question.”

  "I'll," Riza started slowly, flexing her fingers once, then pausing. "I'll be fine."

  Aurania exhaled through her nose, not quite a laugh. “You’re always fine. Even when you’re clearly not.”

  Riza glanced over at her and tilted her head just enough to acknowledge the comment, but her expression remained as guarded as ever. Aurania’s mind flicked back to the moment Soren had taken the scoped cannon from Riza’s grasp. It had moved so fast, flung by some unseen force, and smashed into the wall.

  “He held back,” Riza said, almost to herself.

  “Yeah,” Aurania responded. “And still managed to overpower both of us like it was nothing.” Her grip shifted slightly on the steering wheel as her thoughts turned inward again. She’d been in countless fights, always been able to rely on her strength, but it wasn’t helping her solve the puzzle in front of her this time. She assaulted him and threatened someone he was growing fond of, and he repaid her with compassion after overpowering her.

  He’s a scared little boy inside. Fucking Kizara’s voice again.

  Riza looked like she was trying to file the memory of the lab away where it couldn’t touch her.

  “First time someone’s taken your weapon like that?” Aurania asked.

  She didn’t answer right away, but her jaw tightened. Finally she quietly said, “Yeah…” like she was disgusted with herself.

  “It’s ok if you were scared, Riza.”

  “I wasn’t scared.”

  She was lying. Aurania was one of the few people that could tell how the quiet sniper was feeling, even when she didn’t display emotion. Well, Aurania could tell most of the time.

  “That makes one of us,” Aurania said.

  Riza didn’t answer. She kept watching the jungle out the window, but Aurania could see the way her shoulders had gone still. She wasn’t openly trying to be vulnerable, that just wasn’t how Riza operated. But she wasn’t pushing it away either.

  “You ever think about why they call you a legend?” Aurania asked, keeping her eyes on the road.

  Riza didn’t answer immediately. Her expression didn’t shift, but that pause said more than most people ever caught.

  “What’s there to think about?” Riza said eventually. “I know why they do. I try not to dwell on it.” She was lying again.

  “I think about it,” Aurania muttered. “You never talk. Never correct the stories. You let them believe whatever makes them flinch.”

  Another pause. The tires hummed across a stretch of old stone, rougher than the packed sand.

  “You think it helps?” Aurania asked, quieter now. “The silence? The rumors?”

  Riza shrugged, just barely. “People hesitate longer when they’re afraid of the wrong version of you.”

  “Yeah.” Aurania nodded once. “It works.” She glanced. “You’re not the only one they wonder about, you know.”

  Riza slowly gave her a look that was almost condescending. “We adding boasting and inflating your own ego to the list of strange things he’s managed to pull out of your personality?”

  The fuck did she just say to me? Where the hell did that come from? Aurania looked over at her, eyes wide with amusement. After several moments, she returned her eyes to the road, smiling. “Someone’s sassy today.”

  Riza didn’t answer. But her silence was different now, less defensive, more like she was letting Aurania have the moment. The truck rumbled on, the wheels crunching over twisted roots and sun-baked stone. The jungle outside blurred like water through glass.

  “Kizara told me she wonders how I keep you on a leash,” Aurania said after a beat.

  Riza snorted. “I don’t really care what Kizara thinks.”

  Aurania just laughed softly in response.

  “Let them wonder,” Riza added. “It helps you too.” Her tone had shifted a bit. She was deflecting less and sounded more like she was trying to give honest advice.

  “They’re gonna start telling stories about him now too.”

  “He didn’t ask for that,” Riza answered.

  “No.” Aurania thought for a long moment. About the look of fear and concern on his face. The way his voice had cracked and he had sounded like he was close to tears. “Do you think he’ll be able to handle it?”

  Riza looked over and studied her before answering. “You’re concerned for him.”

  That wasn’t what I asked. “I’m concerned for everyone Riza, you heard what we’re up against.”

  There was no avoiding this sniper when she tracked her target. Riza was staring at her with a knowing look. “I’m not the only one that got disarmed in that lab, huh.”

  Aurania felt herself flush. Oh, you cheeky bitch. Her fingers flexed on the steering wheel, eyes still fixed on the road. She felt a little ashamed. He had killed five of her friends and here she was thinking about him like that.

  It was such a mess.

  Something about the way he’d looked at her, looked into her—like he could see the stress of the position she was in. The lack of accusation, despite how hostile she’d been at every interaction. It made her feel seen in a way she hadn’t expected.

  No, I’m not going to unpack that here. Not in front of her, not in front of anyone. She glanced at Riza again. Not with command, but something quieter.

  “I know I’ve said it before,” Aurania said. “But I’m glad you accepted my invitation to come to Berilinsk.”

  “And I appreciate you offering.” Riza was still staring into the distance.

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  “Do you… ever get lonely? Being the one people flinch around?”

  This time, Riza didn’t deflect. Her eyes stayed on the jungle, but she said quietly, “Yes.” She sounded sad. “That’s the issue with being a legend. You’re so up on a pedestal, everyone thinks you’re untouchable.”

  Aurania knew how that felt all too well. That sense of being elevated, admired, feared… but never known. Like the price of greatness was isolation. She glanced over at Riza again. Her posture, her silence, the way her armor never really came off. “Elias doesn’t seem to treat you like that.”

  Riza’s head snapped toward her a little too fast. “Like what?”

  “Untouchable. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. He doesn’t flinch around you or treat you like you’re made of shadows and danger.”

  Riza quietly looked away, but something shifted in her expression.

  Aurania raised an eyebrow, smirking faintly. “You’ve never let Elias disarm you?”

  Riza bristled and let out a low noise that almost sounded like a growl. Then she quietly said, “Yes.” The silence lingered for a beat longer, then she said, “I haven’t let him get any closer since we came to Berilinsk. Just friends. I want more but…”

  She drifted off, leaving the thought unfinished.

  Aurania let out a warm laugh. “Hell, Riza, you served with him, outranked him—you know him better than I ever will. But he’s a smart guy. If you feel like you’re on an unreachable pedestal, he probably sees that. And I doubt he’s willing to risk the friendship you guys have by making the first move.”

  Riza withdrew a little bit.

  Maybe I overstepped.

  Aurania checked how long they had been driving. They would be home in a little over an hour.

  The sky over Berilinsk was starting to burn gold when the trucks rolled in. The shadows stretched long across the ground, and the heat clung to everything like static. As the trucks pulled to a stop and they all piled out, no one seemed in much of a talkative mood.

  Aurania was tired but she needed to update her sister, so she began walking toward Silvara's Hall. Riza walked slightly ahead and Inelius followed the squad at a distance. But Soren, Elias, and the two CIPHERs were walking in a different direction. It looked like they were heading towards the guest house Tamiyo had been granted use of.

  “Violet,” Aurania said quietly. “Go keep an eye on him.”

  “No.”

  The entire squad stopped in their tracks. Aurania turned and looked Violet directly in the eyes. The girl stared back with a defiance like a force of nature, clearly unwilling to back down.

  “It's not like you to question my orders,” Aurania said. Everyone else was watching intently.

  “That makes two of us not acting like ourselves then,” Violet responded firmly.

  Aurania looked around at each of them. They all had similar looks on their faces, clearly upset from how the day's events had transpired. And just as her headache had started to fade, too.

  “I may have…” Aurania was trying to find the right words. “I may have asked too much of you all today.”

  “Volkara isn't to be used on friends,” Amalia spat. The high pitch of the girl's voice lacked its usual cheer.

  “You invoked Volkara today?” Veolo looked shocked. Her reaction made sense, it was not an order Aurania issued on a whim.

  “They're not our friends Amalia,” Aurania said. “We just met them.”

  “They're not our enemies either!” She fired back. “You saw him today! Better than any of us! He's scared and he needs our help!”

  “And we need his,” Violet backed up her sister.

  “Hey!” Veolo jumped in to defend her. “Since when do you all question Aurania?” She sounded angry. She was hot headed and acting out of loyalty. She hadn't been in the lab and seen what they'd all witnessed.

  “Veolo…” Aurania spoke gently, not wanting the group to all turn on each other. Veolo looked hurt, like she didn't know why Aurania was correcting her.

  Then she realized something. They're a reflection of you. Samara's voice rang in her head.

  No wonder Veolo had been so angry—she was young and impressionable and she took her lead from Aurania. They all did. She wasn't always the best about keeping that in mind…

  “Veolo,” Aurania spoke with more resolve. “I haven't been fair to you today.” She looked around at her warriors. “I haven't been fair to any of you. I'm sorry.”

  A moment passed as they all absorbed her words.

  Inelius had been quietly listening from the sidelines. He spoke up, “Violet's right, we're going to need them to save Nox. Both of them. I don't see a way to do it without him, and I doubt you'll get him to do anything to help without her agreeing. You shook both of their trust today.”

  And what about your trust? He was right. She was finding Inelius listened more than he spoke, and he was usually correct when he chose to give input. He was like a less flirty Kizara.

  “If they can't call us friends,” Amalia spoke up again, “then who do they have?” Her tone still wasn't cheerful, but it was more gentle now.

  Aurania hung her head a bit. Not in defeat—not in a negative way. But she did concede to them. She smiled to herself, then looked up at Amalia. “You want to adopt the strays?”

  Amalia lit up with a big smile, but Violet was the one who spoke. “You going to keep throwing temper tantrums?”

  Aurania gave her a tired look. “I'll stop throwing temper tantrums if you promise to keep calling me out when I need it.”

  Violet's posture eased, and she almost smiled.

  “No back talk though,” Aurania added sarcastically. She exhaled through her nose, half a sigh, half a laugh. Then she straightened. “Alright. No one shadows him tonight. Not like any of us could get in his way anyway…”

  She looked down the road toward Silvara’s Hall.

  “We need a plan and we don’t have one yet.” Her voice settled into something firmer. “I’m going to speak with Samara. The rest of you get some rest. Eat. Hydrate. Get your heads straight.”

  She paused, one hand on her hip, gaze sweeping them one more time. “Thank you all for today, and… I'm sorry.”

  She turned and began walking. A moment later she heard the soft tip, tip, tip, as Amalia skipped away. That girl's cheerful mood was a force of nature.

  Aurania realized she was not alone. She turned to look behind her as she walked and saw Veolo, Riza, and Inelius accompanying her to see Samara. She faced forward again. “You three aren't sick of my company yet?”

  “I’m not sick of you, Boss,” Veolo said. “I just… didn’t want to get left behind again.”

  “Aww, Veolo,” Aurania said, her voice gentler now. “I wasn’t leaving you behind in Altina.” She reached out and put an arm around the girl’s shoulders. It wasn’t tight or performative, just enough to feel grounding. “I asked you to watch the trucks because I trust you. And everything has been a bit hectic lately, I need to be able to rely on people I trust.”

  She paused as they passed by a group of villagers patching mortar into a brick wall that had cracked in several places during the quake.

  “First I lost my shit on Soren,” Aurania continued. “And then I could see you were upset but I was too spun up in my own head to check on you. In tense situations like these, it’s not always possible to be fair to everyone. But…” She stopped walking for a moment and turned to face Veolo, placing one hand on each of the girl’s shoulders. “That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have tried. That doesn’t make it right. So I’m sorry.”

  Veolo was looking up into her eyes. She blushed a little and averted her gaze, not knowing what to say.

  Aurania put her arm back over her shoulders and resumed slowly walking towards Silvara’s Hall. “Truth is… I haven’t exactly been myself these past couple days. Been running hotter than I’d like. I saw that rubbing off on you, and not in a good way, so I just wanted to give you some space to take a break and clear your head.”

  Veolo didn’t answer, but she didn’t pull away either.

  “Honestly,” Aurania added, her voice lower now, “I’m glad you weren’t in the lab. You didn’t need to see what happened in there.” She paused a breath, then continued, “I know you look up to me. And I know when you see me lash out, it feels like permission.”

  She dropped her voice to a more serious tone. “But it’s not. That wasn’t control. That wasn’t clarity. That was fear. And I was wrong.”

  Veolo was quietly thinking to herself, taking in everything Aurania was saying. Finally, she responded, “It’s hard to think of you as being wrong.”

  Aurania gave a hearty laugh. “Shit Veolo, I’m wrong a lot more than you’d think. A true leader needs to be able to admit when they're wrong. It may be tempting to hide the truth out of shame, out of fear of appearing weak, and that's natural. But casting blame and avoiding responsibility is one of the weakest things you can do.”

  She pulled her arm away and gave Veolo a nudge with her elbow.

  “You’ve got your own instincts. Don’t bury ’em just to mirror mine. Take some time. Sort through it all. Figure out how you feel about everything that’s happened. Not how your commander feels. Not how the squad feels. Just you.”

  They passed the last stretch of the walk to Silvira's hall in silence. Veolo was quiet and contemplative, but she seemed more steady, and for that, Aurania was glad.

  Samara was sitting at the long table when they walked in, head hanging over several papers, a large map, and a tablet she was working from. When Aurania walked into the hall, she looked up at her, and for a moment it looked like she didn't realize who was walking towards her. She looked exhausted from coordinating the quake recovery efforts. And the news they were about to discuss about Nox was likely weighing on her as well.

  Then realization clicked and her face lit up a little. “Aura!” She said cheerfully. She sounded tired too. “I spoke with Rinara while you were on the way back. She didn't give me details but I think she gave me the broad strokes. Tell me, is it as bad as it sounded or am I just overtired?”

  Aurania lowered herself into a chair two spots to the left from Samara. “Probably both, but yeah, it's… it's pretty bad.”

  Aurania looked over at her companions and motioned them over to the table. “You too Veolo, you should hear this for yourself.”

  The three of them walked over and sat across the table from Aurania. Riza sat down immediately across from Aurania, two spots to Samara's right, and Veolo sat two spots away from Riza. Inelius sat between them.

  “There's no use sugar coating it,” Aurania began.

  After Soren had calmed down in the lab, nobody spoke for a while. The room had gone from tense to stunned, like everyone was trying to figure out if what they’d seen had actually happened, or if they were still in danger.

  Eventually, the lights stabilized, the static cleared, and people began moving again. Rinara was the first to speak, her voice soft but steady. She walked them through the readings—what little could be interpreted from the chaos. Slowly, the focus shifted back to the planetary scans. Awkward glances were exchanged. No one was ready to talk about what Soren had done, or what she had, for that matter.

  But they all knew none of it could be ignored.

  “They confirmed that the gravitational pull of the Mandachor Abyss was critical to the planet's orbit around our sun. We still don't know what happened to the black hole but we do know that it's gone.” Aurania paused and glanced at Veolo.

  Then she continued, “Without that gravitational pull, our orbit is thrown off and that is indeed what is causing all these crazy weather events to happen. But if we can’t find some way to correct the orbit, things will only continue to get worse.”

  Samara was bracing herself for the news. “How much worse? How long do we have?”

  It felt surreal to say it aloud, but Aurania made herself say it. “If we can't find some way to stabilize our orbit, then…” she shook her head. “Sixteen. Maybe seventeen months. Then Nox will be too hot to support life.”

  The last bit came out hollow: “Eventually… the planet will fall into the sun.”

  Several advisors and assistants had been working around the large chamber, but everyone heard what Aurania said. Everyone stopped and stared. She hadn't tried to lower her voice. This was their home too—they deserved to know the truth.

  Veolo's face wore an expression of dread. It wasn't too far off from what Aurania had felt when she first heard it herself.

  Samara ran a hand over her face, trying to steady herself. After what could have been moments or minutes, Aurania couldn't tell, Samara finally found her voice. “How does Soren tie into all of this?”

  “Well,” Aurania said. “It's still not entirely clear, but… his… enhanced qualities. They appear to be possible because his body is infused with Aether Dust. A lot of it.”

  Samara made a face like she was having trouble believing it. “That doesn't sound possible. Were you able to find out anything else about him? Like the extent of his abilities? Or if he can control them?”

  “Uh,” Aurania hesitated a bit. “Yeeaahh…”

  “Tell me everything,” Samara said. “Start from the beginning.”

  Aurania took a deep breath before letting out a sigh. “So you remember how you said, ‘do whatever is needed to understand him?’”