The first rays of dawn began to creep into the shelter, filling the small hollow with the soft, pale light of morning. Riven woke the instant the light touched his face, his body stiff and aching.

  Not exactly the best night I’ve ever had, he thought bitterly, his mind wandering for a fleeting second. I’m already missing that academy bed.

  It had been a miserable night. Every strange, distant sound echoing through the wasteland had jolted him awake, his heart hammering against his ribs in the darkness. Between the constant paranoia and the biting cold, true rest had been impossible.

  He shifted his weight, his joints popping. The temperature had plummeted so low that he had been forced to huddle into a tight ball, shivering as he tried to cling to every last ounce of his body heat.

  Lya was still asleep, curled into a ball on the hard ground. Her attire was a stark contrast to Riven’s own rags.

  She wore a refined outfit in deep emerald and pale green, faint gold patterns threaded through the fabric and catching the morning light when she moved. A light cape rested over her shoulders, its edges worn but still elegant despite the wasteland. Protective wraps covered her arms and legs, practical and well-fitted, and sturdy flat-soled boots completed the look — made for rough ground, and unmistakably well-crafted.

  Riven looked down at the shirt he was wearing—torn, grime-stained, and barely holding together.

  We definitely don't come from the same place, he thought bitterly.

  At that moment, Lya’s eyes fluttered open. She looked up at him, her voice weak and heavy with sleep. "We’ve got a long day ahead of us, don’t we”

  "I think so," Riven replied. "And we shouldn't linger before the sun gets too high. It'll be a furnace out there soon enough."

  He crawled out of their shelter first, emerging back into the vast, desolate wasteland. The rays of the red sun hit him instantly, casting long shadows across the dust. For now, the heat was still bearable, a faint warmth compared to the searing torture of the previous afternoon.

  Five minutes later, Lya joined him outside. She was rubbing one eye and letting out a long, tired yawn, looking remarkably out of place against the harsh, jagged horizon.

  "Where do we go now?" Lya asked.

  "I think we’ll keep heading in the same direction as yesterday. I don't have any better ideas," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

  He didn't waste any more time and started walking immediately.

  It’s not like any direction is better than the others he thought, glancing at the horizon. Nothing that way. Nothing that way. And nothing anywhere. Great.

  His eyes drifted to the sky and the landscape. Except for those weird black hands.

  They were scattered across the wasteland like the remains of a buried giant. In some areas, they clustered together in a forest of jagged fingers—in others, only a solitary hand stood reaching for the sky, casting only a thin strip of shadow.

  Lya began humming a soft tune as soon as the silence between them started to grow heavy.

  As they continued their trudge, Riven interrupted her. "Last night, I wanted to ask you... the other climbers, how did they get their..." He hesitated, unsure of the right word. "Their powers?"

  "I saw some who looked like they were in a trance, almost ecstatic," he added, throwing his arms out and twisting his face in an exaggerated imitation.

  Lya chuckled, a genuine smile breaking through her fatigue. "Oh, I see much better with that example. The people you saw already had those powers before entering the Ascension. They were simply... dormant."

  Riven looked at her, his brow furrowed in confusion. "Dormant?"

  "Yes," Lya explained. "If you prefer, they already possessed that strength—they just couldn't use it or even feel it before stepping inside the Ascension."

  Lya sighed softly, reaching up to adjust the light cape on her shoulders before continuing. "And… those ‘powers’ you mentioned. They’re actually called Fragments. But honestly, you’re not wrong—they’re basically sources of power."

  She paused for a second, watching her step to avoid tripping over a flat stone in the dust. "I only know what most people know, but the truth is, almost everyone affiliated with the Clans enters the Ascensions already bonded to one. Of course, they still have to figure out how to actually use the thing on the fly once they're inside, but they’ve at least spent years studying the theory in books."

  Riven kept his eyes fixed on her, focused on every word she said. "Interesting," he muttered to himself. "Really interesting."

  So, if I’m catching this right, he thought.

  Those bastards start with a massive lead over everyone else. It’s not just a challenge—it’s a rigged race.

  "And what about the others?" he asked, turning his head toward her with a mix of curiosity and bitterness. "The ones who show up here with nothing. How does it work for them?"

  Lya gave a short, dry laugh, her eyes lost in the fading glow of the red horizon. "Everything... it all starts up there, Riven. The Fragments, the power... they're all tied to the Ascensions."

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  "The Clans, they just... they hoard whatever they’ve managed to drag back down from their expeditions," she continued, before pausing to catch her breath. She looked away, searching for the right words. "But for the others... there’s nothing left. Nothing but hope. That’s why so many people are obsessed with these places—enough to risk their own lives. They hope to find something that could change everything for them."

  Riven paused for a second, letting everything Lya had just explained settle in his mind. He kicked a small stone out of his path before looking at her again. "And what about you? Do you have a Fragment?"

  Lya hesitated, her pace slowing for a brief moment. "Uh... yes," she admitted. She quickly raised a hand to stop him before he could even react. "But it’s nothing special. Really."

  Riven stepped closer, his excitement getting the better of him. The weariness in his legs was forgotten for a second. "What can you do? Can you use it? Right now?"

  "It’s a secret," she said, giving him a quick wink and a small smile. But then, her expression shifted, her grin turning into something a bit more... unsettling. "But something tells me you'll get to see it soon enough."

  Riven blinked, a slight chill running down his spine. Whoa... I didn't even know she could make a face like that.

  —-

  The hours passed as they walked in silence. By that time, the red sun had climbed steadily until it reached its zenith, hanging directly overhead like a burning, blood-colored eye.

  Riven stopped, wiping the sweat from his eyes. His shadow had vanished, pinned directly beneath his feet by the midday sun. Next to him, Lya was pale and sweating just as much as he was, her breathing heavy and labored.

  "We need to stop," Riven said, his throat bone-dry. He pointed toward a massive black hand standing just a few meters away.

  Lya didn’t even find the strength to answer, she just followed him, her steps heavy.

  They both collapsed to the ground, exhausted, leaning their backs against the smooth, dark stone of the wrist. The palm of the giant hand loomed over them, providing a patch of shade that was more than wide enough for the two of them.

  Riven leaned his head back against the stone and let out a long breath. "Can I... can I have the water flask?"

  Thank God we have this relic, Riven thought, his fingers trembling slightly as he took the flask. We would’ve been dead and shriveled up a long time ago without it.

  Ever since they had started walking, they hadn't stopped drinking or splashing themselves to cool down under the brutal sun. Thanks to the relic's infinite water source, they didn’t have to worry about running out in a place where not a single drop of water could be found naturally.

  Riven took a long, greedy swallow, feeling the cool liquid slide down his parched throat.

  He even poured water all over himself, soaking his clothes to cool down, letting out a long sigh of relief as the liquid hit his overheated skin.

  He handed the flask back to Lya and leaned his head against the cold stone, finally letting his muscles relax. "I don’t even know how much ground we’ve covered... but it feels like we’re barely moving." He wiped his face with a wet hand. "Besides, we have to keep mov—"

  He was cut off by a searing pain, as if something was suddenly gnawing through the skin of his left shoulder.

  He bolted upright, letting out a sharp cry of pain.

  "What the hell is this?" he spat, glancing down at his shoulder.

  A viscous black liquid had seeped right through his shirt, eating away at the fabric and starting to gnaw into his flesh like acid. He didn't think twice—he snatched the water flask back from Lya’s hands before she could even process what was happening.

  He poured the water directly over the burn, desperate to wash away the corrosive black slime.

  Lya scrambled away from the stone wrist, her eyes wide with confusion. "What happened?"

  "What the hell is that thing?" Riven hissed, pointing at the dark, thick liquid that was now slowly oozing down the surface of the black stone.

  Lya’s mouth kept moving, her lips forming words, but the sound didn't reach him. It was as if he’d been plunged underwater; her voice was nothing but a muffled, distant drone.

  The vibrant red horizon began to smear and bleed into the ground as his vision went blurry, the world tilting sharply to one side.

  "Whoa... what’s... what’s happening?" he slurred, his own voice sounding strange and hollow in his ears.

  The dizziness hit him like a physical blow. His knees buckled, and he hit the ground hard, his senses spinning out of control. All the while, the agonizing fire in his shoulder intensified, the venom burrowing deeper into his skin, eating its way through him.

  The last thing he saw was a flash of green as Lya threw herself toward him, her hands reaching out in a panicked gesture. Her face was a blur of motion, her lips moving frantically, but he couldn't catch a single word.

  The world lurched and spun before snapping into a heavy black. His head hit the dirt, the burning in his shoulder being the last thing he felt before everything went silent.

  —-

  A hand on his arm brought him back.

  Riven’s eyes snapped open. Lya was leaning over him, her face pale. He waited for the searing pain to hit his shoulder, but it never came. His skin felt cool, almost refreshed, under the tight bandage.

  "Finally," Lya said. She was sitting right next to him, leaning her head over his as he stirred.

  "How long was I out?" Riven asked. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, his first instinct to check his shoulder.

  "About two hours, I’d say," she replied. She started to look away, staring at the horizon.

  “Well, with that sun, it’s hard to tell exactly because you never really know which position corresponds to what time, and you know with the way the light refracts off the black stone, the shadows don't always..."

  She stopped abruptly, blinking as if snapping out of a trance. She cleared her throat and looked away. "Anyway. It was long enough."

  Riven watched her for a second. She was rambling about the sky, but her hands were trembling slightly.

  "What did you do to the burn?" Riven asked, rotating his shoulder to test the joint. He looked at her, stunned. "I can’t feel anything anymore."

  Lya let out a wide, satisfied grin. "I told you it wouldn't take long for you to see it."

  Riven paused, the realization hitting him like a physical weight. He stared at her, his voice rising in shock. "You can heal? Or... something like that?"

  "Yes. At least, as far as I know," she said, though her smile faltered slightly. She looked down at her hands. "But that was the first time I actually tried it. I told you, it's not that incredible, though..."

  Riven saw her start to shrink back, her tone turning self-deprecating.

  "I think it’s the most useful power out here," he interrupted firmly, meeting her eyes. "It’s great to have fire or some stylish trick, but in the end, if you're dead, none of that matters, does it?"

  Lya didn't answer, but a faint trace of relief softened her features. She simply nodded, accepting the compliment in silence.

  Riven scanned the horizon. The harsh crimson light had mellowed into a deep, bruised orange. The crushing heat from earlier had finally ebbed away, leaving the air breathable—almost bearable against his skin. They had already lost too much time.

  "We’ve lingered long enough," he said, pushing himself to his feet.

  He reached down, offering his good hand to Lya.

  "Let's move," he added, adjusting his shirt and testing the weight on his shoulder. "I think I’ve had enough local specialties."

  They stepped out from the shadow of the stone hand, their silhouettes stretching long across the black ground as they set off once more into the vast, uncertain waste.