Jade stepped forward, her boots brushing softly against the fractured stone floor. The silence in the chamber was suffocating, all eyes on the collapsed figure of Zay.
She knelt beside him with slight hesitation, she pulled his limp arm over her shoulder and, with one solid motion, lifted him onto her back. He was heavy—far heavier than he looked—but she didn't flinch. Not even as the warmth of his unconscious body pressed against her back, or when a faint breath against her neck.
She stood tall, spine straight, then looked over her shoulder at Kyro.
No words came.
Jade turned and began walking toward the large stone doors. As she moved, the chamber behind her remained silent, its air thick with everything left unsaid.
As she crossed the threshold, the cool air hit her skin, and a small smirk tugged at the corner of her lips. A faint blush crept across her cheeks as flashes of his fight—his unrelenting aura, his speed, and the breath on her neck—looped again in her mind.
'He was terrifying... but damn...'
And yet… that feeling didn't last.
As she walked further down the corridor, the smirk faded. The memory of the black mist, of that thing he summoned, of the way Zay moved without feeling, without care—it clawed at her.
She sighed, heavy and low, shaking her head.
"I want nothing to do with him," she muttered under her breath.
By the time she reached the medical building, the weight of Zay's body had begun to wear on her, but she still carried him like it meant something. She slid the doors open with her shoulder and stepped inside.
Rin looked up from a desk and blinked in surprise. "W-What happened to him?"
"He's fine…" she said flatly. "Probably. Just heal him so he can leave. I'm never speaking of what happened."
Rin gave her a puzzled look, but didn't argue. Together, they moved into the first open room. The air was cool and smelled faintly of herbs and cleaning salves. They carefully lowered Zay onto the bed—his weight hitting the mattress like a silent exhale.
Rin blinked a few more times, staring at him. Then, reluctantly, he stepped forward and placed his hand over Zay's chest, his aura pulsing out in soft waves.
After a few seconds, he frowned. "There's nothing wrong with him… It looks like his body just collapsed from exhaustion. Which makes no sense, considering he's been asleep for almost a week."
Jade didn't respond. She just nodded and slumped down into the nearest chair.
Her eyes stayed on Zay.
His face was calm now. Peaceful even. It was hard to reconcile this version of him with the one who'd stood in that chamber.
Her fingers tapped restlessly on the armrest. Her aura swirled faintly around her ankles—uneven, disturbed.
She wasn't sure what to feel.
Curiosity?
Awe?
Fear?
All three danced in her chest like stormclouds… and she didn't know which one to trust.
Then Rin's gaze shifted to Jade.
"…What happened with the meeting with the elders?"
Jade didn't meet his eyes. Her fingers had stopped tapping now. She just stared at Zay, brows slightly furrowed, like she was still trying to figure out if what she saw had really happened.
"I don't feel like explaining right now," she said, her voice quieter than before. "Just… get him stable. Make sure he wakes up."
Rin blinked. "Jade—"
"The sooner he's out of here, the better." Her voice sharpened this time, cutting off whatever Rin had been about to say. "Just do it."
She didn't yell. She didn't raise her aura.
But Rin could feel it anyway—that deep, unsettled tension thrumming off her like a second heartbeat.
He nodded slowly, turning back to his supplies.
Jade leaned back in the chair, exhaled, and finally tore her eyes away from Zay.
Rin turned his focus back to Zay, though his fingers moved more slowly now as he sorted through his satchel of supplies. Vials clinked softly, paper wrappers rustled, and the faint glow of aura-infused salves pulsed beneath the straps.
'Passed out from exhaustion,' he thought, narrowing his eyes.
He glanced at Zay's resting form again. Still breathing. Still warm. Still completely unresponsive.
Rin reached deeper into his bag, sifting through stimulants, mild shock-tonics, and herbs meant to restore aura channels—but every option felt wrong. Too dangerous. Too volatile, especially with someone who had just… fell asleep because of exhaustion.
He hesitated, hand hovering over a vial of shimmerroot extract, before pulling it back with a quiet sigh.
'No. Not worth the risk.'
Leaning back on his heels, Rin pressed his fingers to his temple.
"There isn't anything I can give him that wouldn't risk destabilizing his aura core—or damaging something permanently. It's not worth the risk," Rin said firmly, his voice low as he stood beside the unconscious Zay.
He ran a hand through his hair, eyes lingering on Zay's expressionless face before turning away with a heavy sigh. He stepped out of the room and returned to his desk just down the hall, a low creak from the chair beneath him as he sat. He kept glancing toward the corridor, waiting for any updates from the other five medics who were still tending to different patients.
Inside the room, Jade sat beside the bed in silence, her arms folded. One leg crossed neatly over the other, her posture elegant, composed—but anyone paying close attention would notice the tightness in her jaw, the tension in her brow. She closed her eyes for a moment and inhaled deeply. Then again.
It had been almost an hour.
Then the door slammed open with a thunderous bang that rattled the medical tools on the shelves.
"What the hell is going on in here?!"
The voice was sharp. Accusatory. Arrogant.
Malrik Raiden stepped inside like he owned the entire building. His long coat fluttered behind him, aura crackling faintly with spite more than strength. He radiated entitlement, nose tilted upward, golden eyes narrowed on Jade like she'd betrayed some unbreakable law.
Rin bolted upright from his chair down the hall. "What the—?!" He rushed into the room just in time to see Malrik pointing at the bed, voice booming.
"You're sitting here? Beside him? An outsider? What are you even thinking, Jade?"
Jade's posture didn't change at first. She just opened her eyes, slowly. The way she looked at Malrik was colder than winter steel, but she said nothing.
Rin stepped in between them. "Back off, Malrik," he said, keeping his tone even. "You don't storm into my building and start barking orders."
"I'll bark as loud as I damn well please when I see my fiancé playing nursemaid to some nobody. What kind of joke is this?! You're supposed to be a Raiden!"
Jade finally stood. Calm. Composed. She walked past Malrik like he wasn't even worth turning her head for.
"If you want to scream at someone," she said softly, "scream at a wall. It'll care more than I do."
"You think I won't—?"
"Enough!" Rin barked.
The shout was enough to silence even Malrik—for a breath, no more.
The hallway filled with the soft shuffle of feet as the five remaining medics finished their rounds and cautiously peered into the room. Their conversations had fallen dead. Each of them stood frozen, eyes flicking between Rin—tension in his shoulders—and Malrik, radiating fury.
"She doesn't answer to you in here," Rin said, his voice low but steel-lined. "And if you ever barge into this building again, disrespecting people and making threats, I'll report you to the Elders myself."
Malrik laughed.
It was sharp, brittle. Mocking.
"You think I care about your little threats, Rin? You think I fear the Elders?" Malrik sneered, his hands clenched into fists at his sides, his aura flaring—a jagged, lightning-blue current sparking erratically. The air hummed with the tension as arcs of energy crackled violently, sending shocks through the room. The medics instinctively recoiled, but Malrik didn't notice. His eyes were fixed solely on Zay, burning with contempt.
"This outsider is a parasite," Malrik hissed, his voice dripping with venom. "He should've never been allowed into our territory. And if Jade wasn't too damn blind to see that—"
"Say one more damn word," Jade's voice cut through the air, soft and calm, yet laced with a quiet menace that stopped the room dead.
Her tone was low, but unmistakable, as though every syllable was a promise of something darker waiting in the wings.
The room went silent. Even Rin felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, but Malrik's arrogance only grew.
His nostrils flared, eyes narrowing. "I should put him down myself. Right here. Right now." He took a step forward, his aura intensifying, crackling with an unpredictable energy. "He's a threat to everything the Raiden Clan stands for—"
Before he could take another step, Jade moved.
Her fingers twitched. Her boots clicked against the floor as she stood, her movements fluid but precise.
The air grew colder in an instant, the temperature dropping like winter suddenly came. In the blink of an eye, Jade's hand extended, and a blade of shimmering ice formed in her grip, its edge gleaming with deadly intent. The room seemed to freeze along with her, the subtle crackling of her energy joining Malrik's in a furious dance.
The ice blade pulsed with light blue aura as she raised it slightly, her eyes now fixed on Malrik, their depths colder than the blade in her hand.
"Take one more step," she said, her voice barely above a whisper, but the threat was clear.
Malrik's arrogance faltered, his confidence wavering as the ice blade gleamed before him. His fists unclenched, and his eyes darted from the weapon to Jade's expressionless face, then to the silent medics watching, all too aware of the power that radiated from her.
The tension stretched, crackling in the air like a storm ready to burst.
Rin stepped forward, his voice low but firm. "You're out of line, Malrik. This is her decision, not yours. You'd do well to remember your place. Take another step toward that bed, and I'll drop the title of medic real quick. There's a reason why the elder's stopped me from going on hunts... after the incident with Raven."
Malrik's aura flickered, but just as quickly as it had surged, it faded. He took a step back, sneering in disgust.
"I'll let the Elders deal with you," he spat, turning on his heel and slamming the door behind him with a force that rattled the frame.
Jade lowered her blade, the ice melting into mist before dissipating entirely. She stood for a moment, silent, her hands still trembling slightly as the adrenaline began to wear off.