Silence lingered after the battle.
For the first time since entering the Rift, there was no rumble of thunder—only the soft hiss of dissipating energy. The clouds had parted just enough for sunlight to pierce through, staining the broken sky-bridges in gold.
Li Ming exhaled slowly, the tension easing from his shoulders. "Everyone alive?"
"Barely," Bai Guo answered, wings drooping as he perched on a cracked boulder. "My feathers are now seventy-percent static and thirty-percent trauma."
Xue Yan brushed soot from her sleeve. "That was exhilarating."
Then she glanced down at her singed boot. "…Mostly."
Lan Yue wiped her blade clean and slid it into its sheath. "No injuries that will delay movement. We should secure the crystal and leave before the Rift resets its cycle."
