The ravine had seemed like the perfect ambush spot.
Walls on both sides. Tight choke point.
But now — it was a death trap.
The walls that they thought would keep the scorpions in now boxed them in. Behind, the swarm poured down from the ridge like a wave of living stone. In front, the two Gale Scorpions they'd been stalking had already turned around, tails raised, blocking the narrow exit.
Both of them knew, that they wouldn't be surviving if they fought this.
But escaping also didn't seem to possible.
Rivens expression was focused.
I'll have to use it here.
That's the only chance.
Beside him, Yue Lin tensed.
Then Riven spoke. "Trust me if you want to live."
He reached out — grabbed her waist in one swift motion — and lifted her clean off the ground into a full princess carry.
"What are y—!"
He didn't let her finish.
Divine Speed.
His blood surged violently through his legs, as the world around him sharpened and snapped into focus. The air screamed past them. His foot hit the ground — once — and then again — and then they were gone.
The two Gale Scorpions in front reacted just a fraction too slow. Claws lashed out — but missed by inches.
A streak of light carved between them.
Too fast. Too clean.
They burst out of the ravine in a blur, tearing through the sparse underbrush at the far end. Riven didn't stop until they were nearly a hundred meters out — before staggering to a halt, chest heaving. He dropped to one knee as he set Yue Lin down, his arms and legs trembling slightly.
"…what....," she muttered.
Not bothered by him picking her up at this point.
Riven wobbled once — caught himself with a breath. "Move. Fast."
Behind them, the clicking grew louder again.
Still coming.
Still hunting.
They had a head start — temporarily.
But that was it, just a slight advantage, not a full on escape.
He wasn't able to sustain Divine Speed for that long.
"We need to keep moving," Riven gasped. "They'll catch up."
No argument. Yue Lin helped him up — and they ran.
But inwardly Riven started to feel unwell.
I'm so stupid.
As they ran, the ridge opened up again as twisted trees loomed ahead.
Then slowly they gave way to a familiar gray.
The bone forest.
Brittle. Scary.
Normally they might have hesitated about entering this place again, but the scorpions were still hot on their tail.
They had closed the distance to about 60 meters with the Greater Feral leading the pack in front.
As they entered the forest, it closed around them like a cage. Branches scraped at their shoulders. Dust clung to the air. The scorpion horde didn't hesitate either — still chasing, claws clacking against dead roots and cracked stone, just fifty meters behind now and gaining.
Riven's steps began to falter.
His pace slowed — slightly at first. Then more.
The afterburn of Divine Speed was hitting him hard. Without even a moment to catch his breath, his body was beginning to give out.
I'm so stupid.
He looked ahead, watching as Yue Lin's figure pulled farther and farther away.
Why did I save her?
He'd been betrayed enough times to know better.
He knew how people worked — knew they'd leave him behind if it helped them, even just a little.
Much less to save their own life.
Of course she would keep running.
Why wouldn't she?
With him lagging behind, weak and slow, he made the perfect bait.
His vision started to blur. His eyes drooped. His strength faded.
I'm so stupid.
And just as the world started dimming at the edges — his little sister's face flashed through his mind.
Memories. A smile. A hand in his. A handmade necklace.
That was the spark.
No.
Not yet.
I haven't made it back yet.
It's too early.
He forced his eyes open again, sheer will scraping against exhaustion.
And just as the light came back into focus—
—he felt himself being lifted.
Ah. I was too late.
The scorpions must have closed the gap.
That was his first thought.
But there was no pain — no sudden, searing agony. No poisonous tail piercing into his back. No crushing weight slamming him to the ground.
Instead, he felt himself lifted.
His feet left the ground.
The jolt snapped his focus back into place, vision sharpening as the blur retreated. His eyes finally locked onto the figure in front of him.
Silver white hair, damp with sweat, clinging to her temples. Pale skin flushed from exertion. Cyan eyes sharp and furious — fixed squarely on him.
"Idiot," she snapped. "Why didn't you say anything?"
Yue Lin's voice cut cleanly through the fog in his mind.
It took a heartbeat for the realization to settle.
She hadn't left him.
Hadn't used him as bait.
Hadn't kept running.
She'd turned back.
Picked him up.
Carried him.
A princess carry — firm, steady — just like he'd carried her earlier.
Riven stared at her, stunned.
Why?
The thought echoed uselessly in his mind as the sound of skittering claws thundered behind them.
Why would she come back?
He didn't have an answer.
But for the first time in a long while, the world hadn't forsaken him.
The moment of struggle still cost them though.
The ground shook as claws slammed into stone behind them — closer now. Much closer.
"Hold on," Yue Lin said through clenched teeth.
She started running again. Full speed, breath sharp and controlled despite the weight in her arms. Her boots hammered against the forest floor as the dead trees blurred past, gray trunks flashing by like skeletal sentinels.
Riven twisted his head just enough to look back.
Twenty meters.
That was all the distance they had left.
The Greater Feral led the charge — obsidian shell cutting through the forest like a living battering ram. The lesser scorpions poured after it, a writhing mass of gray carapace and raised tails.
Too close.
"Lake," Riven rasped. "Ahead—!"
Yue Lin had already seen it.
The trees broke apart suddenly, the dead forest ending in a shallow clearing — and there it was.
The black lake.
Still. Unmoving. Its surface swallowed light, smooth as polished obsidian.
Ten meters.
The scorpions screamed — a sharp, clicking chorus — and surged forward.
Yue Lin didn't slow.
Didn't hesitate.
Didn't look back.
Five meters.
The Greater Feral reared, tail rising, poison glinting faintly in the dying light—
"Now!" Riven shouted.
She jumped.
Mid-air, Riven saw the scorpions screech to a halt at the lake's edge.
Not even the Greater Feral seemed to dare enter.
One by one all of them stopped.
If Riven had stayed above the water just a moment longer, he would've seen them start to retreat — backing away from the shore as if the chase had never happened.
But he didn't. And he never would.
Instead cold swallowed him whole.
The world flipped, sound vanishing in an instant as black water closed over both his and Yue Lins heads. The surface sealed above them without a ripple, cutting off the roar of pursuit as if it had never existed.
The water hit like a wall.
Riven barely had time to register the impact before everything went dark.
Yue Lin wasn't carrying him anymore by now, but he still could feel her close.
He kicked hard, twisting in the water.
They needed to get up.
Now.
But something was wrong.
He couldn't feel which way was up.
There was no buoyancy. No light. No sense of direction — only the pressure of icy water pressing in from every side.
He moved his arm, kicking harder now — but the motion felt wrong. Sluggish. Like trying to swim through syrup.
Beside him, Yue Lin was also fighting the current, her limbs cutting through the black, but getting nowhere.
Then—
A pull.
It started subtle — like the drag of a lazy tide around his ankle.
Then it tightened.
Riven's heart jumped in his throat as the pressure grew stronger, dragging him downward.
He thrashed. Kicked. Tried to twist free.
But the water didn't let go.
It coiled around them both like invisible chains, pulling with increasing force, drawing them deeper and deeper into a black that felt too thick, too endless to be natural.
Panic clawed at his chest.
He opened his mouth in a silent curse — and nearly inhaled water.
Next to him Yue Lin tried to use qi to move faster but even that didn't do anything.
Both of them got dragged downward.
The lake, as if it was prehistoric beast, seemed to swallow them both.