The streets were chaos incarnate. Fires licked the cracked buildings, twisted rifts tore holes in the asphalt, and screams echoed from every corner. Isaac limped along, leaning heavily on the stranger's shoulder.
Isaac (breathless): "How… how did you do that back there? Heal me?"
The stranger, her hood pulled low over her face, shook her head, eyes wide. Sparks of residual magic danced faintly around her hands.
Helena (voice trembling): "I… I don't know. One moment I didn't know anything about magic, and the next… I just… knew. I felt it — like a memory that wasn't mine, guiding my hands."
Isaac blinked. "Memory? Like… Irithel?" The thought startled him. He'd barely processed the flashes he'd felt himself, and now this stranger was talking about the same strange phenomenon.
Helena (half-smiling, trying to reassure him): "I guess… maybe. My name's Helena. And you?"
Isaac (weakly, managing a faint smile): "Isaac."
They continued running, weaving between collapsed vehicles and shattered storefronts, jumping over fiery fissures where dimensional rifts had torn the city apart.
The silence of the city was deceptive. Each shadow could conceal a hunter, each flicker of light could be a portal to another world. Isaac's muscles burned, every breath rasping in his throat, but he couldn't stop. Not now.
Helena glanced at him, concern etched on her face. "Isaac… you're hurt bad. You need to keep moving, but… if it gets worse, you might not make it. I can help, if… if I can figure out this… magic."
Isaac swallowed, nodding weakly. "I'll try. I… I have to make it home. I have to see my family."
Helena tightened her grip on his arm, determination sparking in her eyes. "Then we survive. One step at a time. Whatever's happening… we survive."
As they moved through the burning streets, flashes of Helena's newfound ability subtly guided them: collapsed debris lifted just enough to clear a path, weak flames flickered away from their path, minor wounds healed enough to keep them moving.
Isaac couldn't explain the strange mix of fear and hope swelling in his chest. The city was dying around them, the invaders relentless, yet somehow, in the chaos, they were still alive.
And somewhere far beyond their perception, the Ethereal Soul pulsed, sensing its new bearer.
Isaac and Helena ran on, two strangers bound by survival, unaware of the greater destiny that had already chosen them.