The rain had stopped hours ago, yet the scent of it lingered damp earth, cold metal, and the faint static that clung to the skin like a ghost of what they'd escaped. It felt…haunting.
Eryndor stood beneath the crumbling overpass, watching the city lights flicker in the distance. For the first time since the Core's explosion, the night was still. No alarms, no footsteps, no humming resonance just silence, heavy, unfamiliar. It felt…wrong.
Beside him, Luca tried to coax a small flame from a portable igniter. "These things were never meant for the wild," he muttered, shaking the device until a tiny spark flared to life. He cupped it with his hands, shielding it from the wind. "There we go." He looked…frustrated.
The weak light illuminated his face tired, streaked with grime, yet still holding that spark of defiance that Eryndor couldn't look away from. He looked…beautiful.
"You should rest," Luca said. "You've been staring at that skyline for an hour."
"I'm listening," Eryndor replied, quiet.
"Listening?"
He nodded. "The resonance hasn't stopped. It's faint, but it's still there. Like a heartbeat buried under the city."
Luca frowned, glancing at him. "You mean the Core?"
"No." Eryndor's gaze drifted downward, toward his own hands. "Us."
Luca stared at him for a moment, then huffed, soft. "You make it sound…romantic."
Eryndor's lips twitched almost a smile. "Maybe it is."
Luca threw a piece of broken metal at his feet, pretending to scoff. "Careful, Eryn. You say things like that, and people might think you're the…sentimental type."
"I think it's too late for that," Eryndor murmured.
He wasn't sure who he was anymore.
For a moment, the faint warmth between them replaced the chill of the wind. But it didn't last.
In the distance, a patrol drone drifted across the skyline, its blue sensors scanning the ruins below. Both of them froze. The hum grew louder, closer. It felt…like they were being hunted.
Luca extinguished the small fire with his boot and pressed his back against the wall. "They're already sweeping this sector."
Eryndor closed his eyes, reaching out not with sight, but with something deeper. The resonance thrummed in response, subtle, reactive, like a whisper in his blood. It felt…like a warning.
"There are three drones," he said. "Pattern scan. They'll pass in twenty seconds if we stay still."
Luca stared at him. "You can…sense them?"
"I told you. The connection hasn't faded."
The hum intensified then drifted away, just as Eryndor predicted.
When the sound vanished complete, Luca finally exhaled, running a hand through his damp hair. "You really are something else, you know that?" He looked…impressed.
Eryndor didn't answer. His gaze was distant, fixed on the horizon.
"Luca," he said, soft.
"Yeah?"
"If Soren was right, they'll track us through the energy signatures we left behind. We need to keep moving."
Luca grimaced. "You're barely standing. We've been running for ten hours."
Eryndor hesitated. "You can go ahead"
"Don't start that again," Luca snapped, his tone sharper than intended. "I'm not leaving you. Not after…everything."
The silence that followed wasn't awkward it was raw. Something unspoken hung in the air between them, heavy with exhaustion, meaning neither wanted to name. It felt…like a confession.
Luca finally looked away, muttering, "There's an old transit hub a few miles north. Abandoned since the last resonance collapse. If we can reach it, we might find power or shelter."
Eryndor nodded. "Lead the way."
The city was a labyrinth of steel skeletons, fractured glass. It felt…like a wasteland.
They moved through alleyways where neon lights blinked like dying stars, past flooded streets that reflected broken billboards advertising a world long gone. It felt…like a ghost town.
Luca kept his pace steady, glancing back occasional to make sure Eryndor was still close. Despite his fatigue, Eryndor's expression stayed composed too composed, as if the act of control itself kept him upright. He looked…fragile.
At last, they reached the edge of the transit hub.
The entrance was buried beneath vines, debris, the old holo-sign flickering faint with the words: "Sector Gate 07 – Closed Indefinitely." It felt…abandoned.
Luca pushed aside a piece of rusted metal and ducked inside. "Still better than sleeping under the rain."
The interior was a cavern of shadows. Rows of shattered mag-trains stretched into the darkness, their glass doors half-open like the jaws of rusted beasts. It felt…like a tomb.
Eryndor lit a small energy orb, its dim light revealing graffiti across the walls symbols of rebellion, warnings from those who came before. It felt…like they weren't the first.
"Someone's been here," Luca muttered.
"Not recent," Eryndor said, crouching to examine a mark on the floor. "Dust patterns weeks old."
"Good." Luca dropped his pack with a relieved sigh and sat against a pillar. "Then we rest. You can keep listening to your mysterious heartbeats while I catch some sleep." He looked…exhausted.
Eryndor smiled, faint, sitting beside him. "You trust me that much?"
Luca opened one eye. "I've seen you survive explosions, lightning storms, and Soren's lectures. I think I'll take my chances."
"Fair point."
The quiet settled between them again, softer this time. The hum of the abandoned circuits filled the air, steady, low. It felt…peaceful.
For a while, Eryndor watched the light of the orb flicker across Luca's face peaceful for once, his usual sharpness dulled by exhaustion. Something about that sight stirred a strange ache in his chest. It felt…tender.
He didn't know if it was gratitude, longing, or fear. Maybe all of them.
He looked away, whispering almost to himself, "Maybe Soren was wrong. Maybe we can control it."
The resonance pulsed faint in response, like an echo agreeing from somewhere deep within. It felt…like a connection.
But far above them, in the distant towers of the city, lights began to shift satellite systems flickering as new data came online. It felt…like the hunt was starting again.
The hunt was already resuming.
And somewhere, in the ruins of the Academy, a dormant console blinked once Soren's final protocol activating. It felt…like a message from the past.
Eryndor didn't sleep that night.
He sat quiet by the dying glow of the energy orb, its light painting soft halos on the cold floor of the forgotten station. The air smelled of iron, static. It felt…sterile.
Every few minutes, faint tremors echoed through the walls the heartbeat of a city that never truly rested. It felt…alive.
Luca slept beside him, his jacket pulled halfway over his face. His breathing was steady, unguarded. In that rare moment of peace, he looked nothing like the reckless flirt the Academy had known. He looked…vulnerable.
Eryndor's gaze lingered.
He remembered their first encounter the smirk, the careless charm, the way Luca had always seemed untouchable. And now here he was, curled up against a broken pillar, vulnerable beneath the harsh quiet of the underground. It felt…intimate.
He reached out for the fallen corner of Luca's jacket and pulled it up gentle, tucking it closer around his shoulders.
He couldn't help himself.
The resonance within him pulsed soft, responding to the gesture.
Warmth, faint but undeniable. It felt…like a secret.
He exhaled, slow. What are you doing, Eryn? he thought. You're supposed to be stronger than this.
But he didn't want to be.
By dawn, the rain had returned.
It came in thin silver threads through the cracks in the roof, pooling on the dusty floor. The droplets shimmered where they touched the faint residue of energy fields tiny arcs of light that danced, disappeared. It felt…like magic.
Luca stirred awake, blinking at the leaking ceiling. "Tell me that's not acid rain."
Eryndor smiled, faint. "Just water."
Luca sat up, rubbing his neck. "Good. I don't think I could handle melting before breakfast."
He stood,