Warm sunlight — That was the first thing Cole noticed. Breaking through the branches above him. His eyes opened slowly. His vision still blurry. Pain followed immediately. Sharp pain spread through his body as though every bone had been shattered and carelessly placed back together. His chest burned. His head felt heavy.
He blinked weakly. The forest swayed in and out of focus. The pale darkness was gone. The strange storm was gone. The terrifying atmosphere was gone. No shadows, no twisted sky, just ordinary morning sunlight pouring through the trees.
The Ohio forest looked normal again.
Cole groaned softly and tried to sit up. That was when panic hit him...The Artifact....The vial.
His breathing quickened instantly. He looked beside him but there was nothing. He searched the dead leaves around him desperately. Still nothing.
"No....." He pushed himself up harder.
"No, no, no....." Pain shot through him immediately.
A hand quickly grabbed his shoulder.
"Cole, stop!" It was Lenora.
She knelt beside him almost instantly. Her face looked exhausted. Her eyes were red. Expression tired. She looked terrible.
"You need to calm down," she said softly.
Cole looked around wildly. "Where is it?"
His voice cracked.
"The Artifact....."
"The vial...."
"They're gone." Lenora asked told him. The words came quietly but they landed hard. Cole stared at her.
".....Gone?"
Lenora looked away. For a moment, she couldn't even meet his eyes. And somehow, that scared him more. Footsteps approached.
Kevin emerged from deeper in the woods, carrying firewood in shaky arms. He looked terrible. Bruised, dirty and tried..... Like someone who hasn't been escaping sleep for days. The moment he saw Cole awake, relief crossed his face.
"Oh thank goodness." He dropped the wood quickly.
"You scared us." Cole ignored it.
"What happened?"
There was Silence — A terrible one. Lenora and Kevin exchanged looks. The kind people exchange when nobody wants to say something painful out loud.
Cole's chest tightened.
"What happened?" He repeated.
Lenora finally sighed shakily.
"The shadows.... Those guys that came with them" Her voice almost broke.
"They took the Artifact." Cole froze.
"And the vial," Kevin added quietly. Something inside Cole sank deep.
"No....." His breathing became uneven.
"No, I still had them...."
"I tried to protect them..." His voice cracked again.
"I...."
"You tried," Lenora said quickly. "You really tried."
Cole looked at her.
"But I failed."
Neither of them answered. Because — What could they say?. The silence answered for them.
Cole swallowed hard. Then, another thought hit him.
"...Joyce?"
Neither Kevin nor Lenora responded immediately. Kevin looked down. Lenora's jaw tightened. And suddenly, Cole knew.
"No," he whispered.
"What happened to Joyce?!"
Lenora closed her eyes briefly.
"When we found you....." She paused.
"... She was with them." Cole stared blankly.
"What?"
Kevin stepped in quietly.
"She switched sides."
The words sounded unreal. It sounded impossible to Cole, as if he didn't remember that Joyce had stabbed him. Cole shook his head immediately.
"No."
"She came to help me..... She had Lenora's dagger."
Lenora looked away.
"She used it"
As soon as she said that, the memory slammed into him instantly.
The blurry vision, the relief..... Joyce walking toward him. The dagger. The cold shock. His stomach twisted painfully.
"No....."
Kevin rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
"She wasn't fighting them anymore."
"She was helping them. She was fighting us"
Helping them.
The words hurt. More than the injuries. More than the loss.
"No," Cole whispered again.
"She wouldn't do that."
But even as he said it — He remembered her expression. The blank silent expression. No panic. No hesitation. Like she had already chosen.
Lenora's voice softened.
"We didn't want to believe it either."
Cole looked at her. Her eyes shimmered slightly.
"We trusted her."
Kevin kicked at the dirt.
"All of us."
Nobody spoke for a while. The forest felt painfully quiet. Birds sang somewhere far away. Like the world didn't care what had happened. Like everything hadn't just fallen apart.
Cole looked down at his trembling hands.
Everything they had survived:
Italy.
The museum.
The shadows.
The woods.
Ohio.
Kenny Rogers.
The research.
The fights.
The lies.
Everything was gone. The Artifact —
Gone. The Blood — Gone. Joyce.... betrayed the team. And somehow, the betrayal hurt worst of all. Cole couldn't just believe it
Kevin sat down heavily nearby.
"So...." He forced a laugh. One that sounded completely broken.
"What now?" Nobody answered immediately. Because there wasn't a good answer. Only terrible ones Lenora finally spoke..... Quietly.
"We go back."
Cole looked up slowly.
"....Back?"
"Nyroxia," she said.
Kevin frowned immediately. "You mean go back and explain how we lost two ancient magical items that we were suppose to come back with?"
"And got betrayed?"
"And almost died?"
Lenora swallowed. "We still don't have a choice. I mean, what now?. We don't have any quest. The items have been taken from us. We have to tell them."
Cole looked toward the sky.
Back to Nyroxia.
Back to Mr. Bruce.
Back to the headmaster who maybe — Just maybe — Had been lying to them from the start. Kenny's words echoed again.
'You were never meant to find this one'
A chill crawled slowly through him.
'What if this wasn't failure?'
'What if someone wanted us to fail?'
Cole shut his eyes tightly. Everything hurt.
His body.
His chest.
His trust.
His hope.
But Lenora was right. She was always right... At least if not always. But she was right this time. They had no choice. No Artifact, no Blood.... Only questions.
And a long road back home. The wind moved softly through the trees. Cold and uncertain. And for the first time since the quest began, the mission felt broken... Or maybe it has been broken.