Kael didn't move.
Not at first.
The world had changed.
But he hadn't caught up to it yet.
Sera held him upright.
His weight heavier than it should've been—not from mass, but from something else. His body was still, but not slack. Every few seconds, there was a subtle tension beneath his armor, like something inside him was still adjusting.
"…Kael."
No response.
She tightened her grip.
"Stay with me."
His breathing was steady.
Too steady.
The corridor around them had opened.
Not broken.
Not forced.
Allowed.
Where the walls had once pressed inward, they now pulled back, the organic membranes receding into themselves. The pulsing slowed, becoming faint, almost dormant.
The city wasn't attacking anymore.
It was… quiet.
Sera looked up.
The Bloom—
Still towered over the skyline.
Still alive.
Still spreading.
But no longer reacting to them.
"…We have a path," she said.
She didn't trust it.
But it was there.
She moved.
Careful at first.
Then faster.
Carrying Kael through corridors that shifted open just before she reached them. Growth pulled back from her steps, surfaces stabilizing beneath her feet just long enough to hold.
Not random.
Directed.
"You're letting us go," she whispered.
The city didn't answer.
It didn't need to.
They reached the outer district.
The difference was immediate.
The ground returned to stone.
Hard.
Cold.
The air—
Clear.
Sera staggered slightly as she crossed the threshold.
"…We're out."
But she didn't stop.
Because the Gate—
Still stood.
It looked different now.
Dark.
Inactive.
The faint hum it once carried—
Gone.
Sera lowered Kael carefully against the base of the structure.
"I'm not done with you," she said under her breath.
She moved to the interface.
Hands steady.
Faster now.
More urgent.
"Come on…"
The panel flickered.
Weak.
But alive.
She rerouted power.
Forced connections.
Bypassed dead systems.
The Gate pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
Then—
It responded.
The inner ring ignited.
Dim at first.
Then stronger.
Unstable.
But active.
Sera exhaled sharply.
"…We're leaving."
She turned.
Moved back to Kael.
Knelt.
"…You better wake up."
He didn't.
The Gate surged.
Energy built along its frame, runes flickering violently as the portal began to form. The space inside the ring distorted, pulling inward before stabilizing into a fractured window of light.
The exit.
Sera grabbed him again.
Lifted.
Every movement slower now.
Heavier.
But she didn't stop.
She stepped forward—
And paused.
Because something felt wrong.
Not the Gate.
Kael.
His hand twitched.
Subtle.
But deliberate.
"…Kael?"
No response.
But his fingers—
Moved again.
Like they were feeling something.
Tracking something.
Sera's grip tightened.
"We're leaving. Now."
She stepped into the Gate.
The transition hit instantly.
The world folded.
Sound collapsed.
Light stretched.
Everything compressed into a single, violent moment—
Then released.
They hit the ground hard.
Stone.
Real stone.
Cold air.
Clean air.
Silence.
Sera rolled—
Pulled Kael with her—
Came up fast—
Weapon raised—
Nothing.
No Bloom.
No movement.
No pressure.
Just open space.
Stars above.
"…We made it."
Her voice—
Didn't believe it.
She looked down.
Kael was still unconscious.
Still breathing.
Still—
There.
But something was different.
Not visible.
Not obvious.
She felt it.
The absence.
The pressure—
Gone.
But something else—
Wasn't.
Kael's hand twitched again.
This time—
Stronger.
His fingers curled slightly—
Then relaxed.
Sera froze.
Because for just a second—
She thought she felt it too.
A faint—
Almost imperceptible—
Pulse.
Not from the ground.
From him.
Far away—
On Virelia—
The Bloom shifted.
Not expanding.
Not attacking.
Listening.
And deep within it—
Valen stood still.
Eyes closed.
"…You left."
A pause.
Then—
A slow breath.
"…But not completely."
His eyes opened.
And this time—
There was no smile.
Only certainty.