Leaving the remnants of their st battle behind—an expanse of jagged pilrs and shattered crystal—the pair moved toward the dista at the far end of the chamber. Vivienne had returo her formless self, her many heads and serpentine body now a shifting mass of shadows and tendrils, a form that felt more natural, more her. It was closer to what she'd onown, her default before all this.

  In her previous life, she'd been a victim, always afraid of violenever the instigator, always the oo cower, to flee. She had been weak, soft. It had been easier to let others domio let them dictate the terms of her survival.

  But here, in this new world, it was different.

  Each battle had a distinct urgency, a sharp edge that Vivienne had never known. Every fight was a matter of life or death, where the stakes were far higher than mere survival. It was eat or be eaten, win or perish. She could feel the raw hunger inside her, pulsih her skin, pushing her forward, urgio embrace the violehe thrill of it, the adrenaline, surged through her with each passing moment. Every strike, every csh, every splintering bone or cra the air sent tingles across her shifting form.

  This world, with its endless dangers and chaos, had unleashed something inside of her. A hunger for destru that she couldn't quite tain. She wa. Craved it. The power—the sheer, unbridled power she could tap into with a thought—was intoxig.

  "Something’s different," she murmured, her voice distant, even to herself. Rava gnced sideways, catg the look in Vivienne's eyes—a predatleam that hadn't been there before.

  "You okay?" Rava asked, still walking, though she watched Vivienne closely, her brow furrowing. Despite the banter between them, Rava was no fool. She had noticed the way Vivienne had ged. The unspoken tension that lingered just beh the surface, like a storm waiting to break.

  Vivienne’s form rippled in response, but she didn't answer right away. The air between them was thick with the unspoken uanding that something had shifted—not just in the world, but in Vivienne herself. She had seen the way her panion moved, the way she fought; Rava had been a perfect partner, in more ways than one. But Vivienne was starting to realize something: this world was breaking her down and remaking her in its own image. And she wasn't sure if she was strong enough to stop it.

  "We’ll talk about it ter," Vivienne replied, her voice carrying a faint edge of something darker. Something deeper.

  Rava didn’t press further, though her instincts itched with the knowledge that they were both ged, even if they didn’t fully uand how yet. They had faced the wraiths together, but that had only been the beginning. There was a much greater threat out there, ohat was going to force them both to front what they were being.

  The exit loomed closer now, a jagged archway framed by the remnants of the crumbling ruins. Beyond it y a narrow path, winding through the remains of shattered stone and the sharp silhouette of the world outside. The day was fading, the sky overhead a bruised purple, heavy with the weight of impending darkness.

  “Tch. I was hoping we’d catch a little daylight before we made it out,” Rava muttered with a halfhearted shrug, sing the fading light overhead.

  Vivienne didn’t hear her, though. She was too busy abs the world around her—quite literally, thanks to her panoramic sight. The forest that stretched out before them was an endless expanse of vibrant green, alive with the buzz of nature. The air was thick with the hum of aether, something she could feel c through her, mingling with the enviro. She could sehe tempest aether, a faint, restless energy flowing through the wind, and the loam aether, rid nourishing, that bolstered the life around them. The trees stood tall, their roots burrowing deep into the earth, drawing sustenance from the very essence of the nd.

  It was beautiful. Absolutely stunning.

  And, strangely enough, it looked delicious.

  The thought crossed her mind before she could push it away. She didn’t know whether it was the remnants of her hunger or the new, insatiable craving that had started to burn inside her, but the vibrant energy of the forest made her want to e, to absorb, to take it all in. She had never felt this… starved before.

  Her gaze lifted, and for a moment, she fot about everything else.

  The sky above had darkened, but it wasn’t the fading light that caught her attention—it was the three moons hanging in the heavens. They were staggered across the sky, eae a different size and hue, casting their cold, pale light down upon the earth. One moon was blood-red, like a living ember suspended in the heavens. Another ierg, electric blue, its surface gleaming with the promise of untold energy. The st was a soft yellow, almost sickly in its glow, but still mesmerising. Together, they created a surreal, otherworldly tapestry in the sky.

  Vivienne couldn’t help but wonder about them. What did they mean for Nymoria? The red moon could be ri iron, its light a refle of molteal deep beh the surface. The blue one—perhaps it was infused with titanium, a strong and unyielding presen the skies. And the yellow moon... that o different. Sulphur, maybe? Or something else entirely?

  She thought about how the presence of three moons would undoubtedly affect the tides and rhythms of the world, the currents of aether, the shifts iural order. The possibilities were dizzying, a, she couldn’t stop herself from p them.

  She was so absorbed ihoughts that she didn’t hear Rava calling to her.

  “Vivienne?” Rava’s voice finally broke through the silence, snapping Vivienne back to the present. “You alive over there?”

  Vivienne blinked, momentarily disoriehen focused on Rava. The lekiood a few paces away, arms crossed, her expression a mix of amusement and impatience.

  “What is it?” Vivienne asked, her voice steady but distant, as if still tethered to the strange pull of the sky above.

  Rava tilted her head, an eyebrow arg with mild curiosity. “You’ve been staring at the sky for a while. What’s caught your attention?”

  Vivienated, the strange, gnawing huill simmering within her. But she pushed it down, fog instead on the moons overhead. “The moons. Three of them. It’s strange... fasating, really.”

  Rava let out a low chuckle, her eyes softening just slightly. “Is it? They've been in the sky my whole life. Most of the old stories say they’re the bodies of primordial gods.”

  Vivienne’s i piqued. “Akhenna… Is she one of them?”

  Rava he fai hint of a smile tugging at the ers of her lips. “Yeah. The blue ohat’s Heralihe Goddess of Dusk. The yellow one is Praxus, the God of Order. And the red one—” Rava’s gaze lingered on the crimson moon, the pale light refleg a strange gleam in her eyes. “That’s Akhenna, the Goddess of Chaos. She’s been known to stir up a lot of trouble, if you believe it.”

  Vivienne’s gaze shifted back to the sky, the moons now seeming less like distaial objects and more like sentinels watg from above. “What about the others?”

  Rava’s expression shifted, a flicker of reverence crossing her face. “The bright star that gives us day—that’s Yenhr, the Goddess of Dawn. Her light brings warmth and energy to the world. Then there’s Gorvahra, the progenitor. She’s said to have slumbered on Nymoria lohan any mortal has recorded history. No one knows for sure what happeo her, but the giants still remember her name.”

  “I see,” Vivienne replied, her voice distant as her gaze wandered over the strange, moonlit ndscape. She was still lost in thought, her mind swirling with the strange pull of the world around her.

  Rava sighed, pulling herself out of her own thoughts with an exaggerated groan. “We should get moving. I haven’t slept in days, and I doly want to find myself crashing in aherbeast-ied ruin.” She gnced down at herself, looking far from pleased with her current state. “Also, I ’t run around naked forever. o find something to wear.”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Vivieeased, turning her head with a sly grin. “I think you look rather good like that.”

  Rava shot her a sharp look, her lips pressed into a frown, but Vivienne caught the twitch at the er of her mouth—a subtle sign that the lekine was hiding a smile. “You’re impossible,” Rava muttered, rolling her eyes.

  Vivienne’s smile lingered as she turned her focus back to the vast forest before them. “Oh, e on. There’s nothing wrong with a little fun.”

  Rava snorted, shaking her head as she started walking toward the dense undergrowth. “You’re a real piece of work, you know that?” But despite the mockery in her voice, there was no real venom behind it.

  Vivienne followed after her, the sounds of the forest surrounding them as they made their way deeper into the wilderness. The light from the three moons bathed the path ahead in a pale glow, casting long shadows that seemed to stretdlessly across the earth. The air was thick with the st of damp earth and the faint hum of aether, a remihat their world was still brimming with life and power, even after the battle they had just left behind.

  They walked in fortable silence for a while, but Viviehoughts still lingered on Rava’s earlier words. Gods… Primordial deities who shaped the world and whose ill echoed through the nds. She’d learned a lot in such a short time, but something about the way Rava spoke of them left her uled. There was a weight to those names, something a and powerful that Vivien, deep in her bones.

  “So, Gorvahra, huh?” Vivienne finally broke the silence, her voice ced with curiosity. “The progenitor. Who worships him?”

  “Her.” Rava gnced over her shoulder, her expression thoughtful. “The seven titans don’t so much worship her as much revere her. A healthy fear and respect for the mother of the nd and the first people. They remember her. They still tell stories, pass down legends. There’s something… reverent about their tales. You get the sehey think she’s still out there, waiting or watg.”

  “Waiting for what?” Vivienne asked, her brow furrowed.

  “Who knows,” Rava replied with a shrug. “It’s just something the giants say. They’re a superstitious bunch, but their stories are always ed in truth. Just gotta know how to listen.”

  Vivienne nodded slowly, her thoughts drifting again. The air seemed heavier now, the sense of an unseen force lingering just beyond the horizon. She shook her head, brushing the feeling aside. There was no time to get lost in things she couldn’t see or uand—not yet.

  “How do you know which way we’re going?” Vivienne asked, sliding up beside Rava. The oonlit air seemed to settle around them as the silence of the forest ed them in its embrace.

  Rava gnced over at her, a faint smile tugging at the er of her mouth. “Mm, I’m a hunter of sorts. ’t go getting lost while trag my quarry, I?” Her voice carried a touch of pride, but also a knowing calm. She shifted her gaze to the path ahead, sing the terrain with practised ease.

  Vivienne raised an eyebrow. “You’re a hunter?”

  “Something like that,” Rava replied with a nont shrug, her eyes sharp as she swept them over the foliage. “But I’m not trag deer or rabbits. I hunt something far more dangerous... sometimes.” She stopped briefly, croug to ihe ground, running a finger along a faintly glowing trail of aether that lingered in the air. “I know how to read the signs of the nd. The way the wind shifts, how the pnts grow, where the animals linger—every detail tells me something.”

  Vivieched, intrigued by the ease with which Rava read the world around her. “And what does this tell you now?”

  Rava rose, brushing dirt from her hands as she tinued walking. “This way,” she said, pointing forward. “There’s a small settlement northward. Few aetherbeasts have been around here retly. And there’s a telltale shift in the breeze—someone’s been through here. Retly.”

  Vivienne couldn’t help but feel impressed. “That’s… impressive.”

  Rava chuckled, her eyes glinting with amusement. “It’s not magic, just observation. We all have our strengths.”

  Vivienne fell into step beside her, the faint hum of aether pulsing in the air, its presence stantly tugging at her senses. She couldn’t help but be drawn to it, feeling the pull of the world around her with a crity that uled her at times. But it was also a fort—something stant, something she could uand, even if only just.

  “So,” Vivienne began, her voice soft but inquisitive, “what’s the settlement like? You said it was ‘small.’ Who lives there?”

  Rava’s expression shifted slightly, a flicker of something unspoken crossing her face. “It’s a mix of locals—some vilgers, a few who are more… hardehey don’t take kindly ters, so we’ll have to be careful.”

  Vivienne cocked her head. “Are we ‘strangers’?”

  “Depends who you ask,” Rava replied. “To most, we’d be just that. But you? Well… you’re ly ‘normal,’ are you?”

  Vivienne’s eyes narrowed, but she held her tongue. Rava had a knack for stirring up thoughts she didn’t want to front, slipping past her defenses with a quiet dour that was oddly disarming. Annoying, sure, but there was no mali it—just a straightforward hoy that Vivienne found difficult to resent.

  “But yes,” Rava said, her tone darkening, “unfortunately, we’re in the Aegis Snty now. At best, they’ll have… unpleasant things to say about me.”

  Vivienne chuckled lightly, though there was a curious edge to it. “What? Are you some kind of criminal?”

  “In a way, yes.” The bluntness of Rava’s reply cut through Vivienne’s amusement.

  “Oh,” Vivienne said, her voice losing its pyfulness.

  “They don’t take kindly to a lekine wandering without a chaperone.” Rava’s amber eyes flicked to Vivienne, assessing her rea. “In Aegis, we’re expected to live and work where we’re told. Anything else is… frowned upon.” She hesitated, as if weighing how much to reveal, before tinuing. “And on top of that, I’m from an enemy nation.”

  Vivienne frowned, her formless silhouette shifting subtly. “Is that why you ended up in those ruins?”

  “Yes.” Rava exhaled heavily, the tension in her shoulders visibly softening as she spoke. “I was hunting someone—someone who doesn’t belong in this world any longer. I failed, got captured, and instead of exeg me ht, the humans decided it’d be more eaining to throw me into the bowels of a fallen ruin. Forced me into my beast form, cut me off from my aether, a me with no way out.”

  Her voice was steady, but the weight of her words hung in the air like a storm cloud. Vivienne could feel the anger simmerih the surface, restrained but potent, and she found herself quietly admiring the lekine’s resilience.

  “That’s… barbaric,” Vivienne murmured, her gaze drifting to the forest opy. “Even for them.”

  Rava shrugged, a bitter smirk tugging at her lips. “Cruelty is sed nature to Aegis. They thrive on trol—breaking people is just part of the system.”

  Vivienne’s gaze lingered on Rava, the lekine’s words sinking into her mind like stones in water. She let out a low hum, her voice ced with curiosity and something softer—empathy, perhaps. “That’s a special kind of cruelty. Throwing you away like that, just for sport.”

  Rava’s lips curled into a wry smile, though there was no humour in it. “Cruelty is a curren Aegis. They trade in it freely. ”

  Rava cast another curious g the literal walking nightmare, parsing her response. “You seemed to be deep in thought.”

  “I’m just trying to decide whether your story makes me want to avoid them or eat them.” She said without a hint of humour.

  Rava s that, but the humour in her rea was short-lived. Her amber eyes darkened as she gnced ahead. “Well I won’t stand in your way. They’ve made their bed.”

  “And you’ve made your escape,” Vivieed, her formless body rippling as she drifted a step closer. “Survived, evehey wanted you to rot. That’s no small feat.”

  Rava shrugged, the motion tense, but there was a flicker of pride in her voice. “Surviving is what we lekine do best. Evehe odds are stacked against us.”

  For a moment, the two fell into a silehe only sound the ch of their footsteps on the forest floor. The atmosphere was thick, the remnants of their earlier battle still weighing heavily on their minds. But the oppressive aura of the ruins had begun to fade, repced by the subtle hum of life that surrouhem in the forest.

  Vivienne broke the silence, her voice softer this time. “This person you were hunting. Did they have something to do with all of this? The ruins, the humans, the… mess?”

  Rava’s jaw tightened, and she didn’t look at Vivienne when she answered. “Yes and no. They’re part of a much bigger mess. Ohat goes beyond Aegis or the ruins. I don’t know if I’ll ever catch up to them, but if I do…”

  Her voice trailed off, leaving the threat unspoken but heavy in the air.

  Vivienne’s form shifted slightly, her silhouette growing darker. “I’ve got plenty of room fes. If you need help, I’m here.”

  Rava g her, a flicker of surprise breaking through her usual guarded expression. But she didn’t say thank you. She just nodded, her features hardening again. “We’ll see.”

  Before Vivienne could press further, the forest began to shift. The wind carried a strange sound—like whispers, faint and distant, but undeniably present. The trees ahead seemed to bend ever so slightly, their shapes distorted by a faint, pulsing light ing from deeper within the woods.

  “Do you hear that?” Vivienne asked, her voice low.

  Rava nodded, her hand instinctively going to her side where a on should have been. “I don’t like it.”

  The pulsing light grew brighter, the whispers turning into a faint t, though the words were indecipherable. Both of them teheir bodies readying for a fight as they crept forward.

  As they pushed through the underbrush, the source of the light came into view—a ring of standing stones, a and wlowing faintly with etched sigils that pulsed in rhythm with the ting. Aether hung thi the air, almost suffog in its iy.

  And within the massive circle were over two dozen people in robes, their faces obscured, eaotably shorter than Rava herself.

  Rava’s ears fttened, her body taut with uhis isn’t good.”

  Vivieilted her head, her voice oddly calm. “Maybe it’s ann.”

  Rava shot her a sharp look. “Or a trap.”

  Vivienne’s smile curled, predatory and faintly amused. “What’s the difference?”