Morning light filtered through the broken outpost, casting pale gold across the stone. Ash stirred first, groaning softly as he sat up, muscles stiff but content. Nicholas blinked awake beside him, one arm still draped over Ava's waist.
Ava lay between them, eyes open, lips curved in a faint smile. She didn't move for a long moment, savoring the warmth of their bodies, the rare stillness in her mind.
Then, the world called.
"We need to move," she said softly.
Ash stretched, cracking his shoulders. "Not even a morning kiss?"
She smirked. "Earn it after the third fracture."
Nicholas rolled his eyes and rose, retrieving his tunic and weapons without complaint. Ava dressed last, donning her coat once more like a queen slipping into armor. The weight of her role returned with each buckle and clasp.
By the time they reached the others at the campsite, Sil was already packing supplies. Adam stood nearby, polishing his blade with meticulous care. The beast sat alert by the edge of the trees, its nostrils flaring.
Sil looked up as they approached. "Did you sleep well?"
Ava raised a brow. "Well enough."
Ash shot Sil a wink, and the girl flushed, hiding behind a bundle of blankets.
"Report," Ava said.
Adam stepped forward. "We intercepted a drifter on the ridge—another fractured one, or infected by one. He was raving. Dead now."
Nicholas frowned. "How far from the next rift?"
"Two hours. Maybe less," Adam answered. "It's shifting though. Like it's bleeding into the rock."
Ava's gaze narrowed. "Then we don't wait."
They moved quickly, the forest darkening around them as they followed a narrowing trail. The trees grew twisted here, bark veined with black streaks, the air thick with something wrong.
Sil drew her cloak tighter. "It's worse than the last one."
The ground trembled beneath their feet—not violently, but like something was breathing underneath.
Then they saw it.
The third fracture.
A massive scar in the earth, wider than any before. It pulsed with purple and blue light, its edges lined with crystalline growths that hummed with raw leyline energy. Corruption spilled from it like steam, warping the grass, twisting flowers into things with teeth.
Ava stared, unblinking. "It's evolving."
Nicholas drew his sword. "What do we do?"
"Disrupt the root," Ava said. "Find the nexus core and crush it."
Ash grinned. "Good. I was getting bored."
They split into formation—Ash and Nicholas taking the flanks, Adam protecting Sil as she prepared the sealing spell. Ava moved down the center, her blade glowing with shadowlight, the beast at her side snarling low.
From the fissure came monsters.
Twisted things. Half-man, half-creature, eyes glowing, limbs too long. Ava met them head-on, cutting the first down with a single slash. Ash roared as he leapt from a boulder, crashing into two more. Nicholas ducked under a jagged claw, slicing upward, clean and deadly.
Sil chanted behind them, her voice weaving magic into a net. Glyphs shimmered in the air, delicate as lace, strong as iron.
Ava fought without hesitation, every movement sharp, every strike final. She wove through enemies like smoke, until her blade buried itself in the heart of a towering beast made of rock and bone.
The creature shrieked—but did not die.
It reared back, claws slashing, and Ava fell with it, tumbling down the edge of the fracture into the chasm below.
"Ava!" Ash shouted.
Nicholas ran for the edge, but Adam held him back. "She's alive," he said firmly. "Trust her."
---
Ava hit the ground hard, breath knocked from her lungs. Her vision spun—but her grip on her blade never loosened.
She rose slowly.
The space beneath the surface was hollow, a cavern of crystal and light. The corruption here was older, purer—less chaotic. It coiled around a central spire, a pulsing heart of leyline energy. The nexus.
Ava's body ached, but her will was fire. She stalked forward, ignoring the whispers that crawled along her mind, the promises of power, the voices calling her queen, goddess, weapon.
"I am already all those things," she snarled—and drove her sword into the nexus.
It screamed.
The entire chasm shook. Cracks raced along the ground. The corruption surged, trying to push her back. Ava roared, pouring her magic into the blade, shadows wrapping around her like wings.
Above, the others watched as the earth split again—only this time, it was the rift itself that broke. Light spilled upward, cleansing, violent and bright.
And then, silence.
---
Ava emerged from the fracture half an hour later, skin marked with leyline burns, hair wind-tossed and wild. Her coat was torn at the shoulder, blood smeared down one arm—but she stood tall.
Ash ran to her first, his hands on her face, checking her, silent and desperate.
Nicholas followed, gripping her shoulder tightly, relief breaking across his face.
"I'm fine," Ava said. "But next time? One of you can fall into the abyss."
Sil rushed forward, eyes wide. "The spell sealed. The leyline is stable."
Adam exhaled slowly. "Three down."
Ava looked toward the horizon. "Three