Kairo's hands were slick with blood—Zevrin's blood.
The rain hadn't stopped, but it did nothing to wash away the crimson soaking into his cloak. Zevrin's breathing was shallow, his eyes flickering between awareness and unconsciousness. Each breath was a fight. Each second… borrowed time.
> "Hold on," Kairo whispered. "You're not dying. Not now. Not like this."
He carried Zevrin through the burning village ruins, his own body aching from mana exhaustion. The villagers had either fled or perished. Nothing remained of the illusionary safe haven they had hoped to rest in.
Verrian had destroyed it all—and vanished like a ghost.
But he left behind his curse.
Zevrin's wound wouldn't close. The blade had left behind black tendrils, writhing just beneath the skin, resisting any healing spell Kairo knew.
The system window that had blinked open said it all:
> [Status: Soulbound Curse Detected – Type: Aether Drain.]
[Conventional Healing: Ineffective.]
[Time Until Soul Collapse: 3 Hours, 12 Minutes.]
---
Kairo had only one option left.
The name had echoed in his mind ever since he'd bonded with the second fragment: Velyria—the Sealed Healer.
An ancient being bound within the ruins of Kaldrath's Hollow, rumored to be able to reverse death itself… for a cost.
Most believed she was a myth. A warning tale told by desperate wanderers.
But Kairo didn't have time for myths.
He summoned his map, activated Path of Fire, and raced toward the edge of the Hollow.
---
Kaldrath's Hollow was a cursed forest, shrouded in ash-colored fog, where no bird sang and no animal dared roam. The trees there grew twisted, like they were reaching for something long lost. The air smelled of soot and time.
But deep in the center, wrapped in glowing roots, stood a stone altar shaped like an open hand.
Zevrin's body grew colder in Kairo's arms.
> "Please," Kairo said, placing him on the altar. "I don't care what the price is. Just save him."
The altar pulsed faintly. Then, silence.
Then… a voice.
---
> "A mortal… bearing fragments of a dead god dares summon me?"
The wind itself seemed to carry her tone—sharp, feminine, ancient.
Mist spiraled around the altar, and from it stepped a figure veiled in green and silver robes. Her hair shimmered like moonlight, eyes glowing with impossible knowledge.
Velyria.
She studied Kairo with a cold, analytical gaze.
> "Your companion is cursed by an entity older than time. Even I cannot undo the rot that feeds on his soul without payment."
> "Take it," Kairo said. "Whatever it is."
> "Be careful with your words, fragment bearer. My price is not light."
> "I don't care."
Velyria touched Zevrin's chest.
A hum filled the clearing.
Then she turned to Kairo, her hand still glowing.
> "Very well. In exchange for this life… I will take what you cherish most."
Kairo froze.
> "You mean…?"
> "No," she said, reading his thoughts. "Not your fragments. Not your power. I will take something deeper."
She stepped close. Her hand pressed against Kairo's chest.
> "Your humanity."
Kairo blinked. "What?"
> "You will keep your soul, but lose your tears. Your laughter. Your ability to feel joy. You will fight… but you will never again love."
> "Why?"
> "Because life demands balance. If I return him to the world of light, I must take something of equal weight from you."
Kairo looked at Zevrin's pale face.
The memories of their nights by the fire. The way they fought side by side. How Zevrin always laughed even when the odds were against them.
Then he looked at Velyria.
> "Do it."
---
There was no grand flash. No screams. No light bursting into the sky.
Just silence.
Zevrin's chest rose—and a new breath entered his lungs.
But Kairo… felt nothing.
The moment the spell finished, a warmth left his body. A part of him he hadn't even known existed slipped away like smoke in the wind.
Velyria looked at him with a sad, knowing expression.
> "You'll regret it," she said.
> "I already do," he whispered.
---
Later, when Zevrin awoke, Kairo was seated beside him—his face blank, eyes unreadable.
> "You… saved me," Zevrin whispered, voice hoarse.
Kairo nodded.
> "How?"
> "Doesn't matter."
Zevrin reached for him.
But Kairo didn't move.
Didn't flinch.
Didn't smile.
Something in his expression had died.
And Zevrin saw it.
> "What did you do, Kairo?"
Kairo didn't answer.
Instead, he stood up, cloak fluttering behind him as he turned away.
> "Rest up. We move at dawn."
And with that, the boy who once fought to protect everything with heart and soul… walked off into the fog, a hollow echo of the warrior he used to be.