The crackle of fading energy still lingered in the air as Levi dropped to his knees beside Eve.

  Her body was limp, her face pale, blood still streaked across her side from the earlier wound. Her breaths were shallow, lips parted as if caught mid-word. Her hands twitched faintly residual sparks dancing along her fingertips.

  Arel dropped beside her first, hands glowing faintly as she pressed them gently against Eve’s abdomen. Her healing pulse flickered once… then sputtered out.

  “Come on, come on—” Arel muttered, trying again. But the energy just wouldn’t hold. Her body trembled with fatigue. She had spent too much—fighting, shielding, surviving.

  She looked up at Levi, frustrated and pale. “I can’t. Not right now. I used too much.”

  Levi didn’t hesitate. He slid one arm beneath Eve’s shoulders and the other beneath her knees, lifting her carefully into his arms.

  She was lighter than he expected.

  And far too still.

  Arel stumbled to her feet, wincing as she hurried over. “We need to move. That energy storm’s going to draw attention. If anything else is out there…”

  Levi nodded; jaw tight. “The portal? Kael’s on it. He’s stabilizing the barrier now.”

  Kael’s voice came in from behind them, sharp and ced with disbelief. “It’s gone.”

  They turned to see him approaching quickly, his usually composed face tight with shock. “The portal—it’s gone…”

  The three of them moved quickly through the debris and fractured terrain. Every few steps, Levi gnced down at Eve’s face, searching for any sign of consciousness—his own expression unreadable but burning with quiet urgency.

  Arel ran ahead to signal the incoming transport team as Levi carried Eve back toward the rendezvous point. The sound of distant engines echoed in the distance—backup finally arriving.

  Levi didn’t look up.

  He only looked at her.

  And the question burned silently behind his eyes:

  What are you?

  The words echoed in his mind long after they were unspoken.

  By the time they reached the transport, the medical team was already waiting—white-coated personnel rushing toward them with stretchers and glowing diagnostic gear.

  Levi hesitated before lowering her into their care, his arms reluctant to let go.

  "Get her stable," he said sharply, voice cold with urgency.

  Arel stayed close, brushing a hand over Eve’s forehead once she was secured.

  Kael lingered nearby, watching the still-sealed sky above the fracture zone. "No one’s ever closed a portal like that. Not even the High Commanders. It usually takes days… and a massive energy output from our strongest operatives just to stabilise one. She didn’t just close it—she took down the barrier with it."

  The team loaded Eve into the transport, but Levi remained outside with his team, eyes following her as the doors shut.

  As the vehicle rumbled to life and the site disappeared into the distance, Arel and Kael exchanged a gnce.

  "What was that thing?" Arel said quietly, her voice ced with lingering fear. "I’ve never seen a creature like that before… not even in the worst breaches."

  Half of the backup team approached them to begin medical checks—scanning Arel’s side, checking Kael’s shoulder, assessing Levi’s back. The rest—the combat-ready half—stood frozen, staring out toward the horizon.

  Toward where the barrier used to be.

  There was nothing there.

  Just wind.

  The small unit instinctively parted as footsteps approached—measured, firm, unmistakable. An older man in a dark coat stepped through the dust and ash, fnked by elite personnel. He carried no weapon, but his presence alone made the squad straighten.

  It was the same man from the medical facility—the one Eve had seen speaking to Levi through the gss wall before she was fully conscious. His presence had lingered in her mind ever since, sharp and composed, like someone who already knew more than he let on.

  High Commander Revan.

  He walked directly to Levi, stopping just short.

  His eyes were hard.

  "I expect a full report when we return," he said, voice low but commanding. "No omissions. I want every second accounted for."

  The High Commander didn’t wait for a reply.

  He turned, already issuing orders to the operatives at his side. “I want this entire site swept. Full environmental scans. Energy resonance tracking. No one leaves until we know exactly what happened here.”

  Levi stood still, gaze fixed on the trail of dust left by the departing transport. His hands were still faintly trembling, though no one but Kael would have noticed.

  The High Commander paused mid-stride, his voice cold as it cut through the quiet. “I want regur updates on Miss Adams' status. Hourly, if needed.”

  There was a glint in his eye that wasn’t just about caution—it was interest. Opportunity. As if he’d been waiting for something like this.

  Turning to the assembled squads. "What you witnessed here is now under High Council jurisdiction. No details leave this zone. Not in passing. Not in debriefs. Not even to your commanding officers unless explicitly cleared. This is no longer your concern."

  Arel’s jaw tightened. A subtle gze of concern swept across Levi’s face as he looked to her, something unspoken passing between them.

  In the stillness of her unconscious mind, Eve found herself standing in an endless field of gss-like water.

  The sky above was deep violet, ced with streaks of gold that shimmered and pulsed like veins.

  Every step she took sent ripples across the surface, but her feet never sank.

  In the distance, a towering silhouette loomed—feminine, radiant, cloaked in drifting stardust.

  She couldn’t make out the face, but she felt her.

  “You called me,” the voice echoed. Not with sound, but through her chest, like memory.

  Eve opened her mouth, but no words came.

  The being stepped forward, and with her came warmth, light—and grief.

  “You are not ready” the voice whispered again. “He will come for you.”

  Eve’s breath caught. Her hand lifted involuntarily, and as it did, arcs of silver-blue lightning crackled across the sky.

  Then the sky fractured.

  Light poured through the cracks—and Eve fell.

  It had been nearly 52 hours.

  Eve was still unconscious at the medical facility.

  Levi sat slumped in a chair by her bedside, the dim ambient lights casting soft shadows over his face. He’d barely moved from that spot since she was admitted. Despite the insistence from medics that he rest or rotate shifts with Arel, he refused. He couldn’t leave her.

  He felt responsible.

  The creature that pierced her hadn’t just wounded her physically—it had secreted a toxin, one that made it harder for healing abilities to take hold. The medical team had been quick to respond and careful to manage her condition, eventually stabilizing her. But still—she hadn’t woken.

  “Patience,” one of the senior healers had said gently. “Her body is healing. The poison slowed everything down, but she’s stable now. She’ll wake when she’s ready.”

  Levi sat in silence now, staring at the rise and fall of her chest. Quiet. Waiting.