Xin stormed through the shadowed undergrowth, his boots crunching against brittle leaves and cracked earth. His breath came in sharp, frustrated bursts, and his hands clenched into fists at his sides. Raven trailed a few steps behind, his expression a mixture of confusion and concern, his shadowed scanning the horizon for any sign of danger—or their missing companion.
"He's not that stupid," Raven muttered, his voice low but firm, as if trying to convince himself as much as Xin. "Belial wouldn't just wander off like that. Not without a reason."
Ha...He's probably dead
Xin whirled on him, his eyes blazing with a mix of anger and something softer—fear, perhaps, or desperation. "You don't know him like I do, Raven. Belial is that stupid. He knows things about this world—things he shouldn't—and he's reckless enough to think he can handle it on his own." His voice cracked slightly, betraying the emotion he was trying so hard to bury. "He went out there, didn't he? Outside. Alone. And now we're stuck here chasing after him like idiots."
Raven sighed, running a hand through his tangled hair. "If he did, then we'll find him. But yelling at me isn't going to make it happen faster." He glanced upward, squinting at the thin slivers of sunlight piercing through the canopy of gnarled trees. The sun was their enemy today—its rays were relentless, a searing threat to their kind. They'd been dodging its light for hours, sticking to the shadows, moving cautiously from one patch of shade to the next. It slowed them down, made every step a calculated risk, and Xin's patience was fraying with every passing minute.
"He's going to get himself killed," Xin said, his voice dropping to a hoarse whisper. "And if he does, I—" He stopped himself, turning away from Raven to hide the flicker of vulnerability in his expression. He didn't need to finish the sentence. Raven understood. Belial wasn't just a friend to Xin—he was a brother, a tether to something Xin couldn't afford to lose.
"Come on," Raven said gently, stepping past him. "We keep moving. He can't have gone far."
But "not far" turned into hours of grueling search.
The terrain was unforgiving—jagged crystalline, twisted roots, and the ever-present threat of the sun looming overhead. They darted between shadowed groves, their movements quick but deliberate, their senses heightened for any sign of Belial. Xin's frustration grew with every empty clearing they stumbled upon, every rustle of leaves that turned out to be nothing more than the wind. Raven stayed quiet, her focus sharp, but even he couldn't hide the tension creeping into her posture as the day wore on.
It was late afternoon when they finally found him.
The sight stopped them both cold. Belial was slumped against the base of a massive, skeletal tree, its branches casting a frail web of shade over his motionless form. His dark hair was matted with sweat and dirt, his clothes torn—his arm and leg was reduced to bone. But he wasn't alone. Two strangers knelt beside him—a man and a young woman— their hands moving with practiced efficiency as they tended to his wounds.
Xin's hand instinctively went to the dharma wheel at his hip, his body tensing as he dropped into a defensive stance. Raven mirrored him, his fingers curling into fists, xin's eyes narrowing at the unfamiliar figures. Friend or foe, it didn't matter—they were intruders, and Belial was vulnerable. That was enough to put them on edge.
"Who are you?" Xin demanded, his voice cutting through the stillness like a whip. "Step away from him. Now."
Looking closely he noticed the mans details more he was a young man, mid-twenties, his frame lean but toned, with a scar running down his left arm with a Skull knight tattoo surrounded by flames. He raised his hands slowly, palms open in a gesture of peace. "Easy," he said, his voice steady. "We're not here to hurt him—or you. We found him like this. He's injured, but he'll be fine. We're just patching him up."
The young woman beside him didn't look up from her work, her fingers deftly wrapping a strip of cloth around Belial's arm. "He's lucky we got here when we did," she added, her tone brisk but not unkind. "He was half-conscious and bleeding out. Another hour out here , and he'd have been a goner."
Xin didn't lower his guard, his gaze flicking between the strangers and Belial's still form. "That doesn't answer my question. Who are you? What do you want with him?"
Raven stepped forward, his voice quieter but no less firm. "And how do we know you're not the ones who put him in this state?"
They probably did..kill them!
The man chuckled softly, though there was no malice in it. "Fair questions. I'm Toren, and this is my companion, Lira. We're part of a search and rescue team. We were sent out here to find survivors—people caught out in the open, the people that were teleported far off," he nodded toward Belial.
Lira finished her work and finally looked up, brushing a strand of dark hair from her face. Her sharp brown eyes studied Xin and Raven with a mix of curiosity and skepticism. "He's stable now. The bleeding's stopped, and we've got him in the shade. He'll wake up soon, I'd wager. You're welcome, by the way."
Xin's jaw tightened, but he forced himself to relax slightly, his hand drifting away from his blade. Raven, too, eased his stance, he remained wary. "Thanks," Xin muttered, the word grudging but sincere. He knelt beside Belial, brushing a hand over his friend's forehead. The faint rise and fall of Belial's chest steadied him, grounding the storm of emotions that had been churning inside him all day.
Toren watched the exchange, his expression softening. "You care about him a lot, don't you?"
Xin didn't answer, but the look in his eyes said enough. Instead, he turned his attention to Belial's wounds, his fingers hovering over the makeshift bandages. A faint shimmer of energy sparked at his fingertips—ether, raw and unrefined, coiling around his hand like tendrils of smoke. He pressed it gently against Belial's arm, and the air hummed with a subtle warmth as the ether seeped into the injury, knitting the torn flesh together.
Lira's eyes widened. She leaned forward, incredulous.
"Wait—you can heal? You've got ether?"
Xin didn't look up. His attention remained fixed on Belial, hands still working.
"It's not much. Just ether manipulation. Nothing special."
"Nothing special?" Toren echoed, sharing a look with his companion. "That means you've cleared the first Stage… Do you have your Hax?"
At that, Xin's hand froze mid-motion. Slowly, he lifted his gaze to meet theirs.
"I don't have my Hax. Not yet, at least."
Lira blinked, visibly thrown.
"So you don't have your Hax... Are you somehow using EMR?"
Xin nodded once.
Toren tilted his head, studying him with renewed interest.
"You're an odd one, aren't you? Where'd you learn to do that?"
"Figured it out on my own," Xin said, voice tight. "Trial and error. Mostly error."
He didn't elaborate—and they didn't press.
Raven, silent until now, finally spoke.
"You said you're a search and rescue team. Who sent you? And why out here? This isn't exactly a safe zone."
Toren leaned back on his heels, nodding.
"We're with the Coalition—or at least that's what our leader calls it."
Lira smirked faintly, glancing down at Belial.
"He's tougher than he looks, I'll give him that."
Xin's expression darkened, but he said nothing. Raven caught the shift and shot him a sideways glance.
He knew that look—Xin was wrestling with something, some unspoken concern about Belial he wasn't ready to share. Not yet.
Suddenly, Lira straightened.
"looks like He's waking up."
All eyes turned to Belial. His eyelids fluttered, and a low groan escaped his lips as he stirred.