The wind died sometime before dawn.
Not that the sky gave anything away—the canopy above was so dense, it could have been midnight or midday. Time lost its grip here. And Theo was starting to feel it. The longer they lingered, the heavier the moments became, as if each second hung on a thread too thin to hold.
The cave was a breathless hollow beneath the great tree, its roots tangled like the ribs of a buried beast. Nova had taken first watch, sitting with her back to the entrance, blades resting on her lap. Her eyes never left the tree's shadowy mouth. The rest tried to sleep. Tried.
Theo's mind wouldn't shut down. The image of Rell's eyes—too old for his face—lingered. "People who glitch," the boy had said. "Like you."
And worse: "It used to be."
He turned that phrase over and over in his mind. Whatever the Collector was, it hadn't started that way. Machine? Human? Something in between? He remembered what Ayen had once whispered in passing about the war they were never taught in schools—the one that ended with silence, with erasure. Maybe that's where the Collector had come from. Something born in the shadow of a war that rewrote reality.
Beside him, Nova stirred. Her fingers twitched near her knife. She didn't seem asleep. Just… listening.
Theo whispered, "How long?"
"Three hours, maybe four. Still no movement."
He sat up. "And Rell?"
"Resting. He hasn't said anything since we got here."
Theo glanced over. Rell was curled up again, this time in the crook of an exposed root, wrapped in Nova's cloak like a cocoon. His breathing was shallow but even.
"Do you believe him?" Theo asked quietly.
Nova didn't hesitate. "I do."
"So do I." Theo rubbed his temples. "Which means if we don't move again soon…"
"They'll find us," she finished. "The flare bought us time, but not much."
Theo looked toward the carvings on the wall. Strange glyphs circled the cave like a forgotten language, etched into the stone with care—or desperation. A warning? A ritual? Maybe both.
Ayen emerged from the shadows, face tight. "Something's wrong."
Theo tensed. "What is it?"
"I can't hear the forest."
The three of them froze.
She was right. No chirps. No rustling. Even the wind had gone still again. It was the kind of silence that pressed against your eardrums, demanding you listen harder even though nothing would come.
Nova rose, her hand on her blade. "Could be a pressure drop—weather shifting."
Ayen shook her head. "No. This is intentional."
Theo checked the perimeter of the cave, eyes scanning for shapes. Movement. Heat signatures. Anything. But there was nothing.
Then Rell spoke, barely audible.
"It's inside."
Everyone turned.
The boy hadn't moved, but his eyes were wide open, locked onto something in the darkness beyond the cave mouth.
Theo drew his knife, though he already knew how pointless that would be.
Nova whispered, "How do you know?"
Rell didn't blink. "Because it's remembering me."
A chill ran down Theo's spine. He felt it then—subtle, like a pressure shift behind his eyes. A memory that wasn't his flickered across his mind: metallic corridors, screams that sounded like echoes in water, a figure standing impossibly still in the center of a ring of light.
The vision snapped away like elastic.
Theo staggered. "Did anyone else—?"
Ayen nodded slowly, face pale. "I saw it."
Nova's jaw was tight. "Me too."
The Collector wasn't a machine.
It was memory itself, stitched into a shape. A creature woven from fragments—glitches, lost timelines, echoes of people that no longer fit in this world. It didn't hunt you with claws. It recalled you, piece by piece, until your mind forgot who you were.
Theo leaned against the wall, his breathing uneven. "It's not tracking us by heat. It's using memory residue."
Nova's eyes widened. "That means—"
"We can't leave any of ourselves behind. Not thought. Not fear. Not even regret."
Ayen gritted her teeth. "That's impossible."
Rell spoke again, softer. "There's one way."
They turned to him.
"I can anchor you. Just enough. But it'll cost me."
Nova crouched beside him. "What cost?"
Rell smiled, and it was the saddest thing Theo had ever seen. "You'll forget me."
The words were a punch to the chest.
Theo knelt. "No. That's not—"
"It's the only way. I've done it before. It keeps the Collector from latching on. But it needs a memory. A strong one. If you let me be that anchor, it'll erase me from your timelines. The Collector won't find you."
Nova's hand trembled.
Theo clenched his fists. "There has to be another way."
"There isn't," Rell said simply. "I'm already half-echo. I was never supposed to make it this far."
The cave went still.
Then Nova nodded.
Theo looked at her, pain flickering in his eyes.
But he understood.
They each knelt before Rell, touching his shoulder, and offering what little they had in return: not words, not thanks, but silent recognition.
Rell closed his eyes.
And the forgetting began.