Taz and I stood frozen as a swarm of fire-spewing beetles rose from the trees like a living inferno.
"They must've known we'd find a way to track them," Lyric shouted over the hiss and crackle of wings. "I don't think they meant to kill us though… just stall or scare us."
"Well, I'm definitely deterred," Corrin yelped, ducking as a beetle whooshed past.
"Oh, grow up," Lyric snapped. "You're our eyes, remember? So use them."
"Right!" Corrin shouted, regaining his footing. He swung his boomerang into the swarm, slicing through several beetles with one sweep.
"That's more like it!" Lyric cheered, though she glanced at her bow almost sulkily. "If they were just a little bigger…"
Corrin caught and threw his boomerang again, a flurry of wings and fire swirling around him. But more beetles were pouring in, undeterred.
Taz reached into his patchwork vest and pulled out what looked like glass marbles.
"Time for a little chaos," he said with a wink.
I grabbed his wrist before he could throw. "Wait—these are Architect-coded, right?"
"Architect code, one-hundred percent," he said proudly. "They were brilliant minds. Now, are you going to let me save our friends or not?"
I glanced at Lyric, cradling her burned hand, Corrin battling a wall of firebugs, and Mira rummaging through her med kit with shaking hands.
"Step back, Corrin!" Taz shouted, then hurled a marble into the air.
The orb expanded mid-flight and burst in a shimmering spray of water. Steam rose as the beetles screeched and recoiled from the moisture.
"Fire versus water—classic," Taz smirked.
The beetles hovered, agitated but keeping their distance from anything damp. I ran to Lyric and Corrin as Mira crouched beside them, already applying a thick salve to their burns.
"They okay?" I asked.
"Minor burns. This'll keep infection away," Mira said, her voice calm but clipped.
Lyric reached out, and Mira melted into her embrace without a word.
I turned back to Taz. "How many of those do you have?"
"Just one left," he said, his tone shifting. "Didn't think we'd need them this soon—they're meant for forest fires. But I've got others that do different things."
He opened his palm, showing me a collection of spheres. This time, I let myself slip into the code. I scanned each one quickly: one emitted pepper spray, another sent out a pulse. Then one caught my eye. The code flickered—wrong, warped. Before I could analyze it further, I felt it.
White in the dark. Watching.
"We're not breaking any rules," I whispered, stepping back and raising my hands.
The entity drifted closer. My skin prickled as the temperature dropped.
That orb—Rebel must've tampered with it. That made it his threat, not Taz's. But the entity wouldn't care about intent. It would come for the source.
I snatched the orb and held it out. "Here. I present it to you."
The entity's tendrils reached for my hand, brushed my skin—and the orb vanished.
"Everything is fine now," I said quietly. "No further threats."
It paused, lingering over Taz. Judging him.
"He didn't code that," I said, voice steady. "Rebel Ray did. You already dealt with that threat."
After a long moment, the entity responded: "No threat detected to the Architect's Cradle."
And then it was gone.
Someone was shaking me.
"Alis? Alis, are you okay?" Mira was above me, her hands searching my pulse, her eyes wide with concern.
I touched my forehead and winced at the blood on my fingers.
"What happened?" I groaned.
"You grabbed something from Taz and just… collapsed," Corrin said, nervously twirling his boomerang.
"The orb—it was dangerous. Is it gone?"
"Gone," Taz muttered. "You crushed it, apparently."
My voice was sharp. "That orb had corrupted code. It would've killed you—like it did Rebel."
The air went still.
"What do you mean, killed me?" Taz rubbed his temples.
"I don't know what it is exactly," I admitted, "but it doesn't tolerate broken rules."
Taz sighed, rolling his eyes. "If you say so."
"Let me see that cut," Mira said gently. She guided my face back toward hers, examined my pupils, checked my reflexes, then pressed a clean bandage to my forehead.
"The beetles are coming back!" Corrin called.
I gritted my teeth and pulled my knife.
Taz picked a different orb and tossed it. It pulsed blue mid-air—an electric hum passed through the air, and every beetle dropped like rain.
"Stun pulse," Taz said smugly. He shot me a look. "See? Not so bad after all. If we're done playing doctor, maybe we can move? At this pace, we'll freeze before Eden burns."
Lyric nodded, but her gaze lingered on me.
"I'm fine," I muttered.
Mira slipped a small bottle into my hand. "Drink for the pain. And let me know if you feel dizzy or sick."
Corrin took down the last stragglers with his boomerang, this time grinning as he did.
We pressed on, deeper into the dark woods. Injured, shaken, already running low on supplies.
And we hadn't even reached Eden yet.
Would we make it?