Silence fell, abrupt and heavy, as if it had substance.
The frenzy of battle receded, leaving only the stench of rot and the hollow chill after the stardust faded.
Karrion spat a mouthful of black-streaked phlegm onto the dust-covered stone.
He staggered upright, every muscle screaming in protest, the wound on his shoulder burning like a fresh tear.
"Runes… need defenses…" he rasped, eyes sweeping the ruins that had just been ravaged by the wrath of the dead.
The dwarf dragged his weary body to a nearby pillar, fumbling with a pouch at his belt and pulling out several unshaped rune stones.
He ignored the pain, blood-soaked fingers inscribing ancient dwarven symbols on the cold ground and broken columns.
As he worked, the runes began to glow faintly—light like dying fireflies.
The symbols connected into a ring, and a pale golden light slowly expanded.
Where the light reached, the eerie whispering of the forest was muffled, the biting cold in the air dissipating slightly.
A small zone of relative safety was cleared—like the eye of a storm offering fleeting calm.
Karrion etched the final rune, swaying on his feet before collapsing against a pillar and sliding to the ground.
His breath came heavy, his armor soaked in a mix of sweat and blood.
Thalia glided to Raine's side like a specter.
He still knelt, head bowed, trembling, his face ghastly pale.
She reached out, fingers brushing his brow, sending a faint trace of shadow magic to probe—but it was repelled by the chaotic surge of residual starlight within him.
She frowned slightly and withdrew her hand.
"Will he be okay?" Karrion asked between labored breaths.
"His mind's exhausted," Thalia replied, her tone flat and cold. "And the backlash of starfire… Purifying those things wasn't without cost."
She stood and approached Karrion, tearing a strip from her robe.
"Don't move."
She quickly began dressing the gash on his shoulder.
Karrion gritted his teeth but said nothing.
When she finished with him, Thalia finally turned her attention to her own arm, where one of the wraiths had struck.
The wound was shallow, and the shadow energy within her had already neutralized the corrosive aura.
She wiped the blood away casually, as if it were nothing more than a scratch.
Raine's consciousness drifted like flotsam in a freezing bog.
The extreme fatigue and mental shock left him numb and barely able to think.
The chill of the stone floor seeped through his clothes, easing the burning pain of the starlight backlash.
He slowly lifted his head, eyes hazy as he took in the ruins around him.
The ghosts who had vanished into stardust… his kin… his ancestor… Auston Morningstar.
Memories surged like a tide—no longer stories of glory, but distorted faces, tormented screams, and that final gaze of release.
Purification…
He had succeeded.
So why was there only emptiness and sorrow inside?
His family's history… the fate of the Starborn…
The glorious battles recorded in ancient scrolls, the legends passed down through generations—all now cast in shadow.
If even a hero like Auston Morningstar could fall, could be twisted into a hateful wraith…
Was the Starborn bloodline a blessing, or a curse?
What he once believed in—the truth behind his family's massacre, the search for his missing sister…
It all seemed blurred in the face of this harsh reality.
His sister… Lilia…
Was she really just trapped in Falling Star City?
Or had that legendary skyward city already become another hell like this one?
The vision… Was that truly a cry for help?
A chilling thought slithered into his mind like a serpent.
What if she too…
No!
Raine shook his head violently, trying to drive away the dread.
But he couldn't stop the creeping cold from rising within.
Karrion leaned against the pillar, regaining his strength while reassembling his gear.
His hammer was caked in black sludge and bone fragments, its runes dulled.
He picked up a whetstone and began grinding the blade, the rasp of metal on stone steady and sharp.
His eyes, seemingly idle, flicked toward Thalia.
She stood near the edge of the rune barrier, gazing out into the dark woods, her figure solitary.
"Hey, witch," Karrion called, voice deliberately casual, breaking the silence.
"Those tricks of yours just now… were interesting."
Thalia didn't turn.
"What do you mean?"
"You know… those shadowy moves." Karrion kept grinding his hammer. "Worked damn well on those wraiths—better than my runes, even."
He paused, adding, "Not exactly the usual dark sorceress stuff, huh?"
He remembered clearly the thick, almost tangible shadow magic that had surged around her in battle.
That energy was pure, powerful, and laced with a chilling pressure that could directly annihilate the corruption within the wraiths.
Not normal dark magic.
Even stranger—he'd sensed something in her aura that both countered and resembled the corrupted energy of the wraiths.
Thalia's shoulders tensed ever so slightly.
She turned slowly, her face hidden deep beneath her hood.
"The Forest of Corruption hides more than you think, dwarf," she said calmly. "To survive, one must keep a few tricks in reserve."
She deftly dodged the core of the question, attributing everything to necessity and the hostile environment.
Karrion narrowed his eyes, staring at her shadowed face for a few seconds.
She was clearly deflecting.
But he didn't press.
Now wasn't the time.
The seed of doubt had been planted—it would grow in due time.
He grunted and returned to honing his hammer.
Thalia turned back to the forest.
No one saw her hand slip beneath her cloak, pressing tightly against her chest.
Beneath the fabric, she could feel the cold, hard shape of the object embedded there.
A starcore shard…
To hold off the wraiths and protect Raine during Auston's purification, she had drawn far more power than intended.
The eruption of shadow energy had been effective—but also poisonous, hastening the shard's consumption.
She could feel it: the faint starlight sustaining her was fading faster now.
A bone-deep cold and a creeping weakness were quietly spreading.
Every time she used that power, her life was burning away.
She was a candle in the wind—each flare of light brought her closer to being snuffed out.
She inhaled deeply, swallowing the metallic taste rising in her throat.
They couldn't know.
Especially not Raine.
He'd borne too much already.
The weight of his family's legacy, the backlash of starlight, the brutal truth just revealed…
If he knew her condition—it might break him.
She had to endure.
At least… until they found a way into Falling Star City.
After that…
She didn't dare think further.
Night deepened.
The whispers of the corrupted forest were muffled by the runes, but within this tiny zone of safety, a different silence took hold—one steeped in tension and unease.
Raine was lost in confusion over his family and his future.
Karrion sharpened his weapon in silence, and with it, his suspicions.
And Thalia…
She bore alone the secret of her fading life—like a lone dancer at the edge of shadow, treading a path no one else could follow.
This brief moment of respite brought no true peace.
The shadows lingered.
The worries remained.