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I crouched down, keeping my movements slow as I reached the elf slumped against the wall. He was twitching faintly, breath shallow and irregular. As I got closer, I took in the sickly pale tone of his skin.

I checked for a pulse, letting out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding when I found one. It was weak, but steady enough.

Not just a hallucination, I thought, relieved. He’s actually alive.

But damn, he was cold. His skin had a dampness to it, and his clothes looked about as thin as the rags I was wearing.

Probably hypothermic.

Lucky bastard didn’t just freeze on the spot. I set my bag down and glanced around, sizing up the situation. The cavern was big, bigger than I’d initially thought. No chance of any heat lingering here for long.

I reached for the cloak I’d been wearing, wincing as it peeled away from the burns on my skin.

“Damn it,” I muttered, feeling the sting settle in as I eased it off. The last thing I wanted was to make things worse for myself, but leaving him like this would be a death sentence.

“Alright, buddy,” I whispered, settling the cloak over him. “Let’s warm you up.” Slowly, I focused my Exira, guiding the energy through the cloak, careful not to let the pulse get too strong. Every time I pushed the energy even a bit, my head pounded, the wounds had yet to heal.

You’ve got this, I told myself, forcing the warmth to build up. After a few minutes, I could feel the cloak holding the heat, radiating enough to keep the elf from turning into a corpse.

“Good enough,” I sighed, pulling my hands back. I took a step back and sank down against the opposite wall, keeping my eyes on him. “Now what?”

The elf didn’t move, just lay there wrapped up, breathing shallow. I caught myself scanning the rest of the cavern, looking for anything I might have missed. I’d just started to reach for my bone bundle, the one with everything I’d painstakingly gathered, when the reality hit me.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I muttered, running a hand over my face. The whole damn kit is back in that other cave. Somewhere, along with the remains of that acid-spitting monstrosity, probably burning to a crisp. I couldn’t help but chuckle, the irony just rich enough to take the edge off.

“Yeah, that’s just perfect,” I said to the empty cavern.

With a sigh, I grabbed the torch, clicking it on just enough to cast a low, steady glow around us. The light was faint, enough to see by, but it would have to do. “

So, it’s just you and me now,” I murmured, glancing at the elf. You’re alive, but I doubt you’re in any shape to be helpful right now.

Settling back, I let the silence seep in, my gaze flickering between the elf and the cave walls. There wasn’t much to do now but wait, and that meant trusting that this stranger, whoever he was, would be worth the trouble.

I shifted against the cold stone wall, wincing as I brushed my hand over my skin. It stung like hell–an irritating, prickling sensation that just wouldn’t fade. The burns from that acid were still fresh, leaving my skin an angry shade of reddish-pink.

Like I needed more pain right now, I thought, shaking my head.

But oddly enough, the chill in the cave helped. The cold bit into me, numbing some of the pain. Letting out a slow breath, I settled into a meditative state, trying to calm my body down and get a handle on everything that had happened.

Every muscle aches, every thought seems frayed around the edges.

That fight, I mused, the acid beast’s image flashing in my mind.

I huffed, a rueful grin slipping out. “Ugly as hell and then some,” I muttered, my voice echoing softly in the cavern.

That acid-spewing monster was the first real elite I’ve seen of this lizard race. And it wasn’t just brute strength– intelligence and unique properties. I closed my eyes, the memories playing over again in my mind. If I’d faced it head-on? No way. I wouldn’t have come out unscathed.

I rolled my shoulders, feeling the lingering burn and weight of exhaustion. \

"Let’s be honest, if I’d gone all out, I’d be tapping into that last charge right about now, probably using it to keep my guts inside or my leg attached." I let out a dry chuckle, letting the thought settle in.

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"Lucky, that’s all it was. Stupid luck."

But despite everything, there was something else underneath. Something that hadn’t let go since the moment I’d plunged back into that water, ready to tear that bastard apart. I felt alive. Alive in a way that was sharper, more real, even with the pain clawing at my skin and the exhaustion seeping into my bones. It wasn’t like any other feeling, not since...well, not in a long time.

I let my head fall back against the wall. “No sane person should feel like that,” I muttered.

“Umm, was I dropped as a child?,” I laughed softly to myself, the sound bouncing back in the silence. It was a strange, twisted humor, but it was the only thing that made me feel lighter, like some unseen weight had lifted off my shoulders.

After a moment, I exhaled and opened my eyes, glancing across the cavern to the elf still wrapped up in my cloak, twitching faintly. I let out another small laugh, quieter this time. "

So what’s your story, huh? Guess we’re both stuck down here, keeping each other company, for better or worse."

I shook my head, closing my eyes again. In this grim, damp place, it was the small things that kept me going–maybe just barely.

…

Time passed.

I let out a long breath, feeling the weight of everything lighten just a bit. Sometimes just getting the thoughts out made the load feel more bearable, like releasing a tightly wound spring. My hand reached instinctively for the earring on my left ear, the only one I wore. It felt cool under my fingers, that solid, familiar metal that had somehow kept me steady through all this hell.

“Thanks, I guess,” I murmured, running my thumb along its edge. How many times had this thing saved me now? I couldn’t even count. Every time the world felt like it was spinning out of control, or I was about to lose it completely, it would kick in. There’d be this sudden chill, like icy water down my spine, and everything–pain, fear, anger–would just go silent, blanked out like a smothered flame.

I sighed, rolling my head back. Yeah, a damn double-edged sword, I thought. It wasn’t all roses and salvation. With every chill, every calm it brought, I felt myself slipping further into something colder, something… detached. Like I was losing a part of myself each time. The moments right after felt hollow, like all that emotional weight was scrubbed clean but at the cost of something I couldn’t name. Doesn’t matter, though.

Not really, I told myself. In this hellish cave, with these damn monsters, having something that kept me sharp, kept me focused… I wasn’t complaining.

But then there was… that place. The Limbo, I thinks that's the name of that place…the final gateway to origin.

I felt a shudder at the memory, that void of endless black, echoing and stretching in every direction. Even thinking about it now felt surreal, like a half-remembered nightmare that didn’t quite belong to me.

It wasn’t just darkness– I really don’t remember anything else but I’m damn sure touching one’s mind or origin using Exira, they would be there too and at an advantage.

I could hear my mother’s voice, her warnings from years ago, every word dripping with that serious tone she only used on things that mattered. “Touching a being’s origin is a sacred act, Alexis. It isn’t to be done lightly, and never without purpose,” she’d told me. “If you ever connect to a living being’s origin, you’ll be dragged in, and if you’re not prepared, it can consume you.”

I ran a hand over my face, exhaling. She’d made it sound like some untouchable taboo, something that could cost a person everything. Yet there I was, dragged in by that acid-ugly fucking obese bastard, barely holding on.

For a split second, I’d felt… in control. Just for the briefest heartbeat, I’d been able to bend that darkness to my will, to command it. And then it all went to hell, and I felt like I was drowning, like it was swallowing me whole.

“Not doing that again,” I muttered, clenching my jaw. Unless I was better prepared, I’d be an idiot to touch another origin. I’d need a whole damn contingency plan, a rock-solid way to keep myself from slipping back into that nightmare.

The elf stirred suddenly, coughing and gasping. I jolted, barely realizing I’d drifted off myself.

Blinking, I moved toward him and reached for my water bottle, uncapping it quickly.

Steadying him in a sitting position, I lifted the bottle to his lips.

"Easy now," I murmured, watching as he sipped in small, instinctive gulps. His breaths were shaky, and he coughed, his eyes still closed, as if he hadn’t fully come yet.

“Here, take it slow,” I whispered, rubbing his back as he choked down another mouthful. It took a few moments, but he eventually relaxed in my hold, the coughs subsiding as he swallowed.

I eased him back against the cave wall, making sure he was settled, his chest rising and falling in steady breaths.

The glow from the moss cast a soft, muted light around us, painting everything in greenish hues, and I found myself studying his face. The elf’s features were sharper, more angular than a human’s, with those pointed ears marking him as something other than human—just like the other elf I’d encountered.

Tall, pale, with an almost ethereal look. I couldn’t help but wonder what his story was, how he’d ended up in this hellhole.

The cuts and bruises on his body were visible even through his torn clothes, but none of them looked life-threatening. As I probed further with Exira, though, I could sense a faint pulse, his life force struggling to hold on, like a thread fraying at the ends. His energy was slowly fading–poison, maybe, or some kind of internal damage. Not good.

“Damn,” I muttered, leaning back against the wall beside him, mind racing. Poison... Another thing to add to my mental list of dangers. Everything here seemed to be designed to kill, like the whole place was hellbent on draining me down to my last breath.

My own body wasn’t holding up well either. I could feel the toll—every ache, every bruise. Weeks without real sleep, constant battles, Exira draining me every time I used it. Food was sparse, too. The jerkies helped, but they weren’t much against the punishment my body had been through.

A slight cough jerked me out of my thoughts. The elf’s eyes fluttered open.

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