The jungle was beginning to breathe again. The panic had passed, but the tension still strangled the air like vines that didn’t want to let go.

  Rell moved carefully through the fern-lined slope, stepping over broken roots and abandoned gear. The path he followed wasn’t one he knew. It curved against the grain of the mountain, away from the direction of the dock. Away from the plan.

  And yet he walked it.

  Because Neyxa was ahead of him.

  She hadn’t spoken much when she appeared from the treeline. Just caught his eye and tilted her head toward the deeper brush. Rell had followed without a word.

  Now, they walked in silence.

  Finally, she slowed.

  A fallen tree blocked the path, split by a lightning strike some time ago. Beneath it, a small clearing opened up — shaded, quiet, untouched by pirate boots or blood.

  She stopped.

  Rell waited.

  “I used to hide in places like this,” she said, voice low. “Back when I was smaller. Before I realized hiding didn’t make you safer. Just makes you easier to forget.”

  He didn’t reply.

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  She crouched down, resting her arms across her knees, fingers brushing a patch of moss.

  “Half-bloods like me… we don’t get to be proud of where we come from. The humans didn’t want me. The Deimos saw me as broken.”

  Her voice cracked slightly.

  “So I learned to be useful. Quiet. Dangerous. Even then, I was always… misunderstood.”

  Rell took a breath and sat beside her, leaning back against the tree.

  “You ain’t broken,” he said, simply.

  She glanced at him, eyes narrowing.

  “You’re just saying that.”

  He shook his head.

  “I know what broken looks like. I been it. This… this ain’t that.”

  The silence between them softened.

  Then Rell leaned forward and said,

  “You helped back at the camp. Got the keys, cleared a path, even now—walkin’ through this mess to help me track the others.”

  She looked away, expression unreadable.

  Rell leaned closer.

  “Thank you.”

  And then, he hugged her.

  It was simple. No move. No lean. Just arms — warm and certain — wrapping her into a still moment.

  She didn’t know what to do.

  So she let it happen.

  Her hands rose slowly, resting lightly against his back.

  When they parted, she looked dazed.

  Rell gave a small grin.

  “Felt like you needed that.”

  Neyxa blinked fast, then stood suddenly. She turned away so he wouldn’t see her expression.

  “I just—just didn’t want you to walk into another trap, that’s all.”

  Rell stood too.

  “Well, this the way?”

  She hesitated.

  “It’s… a shortcut. Around the ridge.”

  Rell nodded.

  “Then lead the way.”

  They started walking again.

  Only this time, she walked slower.

  And Rell’s steps were heavier.

  They reached a narrow gap between two cliff faces — a rocky choke point that led toward the old hunter’s overlook. From there, the docks would’ve been in sight.

  Except… something felt wrong.

  The air shifted.

  Rell stopped.

  He looked to Neyxa.

  Her body tensed.

  And then, from the shadows of the rocks ahead… a bootstep.

  A tall silhouette stepped out — slow, deliberate.

  Cursed arm gleaming like molten bone in the dying light.

  Yvonne.

  He wasn’t shouting. He didn’t need to.

  His face was a picture of cold fury — blood splattered across his jaw, his coat half-burned, his breath steady.

  He looked directly at Rell.

  “You played me.”

  Neyxa froze.

  Rell’s jaw tightened.

  “You followed us,” he said.

  “No,” Yvonne said. “I followed her.”

  His eyes didn’t leave Rell.

  “You think I didn’t know? The way she moved. The way she disappeared during every critical moment.”

  Neyxa stepped back.

  Rell moved slightly in front of her.

  “She came back,” Rell said.

  “She led you here,” Yvonne snarled. “Right into a pocket you can’t run from.”

  Rell’s fingers flexed.

  Yvonne cracked his neck.

  “You’ve made quite the mess, jungle boy.”

  He stepped forward.

  “And now I’m going to bury it.”

  Chapter End.