The mountains were quiet again, save for the distant groan of rocks settling and the sharp crackle of energy dissipating into the wind. The air smelled of scorched earth and blood.
Ash drifted down like snowfall over the scarred mountainside, glowing faintly in the aftermath of Lucian's explosion.
A crater smoldered at the center where he'd stood just seconds before, now empty, no trace of him except the scorched stone and bloodstained earth where Kia had bled.
Marinette pushed herself up, one trembling hand bracing her side. Her ears rang. Her vision blurred. But her mind was sharp.
He had vanished again ! Her heart was lamenting.
Jace stirred first. He pushed himself to his feet, coughing, dazed. Marinette was still on the ground, her limbs splayed like a broken doll, eyes locked on the place where Lucian had stood just moments ago.
"He's gone," she muttered, her voice hoarse. "He took the boy and vanished and we've lost his signal."
Jace limped toward her, casting a wary glance at the place Lucian had been. "No," he said quietly, "he didn't vanish. He ascended."
Marinette turned her head toward him. There was something fragile in her eyes fear, yes, but something else, too. Regret? Jace wasn't sure , He had abandoned Lucian the moment he stepped into Marinette's camp.
Greed and the quite for power had made abandoned his friends and their course.
"Call for a retrieval team," she ordered, but her voice lacked its usual steel. "We need to regroup before he comes back."
Somewhere Deep in the Mountains Lucian didn't remember how far he ran. Power had carried him like a storm through the wilderness, tearing through trees, leaping over rivers. It wasn't until his strength began to fade that he collapsed under the shadow of an ancient pine, Kia still cradled in his arms.
Kia was barely conscious. His breathing was shallow, but steady. The wound had stopped bleeding,but it wouldn't hold forever.
Lucian's hands trembled as he pressed them over the gash. Golden energy glowed faintly beneath his palms, pulsing erratically.
"Hold on, Kia," he whispered. "Don't leave me. Not like this." Then he wondered are the watchers that prone to deaths and accidents? Kia has been in a lot of near death experience.
He focused, drawing the shard's power inward. Pain ripped through his chest. It wasn't meant to heal others it was destructive by nature but Lucian forced it to bend. He willed the energy to knit Kia's torn flesh, to seal the wound, even if it burned him from the inside out.
The glow brightened. Kia gasped, arching slightly, then slumped into unconsciousness.
Lucian sagged beside him, the fire in his veins dimming. The shard was quiet now. Spent. For the moment. The voice spoke in his head again "why did you run ? You can activate 10 percent of my powers now that's enough to finish them off" Lucian just ignored him and continued tending to Kia.
Above them, clouds gathered. A soft rain began to fall weting the grounds and roofs mildy. Later That Night in a Hidden Cave
Lucian had found a cave tucked into the side of a cliff. It wasn't much, but it was dry, and with a fire kindled near the entrance, it felt almost safe.
Kia lay on a bed of moss and leaves, his face pale but peaceful. Lucian kept watch by the fire, blade in his lap, cloak wrapped tightly around him. He hadn't slept. He couldn't.
His mind spun with everything that had happened Marinette's hesitation, the third Shocher's brutal attack, the moment Kia fell.
And the rage.
He had lost control. The shard had taken over but he was glad his will was strong,it didn't kill anyone because Lucian didn't want to and he is scared that it might one day overpower his own will, he didn't know how much longer he could keep holding it back.
Elsewhere in the Shochers' Temporary Base
Marinette sat in the med bay, her left arm in a sling. Jace leaned against the wall nearby, watching her with narrowed eyes.
"You hesitated," he said bluntly. She didn't answer.
"If you'd struck when you had the chance, he wouldn't have gotten away. The boy would be dead. The shard would be ours." So he thought
Still silence.
"Tell me I'm wrong," he pressed. Marinette's jaw clenched. "You don't understand."
"No. You don't understand. He's becoming something we can't control. That blast today? That wasn't just power, it was evolution. If we don't end this now.."
"We will," she cut in, eyes flashing. "Next time, I won't hesitate."
Jace studied her face for a long moment. "See that you don't."
Back in the Mountains darkness had quietly slipped out of the horizon and the sun was starting to peep from the clown.
The fire had burned low. Lucian was still awake, staring at the dying embers when Kia stirred. "...Lucian?"
Lucian was at his side instantly. "I'm here."
Kia blinked up at him, disoriented. "Did we… get away?"
Lucian nodded slowly. "For now. But they're not far. We'll move again soon."
Kia's fingers curled weakly around Lucian's wrist. "You saved me."
"I almost didn't."
"But you did." Kia's gaze was steady despite the pain. "That power inside you… it's getting harder to control, isn't it?"
Lucian didn't answer at first. Then he said, quietly, "It's changing me."
"Then we need to find the Temple before it's too late."
Lucian's eyes met his. "Not just for the shard. For answers."
Kia nodded. "Then we go north. No more running. No more hiding."
Lucian looked out toward the rising sun, its light spilling like gold across the peaks.
"No more holding back."