Aren sprinted.
Not the practiced, controlled running the Remnant drilled into him—
but real survival running.
The kind where the world behind him vanished into a collapsing darkness.
The Voideater Prime pursued with steps that didn't match its body—
sometimes slow,
sometimes impossibly fast—
as if it ignored the concept of distance entirely.
Aren pulsed another Voidscar signal behind him—
THMM—
A fractured ripple shivered through the air.
He didn't look back.
He didn't need to.
The Prime reacted instantly.
A hollow, cavernous sound echoed in the fog—
not a roar—
but hunger sharpening.
Its pursuit accelerated.
"It's following the trail… good… good…"
Aren wasn't sure if he was reassuring himself or announcing his own impending funeral.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The ridge terrain shifted beneath him.
Loose shale.
Uneven rock.
Ravine edges hidden by fog.
Perfect for dying.
Aren leapt across a broken ledge—
slid down a slope—
and pulsed another Voidscar signal.
THMM—
Fog twisted behind him.
The Prime's shape flickered closer.
The female operative's voice cracked over the handheld comm:
"Aren?! Are you still alive?!"
He breathlessly responded,
"For now!"
The older operative shouted:
"You're supposed to LEAD it, kid! Not let it catch you!"
"I'M DOING MY BEST!"
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The Remnant watched from a distant rise, silent and motionless.
The operatives, scanning from a ridge above, could hardly breathe as the Prime closed the distance.
"It's gaining on him!" the female operative cried.
The older one gritted his teeth.
"He needs the first Voideater to intercept! Otherwise he's dead!"
"I know that!" she snapped.
But in the valley…
Aren saw nothing except fog and death.
He pulsed another signal.
THMM—
The Prime's silhouette sharpened, drawn to the instability like a predator sensing blood.
Aren whispered:
"Come on… where are you…?"
He needed the first Voideater.
He needed it NOW.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The fog beside him dropped.
Not shifted—
not moved—
dropped, like the world underneath it was erased.
Aren skidded to a stop.
His heart hammered.
"…There you are."
The first Voideater materialized to his left, limbs twitching in curious hunger.
Its hollow face turned toward Aren—
then toward the approaching Prime.
Aren pulsed twice, sharply.
THMM—THMM—
Both creatures reacted.
The first Voideater stepped toward him—
but hesitated, drawn by the pulse.
The Prime's deeper vibration answered—
and the first turned its attention toward the bigger threat.
For the first time, Aren felt hope.
"They see each other."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The Prime advanced with a crackling distortion—
its form expanding and collapsing like a reality glitch.
The first Voideater lowered its center of mass, maw widening.
Neither made a sound.
They simply moved.
Aren backed away carefully, another pulse ready.
"Okay… good… follow each other… not me…"
The Remnant's voice shook the valley:
"Do not pulse again."
Aren froze mid-motion.
"What?! It hasn't fully turned away—!"
"Do. Not. Pulse."
The Prime's head twitched.
The first Voideater's limbs spread wide.
Aren swallowed.
"But if I stop now—"
"They will fight."
Aren's voice dropped.
"…And I need them to fight each other."
"Yes."
He lowered his hand slowly.
The Voidscar stopped pulsing.
The Prime paused—
hunger searching—
then locked onto the first Voideater.
The air thickened.
Fog inverted.
The world held its breath.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The two creatures collided.
Not like beasts.
Not like monsters.
Like forces.
The Prime's maw expanded, swallowing stability itself—
the ground beneath it warped and collapsed.
The first Voideater phased, reappearing behind the Prime, attacking its presence instead of its form.
Reality screamed.
The shockwave hurled Aren backward—
he hit a rock wall hard.
Dust exploded.
His ears rang.
But he was alive.
Barely.
The two Voideaters tore at one another in a silent storm, each strike unraveling the fog further.
The Remnant stepped beside Aren.
Even it kept its distance.
Aren stared in awe and terror.
"…So this was the plan."
"Yes."
"They… they're destroying the entire valley…"
"That is their nature."
Aren clutched his bow.
"Why do I have to be the one doing this…?"
The Remnant lowered its massive head.
"Because the void listens to you."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The fight exploded outward—
a force-shock sending Aren tumbling again.
He rolled, coughing.
The Remnant didn't move.
"Stand."
Aren forced himself up.
"I can barely breathe—"
"Stand."
Aren planted a foot.
Then the other.
He gripped the Voidscar Bow.
Chest burning.
Limbs trembling.
The Remnant spoke:
"Lesson ten:
Your survival shapes the void's behavior."
Aren swallowed.
"…Meaning?"
"Meaning that when they finish…
the survivor will search for you."
Aren froze.
His blood turned to ice.
"…WHY?!"
"You are the strongest presence left."
A low tremor rippled through the ground.
The Prime and the first Voideater separated.
The Prime staggered—
runes of hunger flickering.
Its limbs dragged.
It was hurt.
Damaged.
Weak.
And it turned its hollow head…
toward Aren.
Aren whispered:
"Oh no…"
The Remnant stepped behind him.
"Lesson eleven."
Aren trembled.
"…What is lesson eleven?"
The Remnant answered:
"Finish it."
Aren's heart nearly stopped.
Finish a Voideater Prime?
With his Voidscar Bow?
He raised the weapon.
His pulse roared.
His vision sharpened.
And for the first time in his life—
The void inside him didn't tremble.
It listened.