They dragged themselves deeper through the bowels of the tunnel network until the sounds of pursuit faded into the labyrinth behind them.
The cold stone walls curved into tighter passages, offering shadows that swallowed the noise of their footsteps. Lux clung to Gavin's shirt the whole way, fingers trembling not from fear but from the last remnants of heat coursing under his skin.
They finally collapsed in a narrow space in a wall just big enough for them to lay down.
Varik slid down, wiping dried blood from his cheek with the back of his hand. "That was… way too close," he muttered. Every word came out stiff, as if his ribs were tied together by wire.
Gavin only grunted. He held his injured arm close to his side, jaw tight. "We're leaving the sector tomorrow," he said, voice low and strained.
"Where to?" Varik asked without looking up.
"Anywhere else," Gavin answered. "Closer to the outer sectors."
Varik looked at him like a madman, "What?! Did you hit your head during the fight or have actually gone mad? The outer sectors are literal death zones, not only that but there is next to no food and they're so close to the rim that the storms we experience can't even be called a cool breeze in comparison we will freeze before we starve to death!"
Gavin answered sternly, " I know Varik but we really don't have any other choice. We can't stay in the middle or inner sectors because the Frostwalkers will have our heads if they spot us and I'm sure the big guys up top have already caught onto Lux by now. We don't know who they'll send but even they will think twice before going to the outer sectors."
"Yet you think we should be going there?!" Varik refuted
Gavin said simply, "Look, it's only a temporary thing we steal some food once we go up tomorrow, enough to last us about a week and we wait out the storm. By then everyone will think we're dead an then we find a sector with less of the Froswalkers influence and settle."
What Gavin was saying made the most sense given their current situation but Varik didn't like taking too much unnecessary risk and what they were planning to do is probably their riskiest move yet.
Lux chimed in and asked, "Why can't we just live down here? We can go up for food every now and then."
Gavin interjected, "These tunnels aren't safe. They are usually used by the people up top to transport excess waste from the factories closer to the inner sectors. If we stay here for another 2 days we'll be suffocated by the excess trash."
Gavin sighed, "If either of you have a better plan I'm willing to listen."
Varik and Lux stayed silent.
"So it's decided then, to the outer sectors,"Gavin reaffirmed.
He finally let out the breath he'd been holding. "Now, can someone help me with this," he murmured.
His arm—was bleeding, the wound wasn't deep but it was long, from shoulder to elbow—looked worse under the dim light. Varik rummaged through their things and found a bottle of old anticeptic and a roll of bandages with some unsightly stains, but it had to work.
"This is gonna hurt," Varik warned.
Gavin smirked humorlessly. "Add it to the list."
They worked methodically.
Varik cleaned the gash, applying pressure when Gavin hissed through his teeth. Lux helped hold the bandages steady, his hands still unnervingly warm, though the glow had faded hours ago. When they finished, Gavin's shoulder was wrapped tight enough to limit movement.
Only then did they check the surrounding tunnels—Varik peering down each corridor, listening for echoes; Gavin marking a crude warning sigil in the dust near the entrance, something only the old scavenger crews used anymore. They stacked debris to mask their alcove from casual sight.
Finally, when everything was as safe as it could be, they settled in.
Lux curled beside Gavin, resting his head against his uninjured shoulder. His breathing steadied quickly, exhaustion taking him fast.
Gavin leaned back against the wall, eyes heavy. "We move at first light," he murmured.
"You talk as if this damn place isn't always gray and dull," Varik commented.
He lowered himself to sit across from the two of them. He watched Lux's chest rise and fall—so small, so fragile-looking. Hard to believe the power that had burst from him hours earlier came from that same timid frame.
Harder still to believe what he'd seen from himself and Gavin.
He rubbed his thumb against the center of his palm, remembering the pipe he'd thrown—how steady his hand had been despite his body still half-locked from the Dyrheim's glare. Then the memory of Gavin ramming the beast into the wall… the force of that impact. Too strong. Too fast.
"That shouldn't have been possible," Varik thought.
Not from them.
Not without… something else.
He looked at Lux again—tiny sparks of warmth still clinging to his skin like fading embers.
Was it him?
Had his power somehow bled into them?
Or was it something else entirely?
Varik closed his eyes, unsure whether to be curious or afraid.
Sleep dragged him under before he could decide.