Silence settled over rubble.
Not the peaceful kind.
The dead kind.
The kind that came after an explosion strong enough to erase entire families in one breath.
Snow drifted down slowly, mixing with ash and powdered concrete, settling over broken tarps, twisted beams, and frozen bodies. Frost cracked across the edges of collapsed structures, steam rising from places where sunfire had melted through the street.
Somewhere under that snow…
Varik moved.
Barely.
A muffled groan escaped him as sensation clawed its way back into his body. His vision pulsed black and red, head ringing so loudly it felt like someone was hammering inside his skull. He tasted iron. He felt… cold. And hot. And numb.
Something warm was leaking down his side.
He blinked, forcing the blurry world into focus.
He was half-buried beneath a panel of broken metal, one leg trapped beneath debris. Blood soaked into the snow beneath him, steaming faintly. His breath came out in ragged, stuttering gasps.
For a moment
—just a moment—
he almost didn't move at all.
It would be easier to stop.
To close his eyes.
To freeze.
But then—
Gavin.
The world snapped into place.
The sound of Lux's scream cut through his ringing ears.
The memory of Gavin's coat — disappearing under a mountain of rubble.
"No…" Varik croaked, voice raw. "No, no—Gavin—"
He tried to push himself up.
Pain ripped through his side so violently he saw white. His breath hitched. His elbows buckled and he collapsed face-first into the snow.
He stayed there a long moment, gasping for air.
"Move."
"Get up."
"Lux needs me."
Gavin—
He swallowed a sob and forced his body to obey.
Slowly—
inch by agonizing inch—
Varik reached down and grabbed the metal sheet trapping his leg.
He pulled.
The metal didn't budge.
Varik clenched his jaw, teeth grinding. The wound in his side pulsed, each throb sending waves of fire up his ribs.
He tried again.
This time, the metal lifted just a fraction—just enough for him to yank his leg free. He rolled onto his back, gasping, clutching at his bleeding side.
The world spun.
His vision blurred.
But he didn't stop.
He couldn't.
He dug his elbow into the snow and dragged himself forward.
The movement made him scream.
A broken, guttural sound he didn't even recognize as his own.
He kept crawling.
Every breath felt like needles stabbing into his lungs. The cold bit into his exposed skin, but beneath it all, radiating outward from the wound, was a slow, sickening heat. He didn't know if it was Hlyr awakening, infection, or just blood loss.
He didn't care.
"Lux…" he rasped. "Lux—wait… I'm… coming…"
The ground felt endless.
He left a streak of red behind him as he crawled across the ruined street, dragging his body through snow and soot. His fingers shook violently, every touch against the frozen ground lighting up his nerves like live wires.
He crawled past bodies.
He crawled past broken stalls.
He crawled past a girl he had seen begging just hours ago, her eyes still open, frost forming on her lashes.
His stomach twisted.
But he kept going.
"Damn it…" Varik growled, voice cracking. "Damn it, Gavin… you idiot… why'd you… push us…?"
The image flashed again — Gavin shoving them aside, sprinting into death without hesitation.
Varik's vision blurred with rage and grief.
"You… weren't supposed… to die first…"
Another sob escaped him, but he bit it down so hard blood filled his mouth.
He dragged himself forward.
Sometimes on elbows.
Sometimes on his belly.
Sometimes just pulling his body with his fingernails when everything else failed.
Eventually—
He reached the outskirts of the slum sector.
A wide stretch of cracked snow separated him from the next cluster of buildings. Beyond that was nothing but white horizon and the faint glow of the city's distant barrier lights.
Varik's breath fogged the air weakly.
There were footprints.
No — not footprints.
Drag marks.
As if someone had been carried over a shoulder.
That man.
He had Lux.
"L…ux…" Varik whispered, reaching out toward the fading prints. "Don't… go…"
He tried to stand.
His legs failed immediately.
He collapsed face-first into the snow, coughing violently. Blood splattered the ground beneath him.
He lay there, shivering uncontrollably.
His thoughts were scattered, half-frozen, half-delirious.
Lux needs me.
He can't be alone.
Gavin wouldn't… forgive me.
Get up. GET UP.
"GET UP…!" he screamed at himself, voice tearing.
He pushed himself up again — nothing but willpower holding him together.
He crawled.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Until the slum sector was just a blurry smear behind him.
Until his vision darkened around the edges.
Until his fingers barely responded.
Until his breaths came in short, wheezing shivers.
He dragged himself toward the city lights that flickered far, far beyond his reach — following the only trail left behind: the one that carried Lux away.
He didn't know he was crying.
He didn't know he was bleeding out.
He didn't know he was dying.
He just kept crawling.
Through the cold. Through the dark. Through everything that had already broken him.
"…Lux…Gavin" he whispered again, softer than the wind. "…don't… leave…me…"
His fingers slipped.
The world tilted.
His vision finally went black.
Varik collapsed into the snow —
still facing the drag marks
still reaching for the friend he refused to abandon
even as consciousness left him.