Seris coughed again.
Her eyes opened halfway.
Everything was blurred.
Trees.
Moonlight.
Stone.
Blood.
Then—
a green figure standing across the clearing.
Seris froze.
Her pupils contracted.
Her breathing stopped for a moment.
"...No."
Traveler looked down at her.
"You know her."
Seris tried to push herself up.
Her body immediately failed her.
Traveler caught her before she fell.
The green serpent watched them.
A faint smile appeared across her beautiful face.
"You're awake."
Seris stared at her.
Her voice was weak.
"Traveler..."
He looked at her.
"Stay still."
Seris grabbed his sleeve.
"Don't let her..."
She struggled to breathe.
"...bite you."
Traveler looked toward the serpent woman.
The creature's tongue slowly slipped between her lips.
She smiled.
"Still afraid of me, Seris?"
Seris's expression tightened.
"You're not supposed to be here."
The serpent woman tilted her head.
"Neither are you."
Traveler didn't waste time.
He lifted Seris into his arms.
The serpent's eyes narrowed.
"You intend to leave?"
Traveler turned away.
"Yes."
Her smile disappeared.
"No."
The ground beneath her tail compressed.
Then—
she launched herself forward.
Her massive tail tore through the leaves.
Traveler moved.
Not backward.
Forward.
His body vanished from where he stood.
The serpent's hand closed around empty air.
Her eyes widened.
Traveler appeared several meters away with Seris in his arms.
The serpent immediately turned.
He was already moving again.
A blur of white hair crossed the clearing.
Branches snapped behind him.
The serpent lunged.
Traveler accelerated.
She missed.
Again.
Traveler disappeared between the trees.
The serpent slammed into the ground.
BOOM.
Leaves exploded into the air.
She lifted her head.
For the first time—
she looked genuinely irritated.
"Fast..."
But Traveler was already gone.
He didn't look back.
He carried Seris deeper into the forest.
Her breathing remained weak.
Traveler glanced down.
"You warned me."
Seris barely opened her eyes.
"She's..."
Her voice faded.
Traveler continued walking.
"Save your strength."
Seris's head rested against his chest.
Then Traveler felt something strange.
Her body became warmer.
He stopped.
He looked down.
The wound across her side—
was changing.
The blood had stopped.
The damaged flesh was slowly closing.
Traveler watched silently.
Thin lines of new skin formed across the injury.
Seris's breathing became steadier.
Another wound disappeared.
Then another.
Traveler frowned.
He hadn't done anything.
He looked at his hand.
Nothing.
He looked back at Seris.
Her healing continued.
The wound that had nearly killed her was disappearing before his eyes.
Seris slowly opened her eyes.
She looked down.
Then froze.
Her fingers touched her side.
"...I'm healing."
Traveler said nothing.
The process continued.
The blood on her clothes remained—
but beneath it, her skin was becoming whole again.
Seris looked at Traveler.
"Did you do this?"
"No."
"Then..."
Traveler looked toward the darkness behind them.
He remembered the black mark.
The Devourer.
The Nihilfire.
The strange things happening to his body.
But he said nothing.
Seris slowly rested her head against him again.
Traveler resumed walking.
Behind them—
the green serpent stood alone in the clearing.
She stared into the forest.
Her tongue flicked through the air.
The scent of Traveler was fading.
But something else remained.
A strange scent.
Black.
Ancient.
Wrong.
The serpent's smile slowly returned.
"So..."
She whispered.
"That's what you are."
She looked toward the darkness where Traveler had disappeared.
Then—
her eyes narrowed.
"Interesting."
Far away—
Traveler continued carrying Seris.
Neither of them noticed the faint black mark that had appeared beneath Seris's healed wound.
It lasted only a second.
Then disappeared.
Traveler kept walking.
Unaware.
The forest ahead grew darker.
And somewhere behind them—
the green serpent began following.