Her eyes snapped to his. "I am controlling it."
"No," he said calmly, "you're forcing it."
Her jaw tightened. "I didn't ask for commentary."
"And I didn't ask to be your experiment," he shot back. Silence hit between them Then she pulled her hand back. The light vanished instantly. He exhaled slowly, tension easing just slightly from his body.
"…wow," he muttered after a second, "you almost killed me twice."
Her brows lifted. "You're still alive, aren't you?" A pause.
"…unfortunately," he said dryly. That almost made her smile. Almost.
She looked down at him again, this time actually studying him properly. Not just the injuries. Everything.
"You're not from here," she said. It wasn't a question.
"No," he replied. "Obviously." His eyes flicked up to her again, sharper this time."You always state the obvious like that?"
"Only when it needs to be said." She replies.
"…it didn't." She ignored that. Her gaze traced over him again—the unnatural blend of forms, the way his body looked like it couldn't decide what it was supposed to be. "…what are you?" she asked.
There was a pause. Not long. But noticeable. Then— "A Kirin."
She blinked. "A what?"
His brow furrowed slightly. "…you don't know what a Kirin is?"
"Clearly not," she said, gesturing vaguely at don't "and I'm looking at one, so… explanation would be helpful."
He studied her for a second. Like he was deciding something. Then leaned his head back slightly against the ground. "Ancient," he started. "Not from one realm. Not tied to one kind of magic." She crossed her arms slightly. Listening. But not looking like it. "We're not supposed to exist in pieces like this," he continued, glancing down briefly at himself. "This—" he gestured faintly, "is what happens when something interferes."
Her expression didn't change. But something in her chest shifted. Because that sounded familiar. "…interferes how?" she asked. His jaw tightened slightly. "Breaks things," he said simply. "Magic. Form. Balance."
A pause."Everything." Silence settled more heavily this time. Not empty. Understanding. "…yeah," she muttered. Because she'd seen that already. Everywhere. The trees. The air. The portal. Her world. She shifted slightly, glancing back toward the direction she came from even though she couldn't see the portal anymore.
"…you picked a bad place to land," she said.
"Wasn't aiming for it."
"That makes two of us."Another pause. Then the ground beneath them cracked. Not a small shift. Not subtle. A deep, splitting sound tore through the earth like something underneath it had finally decided to break free. Both of them stilled. Then….Another crack. Closer.
"…that doesn't sound good," he said.
She gave him a look."You think?"The ground split open a few feet away. Darkness underneath. Endless. The trees began to tilt. Not fall. Tilt. Like they were being pulled.
"…we need to move," she said.
"You think I can run like this?" he snapped.
She looked at him. Then at the ground. Then back at him. "…you're gonna have to try."He let out a short, humourless breath."Fantastic." The ground cracked again. Closer this time. She didn't wait. She moved. Grabbing his arm, pulling him up harder than she probably should have. He staggered then caught himself. Barely.
"…you're enjoying this," he muttered.
"Just a little."And then—They ran. The ground didn't just crack. It gave up. A deep, violent split tore through the earth behind them, ripping upward like something beneath the realm had finally decided to breathe. The sound was wrong. Too loud. Too alive. Azaliyah didn't look back. She didn't need to. She could feel it. The pull. Like something was dragging the world inward, swallowing it piece by piece.
"Faster," she snapped. "I'm trying—" Camron's voice cut off as his footing slipped, his body struggling to keep up with itself, one half moving faster than the other. "Try harder." Azaliyah yelled. "Helpful." He retorted. A tree tilted sharply to their left then ripped straight out of the ground.
Not falling. Pulled. Vanishing into the split earth with a hollow, echoing sound that didn't end. Azaliyah's breath caught. "…what is that?"
Camron didn't answer. Because he didn't know. And for the first time it showed. They ran harder. The forest was collapsing around them now, chunks of land breaking apart, roots snapping, entire sections of earth folding inward like paper. The air screamed The magic what little was left of it was being dragged with it.
Azaliyah felt it. Her own magic flickered in response, unstable, reactive, like it was being pulled in two directions at once.
"…no," she muttered under her breath.
"not now."
The ground cracked beneath her feet. She jumped barely clearing it as the space she had just been standing in disappeared into darkness. Camron didn't clear it as clean. His back leg slipped.
His body dropped hard for half a second. She turned and grabbed him "Move!"
"I am moving—!"Another split tore through the ground right in front of them. They skidded to a stop. For half a second there was nowhere to go. Then Azaliyah saw it. Through the trees. Faint. Flickering. A portal. Still open. "…there," she breathed. Camron followed her gaze—And something in his expression tightened.
"Is that—"
"Yes," she cut him off, already moving again, "run." They didn't need to say anything else. They pushed forward, dodging falling branches, jumping broken ground, slipping, catching, barely keeping pace with a world that was unravelling faster than they could escape it. Behind them—The collapse surged.
Faster. Like it knew they were leaving. Like it didn't want them to.
"Go!" she snapped.
"I'm right—" The ground split between them. Clean. Sharp. Camron disappeared. For half a second he was just gone. Her stomach dropped. "antler head" she called. A hand shot up from the edge. Gripping. Holding. "…still here," he gritted. She didn't think. She moved. Dropping to her knees, grabbing his arm with both hands—"Don't let go."
"Wasn't planning on it." The ground beneath her started to give.
"…of course," she muttered. She pulled. Hard. Too hard. The magic surged with it. Gold light exploded from her hands. Not controlled. Not precise. It hit him. Wrapped around him and yanked. He was ripped from the edge slamming into her. They both hit the ground hard.
"…you could've warned me," he groaned.
"I didn't know I was going to do that," she snapped, already pulling him up again. The portal was right there now. Flickering. Fading.
"…it's closing," he said.
"I see that." They're away. The collapse hit behind them. A wave of darkness swallowed everything it touched. The portal shrank. Smaller. Smaller.
"Jump!" she yelled. They didn't hesitate. They leapt—And the world disappeared. They hit solid ground. Hard. Different. Still. Quiet. Too quiet. Azaliyah pushed herself up first, breath uneven, hands braced against the earth. "…we made it."
Camron didn't answer right away. Because the moment he lifted his head—Everything changed. They weren't alone. They were surrounded. Villagers stood in a wide circle around them. Silent. Still. Watching. Not with relief. With suspicion. With fear. Azaliyah's chest tightened. "…of course," she muttered. She pushed herself fully to her feet, brushing dirt from her hands like nothing had just happened.