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Zara’s mouth quirked up at one corner, something between amusement and irony. “Seems we had more in common than either of us knew. I was Security Division, remember? Trained to neutralize threats.”

She adjusted the makeshift bandage, her touch professional but gentle. “I spent the first week in that cell plotting different ways to kill you if you tried anything.”

The shared understanding hung between us, oddly comforting in its symmetry. Two enemies by training and birth, now dependent on each other for survival.

The bond strengthened with this revelation, deepening as another layer of mistrust dissolved.

“Rest,” she said again, adjusting my position to take pressure off the worst of my burns. “We’ll move when you’re stronger.”

I didn’t have the energy to argue. Sleep pulled at me, the fever making my thoughts sluggish and disconnected.

This close to her, I could smell the distinctive scent of her markings—something like ozone after a lightning strike, metallic but not unpleasant. Different from the natural human scent, altered by whatever energy had changed her.

Something about her expression caught my failing attention—determination, yes, but also fear. Not of me, but for me.

Concern that I recognized belatedly as genuine care, not just strategic necessity. No one outside my clan had looked at me that way before.

The realization disturbed and comforted in equal measure.

“Thank you, Zara.” The words emerged as barely more than a whisper.

Her hand found mine, fingers intertwining. The contact sent warmth through our bond, strength flowing between us.

Not enough to heal, but enough to sustain. Something beyond physical—a connection that my clan’s teachings had never mentioned, a depth to the bond that transcended our differences.

“Just stay alive,” she murmured, her voice following me as consciousness faded. “I didn’t break us out just to lose you now.”

Her presence remained even as my awareness slipped away—a silver thread connecting us, anchoring me to life when the darkness would have claimed me entirely. My tail moved weakly, curling around her wrist in the instinctive gesture of Nyxari trust.

My last conscious act, connecting us physically even as the bond connected us energetically.

Darkness claimed me then, but the bond remained—a silver-gold thread connecting us even as awareness left me. My final thought, unspoken but carried through the bond nonetheless:I will not leave you alone in this wilderness.

ZARA

The distant rumble of thunder pushed us onward through the darkening forest. Ravik’s weight against my shoulder grew heavier with each step, his breathing more labored. The fever from his infected wounds was worsening.

We needed shelter, and soon.

“There,” he murmured, voice barely audible over the wind rustling through alien foliage. His tail hung limply behind him, no longer able to maintain even the slightest motion that might help with balance. “Rock formation. Might have... overhang.”

I adjusted my grip around his waist, careful to avoid the worst of his wounds. The heat of his fever seeped through the torn fabric of his clothing, burning against my palm. “I see it. Just a little further.”

The jutting rock face came into view as we crested a small rise. My markings tingled beneath my skin as we approached. The reaction wasn’t as severe as when we were near the ruins or Hammond’s tech, but there was something here—perhaps traces of the ancient energy network that ran throughout the planet.

The sensation spread across my nerves, not unpleasant but insistent.

The overhang formed a shallow cave, deep enough to provide shelter from the approaching storm but not so deep as to harbor predators. I tested the ground with my foot, feeling for instabilities or the telltale vibrations of burrowing creatures before helping Ravik inside. The rock felt cool and solid beneath my palm as I guided him to sit against the back wall.

His golden eyes were fever-bright in the dimness, his breath coming in shallow pants.

“Let me check your wounds,” I said, kneeling beside him on the sandy cave floor.

His blue skin felt hot under my fingers as I carefully unwrapped the makeshift bandages. The musty scent of the cave mingled with the metallic tang of blood and the sharper smell of infection. The slashes from the guardian automaton were angry and red, the edges showing the telltale black tracery of an infection exacerbated by the energy weapon burn.

“Not good,” I muttered, the words escaping before I could filter them.

“I have... survived worse,” he replied, but the way his lifelines flickered weakly beneath his skin told a different story. The golden patterns seemed dulled, their usual vibrancy muted by his condition.