Human.
A boy slumps forward, gasping, his weight real and warm as he collides with me. He looks younger than Ryder—barely more than a first-year at Moon. His skin is pale and unmarked, untouched by the thing he was only moments ago. His hands are just hands now, fingers trembling as they clutch at my sleeve.
Silence crashes down around us.
“W—where am I?” he asks, voice thin and disoriented. “W—who are you?”
Confusion rearranges his features as he looks around, taking in his surroundings.
“I’m Asha. That’s River, and—”
“Ryder?” His voice lifts with recognition.
Ryder is already crouching in front of him, searching his face like he’s afraid it might dissolve if he looks away.
“You’re Xavier, right?” he asks.
The boy nods quickly, breath hitching.
“You’re okay,” Ryder says gently. “It’s all over now.”
Something in Xavier’s shoulders loosens, tension drains from him as if the words themselves are holding him upright.
“What am I doing here?” he asks, still dazed.
“I’ll explain everything later,” Ryder says, firm but kind. “Right now, we need to get you somewhere safe.”
Xavier nods without hesitation.
Ryder glances at me, a silent question.
I don’t hesitate.
I open the portal to Ziek’s village, light folding inward as space tears cleanly apart, and we all make our way inside.
***
“So… what, are you like a God now?” Nala asks, eyes wide as she watches her bone knit itself back together under my hands. We’re tucked inside one of the chalets in Ziek’s village—the place his people use when they’re hurt. Shelves crowd the walls, cluttered with potions and elixirs. It reminds me of the healing quarter at school, only far more rustic and less academic, more lived-in.
“Gods, no,” I say with a laugh. I tap her leg, letting her know she’s fully healed. It still feels surreal that with the gem, my powers actually work inside the Hollow. Now being back here doesn’t scare me nearly as much as it once did. I’m still standing between the jaws of this place, but now… now I know how to keep them open.
Nala rises slowly, testing her newly healed leg. She takes a tentative step, then another, before breaking into a grin.
“Good as new!”
“I can’t believe you actually did it!” Ziek says, eyes bright as he watches the lingering glow fade from my hands.
“I can’t either,” I admit, breathless with the truth of it.
“WhatIcan’t believe,” Nala cuts in, pointing between River and Ryder, “is how those two idiots didn’t kill each other along the way”
“That’s what I said,” I laugh, shaking my head.
“Remind me why we went back for her,” Ryder says, his voice dripping with sarcasm—
But then a real smile slips through. I know he’s happy to have her back, whether he’ll ever admit it out loud or not. River rolls his eyes at Ryder’s comment and pulls Nala into a hug.
“Oh, we came close a few times,” River adds, looping back to her earlier joke.
