Chapter 79 - Using our bare teeth
Lilia searched through the cart again.
They hadn’t touched it since the first day — not really.
Back then, they had taken the water, a few usable items, and then left it alone.
It had felt…
Wrong.
Like it didn’t belong.
Now the last of their water was gone.
The final container emptied that morning.
So she had no choice.
She pushed aside scraps of cloth, old tools, broken metal pieces…
Everything inside the cart felt misplaced.
Her fingers slowed.
Seven days in this trial.
And they still had no explanation for the temple.
Or the cart.
Or the scattered bones and armor fragments buried beneath the rubble.
Why had it all been here when they arrived?
Had someone else once stood where they stood?
Lilia swallowed.
Was this some kind of joke?
A cruel stage the gods had set?
A place meant to feel like survival was possible—
Until it wasn’t.
She let out a quiet breath.
“Just work with what we know,” she murmured.
But the longer she stared at the cart—
The less it felt like a coincidence.
Lilia forced water down her throat, swallowing carefully to make it last.
They had been rationing it.
But it was running low.
And there was nothing in this place but endless fields of grass and broken stone.
No streams.
No shade.
No sign of life.
If the water ran out—
Lilia shook her head sharply, cutting the thought short.
She had hoped, foolishly, that the sixth day might be the last. That the six suns had meant something.
A pattern.
A limit.
She should have known better.
“How absurd,” she muttered, letting out a dry laugh.
She dragged her hands down her face.
Her journal lay open beside her.
She hadn’t written much today.
Just two entries.
Two aberrations.
That was what the trial had thrown at them the previous night.
On the page were even rougher sketches of fox-like creatures with three eyes and elongated limbs.
Underneath, brief notes.
Fast.
Coordinated.
Hunted in tandem.
Ryn and Lilia had managed to bring them together.
Ariel had ended both with a single shot.
They didnt dare risk more than that.
Ryn had taken more injuries in the process.
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Again.
Lilia was fine.
She stared at the page for a long moment.
Seven days.
And no sign of an end.
She got up slowly
The temple was empty.
Ariel had climbed up somewhere high again, seeking air the way she often did now.
Ryn had walked out without a word.
Lilia picked up her journal, closed it carefully, and slid it into its usual hiding place—between a pile of rubble and old bones near the wall.
Then she stood.
The temple felt smaller each day.
Cracks split the stone more visibly now. Dust gathered thicker in the corners. Portions of the ceiling had begun to sag.
She wondered how many more nights it would survive before collapsing entirely.
She stepped outside.
The sudden brightness made her squint. The pale light of the six suns felt harsher than usual, almost unforgiving.
It illuminated everything.
Her torn tunic.
The dents in her armor.
Her unkempt hair.
Not that she cared anymore.
Her boots sank slightly into the grass.
Ahead of her, Ryn stood alone in the field.
He was testing the weight of his blade in his remaining hand, swinging it through the air in slow, controlled arcs. Each movement was deliberate, measured.
Lilia watched him for a few seconds.
After a while, Ryn glanced in her direction.
“Something wrong ?”
Lilia didnt answer for awhile then shook her head
“...Just watching” she answered
Ryn looked at her for a moment.
Then nodded once and continued.
Lilia stayed where she was.
Watching.
It was obvious the injuries were stacking now. His shoulder, thigh, and chest were still wrapped in blood-darkened cloth. Some of it had seeped through again.
His expression remained tight as he swung.
Measured.
But not effortless.
Still, even with one arm—
His form was strong.
Each swing cut cleanly through the air, deliberate and powerful.
Ryn really was incredible.
She didn’t mean to think it.
Let alone say anything.
But after a few seconds—
“You know… when you lost your arm, I thought you’d never swing your sword again.”
The words slipped out before she could stop them.
Her eyes widened slightly.
“U-Uh… sorry. I didn’t mean to— I shouldn’t have said—”
She didn't finish. Ryn interrupted
“Why wouldn’t I?” He asked matter-of-factly.
Silence stretched between them.
Lilia looked down at the grass.
“I thought it would be difficult,” she admitted. “Impossible, even. Using your sword this well with one arm… that’s not normal. Not many people can do that.”
He didn’t say anything at first, then replied,
“I guess that’s true,” Ryn said.
He kept swinging.
“But you two needed help ” he added evenly. “Didnt you?”
The blade cut cleanly through the air.
“It’s not like I could stand there and do nothing.”
His expression tightened slightly.
“Not being there for so long was bad enough.”
Another swing.
“So I didn’t have the option of watching.”
He lowered the blade briefly. He thought for a second, then said,
“Even if I’d lost both arms”—he paused—“I’d still try and fight.”
Lilia let out a faint laugh. It didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“That would be something to see.”
Ryn shook his head slowly.
“Maybe I’d use my teeth.”
This time she covered her mouth, a real laugh slipping through.
Then it faded.
She hesitated before speaking again
“But at that point…” she said quietly, “would there even be a reason for you to help? You’d just be a burden. So why bother?”
A beat of silence.
“I’m not sure,” he admitted.
Then he resumed swinging.
“Maybe… maybe it’s because it’s my duty. The final task given to me—to protect Ariel.”
Another clean arc.
“But I know this much.” He didn’t look at her.
“Even if I lost everything, I’d still try to fight.”
***
Ariel sat high along the broken edge of the temple wall.
Higher than usual.
Knees drawn in.
Her body hurt.
Not sharp.
Not sudden.
It was a deep, splitting ache — like something inside her was cracking slowly outward. Every breath dragged heat through her ribs. The golden fractures along her skin that now reached her lips pulsed faintly beneath the surface, spreading thin lines of warmth that never cooled.
Even sitting still hurt.
But she liked it up here.
From this height, everything felt smaller.
The field.
The ruins.
Up here she almost felt—
Larger.
Freer.
Distant from it all.
She looked down.
Ryn and Lilia were talking below. The wind carried faint pieces of their voices upward.
Lilia laughed.
A real one this time.
“That’s good…” Ariel muttered softly to herself.
She rested her head on her hands
Lilia had been close to breaking. Ariel had seen it.
So hearing her laugh again meant something.
Ariel coughed suddenly.
Hard.
The sound scraped out of her throat.
Her lungs burned.
She pressed a hand against her chest, trying to steady her breathing.
There was no way it should hurt this much.
Right?
She shook her head.
Looked up at the six pale suns burning overhead.
Night seven, she thought.
Would it be the last?
She doubted it
***
That night—
The temple collapsed.
