The suffocating sense of danger that had pressed against their chests just monts ago slowly faded, leaving behind a silence that weighed even heavier.
Yet Riven and lly's bodies still refused to move. Riven's breath ca heavy, ragged after the tension that had just gripped him. At last, he loosened the tight embrace with which he had shielded his sister.
lly imdiately crouched, her small fra leaning close to the woman lying on the ground. The woman's breath was faint, as if her life were a candle's wick about to gutter out. Tangled strands of hair clung to her pale face, streaked with sars of blood—whether her own or another's, it was impossible to tell.
'Who… is this woman, really?' Riven wondered, his brow furrowing. 'Why is she here? Her appearance… so ruined. That's blood, isn't it? Don't tell she's being hunted… Damn it. Could she be connected to the chaos in the city earlier?!'
Riven clenched his teeth. The night had stretched on far too long. 'Why does trouble keep finding ? I've had enough. I haven't even had a proper rest. All I want is to get far away, find soplace safe, and sleep. Damn it. Just how cursed am I tonight?'
He drew in a long breath, then let it out in a heavy sigh. A firm decision settled in his mind. He would not take on another burden, one that could drag them both into the abyss.
"lly, let's go now." His voice was flat, tired, but resolute. "This place isn't safe anymore. We have to leave."
lly turned sharply, her wide eyes shimring with worry. "But… what about her, Riven?" she asked, her voice trembling.
Riven's jaw tightened.
"We leave her," he said coldly.
lly swallowed hard, her shoulders trembling faintly. "Then… what about this woman?" she whispered again, as if hoping for a different answer.
"We're leaving her," Riven repeated, quick and harsh. His tone left no space for negotiation. "She isn't our problem. We don't know who she is, or why she's here. You felt it yourself, she's dangerous. And it looks like she's being hunted by soone just as dangerous. If we get involved, we'll beco their targets too. Our safety cos first, lly. Do you understand?"
lly stared at her brother, tears brimming in her eyes. "How can you say sothing so horrible?"
The words struck Riven's chest like a blow. He flinched but masked it quickly with anger. "Horrible?!" His voice rose, sharp and bitter. "You call horrible, lly?! Everything I've done is to protect us!"
"But does it have to be this way?!" lly shot back, her tone breaking into a desperate cry. "If protecting us ans letting soone else die, then what does that make you?!"
"Yes!" Riven barked, without hesitation. His head throbbed from exhaustion, and in that mont, his control over his emotions slipped.
lly froze, her chest tightening. That single word cut into her heart like a blade. But beyond the pain, anger boiled. She couldn't believe her kind brother had turned into soone like this.
"So if it's for our survival… you'd kill others too?!" she demanded, her voice broken but burning with fury and disappointnt.
"Yes!" Riven roared again, louder this ti, as though trying to drown out the flicker of doubt inside him. But the instant the word left his lips, regret slamd into him. But too late.
Silence devoured them.
And then—
SLAP!
The sound cracked through the night, not only striking Riven's cheek but his very heart. His head snapped to the side from the force. Heat burned across his skin, but the ache inside his chest was far worse.
lly stood before him, her small hand still raised. Her shoulders trembled violently, and finally her tears spilled over. Her lips quivered, and her words broke apart.
"Brother… you're not like this…" Her voice shattered, raw with hurt. "How could you beco soone like this? You're not the kind of person who would abandon soone to die…"
Riven froze.
His eyes widened as he stared at his sister. For the first ti that night, he was truly silent. Not from fear, not from hesitation, but because that slap hadn't just stopped him. It had struck his heart.
lly's wet gaze t his, her voice trembling through the stillness of the night.
"You've started changing since you kept going to that horrible place…" she whispered, but each word cut deep. "This was my first ti there tonight, but I know… anyone would lose their mind if they stayed in a place like that too long. Every ti you ca back with weapons scavenged from the dead… you changed."
Riven remained silent. His eyes were hollow, his mind tangled, his tongue bound.
"Back then, you could still smile… you could still laugh… still joke with ," lly's voice broke with sobs, her body trembling. "But now… now you're a stranger. You've beco cold… frightening…"
Her words pierced Riven's chest like blades, one after another. He wanted to deny it. To say everything he'd done was for her, for them to survive. But each excuse that ford in his mind collapsed, sounding like lies before he could even speak them.
"I don't even know who my brother is anymore," lly wept, her fists clenched, her shoulders shaking. "I don't need gold! I don't need fresh at! I'd rather eat stale bread every day and work at the market… than sit at ho every night in fear, waiting for you to co back!"
Riven lowered his head. His gaze fell on lly's tear-streaked face. That face… the innocent face he had sworn to protect with his whole life, now stained by fear. Fear born from him.
"I'm always afraid every night," lly continued, her voice ragged, yet forcing its way out, as though years of silence erupted all at once. "Afraid the door will never open again. Afraid every footstep outside isn't yours. I… I'm always terrified of losing you…"
Riven's throat went dry. Bitterness coated his tongue. His hands shook before he realized it. His head pounded as his mind replayed what he had done tonight—six people… six lives ended by his hands in a single night.
When… did I beco like this?
When did I decide to stop caring?
All at once, it all ca crashing down.
lly's sobs grew louder, breaking apart the silence of the night, careless of beasts or n who might hear. "Stop scavenging weapons, Brother… please… I'm begging you…"
Her words struck harder than any slap. Riven felt his chest crack open, his breath faltering, his body close to collapsing.
And just as he wavered under the crushing weight of guilt, lly's small fra lunged forward, throwing her arms tightly around his waist.
Riven gasped.
That embrace… was warm. Too warm for soone like him.
His hands hovered in the air, trembling, afraid to return it. Afraid to touch his sister, as though his hands would taint her with the blood and sins caked upon him.
But lly didn't care.
She held him tight, refusing to let go, as though if she released him, the world itself would rip him away from her.
"Brother… promise … promise …" she whispered, her words broken between sobs.
Riven closed his eyes. Heat welled behind them, his vision trembling. For the first ti that night, he felt utterly fragile.
"I promise…" he whispered, hoarse and shaking. "Tonight… tonight is the last day I scavenge weapons. I promise, lly… I've wanted to stop for so long… I'm tired…"
And this ti, his words weren't a lie.
This ti, he ant them.
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