“Stop! You idiots! Stop!”
Aries skidded to a halt. Collin slammed into his back, his nose colliding painfully with Aries’s skull.
“Who’s that?” Aries’s voice came in a rasp.
“Lekyi, is that you?” Collin shouted, squinting into the haze.
“Come this way!” Lekyi’s panicked voice cut through the smoke, his footsteps pounding from the left.
Aries yanked Collin—but the wrong way.
“No! Not there—go—”
Too late!
A deafening blast erupted. The ground shifted beneath Collin’s feet. Dust, stones, and forest debris swallowed him whole. The acrid smell of singed leather flooded his senses. His boots felt hot against the burning ground.
Slam—something solid against his shoulder. Rock? A body? A tree? He crashed to his knees with a sharp cry. Coughing violently, he couldn’t breathe, his lungs filling with dust and ash.
What was this? If he had a thousand guesses, he still wouldn’t have reached the answer.
A shape staggered in the haze. It was Aries, arms over his head as debris rained down.
Another figure burst through the smoke. Lekyi this time, his body colliding into Aries, slamming them both to the ground in a violent thud that rattled Collin to his core.
No time to think. Another explosion ripped through the air. The force lifted Collin and flung him against a tree. His back slammed against the rough bark, then he crumpled to the ground, every nerve quivering.
He lay there, motionless, sucking in sharp, ragged breaths. His pulse thundered painfully in his ears. The forest fell into a deathly silence. No birds. No rustling leaves. Just the lingering scent of fire, singed wood, scorched cloth, and hair.
Was it safe to move? Could he move?
He cautiously wiggled his toes. His boots were intact. His knee throbbed, his back ached, but his limbs all seemed to be there. His head was spinning, but he was alive.
A few yards away, Aries was slumped at the base of a tree, clutching his ribs. Blood trickled from his cheek. Behind him,Collin could just make out another body—Lekyi—lying on his side, frighteningly still.
Would speaking trigger another explosion? He didn’t know. But when Aries let out a low groan, Collin could no longer remain silent. “Is everyone alright? Say something.”
After a long beat, Aries groaned, “I think—I think I’m alive. You?”
Collin slowly pulled his legs under him and sat up, wincing. “I think I’m all here. Maybe.” His limbs throbbed, but no fresh explosions came. “Lekyi, you alright?”
Silence.
Collin stared at his motionless friend, dread gnawing through his stomach like a starving dog.
“Oh god!” Aries’s panicked voice made Collin’s heart drop. “He’s hurt! Collin, get over here! He’s hurt bad!”
Every instinct screamed at him to stay put, but slowly, carefully, Collin studied the clearing. Yellow handkerchiefs fluttered from tree branches all around them. The back of his neck prickled.
It was the smell—the sharp, burning scent—it came back to him in a rush. Black powder. Of course—Lekyi’s project.
“Can you tell how bad it is?” Collin called.
Aries crawled to Lekyi’s side, hesitating before leaning close. “He’s alive—but... he’s bleeding. A lot. His leg...”
Collin’s heart seized beating. “Is he conscious?”
“Not sure. Lekyi? Can you hear me?”
