Darkness swallowed Xavier whole.
He wasn't sure how much time had passed. It could have been minutes, or perhaps hours. Somewhere within the haze of unconsciousness, he became aware of a strange sensation. His body was moving, slowly being pulled across the snow. Every now and then the uneven ground jostled him, sending dull aches through his bruised limbs. The cold wind brushed against his face without mercy, carrying with it countless snowflakes that settled over his body before melting against his skin.
His consciousness gradually surfaced. Sounds that had once been distant slowly became clearer—the whistle of the winter wind weaving through the pines, the faint scrape of something dragging across the frozen ground, and beneath it all, the labored breathing of someone pushing themselves far beyond their limits.
His eyelids twitched.
Opening them felt like lifting a mountain.
A narrow slit of light greeted him, but everything remained blurred. White snow blended into dark trees, the world swaying gently with each pull. He blinked several times, forcing his sluggish vision to focus.
A pair of feet came into view first, sinking into the snow with every exhausted step. His gaze slowly travelled upward until it settled on a familiar figure.
Xylo
His frail body leaned forward as he gripped a rope with both hands, dragging a makeshift sled fashioned from the giant's thick cloak stretched over broken branches. Every pull demanded visible effort. His breathing had grown ragged, and from time to time his body staggered as though his legs were ready to give out beneath him. Yet he never stopped. He simply steadied himself, tightened his grip, and continued pulling Xavier through the endless forest.
Xavier stared blankly for several moments before his dry lips finally moved.
"...Xylo?" he called, his weak voice drifting through the wind.
Xylo stopped instantly.
He slowly turned around, and the moment his eyes met Xavier's, the tension in his face melted into quiet relief. A tired smile appeared on his cracked lips.
"So... you're finally awake."
His voice was hoarse, barely louder than the wind itself.
"I was beginning to think I'd have to drag you all the way to the tower before you opened your eyes."
A faint chuckle escaped him, but it quickly turned into a violent cough. He covered his mouth instinctively, and when he lowered his hand, fresh blood stained his trembling fingers.
He looked at it for only a moment before quietly wiping it against the snow.
Without another word, Xylo tightened his grip on the rope once more and resumed walking, leaving a long trail behind them as the makeshift sled continued gliding over the snow. Around them, the forest remained silent, save for the mournful cry of the wind and the steady rhythm of two survivors pressing onward beneath the windy, endless snowfall.
Xavier watched Xylo's frail figure in silence as he continued dragging the sled through the snow. Every step looked heavier than the last.
Unable to bear the sight any longer, Xavier planted both hands against the rough fabric beneath him and tried to sit up. The movement sent a sharp pain tearing through every muscle in his body. His arms shook violently beneath his own weight before giving out entirely, causing him to collapse back onto the sled with a pained groan.
"You need to rest," Xylo said without turning around. His voice was hoarse, nearly drowned out by the howling wind weaving through the towering pines. "Your body hasn't recovered from the lightning."
Xavier let out a tired sigh before shaking his head. "And let a dying man drag me through a forest?" he muttered. "I don't think so."
A faint smile found its way onto Xylo's cracked lips.
"I'm already dying."
"That doesn't make me feel any better."
The smile lingered for only a moment before disappearing beneath another fit of labored breathing. Neither of them spoke after that. The forest seemed to swallow their silence, leaving only the mournful whistle of the wind and the soft scrape of the sled gliding across the snow.
After walking for several more minutes, Xylo's voice broke the silence once again.
"...Xavier."
"Hm?"
"Look ahead."
Summoning what little strength remained, Xavier slowly lifted his head. At first all he saw were endless rows of snow-covered pine trees stretching into the distance. Then, through the narrow gaps between them, a radiance came into view. A pillar of white light rose high into the night sky, bathing the surrounding forest in a pale glow. The light was so intense that he instinctively narrowed his eyes. Even Xylo had to lift a trembling hand to shield his face from its brilliance.
"What... is that?" Xavier asked quietly.
Xylo stared at the distant light for several moments before answering.
"I think..." He paused, his weary eyes never leaving the glow. "...that's the tower."
Neither of them spoke again. They simply continued toward it, the light growing ever so slightly brighter with each slow, exhausting step.
Xavier lay there for another moment, staring at that distant beacon. It represented the only path home. The only reason any of them had endured this nightmare for so long.
Drawing a slow breath, he rolled himself onto his side and forced his battered body off the sled. The moment his feet touched the ground, his knees buckled beneath him. He fell face-first into the snow, the freezing cold biting into his skin almost instantly. Gritting his teeth, he remained there only briefly before forcing himself back onto his hands and knees. Every muscle in his body resisted, but after several failed attempts, he finally managed to stand.
His legs trembled beneath him as he staggered toward Xylo. By the time he reached him, he was breathing just as heavily.
"You've done enough," Xavier said, placing a weak hand on Xylo's shoulder. "You can rest now. I'll take it from here."
Xylo turned slowly to face him. His pale face had grown even thinner than before, and the curse spreading beneath his skin had become impossible to ignore. Dark patches of withered flesh crept farther along his arm, while the tiny pores covering his body stood out against his ghostly complexion. He looked at Xavier for a long moment, wanting to refuse, yet the strength to argue had long abandoned him.
After a quiet sigh, he gave a small nod.
"...All right, thank you."
Without another word, they exchanged places. Xylo carefully lowered himself onto the makeshift sled, closing his eyes briefly as his exhausted body settled against the giant's heavy cloak. Xavier bent down and wrapped both hands around the rope. The coarse fibers dug into his bruised palms as he tightened his grip.
Before taking the first step, he lifted his eyes toward the distant pillar of light once more.
Now that they had drawn closer, the forest no longer sounded empty.
Faint cries drifted through the night. The clash of steel echoed somewhere beyond the trees, followed by desperate screams and the chilling shrieks of Specters. Magic burst like distant thunder, illuminating parts of the forest before fading just as quickly. Countless people were fighting, struggling, and dying, all for the same destination that stood before them.
Xavier swallowed quietly.
He looked back over his shoulder at Xylo, whose breathing had already grown shallow from exhaustion. Then he lowered his gaze to his own trembling hands.
A weak smile crossed his face.
The two of them were hardly in any better condition than the monsters hunting them. One was slowly dying from the price of his own power. The other could barely stand after enduring enough lightning to kill an ordinary man several times over.
It almost felt absurd.
Prey... carrying prey.
Yet, despite the thought, Xavier tightened his grip on the rope and leaned forward. The sled lurched behind him as he took his first step, then another, dragging both of them toward the distant tower while snow continued to fall from the silent sky above.
Xylo lay quietly on the makeshift sled, his breathing shallow and uneven. His body had grown weaker during the journey, and even keeping his eyes open seemed to require effort. For several minutes, he simply listened to the steady rhythm of Xavier's footsteps and the faint dragging sound behind him.
Then Xavier spoke.
"Xylo?"
"Yeah?" Xylo answered.
Xavier continued pulling, his hands wrapped tightly around the rope. "Do you have a wife?, by any chance"
The question caught Xylo completely off guard. For a while, he said nothing. His eyes slowly opened, and through the gaps between the pine branches, he caught glimpses of the dark sky above them.
"Yes," he eventually said. "Well... I used to have a wife."
Xavier's footsteps slowed slightly. "Used to?"
Xylo noticed the concern in his voice and quickly added, "She's alive. Don't misunderstand. She's not dead."
Xavier glanced over his shoulder. "Then where is she?"
Xylo remained silent for a moment before asking, "Why are you asking me this?"
"The giant, he mentioned her." Xavier's gaze returned to the path ahead. "He made it sound like there was something between the two of you. If you don't mind me asking... what happened?"
Xylo stared at the darkness above him.
"It was years ago."
His voice had changed. The exhaustion was still there, but something older had settled beneath it.
"I had a good life, once. I had steady work, a home, a wife I loved, and a daughter who used to run toward the door whenever she heard me coming home." A faint smile touched Xylo's face.
"My wife would usually be waiting behind her. She had this habit of smiling at me whenever I walked through the door, even when she was exhausted. She'd still be wearing the same simple dress she'd spent the day in, sleeves rolled up, hair tied back because she had been working around the house."
He closed his eyes.
"I used to think I'd have that forever. Then I met the wrong people."
Xavier's expression tightened slightly. "What kind of people?"
"The kind who make foolish decisions look harmless." Xylo gave a quiet, humorless laugh. "At first, it was only gambling. A little here, a little there. I thought I could win some money for us."
"And you couldn't."
"No." Xylo answered.
"I kept losing. Then I started drinking. I told myself it helped me relax after a long day's work, hmm...I was such a fool
Xavier looked back at him briefly. "And your wife?"
"When she found out I was drinking, she got worried. I promised her I'd stop, but I didn't; I went there anyway, behind her back. One Night we got into an argument. I did something I couldn't take back and said something, but I didn't mean it; I was drunk.
The wind slid between the trees, carrying a veil of snow that drifted across the path like a ghost.
Xylo's voice cut through the hush. "She took our daughter… and left while I was away."
Xavier slowed, his boots crunching against the frozen earth. For a moment, the forest answered only with his footsteps.
"At first, I was furious," Xylo went on, his tone sad. "I thought she'd come back. Thought it was just a cruel way to scare me into changing. But she never did."
Xavier's gaze lingered on him. "That's… heavy. I'm sorry."
Xylo pushed himself off the sled, standing tall despite the weight in his words. "It's alright. Just don't ask me about it again. I've lived those mistakes once already—I won't relive them. Let's keep moving."
Xavier nodded. "Can you manage on foot?"
A smirk flickered across Xylo's face. "Of course. We need to move quickly—I won't be the one to slow us down. Besides…" His eyes glinted. "You wouldn't abandon me here, would you?"
Xavier chuckled, the sound warm against the cold. "Never dream of it."
But the smile drained from Xylo's face in an instant. His body shifted, tense, dropping into a defensive stance.
Xavier's breath caught. "Xylo? What is it?"
Xylo's eyes swept the treeline. " Xavier quick, grab the blade something's here. Uhh seroiusly wont this damn realm just let us go, Twice we almost died why is this so difficult"