(POV: Ava)
I always thought that when the world ended, there would be a loud noise.
A bang. A crash. A moment of utter chaos that tore everything apart and left only silence behind.
But that wasn't how it happened.
It was quieter than that. Subtle. Gradual. A slow bleed until the earth grew cold, and people were nothing but whispers in the wind.
***
The night after the battle on the bridge was colder than anything I'd ever felt. The wind had picked up, howling through the cracked buildings and sending the mist swirling in angry gusts. It didn't feel like the same world anymore. It felt like something else had taken over.
Kael was still unconscious when I dragged him into a dilapidated building nearby. We found an old storage room, with enough scraps of fabric and debris to make a small nest of sorts. I kept the candle burning low, so it wouldn't attract anything, but the flickering light didn't seem to matter. Everything felt dead. Empty.
But Kael wasn't.
I watched him carefully as he lay there, his chest rising and falling with every shallow breath. His skin was pale—too pale—and the veins on his neck were still dark and spreading, like they were trying to claim him back. I could see the struggle in him, the way his body fought to remain human even as the darkness inside him pulled harder.
I reached for his hand, tentative, but he didn't stir.
Please, don't leave me.
It was the first time in a long while that I allowed myself to think those words. I'd been so focused on surviving, on getting us out of whatever mess we were in, that I hadn't really thought about the future. Or what it would be like when we didn't have to run anymore.
What if there was no future?
What if he did change? What if one day, I woke up and the Kael who had saved me, who had fought beside me, was gone? What would I do?
I couldn't answer.
So, I just held his hand.
***
The next morning, I woke to find his eyes watching me. Red and tired but there, still human.
"Kael," I breathed, sitting up quickly. "How do you feel?"
He didn't answer at first. His eyes scanned the room as if he was assessing it—no, us. Slowly, he sat up, his movements stiff but controlled. The veins on his neck were pulsing again, but not as badly as before.
"I've been better," he said quietly, his voice hoarse. "But I'll survive."
"Are you sure?"
His lips curled into a smile—barely there, but enough to make my heart skip. "Are you?"
I didn't know how to answer that. So, I didn't. I just helped him to his feet and steadied him when he swayed. His body was a mess of scars and bruises, the result of years of fighting whatever it was he was born to fight. I wondered if I'd ever know the full truth.
***
We traveled through the streets for hours that day, moving cautiously, always on the lookout. The city felt even more deserted than before, but that was the worst part. When a place became quite enough for you to hear your own heartbeat, you knew the silence was waiting for something to break it.
We passed a few other survivors—mostly scavengers, desperate, beaten down. But none of them spoke to us. None of them looked us in the eye. We were not the people they wanted to make contact with.
I couldn't blame them. Not really. There was a dark power in the air, something that made even the most ordinary of people afraid to trust.
And I could see it in their faces too. They were afraid of us.
***
By nightfall, we had reached the outskirts of the city. The sky above was darkening, heavy with the promise of another storm. It felt like the world was holding its breath again. Even the wind had stilled.
"We need to keep moving," Kael said, his voice low, urgent. "It won't be long before they send someone after us."
I looked at him. "Who?"
"The ones who created the Bleed. The ones who want me back."
I felt a chill crawl down my spine. "How do we stop them?"
Kael's eyes flickered, darkening. "You can't. You run. You survive."
I shook my head. "Not without you."
Kael looked at me, and for a brief moment, his gaze softened. "Ava, you need to understand. I'm a weapon. A tool they created to destroy. You can't stop that. No one can."
I grabbed his arm before he could turn away. "You're not just a weapon. You're a person. And you're here with me."
He sighed. "I don't know how much longer that will be true."
"You can't know that."
He didn't answer me. Instead, he turned away, looking out over the broken skyline.
"I don't want you to stay with me because you feel like you have to," he said quietly. "I want you to stay with me because you want to."
My chest tightened. I couldn't find the words to answer him. Instead, I just stepped closer, my hand brushing against his arm. His body tensed, but he didn't pull away.
"I don't know if I'll survive this," he said, his voice barely a whisper.
"You don't have to," I said softly, my hand resting on his chest. "As long as I'm with you, I can face it."
He looked down at me, his eyes filled with something I couldn't read. "I'm not good for you, Ava."
I tilted my head, meeting his gaze directly. "I don't care."
We camped in the remains of an old warehouse, the broken windows allowing the cold night air to cut through the space. Kael sat against the wall, staring into the darkness. I knew he was thinking about the First One, about the fight, about what it all meant.
I knew he was thinking about leaving.
I could feel the shift in him. The hesitation. I could see it in the way his hand twitched every now and then, like he was struggling with some inner battle.
I couldn't keep pretending I wasn't afraid. I was. I had no idea what would happen to him, what would happen to us. But I couldn't let him push me away again.
So, I made a decision.
I sat beside him, pulling my knees to my chest, and looked at him. His eyes flickered to mine, hesitant but not pulling away.
"We can't change what's happened," I said. "We can't stop what's coming."
Kael looked at me, the darkness in his gaze softening slightly. "No."
"But we can decide how we face it."
He stared at me for a long time, his lips parted as if he wanted to say something—something important—but he didn't. Instead, he just nodded.
***
The night passed in uneasy silence, the air heavy with unsaid words. But in the stillness, in the quiet between us, I found something that had been missing. A glimmer of hope. A flicker of something worth fighting for.
And I swore, deep in my heart, that I would fight for him. No matter what happened next.
Because there was no turning back now.
We were in this together. For better or worse.