The seconds ticked down like the slow, echoing heartbeat of a dying world.
Lia sat frozen in that cold, sterile chair, her hands clenched so tightly around her knees that her nails had left angry little half-moons in her skin.
The emergency countdown orb in the corner of the infirmary beeped every ten seconds with a cheerful little tone that felt like a dagger in her ears.
The sound was too light, too happy, like a sick joke being played while her friend's body suffered violently on the healing table.
Ren's limbs had stopped spasming now, not because things were getting better, but because his muscles were exhausted.
His body twitched instead, short sharp jerks that looked like marionette strings being pulled by a panicked child.
His eyes were half-lidded, blood trailing from the corners, his lips trembling with soundless groans.
The room was starting to smell like scorched metal and something… wrong. Something spiritual that didn't belong in the physical world.
