Jhed thought he was dead.
He wasn't.
He pressed his hand against his stomach slowly, fingers searching for the wound — the torn skin, the pain, the blood. There was nothing. Smooth. Whole.
How. How is this possible. My wounds are gone.
He sat up.
And found Rayo standing in front of him.
She had a sword in her hand.
For a moment, neither of them moved. The old woman stared at him — at his unmarked skin, at the blood-soaked sheet beneath him, at the boy who should have been a corpse — and something in her expression cracked open.
Shock. Pure, unguarded shock.
"You—" Her voice came out wrong. "You survived. How did you survive. That was a powerful spell."
Voices outside. Getting closer.
Her jaw tightened.
"I need to move quickly."
She raised the sword toward his throat.
Then she stopped.
She turned around.
Linea was standing at the tent entrance.
She had arrived without a sound. Her hand was raised, and Rayo's sword arm hung frozen in the air — caught by something invisible, something that bent the air around it like heat shimmer.
Magic.
People filed into the tent behind Linea, one after another, drawn by the noise or the light or some instinct that something had gone terribly wrong.
They all stopped when they saw.
"Linea — what's happening?" a man asked.
"This woman." Linea's voice was controlled. Dangerously so. "She tried to kill my son."
"But how—"
When did Linea get here, Jhed thought distantly. She was in the jungle.
Rayo struggled against the invisible restraint — an invisible rope, woven from Linea's magic, coiled around her wrist and wouldn't let go.
"Release me." Rayo's voice had gone ragged. "If I don't kill him, he won't release me either. You don't understand—"
Her sword slipped from her fingers and hit the ground.
Linea pulled her forward in one sharp motion and slapped her. Hard.
The tent went silent.
The others moved in and took hold of Rayo's arms.
"Jhed." Linea turned to him immediately, kneeling down to his level. "Where are you hurt? Show me."
"Nothing happened to me."
"Don't lie. All that blood—"
"I'm telling the truth."
She looked him over — arms, chest, stomach, face. Turned his hands palm-up. Checked behind his ears like she was searching for something she must have missed.
There was nothing. Not a single mark.
She pulled him into her arms without another word.
"You're really okay," she said. Not a question. More like something she needed to hear herself say.
Jhed sat stiffly in the embrace.
I feel uncomfortable. She's hugging me and I don't know what to do with that.
But underneath the discomfort, something else moved — a quieter thing, harder to name.
When that sword came down, I didn't feel much. No panic. No real fear.
Does that mean I wanted it to happen?
But if I wanted it — why did I think 'is this really where my life ends?' Why did it feel wrong?
The Sin inside Jhed had no answer.
Mendriya appeared at the tent entrance a few minutes later, pushing through the crowd that had gathered outside.
She stopped when she saw him.
"Jhed." Her eyes went wide. She crossed the tent in three steps. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah." He nodded.
She looked at him the way Linea had — searching for damage that wasn't there. Then she let out a slow breath.
"This woman is a murderer." Linea stood, turning back to Rayo with cold eyes. "She tried to kill my child. Take her away from me before I do something I won't regret."
"Release me." Rayo kept saying it, like a prayer, like something stuck on repeat. "If I don't kill him, he won't release me. You have to let me—"
"She's lost her mind," someone muttered. "Come on, let's get her out of here."
They led Rayo out of the tent.
The crowd thinned slowly. Murmurs faded. The candle had burned down to almost nothing.
Linea sat beside Jhed and put her face in her hands.
"I'm sorry, Jhed. I shouldn't have left you alone." Her voice was muffled. "I'm so sorry."
Jhed looked at her.
What do I say now. 'It's okay?' Is it okay? I don't know. What's the right response here.
He said nothing.
He just sat there, in the quiet, while the last of the crowd disappeared and the night settled back into stillness.