The Korrigan Forest was not a simple place.

  It was something that listened.

  Rex walked in front of me and, as always, pushed the branches aside before they could brush against me. He didn’t do it because they would harm me; he did it because he knew I didn't understand why I should avoid them.

  It had been like that since the first day. He never said it out loud, but his hands were always in motion, clearing a path for me. As if I were… something that had to pass through first.

  Ryu was further ahead. His gray fire leaked through his scales like a poorly contained pressure. He didn’t look back, but he knew exactly how far away we were. He always knew.

  The rift in Rex’s hand throbbed violently, and my Door… responded.

  Connect. ?No. Not while he is still clearing the branches for me.?

  Suddenly, the mist tore into green lines. It was a clean cut, too precise to be an impulsive attack. Four figures descended. They wore black armor engraved with runes that exhaled the scent of preserved flesh.

  And above them, watching as if she already knew the outcome: Lira Voss. Her eye turned with a mechanical click, straight toward Rex’s hand. Not at me. She never looked at me first.

  "Confirmed," she stated. "He continues to prioritize it."

  Ryu attacked immediately. He wasn’t looking to kill; his gray fire struck the ground between us and the hunters, creating a line of separation. Space for Rex to move.

  Rex didn’t draw his blade instantly. First, he pushed me behind him with his forearm. That gesture. The same one as always. As if I didn’t know where to stand. As if I needed someone to point out: ?This is where you are safe.?

  Then, the action. The dagger flashed. Left flank. A short, efficient movement.

  A hunter fired a green discharge: acid, pure dissolution magic. I unfurled by instinct. I activated my camouflage of false leaves and veins copied from the environment. The impact was direct. I devoured the spell, but it was too much energy. A spear pierced my cloak, pinning a part of my being to the ground. I felt that fraction of me go dark.

  Rex turned. That was the flaw. He always turned when something happened to me. Always.

  The rift in his hand throbbed with violence. The dagger escaped his fingers, clattering against the ground. Lira smiled from her height.

  "Thanatos wants that reaction."

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  The name made Ryu hesitate for a second. Just one. The arrow shot out. It wasn't aimed at his chest; it went for the hand, for the rift. They wanted to pry him open.

  Rex didn't see the projectile. He was looking at me, checking if I was still whole. With the same gaze he used when he taught me how to wear a cloak, or when he handed me his own without explaining why I was trembling. Like when he put food in front of me knowing I didn't eat. Useless actions. Actions I didn't understand… until now.

  I moved.

  Contact. "NO!" Ryu screamed, but it was too late.

  I touched the rift. Blood erupted with the pressure of everything that had accumulated. Rex’s pulse stopped dead. It wasn't a slowing down; it simply stopped. The world lost its rhythm.

  The Door opened. Not to devour, but to sustain. I searched for his heartbeat and didn't find it, so I forced my own into him. It was an incorrect, violent blow… but a living one.

  The forest reacted with fury. Roots sprouted and the mist compressed. The hunters retreated, but Lira didn't move.

  "Pulse transfer," she whispered, fascinated.

  Ryu reached us. He didn't attack; he physically placed himself between Rex and me, gray fire compressed in his arm like a seal. A barrier between us, not against the enemy. It hurt. Not from the heat, but from the rejection. From the intent of his message: ?Separate.?

  "You are breaking him," Ryu said. There was no rage in his voice, only fear.

  Rex opened his eyes. He was looking at me for real. Like when he taught me to walk without making noise, or when he said: "You don't have to eat if you don't want to, only if you're curious." Useless words for a weapon.

  His hand moved, still connected to me by that forced heartbeat. Ryu trembled.

  "Rex… if this continues…"

  He didn't finish the sentence. Rex closed his fingers. Not to push me away, but to hold me. It was the same gesture he used to use to push me behind his back, but now it was to make sure I didn't leave.

  "Don't let go," Rex said. His voice was weak, but clear.

  Ryu looked at him as if he had lost something precious.

  "It's going to kill us."

  Rex shook his head once.

  "Then stay."

  It wasn't a command. It was a plea directed at both of us, so that no one would move.

  Silence. The forest listened. The hunters remained motionless. Lira kept learning. Ryu withdrew the seal, but didn't dissipate it; he held it, ready in case I made a mistake. That was the moment. Not when he attacked me, but when he decided to trust that I wouldn't.

  The hunters withdrew. They weren't defeated; they were loaded with data. Lira was the last to leave.

  "Repeat this process," she said. "We want to see the limit."

  And she disappeared into the mist.

  The bond remained active, unstable. Rex fell to his knees and Ryu held him. He didn't push me away, but he didn't look at me either.

  "Don't ever do that again," Ryu whispered. It wasn't a threat; it was the pure fear of losing him.

  I pulled away of my own accord. The heartbeat remained in his body, irregular, but his. The void pierced me with its characteristic cold, but it brought something new: memory.

  Rex took a deep breath. He looked at me and, as he always did after a battle, he adjusted the cloak over my shoulders, even though I didn't need it.

  "Thank you."

  It was the first time that word wasn't due to my utility.

  We kept walking. This time, Rex didn't push the branches aside. He forgot. The leaves brushed my face; it didn't hurt, but I understood. That gesture was no longer automatic. It was him.

  Far beyond the forest, something received the pulse signal and recognized it. Thanatos already knew how we beat. And I knew something worse.

  If Rex stopped walking in front of me, no one would ever clear the way for me again. No one would ever push me gently toward a safe place. No one would ever treat me like something that should stay.

  And that absence… I could not devour.

  End of Chapter 7