The door crashed open, shattering the stillness like a stone through glass. Caden’s slight form was framed in the doorway, backlit by the seething orange of a distant blaze. His breathless silence screamed a thousand things that Ana refused to hear. She kept her head down and her grip tight, staring at the glass and refusing to acknowledge the truth standing in front of her. The crackle of distant fire merged with the slow drip of liquor onto the bar.

"Why did you rush to the village?" Caden's voice wavered, slicing through the clamor and the silence. His words seemed to pull her eyes and attention upward, though his own were clouded with confusion and exhaustion.

Ana's lips tightened. She turned away, focusing on the ragged pattern of the floorboards, anything to avoid looking at him. He crossed his arms, leaning against the doorframe with a mixture of irritation and expectation. His presence filled the room, demanding her attention as much as the angry blaze behind him.

"I don't want to fight anymore," Ana replied, her voice low and edged with bitterness. She kept her tone curt, hoping it would be enough to push him away, to make him leave before she had to face the real reason she'd run.

"You say that, and yet here you are. Fighting," Caden said, unmoved by her attempt to deflect.

Ana's hands began to tremble again. She hated how well he could see through her, hated how he seemed to know exactly what she was thinking. "Not with you," she said finally, her grip on the glass tightening.

"Then why come at all? Why pretend like it matters?" Caden's frustration simmered just beneath the surface, threatening to boil over.

Ana glanced at him, at the boy who'd refused to leave her alone, who'd insisted on following her even when she tried her hardest to disappear. She opened her mouth to respond, to say something sharp and cutting, but nothing came. The words were stuck behind a wall she couldn't break through.

"Well?" Caden pressed, pushing away from the doorframe and taking a step closer.

Ana's voice erupted, louder and more raw than even she expected. "Because it does matter! Because it gnaws at me every damn day that I let them die! Do you know what that's like, Caden? To fail the people who depended on you? To watch everything you've built—and everyone you've fought for—turn to ash because you weren't strong enough?" Her breath ragged and her eyes blazing, she stood there, trembling with an awful, desperate energy that filled the room with its weight.

Caden froze, his expression shifting from frustration to something else entirely—an understanding mixed with a hint of awe. The words hung in the air, heavy.

She couldn't meet his gaze. She couldn't explain why she'd come back, why she'd thought she could save them. Herself. "I thought maybe I could—" She stopped, the words sticking in her throat. "Doesn't matter," she said, her voice harsher than she'd intended.

Caden shook his head. "You never finish a fight," he said. "You just run."

Ana laughed, a brittle, humorless sound. "Says the one who followed me here. Like a lost puppy."

"At least I follow," Caden shot back. "You're the one who's lost."

The accusation hung in the air, heavy and undeniable. Ana's deflection was crumbling, her defenses cracking under the weight of Caden's persistence. She wanted to lash out, to make him understand that he was the one who didn't get it, but she knew he did. That's what made it so infuriating.

The noise from outside was getting louder, the crackle of fire punctuated by distant shouts. It clawed at the edges of Ana's awareness, demanding to be heard even as she tried to ignore it. "I came because I thought—" she started, then stopped, frustration twisting her features.

Caden waited, his eyes never leaving her face.

"I thought maybe this time, I could make a difference," Ana said finally, her voice barely above a whisper.

"So you do care," Caden said, his tone softer but still laced with disbelief.

"Doesn't matter," Ana repeated, a familiar bitterness creeping back into her voice. "Everywhere I go, it’s the same. I can’t—” She stopped, swallowing her words. “I’m done."

"You're never done," Caden said, his eyes burning with determination. "Not with this."

They stared at each other, the space between them filled with unspoken truths and stubborn refusal to back down. For a moment, Ana saw a flicker of understanding in his eyes, a glimmer of the same desperation that had driven her here in the first place.

It was short-lived.

The scream cut through the night, shrill and unmistakable. Ana and Caden turned sharply toward the sound, the fire and tension outside suddenly invading the tavern's dim, tenuous calm.

"I told you," Caden said, his voice urgent. "They're not stopping."

Ana clenched her jaw. She knew he was right. She knew this wasn’t something she could just run from, no matter how hard she tried. Not if she wanted to live with herself. She hesitated, the weight of the decision heavy on her shoulders.

She hated that he was right.

The noise was getting closer, the cries of the village reaching them through the door like an accusation, a plea, a promise. Ana's resolve cracked, the urgency finally pushing her into motion.

"Fine," she said, the word half a surrender, half a challenge.

She pushed herself away from the bar and stumbled. A dizzying wave crashed over her, the room spinning like a mad carousel. The edges of her vision blurred, twisting the world into a lurching, uncertain mess. She gripped the counter for balance, willing herself to focus as the alcohol turned her limbs to lead.

Caden moved toward her, a mix of concern and frustration in his eyes. But Ana's pride held her upright, even as she swayed with the effort. She forced one foot in front of the other. Then another.

The air between them was electric as they braced for the new threat. The tremors in her hands returned, but this time she didn't fight them.

Ana's hands closed around the hilts of her blades, the familiar weight pulling her into sharp focus. The intricate glyphs glinted angrily as the tremors stilled, her movements shifting from ragged to precise.

Something locked into place within Ana, a mechanism of will and defiance clicking with finality. Caden saw it too. Recognition flickered across his face as he realized the woman before him was no longer paralyzed by fear and uncertainty but fueled by them.