Novels by Ricky_writes

The wind moved softly through the clearing as the light settled around them. Kaelen didn’t move right away. He just breathed, slow and deep, taking in the quiet that finally felt real. The kind of quiet that didn’t threaten to disappear. The kind that felt earned.Selene stood a few steps away from him, watching the sky shift from gold to the deep, warm blue of evening. Her shoulders finally loosened. Her hands relaxed. Her breath evened out. For the first time since everything began, she wasn’t preparing for the next fight. She wasn’t bracing for another loss. She simply stood there, alive, steady, and free.Lyra stepped closer, her presence soft but certain. There was something different in her eyes now. Not the frantic alertness she used to carry, not the edge of danger that made every moment feel like it could collapse. She moved with a calm that came from acceptance, from return, from finding herself again after everything had been torn apart.Kaelen looked at both of them, letti

The world around them was still settling.The light that had erupted moments before was fading into something softer, a pale glow that hovered over the newly formed horizon. The land pulsed gently, breathing like a body learning to wake for the first time.Selene stood at the center of it, her chest rising and falling in slow, unsteady breaths. She had felt the world break. She had felt it heal. And she felt it now, waiting for her, listening to her, shaping itself around every choice she made.Kaelen was the first to step toward her. His movements were quiet, nothing rushed, nothing forced. The last echoes of the fight clung to his skin, faint traces of energy fading from his hands. His eyes stayed on her, calm and steady in a way that pulled something deep inside her into focus.Lyra approached from the right.Her steps were softer. Her breathing uneven. She looked at the sky like she still expected it to collapse again. But when her gaze finally settled on Selene, everything in her

Selene didn’t move from where she stood between them. She didn’t want to. The closeness felt too steady, too charged, too right. Kaelen kept one hand against her waist, fingers relaxed but sure, as if he didn’t want to risk losing the connection they had finally allowed themselves to feel. Lyra stayed behind Selene, her arms wrapped softly around her, her cheek resting against Selene’s shoulder like she belonged there.None of them broke the moment. They just breathed in the same slow rhythm, bodies warming into each other.Then Kaelen lifted his head slightly, his eyes still on Selene. “Come here,” he murmured, guiding her closer with a gentle pull.Selene followed the movement without hesitation, her body melting into his. His lips met hers again, slow and deep, the kind of kiss that made her knees feel unsteady. Lyra tightened her hold from behind, steadying Selene as if she could feel her body reacting.Kaelen’s hand slid up Selene’s back while Lyra’s hands smoothed along her hips

Selene felt the warmth of both their bodies holding her there, keeping her steady between them. There was no hesitation anymore. No second-guessing. Just the closeness they’d been circling for too long finally settling into something undeniable.Kaelen’s hand slid up her waist again, slow and sure, guiding her even closer. Lyra stayed right behind her, the shape of her body fitting against Selene’s back with a quiet confidence that made Selene’s breath deepen. She felt every small movement from both of them, every shift, every soft pull, like they were learning her at the same time.Kaelen lowered his forehead to hers for a moment, letting their breaths mix. He wasn’t rushing anything. He seemed to understand that this needed to build naturally, that Selene needed to feel every part of it without being overwhelmed. His thumb traced her cheek as if he was memorizing the exact way she reacted to his touch.Behind her, Lyra’s hands moved slowly down Selene’s arms, fingertips grazing her

None of them moved at first. It wasn’t hesitation. It was the kind of moment where everything lined up so precisely that no one wanted to disturb it too quickly. Selene felt Lyra’s fingers tighten around hers, gentle but certain. Kaelen’s presence in front of them was steady, the kind of steady that came after fighting too hard against himself for too long.The silence wasn’t empty. It held all the things they had been avoiding, all the questions they had tried to outrun. Now they were standing in the same place with nowhere left to hide from what they were becoming.Kaelen was the first to break the stillness. He reached out slowly and brushed his knuckles against Selene’s cheek. His touch was warm, familiar, but heavier tonight. Like he needed her to feel the sincerity behind it. She leaned into him without thinking, her breath catching as her eyes met his.Lyra watched them quietly, not stepping back, not pulling away. She seemed to understand exactly what this moment meant for all

The air in the room stayed tight around them, like everything had been waiting for this exact moment. Kaelen didn’t speak at first. He just stood there, shoulders tense, eyes locked on Selene as if he was trying to read every emotion flickering through her. She wasn’t looking away this time. She felt too raw, too aware of the way everything between them had been shifting.Selene drew in a slow breath. Her hands were still trembling from the last conversation, from how close everything had come to breaking. Kaelen noticed. He stepped closer, not touching her, just standing in her space. The kind of closeness he only used when he was being completely honest.“You don’t have to be afraid of what comes next,” Kaelen said quietly.She didn’t answer right away. It wasn’t fear holding her back. It was everything she hadn’t been able to control. Every choice they’d made that kept pulling them deeper.Before she could respond, the door opened.Lyra stepped inside.The moment she appeared, the

They did not rest long.The city behind them stayed quiet, but Caleb could feel it watching. The hum no longer chased them. It followed at a distance, steady and patient, like it already knew where they were going.The road north bent east, climbing into broken hills. The land grew rougher. Trees thinned. The soil darkened and cracked in long lines that glowed faint blue at night.Dr. Hale walked slower now. He leaned on a metal rod he had taken from the barrier. His breathing was shallow, controlled.“This terrain was never meant to hold the field,” he said quietly.Caleb glanced back. “Meaning.”“The pulse was anchored in the valley. Everything else is strain. That is why it builds structures. Towers. Cities. It needs shape.”“And the origin site,” Dylan said. “That is its core shape.”“Yes,” Hale said. “Or the closest thing it has to one.”They passed through a stretch of forest where every leaf pointed the same direction. No wind moved them. They did not shift when touched.Nora b

The road north widened as they left the ridge.It led straight into the valley where the lights burned. The hum followed them down, steady and low. Caleb felt it in his chest now, not loud but present, like pressure before a storm.The city stood untouched.Buildings were clean. Windows unbroken. Cars parked neatly along the streets. Digital signs glowed without flicker. Traffic lights shifted from red to green on perfect timing.No people.They entered slowly. Caleb watched every doorway. Dylan scanned rooftops. Nora stayed close to Luke. Dr. Hale walked with his head lowered, his eyes moving constantly, reading things no one else could see.The air smelled wrong. Not decay. Not smoke. Too clean.“This place should be dead,” Dylan said.Hale nodded. “It was abandoned early. Before the collapse spread this far.”“And yet it works,” Nora said.“Yes,” Hale said. “Because it no longer needs us.”They passed a bus stop where a screen displayed weather updates from years ago. The date chan

They left the research site before the sun fully rose.The blue glow still hung in the sky, thin but constant, like a stain that would not fade. Caleb walked first, following the narrow road that curved north between dead trees. The ground felt firm again, but the hum was stronger than before. It no longer came only from beneath the soil. It moved through the air, soft and even, like a signal spread too wide to track.Dr. Hale walked behind Caleb. He looked worse in daylight. His face was pale, his eyes sunken, his hands shaking when he adjusted the strap of his bag. He had not slept. None of them had.Nora stayed close to Luke. The boy was quiet, watching the trees as they passed. Every so often he tilted his head, as if listening to something the others could not hear.Dylan brought up the rear. He scanned the forest, rifle held low. He had stopped asking questions. The answers were never good.The road climbed slowly. The farther north they went, the stranger the land became. Grass

They didn’t go far from the research site.The air was cooler in the trees, but the hum still reached them from below.It never stopped, not even for a breath.They set camp near a dry creek bed where the ground felt solid.Caleb built a small fire. The light made a circle around them that faded into the dark.The forest was quiet.Too quiet.No insects. No birds. Only the soft hiss of the wind moving through dead branches.Dr Hale sat apart from the group with the laptop he had carried from the lab.A cracked battery powered it, the screen faint but readable.Lines of code and numbers filled the screen.He typed slowly, whispering to himself.Dylan watched him. “You think he can still pull something useful from that thing?”Caleb poked at the fire. “He’s the only one who understands what’s happening. Let him try.”Nora sat with Luke beside her, wrapped in a blanket.The boy’s eyes were half closed.Every few minutes he looked at the sky, then at the trees, as if expecting something t

The forest grew thinner as they moved north.The air smelled sharp, like metal after lightning.Every few minutes the ground hummed, soft and steady, as if something deep below was breathing.They had walked since morning.The trees looked wrong now.Some had twisted trunks that bent toward the ground.Others grew in perfect straight lines.The pattern made Caleb uneasy.He stopped when he saw the smoke.A thin column rose above the trees a few miles ahead.It was not black like fire but grey and steady.“Someone’s burning fuel,” he said.Dylan looked through his scope. “Could be a crash.”“Or a camp,” Nora said.They followed the smoke.The closer they came, the stronger the smell of oil became.The trees opened into a clearing filled with old trucks and broken walls.Ahead stood a small complex of concrete buildings.The fences around it had collapsed in places.The sign on the gate was faded but still readable.FEDERAL RESEARCH SITE – RESTRICTED ACCESS.Caleb studied the symbol ben

The road north started through a narrow pass. Broken rocks lined both sides, and the ground was soft from the storm. The group moved in silence. No birds. No wind. Only the steady hum seemed to come from under their feet. By midday, the light changed. The sun faded behind thick clouds. Caleb walked ahead, watching each step. He heard a deep crack before he felt it. The ground shifted once, then dropped away. He fell with the others. The noise of breaking stone filled his ears. Then everything went dark. When he woke, his head hurt. Cold air touched his face. He sat up slowly. A beam of pale light cut through a hole above him. Dust drifted in it like smoke. Nora was beside him, coughing. Dylan was farther back, pulling Luke out from under a piece of wood. Everyone was bruised but alive. They were standing in a tunnel. Metal rails ran along the floor. Pipes lined the ceiling. Water dripped from somewhere unseen. Dylan looked up at the hole they had fallen throu