Pain radiated from Elias''s core, though not as potent as it had been a minute ago. Bewildered by the mysterious sensation, he hoped that his artifacts would give him some hint as to what had just happened. Alas, it seemed they were content to leave the event a mystery to their master.


    "You guys suck. Put me through all that pain and then leave me high and dry?" Neither the Mourning Coil nor Sable Kiss gave him any response.


    He was bewildered, dumbfounded, and a little angry. This was not what he expected in the slightest. Wasn''t this the worst possible outcome? His artifacts were so opposite one another that it manifested in physical pain.


    What a rip off.


    Putting his begrudging feelings towards the Maw aside, he turned and ran towards the ventilation control area where the others waited. Returning from where he came and then proceeding where the others had gone, he arrived in just a few minutes.


    "—minutes start now, Lyara." Elias could hear Etta giving Lyara the signal as he approached them.


    Maren turned at the sound of his footsteps, weapons raised and ready. Her muscles tensed, ready to spring into action, only to relax a moment later as recognition swept through her eyes.


    "Elias, what did you find in that—" her thought cut off mid-sentence as her eyes caught the Mourning Coil. Her gaze inspected every detail, starting from the tendrils to the veins in his arm. "Well, I guess that answers that question."


    "I found it in a secret research lab, the doors had been clawed out from the inside. It must have been a massive Corrupted one to have damaged those blast doors like that." The lie came easy, his voice level and calm, his face cool and composed. He didn''t want to answer questions.


    Nira immediately closed the distance, her eyes locked on the silver-white fibers wrapped around his wrist, the fringes floating and moving on their own. Her eyes filled with awe and wonder.


    "Woah." The shock in her voice trailed into the background. "That looks incredible. Can you control it?" She looked inquisitively at him, her expression like that of a child about to unwrap a present. An expectant and indescribable look of excitement plastered on her face.


    Elias reached forward with his hand, envisioning the strands of glowing light extending out. As he did, the coil moved slowly and methodically, reaching as if wanting to grasp the air itself.


    "Incredible." The words escaped her lips in a whisper. Her hands traced the veins of light that ran up Elias''s arm where the Mourning Coil had buried itself in his skin. "Is it painful?"


    Elias lowered his arm. "Where do we stand on clearing the way for Keldric''s team?" he was ready for this conversation to end and their focus to be elsewhere. "We need to get those airlocks released so they can proceed to the bridge."


    Elias could see the analytical gears of Maren''s mind turning, as if trying to unravel the secrets Elias hid. Then, without a single word, she turned to the control panel. "I have released three of the five airlocks; they should be at the bridge in a few minutes."


    The ship suddenly rocked; the steel, as if it were an immense beast, groaned as it strained to hold itself together. Power began to flicker erratically, and the group felt a shockwave surge through the tunnel. There had been an explosion elsewhere on the ship, and its blast had caused the air to compress in the ventilation control.


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    Steel was ripped from the rafters, shrapnel flying through the air, catching Maren''s forearm, cutting through her flesh. The gash was deep, blood spattered across the wall, and bone splintered as the deadly projectile completely severed her arm in two.


    Elias was already reaching out instinctively, trying to get Maren out of the way, but the whole event had happened so suddenly that he couldn''t react in time.


    Mourning Coil pulsed at his wrist, a comforting warmth coursing through Elias''s blood via the snow-white veins in his arms. Tendrils rushed forward at surprising speed and latched onto Maren''s arm, just below her elbow, and also around the portion that was falling to the floor.


    Maren''s eyes went wide as the tendrils brought the two parts of her arm back together, rotating it into perfect position. Then an overwhelming sense of comfort came over her. The core of her being swelled with a soothing warmth that radiated to every part of her, and her wound experienced a stronger sensation. Bones cracked as they fused back together, fibers of muscle entwined and reconnected. Flesh began to mend itself at impossible speed, her wound turned from open gore to a scab in moments. The scab fell free as it turned into healthy, healed tissue.


    Etta and Nira were in disbelief. No one understood what was happening, but they were all in awe of it.


    Elias, however, was experiencing a completely different sensation. Pain began radiating from the front of his skull, a dull headache increasing in intensity with each moment that passed. Dull aches soon turned to sharp twinges, continuing to intensify as his vision began to go white. He fell to his knees, clutching his head as the pain ravaged his mind.


    Then, as if a switch had been flipped, the pain just ceased to exist. No lingering side effects, no lasting headache. Elias raised his head and saw three worried expressions staring back at him.


    "Elias, are you ok?" Etta''s voice was laced with concern.


    Nira was already grabbing his arm, inspecting the Mourning Coil. "What happened?"


    Elias looked at Maren, who had the most bewildered look of all. Her gaze flicked between her arm, Elias, and the Mourning Coil. Her hand running back and forth across her arm, right where it had been severed, in utter astonishment at what had just taken place.


    Before Elias could answer, he heard the Mourning Coil whisper, Creation comes with a cost.


    He knew what it meant; for him to heal others with the Mourning Coil, he would have to suffer pain.


    This is terrible. What a complete disaster! My second artifact is useless! His eyes were fixed on his forearm, cursing his bad luck.


    "I don''t know what that was, how it happened, or why." His tone was somber and full of a strange emotion the others couldn''t quite place. Etta and Nira looked at him with sympathy. Maren had a look that Elias had never seen before; the emotion she was feeling was something Elias had never experienced himself, so he had no idea what it was.


    Gratitude. She understood that he just healed her arm, completely grafting her severed limb whole, and suffered unbearable pain as a result.


    He shook off the shock of the event and turned to the group, "We need to start moving to the rendezvous and join the others. We''re running out of time here."


    All three women nodded in agreement.


    Nira, Maren, and Etta began discussing routes from their current position to the meeting point. Their conversation faded into the background as Elias processed the implications of his artifact''s power.


    Does the pain scale based off the severity of the wound? Her arm was severed in two! His mind raced. Yes, the cost was significant, but the effect was incredible.


    He considered what kinds of situations would lead him to use this ability.


    Back in the real world, this sort of ability could make me very rich, but in here this ability is nothing more than a liability. His pragmatic pessimism, taught to him by the slums, dominated his thoughts. If I ever use this during the trial, it would need to be for a tactical advantage. That pain was debilitating and left me wholly exposed; if any of them had wanted to kill me, they could have. I was helpless. His mood was turning, his instinct of self-preservation pushing him to a singular conclusion. To use the Coil, I must trust those around me completely. So I will never use the Coil, because the truth is that I can''t trust anyone.


    "Elias," Maren touched his arm, pulling him from his thoughts. "We found the best route to the bridge, let''s get moving."


    The group formed up, Maren taking the lead with Elias protecting the rear. They began to make their way to the gathering location to meet the other chosen ones. This phase of the trial was coming to a rapid end, and they still had a great deal to do. These other artifacts needed to reveal themselves… and soon.