[hr][color=gold]Ezekiel [@Helo], Scratch / Vallena [@Apex Sunburn], Callandra [@princess][/color][hr]

[h3][color=gold]

The shot echoes like thunder, splitting the air with arcane finality.

For a heartbeat, the cargo bay holds its breath.

Then... the smoke clears.

Furnace stands, or what’s left of him does ... a blackened crater burned clean through his chest, the remnants of armor fused to cauterized flesh. For a moment, he sways. The runes once alight with power along his forearms flicker. The magic in his hands, once bright and crackling with disruption, fizzles like fog in the wind.

Then, his knees give way.

He crumples backward into the twisted debris of the hold, a smear of blood seeping beneath him. The heat around his corpse begins to fade, the last sparks curling from his fingertips like dying embers. The smoke does not rise in menace now ... only memory.

[b]Furnace is dead.[/b]

And with him, the immediate storm passes.

But the ship groans again.

The Stormrider’s hull trembles under the weight of strain. The tear left behind from Furnace’s last spell still gapes along the wall, bleeding light and wind. Deep within the belly of the vessel, the bound elemental pulses like a wounded animal. The glow of its heart flickers through cracks in the floor ... not with rhythm, but with instability. The very soul of the ship is faltering.

And then, behind you... a sound.

Heavy metal groans. Latches creak. Gears grind like reluctant titans.

The [b]door begins to open.[/b]

Through the haze and storm, Val works the mechanisms with frantic precision, while Ezekiel’s steady hands pull the final lever into place. Light spills from the corridor beyond ... 

And with that, the rest of the ship awaits.

Flames somewhere above crackle faintly. Below, the ship groans again, a subtle shift that sends debris rolling across the floor. The Stormrider is wounded, bleeding, and slowing.

But it’s not lost…Not yet.

[b]The way forward is open.[/b]

What do you do?
[/color][/h3]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/2lfbk8M.png[/img]