Tavian, his face etched with worry, checks for a pulse. Relief washes over him as he finds a faint one.
"He's alive, but we need to get him to safety," Tavian says, his voice strained.
With Ezra in their arms, they rush him to a safe location. Sophia, her hands trembling, tends to his wounds while the others stand watch, the weight of guilt settling upon their shoulders. They blame themselves for dragging Ezra into this dangerous pursuit.
"I never should have let him get involved," Xavier says, his voice filled with regret. "This is my burden, not his."
"He chose to be a part of this, Xavier," Maya says, trying to reassure him. "We all did. We knew the risks."
"But we never expected it to come to this," Gabriel adds, his expression somber.
As they wait for Ezra to regain consciousness, Sophia reveals the shocking revelation they discovered in the forbidden archive. The enigma's true purpose and the puppeteers' plans leave the group in awe and terror.