"........" Ryker was silent as he witnessed her stumble.

"This is taking its toll on you." he commented.

"Tell me." he said.

"If you are to keep this up for three more days, what kind of state will you be in?" he asked.

"How bad?" he asked further.

"I doubt Eke would want you endangering yourself for us. I certainly don't want that."

Ryker just sighed again.

"All right, if you say so." he said.

"..." he was then silent, before looking skyward again.

"I wish I were as confident as I sounded." he muttered.

"But I don't even know what all we need to do." he admitted.

"Destroy Eke's father? Kill the wizard dude? Smash that crystal Eke found?" he continued.

"I wish I knew what would legit just... end this crap."

Ryker was silent for a moment, before sighing heavily.

"...yeah, probably the best thing to do." he said.

He then made his way back inside, and stretched out.

"Maybe I should hit the sack." he mumbled.

He looked around, before making his way to his room and collapsing in his bed.

His cry caused Aly, who was still sleeping there, to wake up suddenly.

"Eke!?" she exclaimed.

"What's wrong!?" she asked him.

Did he have a nightmare? No, the yelp sounds more... painful, than scared.

She was concerned something serious might have happened, but she was trying her best not to freak out and potentially overreact here.

Aly just nodded quickly.

"Yes, of course!" she responded, before rushing out of the room.

About 2 minutes later, she returned with Ryker, having just woke him up.

"Ngh... whu?" Ryker mumbled.

"Whussup?" he asked groggily, before shaking himself into a state of being more awake.

"......" Ryker was silent, before sighing.

"Right." he said.

"This is gonna hurt." he told him.

"A LOT." he stressed.

"But your arm will feel better instantly." he finished.

Then, before anyone could say anything, he grabbed Eke's shoulder and arm... and forcefully put it back into place, a sickening 'pop' noise echoing throughout the room as he did so.

Ryker just nodded.

"Aly, comfort him." he told her.

"I'm going to make him something hot to drink." he said, before leaving the room.

"..." Aly was silent, before kneeling down near Eke.

"...Eke...?" she asked.

"Are... are... you all right?" she asked further.

"No, Eke, it's okay." Aly said.

"It's okay. Really." she told him.

"There's no need to apologise." she assured him, giving him a hug, but making sure to avoid the shoulder that had been hurting.

At that point, Ryker returned with a mug of tea.

"Here." he said to Eke, handing it over.

"Drink up."

Aly nodded in response.

"Yes, of course." she replied.

"I'll go get them now." she told him, before leaving.

Ryker then sighed quietly.

"Sorry about that." he apologised.

"But that was the quickest and best way to do it." he told him.

"You gonna be okay?"

Ryker just sighed.

"She's holding up." he said.

"....we got 3-4 days left." he then mumbled.

"4 at most." he clarified.

"And that's when we gotta end this, Eke." he went on, his tone more stern now.

"This is where our futures will truly be decided." he continued, before smirking confidently and closing one of his hands in a fist.

"It's our future. And we're grabbin' hold of of it, Eke."