Siren's Reach - Fallen Lands Book 3

Chapter Forty-Four

Requiem for a Hero

Evelyn

I didn't give myself time to think. Not about the last fight, not about the chains, not about the teeth and laughter waiting for me in the darkness of that tunnel. Clarity burned through me like golden fire, sweeping away the siren's song and every cursed whisper of doubt. My head was mine again, and for the first time since I'd set foot in this drowned hell, I felt like I could see straight.

There were no storms to call underground, no sky to open above me—but that never stopped me before. This wasn't about grand magics or tricks. This was back to basics, and I couldn't afford mistakes. Not now.

As I closed the distance, I mentally reviewed my status and let go of the plans I'd made for my points. There was no time for second thoughts. The numbers were sitting there, waiting. I needed them now. Attribute Points: 15. Skill Points: 48. Spell Points: 45. I slammed them into place without hesitation—Strength to sixty, [Halberd Proficiency] to thirty-six, [Footwork] to thirty-nine. [Channel Lightning] sharpened to a razor's edge at forty-eight, [Sun Ray] practically searing my mind at forty-three. That was it. I was all in.

I charged, halberd poised, eyes locked on the first hound's wedge-shaped skull as it slid forward from the tunnel. It looked just like the one that had nearly swallowed me whole, and maybe that should have shaken me. Instead, it just made me faster.

The rattling laugh of its chains never reached me; Amélie's golden fire walled it out. It reacted to my charge just as the other one had. When its maw split wide to vomit a forest of curse-laden chains, I was already moving. A step onto solid air, [Wind Walking] catching me mid-stride, then I reversed in a heartbeat—slamming myself back and away from the snare.

[Sun Ray] erupted from my outstretched hand, a lance of radiance outshining anything I'd ever managed. Nearly twice the power, it didn't just sear—it obliterated. The hound's wards cracked and boiled away under the blast, the beam carving a molten gouge straight through its defenses before detonating in a flare that lit the cavern like daylight. Both demons were hurled back, crashing against the tunnel walls in shrieking disarray.

I was already moving again, wind at my heels, halberd in hand, charging for real. I leapt between the rain of links, shattered and molten, activating my spells at the last instant. Lightning flared across my body and weapon, and a shield of wind popped into existence around me as I crashed in. The speartip of my halberd pierced its bottom jaw, crunching bone as it punched through the skull on the way out, spitting lightning in every direction.

I didn't stay still, jumping back out of range, letting the snapping plasma carve its way down its body with me, and getting back out of range. The demon thrashed, though from the shock or in death throes, I didn't know. There was no time to find out. Its companion sprang to its feet with surprising speed, lashing out with claws, whipping chains, and a wave of corrupted magic that spread like boiling tar across the floor.

I danced around the chains. Claws on long, gangly arms darted in only to be viciously hammered away by my halberd and searing snaps of lightning. But the inky wave of cursed, corrupted ground rolled in like the tide. He knew he didn't need to land a hit to force me out of my defensive position. I could feel the arrogant, uncaring superiority even as electricity snapped up his arms, blasting away skin and tissue, leaving holes where new chains leaked out with the blood, mouths formed, and more eyes joined the nauseating chorus of blinks and twitching movement.

He took another step forward, following as I moved to stay out of the tainted pool. The second demon twitched and scrambled aimlessly, its own cursed magic joining the first, even if its brain didn't seem to be working right.

But I wasn't fighting alone. I felt the air going dry as all of the moisture was pulled from it an instant before it all coalesced around the downed demon, whipping into a violent whirlpool, trying to finish it off. The monster was thrown further down the tunnel, but not far, and not without destroying the thin spell.

The leading demon's chains rattled in what I knew would have been laughter if Amélie weren't protecting our minds. It took another step—and staggered as an arrow slammed into one of its bulbous eyes and erupted in flames. Another slashed in behind the first, this time deflected by a tentacle that rose from the filth flowing across the ground. Lilith wasn't deterred. Her next shot was aimed down, the arrow fired into her own shadow. It slammed home in the demon, trying to recover in the rear.

I began marching forward on steps of air, activating [Levitation Aura] for a little extra security. The demon stepped back, but I knew its fear was feigned.

Behind me, Alice called, "I need more water!" even as it inexplicably began to rain in the cave.

"What?" Sibylla called back distractedly. "Here! Just.. I'm busy!"

There was a loud thud behind me, and I lost track of the responses, something about a unicorn, as more cursed tentacles appeared.

They hissed and melted in the rain, but far too slowly to matter. All of them struck in at once. In my mind, I knew the halberd was too big, too long, and too slow. My hands didn't care. The weapon flowed into a whirlwind of strikes, the defensive maneuver trained in too many mad battles with the glaive—and as high above the ground as I was, it worked. Cursed not-flesh was cut and blasted away by the electrified weapon. Imperfect strikes glanced off my shield of wind. I danced and moved through the rising arms, closing back into striking range with my target. Chains joined the hailstorm of attacks. I gave them special attention with the snapping jolts of electric plasma.

And it had all been another trap. All of his many eyes squinted with glee or bounced with mad, silent laughter as he sprung the snare. From below, a hundred shrieking voices rose up, tearing free of the corruption. An unstoppable army of the damned, clawing directly for my heart. The demon's delight only grew when I didn't dodge, but braced.

Frozen grasping hands crashed into me from every direction. Dozens, maybe hundreds, all sinking into me, clawing for any seam in my spirit they could reach. The world went white with pressure, a hundred memories, a hundred pains, all trying to pour into me at once.

The idea of running never crossed my mind. I opened myself further, spreading my arms as if I could hold them all. And then I dragged them against the tide that wanted to keep them bound. Their spectral chains tore at me as they tried to drag them away. I felt the panic and denial from the demon trying to call them back, but he wasn't just fighting me. I was only the conduit. They were already connected to the sea of souls, and its current ripped them away as easily as salt into a river.

Their voices screamed unending as they were pulled free of their bondage, all pleading, cursing, and begging for release. I forced their voices to the background. They weren't mine, and I didn't want their memories, their torment, or their despair. One by one, they slipped through me, vanishing like sparks carried on the wind. Their wails turned to sighs, then silence.

And the demon felt it. Every single broken chain, every soul that I pulled from his helpless, impotent grip.

His rattle of silent laughter turned to a shuddering, angry, and very vocal scream. The chains around his body writhed hysterically, jerking back toward me, trying to reel what I'd freed back in. But they were gone, impossibly out of reach. I felt the break inside him, like a cord yanked out by the roots. His power stuttered, shivering through the cavern like a dying heartbeat.

He stumbled, visibly weaker. A beast that had been feeding on the weight of stolen lives suddenly left starving, his eyes full of rage.

My mind freed from the torrent of souls, I readied myself again—and just in time. He hurled himself at me, his body splitting open as dozens of arrows sprouted from his flesh, blood pooling beneath him. The wounds didn't close. Instead, the stolen souls left inside him screamed as he shoved them outward, forcing them into the gaps like mortar. They warped as they touched his flesh, becoming chains, claws, and eyes that blinked wetly as they tore themselves free. Arms sprouted from arms, eyes set in the joints, all thrashing in blind hunger. It was desperation given form, every piece of him unraveling to keep moving.

Fury filled me at the sight, and I moved to meet his charge head-on. His hideous mouth opened, splitting all the way down his grotesque neck, vile ichor and chains bursting forth. I met the eruption with another [Sun Ray], the radiant spell blasting apart chains and burning away taint in an inferno. The demon staggered but came on until a tidal rush of water slammed into its legs and sent it and its companion, following from behind, down on their faces.

I didn't miss the opportunity. The tunnel was too low for a [Heroic Leap], but I had enough of a running start to make the jump without it. My halberd's axe blade landed before me, [Zeal of the Vanquished God] releasing a thunderous shockwave that cleaved nearly as much as the weapon itself. The flesh of his neck snapped away from his head like a worn-out rubber band.

I didn't know if he was dead, and I didn't care. My levitation aura fell away just long enough to slam my claws into his back and grab his soul before it could escape. It tore free in a spray of blood and burning ichor that I ignored. I raised my gaze to the second demon, now slashing its way out of Alice's [Water Prison]. I made sure enough of its eyes had met mine before I pushed the soul into my mouth and bit down.

Something about that made it go berserk, and at the worst possible time. The demon's soul cracked and unwound just as the one before it. And just as the one before it, I was forced to deal with the memories and emotions of the remaining enslaved souls, filtering the taint of the demon, and the ecstasy of devouring such a powerful soul all at once.

I hadn't even realized I'd frozen in place until the prison exploded and a wave of chains smashed into me. One punched right through my battlegown and into my hip, others grasping for my throat and face, one even looped my ankle—and then the rush of water dragged me back with it, ripping me loose.

The water carried me all the way back to Alice. Along the way, I did my best to keep pressure on the wound gushing far too much blood, and keep my grip on my weapon. I watched as Alice threw another water prison around the demon, which immediately tore a hole in it, right as Lilith hit it with an arrow that flashfroze the breaking sphere. That took a little longer to break, giving Alice time to conjure up another whirlpool, now more effective with the large chunks of jagged ice in the mix.

Distraction in place, she practically dove at me, healing magic surging into my hip.

"Stop messing around, Evie!" Sibylla called to us. "This thing is starting to spray water, and we're only half done! Finish that thing off so you can help!"

Alice turned to snap something back, but froze, her eyes on the gushing water. "That water… that ain't natural. I can feel the magic rollin' off it even from here!"

Without another word, she raised a hand, and the water flew toward her in a torrent, forming a massive shield around the two of us that just kept growing, and then she hurled it out again toward the now advancing demon. It hit him like a rogue wave, sending him sprawling down the tunnel. She just raised her other hand to keep pulling more.

"Whatever you're doing, Alice, keep doing it! That's using a lot of the core's mana!"

Sibylla was right. I could feel the tension falling from the core, even distracted as I was by the pain from the freshly healed wound. I stood, watching as the waves crashed back and forth in the tunnel, throwing the greater demon around like a child. One limping step forward told me I wasn't fighting this as I'd been doing before. I levitated up, my wind shield reforming and carrying me forward, and Alice pulled the water from my clothes and hair as I passed.

I took a deep breath to psych myself back up, letting Amélie's soothing aura calm my mind. But then Alice spoke up, sounding a little winded.

"I know Storm flies around all slow and dramatic like in the movies, but I'm runnin' outta mana fast. So if you could scoot on over there and finish that thing off, I'd be real grateful."

The corners of my lips twitched up at her snark, and I put on some speed. "You hear that, demon? She says we have to hurry!"

The demon roared in response, the first time one of the hounds had done anything of the sort, and hurled itself straight up, slamming chains and claws into the ceiling, and then threw itself at me like a ballista bolt.

It had crossed half the space between us when I channeled a [Sun Ray] through [Zeal of the Vanquished God]. Its defenses crumpled under the fiery blast that followed, spiking it back to the ground. He rolled once and was back on his feet, eyes locked on me in that twitching, horrible, nauseating way, already moving again. I used Zephyr Step.

The rush of wind caused by my passing made him stagger, and my lightning-infused [Heroic Strike] to the back of his head cracked him back to the ground. I nearly went for the kill right then, but something told me to hold back.

The demon whirled over, claw lashing out as two cursed tendrils slashed behind him from the shadows. No spirits, this one had learned from the first battle, and knowing what they used those spirits for, I wanted to end this quickly.

The blow should have staggered him longer, but instead the hound seized on his own wound. His claws tore down the split in his neck, widening the gash until black ichor sprayed across the stone. From the ruin, something else forced its way out—an arm studded with eyes, each lidless and rolling, each socket glowing with shackled souls. They keened as the new limb flexed, the sound like metal chains dragged over bone.

The air thickened with rot and curses. I felt the bite of their pain even through Amélie's golden radiance. He didn't waste the momentary distraction, hurling himself at me. My halberd moved in a blur as I blasted myself to the side, slashing his arm to the bone, parrying away several tentacles that struck out to drag me down, and wove between grasping chains that seemed to be bursting from even more of his wounds. A parting crack of lightning sent him tumbling across the ground.

He lurched upright, body sprouting new shapes—another jaw at his shoulder, a cluster of spines writhing down his arm, wings of shredded skin snapping open and shut as if they couldn't decide on their form. Every change was a scream. Another slave's soul crammed into some obscene purpose.

It hit me then: he wasn't just feeding on the souls he'd chained. He was spending them. Every mutation burned another fragment of a spirit away, twisting it into flesh and bone for his war machine of a body. The more I pushed him, the faster he consumed them.

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His power was endless only so long as the slaves held. But every strike I landed, every wound I forced, ripped more fuel out of him—and left him weaker.

It made me sick. He was burning them like coin, shredding souls just to keep his body together. People who had already suffered enough turned into kindling for his rage.

I leveled my halberd, lightning crawling along the blade. "Not one more," I swore, though it felt hollow on my tongue. How could I stop it if every time I wounded him, they'd be consumed?

He charged, and I darted away from each strike, my halberd cutting down cursed tentacles as I scrambled for a solution. Nothing I had could undo this—except maybe my new class. Twilight Harvester of Souls. It was low-level, untested, but if it had any use, it had to be now.

I struck another writhing limb aside and lashed out with [Harbinger's Reach], marking his soul for collection. The tether snapped taut, but it was wrong—his spirit was knotted tight with all the others, their cries muffled under the folds of his own. The mark dragged at [Eternal Requiem], eager, but he wasn't dead. The bridge was there, but his anchor held.

Another arrow from Lilith punched through a twisted claw on his side. I felt him cram a slave's soul into the wound, forcing it into flesh to hold himself together. The mark pulled, but I was too far. I wasn't strong enough to drag it away at such a distance.

"Stop attacking!" I shouted. I didn't have time to explain—if this worked, she'd understand.

I let him close. His claws lashed, curses shredding the cavern walls, chains spilling from his mouth in a tide of iron and shadow. I waited until they were almost on me—then [Squall Step]. He recognized it, throwing his arms over his head to block the strike he knew was coming. But I didn't swing. I hurled my halberd instead, speartip pinning his hands in place, and dropped straight onto the base of his neck.

Claws fully extended, I drove them deep and clenched like a vice. Chains lashed me instantly, stabbing hooks into flesh, trying to drag me away. Smaller arms sprouted, grasping, tearing, eyes spinning madly at the insanity of my choice. I ignored them all. Focused on my task, I opened myself. I flung my soul wide to the torrent buried in his. And then I poured everything I had into [Channel Lightning].

Primal force ripped through him, flesh tearing, blood spraying. A chain coiled my throat and yanked, but I bit down hard, sinking my fangs into his hide, that strange black-and-white blood flooding my mouth. The nightmare memories clawed at my thoughts, screaming to be let in. I slammed the door on it. None of it mattered.

Because I felt them, souls crammed against the wound, desperate to mend him. I seized them, wrenched them free, and dragged them back toward the Sea of Souls where they belonged. I buried my own scars under theirs, and I tore them loose. Every spirit ripped away was another scream, another piece of his strength devoured—not by me, but by freedom.

The more I took, the less he saw me at all. He shrieked as flesh sloughed in wet chunks, as if I'd carved out his marrow. But it wasn't pain in his voice. I don't think he was even feeling it. His cries were of loss. A child robbed of its toys, howling for what could never be returned.

He convulsed beneath me, claws flailing, wings of skin thrashing against the cavern walls. But for every wound he tried to mend, I stole the soul before it reached the flesh. His strength guttered like a dying torch, sparks spent with nothing left to feed them. Chains whipped around me, stabbing hooks into my arms and waist, but Alice's waters surged like whips, snapping them away. Lilith's arrows tore through reaching limbs before they could drag me free. Every heartbeat, he grew weaker, and I grew steadier.

The ichor pouring into my mouth sent tears streaking my face like molten glass, but my body drank it down anyway, [Bathory's Kiss] knitting shut every wound as fast as his chains made them. The more he bled, the more I healed. He slammed himself sideways, trying to crush me against the stone, but the floor slicked with Alice's magic and turned his charge into a stumble. I clung tighter, claws buried in his neck, lightning flooding his core. He shrieked, thrashing, every sound another denial, another refusal to fall.

But he was already falling. I could feel it in the souls slipping free of him, one by one, like water through my fingers. No more fuel. No more chains to bind them.

"Not one more," I growled through a mouth filled with blood, and wrenched my claws apart.

[Channel Lightning] roared through me, detonating inside him. His body convulsed once, then split in a blinding burst of radiance and blood. Chains shattered, flesh crumbled, the cavern itself groaned under the thundercrack.

When the light faded, only ruin lay before me—limbs twitching, blood smoking, the last scraps of his form dissolving into ash, and one last soul clasped in my claws.

I staggered back, trembling, fangs still slick with black and white blood. For the first time since the fight began, there was silence. I stared down at the raging soul, tempted to hold on and let him know what he put the others through. But no. There was really only one way to do that, and I wanted it over with quickly. I heard Alice and Lilith running to join me as the power flowed down my throat, and I breathed out the taint of evil, separated from the raw power. When it was done, a shiver ran through my entire body.

"Evie! Are you alright?"

I turned to meet Lilith's eyes, so full of worry and love, and nodded. "I'm okay." The sniffle didn't help convince her.

Alice slid to a stop beside me, hands going directly to bloody rips at my hip and back, only to stop in confusion. "What? You ain't hurt? How?"

My eyes dropped to her hands and back up, and I barked a laugh, immediately needing to sniffle again. "Don't let Amélie see you holding me like that. We'll never hear the end of it."

She rolled her eyes at me, hard. "Oh, whatever. You sure you're really okay?"

I nodded and said what needed to be said. "I'm okay."

"If you all are done playing games with the locals, we could use more hands!" Sibylla yelled, and we all turned, immediately running toward the core. No more than two steps, and she reminded us, "Grab any fragments you see on the way back!"

"Y'all handle the big chunks. I'll sweep up the little ones scattered 'round. With water everywhere now, I can track 'em easy. No different from reading a riverbed. Got plenty of practice."

I was about to answer her when she collapsed into the water around our ankles like it was part of her. I shook my head and focused on the task. Sibylla's familiars moved with eerie precision — cats padding delicately over the shallow pool, carrying fragments between their teeth without ever letting them drip, while her little mouse clambered over the broken core itself, paws glowing faintly as it traced patterns only it seemed to understand.

The larger cracks had already been mended, Sibylla's steady hand painting shimmering resin while Amélie's magic sealed them smooth, leaving only the smallest shards. Their rhythm was painstaking but sure, like they were stitching shut a wound that wanted to bleed itself open again.

The water had continued to flow, pulled through by Alice at a slow, steady pace that wouldn't overwhelm us. It didn't disarm the time bomb, but it gave us a comfortable buffer to work with. So long as the energy stayed drained below the level one of those massive sea monsters would need to follow us, we would be okay.

Of course, the moment I thought that, a faint ripple disturbed the water at our ankles. At first, I thought it was Alice returning, only a quick check showed that she was already here. But then a tiny hiss broke the silence — thin, reedy, almost comical after everything we'd faced.

Three heads broke the surface at once, each no bigger than my fist. Wide golden eyes blinked at us, mouths opening in a chorus of squeaky snarls that were about as threatening as a kettle boiling. Its scales shimmered faintly with the same light as the core, throwing glints of silver and blue across the cavern walls.

Alice gasped, then scooped the little creature up without hesitation. It squeaked, wriggled once, then promptly settled into her arms as if it had always belonged there.

Siaabylla frowned immediately. "Absolutely not."

Alice's smile only widened. "Oh, absolutely yes. He's mine now. Look at him — ain't he perfect?"

Lilith gave an incredulous snort. "Another.. no, three more mouths to feed."

She barely looked, playing with the baby hydra, "Ain't a problem. I'm a great fisher. Y'all'll see."

Amélie tried and failed to hold in a laugh. "That thing just let you pick it up? Alice, at this rate, people will start mistaking you for a fairy tale princess."

"He's a river hydra. I can tell. River critters like me just fine, have since the moment I got here."

Sibylla glanced back up from her work, "Yeah, well, with how he's nibbling at you, I'm going to bet he's hungry now."

Alice flashed a sly grin. "Then you'd best fork over some crab meat for him 'fore I start pointin' out who's already lookin' like a fairytale princess in this crew." She gave a meaningful glance to the mouse and cats hard at work.

Sibylla groaned but reached into the shadows all the same, forking over the meat with a long-suffering sigh. For a moment, the tension faded, replaced by Alice's soft humming as the three little heads squeaked and squabbled over their prize. The sound echoed off the cavern walls, strangely warm against the backdrop of cold stone and dripping water.

But it didn't last. My eyes wandered back to the core. To the lattice of resin and light, sealing its wounds. To the faint thrum beneath it, steady and stubborn, less like a machine and more like a heartbeat trying not to stop.

The words slipped out before I could swallow them. "Are we really just going to seal her away again?"

Silence rippled through us. Even the baby hydra stilled, jaws half-open on its crab meat, as if it could feel the weight pressing down.

"This place didn't just hold monsters," I said, throat tight. "There's someone in there—someone who's already lost everything. And we're about to bury her alive again."

Alice hugged the little hydra close. "Feels wrong to just leave her like this. She don't feel like some monster. More like… a soul I oughta know. When I sang, she answered, even if it was only in her pain. I swear she listened. That's gotta count for somethin'."

Sibylla didn't pause, brush sweeping resin with meticulous care. "And what's the alternative? Invite her out for tea? None of us are strong enough for this. The best we can do is stop the bleeding and call in people who are."

Lilith's tail swished uneasily, but she nodded. "If those things broke through while we argued, it wouldn't just be her grief loose in the world. It'd be every horror feeding on it. That's what scares me."

Amélie's voice was softer and full of regret. "It does feel cruel. To bind someone already drowning in despair. But Sibylla's right—we aren't equipped for this. We should do what we can, then ask for help."

The cavern swallowed our words. Only the soft drip of water and the faint, uncertain hiss of the hydra remained, like even the stones were waiting for our answer. I opened my mouth to say something more, but the words never came.

Slowly, we all returned to the work at hand. This wasn't over yet, and we had little choice. Alice resumed her humming for the poor hydra, calming his nerves and letting him know all was well in the world, but anyone could tell the song was subdued. The work, at least, was nearly done.

There were only a few shards left when the air shimmered only a few feet away. The water shivered around our ankles. The cavern's faint glow dulled, the world itself giving into a sense of inevitability. Then the air rippled, and reality suddenly remembered its edges could be somewhere else, peeling back to reveal a place too old to forget.

Out of that impossible fold stepped a woman. Fox ears caught the dim glow, nine tails swaying behind her in a slow, unhurried rhythm, every movement heavy with the kind of grace that belonged to things older than kingdoms.

She didn't raise her voice. She didn't have to. "Stop."

The sound settled over us like the hush at the end of a story, like the moment before the lights fade and the curtain falls. The word didn't need to be loud; it was eternal and inescapable. My breath stuck in my throat. I had never seen Elder Haruka in a humanoid form before.

Sibylla was the first to move, bristling, brush still in hand. "We're stabilizing it. If we stop now—"

"—you'll bind her suffering tighter." Elder Haruka's eyes settled on Sibylla with the weight of lifetimes. "You've done well. But this is not yours to finish."

The air stirred again, another shimmer splitting open that carried the scent of fresh rain and new blossoms. It unraveled like a gust through autumn leaves, and a second figure emerged. He was older, broad-shouldered, with tails streaked in silver. His presence pressed down like a spring storm about to break. Elder Kazeharu gave the core one long, measuring look, then grumbled.

"You've mended it better than some masters could. Clever work, girl." His gaze landed on Sibylla. "But reckless. Always reckless."

The praise, rough as gravel, landed heavier than any scolding.

I finally found my voice. "Who's inside? Who is she?"

Elder Haruka's eyes softened, though her voice didn't. "Nerithea. Matron of the Abyssal Current. A Sentarith of the deep waters. It was her hands that kept the trenches from swallowing the light, her tides that carried warmth into the coldest seas, her currents that made the oceans livable for all who dwelled there. She was never meant to be bound. But mortals feared her grief and made this place her cage, then hid it from the world. Centuries have not eased her sorrow. They have only sharpened it."

Alice clutched the hydra tighter. "She ain't a monster."

"No," Haruka agreed. "She's a mother who lost everything. And you're right to hesitate, child. To bind her again is cruelty. But to free her without care would drown this world in her grief. This is not your burden. It is ours."

I glanced at the others, then back toward where the shimmers had faded. "Where's our mother? Why isn't she here?"

Haruka stilled, and for a moment, she hesitated. "She is here. Watching from a safe distance. She fears she has already bent the path of your growth too often. She does not wish to smother your independence."

She was watching. Close enough to step in, yet choosing not to. I didn't know how to feel about it. Should I be upset that she didn't step in to help when I was hurt? Could I be angry after how Sibylla reacted to her help before? No, this was a pointless worry. I just wanted to go home. When we were all home, we could sit and talk about these things somewhere safe.

I refocused as she moved to the core, gently laying a hand on it. "We will go ahead. You all stay here and rest. We can all leave together upon our return."

"Elder Haruka," Sibylla began nervously. "The core, we've been draining it to stop things from coming through. It doesn't have the mana to teleport anyone right now, and the other side feels like it's swarming with monsters."

Haruka almost smiled. "Fear not, young Sibylla. We have more than enough power of our own, and the creatures on the far side will never see us."

Kazeharu grunted, folding his arms. "Finding this place was enough work for brats like you. Leave the rest to us. If Nerithea's heart eases at all, it'll be from knowing it was kits that dragged our old paws down here."

With that, the two elders drew back. The air shimmered once more, folding around them like water closing over a stone. A ripple ran across the chamber, and they were gone.

No one spoke for several long seconds. Then Alice scratched the hydra's chin and muttered, "Well, I'll bite. Who in all nine hells were those folks?"

Amélie blinked at her, then let out a soft laugh. "Yeah, I guess you wouldn't know. They are two of our clan's elders. Very old kitsune with very old ties to the world. I did not expect them to come so quickly."

Alice shrugged, puffing her cheeks out. "Well, that was intense. Y'all really think they can help her?"

I nodded. "I think so. There is still so much we don't know about what this world used to be, but everything I've heard so far seems to suggest that the sentarith mostly stuck together and trusted one another. I know they will try. They're good people."

Lilith gave a nervous chuckle. "I hope so. They didn't look upset to see me. Maybe… that's a good sign?"

Sibylla tilted her head, dry as ever. "Or they're letting you stew until they're ready. Depends on how cruel they're feeling."

Amélie hid her grin behind her hand. "I almost hope it's the second. You'd squirm."

Lilith wrinkled her nose, but didn't deny it.

"Stop it, you two. They wouldn't blame you anyway, Lilith."

She relaxed a little, and I left it at that, but the thought nagged at me. They had seen Lilith, plain as day, and hadn't lifted a finger. Maybe Sibylla really wasn't in trouble for stealing that essence after all. They were usually very direct… Of course, it was possible they were just too busy with more important things now, and her reckoning was still to come.

We settled into a more relaxed silence. We were all feeling the exhaustion after everything. The song still reverberating from the core pressed faintly at the edge of hearing, softened by Amélie's aura, easy to ignore if we wanted to. But it wasn't the same. It carried recognition now, like the echo of Alice's melody had shifted something deep in that imprisoned grief. Alice's expression was different too, and it was easy to see that she was feeling more hopeful.

I wanted to feel that, too. I wanted to know that we'd done something good coming down here, and that everything was worth it. But more than anything…

"I just want to go home." My voice cracked on the word, a little guilt in the admission.

Amélie's smile flickered. "We are all fading." She leaned back, dreamy even through her fatigue. "But, think of it. In a few hours, it will only be warm baths, fuzzy pajamas, sweets piled high, and naps without end."

Alice let out a soft laugh. "Sounds like heaven."

"Oui," Amélie said simply, with the certainty of someone who believed it with her whole heart.

"Yeah.." I agreed, trying to focus on exactly what she said. That didn't sound so bad.

Sibylla said nothing, quietly moving closer to Alice with her eyes on the baby hydra, and I was pretty sure her silence was an unspoken agreement. When she did open her mouth, though, it wasn't what any of us expected.

"What're you going to name him?"

Alice grinned wide. "Knew you'd come around sooner or later." She hummed for a moment before shrugging. "I'll have to think on it."

Sibylla nodded. "What about… Fredrick? Hm. No. Not river folksy enough. Maybe Louis?"

Alice chuckled. "Louis the Hydra? Y'know, I actually like it. Might throw some folks off, but Louis feels like the forgivin' type."

Their banter made things feel a little more grounded and took the edge off things ever so much. I almost got lost in it when something out of place drew my gaze to the far side of the room. At first, I thought it was water dripping. But the rhythm was too steady. Too deliberate. Footsteps?

I stood up straight, turning my full attention back toward the entrance of the room, prompting Lilith to ask, "Evie? Everything ok?"

I nodded, but held up a hand for quiet. It wasn't the scramble of claws, and there were no dragging chains. The steps were soft and measured. The gait of a confident man, accompanied by the faint scrape of polished boots on stone. Now, the others heard too, and everyone froze.

From the shadows beyond the repaired core, he appeared. Tall. Beautiful. Too beautiful. Dark hair falling loose around a face that was all sharp lines and unshakable calm, dressed in finery so wildly out of place in this ruin it practically hurt to look at him. His smile was lazy, practiced, as though we were a play staged for his amusement.

It reminded me of that courtier boy, Cossus, who had always had the other ladies at court aflutter. Only, more mature, his confidence more real. I had no idea what someone like him was doing down here, and something about it felt deeply wrong, but that thought, while clear in my mind, seemed somehow unimportant.

"Well now," he said smoothly, continuing to advance as his eyes swept over us like a connoisseur weighing vintages. "Quite the party you've assembled. So many lovely foxkin. An elf? Not how I remember you. And…" his gaze lingered on me, curious, hungry, "the woman I've been waiting for."

He stopped in front of me and tilted his head as he looked me over. I felt like I should be offended, but that smile widened just slightly, and I found myself trying to smile in return.

"So, you're Evelyn the [Hero]?"

"Yeah, I—"

The flash of movement was lightning fast. I barely caught it at all, his hand moving toward my head. My hand flashed up on reflex to block, my claws extending of their own free will. We both froze. Eyes locked for an instant. He brought his hand up, a look of disbelief on his face as I heard the clatter of three objects hitting the floor. His hand only had one finger left. My mouth fell open, horrified at what I'd just done to this poor man. He hadn't even touched me.

I opened my mouth to apologize—instead choking on words that wouldn't come. My throat burned. No, it was… wet. My hands flew up, but it was useless. My blood was already pouring out.

"You…" His voice was still soft, almost amused, but it thrummed with power underneath. "You cut me."

Only then did I realize my claws were wet. Not with just his blood… his black blood, run through with steaks of white. Something else clung to them, shimmering like oil in moonlight. A fragment of his soul. He saw it too. The charm that had dulled my instincts cracked for a heartbeat, and raw fury flashed across his face.

The others were shouting, Alice's voice high with panic, Lilith drawing her bow, but he didn't spare them a glance. His wounded hand twitched, and the air at my feet split into a circle of shimmering darkness.

"You're too dangerous to watch bleed out." His voice was velvet over steel as he shoved me back, straight into the waiting portal.

The last thing I saw was that perfect smile. It was no longer lazy or amused. Just hungry.

And then I was falling.