The fog over Valeshroud hadn't lifted, but the air felt subtly altered, stirred by the clash of will and steel, charged with the tension that had formed between Zera and Laverna. Their banter still echoed in Shin's mind as the group pressed deeper into the crumbling ruins.
Yuri, now separated from the group, had taken a side path through the eastern ridge to meet with Guild Master Davis and help him reinforce the local defenses alongside the Fourth Talon.
Shin walked at the front, Yoshimatsu sheathed but pulsing at his side. The katana sensed the wrongness ahead.
There was no wind here, only silence thick enough to smother breath. Zera followed closely, her pace steady and vigilant. Laverna flanked Shin's other side, quiet for once, but eyes sharp, every step laced with coiled readiness.
The pulse of the mirror tugged at Shin's awareness again. The orb hummed in his inner pocket, warm against his chest like a heartbeat trying to sync with his own.
They passed beneath a crumbling archway, and the terrain dipped into a hollowed valley cloaked in silver mist. Here, the corruption of Falzath was no longer subtle. The ground itself was cracked and blackened, tendrils of shadow curling like roots beneath their boots.
Zera spoke, her voice low and even. "There's something ahead. Something alive... but restrained."
Laverna's nose twitched. Kitsune instincts flared as she inhaled sharply. "She's not lying. I smell pain. Grief. It's... gentle. Not hostile. But definitely in agony."
A faint hum of chanting carried through the fog, low, rhythmic, unnatural.
They crept forward, stepping lightly over broken stones and shattered monuments, until they came upon it.
A ritual site lay before them, encircled by runes scorched into the dirt. At the center, an obsidian altar pulsed with violet veins of light.
Shadows coalesced around it like living smoke. Above the altar floated a girl, no older than nineteen, with long, silken blonde hair that fell in shimmering waves around her body. Her eyes were blindfolded by a strip of white silk.
Silver light radiated from her skin, illuminating the air with a soft lunar glow. Her wrists and ankles were shackled by ethereal chains that pulsed in time with the altar's heartbeat.
Tessara.
The name echoed unspoken in Shin's mind, drawn from some shared ancestral memory through the mirror's power. The other half of the Kagetsu no Men was bound to her.
Laverna stumbled forward a step, eyes wide. Her tail flicked once, stiff. "She's crying. I can feel it. Even if she doesn't move… she's screaming inside."
Zera's brow furrowed. "A guardian… bound to the relic. This isn't a ritual. It's a prison."
Dark chanting rose from the edges of the valley. Cultists, masked and robed in blackened gold, emerged from the swirling mist. Their arms lifted high, channeling their power into the ritual, feeding the corruption.
Shin drew Yoshimatsu.
The blade answered with a burst of crimson lightning, energy rippling outward like a warning.
"No more."
With that, he stepped into the warded circle.
The cultists hissed, shadows coalescing into barriers around the altar. Energy lashed out like claws, and a barrier erupted between Shin and Tessara.
Zera surged forward, her longsword igniting once more. She channeled pure radiant magic, cleaving through the nearest cultist with brutal precision.
Laverna circled left, her jamadhars gleaming. "I'll get to the chains. Cover me!"
They moved in unison, blades and magic converging. Zera held the frontline, her strikes clean and unrelenting. Laverna moved like wind and shadow, weaving between foes and leaping over glyphs, her eyes locked on Tessara.
Shin stood before the barrier, raising his left hand. The mark on his palm pulsed again, flaring as the new tether synced to the mirror's call.
The barrier buckled.
Tessara stirred, her lips parting.
"Who...?"
Shin's voice was calm, but commanding. "We're here to free you."
Tessara's blindfold glowed with faint moonlight. "Then... hurry. The darkness... is devouring me."
The altar screamed.
The shadows around it burst upward, forming a humanoid shape—a sentinel of Falzath, bound in bone and tendrils. Its eyes were hollow. Its chest bore the mark of the Imperial Crown, now turned grotesque and twisted.
Laverna reached the base of the altar and slammed her jamadhar into one of the ethereal chains. It splintered with a shockwave, throwing her back, but a second chain broke in the same instant.
Zera dove into the fray, dueling the shadow guardian, keeping it off balance with radiant slashes. The blue flame of her aura burned brighter than ever.
Shin charged forward, ducking past the flailing tendrils, and stabbed Yoshimatsu into the center of the altar. Crimson lightning exploded outward, the seal from his hand fusing with the relic's pulse.
The guardian shrieked, and the remaining chains shattered.
Tessara collapsed into Shin's arms.
Light swallowed the valley.
The cultists vanished. The altar cracked and split. Falzath's influence, though not destroyed, was pushed back.
Tessara stirred in Shin's arms. Her voice was soft. "You... are the fox. The mirror's true bearer. I've felt your heartbeat since the Veil opened."
Shin gently lowered her to the ground. "You're safe now."
She reached up, blindly tracing the air. Her hand found his, and the seal on his palm glowed once more. A cold but soothing tether pulsed between them.
Zera sheathed her sword, watching from the side. "She's connected to you now."
Laverna crouched near Tessara's feet, watching her with a protective gleam. "She's been suffering for who knows how long. I'll make sure no one lays a finger on her again."
Tessara smiled faintly. "I heard your hearts when you fought. Yours, too… gentle kunoichi. Thank you."
Laverna looked away, ears reddening. "Tch."
Zera stepped beside her, hands on her hips. "You're not the only one who feels protective."
"I never said I was."
"Just making sure we understand each other."
Shin looked between them and Tessara, who now curled lightly against his side, her breath even and soft. He could feel the pull of her magic—it wasn't just light, but lunar. Her affinity was unlike anything he'd encountered.
And yet, the more bonds he formed, the heavier his limbs felt.
The mirror's gift came with a cost.
Still, he would carry it.
As he rose, he saw the burned remnants of the altar. Upon the stone, now split, lay a symbol—the same that Tristan once wore upon his chest.
"Tristan's reach is here," he murmured. "Even in Valeshroud."
Laverna stepped beside him. "Then we take the fight to him."
Zera nodded. "With every step forward."
Shin looked back at Tessara, then at the mark glowing on his hand.
He was no longer just a leader. He was becoming a beacon.
But even beacons need rest.
He exhaled and sat, letting his sword rest against his shoulder.
Zera and Laverna flanked him, each taking a side.
Tessara slept peacefully, the moonlight from her skin illuminating the night.
The war was far from over.
But for now, in the valley of lost light, they had kindled hope.