The stone door groaned shut behind them with a finality that echoed through the dark corridor. Grant immediately turned back, pushing against the sealed surface.
Misha joined him, both pressing their hands and searching for a seam, anything that might open it again.
"No use," Grant muttered. "It's sealed. Like it never meant for anyone to leave."
Misha's fingers traced the markings that had vanished once the door closed. Her brow furrowed. "It's like it only wanted them."
Shin moved forward, his eyes narrowed on the corridor ahead. The torches lining the walls glowed with cold blue flame, casting shadows that danced and flickered across the ancient stone.
Laverna stayed close, her gaze drawn to the walls. "These symbols... they're telling a story."
Murals stretched across the stone like living memory. A great fox wreathed in fire rampaged through fields of battle.
A kingdom cloaked in shadow loomed under a red sky. A masked figure with a crescent helm knelt before a throne of jagged obsidian.
Shin's voice was low, almost reverent. "These are memories. Old ones. Before even the current Emperor."
Laverna's eyes narrowed as she studied the symbols. "This isn't just a ruin. It's a vault. A message."
As they descended deeper, the air thickened with warmth. The flickering glow of the torches grew more intense, casting golden reflections on the stone floor.
The corridor widened, giving way to a vast chamber hidden deep beneath the forest. At the center stood a pedestal.
Upon it rested a metallic orb, nearly identical to Shin's. But this one pulsed with a life of its own.
Its surface shimmered with shifting hues, as if reflecting memories not yet lived. Laverna stepped forward, breath caught.
"Is that... like yours?"
Shin approached slowly, brow furrowed. "Older. Stronger. Different. But the same kind of creation."
He raised his hand toward the orb, but before he could touch it, a voice filled the chamber. It wasn't heard, it was felt.
Deep and layered, it vibrated through their bones and echoed within their thoughts.
"Progeny of fire and shadow. You who walk in twain. The chain is broken, but the path remains. Will you take the burden? Will you awaken the vault?"
Shin's hand hovered inches from the orb, his expression unreadable. The symbols on the walls flared, bathing the chamber in crimson and gold.
Laverna turned to him, her voice barely above a whisper. "What do we do?"
Shin didn't answer with words. Instead, he placed his hand upon the orb.
A blinding light erupted from the pedestal. Energy exploded through the chamber, rushing over the walls, the floor, their skin.
The symbols pulsed in rapid rhythm, and the air crackled with power. Neither Shin nor Laverna moved.
Their marks—his on the orb, hers on the necklace—blazed like fire. Misha shielded her eyes.
Grant drew his sword instinctively, stepping in front of her. And beneath the ruin, something ancient stirred.
Something long asleep and now beginning to wake. The energy that surged into Shin and Laverna was not gentle.
It was forceful, primal, and overwhelming. Their bodies jerked as the wave of power surged through them.
Shin's appearance shifted first. His form flickered, then solidified into his fox form.
His hair grew wilder, longer, ears sharper, tails more pronounced. Glowing ancient Kitsune markings burned across his skin like tattoos, pulsing in time with the orb's light.
Laverna cried out, clutching her head as similar ethereal marks etched themselves into her body. They radiated from the gemstone in her necklace.
Within their minds, time fractured. Shin and Laverna saw through eyes not their own.
Shin was a regal man clad in radiant golden armor, a king overlooking a great kingdom bathed in light. Beside him stood a woman dressed in a silken, ornate gown, her gaze calm yet powerful.
Her presence burned into him like sunlight on water. Their voices were muffled, indistinct, yet filled with warmth.
They watched their people from a high balcony, speaking without words. Something deeper than speech connected them.
The vision ended with them embracing in a slow, eternal kiss. When the light finally receded, Shin and Laverna collapsed to one knee, breathless.
The glowing marks still faded from their skin. But there was no time to recover.
From the corridor behind, a deafening roar tore through the air. Grant and Misha were under siege.
Howlers, now larger, stronger, and crackling with dark energy, lunged at them from the shadows. One of them was massive.
Its body was lined with lightning-like tendrils, its eyes glowing with feral intelligence. It leapt through the corridor like a storm given form.
Jaws wide, it aimed for the kill. Grant met it head-on, blade clashing with claw in a brutal lock, the sheer force echoing like thunder through the chamber.
He gritted his teeth, gripping his blade tightly as the massive howler snarled inches from his face. The two figures wrestled in a violent, clutching struggle, each trying to overpower the other with raw strength and will.
"It's about goddamn time! We've got company! Big company!" Grant shouted.
The monstrous howler loomed over the others, a shadow-cloaked titan wrapped in sinew and seething with dark lightning. Its black fur shimmered with streaks of crimson light, each movement discharging sparks that danced violently across its hulking frame.
Jagged, obsidian spines jutted from its back, coursing with corrupted energy that surged with every snarl. Its crimson eyes glowed with malicious intent, and every step it took cracked stone beneath its claws.
Each breath exhaled mist like smoke from a forge, its maw glowing with a faint red light deep within. When it howled, the sound wasn't just heard—it was felt, like thunder splitting the soul.
The beast was the embodiment of wrath and ruin, intelligent and relentless. A dread tempest given form, descending upon them with apocalyptic fury.
Misha stood behind Grant, hands raised, desperately maintaining the protective barrier between them and the swarm. Her lips trembled, sweat pouring down her temples as the magic flickered—then shattered.
The howlers poured through the broken threshold like a tide of death. Time slowed.
In the stillness, Shin heard a voice—not his own—echo in his mind.
"Awaken."
Flames flickered to life around him. Not ordinary fire, but foxfires—dozens of spectral blades, each resembling Yoshimatsu, hovering in a radiant circle.
He reached for the true Yoshimatsu, now gleaming with renewed power, and vanished from sight. In an instant, he was at Misha's side, slashing through the first howler with an arc of burning light, saving her just before the creature's fangs could sink into her.
Behind him, Laverna's jamadhars warped and extended, becoming clawed weapons infused with a spectral sheen. Her body moved on instinct.
With a primal roar, she lunged into the horde that surged through the broken doorway, her strikes fluid and deadly, slicing through the encroaching dark with graceful violence.
Grant staggered, his strength beginning to fail. The monstrous howler unleashed a surge of dark lightning, hurling him off his feet and sending him crashing to the edge of the chamber.
Without hesitation, Shin stepped between the beast and his fallen comrade. His eyes locked onto the creature's glowing red gaze.
The howler lunged, claws swiping. Shin parried the blow and jumped into the air.
In a single upward slash, Yoshimatsu carved through the air with precision. The blade caught the beast's right eye, ripping through it in a burst of light and blood.
The creature howled in pain, staggering back. Its voice rose into the cavern in a shriek that felt like a command.
A portal shimmered into being behind it. The lesser howlers pulled back, fading into the shadows, retreating through the portal.
The giant howler turned its head and locked eyes with each of them one final time. A low, resonant growl rumbled from its chest as if to sear their faces into its memory before vanishing into the rift.
Laverna took a step forward, ready to pursue, but Shin held out his arm, stopping her.
"Hold your ground," Shin commanded, his voice calm but firm, leaving no room for argument.
Laverna froze, her instincts screaming to chase, but she obeyed. In that moment, she understood—Shin had earned her trust, enough for her to entrust him with her life.
He turned and moved to check on Misha and Grant. Misha sat against a stone pillar, panting.
Grant, clutching his side, looked up at Shin and Laverna. The fear was still in his eyes, but so was something else: respect.
"You saved our lives," he said, voice rough.
Shin offered a faint nod. "We do what we must."
Misha looked at them both, then whispered, "I've never seen power like that."
Shin glanced down at Yoshimatsu, its glow fading. "Neither have I... not like that."
Grant chuckled weakly, wincing as he did. "Hell of a time for surprises."
Laverna crossed her arms, eyes still fixed on the spot where the portal vanished. "That thing isn't done with us."
Shin stepped beside her. "Neither are we."
Misha nodded silently, awed. The storm had passed, but none of them would forget what they saw.