Astra strode ahead, boots crunching softly over the forest floor, her voice cutting through the hush of the trees.
"I swear, I got more irritated than cleansed by that ritual. Was that priest driving away lingering spirits, or trying to chase my soul out of my body?" she huffed, waving her arms dramatically. "I've never had someone chant at me for that long. I was starting to think I'd float out of my skin just to make him stop."
Branches swayed above, the moonlight breaking in fragmented streaks through the dense canopy. She walked a few more steps before glancing around.
"By the way, Seirou. why did we take this path? Are we even heading back toward the inn? It's starting to feel like we are lost—"
She paused mid-step.
Turned around.
"…Seirou?"
Silence.
The woods behind her were still—too still. No sound of footsteps. No familiar rustle of his robes.
"Seirou?" she called again, louder this time. Her voice echoed between the trees, sharp and uneasy. Still, no answer.
Astra's heart skipped. She turned on her heel and backtracked quickly, eyes scanning the dense forest. "Don't mess with me—this isn't funny!"
Only the wind answered—low, weaving through branches like a whisper from something just out of reach.
Her steps grew faster, crunching over dry leaves and twigs. "Seirou! Hey! This isn't like you!"
No reply.
"Where did you go?" she muttered, more to herself. "You never leave me alone like this…"
She spun around, gaze sweeping the woods. "Did something take him away? A spirit? A ghost? A shadow-beast—no, no, not that. Not that thing from the gorge—what if it's something worse?"
Her breath hitched.
"Oh no… this place even feels like that," she whispered, clutching her arms. "Why did we even come this way?!"
"Seirou!" she yelled again, voice breaking through the night, echoing into the distance.
Still nothing.
Her panic rising, Astra kept searching, circling the area, heart pounding, vision darting between gnarled trees and patches of darkness. After another lap, still alone, still no sign of him.
She stopped. Dropped to her knees. Breathing hard, chest rising and falling in short bursts. She stared blankly into the woods.
"…am I… lost?"
She cursed under her breath and pushed herself to her feet, brushing the dirt from her palms.
Then—
The ground around her lit up.
A sudden burst—violent, consuming. Flames erupted from the forest floor, licking up the trunks of trees like hungry serpents. In seconds, the woods were ablaze.
Astra's breath caught.
Her soul felt like it jolted from her body.
She staggered back, eyes wide, the color draining from her face as the fire reflected in her pupils. The heat pulsed against her skin, but it wasn't just the flames that burned—it was the familiarity. The shape of it. The way it moved. Just like the dreams.
Terror crept in fast.
The trees crackled, screamed.
She turned in place, surrounded on all sides. The flames towered around her, swallowing every shadow, closing in with a hiss.
She tried to scream—nothing came out.
Her throat locked. Her lips moved, but no sound followed. Just a dry gasp as the fire surged higher, hemming her in, crackling with a twisted rhythm that drowned out her thoughts.
She spun again, panic surging, feet stumbling through smoke and heat, eyes darting wildly—searching for a way out.
No path. No voice. No escape.
Just fire.
And fear.
And that terrible, creeping feeling that this—wasn't just a nightmare anymore.
She dropped to her knees again, chest heaving, fingers clawing at the earth as if grounding herself might help her breathe. The smoke coiled around her like a living thing, seeping into her lungs, her skin, her thoughts.
Her vision blurred.
The world was spinning—no, breaking. The fire roared louder than her heartbeat, louder than her name in her own mind. Her hands trembled, legs numb beneath her. She couldn't think. Couldn't move.
Her body felt like glassbcracked, shattering with every breath.
And then—
A stillness.
A shift in the air behind her. Cold, despite the fire.
A presence.
She didn't hear footsteps. Didn't hear anything at all.
But something or someone was there.
She turned slowly, shakily. Her vision was fogged and streaked with tears, the heat warping every outline. But then—
A shape.
Standing just beyond the curling flame.
Clad in deep, crimson robes that bled into the firelight. A cloth wrapped tightly around their eyes. Still. Silent.
She stared, blinking against the burn. Her breath hitched.
Something in her gut twisted violently. The shape, the posture—the way they stood, as if they belonged in the blaze, it reached into her memory and pulled.
A flash of a nightmare. A flicker of something she had buried.
Terror, instinctive and raw, flooded her.
She couldn't explain it, but every part of her screamed to move.
She scrambled backward, hands scraping across the scorched ground, eyes wide with primal fear. Her limbs barely obeyed her, but she forced herself away, dragging her body through the dirt, unable to break her stare from that figure.
The fire blazed around him, untouched.
Unmoving.
And even though her thoughts were scrambled, even though nothing made sense—something deep inside her recognized the danger.
Astra's breath hitched as the figure took a step forward.
Then another.
The fire didn't stop him. It parted for him.
Her body screamed to move, to flee, but her limbs refused. She crawled backward, palms scraping the scorched earth, mind fraying at the edges. The presence was too close now, too real. Her hand flung out behind her for support and plunged into flame.
She gasped, eyes flying wide, pain lancing up her arm, but before she could scream, before her body could register more—
A hand gripped her wrist.
With a smooth, unhurried motion, the figure crouched and pulled her away from the fire.
Astra cried out at the sudden strength, her voice raw with panic. The world tilted.
Then he leaned in. A whisper, close to her ear. The voice was low. Smooth. And terrifyingly familiar.
"I waited centuries for eyes like yours."