The wind shook soft powder from the snow-dusted trees, casting a thin veil across the mouth of the stone opening. The air whispered as it moved, drifting snowflakes down to the ground—where they skittered along.
It was a delicate sound, swallowed by the thunderous wind from the cyclone's wall, which cut off the upper half of the hillside.
Their goal was simple: get through the opening, and hope and pray that an exit waited on the other side.
A way out of the storm.
It was nothing remarkable—nothing that screamed salvation, not even a whisper of it. So, Zerin's expectations were low. But an option was an option, and those they had in short supply.
Speaking of opportunities, Zerin had plenty of time to apologize to Serenity, for what he did back there. But he just couldn't manage to do it.
That silence reeked of cowardice still buried deep inside him.
Or maybe… he just didn't care.
And if that was the case, she didn't seem to care either. She moved on, like nothing had happened.
It threw him off at first, but maybe that was for the best.
Evan drifted closer. "We should stay sharp and stick together. No telling what's waiting in there."
The words might as well have come from Zerin himself. After what the Dream Realm had thrown at them, they'd be fools to think it would suddenly pull back its claws.
Zerin's black eyes tracked Evan as he walked ahead, then shifted to Serenity and Cain following behind.
Zerin hung back, choosing to take the rear of the group. He waited patiently, lifting a hand to rest it where his sheath would've been, if it hadn't been destroyed.
That's right...
With a sigh, he summoned his blackened blade from his Soul Sea, the weapon manifesting through red runes into his hand.
That's when he felt a shift in the pull.
A shift born from the transformation of his innate ability, evolving from [Blood Fee] to [Chalice of Conquest].
And he could tell by the pull… it wasn't drawing from his body anymore, but from something deeper, straight from the sea of blood surging within his soul.
"Light." Evan said softly.
Zerin's eyes flickered back to attention.
"Oh, right." Serenity nodded, summoning her brazier from her Soul Sea.
Zerin's eyes settled on the brazier. It materialized differently than his Memories, formed from white sparks that came together to create her weapon, rather than red runes.
The cool chain then coiled up her arm like a metal serpent, and she lifted it like a lantern, the wild flame inside casting a warm glow.
He stepped forward, quickly joining them in the opening. As they passed through the entrance's narrow throat, moving past towering stone pillars, they hadn't quite expected what waited beyond.
It opened up to a large chamber.
So vast and utterly dark, the brazier's flames now seemed pathetic, like a match surrounded by a sea of grave darkness.
They readied their weapons, straining to pierce the darkness around them, just in case something lunged from the shadows.
But it was far too dark.
Still, they ventured through. Crumbled stone littered the stone foundation beneath their feet, the warm glow of the brazier slowly illuminating the path Serenity led as she crept into the silence.
Then—she stopped.
She must've found something.
Zerin looked ahead of her and then he saw it.
A silhouette.
They saw it too, closing in behind her for support—their presence urging her to inch forward and reveal what waited in the shadows.
She hesitated, taking a step closer, lifting her brazier higher into the air.
As the figure came into view, a sharp exhale left her chest.
It was a desiccated, crumbling statue of a man.
A false alarm.
Though intrigued, Zerin left his place at the rear and moved to the front beside her, his eyes narrowing as he spotted the crumbled statue clutching a carved scroll bearing an inscription.
Serenity squinted, then she began to read the runes on the statue's scroll.
"Life is desire, I was told. So we chase the flame, even knowing it will burn out..."
She squinted further, then sighed. "I can't read anymore..." She turned back, Zerin, who was staring directly at the inscription.
Her interpretation was wrong.
Completely and utterly wrong.
What it truly read was:
'Life is Desire, I was told. But how does one cradle a flame that will eventually die? What purpose is there in something so temporary, never meant to last? What, then is the purpose of Desire?...'
And then, the rest of the text was marred—unreadable.
There was no faith. Only questions.
And those questions spiraled back to the supposed truth of what they'd been told.
If Life was Desire—like the desire to live—then what was the point of it all, if Life was a finite existence?
What is life?
A process of tainting a pure soul, then casting it into utter darkness.
At least those were Zerin's thoughts.
The Gods birthed this existence—this Life. And Creation always attempted to defy their rule, even though it was Fate.
Zerin sided with Creation, and he didn't accept that death was peace.
He had seen it.
But knowing all this he held his tongue. It wasn't their burden—neither was it their reality. Perhaps what he had seen wasn't meant for all, but for himself alone.
The cost of robbing divinity.
So he said nothing.
Instead, he turned his attention to the present.
He made the decision to separate from the group—a risky idea, but it would allow them to explore the area twice as fast.
The reason he went alone? His sword wasn't a great light source, and he figured he'd be more effective solo than tripping over a partner.
Zerin raised his sword, the black blade taking on the appearance of the starry night casting a purple glow around him as he searched.
Over time, they began to piece together the layout of the place. Just past the statue of a man clutching a scroll stood several podiums—perhaps once holding more statues like it—but that could only be inferred from the crumbling stone and empty bases.
It was, quite literally, a ghost town. Aside from the pillars cleaved halfway down, and that lone statue, there was nothing else around them...
Until they realized they were only on the upper floor. The discovery—made by Serenity as she dangled her brazier over one of the ledges—ruled out the possibility that their current level was suspended in the air above a void of utter darkness.
"It's not a high drop! We can probably just jump down without a problem!" she called, letting her brazier fall to light the floor below as proof.
The first one to leap down first was Cain, landing effortlessly jumping down the six foot drop, followed by Zerin, Evan, then Serenity who jumped down after a bit of hesitation.
Zerin stepped ahead of the group, raising his sword. The dull blade pulsed with a purple glow—then his eyes widened as a tunnel revealed itself before him.
"So this is what we were looking for," Zerin said, staring into the darkened depths of the tunnel, his voice drawing attention to it.
Evan stepped up beside him. "That's what we're praying for. If not, we're shit out of luck..."
Serenity moved ahead, her brazier casting flickering light into the tunnel, though it revealed little. Cain followed, speaking as he walked.
"I'd have to agree... I don't want to wait days for this storm to blow over."
Serenity smiled and glanced back. "Well then, let's get real hopeful, and maybe we'll get what we want."
Such naivety... or just the need to lift the mood.
Zerin shrugged. "Ready when you all are."
Without bothering to explore their surroundings, they headed blindly into the tunnel, simply following the direction they hoped was right. Zerin was pretty sure he'd already blown past his two-day limit—the deal he made with Evan to stay and help—but with Ecludia getting captured and throwing a wrench in everything, it looked like he'd be stuck here a while longer.
And, what was ahead of them was nothing more than just monotonous walking, which felt arduous as they passed through the narrow tunnel. And, not long after conversation dwindled to a painstaking silence Serenity rose her voice.
"I see light!"
Zerin's eyes lit up.
"That's wonderful! We can finally leave this storm behind us, right Cain?" Evan exclaimed a bit too cheery for Cain's liking.
"Save it..." He said at a low tone as he continued walking behind Serenity following her lead.
Zerin tilted his head, peering past Cain and Serenity.
There was definitely light ahead—possibly their way out. But he noticed something else—
Something made her slam to a sudden stop, and the abrupt halt set off a domino effect.
Serenity, bumped by Cain, falling over on the harsh stone. Zerin slammed his forehead into Cain's dense skull, while Evan managed to stop just in time, avoiding a collision with Zerin.
Argh! His skull is like a damn rock!
Zerin cried internally shaking his head trying to make the aching pain go away.
Opening his teary eyes, he saw it again—but this time much more clearly. Something familiar.
Serenity winced. "Ow..." She raised a hand, rubbing her lower back.
Cain stepped back after regaining his bearings. 'That's what happens when you stop like that!' he snapped, though, helped her to her feet anyway.
"I'm sorry... I just—I think I'm seeing things."
Zerin slipped past them quickly. "No... I saw it too." He raised his blackened blade, its glow casting light in front of him.
He was certain she saw exactly what he'd seen: a head peeking into the tunnel. But it didn't raise any alarms for him.
It was about time.
"Well, if you saw something, maybe it isn't a good idea to walk toward it?" Evan questioned.
His attempt to reel Zerin back fell on deaf ears. Zerin was already near the opening, and there, in the dead of night under the moon, stood the Howler—its pristine white pelt glowing in the moonlight, its imposing form carved by shadow.