The journey into the heart of the Falzath-blighted valley began in silence. Thick crimson fog clung to the ground like a second skin, coiling between jagged rocks and ruined tree trunks. Zera led the way, her blue longsword glowing faintly as if warding off the encroaching despair.
Shin walked just behind her, every step cautious, his ears flicking at the distant, inhuman whispers carried by the fog. Laverna brought up the rear, her gaze fixed not on the path ahead, but on the way Zera moved beside Shin—with confidence, grace, and quiet purpose.
The path narrowed into a winding pass where the fog thickened, flowing like blood between the jagged cliffs. Each breath carried a weight of unease. The very air tasted of rot and memory, and shadows flickered at the edges of vision, always just out of reach.
Zera halted. "This fog... it's Falzath-born," she muttered. "It feeds off memory. Regret and ruin. Stay sharp."
"You could have warned us sooner," Laverna snapped, stepping up beside her. "If this fog twists our minds, you should have said something the moment we entered."
Zera didn't turn. "I assumed you were strong enough to handle it."
Laverna's jaw clenched. Her hands balled into fists. "You don't know anything about us."
"I know enough to see you're distracted," Zera said coolly, her blue eyes flicking toward Shin. "And that puts us all at risk."
Before Laverna could retort, Shin stepped between them, his presence quiet but commanding. His Kitsune tails stirred slightly, scattering faint sparks of crimson foxfire into the thick air.
"Both of you—enough," he said. "This fog wants us fractured. It wants us afraid. We don't give it what it wants."
Zera looked away, giving a curt nod. Laverna huffed but remained silent, stepping back.
As they pressed forward, the fog deepened. With it came whispers—faint voices clawing at their ears. Shin's breath caught as the sound of distant screams echoed around him—his clan, burning in the night, their final cries twisting through the air.
He faltered for a moment before catching himself. Crimson foxfire flared around his form, anchoring him in the now.
Beside him, Laverna stumbled. She heard the chain clinks of her old master, the cruel laughter, the sting of commands barked through clenched teeth. Her breath quickened, panic threatening to seize her until a gust of wind kicked up around her—her own magic pushing the fog back just enough.
Zera said nothing, but her eyes glowed faintly as she pressed forward with iron resolve. Her own memories clawed behind her eyes, but she gave them no room to take root. Her sword hummed low, pulsing with focused energy.
Then the fog shifted. Something growled—a low, guttural snarl that vibrated the earth. From the crimson mist emerged figures—four-legged beasts, fur matted with black ichor and void symbols burned into their skin. Their eyes glowed with unnatural blue light, hollow and hungry.
"Hounds," Zera breathed. "Corrupted."
They charged.
Zera met the first one head-on, her sword slicing through corrupted flesh with a flash of blue light. The beast exploded in a burst of ash and bile.
Shin vanished in a crimson blink, reappearing above another hound mid-leap. Yoshimatsu cleaved downward, the High Frequency blade vibrating with lethal energy. The creature's head split open with a sickening crack, its body twitching before it dissolved into dust.
Laverna sprang forward, using wind bursts to launch herself over a snapping maw. With a twist mid-air, she flung a flurry of wind-charged kunai into the creature's back, pinning it against a jagged outcrop. It shrieked as the air blades tore through its body, scattering corrupted gore.
But more hounds came. They moved unnaturally—no pack coordination, just raw aggression. One lunged for Laverna's back.
Zera saw it first.
"Behind you!"
Laverna turned too late. But Zera was already there, her blade a blur of sapphire as it slashed clean through the hound's neck. The beast's head spun into the mist, disintegrating before it hit the ground.
Their eyes met. Laverna's chest heaved.
"Thanks," she muttered grudgingly.
Zera only nodded before dashing back into the fray.
Shin moved like lightning, teleporting between enemies, slicing with precision, his tails warding off strikes. His foxfire seemed to push back the fog, calming the whispers as his aura grew stronger. The others felt it too—his leadership a steady light in the choking red gloom.
Laverna fought with renewed intensity, letting her wind magic enhance every movement. She ducked, spun, and slashed, moving like a storm. Her skills weren't as refined as Zera's, but they were wild, unpredictable, and effective.
Zera fought with icy clarity. Every swing of her sword was calculated, every step purposeful. She never wasted motion, and her presence was like a shard of blue steel—sharp, unyielding.
Together, they formed a deadly triangle. Shin's mobility and raw power, Laverna's agility and elemental ferocity, Zera's precision and experience.
The final hound was massive, its body twice the size of the others, with a crown of twisted horns and a jaw that dripped with corrupted fire. It howled, the sound vibrating through their bones.
Laverna went left, flanking it with wind-enhanced speed. Zera came from the right, her sword glowing brighter. Shin met it head-on.
Yoshimatsu clashed with the beast's claws, each strike a symphony of sparks and shockwaves. The fog seemed to recoil from the force.
Zera slashed at its legs, her blade carving runes into its flesh, slowing it. Laverna struck the beast's back with a spinning kick, her wind burst lifting it into the air.
"Now!" Shin roared.
He vanished above it, reappearing upside down in a flash of crimson. Yoshimatsu came down like a guillotine, cleaving the creature from shoulder to chest. The monster gave a final howl before imploding in a burst of void light.
Silence returned, broken only by heavy breathing.
The fog thinned slightly, as if retreating.
Zera wiped her blade clean, then looked to Laverna. "You held your own."
Laverna blinked. Then nodded. "So did you."
Shin glanced between them, his expression unreadable, but inwardly, he felt a sliver of relief. The tension hadn't broken entirely, but it had begun to shift. The fight had forged something raw—unspoken trust, fragile but real.
As they continued forward, the whispers in the fog dimmed. Shin's foxfire sparked brighter, lighting their way.
The valley still pulsed with Falzath's corruption, but now, amid the despair, a thread of unity bound the trio. Not yet a team, not yet friends—but no longer strangers.
And the fog would find it harder to twist a heart anchored by purpose.
The deeper they walked, the more Shin realized: this was only the beginning.
Together, they might just survive it.