The crimson fog began to disperse the deeper they ventured into the valley. Shin's foxfire shimmered like distant stars, its calming pulse lighting the path ahead. Trees, now skeletal and blackened, thinned until they reached a clearing framed by the jagged remains of a crumbled temple. Vines as red as dried blood crawled over its shattered walls, and the air pulsed with a void-tainted presence, thick and unnatural.
"This place..." Shin murmured, narrowing his eyes. His Kitsune senses buzzed like warning bells. "It's not just ruined. It's desecrated."
Laverna stepped beside him, her brow furrowing. "A temple? Out here?"
Zera approached the threshold, her sword humming faintly. She paused, her fingers brushing against the ancient stone. A sigil etched into the arch above the doorway flickered faintly with void energy. "This used to be a shrine to the Skyward Pantheon," she said. "Before the Falzath came."
Shin and Laverna exchanged a glance. The name meant nothing to either of them. Shin tilted his head slightly. "Skyward Pantheon?"
Zera nodded slowly. "A legend. Thousands of years old. The gods of the old world—guardians of balance, worshipped long before even the modern Kingdoms existed. Most believe they were myths, stories passed down in whispers and crumbling scrolls. But they were real. This place proves it."
Laverna's eyes widened slightly. "I've read of old deities, but nothing by that name. This is the first time I've even heard it."
"Same here," Shin added. "I thought all pre-Kingdom era religions were lost in the Second Collapse."
"That's what they want people to believe," Zera murmured. "But the truth is buried in ruins like this. The Skyward Pantheon didn't fall because people forgot. They were consumed."
Inside, the air grew heavier—warped and distorted like a mirage. The walls were lined with murals: gods of wind, flame, sunlight and moonlight rendered in vibrant pigment now dulled by decay. Yet, between the divine figures slithered a dark shape—its body a jagged mass of eyes and mouths, tendrils coiling through the heavens like a festering wound.
Shin stepped closer, eyes narrowing. "That's no god. That's the Falzath."
Laverna's breath hitched. "It's devouring the other gods..."
"It didn't just devour them," Zera said grimly. "It infected them. Broke the balance. This is where the corruption began. It fed on their essence until their domains collapsed. The temples that once channeled their blessings now serve as its nesting grounds."
They moved deeper into the temple. Cracks split the floor beneath their feet, roots twisting through the stone like veins. At the center of the room, a ruined altar loomed—its surface marred by a black crystal embedded like a festering wound. Around it, ancient relics lay scattered—some broken, others curiously untouched by time.
Zera's gaze landed on a weathered pendant, half-buried in dust. She stepped forward and knelt, her fingers trembling as she lifted it.
Her breath caught.
A rush of memory surged through her—her village engulfed in flames. Screams ripping through the night. A rift in the sky vomiting darkness onto their world. Her friends, her family... torn apart in seconds.
She collapsed to her knees, clutching the pendant to her chest.
"I was supposed to protect them," she whispered. "I lived. They didn't. Why?"
Shin watched quietly, his features softening. He knew the pain of loss but sensed this moment belonged to someone else.
Laverna stepped forward, crouching beside Zera. She didn't speak immediately. Her eyes lingered on the pendant, then on the trembling girl beside her.
"My family was slaughtered too," she said softly. "I was taken by the Lichtensteins. Trained. Branded. For years, I thought my pain made me weak. But it didn't. It made me real."
Zera looked up, her eyes swimming with tears. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because I see the same guilt in you that I carried for years," Laverna replied. "You survived. That doesn't make you guilty. It makes you strong. And strength can be lonely if you don't let others in."
A breeze stirred gently. It carried a calming warmth—Laverna's developing aura manifesting without her noticing. The wind brushed against Zera's skin like a comforting whisper, lifting the fog inside her heart.
Zera inhaled shakily, then let out a slow breath. Her hand gripped her sword's hilt tighter, the contact grounding her.
"Thank you," she murmured.
For a long moment, they remained in silence—no longer two wounded soldiers, but two souls who had glimpsed each other's pain.
Shin moved to the far wall, where a vast mural stretched across the chamber. Unlike the others, this one remained untouched by decay. He studied it intently.
"There's a map here," he said, tracing a clawed finger along the painted lines. "These markings... they're coordinates. Falzath didn't just corrupt this place. It made a stronghold—somewhere deeper. This temple was the first, but not the last."
As he spoke, the crystal in the altar pulsed. A low hum vibrated through the air.
Without warning, void energy surged upward, forming a barrier of black light that sealed the temple.
Shin's ki flared. He darted toward the wall of light, unleashing a blast of foxfire. It struck the barrier and vanished, consumed by the darkness.
"It's a trap," he growled. "Mana-based. I'm low."
Laverna stepped forward, eyes narrowing with focus. She raised her hand. Magic swirled around her fingertips in soft spirals. Her wind aura began to spin, brushing the barrier with ribbons of energy.
Zera watched carefully. "You sure you can handle it?"
Laverna nodded. "Shin's ki is too volatile—it feeds the barrier. Mana will disrupt it. I just need time."
The air thickened with pressure. Laverna's aura intensified, her wind gathering speed until it screamed through the chamber. Threads of energy unraveled the barrier's weave, fighting back the corruption.
Zera stepped in beside her, raising her blade. Her sword glowed with a radiant sheen, its runes blazing with anti-corruption energy. She slashed forward, her magic syncing with Laverna's wind.
A burst of power surged forward. The wind, now shaped like a crescent blade, collided with the barrier. Light fractured. The void screamed.
And then, with a crack like thunder, the barrier shattered.
The pulse faded. Stillness returned.
Shin exhaled, eyes wide with reluctant admiration. "Nice work."
Laverna allowed herself a small, satisfied smile. "I've been paying attention."
Zera sheathed her sword with a quiet click. "Maybe we're not so different after all."
They stepped into the open once more. The fog receded behind them, and the ruined temple slumped further, as if exhaling its final breath.
Shin turned his gaze to the distant horizon. "The Falzath stronghold is real. We'll hit it next. And this time, we go in prepared."
Zera nodded, her hand resting on her heart. Laverna stood tall beside her, her wind still gently stirring the air. Whatever had once fractured their paths was beginning to mend.
They had all lost something to the Falzath. But in that loss, they had found something else:
Each other.
And now, they would fight not just to survive—but to reclaim what was stolen.
Together.