---
The next morning broke with golden light spilling over the ruins, casting the moss-covered stones in a warm glow. Dew clung to vines, birds sang once more from the treetops, and for the first time in weeks, the forest didn't *feel* like it was watching them.
But peace was never permanent.
Yuki stretched his wings with a yawn that sent a small gust across camp, flipping over Lumi's blanket.
"Hey!" she squeaked, now tangled in her bedding like a struggling caterpillar. "That was *aggressive yawning*!"
"Try being smaller," Elira said smugly, floating upside down with a levitation spell, an arcane orb lazily spinning above her hand.
"Try *not* being a smug bat," Lumi fired back.
"Oh no," Sylvaeria sighed, watching from the edge of a nearby spring. "It's one of *those* mornings again."
Aeiris giggled softly. "They're funny."
Seiris said nothing, sharpening a blade against a rock with methodical precision, though the corner of her mouth *did* twitch upward.
---
### **Rising Threats**
As they continued their exploration of the Hollow's upper sanctum, Yuki's senses started to itch. Not the way danger usually felt—but more like something *waiting*.
"Anyone else feel that?" he rumbled.
Sylvaeria, eyes narrowing, nodded. "There's still mana saturation in the air. Something… lingers."
Elira was already casting a detection spell. "Residual necromancy. But not like before—it's... fractured."
Suddenly, a sound echoed through the stone halls. A rhythmic clanging—metal on stone.
Then a voice, hauntingly familiar:
> "...You came. At last."
Yuki stepped forward, but Seiris beat him to it.
Her eyes widened.
From the shadows emerged a woman wrapped in obsidian chains, her form hovering just above the floor. Her silver hair flowed around her like moonlight made liquid, her eyes dim yet pleading.
It was *Aeiris*.
Another Aeiris.
"What—?" Lumi blinked.
"No, that's—!" Seiris stepped back, reaching for her sister.
The chained specter let out a mournful cry. "They didn't let me go… He still has me…"
Aeiris gasped behind them, clutching her chest. "I—She's me. But not. A broken shard. I remember now—when I was trapped in the Hollow… they split my soul."
Yuki's expression darkened. "And left a remnant behind to act as a puppet."
"Correct," said a new voice, calm, cold, and crystalline. A tall figure made of dark silver stepped from the veil of shadow—its eyes glowing with malicious intellect.
> "I am the Echo Sovereign. Last Warden of the Broken Crown. And you… have trespassed into my dominion."
---
### **Battle Ignites**
With a howl of corrupted wind, the Echo Sovereign unleashed a barrage of spectral spears. Yuki moved instinctively, shielding the girls with his wings. Sylvaeria snapped her fingers, calling a wind barrier; Elira retaliated with a counterspell, violet fire meeting spectral steel.
"Lumi—" Yuki started.
"On it!" she yelled, charging forward, sword ablaze with radiant light. "Let's save your sister again, Seiris!"
Seiris didn't respond. She was already in motion, a blur of silver and shadows, slicing at the chains holding her sister's fragmented self.
Aeiris gripped Yuki's leg tightly, voice trembling. "Please save her… she's still a part of me."
"You have my word."
Yuki launched forward, aura flaring like wildfire.
---
### **Their Powers in Motion**
**Sylvaeria** rose into the air, her ultimate skill **Winds of Verdant Sky** creating a gale that dispersed the Sovereign's shroud of darkness.
**Elira**'s **Witch's Eclipse** warped space around the battlefield, causing the Sovereign's attacks to loop and twist—some turning back toward him.
**Lumi**'s **Celestial Blade Dance** ignited her in gold flame as she carved a path through spectral guardians summoned by the Sovereign.
**Seiris**, powered by her skill **Phantom Edge**, moved faster than the eye could follow, slicing at the corruption infecting her sister's chain-bound form.
**Aeiris**, despite trembling, began chanting a healing spell she didn't know she remembered—something ancient, spiritual, soft. The air shimmered around her.
Yuki, meanwhile, engaged the Echo Sovereign head-on. His claws burned with the crimson-gold light of his **Warden of Kindred Flames**, and his roar cracked the very stones beneath them.
---
### **Breaking the Chains**
It was Seiris who finally reached the last of the chains.
"I won't lose you. Not again," she whispered, striking the final bond with all her soul.
The remnant Aeiris screamed—and then exhaled, glowing with a faint light before dissolving into a thousand motes. They flowed into the real Aeiris, who collapsed against Yuki.
"I… I'm whole again," she breathed.
The Sovereign shrieked. "You were MINE—"
"No," Yuki growled, flames dancing across his teeth. "They are *free*. All of them."
And with one final, blazing strike, he tore through the Echo Sovereign.
---
### **Peace Again... Briefly**
The ruins stilled once more.
Yuki caught Aeiris as she fainted, exhausted but glowing.
Seiris gently brushed her sister's cheek. "Welcome back."
Lumi stretched. "Alright! Who's up for a nap and a victory snuggle?"
Sylvaeria raised a brow. "You suggest that after *every* battle."
"And you *never say no*," Lumi grinned.
Elira sighed, falling onto a vine bed. "Fine. Snuggles first. Dramatic reflections later."
Yuki chuckled as the girls collapsed around him once more.
The end of the Hollow arc was near—and though the final mystery awaited them deeper still, this battle, this *bond*, had marked a turning point.
They weren't just companions anymore.
They were bound by flame, shadow, wind, and soul.
Together.
---