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The air changed as they reached the mouth of the caves—cooler, denser. Bear tracks marred the earth, and the ground was churned and broken.

"He came through," Dain murmured.

"But where is he?"

Seren crouched, fingers brushing the disturbed soil. She listened for the animals, a soft, breeze that carried into the trees. Birds fluttered. A squirrel darted away. But none answered. Only silence.

"They saw him," she mused. "I think he scared them away."

Inside, the cave was vast and black. The paw prints led into the bowels of the cave system. The air pulsed , like the stone itself wasbreathing in time with the earth. The deeper they went, the colder it became, the air feeling live a living entity with each step into the dark. Water dripped somewhere far off, echoing through chambers unseen. Their footsteps softened as the ground gave way to damp earth and mineral-slick stone.

A single moan echoed through the stone.

They froze and then proceeded more quickly in the gathering darkness.

The cave system sloped ever downward, carving its way beneath the hills like veins through flesh. Somewhere below, an underground stream whispered its presence, threading through the caverns with unseen currents. The caves extended for miles in every direction—winding, shifting, unknowable. Some sections dipped lower still, forming a network of natural catacombs, ancient and vast.

Most of it remained unexplored.

Even the bravest of the scouts hadn't dared map the farthest reaches. Paths narrowed to cracks. Air thinned. There was no light , just an all-encompassing darkness.

Seren felt goosebumps run up her arms.—the way the stone pressed in tighter the deeper they went. The deeper they went, the colder it became. Water dripped somewhere far off, echoing. At the distance , a pale blue glow flickered.

Bioluminescent beetles shimmered on the walls.

Seren reached out, whispering to them not in words, but in instinct. They responded—tiny lights blinking awake, pulsing like heartbeats. Soon, the cave was awash in cold blue glow. She whispered again, gently urging them forward, and the path lit with movement. The ceiling sparkled like a captive night sky.

"Threk came through here," Dain said, eyes narrowed. "But where is he?"

The air grew cooler as they descended, the cave walls closing in like the ribs of some ancient beast. The tunnel sloped gradually, the stone damp beneath their boots, slick with time and secrets.

When they entered the cavern, Seren stopped cold.

It was breathtaking.

The walls glowed with a golden sheen, lit by a strange inner warmth that seemed to pulse from the stone itself. Jagged stalactites hung like teeth from the ceiling, mirrored by spires rising from the cave floor—stalagmites that glistened, reflected perfectly in the shallow, motionless water that pooled across the cavern. The light played tricks on her eyes, making it hard to tell where rock ended and reflection began.

They moved deeper, the air tinged with that strange mix—mint and rot. The scent stung her nose, making her stomach twist. A moan echoed low through the cavern, not loud but wrong, curling up from the stone like breath from a wounded creature.

Then they saw it.

A massive, shaggy shape slumped near the edge of the water. The golden glow made it seem surreal, almost painted into the cave itself. But as they drew near, the smell of blood struck them full in the face.

Seren cried out, running forward. "Threk!"

Blood pooled beneath him, stark red against the golden floor. A brutal slash lay open across his thick neck, the skin flayed, the wound yawning. His eyes were glassy in the low light, his maw open and slack .

Seren dropped to her knees, hands pressed to the torn flesh. "No—no, no, please—"

She called on her healing instinct, the glow pouring from her fingers, coaxing the skin to knit, cell by cell. A faint flicker of his lifeforce pulsed in the air.

"He's alive," she gasped, turning—only to find Dain was no longer there.

In his place stood a wolf. Its form was wrong. Hollow. Like something wearing a body that didn't belong to it.

Seren felt no whispers from him—only silence. A void.

Then a voice drifted from above.