---
The ancient trail revealed by the spirit tree was unlike any other. Smooth stones lined the path, moss-carved symbols glowing faintly beneath their feet. Vines recoiled at their steps, not in fear, but in acknowledgment.
Elira walked with steady purpose, her senses extended. The pulse of the forest had shifted—quieter, deeper.
"He's been here," she whispered.
"No kidding," Lumi muttered, stepping around a spiral of thorned roots. "This whole place screams 'ominous dragon lair.' I feel like we're walking into the final level of a dungeon."
A breath of laughter escaped Elira before she could stop it. "It's strange. You make it sound terrifying, but I'm not scared."
"Not even a little?"
"…Not even a little."
Lumi eyed her, frowning. *This girl was supposed to be the calm and cautious one. Now she's hearing voices and chasing spirit paths without flinching. Is she changing? Or… am I the one too grounded for this place?*
She kicked a pebble out of frustration. "Tch. When we get out of here, I'm making you take me to an actual spa."
"Deal," Elira smiled.
---
### **Meanwhile – In the Hollow Above**
Yuki shifted atop his perch. His claws flexed against the bark, and his gaze followed the glowing path being tread below.
"They're walking toward the Hollow," he murmured.
Sylvaeria hovered at his side, arms crossed. "You could stop them."
"I don't want to." His voice was calm, but his tail flicked.
"…Because you're curious? Or because of her?"
Yuki didn't answer immediately. "She's... familiar. Not her face. Her presence. The way she looks at the world. It's how I used to before…"
He stopped.
"Before you became what you are?"
He gave a faint snort. "I don't even remember my real name anymore, Sylvaeria. Just fragments. But feelings? Those are harder to lose."
She nodded solemnly.
"I was a human once. Soft in some ways. I liked books. Cities. Watching people laugh. I hated crowds but loved quiet cafés. I wanted to matter..."
He paused, then looked at the treetops.
"I thought being reborn would erase all that. But Elira… reminds me that I'm not just a dragon now."
Sylvaeria's lips curled in a smile. "Then maybe you should show her that part."
Yuki huffed. "I'm still a territorial beast, remember? If she steps wrong, I won't hesitate."
"But you'll regret it."
"…Probably."
---
### **Further Below – Echoes of the Past**
The glowing path led the group into a collapsed shrine half-swallowed by the earth. Ivy-stained pillars reached to the sky like broken fingers. In its center stood a single pedestal, a fractured mirror resting upon it.
Elira approached carefully.
"What is it?" Lumi asked.
Elira traced the mirror's edge with her fingers. "A spirit relic. Old magic—used for communion between planes. Someone used this a long time ago to reach something beyond this world."
As she spoke, the mirror flickered.
A single image blinked into being.
A red-scaled dragon's eye, massive and calm.
Lumi swore, nearly drawing her dagger. "Did you just summon him?!"
"No." Elira's voice was quiet. "He let me see him."
Then the image faded.
But both women stood frozen.
"He's not just a guardian," Elira whispered. "He's watching us to see what we'll become."
Lumi gritted her teeth. "And if he doesn't like what he sees?"
"Then we'll make sure we're worth liking."
"…You sound like you want him to like us."
Elira looked at the broken mirror.
"I think he's lonelier than he admits."
---
Yuki felt the ripple of the mirror's activation through his soul.
"She saw me."
"Yes," Sylvaeria said gently. "And she didn't look away."
---