---
**Deep Forest – Midnight**
The howl still echoed in Elira's bones.
She stood now, alert, one hand clutching her dagger, the other glowing faintly with the new forest energy coursing through her. Sylvaeria hovered close, her form rippling with tension.
"That sound didn't come from any creature I know," the spirit murmured. "Not beast, not spirit... something in between."
Elira's brows furrowed. "In between? How comforting. Maybe next time we get a warning bell or something?"
Sylvaeria smirked faintly despite the tension. "Would you prefer a marching band?"
Before Elira could respond, the ground gave a faint *thrum*, like a heartbeat underfoot.
---
**Yuki's Domain – Moments Earlier**
Yuki's eyes snapped open. The pulse in the soil had reached him—faint, but unmistakable. Something old was shifting beneath the roots. Something he had not yet seen, even with **Astral Sense**.
His tail flicked, and he rose from his coiled position beside the Soul Spring. Sylvaeria's silence had stretched too long.
"She's near it," he growled.
The wind whispered in agreement.
He reached out through his **Territory Lord's Intuition**, sending feelers of energy along the threads of his domain. A ripple of wrongness pulsed back like an oil slick in clean water.
"Not a beast. Not a spirit," he muttered. "Then what in the flaming depths is it?"
---
**Heartgrove – The Circle Clearing**
Elira and Sylvaeria moved cautiously toward the edge of a sunken grove. The trees bent away unnaturally from the center, forming a ring where the roots had been blackened and burned in a perfect circle.
"Okay, this definitely wasn't here yesterday," Elira whispered. "Am I hallucinating, or is the forest *actually* growing cursed donuts now?"
"It's a summoning ring," Sylvaeria said grimly. "Or it was. Something came *through* here. Recently."
Elira crouched beside a twisted root and brushed away the moss. Beneath it lay a carved sigil, older than any human or elven tongue she knew.
"It looks… like it's still warm."
A heavy breath fogged the air behind her.
Elira froze.
Slowly, she turned her head.
A twisted, bark-covered creature stood just beyond the ring—ten feet tall, its arms knotted with thorns and moss, its eyes glowing hollow and green. Its breath reeked of rot and decay, and yet… its body pulsed with spirit energy, warped and inverted.
"What in the name of forest mushrooms—" she gasped.
Sylvaeria's eyes widened. "That's not natural. That's a *corrupted warden.* They were sealed away centuries ago."
The creature raised a jagged arm, and the ground groaned beneath them.
---
**Meanwhile – At the Camp**
Kael jolted awake, his hand flying to his weapon. "What the hell was that?"
Lumi, sitting up in her bedroll, squinted into the distance. "It felt like the ground... *sighed?* That's not normal."
Brann groaned and rolled over. "It's a forest. It does forest things. Go back to sleep."
Then the first tremor hit.
Kael was on his feet in an instant. "Nope. Nope. Forest shouldn't *breathe*. I vote we check this out."
"By 'check this out,'" Brann muttered, getting up reluctantly, "you mean 'run screaming in the opposite direction,' right?"
---
**Heartgrove – Back in the Ring**
Elira was already moving, ducking beneath a vine-whip that lashed out at her with unnatural speed. She darted around the edge of the summoning circle, searching for an opening.
"Sylvaeria—any bright ideas!?"
The spirit threw a pulse of wind, which barely staggered the corrupted guardian. "We need Yuki!"
Elira dodged another swipe, this one close enough to tear her sleeve. "Fantastic. I'll just shout really loud and hope the dragon has good hearing!"
Then the wind shifted.
A roar ripped across the forest like thunder breaking the sky.
The corrupted guardian froze, turning its head just in time to see crimson wings blot out the moonlight.
Yuki descended in a flare of soulfire and wind, his scales gleaming like molten armor, eyes burning with fury.
Elira stumbled back, staring in awe. "Okay. *That's* a dramatic entrance."
Sylvaeria looked visibly relieved. "Took him long enough."
---
**Yuki Lands**
He didn't waste time. With one beat of his wings, Yuki struck the guardian with a blast of **Phantom Ripper**, the spectral energy slicing through its bark armor and sending it flying backward into the trees with a shriek.
Elira stared, slack-jawed. "Remind me never to get on your bad side."
Yuki turned his head toward her, eyes narrowing slightly. "You keep wandering into places you shouldn't be."
Elira smiled faintly. "It's a hobby."
Yuki huffed a smoky breath. "A dangerous one."
---
**End Scene**
The corrupted guardian twitched once, then lay still, its body already breaking down into black mist.
Yuki stared at the sigil in the ground, his voice low and grim.
"This wasn't an accident," he growled. "Something is trying to open the forest. From *beneath*."
Sylvaeria floated beside him, expression dark. "Then we'd best start digging… before they dig their way out."
Elira glanced between them. "So… bad news all around then?"
Yuki gave her a long look. "Get some rest. Tomorrow, we start hunting shadows."
---