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**Midnight – Ruins of the Basin Altar**
The campfire's last embers sputtered against the breeze, casting warm shadows across sleeping figures. The clearing had quieted, but Elira remained awake—gazing at the altar where she had placed the vine-wrapped flower. Its faint glow pulsed like a heartbeat, answering something below.
She stood slowly, glancing toward Lumi, who was still half-awake and leaning against her bag, blade in her lap.
"You're not sleeping?" Elira asked.
"Not when the ground's humming like it's got something to say," Lumi replied, her tone dry. "Also, Kael snores like a dying moose."
Elira stifled a giggle, and the tension between them eased. They were an odd pairing—Elira, drawn in by spirits and visions, and Lumi, sharp-edged and ever-practical. But something unspoken passed between them, forged in the pressure of the unknown.
"You're feeling it too," Elira said. "The altar. The… hum beneath it."
Lumi tapped the hilt of her blade, silver eyes narrowing. "Yeah. It's like someone's whispering from the basement of the world."
"And it's getting louder."
Suddenly, a low thrum rippled through the stones beneath their feet—followed by a soft cracking noise from the base of the altar. The two women turned in unison as faint blue light leaked through the ancient stone seams.
Lumi drew her sword with a whisper of steel. "Welp. That's not ominous."
---
**Meanwhile – Yuki's Observation**
From the edge of the treetops, Yuki watched. His senses were already locked onto the resonance.
*Another seal is faltering,* he thought. *The altar's mechanism wasn't just a ward—it was a tether.*
Sylvaeria appeared behind him in a blur of silver mist. "The pulse is identical to the one beneath the Hollowglade, back when we faced the Wyrm-Spite."
Yuki nodded. "That one was angry. This one feels… focused."
"Calculated?"
"Hungry."
He unfurled his wings, letting the starlight ripple across his scales. "I'm going down there."
Sylvaeria hovered, frowning. "With the humans?"
"They've triggered it. I want to see how far they'll go before I intervene."
She raised a brow. "You're starting to sound like a certain sarcastic thief."
Yuki rumbled softly. "Kael's nonsense is starting to rub off. Curse him."
Sylvaeria grinned. "We should've eaten him while we had the chance."
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**Back at the Altar – Moments Later**
Cracks spiderwebbed along the stone surface, and Kael, newly awake, stumbled over with bed-hair and panic.
"Did someone try to *wake up the altar* again? I told you people, no poking ancient things at night!"
Brann stomped over, sword already out. "Everyone back up!"
"No sudden movements," Elira said firmly, eyes locked on the center glyph now glowing with golden vines. "It's awakening."
Nireya, calm as ever, whispered, "I think it's testing us."
From the altar's core, a spectral light burst upward—illuminating the clearing in a soft wave. Everyone shielded their eyes… until a form appeared within the light. A feminine shape, tall, veiled in bark and mist, eyes glowing with green fire.
A spirit. No—a Guardian.
The figure gazed at each of them, her voice echoing like rustling leaves. "Children of the New Blood. You trespass, yet the forest watches. You awaken what should sleep. Why?"
Elira stepped forward, heartbeat pounding. "Because we were called. The forest *wanted* us here."
The Guardian tilted her head. "Many claim they are chosen. Few endure what follows."
Lumi stepped forward beside her. "Then test us. We're not here to rob graves. We're here to find answers."
Kael coughed behind them. "Speak for yourselves…"
The spirit's gaze lingered on Lumi. "You bear an echo of the old ones… a fragment sealed in steel and blood."
Lumi tensed, her grip tightening. "I'm just a swordswoman."
"Perhaps. Or perhaps not." The spirit began to fade. "The seal weakens. When next it breaks, so too shall the trial begin."
With that, the light snapped out.
And the altar cracked fully in half.
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**Aftermath – The Next Morning**
The group stood in silence around the broken altar. Morning mist rose in sheets, blanketing the basin.
"Well," Kael muttered. "On a scale from one to 'ancient curse,' we've hit at least an eight."
Brann exhaled hard. "That thing is awake now."
Elira knelt beside the cracked altar, running her fingers across the glowing lines. "It wasn't hostile. But it was warning us."
Lumi, unusually quiet, stood apart. Her blade hummed faintly with residual energy.
Nireya approached her, curiosity gleaming. "You never told us you had spirit-blood."
"I didn't know," Lumi said. "But I guess we're all learning new things lately."
From the treetops, Yuki smiled faintly. *Not bad, human. Not bad at all.*
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