---
The roots were quieter here—thicker, older, and warped with ancient magic that resisted even Yuki's perception. But that silence wasn't peace. It was warning.
Yuki moved carefully through the subterranean chamber carved eons ago beneath layers of forest bed. Each step echoed in a silence that clung too tightly. Sylvaeria followed a pace behind, watching him with a mix of reverence and concern.
"It's strange," Yuki murmured, his clawed foot hovering over a glowing seal etched in stone. "Even now, it reminds me of something… back then."
Sylvaeria tilted her head. "Back when you were human?"
He nodded slowly. "Underground tunnels, old ruins. Places where you could feel the weight of time pressing on your skin. I played games like that—fantasy RPGs. But this…" His tail coiled around a crumbled pillar. "This is the real thing. And it's *so* much heavier."
"You still think like one of them," Sylvaeria said quietly. "Even now."
"Maybe that's what keeps me from becoming something *unreachable*," he replied. "Being a dragon with a human soul… it's strange. Sometimes I feel like I'm just pretending to be divine."
He paused. "But I still understand fear. I still remember awe. That's why I won't let them walk into this alone."
Sylvaeria gazed at him, a flicker of approval in her gentle green eyes. "Then we'll guide them. Subtly."
Yuki focused on the arcane locks ahead. The gate Elira saw pulsed faintly through the stone, hidden still. "But first… I need to understand what's behind that door."
---
**Below – Elira's Group**
The descent led them into a cavern saturated with spirit residue—shimmering threads that clung to skin like gentle mist. Elira paused, brushing her fingers against a rune-cracked wall. The entire chamber *hummed* with life, though no creature stirred.
"This is it," she whispered. "The place from my vision."
Lumi squinted, her hand on her sword hilt. "Kinda pretty for a sealed doom vault."
Kael frowned. "Shouldn't we… not be here?"
Sieris nodded grimly. "This shouldn't exist. Not unguarded."
But Elira was already stepping forward, drawn by something deeper than sight. Her thoughts blurred.
*There's something waiting. Not a monster. Not evil. Just… old. And hurting.*
She knelt by a circular dais inscribed with silver-and-gold runes. It pulsed beneath her fingers like a heartbeat.
Suddenly, a breeze rushed through the chamber—soft, warm, and oddly comforting.
Lumi stepped closer, one brow raised. "You're glowing."
Elira blinked. "What?"
"Like, *actually* glowing."
A faint aura surrounded Elira's frame, barely visible but unmistakable to those attuned. Lumi tensed, heart thudding.
*She's resonating again. She doesn't even realize how strange this is.*
*But why does it make me want to stand closer instead of backing away?*
Then came the whisper—barely perceptible, as if drifting from the walls themselves. A language they couldn't understand, but one that *felt* like emotion: longing, fear… and trust.
"It's opening," Elira said, barely above a whisper. "Not because we're breaking it. Because it's letting us."
The center of the dais rippled.
And then—light.
A brilliant column surged up toward the ceiling, revealing a descending staircase no one had seen before. Dust and spirit motes swirled like stars.
Kael let out a low whistle. "Well, guess we're going deeper after all."
Brann groaned. "Fantastic. Nothing says safe like an ancient secret hallway full of glowing walls."
Lumi stepped beside Elira and gave her a soft elbow nudge. "You're a magnet for this kind of nonsense, huh?"
Elira smiled faintly, though her voice shook. "Yeah. I'm starting to wish I wasn't."
Still, she led the way down, Lumi following close, hands on her weapons.
---
**Far Above – Yuki**
He watched through a spirit echo—a fragment of his awareness woven into the roots. As Elira walked toward the sealed place, the gate didn't resist.
"They're being welcomed."
Sylvaeria floated beside him. "Because they aren't enemies."
Yuki exhaled through his nostrils, a warm gust that stirred the moss. "Then I won't treat them as such."
"But if that seal is truly breaking—" Sylvaeria began.
"Then I'll make sure it doesn't swallow them," Yuki said firmly. "I remember what it felt like… being weak, wandering into something you didn't understand."
He looked skyward, stars faint through the leaves. "Someone should have protected me then. Maybe now… I can be that someone."
Sylvaeria smiled gently.
"You're not just a dragon anymore," she said. "You're becoming something else."
"Not divine," he replied. "Just… better."
---