Huo Yan heard the second bell from the ridge above the hidden chamber.
He had not meant to follow Lin Chen and Su Qingyao. At least, that was what he told himself. Their pair had been ahead since the first split, and the hollow's shifting paths kept drawing him toward the same route. Qin Luo had gone back to help another team. Huo Yan continued alone.
The black bead throbbed in his palm.
A narrow trail of dark flame curled from his hand and vanished into the rock. It led him to an opening hidden behind a screen of thorn vines. Cold air breathed from within.
He should have turned back.
The thought came clearly, and for once Huo Yan listened to it. The black bead was no longer a promise of strength. It was a weight in his palm, warm and hungry. He could still hear the stranger's voice: more than anger.
He had wanted an edge over Lin Chen. He had not agreed to let some hidden force decide what remained of him.
Huo Yan turned toward the entrance. Behind him, the bead pulsed. The flame under his skin answered before he could stop it, and the passage ahead dimmed as if something had drawn the light away.
He cursed under his breath and faced the dark again.
Instead, he stepped inside.
The passage descended toward the chamber where Lin Chen and Su Qingyao stood. Huo Yan saw the frost feather in her hand and the mural on the wall. The sight stirred something in him—envy first, then a sharper, less familiar unease.
The bead burned hotter.
A sound came from behind him.
Huo Yan spun around. A shape unfolded from the shadows, long-limbed and low to the ground. Its body looked carved from ash; a red gleam shone where its eyes should have been.
He lifted his hand. Fire burst from his palm and struck the creature in the chest.
The beast staggered, then opened its mouth. No roar emerged. Instead, the chamber filled with a pressure that pressed against Huo Yan's lungs.
His flame flickered.
The creature lunged.
He threw himself aside. Claws struck the wall, shearing away a slab of stone. The black bead flared, and Huo Yan's fire turned dark at its edges. He drove it into the beast's shoulder. The creature recoiled, but the borrowed flame flowed back up his arm, scorching his meridians.
Pain blurred his sight.
At the chamber's entrance, Lin Chen heard the impact and moved first. Su Qingyao followed, the frost feather secured inside her robe.
They found Huo Yan on one knee, one arm wrapped around his chest. The ash creature turned toward them.
"Stay behind me," Lin Chen said.
"I don't need your help," Huo Yan rasped.
The beast attacked before he could rise. Lin Chen met it with a palm strike that drove it into the wall. Its body broke apart, but the ash drifted back together almost at once.
Su Qingyao saw the thin black veins that connected the ash to the old marks on the floor. "The seal is holding it together. We have to break the pattern."
She sent frost chains across the floor, pinning the lines in place. Lin Chen's dragon qi followed the paths between them, cutting through the dark threads one by one. The creature shuddered. This time, when its body collapsed, it remained ash.
For several breaths, the only sound was their breathing.
Huo Yan pushed himself upright. His face had gone pale, and a tremor ran through his burned hand. Lin Chen saw the black bead before Huo Yan closed his fist.
"What is that?" Lin Chen asked.
"Nothing that concerns you."
Su Qingyao's gaze moved from the bead to Huo Yan's face. "That fire was hurting you."
"I said it's none of your concern."
He turned away, but his steps were unsteady. Lin Chen let him go. The bead in Huo Yan's hand gave off a faint, sour heat that the dragon soul recognized as kin to the mark in the valley.
A deep stone groan traveled through the rock. The hidden passage began to close.