Seventeen years passed like smoke on the wind.
South of the Jade Peaks, along the forbidden stretch called the Mist Ridge, the night lay thick and quiet. Moonlight glazed the treetops in cold silver. Mist crept low between trunks, breathing like something alive. The air smelled of damp earth and wildflowers, sweet enough to feel wrong.
A sharp yelp broke the stillness.
"Ah—!"
From a patch of scrub, a girl shot upright, slapping at her arm. Her green outer robe rustled as she shook her sleeve down, exposing pale skin already reddening.
"What now?" a boy's voice hissed from the dark.
"Something bit me," she snapped, glaring at her arm. "There are bugs everywhere. This place is a nightmare."
"Sit down," he urged, grabbing her wrist and pulling her back into the brush. "You want the mountain spirits to spot us?"
She dropped with a huff, though she didn't stop scowling. Even half-hidden in shadow, Selene Voss looked like she didn't belong in a place like this—too clean, too sharp, too composed for the wild. The faint glow of the mist caught her features: fine, proud, and dangerously expressive.
"This place isn't fit for anyone," she muttered. "Deal's off. I'm going back."
She reached for the strange, wave-shaped blade resting beside her.
"Wait—what?" Kael Ashvane nearly choked. "Soror Selene, you can't just—"
She snapped her head toward him, eyes flashing. "Don't call me that like you're begging for mercy. And don't act like I break my word."
"You just did."
"I said I'd help," she shot back, "not rot out here all night chasing ghost stories. We've been waiting for hours. There's nothing here."
"There is," Kael insisted, leaning in close. His voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. "Reverend Cranewing saw it himself. Fire-spirit. Red hair like burning silk."
Selene rolled her eyes. "It's late. I'm exhausted. And I have standards, unlike you. Do you know what staying up all night does to a girl's face?"
Kael clasped his hands together, desperation leaking through his usual swagger. "I've spent five months preparing for this. Five months. I just need one thing—the hair of a fire-spirit. You're the only one who can handle it. Water counters fire. You know that."
Selene gave him a long, unimpressed look. "Flattery won't save you."
"I'm serious."
"So am I."
He grabbed her sleeve before she could rise again. "I'll pay you more."
She paused.
"How much more?"
"Three extra days gathering Ghostlight Moss for you."
Selene tilted her head, thinking. Slowly, she raised five slender fingers.
"Five."
Kael's eye twitched. "That's robbery."
"Six," she said flatly.
He nearly shouted. "Six?!"
"Then don't agree."
She started to stand again.
"…Fine," he groaned, collapsing inward like something had snapped inside him. "Six."
Selene smiled, satisfied, and leaned back, humming softly under her breath.
Kael forced a smile in return, though his teeth ground hard enough to crack. If not for her water techniques… if not for that…
He swallowed the thought.
"Strange," Selene said after a moment, glancing sideways at him. "Why aren't the bugs biting you?"
Kael said nothing.
Inside, he was laughing.
"Must be because your skin's too thick," she added, smirking. "Or you just smell worse than they do."
"Probably," he said with a stiff nod.
If not for her usefulness, he thought, I'd tie her up with the Ember-Chain and—
He cut that line of thinking short, though the heat in his chest lingered, tangled with something more complicated. His gaze drifted despite himself.
Selene had shifted slightly. Her breathing slowed, steady and soft. The rise and fall beneath her robe caught his eye, subtle but impossible to ignore in the quiet. Moonlight brushed her face, softening the sharpness she usually wore like armor.
He blinked.
When she wasn't talking… she looked different.
Less dangerous.
More—
She turned in her sleep.
Her hair brushed across his lap.
Kael stiffened.
A pulse of heat shot through him, sudden and unwelcome. He sucked in a breath, jaw tightening as he forced himself to look anywhere else.
Selene frowned faintly, still half-asleep. "What's that… something's poking me…"
Kael nearly died on the spot.
"Nothing," he said quickly. "You're imagining things."
She shifted again, irritated, then suddenly sat up, rubbing her neck. "I'm going back to my bed. This is ridiculous—"
Kael's hand shot up.
"Quiet."
Something moved beyond the trees.
Selene followed his gaze, her irritation fading into focus.
A shape lurched between the trunks—long limbs, twisted posture, a face half-hidden in shadow.
"A mountain ghoul," she whispered.
Kael's eyes lit up. "Where there's one, there are more. And where there are more…"
"…there might be what you're after," she finished, though her tone carried more reluctance than excitement.
She flexed her grip on the Jade-Wave Blade. "We could just take its hair and leave."
"No," Kael said immediately. "It has to be a fire-spirit. Nothing else will work."
Selene groaned under her breath. "I'm going to get drained dry by insects before your miracle shows up."
"Patience," he said, watching the shadows. "We're close."
Then—
"There."
Something larger emerged.
A white tiger padded into the clearing, muscles rippling under moonlight. And astride it…
Selene's breath caught.
The figure was humanoid, but wrong. Too smooth. Too pale. Skin like polished bone with a faint blue sheen beneath. A wreath of flowers crowned its head. Its body was bare save for crude leaves tied at the waist.
And its hair—
Burning red.
Not just red. Alive with color, like embers caught mid-glow.
Selene's voice dropped. "That's no ordinary spirit."
Kael's pulse thundered.
"That's it," he whispered. "That's what I need."
Behind the creature, more shapes gathered. Dozens. Then more.
Selene grabbed his arm. "Wait. Let's count—"
But Kael was already moving.
He burst from the brush, landing hard in the clearing.
"Hold!" he shouted, voice ringing louder than sense allowed. "I am Kael Ashvane of the Ascendant Covenant! Stand still!"
The world went quiet.
For a heartbeat.
Then the forest erupted.
Dozens—no, hundreds—of ghouls surged from the dark, encircling him. Claws, stones, crude weapons. Eyes gleaming with hunger.
Kael froze.
"…Right," he muttered. "That's… more than expected."
He raised his hands slowly, forcing a smile. "Misunderstanding. I'm not here to fight. Just… need a little something."
The fire-spirit watched him.
Then, unexpectedly—
It laughed.
A clear, bright sound. Almost human.
The surrounding ghouls quieted slightly at the sound.
Kael blinked.
"You understand me?" he asked.
No answer. Just that same strange smile.
He swallowed, then pressed on. "You're their leader, right? Impressive. Really. Strong presence. Great… management."
Still nothing.
He hesitated.
Then changed tactics.
"You're beautiful," he said.
Selene, hidden in the brush, nearly choked.
The spirit tilted its head.
Kael gestured wildly, miming admiration. "Beautiful. Very beautiful."
He stepped closer.
The ghouls tensed—
—but the spirit lifted a hand. They stilled.
Kael approached slowly, heart hammering. Up close, the heat from its hair felt real. Like standing near a forge.
"So," he murmured, voice softening. "Would you mind if I… took a little?"
He drew a small blade.
The moment steel touched hair—
The spirit's expression changed.
Rage.
It shrieked, lashing out.
Kael barely twisted aside. Pain ripped across his cheek as claws grazed him. A knee slammed into his gut, sending him flying.
The ghouls surged.
"Damn it—!" he gasped, scrambling up.
A flash of green-blue light cut through the chaos.
Selene dropped from above, blade sweeping in a glowing arc.
The Crystalwave Slash.
Several ghouls split apart in sprays of dark blood.
Kael seized the opening. The Ember-Chain snapped free from his arm, cracking through the air like a living thing, smashing back attackers.
"Hold it still!" he shouted.
"Maybe don't charge in like an idiot next time!" Selene snapped back, already moving.
The fire-spirit leapt from its tiger, claws blazing with pale flame.
Kael darted back. "Careful—that's ghostfire!"
Selene's eyes sharpened.
"Good," she said. "I was getting bored."
She vanished.
The Heavenpool Step carried her like flowing water, slipping past attacks, closing the distance in an instant.
Her blade rose.
Fell.
The spirit twisted, nearly evading—
But Selene flicked her wrist.
A second arc of light split the air.
Hair scattered like burning threads.
She caught a handful mid-fall.
"Got it!"
"Run!" she barked.
They didn't wait.
Branches cracked underfoot as they fled, leaping tree to tree until the howling faded behind them.
Only when they reached the lower slopes did Selene slow, bracing against a trunk.
Her breathing was uneven now.
Kael frowned. "What's wrong?"
"Used too much Vitae," she said, forcing a breath. "Too many of those slashes."
Kael's stomach dropped. "They're still coming."
"They won't catch us," she said, straightening. "We use Earth Escape."
He blinked. "…Right."
She smirked faintly. "Try to keep up."
They began the incantation together.
Behind them, the ghouls burst through the trees—
Too late.
Dust spiraled.
The ground swallowed them whole.
Moments later, the ridge was empty.
Only the distant echoes of enraged howls lingered in the night.