The first thing Riha felt was the cold. It wasn't the sharp, biting chill of the surface wind, but a heavy, damp frost that seemed to seep into her very bones. She groaned, her eyes fluttering open to a world of absolute, suffocating darkness.
"Tinker?" she whispered, her voice cracking.
Silence met her. Then, she heard it—a low, rhythmic roar, like the heartbeat of the earth itself. It was the sound of rushing water, but it didn't sound like it was falling into a pool. It sounded like it was being pulled, whistling upward against the stone.
She reached out, her fingers brushing against something soft and warm. Her heart leaped. Tinker was lying beside her, his body limp. Above them, the tiny speck of light that had marked their fall was gone. The shifting ice and snow of the Tundra had already slid back into place, sealing the sinkhole like a tomb.
A Spark in the Void
"Tinker, wake up! You annoying doggie, open your eyes!" Riha shook him, but the spirit remained unconscious.
Panic flared for a second, but she forced it down. She was the Empress. She was the one who walked the Void. She sat up and placed her palms against his chest, closing her eyes. She felt his mana—it was flickering like a candle in a gale, his internal circuits shattered by the impact and the serpent's earlier strike.
"Don't you dare leave me here alone," she hissed.
She channeled her own mana—pure, violet energy—and began to transfer it into him. It was a delicate process; spirit-cores were volatile, but her 100% synchronization allowed her to tune her frequency to his. Slowly, his chest began to heave.
Tinker gasped, his amber eyes snapping open. He coughed, a faint puff of violet mist escaping his lips. "Noona... stop. You're... you're over-charging me."
"You're awake," she breathed, pulling back. "Can you stand?"
Tinker tried to shift, but he winced. "My magic... the connection to the grove is severed down here. My reservoir is broken. I'm barely holding my form."
The King in the Shadows
Before Riha could reply, a sibilant hiss echoed through the cavern.
The Ice Poison King Kala hadn't died in the fall. From the shadows of the crystal pillars, the iridescent serpent emerged. Its scales glowed with a sickly, bioluminescent blue, and its yellow eyes were fixed on them with murderous intent. It was wounded, its tail crushed by the fall, but that only made it more desperate.
"Tinker, stay back," Riha commanded, standing up. She summoned her spirits, but the atmosphere here was strange—Ignis and the twins manifested, but their forms were flickering, suppressed by the ancient weight of the mountain.
"Careful, Riha," Tinker warned, his voice weak. "One drop of that venom and your heart will turn to a block of ice. If it touches you, you're dead."
"Then I won't let it touch me," she said.
The snake lunged. It was a blur of blue and white. Riha threw herself to the side, the beast's fangs snapping inches from her shoulder. She didn't use her staff this time; the space was too cramped for wide swings. Instead, she reached for her wrist-guards.
"Ignis! Distract its vision!"
The fire spirit let out a burst of violet flame, momentarily blinding the serpent. Riha used that second of confusion to leap onto a crystal outcropping. She fired her Enhanced Spider Silk. The glowing threads sang through the air, sticking to the serpent's scales.
The King Kala thrashed, its sheer strength nearly pulling Riha off her feet. It turned, its head flattening like a cobra as it prepared to spit a concentrated stream of frozen poison.
"Now, Tinker!"
Despite his broken core, Tinker lunged. He didn't transform into his massive form, but he used the last of his mana to manifest a spectral fox claw, swiping at the snake's eyes. The serpent shrieked, its poison spray hitting a pillar instead, shattering the stone instantly.
Riha didn't hesitate. She jumped from the pillar, her silk threads weaving a complex web around the snake's midsection. She pulled with all her strength, her mana flaring as she tied the beast to the jagged floor. With the serpent pinned, she manifested a blade of pure psychic energy.
She beat the beast to a pulp, her strikes a rhythmic, relentless blur of violet light until the glow in the serpent's eyes finally flickered out.
The Price of Victory
Riha stood over the carcass, her breathing ragged. She turned to Tinker, but her triumph vanished. The fox spirit was trembling, his human skin turning a translucent, pale blue.
"Tinker?"
"The... the claw," he muttered, looking at his hand. A tiny, almost invisible scratch from the snake's fang was etched into his palm. The poison was moving fast.
"No, no, no—" Riha reached for her medical supplies, but Tinker shook his head.
"I can... handle it. I'm a spirit. I just need to... go dormant."
With a soft poof of smoke, the handsome man vanished. In his place lay the small, three-tailed fox. He looked exhausted, his fur matted and his breathing shallow. 'I'll recover, Noona... just don't drop me,' his voice echoed faintly in her mind.
Riha gently picked him up, cradling his small, fluffy body against her chest. He felt cold, but he was alive. She looked around the cavern. The darkness was absolute, save for the faint glow of the crystals and the distant, haunting roar of the upward-flowing water.
She couldn't go back up—the ceiling was solid ice. The only way was forward, toward the sound.
"Hold on, Tinker," she whispered, stepping into the dark. "We're going for a walk."
With her spirit-fox in her arms and her heart set on the ancient waterfalls, the Empress began her walk through the center of the world. Each step took her further from the sun, and closer to a truth that had been waiting for her since the dawn of time.