Carlon – Mountain Caves, Year 8002 A.A.
The mountain winds howled across the ravines and gulleys, weaving through the jagged labyrinth of Carlon's ancient stone. Dust floated on every gust, whispering secrets of bygone kingdoms and forgotten gods. Within the fractured heart of the mountain, the cavern pulsed with flickering light—a cold, flickering breath cast by mana crystals set deep into the walls. Each pulse sent shadows slithering across the cracked floor, like silent, patient sentinels waiting for what was to come.
The remnants of battle clung to the air. The ground lay broken, scars etched by force beyond mortal reckoning. Splintered rock and molten fissures bore testament to the failed ferocity of Baraz's last strike—a desperate implosion that had shattered more stone than spirit.
At the cavern's center, Adam Kurt stood in silence.
Blindfolded, still, and calm.
His sleeveless robe, dyed the deep greenish-blue of twilight seas, fluttered gently though no breeze stirred. Cold vapor curled and danced around his bare wolf paws, coiling on the shattered stone before fading into nothingness. Hanging at his neck, the Arya of Creation glimmered softly, as though answering a call only it could hear, catching the fractured light in hesitant brilliance.
Behind Adam, Kon Kaplan remained poised—shoulders squared, claws slightly flexed beside the twin sheaths at his hips. His orange fur, dulled by sweat and dust, glowed faintly under the dying crystal light. The black eyepatch over his left eye seemed darker still, a quiet sentinel for the golden eye beside it—an eye that burned, sharp and watchful, every flicker of movement reflected in its depths.
Near Kon, the refugees had begun to shake free from the fog of Sahira's dominion. Their eyes, though still clouded with fear, showed the first fragile embers of awareness. Limbs once slack now trembled, each movement like the stirring of leaves long buried in frost.
And in Kon's protective barrier, Kopa Boga stirred at last. His breath came ragged, antlers drooping under an invisible weight. His mind had returned, but his right arm, turned to lifeless stone up to the elbow, remained heavy at his side—a quiet reminder of the price of resistance.
Across the cavern, where the shadows pooled deepest, stood the Punisher Duo.
Sahira, the cobra Tracient, her emerald scales alive with shimmering malice, leaned forward. Her serpent hood flared slightly, breath quickening. At her brow, the golden third eye blazed, bathing the broken rock in a baleful glow. Her forked tongue flickered, tasting the air—a predator's yearning sharpened by greed.
"You," she hissed, voice thin and cold as venom on stone. "The bearer of Kurtcan…" Her gaze grew feverish, breath deepening, "Imagine… your mind beneath mine. Your Arcem under my gaze. You'll be my greatest prize." Each word curled through the cavern like a serpent slipping through grass, coiling around hope and crushing it.
Beside her, Baraz stood unmoving, a living fortress. His massive frame seemed carved from the very mountain. Purple flames rose, slow and deliberate, across broad shoulders, casting cruel shadows along the jagged walls. His horn, wrapped in gathering Mana, sparked faintly with an anger that needed no words.
"Sahira," he rumbled, voice like shifting boulders, "control yourself. That one is no ordinary Hazël. If that's Kurtcan's heir… we tread carefully."
Adam turned his head slightly, blindfolded gaze shifting toward Kon. His words, when they came, were soft, but carried a weight deeper than the stone around them.
"Kon," Adam said, quiet yet unwavering. "With your permission… I'd like to face them alone."
Kon stiffened. "Alone?" The word hung in the cavern, raw and sharp. His claws twitched by his side, golden eye narrowing. "They're Shadow-touched, Adam. I nearly had to reveal everything just to keep them back—"
Adam did not move. "I know," he replied, voice even as flowing water. "Which is why I need this. To see if it's possible… to end this without calling Kurtcan fully."
The silence that followed felt almost alive. Shadows clustered around Adam's feet as though listening.
Finally, Kon's jaw tightened. His gaze, bright and piercing, met Adam's unseen eyes behind the blindfold. Then, wordlessly, he gave a single nod.
The cavern seemed to exhale.
A tremor rolled through the floor as Baraz stepped forward, hooves grinding deep into fractured stone. Sahira shifted, third eye blazing.
BOOOOOM.
The mountain shuddered under Baraz's weight. Dust and fragments of old rock rained down from the cracked ceiling. The refugees flinched, and Kon's barrier glimmered, warding off falling stone.
When the haze thinned, Adam stood precisely where the Punisher Duo had been moments before. His robe stirred around him, but no breath of wind touched the air. His stillness was unsettling—an absence of movement so absolute it seemed to shape the space itself.
Sahira recoiled, scales rippling. Her third eye flared wildly, desperate to pierce the void around Adam.
"No mana output… nothing visible," she whispered, voice shaking. "Yet… too present. Like space itself refuses to hide him."
Baraz shifted, purple flames whispering higher. A heavy certainty settled into his bones.
This isn't natural. Even the mountain listens.
Sahira hissed, anger and fear warring in her voice. She struck first.
A blast of psychic force shot from her third eye, sharp as a dagger, aimed at Adam's mind. Crystals erupted from the ground—clear as frozen blood, lit by an inner blue light—forming a wall that shuddered as the force struck, shielding Adam without his visible command.
Baraz roared, lunging, horn lowered. His massive fists tightened, veins bulging as he bore down. Adam's paws closed into fists, and he moved forward to meet him.
The impact shook the cavern. Dust leapt into the air, ancient stone groaned, and distant stalactites quivered in protest. Rock split in spreading lines beneath their feet.
But Sahira, quicker than hate, circled behind Adam, her serpent body undulating like living shadow. The golden third eye flared, drawing power.
"Yezmira!" she cried, voice echoing off broken walls.
The air itself pulsed, bending under the force of the mind's command. Adam's step froze mid-stride.
Sahira's mouth stretched into a victorious snarl. "Got you."
_________________________________________
Inside Adam's Mind
Silence.
A vast emptiness stretched in every direction—an ocean of crystal and stars. Each point of light shimmered, bright but distant, floating in an endless, perfect dark.
In this infinite void stood Adam. Small. Still blindfolded. His hair was tousled, face half-hidden, yet there was no fear in his posture.
Before him towered Sahira—enormous, scales glinting black and emerald, her three eyes glowing with divine arrogance. The void seemed to pulse with her presence, space bending as if afraid to resist.
She laughed, a sound both triumphant and shrill. "Yours!" she shrieked, pointing a claw tipped in ancient power.
"Mind and Arcem—MINE! I will take Kurtcan's will and twist it beneath me! Mine, mine, mine!"
Adam tilted his head, the simple motion quieting her laughter.
"You wished to see my mind, did you not?" he said softly.
A single heartbeat passed.
"Then, behold..."
The void rumbled, as though something ancient had awakened. Sahira spun, eyes widening.
From beyond the starlight of the Mana Crystas , was a shape.
A wolf of impossible size sat, fur like living sapphire. Each strand shimmered with mana fire, every breath stirring the stars themselves. Its crystalline eyes opened, slow as dawn breaking mountains, and in that gaze lay power so vast it made thought itself tremble.
Sahira, once towering, was no bigger than a falling grain of sand before it.
The mind of Kurtcan.
Terror, raw and absolute, burst in her chest. Her voice, a scream of denial, tore through the void.
Then, all was silence.
__________________________________________
Back in the Cavern
"AAAAAAGGGHHHHHHHH!" Sahira's scream cracked the stone.
Blood burst from her three eyes, spilling down emerald scales. Her limbs thrashed, claws scraping ragged lines across the rock. Her hood collapsed as she staggered backward, foam collecting at her fanged mouth. Then she dropped, her body twitching once before lying still.
Baraz turned, purple flames flaring to life. "Sahira!"
Adam exhaled. His words were soft as falling ash. "She wanted to see my mind," he murmured. "I let her."
Baraz felt his chest tighten, cold horror prickling through every muscle.
She had commanded Hazël generals… and this boy broke her in a breath.
Adam's blindfold shifted toward him, a slow, deliberate motion. "Your partner is finished. You face me alone now, Ronin hunter."
Baraz roared, raw fury breaking the horror. Purple flames curled higher, wreathing his massive shoulders. "NO!" His horn sparked, hooves cracking stone. "I'll end you!"
He lunged.
Adam moved, still not drawing his blade. Their fists collided, thunder rolling through the cavern. Each strike from Baraz came like an avalanche, crushing and relentless—but Adam's steps were calm, his paws slipping through the chaos, predicting where stone and flame would fall.
Behind the barrier, Kon whispered, voice raw with awe. "He isn't blocking… he's predicting."
Baraz snarled, finding an opening, seizing Adam's sleeve. Mana surged down his horn, purple flame bursting outward.
THU-BOOOOM!
Stone fractured, dust billowed, air itself recoiled.
When the smoke fled, Adam stood, robe untouched, paws lowered.
Baraz stepped back, hooves scraping the stone. Breath ragged, eyes wide. "What… are you?"
Adam's words were quiet, almost kind. "You thought I'd expect a long-range blast and you struck up close. Clever. You can survive the recoil of your own blasts. I respect that."
He raised his paw, calm. "Use your strongest. I will not block it until it's in motion. A Lord's promise."
Baraz shook, flame gathering. "You mock me?!" His voice cracked under rage and terror.
Adam waited, unblinking.
Baraz roared, horn blazing brighter than ever. "MAXIMUM OUTPUT—Alevyük!"
Violet-gold firestorm gathered at his horn, the air shaking under its weight. The sphere tore free, devouring light and sound, roaring toward Adam.
Kon stepped forward, panic breaking through awe. "Adam! If that hits—"
A breath before impact, Adam's paws moved.
SHHHHK.
The burning sphere froze—suspended, wrapped in a ruby-red Mana crystal, caught between Adam's palms.
Baraz staggered back, breath caught. "Impossible… perfect crystallization…"
Adam closed his fingers gently, and the crystal pulsed once.
"In the end," he murmured, "you were never the hunter."
He flicked the crystal.
It struck Baraz's horn.
The explosion ripped the mountain open. Stone cracked, fire roared, and the tremor ran like a scar through earth, felt even as far as distant Tashlan.
___________________________________________
Silence.
Dust fell like snow, soft and grey.
Baraz lay broken on the stone, purple flames gone, horn split and smoking. Nearby, Sahira lay still, third eye forever dim.
Adam lowered his paw, breath quiet and measured.
Behind him, Kon approached, steadying Kopa with a careful hand. Kopa's petrified arm glimmered faintly, the corruption no longer spreading. The refugees followed—silent, shaken, but alive.
Kon looked at Adam, voice hoarse. "That… wasn't even your full strength, was it?"
Adam's blindfold caught the light, hiding whatever expression lay beneath. "No."
Kon let out a rough laugh, equal parts relief and disbelief. "You're mad."
Adam turned to the broken mouth of the cavern, dawn's light spilling across stone and dust, touching him like a blessing.
"Come," he said, voice soft as a prayer. "Let's go home."