The fire crackled in the cave's mouth, casting dancing shadows on the jagged stone walls, their edges softened by frost. Qin Mo sat apart, cleaning his blade, the wolf shard warm against his ribs, its heat a steady pulse against the mountain's chill. Yi poked the embers with a stick, her frost-tipped fingers glinting like ice under moonlight. Ren scanned the dark beyond, his eyes sharp, hands never far from his daggers. Lian notched an arrow, her gaze fixed on the sky, where clouds parted to reveal a single star. The air smelled of pine resin and cold stone, the fire's warmth a fragile barrier against the night.
The Bellkeeper's bells clinked softly as she adjusted her cloak, their sound a quiet anchor in the silence. "Balance isn't just power," she said, voice low, like the wind through the ridge. "It's survival. That shard in you—it's a scale, not a sword. Tip it too far, and you'll burn or freeze."
Qin Mo met her gaze, his blade still in hand. "You talk like you've carried one."
Her eyes darkened, a shadow passing over her face. "I carried a debt to the Azure Flame Sect. Paid it with silence, when their blades turned on my kin."
Ren snorted, tossing a twig into the fire, sparks rising. "Silence doesn't sound cheap. What'd they take?"
"My voice," the Bellkeeper said, touching a bell at her wrist. "These bells speak for me now. They want your shard to tip the mountain's scales, Qin Mo."
Yi's fingers paused, frost curling from her touch. "They betrayed him for it. Why? What's one shard worth?"
"Power," the Bellkeeper said, her voice steady but heavy. "The wolf king's core holds a spark of the mountain's heart—an ember of the old gods. They'll kill to control it, to feed their own arrays."
Lian lowered her bow, her eyes narrowing. "And you? What's your price for helping him? You don't strike me as selfless."
The Bellkeeper's smile was thin, almost brittle. "Balance. Without it, this mountain eats us all—me included. I've seen what happens when the scales tip."
Qin Mo gripped the shard through his robe, its heat pulsing in time with his heart. "Then teach me to balance it. I'm not here to be eaten."
[Quest updated: The Bellkeeper's Bargain — Master Heat/Cold balance. Time remaining: Unknown. Balance: Heat 50% / Cold 50%.]
Yi tossed another stick into the fire, the flames flaring briefly. "My village burned for a shard like that. Azure Flame Sect left nothing but ash. If they want yours, they'll have to go through me."
Ren leaned back, his dagger glinting as he spun it. "They're not the only ones hunting. My brother's out there, lost to their arrays. I'm here to find him—or bury them."
Lian's voice was quiet, but sharp. "I don't care about shards or gods. I want the ones who took my family's name. If your fight gets me closer, I'm in."
Qin Mo looked at them—three strangers bound to him by chance, their stories weaving into his own. The shard burned, a reminder of his own betrayal, but their words grounded him. He wasn't alone—not yet.
The Bellkeeper's bells chimed softly, as if approving. "You'll need them," she said. "The Silent Tax doesn't forgive debts, and your shard's marked you as theirs."
Qin Mo's jaw tightened. "Let them come. I'll carve my own balance."
The fire popped, sending sparks into the night. Beyond the cave, the mountain groaned, as if the bells' song had stirred something ancient.