The trail into the interior of the valley became far too silent after we recovered the frozen fragments. The wind seemed to watch every step we took, and the flame inside me remained restless, as if it were about to react to the slightest sign of danger. It was an uncomfortable sensation — an internal heat that didn't burn, just pulsed, like a racing heart trying to warn me of something ahead of time.
Rai'kanna walked a few steps ahead, wings folded, posture firm. Elara and Liriel examined the black ice fragment we carried in an insulated stone box, while Vespera kept the wind circulating around the group to dissipate any outbreaks of cold. Lyannis, in turn, stayed close to me, sometimes glancing at me as if she wanted to ask something, but too hesitant to interrupt my silence.
"Takumi," she finally murmured, holding her spear close to her chest. "Are you hearing… anything right now?"
I shook my head. "No. Just the flame bothering me a little."
She seemed relieved, but not entirely convinced.
Rai'kanna slowed her pace until she was beside me. "If the flame is reacting to the fragment, we need to reinforce the seal before we reach the central chamber."
"It's not reacting to the fragment," I replied. "It's reacting… to the air. To the region."
"That's even worse," she muttered.
We walked for a few more minutes until the ground changed. The dark soil gave way to scaled stones, as if the entire mountain were the fossilized back of a colossal dragon. The marks resembled ancient scales, huge and worn by time.
"These stones…," Elara observed, blinking slowly. "Are they real scales?"
"No," Rai'kanna answered. "They're natural formations. But they were influenced by the ancient spirits."
"So they act like antennas," Liriel concluded. "They absorb and transmit echoes of energy. No wonder we're hearing and feeling so much here."
That was when I felt a sudden click inside my mind — as if someone had touched the wall of my consciousness with the tip of an icy finger. It wasn't pain, but a discreet, calculated intrusion.
I stopped immediately.
"Takumi?" Vespera asked. "What happened?"
"I heard it again."
Rai'kanna turned at once, alert. "The voice?"
I nodded.
Then another vibration ran through the ground — small, but noticeable. Lyannis gripped my arm.
"Can you tell us what you heard?"
I closed my eyes for a second. The sound was faint, almost like an echo of an echo.
"'Opening.' That's what I heard. Just one word."
"I don't like this at all," Elara murmured.
We continued through a narrow tunnel that spiraled downward. The walls had a bluish glow, and the air grew colder with each step. I felt the flame inside me shrinking and expanding at the same time — as if it were fighting to decide whether to strike or retreat. It was far too strange.
At the end of the tunnel, a massive chamber opened before us. It was circular, with dozens of red crystal blocks embedded in the ground like pillars. The light reflected off the walls, creating a warm glow that contrasted with the cold air.
And in the center… there was a scale.
A giant scale, larger than me, covered in layers of ice. Unlike the natural formations on the path, this one had marks, scratches, deep cuts — signs of battles from ages long gone.
Lyannis widened her eyes. "This is… real."
Rai'kanna took a deep breath. "Yes. An ancestral scale. Very few remain in the world."
Liriel approached carefully. "Is it… alive?"
"Sleeping," Rai'kanna replied. "And scales sleep for centuries. Sometimes millennia."
The frozen fragment we carried flickered inside the box, as if recognizing the presence of that primordial relic. Vespera stepped back slightly.
"Is that normal?"
"No," Liriel said. "And I hate when something isn't normal."
The flame inside me pulsed hard — so strong I felt my chest heat up as if something were about to burst out of my skin. Rai'kanna noticed immediately.
"Takumi, step away from the scale now."
"I… don't think I can."
"What do you mean you can't?" Elara asked, alarmed.
The heat surged up my arm like a living current. The flame seemed to stretch out, to reach for the scale, as if it were being called.
Lyannis grabbed my hand tightly. "Takumi! Look at me!"
I tried, but my eyes were drawn to the frozen scale.
And then — it happened.
The surface of the scale glowed.
Not bright.
Not violently.
Just… opened.
As if an invisible eyelid had lifted.
A beam of blue light burst from the crack and struck me straight in the chest. The girls screamed, but I didn't feel pain. I felt only a massive weight falling over my mind, like an avalanche of memories that didn't belong to me.
Dragons flying over seas of lava.
Claws clashing against creatures made of darkness.
Ancient cities swallowed by rifts.
And one word, always repeated — always echoing louder.
"Open."
I snapped back to myself with a jolt.
Vespera was holding me by the cloak, trembling. Elara had her bow aimed at the scale. Liriel kept a rune seal pressed to the palm of my hand. Lyannis looked on the verge of tears. Rai'kanna stood in front of me, ready to catch me if I fell.
"Takumi! Talk to me! What happened?!"
I breathed slowly, trying to regain my balance.
"The… flame reacted to the scale. And… the scale responded."
Rai'kanna gritted her teeth. "Responded how? Did you hear something?"
I nodded. "Yes. Many things. But one phrase came back several times."
"What phrase?"
"The rift… is being opened from the inside."
The silence that followed was so heavy it nearly smothered the sound of the wind above.
Lyannis touched my shoulder. "From the inside…? Then someone down there is messing with the rift?"
Liriel closed her grimoire slowly. "Not just messing with it. They're trying to use the rift as a passage. And they're using spirits, monsters, and fragments to stabilize the opening."
Rai'kanna frowned. "For whom? Or for what?"
I took a deep breath.
And answered:
"The voice said… that the 'commander' is close to completing the opening."
Elara turned pale. "The commander… that's the leader of the monsters that came from underground."
Vespera stepped back. "And if he's opening the rift… what exactly does he plan to bring through?"
No one answered.
The flame inside me recoiled, as if afraid — and that, more than anything, unsettled me.
"We have to warn the king," Rai'kanna said. "Now."
I nodded.
But something inside the chamber changed at that moment.
The scale glowed.
The ice over it cracked.
And a white mist spread through the room.
Lyannis grabbed my arm tightly. "Takumi… something is awakening."
And I felt it too.
The flame trembled.
The scale trembled.
The fragment pulsed.
The entire valley seemed to hold its breath.
And I knew — without any doubt:
Something colossal was about to awaken.