The path to the far north of the demi-dragon territory felt quieter than it should. No wind, no insects, no distant sound of small dragons. It was as if the land itself was holding its breath. Rai'kanna walked ahead with firm steps, but I could feel the tension in her shoulders. Liriel read page after page, Vespera watched everything around us, and Elara followed on guard, as if an arrow could solve any disaster.
Lyannis walked almost glued to me. From time to time, she took a step faster than needed, as if she wanted to say something but changed her mind at the last moment. I didn't insist. It was hard to know what came from her mind and what came from her heart.
The landscape changed gradually. First, the ground became darker. Then, marks appeared that resembled old burns, but tinged with ice. It was an impossible combination — and precisely because of that, we were there.
"Takumi," Liriel called, keeping her voice low. "Do you feel that?"
I nodded. The flame inside me seemed agitated, restless like an animal sensing a coming storm. It wasn't pain or discomfort. It was alert.
"We're close," I murmured.
Vespera looked ahead. "Close to what, exactly? Because everything here feels… wrong."
Rai'kanna answered before I could.
"To where the cold began. To where the patrols vanished. If there are answers, they'll be there."
Lyannis tightened her spear. "I knew it would be dangerous, but I didn't think it would be… like this."
"You can still go back," Rai'kanna said.
"I won't."
"I tried," Rai'kanna muttered to herself.
The terrain narrowed until it formed a natural corridor between two rocky walls. And there, at the end, something glowed. A bluish, pulsating light, shifting in intensity like an irregular breath.
When we got close enough, we saw it.
A circle.
A perfect circle drawn on the ground with frozen energy, and at its center a vertical crack — like a tear in the air.
A portal.
A portal made of ice and shadow.
Rai'kanna approached slowly. "This… this isn't dragon technology. And it's not natural magic."
Liriel frowned. "It doesn't belong to this kingdom. Not even to this plane."
Vespera blinked several times. "Okay, great, now we're dealing with interdimensional portals. Wonderful."
"Where are the missing ones?" Elara asked. "Do you see any traces?"
The answer came in a different form.
A cold breeze emerged from the crack.
And voices.
Distant, distorted voices, as if they were frozen memories.
Lyannis froze. "Those are… people?"
"They're echoes," Liriel said. "They were taken to the other side. They aren't dead… but they aren't fully alive either."
Rai'kanna looked at me. "Your flame. How does it react?"
I approached.
The flame burned strongly — but not like in the other encounters. This time, it seemed torn between two impulses: approaching the portal… and fleeing from it.
"Takumi," Vespera said, "this doesn't look like a good idea."
"Horrible idea," Elara added.
Liriel tightened her grimoire. "There is unknown magic here. Something ancient. Something that does not match the ice element."
"Then what does it match?" I asked.
She hesitated. "The void."
Before we could respond, the portal pulsed. Cracks of energy spread across the ground like expanding fractures in glass.
From within the portal, something began to emerge.
A hand.
Not a human hand. A long hand made of transparent ice, but with black veins running inside it. Then came the arm, and then the entire creature emerged.
It was tall, slender, with an elongated head that resembled a dragon long dead. Its eyes were dark, empty pits. And its claws… too sharp to be natural.
Lyannis stepped back immediately, but I moved forward instinctively.
The creature released a low sound, like broken breathing.
"Do not attack without analyzing," Liriel warned. "This is not a beast. It is a receptacle."
"Which means something is inside it," Rai'kanna completed.
The receptacle advanced.
I rolled to the side, and the claw pierced the ground where I had been. The impact froze half the rock. Rai'kanna struck with blazing wings, but the fire evaporated before touching the body.
Elara tried arrows — all of them froze in the air.
Vespera launched wind — the wind shattered.
Liriel cast containment runes — they broke on contact.
The creature opened its mouth, but instead of sound, ice came out. Pure ice, deep, so cold it burned the air.
"Takumi!" Lyannis shouted. "It's aiming at you again!"
The flame inside me vibrated intensely.
I advanced.
The blade touched the ice — and glowed.
For the first time, the receptacle stepped back.
It was only a single step, but enough to realize: my flame was the only thing in that place that truly affected it.
It lunged at me with absurd speed. I dodged, spun, and struck its left side. A crack appeared. Small, almost invisible.
But it was there.
Rai'kanna took flight. "Keep it still! I'll attack from above!"
"I'll try!" I answered.
The creature raised its claws and tried to crush me. The ground split in half from the impact.
Lyannis ran to the side. "Takumi! Behind!"
I rolled back instinctively, barely escaping another strike.
The flame burned stronger. The air grew dense, almost electric.
And again, I heard it.
That voice.
The same voice that had spoken through the construct.
"Use… less force… and more precision."
It felt like a thought that wasn't mine. A warm memory in the middle of the storm.
I saw the next attack coming, but this time I didn't strike with force. I simply turned the blade and touched the exact point.
The ice reacted.
The crack expanded.
The creature recoiled, emitting a sharp sound, like metal breaking.
"That's it!" Liriel shouted. "That thing has an unstable core, but it only reacts to your flame!"
"Then let's finish this!" Rai'kanna said.
She dove from above, flame-covered wings exploding in red. Elara fired arrows to distract it, Vespera created winds that hindered its movements, and Lyannis attacked from the side, breaking the creature's balance.
I focused everything into the sword.
The flame glowed, deep, steady, but not aggressive. It was different from before — clearer, more controlled.
The receptacle attacked.
I advanced.
The blade entered exactly where it needed to.
A deafening sound echoed through the valley — like a great wall of ice cracking all at once. The creature's body began to collapse, turning into dark snow dust.
When everything was over, only a single glowing fragment remained on the ground. This time, deep blue like the inside of a glacier.
Rai'kanna landed beside me. "He didn't come alone. That was a messenger. Another one."
Liriel lifted the fragment with a spell. "And this one… is worse than the last."
Vespera crossed her arms. "Great… so now we have: corrupted monsters, stone serpents, ice spirits, and void receptacles. Anything else?"
Lyannis held my arm, worried. "Takumi… did you hear that voice again?"
I looked at her.
And nodded.
Rai'kanna approached.
"There is something inside your flame. Something that is awakening… and watching."
The flame burned stronger within me.
And I realized she was right.