---
The stars above shimmered, but a strange stillness hung in the air like the world was holding its breath.
Himari knelt near the edge of the clearing, her fingers brushing lightly across the damp earth. "There's something here…" she whispered, her golden eyes narrowing. "Not now—but once. A presence."
Ren stood behind her, his arms crossed, eyes scanning the woods. "The land remembers. And right now, it's trying to forget."
Aiko shivered. "I felt it too. Like… a voice? Not loud. More like a thought that didn't belong to me." She clutched the charm around her neck. "It said: 'When the eighth whispers, the veil trembles.'"
Nogitsune didn't speak. His gaze was fixed on Yuki, who stood still, barely breathing.
"Yuki?" Himari called softly.
He didn't answer. His eyes were wide, glassy, lost in the distance. Then, in a voice that didn't sound like his own, he murmured:
> "The door beneath silence awaits the unbound soul. Echoes speak only to the flameborn…"
A pulse of energy rippled from him, quiet but deep, making the trees tremble.
"Snap out of it!" Haru grunted, placing a hand on Yuki's shoulder.
Yuki blinked and stumbled back, as if waking from a dream. "I… saw something. A place—below this world. Endless stone. Fire that didn't burn. And a face without a face."
A silence followed.
Then Nogitsune said, "We're not done here. Something was awakened by your growth, Yuki. And now it's watching."
Kai looked uncomfortable. "Can't it watch from a distance? Like… waaaay over there?"
Everyone chuckled nervously—but the unease lingered.
As the wind blew softly through the trees, the group sat together beneath the moonlight—resting, but aware. The silence wasn't empty anymore.
It was listening.
---
And in that listening silence, the fire they had lit crackled—not from wood, but from spiritroot, glowing faintly blue. Its warmth was real, but its shadows danced too deliberately, as if they moved with a mind of their own.
Ren tapped the hilt of his blade absently. "When I was young, the elders spoke of a silence that could steal names. A stillness that watched from beneath the soil."
Himari tilted her head. "That was just a story, wasn't it?"
Ren didn't answer right away. "Back then, I thought so."
Aiko leaned against Yuki, her voice quiet. "Do you think that place you saw… the one with endless stone… is what's beneath us now?"
Yuki didn't reply immediately. He stared into the fire, then nodded. "It wasn't just a vision. It felt like… a memory I shouldn't have."
Nogitsune glanced toward the trees, his tone unreadable. "Not all memories are ours. Some belong to the flame."
Kai threw another stick into the fire and muttered, "Okay, well, if any of those memories come with a friendly map or exit sign, I'd be real grateful."
A breeze swept through the clearing, soft but deliberate. It curled around the group like fingers brushing against the edge of a page—urging them forward.
Haru stood and looked into the forest. "Whatever's coming… it's not tomorrow's problem. It's already walking toward us."
Yuki closed his eyes, letting the night air fill his lungs. "Then we walk too."
---
The next day came slowly, with the sun struggling to pierce through a thick fog that clung unnaturally to the ground.
They had barely slept. Something about Yuki's vision—and the ancient words he spoke—had left them all on edge.
Kai had tried to lighten the mood with breakfast, even shaping Haru's pancakes into vaguely demonic shapes. It worked for a moment… until Himari found it.
"I don't remember this being here yesterday," she said, kneeling in the grass.
The group gathered around her.
A single lantern, tall and rusted, stood in the clearing. It hadn't been lit, yet a cold blue flame flickered inside it—dancing without smoke or heat.
Aiko felt her heart sink. "That's… not normal."
Ren's eyes narrowed. "This is void energy. Pure. Distilled. But… how?"
Yuki reached out to it. The flame flared for a moment—and he saw a hand reach back, faint and translucent. It vanished before the others could notice.
Nogitsune stepped forward, placing a firm hand on Yuki's wrist. "Don't. Not yet."
"You saw it too?" Yuki whispered.
Nogitsune's eyes didn't waver. "This is a message… or a trap. Maybe both. But it's connected to the Eighth Flame you keep dreaming about."
Haru grunted. "So what, are we supposed to follow ghost lanterns now?"
No one answered. But the wind did.
A voice—soft, fragmented, almost childlike—drifted through the fog.
> "Come find me… beneath the ash… where the sky never breathes…"
Everyone froze.
Kai was the first to speak. "Nope. I'm out. I'm gonna go find a normal rice ball and cry in a tree."
But despite the fear, Yuki took a step toward the lantern.
"Let's go," he said quietly. "If someone—or something—is waiting for me… then I need to know why."
Nogitsune nodded, though his jaw tightened.
Himari pulled her scarf tighter. "Then we go together."
And with that, the lantern flickered once more—casting their shadows longer than they should have been—as if something else was following just behind them.
---
Further down the trail, as the group began to move, the fog thickened. Trees warped in shape the deeper they walked—no longer the ones they remembered passing the night before. Some bent toward them, others leaned away, like the forest itself was breathing.
Aiko touched a low-hanging branch. "It's not just fog… it's memory. It's like we're walking through something's thoughts."
Ren drew his weapon but didn't unsheathe it. "We need to tread carefully. If the void is awake, it may try to rewrite the path behind us."
Kai mumbled, "Why is it always reality-breaking existential horror before lunch?"
Yuki kept his eyes forward. "Because we're close to something we're not supposed to find."
Nogitsune exhaled slowly, his voice low. "Or something that's been waiting for us to get close."
The lantern ahead burned brighter.
Its flame was no longer just blue—it pulsed faintly violet, as if absorbing their presence.
---
"If you're enjoying the ride, don't forget to leave a power stone or a comment—it really helps this grow!"