The wind howled like a sorrowful beast.
South of Lysara, the environment changed abruptly—from green floating highlands to a golden desert of sun-dried dunes. The sand did not just move underfoot—it sang, an eerie harmonic song that swelled with each gust of wind, making the air quiver with disconcerting harmonies.
Yuuto trailed after Kaela, his hair dripping with sweat. "Okay. No lie. Sand is singing and I hate it."
Kaela didn't look back. "It's the wind picking up through deserted ruins. Whispers of the old kingdom."
"That's. comforting," he growled. "Not cursed in the slightest."
She halted suddenly, raising a hand. Yuuto tensed, instincts sparking like second nature these days. He kneeled behind a rocky ridge.
Then he saw it.
A figure in the distance—hooded, slow-moving, dragging something long and heavy behind them.
Kaela breathed softly, "Don't move.".
But Yuuto's Brand blazed with flame.
The figure spun viciously towards them.
Kaela cursed. "It sensed you."
The monster dropped its hood.
It was not human.
It had a face that was smooth and mirror-like—mirroring their faces in rippling silver. The thing it dragged behind was a sword half its length, smoldering with shattered runes. It moved like a puppet, stiff and jerky, but rapid.
Too rapid.
Kaela leapt ahead as it attacked, cutting it off with a clang that boomed across the sands like thunder. The din stirred the dunes—they sang more raucously now, the wind shrieking.
Yuuto backed away, eyes wide with horror. The creature's sword flashed wherever it struck, and Kaela was fighting just to keep it at bay. Her steps were tight, precise—but she was slick with sweat now.
"This thing isn't normal!" Yuuto screamed.
"Then help!" she snapped.
He threw up a hand. Flame flared—but wild, uncontrolled. Brand responded to fear, not command. He grit his teeth and focused. Not now. Not at random. Not again.
The monster raised its blade—and Kaela was unbalanced.
"NO!"
Blaze burst from his palm. Not an explosion—a sequence. Flame in the shape of incinerated chains launched itself into the air and coiled around the foe's arm, yanking it halfway through its arc. Kaela sliced downward, cutting deep. The monster's sword snapped—and its shape collapsed, toppling like a marionette dropped.
The face in the mirror exploded. Inside was nothing but dust and starlight.
"What… was that?" Yuuto gasped.
Kaela inspected the remains. "A Seeker. Sent to test you. Or kill you."
He looked at the shattered mask. "Why does it all in this world require a piece of me?"
"Because you shine," she replied matter-of-factly.
They stayed in a rock ruin at the edge of the Dunes. Yuuto sat in quiet for hours, his eyes on the flames.
Kaela broke the silence. "You got the Brand down today."
"Barely," he said. "It was like… it was trying to protect you."
Kaela paused. "It's connected to you. Your instincts. Your will. It's not an instrument—it's a mirror."
Yuuto stared at her. "Then why do I keep getting this feeling that I'm becoming someone else?"
She stood firm, her gaze fixed on his. "Because you are. But not someone else. Just. someone more."
He remained quiet, unsure if he should be comforted or repulsed.
As dawn broke, they at last arrived at the Shrine of Hollow Flame—a broken spire protruding from the sand like a broken tooth, ringed with smoldering glyphs inscribed into the sand. Heat shook the air, though there was no fire.
The door creaked open before them as they approached, a single intake of magic hissing into the air.
Yuuto shot Kaela a look. "Ready?"
Her eyes flashed. "No. But we go anyway."
They approached.
Behind them, unseen, a figure clad in white stood watching from a cliff.
A sigil glowed dimly across his chest—an inverted Starbrand.
And when he smiled, the sand itself retreated.