Elder Lan stepped forward. “Observe the sigils beneath the blast path.”
Four sigils flared: Transfer, Containment, Channeling, and Calling.
Poppy’s blood went cold. “That—those sigils—weren’t there before,” she whispered.
Elder Yaojin nodded grimly. “They were superimposed. After the ritual was drawn.”
Mingxi frowned. “By whom?”
Elder Shenwu tapped his staff. A thin, oil-slick shimmer passed over the sigils, and a foreign rune appeared. Dark. Bent. Shifting. Wrong.
Elder Lan inhaled sharply. “That is not fox magic.”
Elder Huailin whispered, “It is older.”
Elder Shenwu rasped, “It is the Traveler’s mark.”
Poppy felt the world tilt beneath her.
Elder Zhenhai turned to her. “Child… your sister did not die.”
Poppy’s breath hitched violently.
“She was taken,” Zhenhai continued. “Pulled through the unstable gate, bound between here and the corrupted vein.”
Elder Lan bowed her head. “A living soul trapped in half death.”
“And since the ritual was anchored to you,” Huailin added softly, “your awakening destabilized her cage.”
Poppy blinked. “My awakening… freed her?”
“No,” Shenwu said sharply. “It unleashed her.”
The chamber lights trembled. Mingxi stepped between Poppy and the reconstructed circle.
Elder Shenwu’s eyes narrowed. “She will come for you.”
Poppy’s mouth went dry. “Why me?”
“Because you were the intended vessel,” Elder Lan whispered. “And the Traveler’s design is not yet complete.”
The foxfire dimmed. Every elder turned toward the exit at the same moment. Mingxi went rigid.
Poppy felt it a second later—a tremor. A stutter of magic. A cold ripple through the leyline.
Elder Shenwu’s voice dropped to a growl, “She is here.”
Mingxi reacted instantly. He grabbed Poppy’s wrist—not hard, but with purpose—and pulled her behind him as Guardians surged toward the chamber exits.
Elder Lan flicked her staff. “Raise the wards!”
Elder Huailin slammed his into the floor. A dome of blue light shimmered and then fractured, cracking down the center like an eggshell.
Poppy gasped.
Elder Zhenhai paled. “She broke through every barrier. How—”
Mingxi’s voice was flat. “She’s stronger than we expected.”
