Ahead, through the twisted birches and frost-burned ferns, the path dipped downward into the moonwell basin. A faint glow pulsed below. Not bright.
Not alive.
A dying heartbeat of light.
Poppy felt it—soft, weak, pleading.
“We’re coming,” she whispered.
The valley did not welcome them, but it let them pass. The deeper they walked into the valley, the more the landscape shifted. Trees bent towardthe basin as though pulled by gravity, their branches drooping like melted wax. Frost sheathed the leaves despite the warm air. Stones along the path hummed faintly underfoot, vibrating with the moonwell’s labored pulse.
Every few steps, Poppy felt another tug. Not physical. Not emotional.
Spiritual.
A thin thread of qi pulled at her sternum, steady and rhythmic, like a weak hand knocking from far away. Mingxi stayed glued to her side. Every time she swayed, his arm wrapped tighter around her waist.
“You feel it too?” he murmured.
“Yes.”
Poppy’s voice came out small. “It’s asking me to come closer.”
“Then we go carefully.”
Ahead, Caelan stopped abruptly and lifted a hand. “Hold.”
Lirrane inhaled sharply. “Oh. That’s bad.”
“What?” Mingxi demanded.
Caelan pointed, and the air ten paces ahead of them warped, like heat rising off stone, except colder. A ripple spread across the path, distorting the ground beneath it.
Poppy frowned. “What is that?”
“Pressure,” Caelan said. “The shard’s pressure.”
Lirrane clicked her tongue. “More like a temper tantrum.”
“It will crush anything that touches it,” Caelan clarified.
Mingxi’s tails rose in alarm. “Then we go around.”
“We can’t.” Caelan gestured at the twisted trees. “The whole valley reoriented after the battle. This is the only direct path to the moonwell.”
Lirrane crouched and pressed her palm to the frozen earth. Her eyes narrowed.
“It’s not trying to stopus,” she said. “It’s trying to keep Poppy out.”
Mingxi’s foxfire flickered violently. “That is not happening.”
Lirrane smirked. “Relax, Fox Prince. The tide is unstoppable.”
She placed both palms forward. Water-magic surged out, expanding in a translucent arc that pushed against the warped air. Caelan stepped beside her, adding his own tide force. Together, they pressed the distortion back, smoothing the air like flattening a wrinkled cloth.
Poppy felt the pressure shift and suddenly slam toward her. Mingxi’s foxfire erupted in a ring, burning the force away with crackling blue-white flame.
“Stay away from her!” His voice wasn’t loud, but it echoed like thunder.
