Dawn bled slowly through the Hollow Forest, thin ribbons of gray light slipping between twisted branches as Zhu ran.
Every step jarred her stilling injuries, her boots slamming against roots and slick moss. The forest floor was uneven, treacherous, and alive with low-hanging vines that clawed at her legs. Behind her, the baying of hounds split the quiet morning air; raw, savage, relentless.
They were gaining.
"Left" Faral's voice snapped in her mind.
Zhu veered sharply, nearly crashing into a jagged trunk as an arrow whistled past where her head had been seconds before. It buried itself into bark with a dull thud.
"They're spreading out," Faral warned. "Three to your right. Two behind. Don't let them box you in."
Her lungs burned. The sap still clung to her skin, faintly luminous. Beneath it, something hotter stirred.
A sharp pulse tore through her abdomen.
She stumbled.
Pain flared deep, invasive. Not the sharp agony of injury, but something worse. Something crawling beneath her skin.
"Faral—" she gasped.
Silence.
The forest roared in her ears. The medical paste still embedded in her wounds activated violently, knitting torn muscle and sealing internal damage from the Gravepetal's digestive sap. Healing was never gentle. It felt like her body was being rewoven with barbed thread.
Her vision swam.
"Faral!" she cried inside her mind.
Static.
Then faintly: "—hear— can't—"
The connection flickered and snapped like a fraying cord.
Panic spiked, sharp and suffocating. Without Faral's guidance, the forest felt impossibly vast. Every direction looked the same: gnarled trees, creeping mist, thorns that seemed to shift when she wasn't looking.
A howl exploded much closer now.
Too close.
Branches snapped behind her. One of the hounds burst through the underbrush, its massive frame low to the ground, jaws frothing, eyes locked on her back.
Zhu forced her legs to move faster.
Another pulse wracked her body. Heat flooded her veins, and for half a second her knees nearly buckled. The cubs beneath her skin writhed, distressed by the surging energy.
"Right—" Faral's voice flickered weakly. "Cliff— don't—"
The connection was cut out again.
"Don't what?!" she shouted hoarsely, but there was no answer.
An arrow grazed her shoulder. She hissed, stumbling forward, barely keeping her balance. The hunters' voices carried faintly through the trees calm, coordinated, confident.
They knew she was faltering.
The paste surged again, sealing the fresh graze instantly, but the backlash made her head spin. Her heartbeat thundered out of rhythm, too fast, too loud. She could barely tell which sounds were inside her body and which belonged to the pursuit.
Another hound lunged from her left.
Zhu twisted at the last second, claws raking the air where her arm had been. She crashed down a small slope, rolling hard over damp leaves and mud before slamming into a fallen log.
For a moment, she couldn't breathe.
The forest seemed to tilt.
"Faral…" she whispered desperately.
Nothing, the quiet in her mind was terrifying.
The rising chorus of howls got louder.
She pushed herself upright, swaying. The dawn light was brighter now, thin gold breaking over the canopy. Mist curled between the trees like watching spirits.
Her connection was fading.
Her strength was unstable.
And the hunters were close enough now that she could hear their boots striking earth in steady pursuit.
Zhu staggered back to her feet and ran again.
Alone she was alone until she felt a sharp rip which she was familiar with. "Ahh" She cried out and almost fell to her knees.
"Faral"
"My apologies girl, I had ripped your soul" The calm voice of Faral flooded her mind once more. The medical paste is too strong and the effects on your weak body are debilitating. Old and injuries are causing it to go haywire. Right now your body wants to shut down so it can heal properly. I don't know how long I can maintain this connection"
While running Zhu absorbed all that information "Just get me out of here Faral."
"Left turn left, now."
She obeyed without thinking, veering hard as a massive hound burst through the underbrush where she'd been seconds before. Its eyes glowed an unnatural amber, saliva dripping from bared fangs etched with runes.
"Can't you do something," Zhu asked, her voice tight. A scream caught in her throat. "Use your guardian powers or something"
"These are Guild hounds. I am unable to reach them." Faral stated matter of fact like.
Branches clawed at Lin Zhu's face as she ran, breath tearing from her lungs in sharp, burning pulls. Wet earth slipped beneath her boots, roots rising like traps from the soil itself.
The barking came again closer now.
The moment the horn sounded, the tattoos had started to burn but Zhu ignored them.
This time thought she couldn't. Heat flared along Zhu's forearm and shoulder, sharp enough to make her gasp as she ran. The markings twisted against her skin, ink rippling like disturbed water. Tiny claws pressed from the inside, as if something were trying to claw its way out.
One of the tattoos flared silver, the outline of a small beast briefly lifting from her skin before sinking back in. Zhu stumbled, clutching her arm.
"No don't," she whispered between breaths. "Not now…" The cubs didn't listen.
The markings pulsed harder, their bond flaring in panic. Through the link, Zhu felt fear sharp and wild, laced with fury that didn't belong to her. The cubs had long since sensed the danger and they wanted to protect her.
A hound burst through the brush ahead of her, eyes glowing, teeth snapping shut inches from her throat.
The tattoo on her forearm peeled away.
Light flashed as the cub partially rematerialized front paws and head forming in midair, the rest still tethered to her skin like trailing ink. It slammed into the hound with a snarl far too big for its size, claws raking across the creature's muzzle.
The hound yelped, skidding backward.
Her chest tightened. She fell backwards "No babies" she begged the cubs to stay on her skin. She crawled backwards a bit before climbing to her feet and setting off again.
Don't stop," Faral urged. "there's a ravine ahead. If you can reach it"
Behind her the forest echoed with barking deep, layered, intelligent. They weren't chasing blindly. They were herding her.
A second hound lunged from the side. She veered away but that led her right into the teeth of the hound behind her.
Zhu screamed as its teeth tore into her calf.
Pain exploded white-hot, dropping her to one knee as the world lurched. She kicked wildly, heel connecting with its skull, but the creature held fast.
She screamed in bitter agony as the dog shook her once, almost dislodging her foot, before releasing her and snapping again.
"Girl!" Faral's voice fractured again. "Get up—get UP—" She tried.
Her leg refused to respond, blood soaking into her web shoes dying them red. mana flickering erratically beneath her skin. The forest spun as she crawled forward, dragging her weight through leaves and mud.
In her unstable state she was not able to stop Rose and Thorn from rematerializing. The cubs surged from her arms in a ripple of mana. They hit the ground running, bodies phasing between shadow and light as they darted toward the enemy hound that had bitten her.
"Cubs come back!" Zhu cried. With a will born from the overwhelming urge to protect her new family she dragged herself up and limped towards where the cubs were fighting the hound.
They released a high, piercing cry that made the forest shudder. The hound hesitated and then shocked its head resuming its attack.
Runes along its collars flared, and the forest's mana twisted. One cub was slammed sideways by an unseen force, its blood flowing as it shrieked and snapped back toward the enemy hound.
She didn't see the other hound.
It hit her from behind. knocking the air from her lungs. She hit the ground hard, palms scraping stone. The smell of iron filled her mouth.
From her vantage point she saw the other cub taking on the second hound. It threw itself at the hound, biting and clawing, body small but ferocious. One latched onto its ear.
The other jumped and scratched at its opponent's eyes. "Enough," a voice commanded.
Mana crashed down like a hammer.
The cubs were ripped away mid-attack, their forms unraveling into spirals of light before slamming back into the ground with a painful yelp.
Zhu screamed again, reaching for her unmoving companions. She crawled towards them, disregarding everything around her. A force slammed her into the ground.
The barking stopped. Heavy, measured, footsteps replaced it.
Boots came into view black leather, guild insignia etched into the metal plates. A man crouched beside her, gloved hand gripping her hair as he forced her head up.
"Well," he said calmly, almost amused, "what an interesting find." the voice sounded callous and mocking.
She could hear other voices coming in from a distance. "Over here boys" The one who held her hair called.
Her hair was suddenly pulled harder to make her sit up. She screamed and reached up to try to remove the hand. Suppression cuffs snapped shut around her wrists. Before she was slammed to the muddy ground once more.
Faral's voice fractured, distant and furious. "Hold on, Zhu—don't let go— "Help me," Zhu cried desperately.
"I can- not" the disjointed voice " i bi- blocked by-" A boot pressed into her wounded leg.
She screamed. Her vision blurred. The forest tilted, trees stretching and bending as darkness crept in from the edges.
The world dimmed.
The last thing she saw was the cubs curled tight on the ground shivering and whimpering in pain but alive.
"No—" Faral's voice roared inside her mind, raw with fury. I'm still here. Hear me. You're not alone—"
Then everything went black.