Selene appeared before Elijah and Logan all of sudden, surrounded by a spiraling haze of darkness and light.
The moment her feet touched the ground, the shadows that had been covering the cave seem to all surged forth until they converge on her, a black mist now clinging to her skin. She began giving off a faint light, glowing like a dim light bulb in the darkness as she stood there with her eyes close.
No one moved or spoke a word.
And then she opened her eyes.
They were pure silver, just like the foxes.
Elijah took a step backwards on instinct, unsure what what happening to his friend.
"Selene...is everything alright?"
She still did move an inch, before the shadows sunk into her skin and the glow around her figure faded completely.
The silver in her eyes lingered for a few more seconds before fading back to normal.
She blinked twice like she was waking from a daze before her entire body swayed and she fell over, dropping towards the ground.
Elijah immediately move to catch her.
"Woo there, I got you," he said as he help her stand back up. "Looks like you been through a lot."
"You could say that," she replied giving him a weak grin.
Logan moved closer with Varash by his side.
"Yeah, disappearing in shadows with two talking foxes would wear anyone out I"m sure dude."
He look over at Selene, giving her a once over before he began grinning instantly. Somehow Elijah already knew his next words were going be something stupid.
"Yep, your still ugly. I think your- Ouch!"
She had jumped out of his arms and went to smack Logan right on his shoulder.
"See!" Logan complained, rubbing his shoulder like he was seriously hurt.
"Comes right back and starts smacking us around. You were worry for nothing Eli."
Elijah ignored him as he looked at Selene.
"You are good right? What happened?"
"That is none of your business, Walker."
From Selene body, a shadowy mist broke off and formed the figure of Veyr. The figure of a small black fox with a bushy tail stretched lazily in the middle of the air was suddenly in front of Elijah again.
Looking at the human, Veyr narrowed its silver eyes. a hint of mischief shining in his eyes.
Elijah took a half step back in surprise.
"You are still here?" asked Logan, confused.
"Of course we are," the fox answered, its voice sounding like a low purr while it rolled its eyes at him.
"We are bonded to the Anchor."
Elijah caught the strange title that the fox gave her. What did that mean?
"Anchor? Are you talking about Selene?"
Rolling in the air, the black fox moved closer to Selene now drifting lazily around her. He looked at Elijah with an expression that was clear he asked a dumb question.
"Who else?"
"But what is an anchor?"
"And weren't there two of them?" asked Logan, raising his hand like he was in a classroom.
Veyr looked at both of them, before giggling at some inside joke known only to him.
He moved to land on the ground by Selene's feet, curling up next to her before turning its head towards Elijah and Logan.
Then it looked at Selene.
"We think you should explain before Veyr plays a prank."
A voice spoke into Selene's mind, but it was not Veyr, but Shai. Selene felt a small warmth radiate inside her as the white fox spoke.
Clearing her throat, she looked nervously at Logan and Elijah.
"There are two of them still...I'm just not strong for both of them yet."
She looked away from them as she spoke, admitting her weakness or not reaching standards never had been her strong suit.
Elijah thought about what she said and it made sense.
From what knowledge he had gained from his predecessor's memories of this world, the bond between human and magical beast did require a certain amount of energy to sustain.
It was for this reason that humans could not bond with millions of beast. Typically one or two beast was the limit for the most people.
The stronger the beasts the less likely that a human could sustain multiple bonds.
This rule was especially true for Highborns with the majority of humans who bond one or have a beast reach rank with them unable to provide energy for more than one Common rank beast.
Cases of a human bonding multiple Highborn beasts were rarer than any could imagine with maybe one or two figures appearing in an era.
And now Selene was exactly one of those legendary rare cases.
"Shai is still here," explained Selene, leaning down to scratch behind Veyr's ear.
"She is just sleeping inside me right now until I need her. Veyr likes to move around more anyway."
"She means I am already her favorite," the fox replied before it started purring. "We like thi-"
Suddenly Veyr eyes went wide.
The playful fox leapt off from the ground, the smirk on its face vanishing instantly.
He stood low against the cavern's floor, the fur along his back rising slightly as black mist began to curl upwards from his body.
Varash reacted only a moment behind him.
The Storm Maw head snapped towards the tunnel leading back to where the cave entrance was. A deep growl rumbled deep from its throat as it crouched low like it was ready to pounce at any second as well.
The narrow passage behind them was completely silent.
"Varash, what wrong man?" Logan asked moving to his beast's side.
Then Elijah heard what had set the beasts off.
Something was right outside the cave entrance trying to get in.
As the scratching began to grow louder, Veyr's gaze narrowed even further.
"A daemon."
That one word caused Varash to let loose his growl causing the cavern to shake slightly, loose rocks falling from the ceiling.
A surge of knowledge immediately rose inside Elijah head as grim looks form on both of Logan and Selene's faces.
Daemons were not a threat that any of them could handle.
They were a plague all across Suzox, hated by all nations.
Nobody knew exactly where they came from, but it was certain that these monsters had only one purpose in life: consume everything in existence.
They were known to feed on the life of anything they came into contact with and leave behind dried up husks in their wake.
Divided into nine stages. these monsters stood completely outside the natural order of Suzox.
A simple Stage One Demon alone was consider powerful enough to take out out half a village if left unchecked. Unlike beasts they were not creatures you could reason with.
It be easy if they were motivated by things such as food and territory, but Daemon only goal was to consume the souls and memories of their victims and the land.
And right now...
One of those monsters was scratching at the entrance of the cave they were in.
Something slammed against the cave entrance causing the narrow tunnel to tremble. Dust and rocks rained down from the ceiling on the group.
Without saying a word, Logan stepped in front of everyone with his hand already reaching for the crude spear that had been strapped against his back while Varash bared its massive teeth and moved up beside him.
Blue sparks were already faintly crackling faintly across the Storm Maw's entire body.
A sharp crack suddenly echoed throughout the entire tunnel.
Elijah felt every hair on his body rise as another slam hit the cave entrance. For some reason the Daemon could not enter the cave yet, but nothing was stopping it from trying.
They had to get out of here, but there only entrance was block.
What to do? What to do?
His thoughts were moving frantically as he looked around the cave for anything that might help them out.
Should they fight it?
No that was impossible. The three of them barely survived the encounter with a Stage 3 Common beast.
Run? Also impossible.
Their only exit was blocked.
His eyes kept darting around the cavern desperately before suddenly stopping as his gaze landed on a wall behind Veyr.
It was where the twin foxes had first appeared, something that had been covered up by the darkness previously and overshadowed by Selene return.
Thin blue symbols were beginning to pulse faintly across the stone, slowly coming alive one by one until an arch was form in front of him.
At first the markings looked completely random to him, but the more he stared at them, the more Elijah's head began to start throbbing.
The symbols before him seem to whisper to him.
He began to walk closer to them, his body moving forward as the world seemed to go quiet.
The daemon's screeching and Logan's shouting...
Even the sound of his own heartbeat faded away.
The glowing symbols pulsed softly in front of him.
A strange warmth spread throughout his chest as the marking began to shift before his eyes.
For a brief moment visions began to fill his mind.
An ancient cavern filled with massive beasts standing on stone pillars that seemed to stretch into an endless darkness below.
Above them a sky full of stars and meteors showers falling in the background.
Then he was there.
Not simply watching a vision, but standing among them.
"What the hell is happening to me?"
The beasts seemed asleep, every one of them locked in a deep slumber.
Some were beasts he could almost recognize, but others were impossible.
A serpent was wrapped around an entire pillar, rivers of lava moving across its scales .
A wolf whose mane was made out of pure light was curled up with snow falling softly around it.
There was a bird larger than mountains, whose snores sounded like thunder after a lightning strike.
None of them moved or seemed to notice Elijah presence.
On one pillar higher than the rest rested a massive lion. Six wings wrapped its body like a cloak, they seemed to be made out of pure darkness blending with the surrounding abyss.
But unlike the others gold and crimson chains kept it tied to its pillar.
It was asleep like all the others.
Then one golden eye opened.
"Tell me Walker. Why have you arrived so early?"