"Claim me."

  The voice lingered in his mind as the coin hovered before him. Its surface caught no light, yet the gold veins woven within pulsed faintly, drawing him in. It hung suspended twelve feet away—perfectly centered between Mai and the wooden creature.

  His vision began to narrow, the world dimming at the edges. The creature's shape blurred into an indistinct mass of bark. The voice returned with the same tone.

  "Claim me."

  Dirt crunched under his weight as he stepped forward, his thoughts lagging behind his body.

  Opposite him, the creature reacted with fury. The moment its gaze caught the coin, it snapped. The wooden frame shuddered as it dropped low; a deep, billowing growl rolled from its chest. Bark plates ground against one another as it lunged forward, its limbs driving hard into the earth.

  It moved faster than it had at any point prior, branches tearing through the dirt as it barreled straight ahead.

  A sudden wind surged through the chamber. It struck the creature head-on, slamming into its wooden body with enough force to whisk away any normal creature—but it pressed on regardless.

  Mai's focus stayed locked on the coin, completely unaware of the creature headed for him. He continued at the same slow pace, pausing briefly before each step. With one last step, he stood directly in front of the coin as it hovered patiently before him.

  He slowly reached forward, hesitant. The instant his fingers touched the coin, voices erupted inside his head—too many to follow. Some shouted, overlapping and tripping over their words. Others spoke more quietly, almost fragile, while a few spoke evenly, with confidence.

  Their words poured through his thoughts as a sharp ache bloomed behind his eyes. Names, terms, and ideas were all thrown at him faster than he could follow. They meant nothing to him, but they didn't disappear, rather settling into the recesses of his memory, until he could no longer tell what information was new and what wasn't.

  Some words appeared more than others, spoken by so many voices at once that they were impossible to miss.

  Token. Eclipse. Vow.

  Between each unknown term came a sense of understanding, their meanings placing themselves within his mind. As that locked into place, the voices began to lose their separation, aligning together into one singular directive.

  "Bind the soul."

  His body moved before his thoughts could catch up, fingers closing around the floating coin. A faint warmth radiated from the coin. Instinct guiding the motion as it met his palm.

  His hands shifted swiftly, flicking the coin from one to the other. Before it could even land, his second hand snapped upward, sending it spinning into the air.

  Mid-arc, its form broke apart into a spray of pale motes that shimmered as they drifted upward. The tiny fragments of light lingered briefly before fading. It was eerily similar to the remnants left behind when they had slain the Veil Hound.

  As the final speck of light vanished, a wave of sensation surged through Mai. Warmth bloomed deep within him, spreading outward as it crawled through his body. It gathered in his chest, flooding the puncture beneath his ribs. There was no flare of pain or sharpness at all, only the peaceful release of pressure as the wound sealed itself shut, flesh drawing together as if the injury had never been there.

  Then, an airy presence followed, tracing quiet paths through him. It passed through and faded as the world pulled back into focus around him. Wind battered against the advancing creature, its branches straining as it fought for every inch closer. Clawing at the air, its outstretched arm came mere inches from Mai's face.

  As if commanded, Mai's hand rose, his palm snapping toward the creature as a powerful surge of wind erupted from around him. Bark exploded on impact as the creature was hurled through the chamber, slamming into the far wall. A thick cloud of dust and debris formed around the impact, swallowing the creature's form almost entirely.

  The wind roared around Mai for a moment longer before dying out. He lowered his gaze to his hands in fascination as he willed a small knot of air to gather just above his palm. Its form was loose and unkempt, swirling lazily until he broke it apart, making it dance gently between his fingers.

  As he let the wind disperse, a brief flicker of orange caught in his vision, reflected faintly in his eye before it vanished. The corner of his mouth lifted as understanding settled in.

  The moment shattered as a massive boulder tore through the lingering dust cloud, stone screaming as it cut through the air. It traveled half the distance before he could even blink, leaving him no time to react.

  Then—

  Two fingers snapped forward. The stone split with surgical precision, the boulder cleaving cleanly into two perfect halves without even a crack to mark the cut. Mai's fingers flicked back as wind rushed between the halves, tearing them apart as both pieces screamed past him, missing by inches on either side as they slammed into the chamber walls behind him.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  A soft chuckle slipped past his lips as the dust cloud shifted once again. From within it, the creature's silhouette rushed forward, emerging from behind the scattered stone.

  Mai snapped his arm forward, the wind answering immediately as a dense wall of compressed air formed at his fingertips. The creature slammed into it head-on, its charge dying immediately as the invisible barrier brought it to an abrupt halt. Claws scraped uselessly against the force holding it back.

  Mai stepped forward, a sharp, uncharacteristic look crossing his face as he closed the distance, daring it to push forward.

  The creature answered with a furious roar, its frame tightening as it poured all its strength into pushing through the wall, but it didn't move an inch, the wind holding firm.

  Mai twisted his wrist, causing the wall to snap outward, the compressed air rushing forward. The creature was blown back several feet, its trunk legs digging trenches through the stone as it skidded to a stop. It stayed upright, but the force left it reeling.

  "Try again." Mai spoke the words coldly as he lowered his hand. His gaze stayed steady on the creature ahead. The careful restraint that usually directed his actions was nowhere to be found, burned away by the pain, the fear, and the helplessness this creature had caused. What remained was something cold, cruel, and sadistic. Something Mai had kept buried deep within.

  It lunged again, its arm lengthening multiple feet as it reached for Mai with desperation.

  The attack passed through empty air as Mai moved his head aside. Flicking his fingers up, the stone beneath the creature rose, jagged spikes erupting free from the ground as they violently snapped shut around the creature's legs.

  The creature reacted instantly. With a violent crack, it tore its own legs free, splintered bark cracking as it threw its weight forward. Its upper body pitched downward, but before it could hit the ground, new trunks burst from its torso, growing with sickening speed. Fresh limbs slammed into the stone, catching its fall before its body ever touched down.

  It bent back upright in a series of rough, grotesque movements.

  Mai raised two fingers, stone tearing itself from the ground and compacting rapidly as it spun and hardened into a dense sphere suspended just before his fingertips.

  A compressed cone of air detonated behind it, blasting the stone ball through the air. It struck the creature's newly formed leg dead center, ripping straight through it with obscene ease. Bark and stone exploded outward as a jagged, baseball-sized hole was punched through the limb.

  He quickly formed another before shooting it off—then another. Each stone sphere tore fresh holes through the creature's body.

  The creature raised its arm. A barrage of razor-sharp leaves erupted outward with built-up pressure. The sudden counterattack forced Mai to stop his assault, his last shot firing wide and shattering against the edge of the chamber.

  Mai leapt aside as the leaves shredded the space he'd just occupied. A sharp, branched arm followed immediately. A pinpoint area of condensed air formed in front of him. The branch slammed into it and locked in place, allowing Mai to slip past it, the arm tearing free a moment later and crashing uselessly into the stone behind him.

  In a last desperate effort, the creature plunged its arms into the ground. The chamber answered with a low, grinding rumble. Stone vibrated beneath Mai's feet as something vast shifted below. Cracks spread outward across the floor, dust shaking loose from the ceiling as the stone bulged and split.

  Thick, knotted tendrils burst from the stone, shredding rock as they forced their way upward. They twisted and thrashed across the floor, scraping over one another in a frantic sprawl.

  The creature leaned into the ground, tension rippling through its frame as it let out a low-pitched growl. The writhing mass began snapping in unison, the roots pulling into a rough alignment. With a final, grinding heave, the mass surged forward. Roots tore across the chamber toward Mai, gouging deep channels through the stone.

  Mai raised his hand, fingers slack, palm tilted toward the ground. He didn't brace or call anything to defend himself as the roots raced closer. Then—they froze in place. Jagged tips hung around him on all sides, suspended mid-lunge before slowly slacking.

  The creature stiffened, its mask twisting as its fury warped into something uncertain. It leaned harder into the ground, shoulders trembling as it tried to force the roots onward through sheer effort alone.

  But the tendrils remained locked where they were.

  Mai looked through the tangle of frozen roots, his gaze locking onto the creature as it strained uselessly against the roots. He made a small, dismissive motion with his hand—barely more than a shoo, and the roots responded immediately. They twisted away from him in unison, snapping around as their focus shifted.

  In a violent rush, they lashed toward the creature instead, coiling around its limbs and hauling it inward. Thick tendrils wrapped around it tight, binding its arms and legs first.

  The creature thrashed as the roots closed in, but the mass only tightened, tendrils crawling higher until its torso disappeared beneath the writhing knot. In moments, the roots fully encased it.

  Mai walked toward the bound creature, shoes crunching softly over scattered stone and splintered bark. The roots tightened as he drew closer, reacting to his presence. He stopped just short of it and looked it over in silence.

  The creature stared back. It didn't find any remorse or sympathy. There was no anger either, nor hatred. What met its gaze instead was something far emptier.

  Cold, steady, detached eyes. The look of someone who had seen death and been dragged back.

  A slow, steady breath left his lips. Tiny specks of orange lifted into the air from the long-quenched campfire. They drifted toward him in a slow, spiraling pull as he snapped his fingers. The roots shifted and peeled back just enough to expose a section of the creature's torso.

  Heat built in his palm, the embers landing gently in his hand. They clung for a heartbeat before his palm burst into flame.

  The air warped violently around the blaze as layered flames rolled over his skin, casting sharp light across the chamber.

  The creature thrashed in fury, straining against the roots for escape.

  Mai stepped forward anyway. As he stared at the creature, something in his expression eased—not mercy, but subtle satisfaction. He pressed his blazing palm gently against exposed torso, fire grabbing hold of its target.

  He didn't watch it burn. Rather, he turned away as the flames climbed higher, walking off while the chamber filled with light, heat, and the sound of crackling fire.

  He made it only a few steps into the corridor before his stomach turned. The world tilted, nausea washing through him in a slow, disorienting wave. He paused, one hand brushing the stone wall as he drew a steady breath. His body felt fine, but something deeper lagged behind.

  Mai reached for the wall, fingers scraping the stone as he guided himself down. He settled against the cold floor, his breath coming unevenly, the corridor blurred, light stretching thin as his focus slipped.

  Through the haze, a small figure sprinted toward him, panic sharp in its movements.

  "Mai! Get up!"