The shorter, gray-tailed male fox stepped forward, his eyes milky with age but sharp with indignation. "You have been warned, Trickster. This land is sealed against your kind."

​Hana didn’t wait for him to finish his speech. She didn’t have time for the monologues of ’Elders’ who lived in the dirt and against development while she was trying to rebuild a world.

​"Raiden, get back," Hana said, her voice dropping into that flat, dangerous tone that signaled she was stepping into a combat zone.

​She reached into her tactical harness and pulled out a sleek, black baton—an Aegis-brand high-voltage stun rod. Great for drying zombies brains but this time, she wasn’t fighting zombies so she’ll play nice and not render them more stupid than they already are.

With a flick of her wrist, it extended, the tip crackling with a vicious, blue electric arc that hissed against the damp air of the Ravine.

​"You think your ’sacred’ land is protected?" Hana asked, her eyes fixed on the gray-tailed male. "I’ve survived a world where the air itself was trying to kill me. Your superstitions are just bugs on my windshield."

​The Elder let out a shrill cry. "How dare you?!" And then, the sentries lunged forward from the white trees. They moved with the speed of their kind, silver streaks in the mist, but they weren’t prepared for a woman who fought with the cold efficiency of the apocalypse.

​Hana moved like a dancer. She sidestepped the first fox-kin, planting the stun rod directly into his ribs.

The crack-snap of electricity echoed through the trees as the male collapsed, his body convulsing in a heap. She didn’t stop to watch. She spun, the baton catching a second sentry across the jaw, the discharge sending him flying backward into the gnarled roots.

​"Caspian, Kulu—stay back," she barked as the Fire King let out a low, eager rumble. "This is personal for Raiden, so I’m the one taking out the trash."

​Raiden watched from the sidelines, his nine tails twitching in a rhythmic, hypnotic motion. His heart did a sudden flip and he gulped down. Hana was fighting... for him.

It inflated his ego and a slow, dark grin spread across his face as he watched the ’sacred’ warriors of his tribe fall to the ground, twitching and foaming at the mouth from a ’curse’ they couldn’t even see.

​"Make them sting, Hana," Raiden purred, his emerald eyes glowing with a fanatic intensity.

​Hana didn’t disappoint. She drove the baton into the ground, activating the area-of-effect discharge she had modified back at the den.

A wave of blue electricity rippled through the damp soil. The fox-kin who were mid-lunge suddenly locked up, their muscles seizing as the high-voltage current surged through them.

​Elder Meira shrieked in horror, her seven tails puffed out in a desperate, defensive fan. "What demonry is this?!"

​"It’s called 50,000 volts, stupid." Hana replied, stepping over a fallen sentry and stopping inches from the gray-tailed Elder.

She pressed the crackling tip of the rod against the hollow of his throat, the smell of burned fur filling the air.

​"Now," Hana whispered, her maniacal grin returning as her eyes locked onto his dull one. "Are we going to keep talking about curses, or are you going to show me the Iron Cave before I decide to see if your old heart can handle the jolt?"

> ​[QUEST PROGRESS: PAINS OF THE PAST]

> Current Status: 50% Complete.

The Elder gasped, his eyes widening in terror as the blue arcs of electricity danced dangerously close to his skin.

The surrounding forest, once filled with the arrogant whispers of the fox-kin, was now silent, broken only by the rhythmic thrum-thrum of the stun rod.

​Caspian and Kulu watched from the rear, their eyes filled with a mix of pride and fierce possessiveness. To them, Hana wasn’t just a female; she was a force of nature, a commander who could bend the very elements to her will.

Caspian let out a low, appreciative rumble in his chest, his golden eyes tracking every move of her sharp, tactical form.

​"Enough!" a booming voice echoed through the ravine, vibrating with a power that made the ground tremble and Hana narrowed her eyes.

​From the shadows of the oldest bone-white tree, a figure stepped forth. He was tall, his presence commanding, and behind him, nine massive, silver-gray tails fanned out like a throne of fur.

His face was a more weathered, hardened version of Raiden’s—possessing the same sharp features and emerald eyes, but lacking any of the warmth or mischief.

​Raiden’s dark grin vanished instantly, replaced by a mask of pure, unadulterated loathing. He stood perfectly still, his nine tails lashing out behind him like whips.

​"Father," Raiden spat the word as if it were poison.

​The Chief of the Fox Tribe ignored the fallen sentries, his gaze fixed solely on his exiled son and the woman holding a weapon to his Elder’s throat.

This was the man who had stood silent while the tribe invoked their ’sacred’ judgment on Raiden’s mother—the man who had prioritized the ’purity’ of the Ravine over the life of his own mate.

​"You return with a dragon and a wing-beast to slaughter your own blood, Trickster?" the Chief asked, his voice cold and devoid of emotion.

​Raiden didn’t succumb to the weight of the man’s presence. Instead, he forced a sharp, brittle smile onto his face and let out a light, mocking chuckle.

​"Slaughter? Oh, Father, you always did have a flair for the dramatic," Raiden purred, though his eyes remained frozen. "I’m just here to help my mate with her chores. It’s a shame the tree spirits haven’t taken your cruel heart yet. Honestly, I thought the guilt would have finished the job years ago. It’s a real tragedy, truly. But it only means the guilt you felt was nothing compared to the deed done." He hissed.

​The Chief’s expression didn’t flicker, but his tails bristled at the jab. He turned his attention to Hana, his emerald eyes scanning her tactical gear and the crackling rod in her hand.

​"Female," the Chief addressed her, his tone dismissive. "You are being used by a failure who was cast out for his corruption. Release my Elder and leave this place before the Ravine itself consumes you."