Leo didn't sleep again that night.
The Obsidian Heart sat heavy in his coat pocket, pulsing faintly like it had a heartbeat of its own. Every few minutes, he reached to touch it—half to confirm it was still there, half to reassure himself that the vision he saw wasn't just some fevered nightmare.
The burning cities. The throne of fangs. The crown.
And those eyes.
Crimson and gold. Just like Fang's.
He kept glancing at the wolf as they walked through the ash-lined woods, now far beyond the burnt village. Fang padded silently ahead, ever watchful. Stronger now. Bigger, too. His wounds from the fight with the rogue Tamers had healed almost overnight. His fur shimmered with an odd reddish gleam whenever the light caught it.
There was more to his beast than Leo had realized.
Much more.
By midday, the trees thinned out into marshy terrain. The skies darkened, though no storm brewed. The land felt sick. Not in any visible way—there was still green in the grass, still water in the ponds—but the air was wrong.
Too quiet. Too still.
Even Fang's ears twitched with unease.
A faint road cut through the marshes, ancient stone partially swallowed by moss and water. Faded markers suggested it once led eastward—toward Evermere, if the old man's words were to be trusted.
Leo stopped at one of the half-buried signs and tried brushing it off.
A sudden chill prickled his skin.
He turned just in time to see the arrow.
It flew inches from his face and sank deep into the signpost with a solid thunk.
"Down!" he shouted, dropping low.
Fang spun and snarled.
Another arrow. Then three more. Fast, silent, and from multiple directions.
They were being hunted.
Leo ducked behind the broken signpost, heart hammering. "Bandits?"
Fang growled low—not in fear, but warning. His eyes narrowed, and the flames in his chest flickered to life.
A shadow shifted near the tree line. Then another.
Leo's hand clenched the Obsidian Heart in his pocket. "I can't fight what I can't see…"
Then the interface flickered to life.
[Skill Acquired: Predator's Instinct – Passive][Effect: Enhances spatial awareness, danger detection, and movement anticipation within 10m radius of bonded beast.]
Leo gasped as his vision changed.
The world became layered. Movement trails shimmered faintly where footsteps had touched. Heat signatures bled through trees. There—three forms, closing in fast. Too quiet. Too coordinated.
These weren't bandits.
Leo whispered, "Fang—left flank. Burn low."
The wolf vanished in a streak of fire.
A scream. Then another.
One attacker stumbled into the clearing, cloak singed, crossbow half-raised. His face was painted with black ash, and his eyes glowed faintly green.
"Who are you people?" Leo demanded.
The attacker hissed and raised a dagger. No words. No hesitation.
Fang pounced.
Blood sprayed, and the man fell still.
When the last of them was down, Leo stood amidst the bodies. Four total—each marked with the same thing: a black sigil on their necks. A twisted spiral with a claw through it.
Fang sat beside one corpse, sniffing warily. His fur steamed with residual fire.
Leo knelt by one of the dead and pulled back the cloak.
A long, jagged knife. Poisoned. Vials of dark liquid in the man's coat. No coins. No identifiers.
Only the sigil.
Assassins. Not just hunters. These were professionals.
Sent for him.
But why?
Was it the Obsidian Heart? The bond with Fang? The rogue Tamers?
He reached down to touch the sigil—and the skin around it moved.
Leo recoiled as black smoke hissed from the corpse's mouth. The sigil pulsed, then melted into the skin like wax. A high-pitched screech rang through the air.
"A witness to the Blood Crown walks again."
The voice wasn't the assassin's. It was too big, too cold, too… wrong.
Fang snapped his jaws at the smoke, which dissipated like mist.
Then silence.
Later, they reached the far edge of the marsh. A wooden bridge stretched across a dark, slow-moving river. On the other side, cliffs loomed, with stone stairs leading upward—half-broken, but usable.
Leo paused before crossing.
"Someone sent them," he muttered. "Someone knew I'd be here."
He looked at Fang.
"And they said 'Blood Crown'... like in the vision."
Fang whined and pressed his head into Leo's side.
The bond thrummed stronger.
Leo pulled out the Obsidian Heart.
It pulsed faster than before. Warmer now. No longer cold stone—but something alive.
Something watching.
Then a soft ping from the interface.
[Message Received – Source: Unknown]["RUN."]
Leo didn't hesitate.
He dashed across the bridge just as the river beneath them exploded.
Tentacles. Black as pitch, thrashing and massive, surged from the depths. Water spiraled into the air. Something howled beneath it all—a voice that made the soul tremble.
The bridge snapped in half behind them as they leapt the last few feet.
Leo crashed onto the stone steps and rolled. Fang landed beside him, growling.
The water churned. But the creature didn't follow. Not yet.
Whatever was in the river couldn't leave. But it was waiting.
They climbed the cliffs.
For hours.
Until the sun dipped and the world turned copper and gold.
Then they saw it.
Atop the highest ridge, carved into the stone face of the mountain, lay a gate. Ancient. Shut tight with vines and old magic. Runes glowed faintly along its arch.
And beside it, worn by time but unmistakable, was the image of a crown—
Not a golden one.
But a jagged, black circlet made of fangs.
Leo stepped forward.
The Obsidian Heart began to hum.
The runes on the gate flared to life.
And the mountain opened its eye.