As Shion and Moritz hurried away from the pulsating chamber, the weight of what had just transpired clung to Shion's mind like a heavy mist. Her mother’s face, the visions from the mirror, and the disturbing realization that the cavern was a living creature left her feeling unbalanced and questioning everything. What had her mother been involved in? Why had this place drawn her in so completely?

"Do you think we're still in danger?" Shion asked, her voice barely above a whisper as they made their way through the twisting corridors.

Moritz glanced at her, eyes narrowing in thought. "That thing's still alive. We cut its tentacles, but there’s no telling how deep its roots go. We need to be vigilant."

Shion nodded, her muscles tensed to grab her knife at a second's notice, still wet with the creature’s foul-smelling mucus. "Oh, right, you’re still sticky, aren’t you?" she muttered under her breath, glancing down at the weapon. “Sorry, no time to clean you up just yet. Don’t get too cranky on me.”

They moved quickly, the air growing colder. Every shadow, every twist in the stone felt more menacing now. The silence between them seemed to grow heavier with every step, as though the walls themselves were listening, waiting. Moritz's expression was unreadable, but they were undoubtedly trying to make sense of the events that transpired just as Shion wished to.

Shion found herself humming softly. The melody was one she barely remembered from childhood, something her mother had sung to her. It echoed off the cavern walls, haunting in its simplicity, as though it belonged to the stone itself.

The silence between them stretched, heavy and thick, until Moritz finally spoke again, interrupting her song. “You saw something back there, didn’t you?”

Shion faltered for a moment. How could she explain the visions? The way the mirror had shown her a glimpse of her mother’s past, her father’s distant figure, and the foreboding sense that something was watching her through the veil of time? She wasn’t sure if she even believed it herself. Besides, her and Moritz weren't that close. They knew of each other in passing, both being regulars in the dungeon and having overlapping social circles, but Shion wasn't expecting to have another heart-to-heart today, much less with 'Moritz the Shadow'.

Yet Moritz’s keen eyes were on her, waiting for an answer.

"I guess today has been anything but normal," Shion thought out loud, having decided. Another short silence followed as she tried to gather the words. Finally... “I… saw my mother,” Shion admitted slowly, feeling the words weigh her down. She wondered what Moritz saw when they looked at her. "It was like a vision. She was here, in this place, with a group of adventurers. And something happened…"

Moritz raised an eyebrow but remained silent, signaling her to continue.

"She got separated from the group,” Shion explained, her voice barely audible. "And… never came back."

The thought gnawed at her. Had her mother been lost to the same thing that had nearly consumed them? Was that why Shion had been drawn here in the first place, some echo of her mother’s unfinished journey?

Moritz's expression appeared to soften slightly, but they kept moving at a steady pace, now not even making eye contact. “If your mother was here, and she was lost… then maybe that thing wanted you for the same reason. Blood calls to blood.”

The words sent a chill through Shion’s bones. Blood calls to blood. The idea that something ancient and monstrous had been waiting for her, as if it had been biding its time, made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Surely not. Yet, Moritz knew this place better than she did... The cold weight of the cavern pressed closer, and she quickened her pace, hoping to outrun the dark thoughts swirling in her mind.

As they moved deeper into the cavern, an eerie silence settled over them as Shion considered Moritz's words, feeling increasing waves of despair crash over her. "Maybe Father was right," she had whispered to herself at some point. Moritz flicked an ear in her direction when she spoke, but ultimately decided to ignore the thought spoken out loud as they continued to lead the way.

Shion’s lantern flickered once again, casting shifting shadows on the stone walls. The tunnel began to widen, the air growing heavier and mustier, the further they went. Soon, thanks to the thrilling detour Shion had taken, they reached a chamber unlike any other she had seen in the dungeon. The walls here were rough, almost primitive, with jagged edges that looked like they had been carved by no natural force. The stone felt older, worn down by time in a way the rest of the dungeon had not. Shion paused, her eyes drawn to a series of markings on the wall ahead.

"This part of the cave... it’s different," she whispered, stepping closer. Her breath caught as her lantern’s dim light revealed crude drawings, barely visible in the gloom. A herd of creatures—Coursers?—ran along the wall in a frantic, frozen motion. But they were different from any she had seen before. The proportions were strange: their legs too long, bodies too slender, eyes too large and wild. The dye used to create the depiction was ruddy and rustic, as though it had been made from the earth itself, blending seamlessly into the ancient stone.

Moritz walked up beside her, saying nothing, but their usual air of confidence seemed muted, replaced by a quiet reverence for the strange, ancient art.

Shion reached out, her hoof hovering just above the surface, as if afraid that making physical contact might stir something ancient and forgotten. The drawings were imbued with a sense of motion—desperation, even—as if the creatures depicted had been fleeing something. Her stomach churned with a mixture of awe and unease. These Coursers felt like ghosts from another time, running endlessly across the walls, trapped in stone. Their distorted forms sent a chill down her spine.

"I’ve never seen Coursers like these," she muttered, feeling a strange connection to the herd. A knot formed in her chest as she stared at the bizarre depiction. "What were they running from?"

Moritz didn’t answer, their eyes still fixed on the strange artwork.

Shion tore her gaze away, her heart pounding in her chest. This place—this ancient, forgotten part of the dungeon—was older than anything she had imagined. And as she stood there, surrounded by the silent herd, she couldn’t shake the feeling that the answer to the mystery of this cavern was somehow tied to her own quest.

But what frightened her most was that the deeper she ventured into the dungeon, the more questions she uncovered, and the fewer answers she had.