Zai: "….let me explain to you the system of our abilities here because there seems to be a lot you don't know," he said in a serious tone, making sure she knew enough for them to fulfill their plan.
Lana: "Flames set intentions and ignite certain vibrations, emotions, and desires… while you Swans manifest it into something in reality?
—Did I get that right?"
"Yeah…." He scratched his head, thinking of how to explain it to her.
"In the Eclipse Forest, Swans and Flames live in resonance. Each is a vessel of power alone, but together they become mirrors that amplify each other."
Lana crossed her arms and caressed her chin with her fingers, squinting her eyes.
Her expression made Zai think she didn't quite get it.
"Hmmmmm.." he thought for a second.
"You can imagine it like… like Swans are a bowl of water that lets energy float and dance in them freely. Like a space or domain that constantly accepts energy in different forms. And you Flames are energy yourselves.
So when you enter our space with your strong vibrations, it ignites something inside of us.
Like you become one with the domain…
One with us, and us with you.
Our domain amplifies your energy, and you amplify our domain with your energy."
"Ughh," he groaned.
"Does that even make sense?" He shrugged.
"No no! I get it… seriously," Lana said, assuring him that she got the point.
Then—
Mother Glowfang walked towards the puddle, ready to immerse herself in it.
"No no no no!!" Lana and Zai shouted in sync.
She and her pups flinched in surprise.
She tilted her head, then continued to walk forward, lifting her legs, ready to step in the puddle.
"STOP!" Lana shouted, frustrated and scared, as she summoned her dagger.
Zai's eyes darted around, thinking quickly. Then, in the heat of the moment, he caught Lana's wrist.
"Quick, ignite warning flames now!" he said as he started pulling her, running all around the puddle.
Lana was confused at first but trusted he had a plan and reason, so she did her part without wasting a second questioning.
She took a breath and dug deep inside her love and desire to protect, not wanting to see the soul of a mother and her pups dip themselves in poison and drown in the shadow's will as their glow slowly withered and faded.
Lana's body erupted with golden flames.
Its shine getting stronger and stronger.
As They sprinted around the puddle.
like a fiery ring circling around it.
She gradually got faster in speed,
so fast until Zai couldn't even keep up.
He let go of her hand and fell to the ground with a loud thud.
He raised his gaze and saw the blaze rising higher.
He narrowed his eyes and smirked at the sight, proud. "There she goes."
The pups went behind their mother's leg, hiding, their eyes teary and fearful.
While their mothers eyes started to reflect the golden glow of the flames,
her horns tuned in, glowing the same. she started stepping back little by little.
Step by step
As she coiled around her pups to protect them.
"Umm… Lana, I think she got the hint… you can stop running now!" Zai shouted in worry, because it seemed like she was a wheel that didn't know how to stop — and whoever came close could get swept away by it.
Zai came closer with hesitation and reached out his hand towards her… "Deep breaths, Zai… deep breaths!" he said, calming himself.
Then he quickly pulled his hand back.
"Nope, I'm not doing this!"
He got frustrated, his mind racing, trying to think of a way to stop her.
Then it hit him — he could use his domain expansion, the one he talked about, that lets flames float around in it.
He closed his eyes.
"Can I even do it?!… never mind, now's not the time to hesitate," he thought to himself.
He closed his eyes, drawing his hand in a circular motion,
resting one palm above the other.
Wind and light coiled around him
light gleaming from between his palms.
"Come on, come on…" he thought in his mind.
he opened his eyes taking a peek
He saw Lana's flame blaze turning into shades of orange with threads of red.
the puddles started to flicker with firing sunset flames.
All the Glowfangs that were already in the puddles got instantly scared.
Whimpering as they bolted out of the puddles.
Zai felt his breath clenched as he saw this
He came closer to her blaze, his arms twitching as he looked at it.
Then, without wasting a second,
he channeled his energy from deep within and all around him.
emitting huge essence and a glow beaming from his core, and wind dancing around him.
Creating a space like a bubbled domain expansion,
The wind settled, the light scattered and spread evenly in the space,
with water-like particles flowing around.
It almost felt as if he had entered a different reality inside that transparent bubble—
where there was tranquil water flowing instead of the liquid poison.
📖 This reality is called the Swan's Pond.
Every Swan has their own pond —
their own energy bubble.
It can be purifying and peaceful,
but it can also be deadly and harmful
if the shadows manage to wrap their arms around a Swan and make them one of their army.
The pond expanded, and the moment Lana's flame came in contact with the space,
she got swept away upwards.like a leaf swept by a tornado.
The blaze disappearing instantly,
She levitated and floated unconscious, her eyes closed,
her body an entire flame blazing and flickering violently between human form and flaming form glitching.
Zai opened his eyes, seeing this sight,
his breath caught and His body trembling from using up a lot of his essence.
Even his domain started flickering and fading.
switching between realities.
Lana's body shivered and fixed itself in human form,
still floating above the puddle.
Zai's pond vanished, switching back to the reality where the puddle was poison.
As soon as that happened, Lana fell into the puddle with a loud thud, sinking in its
Burning embrace.
Without wasting a second, Zai started running towards her to pull her out of the poison.
"LANA!" he screamed her name with desperation as he ran, panting.
He splashed the water with his hands as he got into the puddle, his eyes darting.
He dipped in the liquid, resisting its thickness and feeling its sting on his skin.
He spotted a faint white light that got brighter the closer he got to it.
He felt his eyes burn as he immersed himself deeper.
He rushed towards it, knowing it was Lana.
He caught her arms, held her close, and pulled her up to the surface gasping for air, his entire body wet and trembling.
He looked at her — she was still unconscious.
Then the liquid started emitting dark essence.
black smoke spreading from within
Every pond that was there
The illusion had been shattered.
revealing its dark essence.
He slung her onto his back and bolted from the puddle.
Reaching solid ground, he gently lowered her and sank to the ground
gasping for air.
After that, all the Glowfangs around realized the illusion in the puddle had faded, they rushed to the tunnels to get out of there.
The mother Glowfang quickly rushed to Lana and Zai, who were on the ground.
She scooped Lana and Zai up in her head
Zai held on to her fur tightly with one arms
As he held Lana's arm in the other
She bended quickly for her pups to get on her back then she ran towards the tunnels with the others.
The glowfangs stopped in the middle of the dark tunnel
Growling and howling to each other
They lit their horn faintly lighting the ground
The mother glowfang gently lowered her head and dropped Lana and zai to the ground
Zai lifted himself, his arms shaking and his eyes hardly opening.
They were slightly red in color because of the effect of the liquid.
"Lana," he said in a low tone, his voice showered in pain.
He came closer to her. He barely moved his arms in a circular motion, trying to activate his healing abilities, but he couldn't.
His body was too exhausted.
"Please… wake up." Tears started to drop from his eyes as he clenched his jaw.