Fox Lord Ash's domain felt like being swallowed alive.
"Michelle." Michelle gripped her fist as Riven called her from behind. "The Whispering Grove is ancient magic. Fox-kin territory. Once you enter, you cannot leave until Lord Ash releases you." Her expression turned grave. "And—there might be The Nine-Tailed Fox. If the lesser foxes fail to break you, he will intervene. And when he does..." She trailed off.
"When he does what?"
"Then you'll face something no human has survived intact. The Nine-Tails can become anyone you've ever loved, replicate their voice, their mannerisms, their very essence. You'll be trapped in illusions so perfect you won't know what's real. Most go mad."
Michelle's stomach dropped. Fantastic. So we've upgraded from psychological torture to actual hallucination-based nightmare fuel.
"Any advice?"
Riven's lips curled bitterly. "Yes. Don't trust anything you see, hear, or feel. Especially not the things that feel most real."
"Gotcha!"
The Whispering Grove was a forest clearing surrounded by ancient trees with silver bark that shimmered in the light. The ground was covered in soft moss that glowed faintly blue. In the center sat a circular pool of perfectly still water, reflecting the sky like a mirror.
But what made Michelle's skin crawl was the hierarchy on display.
The observers sat in the trees according to their tail count. Single-tailed foxes on the lowest branches some young and old, barely in size of normal fox size the Earth had. Then the two-tails and three-tails mingled on the middle branches. While Four-tails, five-tails, and six-tails higher and more in numbers, grouping together. Each level radiated more power, more presence, more danger.
And at the very top of the ancient silver oak, on a branch that should have been too thin to hold anyone, sat three figures and one among them stood. Even from this distance, Michelle could feel their attention like a physical weight.
Are those The Nine-Tailed Foxes? The apex predators of fox society.
As the arena had thousands of beast-kin filled the tiers, their voices a constant roar of anticipation. Michelle walked to the centre, her heart hammering against her ribs.
Lord Ash waited there, lounging on what looked like a throne made of twisted wood and fox pelts. He wore flowing robes of deep crimson that made his rust-colored fur seem to glow. His amber eyes tracked her every movement, his nine tails fanned out behind him. Powerful, but not apex like those at the top. It was strange to see how every fox was displaying their tails like a peacock, none of them were hiding...is that some kind of protocol.
Once Michelle looked around she then saw the foxes beside Lord Ash. Three younger fox-kin—three-tails stood silently. They held ceremonial vessels and avoided making eye contact with anyone above five-tails.
"Greeting Michelle, Welcome to the Grove!" he greeted as she reached the platform. "Punctual. I appreciate that. Did you sleep well?" Yeah, well, hard to be late to my own execution she chided herself but didn't dare say word but bowed and gave a nod, not trusting that she could lie confidently.
"Then let's begin, shall we?" Lord Ash stood, and suddenly the casual atmosphere vanished. His expression turned ser ious, calculating. "This trial is simple. I will ask you questions. You will answer them truthfully. The crowd will judge whether your answers demonstrate the wisdom necessary for the autonomy you seek."
" So are you ready to participate in our most sacred ritual—the Hierarchy of Truth. We test participants in ascending order of power. If the three-tails can caught your lies and deception, the trial ends there. If they fail..." His smile widened. "Well. Then we escalate. Until..." she doesn't know why he stopped but that made Michelle panicked.
"Until what? Until I break?"
"Yes...until you confess your sins or until we determine whether you're genuine or just another clever fraud." Then Lord Ash gestured to the three-tails. "These are my students. Relatively weak by fox standards but more than worthy for a human skulls. This is Kira, Ren, and Toshi. They'll begin your examination."
The three-tails bowed nervously. One of them, a female with silver-streaked fur, stepped forward. They couldn't be more than late adolescence in human years, and they looked terrified of disappointing their Lord.
"The human will drink the Serpent's Truth," she announced, her voice wavering slightly.
"What exactly it does, Lord?" Michelle stepped back certainly nervous.
"What it could be said in human language...Ahh! A truth serum of sorts. It opens your mind, makes deception impossible, allows my hunters to walk through your mind-space." Lord Ash's smile sharpened. "You cannot lie here, Michelle. You can only choose what to reveal—and even that choice becomes harder with each second."
Michelle felt Kael tense beside her, smoke already curling from his nostrils. Riven's hand flexed at his side, claws threatening to extend.
"They're not allowed to intervene," Lord Ash said, noting their reactions. "Fox territory, fox rules. Your protectors can watch, but they cannot help. This trial is yours alone." With that, two fox servants step up to lead them both to side arena where guest seats were located.
"Now Drink." Kira—the female three-tail offered it to Michelle with shaking hands.
"And if I refuse?"
"Then you forfeit the trial and submit to Mate Hunt protocols immediately." Lord Ash's expression turned serious. "But I don't think you'll refuse. The Serpent's Truth doesn't just reveal lies—it reveals whether the truths you carry are real or self-constructed."
He's right and I hate to refuse it.
Michelle then took the cup filled with water from the pool. It glowed faintly silver, and up close, Michelle could see something moving in the liquid—shadows that writhed like living things.
"One sip," Lord Ash said quietly. "And the trail begins."
Michelle looked at the cup. But then she drank.
This is a terrible idea.
The water tasted like moonlight and ice. For a moment, nothing happened. Then the world tilted, and Michelle felt the three-tails slip into her consciousness like thieves through an unlocked door.
Once she felt settled, Michelle heard Lord Ash's voice from distance. " Okay, Michelle, now.. I will ask you questions. You will answer them truthfully."
Like a human on drugs, Michelle was partially aware and feeling somewhat ecstatic by whatever potion they have given her. It was highly contagious that she couldn't help but let herself lose and be the her original self. "That's it? Just questions?" Michelle's suspicion alarm. "No, no, Mr. Ash... It's never just questions, right."
Exactly! Lord Ash wanted to agree but he held back. She's a smart human.No wonder Dragon Lord thinks of as a huntress. the sharp-minded fox pondered.
"Just questions," he confirmed with a smile that promised nothing good. "But here's the interesting part—my students now connected to your consciousness will do some research on you, Michelle. They'll know things you know. Personal things. And I'm going to use them."
Suddenly, Michelle's blood ran coldand she fought hard on the intrusion. "What kind of things?"
"The kind you don't talk about." Lord Ash now circled her slowly, like a predator assessing prey. "You see, it took some effort, considerable cost, but we've learned quite a bit about Earth's visitor to our realm. And through your life... we'll learned about you."
No. No, he couldn't possibly—
"Shall we start with an easy one?" Lord Ash's voice turned gentle, which somehow made it worse. "Tell us, Michelle. How old were you when your parents died?"
The arena went silent. Michelle felt thousands of eyes on her, waiting but those particularly three-tailed foxes watching her like a movie screen.
"Ten," she said quietly. "I was ten years old."
"A car accident, wasn't it? Your father fell asleep at the wheel. One moment, you were a family. The next..."Lord Ash made a gesture like something disappearing. "Gone. Just you, somehow surviving in the backseat."
Michelle's throat tightened. "What does this have to do with—"
"Everything," Lord Ash interrupted. "Because that's where your story really begins, isn't it? You became an orphan. And then something interesting happened. Your mother's best friend—a woman named Catherine—adopted you. Took you into her home. Her family. Gave you a second chance."
How does he know all of this? How does he know Catherine's name?
"Yes," Michelle managed. "Aunt Catherine adopted me."
"You don't call her 'mother'?"
"She was- I was..." Michelle felt her throat burning to speak a pain arousing in her chest. "I was used calling her Aunt, even before my parents died."
"Hhm? Alright, tell something about Catherine's family," Lord Ash prompted. "She had children, didn't she?"
Michelle's hands clenched into fists. "Three. She had three children."
"Names, please. You make me curious."
He's doing this on purpose. Making me say their names.
"Alex and Alexis. Twins. Same age as me—ten at the time. And Sophie, the youngest."
"Ah, the twins." Lord Ash's eyes gleamed. "Alex and Alexis. Your new siblings. Tell me, Michelle—were they kind to you? Did they welcome you into their family?"
"Alexis was..." Michelle's voice caught. "Alexis was amazing. She treated me like a sister immediately. Shared her room, her clothes, her secrets. She made it bearable."
"And Alex?" Lord Ash pressed.
Don't. Please don't make me talk about Alex.
"Alex was... complicated," Michelle said carefully.