Submission (#528) Approved

(Second submission for the month)
The roar of the falls between Layer 3 and Layer 4 was deafening. Where others saw a death sentence, Nadira saw an opportunity. She crouched on the edge of a mossy cliff, grinning into the chaos as mist whipped around her horns and acidic tail flicked with anticipation.
"You’re really gonna do this," her tail muttered, reshaping into a wary, winged blob perched on her shoulder. Its usually cheery glow dimmed with anxiety. “Nadira. These currents are brutal. I’m telling you—Layer 4 is where optimism goes to die.”
She just smirked, wings flaring out wide. “Good thing I’m not an optimist.” And with that, she dove without a second thought.
The world blurred into water, stone, and flashing teeth of the falls as she twisted through the descent. Rock spines jutted from the cliff face like monstrous fangs, but Nadira’s form shimmered and shifted in midair—wings morphing into fins, tail stiffening to steer. She danced between jagged pillars and crashing currents, acidic droplets hissing where the water tried to consume her. A near miss. A rush of air. Her tail screamed.
Then—impact. Nadira slammed into a shallow pool, barely avoiding a hidden outcrop. She surfaced coughing but laughing. “Still alive!”
Her tail flattened into a wet blob on her shoulder. “Barely.” They stood at last in the outskirts of Layer 4. All around her, the world was cold stone and winding tunnels that pulsed with unnatural humidity. It was dark—oppressively so—but the walls faintly shimmered with veins of green and violet gemstone, like a dragon’s buried treasure hoard.
Nadira shook off water, rolled her shoulders, and began her trek into the shadows. “C’mon. Big scaly monster, ancient treasure, and a labyrinth of death. You know I live for this.”
Her tail whimpered. “I know… and I’m starting to think you’ll die for it too.”
The low, guttural snarl echoed again, this time louder, closer. Then the impact.
A shadow dropped from the crystal-laced ceiling like a curse from the sky. The wyvern’s talons cracked the stone floor, its sinewy wings unfurling with a leathery shriek. Smoke curled from its nostrils as glowing eyes locked on Nadira, and its tail whipped like a bolt of spiked lightning. She barely twisted out of the way.
The beast lunged—jaws open wide—and Nadira ducked low, leaving behind a burst of acid spray from her tail that splashed across its lower jaw. The wyvern reeled back with a shriek of pain, but its hide was tougher than anything she’d fought before. The acid sizzled, but didn’t melt through.
Nadira clicked her tongue. “Alright, big guy. Let’s see how long you last.”
She darted in again, claws slashing at the beast’s side. Sparks flew as her talons scraped against hardened scale. The wyvern’s wing slammed down—catching her off guard. It sent her tumbling across the stone with a grunt, crashing into a jagged wall of crystal. The edges tore into her shoulder and back. Her tail, now splattered with her blood, hissed defensively as it formed a protective shell around her.
“You can’t take it head-on like this!” her tail shouted.
“I know!” she growled, crouching as her wounds regenerated slowly, the bioluminescence along her scales pulsing brighter in defiance.
Then she ran straight toward the wyvern. It shrieked and lashed out with its tail—Nadira ducked, flipped, and slammed her acidic palm into the ground. A sudden shockwave of corrosive mist burst upward, blinding the creature. As it roared and clawed through the fog, she took to the air, wings wide and glowing.
“Let’s try precision.” Above the beast, she twisted midair, arms extending into gleaming blades of liquid acid. She struck down—landing between its wings, slamming both blades into the soft joint at its shoulder. The wyvern screamed and bucked violently, throwing her into the wall again, but not before she left behind a cluster of boiling acid spores, pulsing and eating away at its flesh. The cavern was filled with its rage now. Fire burst from its maw—green, acidic breath that melted stone as it chased her through the air.
Nadira’s wings dissolved into fins and her form shifted again—streamlined, slick, built for speed. She zigzagged midair, then disappeared into the shadows. “Where is she?!” the tail cried—then gasped as the wyvern flinched violently.
Because Nadira was already beneath it. The wyvern reeled—its underbelly glowing faintly where she had plunged several acidic tendrils into its gut. She’d crawled under it like a shadow and struck deep, tail forming a spiraling drill of glowing ooze. Her horns flared. It roared in pain—tried to lift off—but its right wing was failing, and the acid had begun to melt into its chest.
The beast swiped again, slashing Nadira’s back—but she didn’t stop.
Her tail shouted, desperate, panicking. “Now, Nadira! FINISH IT!”
With a final scream, Nadira channeled everything she had into her tail. It surged into a massive, glowing blade of acidic energy, fused with the crystals around her. Her eyes narrowed.
“For the record,” she hissed, “this is still not my final form.”
She leapt onto the wyvern’s head and drove the glowing tail-spike directly through its skull.
The cavern went still.
The wyvern slumped, a final breath wheezing from its throat, before collapsing entirely—acid steam rising from the mortal wound. Its body crackled with residual energy, and the glowing crystals surrounding the chamber dimmed slightly, as if acknowledging the fall of their ancient guardian.
Nadira panted, chest heaving, blood mingling with acid on her scales.
Her tail slithered up beside her, silent, then muttered, “You’re insane.”
She smiled. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
The silence that followed the wyvern’s death was deafening. Steam curled from the smoldering carcass, the acidic air thick with the metallic tang of blood and burned crystal. Nadira stood in the eerie calm, her wings retracting into sleek fins as her form relaxed, battle-worn but victorious. Her glowing, sentient tail rested beside her, gently nudging her side as if checking for broken ribs.
“…You alive?” it asked softly.
“Barely,” Nadira muttered with a smirk, brushing blood from her brow. “But I don’t die that easy.” With the wyvern defeated, the ambient glow in the cavern began to shift. The crystal-strewn walls, once dim and cold, now pulsed with a faint rhythm—like a heartbeat. A small rumble echoed from beneath the stone platform where the beast had fallen.
Nadira tilted her head. “Did you feel that?”
The tail lifted slightly, scanning. “That came from under the corpse…”
Carefully, cautiously, Nadira approached the beast’s remains. She placed a hand on one of its claws, then followed the faint tremors with her palm to the chest cavity—directly beneath where her acidic strike had pierced its skull. She stepped back and let her tail take the lead.
With a growl, it drove its form like a spear through the rocky floor beneath the wyvern’s remains—and the stone cracked open with a hiss of steam and violet light. A hidden chamber revealed itself, buried beneath the floor. The jagged rock slid aside like teeth parting from a mouth, revealing a glowing shrine-like chamber below.
Nadira descended. Crystals floated in midair, humming in harmony. Runes pulsed on the walls in a language she didn’t recognize—ancient, fluid, older than Layer 4 itself. At the center of the chamber sat a pedestal, and on it… A mask. Beautiful, terrifying. Crafted from volcanic glass and molten gold, with sharp eyes and a jagged smile carved into its surface. Its expression shifted as Nadira stepped closer, seeming to smile wider.
“What the heck is that?” her tail whispered.
“I don’t know,” Nadira breathed, drawn to it. “But I’m taking it.”
She reached out, carefully lifting the mask. The moment her fingers touched it, the chamber flared to life—light dancing across the ceiling, activating the runes. But instead of a curse or trap, Nadira felt knowledge flood into her. A glimpse of the wyvern’s long-forgotten purpose: not a beast, but a guardian of this relic, meant to keep it sealed from the hands of the unworthy.
But Nadira had passed its trial.
Her body pulsed with a strange, electric warmth as the mask bound itself to her spirit, not just as a trophy—but as a tool.
“A relic of the Old Fallers,” her tail whispered in awe. “This… this is huge, Nadira.”
She chuckled, brushing off the dust, and tucked the mask into her satchel. “Told you I’d make this trip worth it.”
As she ascended back through the shrine’s mouth, leaving behind the sleeping remains of the guardian, the crystals dimmed once more—returning to silence. The treasure was claimed. The echoes of history were quiet. Nadira had a new toy, Layer Five was about to feel the storm coming.

Reward	Amount
Mystery Chest	2
Gold	3