Submission (#551) Approved

The air in Layer Four was heavy—thick with dampness, mineral dust, and the distant echo of trickling water. Nadira stepped into the narrowing tunnel, talons clicking on the slick stone as her glowing stripes pulsed faintly in the darkness. The walls seemed to breathe, alive with age-old secrets whispered through lichen and dripping stalactites.
“Place reeks,” she muttered, brushing her knuckles against the wall. “Like rot and regret.”
Her tail flicked behind her, glowing dimly but with a sense of caution. “We should mark our path better this time. I don't want to be stuck in another one of your ‘shortcut’ detours for six hours again.”
“Relax. I know what I’m doing,” Nadira shot back, though the third time she'd circled the same spiral tunnel, she’d started to wonder if her pride was going to get her killed. Rumors had brought her here. Talk of a long-lost chamber hidden deep within the Caverns—a workshop, some said, where a Tatsukoi gone rogue once attempted to defy biology and build strength unmatched. A place forgotten by most, but whispered in the right outposts. The possibility of it being real had stirred something in her chest. Curiosity, sure—but more than that, ambition.
She tightened the scarf around her neck and leapt over a jagged ravine where the floor had collapsed into darkness. A wave of bitter air hit her face on the other side. Even here, the caverns breathed like a beast. Alive, waiting.
Her tail tapped gently against her shoulder. “You’re letting the tunnels get into your head again. You’re walking too fast. You're not thinking.”
“I think plenty,” Nadira muttered, adjusting her goggles. “I think I’m gonna find something that makes the climb worth it.” She moved forward, pausing only to scrape a claw into the wall—another mark. Something to tell her where she’d been. For once. As the path dipped lower, the air grew colder. The stone underfoot glittered faintly with flecks of crystal and crushed gem dust. Her ears perked up, that was a good sign. Another twisting descent brought her to a collapsed wall—one that looked too deliberate to be accidental. Behind it, an unnatural glow. She squinted and touched the rubble. Heat radiated faintly from within. Some kind of forge, perhaps? It took effort, but Nadira eventually pried enough stone away to reveal an opening. She crawled through, ignoring her tail’s grumbling, and stood tall on the other side. The room she entered was nothing like the tunnels behind her.
A wide chamber, circular, and lined with scorched metal panels. Burnt schematics pinned to one wall, yellowed by time and smoke. Moss and luminescent fungi had reclaimed most of it, but in the center stood a raised platform—smooth, polished, untouched. And resting atop it, as though waiting, was a small, sleek wristwatch. Jet-black metal. Transparent gears ticking faintly beneath the surface. It didn’t hum, didn’t glow—it pulsed. As though alive.
“…Seriously?” Nadira stepped closer. “This is the big prize? A glorified accessory?”
Her tail raised an unseen brow. “That ‘accessory’ is giving off enough residual energy to fry a Noxwyrm. I’d think twice.”
But Nadira had already reached for it. She didn’t hesitate because she wasn’t afraid of it.. She slipped the device onto her wrist. And for one flicker of a moment, the whole cavern shifted—vision warping, muscles tightening, breath catching. Her heart thundered like a war drum, and every inch of her body felt tuned to a sharper, heavier beat.
“…What the hell was that?”
The ticking grew louder. Whatever this thing was, it had teeth. Nadira was already baring her own. Nadira’s breathing slowed as the buzz from the device simmered beneath her skin. Every beat of her heart seemed louder now, like it echoed through her bones. She flexed her fingers and felt her claws graze the stone wall—sharper, stronger. Every movement was quicker, tighter, like something had clicked inside her.
The wristwatch, now flush against her scaled forearm, pulsed with a dim red glow. It felt like it had always belonged there. Her tail, however, was unimpressed.
“You really just put it on? Without knowing what it even does?”
“I know what it does,” Nadira said, voice low as she paced the perimeter of the chamber. “It makes me stronger. Faster. Clearer.”
“It’s draining you.”
She paused.
“Your heartbeat is irregular. Your adrenaline’s spiking like you’re in a fight, and we’re alone. Take it off.” Nadira scoffed, but deep down, she felt it too—like the device was more than just a tool. It was hungry. It didn’t hurt, not yet, but it pushed. It dared.
“Not until I test it.” The tunnels beyond the chamber opened into a steeper slope, one that winded and looped like a labyrinth. As she made her way through the rock-cut path, she moved differently. Her footfalls were almost silent. Every shift of muscle came with perfect precision, her movements flowing like water, but with the intensity of lightning trapped beneath her skin.
That’s when the danger came. It wasn’t a monster. Not yet. Just a low, rumbling sound—like a groan of the mountain itself. Then a crack, high up. Nadira looked up just in time to see a cascade of boulders dislodging from the ceiling.
Her tail wrapped around her waist instinctively. “MOVE!” She didn’t need telling. Nadira lunged forward with strength she never had before. Her leap carried her through the narrow corridor as rocks slammed behind her, dust and debris chasing her like smoke from a blast. She dodged with fluid grace, claws slicing into stone as she flung herself around corners that would’ve broken her limbs before.
She didn’t stop running until the collapse ended and the mountain grew quiet again. She stood in a shallow crevice, panting, adrenaline still humming like static in her muscles. And that’s when she noticed the change. Not just in her speed or strength, but her reflection too.
On the curved metal surface of a half-buried ruin, her eyes glowed faintly, the color a bit sharper. Her shoulders heaved with each breath, her form trembling—not from fear, but from the raw force in her limbs. The watch pulsed again. Red. Then back to black.
“…Okay,” she muttered, brushing dust off her shoulder, tail coiling tightly behind her. “So it has a cost.”
“You think?” her tail snapped.
“But I’m not giving it up. I’ve gotten this far. I’m not turning back just because a little strength bites back.”
“Then don’t be surprised if it takes more than you’re willing to give.”
Nadira didn’t respond. Instead, she turned, eyes narrowing toward the unlit depths of the caverns ahead. If this thing could be mastered, it might be her key to surviving what the falls had waiting at the top. And if not? Then she'd just force it into submission.
The cavern was still. Not silent, but still. Somewhere in the distance, water dripped in rhythmic intervals, and the wind howled softly through narrow fissures overhead. Nadira stood near the edge of the pit she’d clawed herself out of, her chest still rising and falling from the effort. The wristwatch clung to her arm like a leech. She could feel it pulsing faintly—no longer glowing, no longer seizing control—but present. Waiting. The way it had amplified her strength earlier was no illusion. She'd torn through solid stone like it was rotted bark. She'd felt fast. Powerful. Untouchable.
But she’d also felt… wrong.
Her tail was watching her again—almost too silently. Eventually, it said what she had already been thinking.
"That thing isn't a tool. It's a test." Nadira’s jaw tightened. She looked down at the sleek band around her wrist, the strange script etched along its edge, dimly lit in hues she couldn’t name.
“I could’ve killed myself back there,” she muttered, low. “Lost control. For what? A shortcut?”
She sat on a nearby rock, elbow on her knee, fingers curled thoughtfully under her chin. The air was cool here—colder than before—and it bit at her sweat-dampened skin. Her pride ached almost worse than her bruises. Strength had always been hers to earn, not be given. That’s what made it real.
Her tail flicked once. “So what now? Smash it? Sell it?”
Nadira shook her head. “Nah. This isn’t something that should end up in someone else’s claws.”
She stood slowly, lifting her arm and staring at the watch one last time. “You're strong. I’ll give you that. But strength without control? That’s not power. That’s just danger.” With a hiss of breath, she unclasped the device from her wrist. Her hand trembled as the contact broke. The air seemed to lighten. Her heart, too.
She didn’t hesitate. Marching toward a jagged crack in the rock wall—a deep crevice filled with rushing water—she drew her arm back and hurled the watch into the abyss. It vanished with a small plink, swallowed instantly. Gone. Nadira stood there a moment, watching the shadows ripple below.
Her tail nudged her side. “Good call.”
“I don’t need cheap tricks,” she said, exhaling slowly. “I’ve made it this far on my own. I’ll make it all the way without something messing with my head.” She dusted off her hands, turned on her heel, and made her way toward the next fork in the caverns—head held high, spine straight, steps steady. There was no treasure worth her soul. Let the watch stay buried in the dark. She’d keep her strength her own.

Reward	Amount
Labyrinthe Chest	1
Gold	7