My throat was dry, almost cracked. I felt cold, and every bone in my body hurt. My bloodied hands were covered in mud. There were rocks, large burnt logs, and some gla.s.s scattered all around me. My memory began to slowly come back.

I tried to move my hands and the pain reminded me of my fight against Adwer. I looked at the burnt logs and remembered Ifrit, the collapsing house, and our descent into darkness. I was both relieved and greatly surprise that I'd survived the fall. Better yet, my broken leg was still attached to me.

I activated my senses to look for Raiya. I stretched them as far as I could, but there was no sign of her or my brother's. I sensed, however, multiple creatures in the tunnels beyond the one I crash landed in. Alone, they weren't hard to deal with, but there were at least a hundred of them scattered all around me.

I had to get out of here, and fast. Only problem was, I couldn't move even if I wanted to. I had to try and heal my damaged limbs or die trying. First order of business was my broken leg. I had absorbed enough energy from Franz as he died to rewind time for it. It was a tricky spell, but I knew I could do it.

I've seen Raiya rewind time for one specific object without affecting the world around her. If I managed to isolate the rewind spell I used to just my leg, I would have a chance at walking again. I doubted even the best healer in all the continents wouldn't pull this feat off… but necessity is the mother of invention.

I had to train on something that wasn't my leg though. I couldn't risk doing something this vital without some testing first. I looked around, until I found a bent bronze pot a few feet away from me. With great effort, I managed to sit up then leaned against a square boulder, probably a piece of the residence's wall.

I opened my third eye and concentrated on the pot, but something else kept pulling my attention away. The time energy in the air seemed different. There were no straight vertical and horizontal lines telling each object's tale. Instead, there lines bent, swirled, or just floated in the air, unmoving.

Then I heard the sniffing noise again, far off to my right. Something inside me told me not to look, not with my third eye activated. Something inside me told me to concentrate on the pot, find its own time energy and mold it, rewind it to a time when the pot was still intact.

"Sniff!" I heard, like a sad whisper in the distance. "Sniff!"

I fought the curiosity that gnawed at me. In fact, it seemed like my body fought not to turn, although I ordered it to do so. That something inside me, I came to realize, was fear. I was afraid to look at the sniffing thing. I was afraid that I'd see something I wasn't supposed to see.

"Sniff!" It came again, like a child crying in silence, like a woman fighting her emotions. "Sniff, sniff!"

I deactivated the third eye then looked to my right. There was nothing, just a faint light in the distance, and the sound of wind traveling through hollow tunnels.

I turned to look at the pot again. I couldn't waste any more time in this place. The caves beneath Bodrick's house were rumored to host all kinds of monstrosities, save for a chosen route only he and a handful of men knew about. I was trapped down there now. Raiya and Adwer had probably landed somewhere else, but I couldn't tell how far off they were from me.

I opened my third eye once more and concentrated on the pot. Its time energy was swirling around it. If I could will it to rewind without affecting the world around me, I had a shot at doing the same for my leg. Or at least that's what I hoped for.

"Sniff, sniff!" I heard the sound again. It sounded closer this time around.

I brushed all my concerns off though. I had to find a way to mend my broken leg before it was too late. If I had filled the entire Fragment with Franz's time energy, I would have been able to travel back in time; maybe as far as before our a.s.sault on Bodrick's house. I couldn't though, and there was no dwelling on that now.

I found it hard to control the pot's time energy though. As it swirled in place, I couldn't tell now from then. I couldn't rewind its own timeline if I couldn't see it clearly. I concentrated harder, trying to understand the red blur that swirled at lightning speed before me.

"Sniff, sniff!" I heard the sound again. This time, it sounded like it came from behind my shoulder.

I instinctively turned around, my third eye still open. What I saw blinded me and knocked me down on my back. A majestic beast stood before me. It had white fur, so white it blinded me. I didn't catch most of its features as I quickly closed my eye. I only remembered that next to its gigantic paws, I was but an ant. Its tails bobbed left and right while its crimson eyes were observing me with keen interest.

When I opened my eye though, I only saw a small animal: a white fox with three tails. It sniffed once more as its eyes were fixed on me. It jumped toward the pot. Then, with a simple flick of its front paw, it turned the thing to ashes. It raised its eyes to look at me once more. I met them in astounded silence.

It blinked once, twice, thrice. Then it jumped and softly landed beside me.

"Sniff!" Its tails bobbed left and right, as though it was excited to see me. "Sniff, sniff!"

"What do you want from me?" I asked the animal.

It looked up, toward the rubble that should have destroyed me.

"Sniff!" It said then looked at me again.

Somehow, I understood what the fox was trying to say. The time distortion I witnessed with my third eye also helped me come to a dark conclusion. The rubble above me was being held by some unknown force. If it weren't for that fox, I would have never noticed it.

There were more giant slabs or rock, neatly stacked one on top of the other. Some logs had kept them in place, but the pressure on burnt wood was taking its toll. One of them would break at any given moment. There was no surviving that, none at all.

The prospect of dying right after I miraculously survived that landing brought a new adrenaline rush into my system. I got to my right knee and injured hands and crawled. I didn't care that it hurt. I didn't care that I might have made my injuries worse. I only cared about surviving.

I could find a remedy to my broken bones. I'd even learn to live with them… as long as I was still alive. I crawled toward the tunnel from which the sniffing came the first time. The white fox hopped on before me, leading the way as I crawled like a madman. I was steps away from the tunnel's entrance when I heard a loud snap.

I got to my right leg and used all my strength to jump forward then. I felt something tear within my thigh, but I was airborne and on my way to the tunnel, to safety. I landed on my back and rolled forward just in time to avoid a giant rock that almost crushed my bones. Rubble collapsed, sending a tumult of dust and wooden shards my way.  

I felt the vibrations of the fallen debris scatter through the tunnels ahead. I had a bad feeling about this. It felt as though we'd affected something major in the tunnels by wreaking havoc above ground. If I didn't hurry, I might as well stay down here. The caves were about to collapse from within. It wasn't a matter of if, but a matter of when.

I turned to look at the place I just escaped to. It was completely sealed. I had but one way before me, and that was forward. I felt a gentle tap on my left shoulder. I turned to see the white fox, its crimson eyes too close for comfort. They looked as though they were made of liquid. In fact, they looked like they were liquefying.

The fox blinked, and a crimson drop fell on the ground beside my sword. The strange animal had even brought me my weapon. The crimson drop was as small as a rice grain. It didn't get absorbed underground though. It just stood there, untainted by its surroundings. A crimson light shone brightly from it, illuminating my immediate vicinity.

"Sniff!"

The fox blinked once more, and its eyes regained a solid state. It then hopped ahead until it disappeared into the darkness.