Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Fall

The sky cracked open.

A streak of silver light tore through the clouds before crashing toward the endless forest below.

Lyra fell.

The icy wind whipped through her long white hair, stinging her face as her nine snowy tails struggled against the violent current. Her sapphire eyes widened.

"No..."

The Emerald Realm disappeared farther and farther above her.

Only moments ago, she had been running across the sacred cliffs of her homeland.

Now...

She was falling into an unknown world.

A sharp pain exploded through her body.

One of her tails had been wounded before the fall, its silver fur stained with blood. The injury spread like poison, weakening the ancient power flowing through her nine Fox Gems.

A loud crack echoed through the air.

One glowing gem broke free from her body.

"No!"

Lyra reached for it.

Her fingertips brushed the shining crystal for the briefest moment before another gust of wind hurled it away.

The gem spun through the sky like a falling star before disappearing beneath the endless sea of trees.

Her heart froze.

"My gem..."

She couldn't even tell where it had landed.

The wind swallowed her scream.

Moments later...

Boom!

Her body smashed through thick branches.

Wood splintered.

Leaves exploded into the air.

She hit another branch...

Then another...

Until she crashed onto the forest floor.

Everything became silent.

...

Pain.

Every bone in her body ached.

Lyra slowly opened her eyes.

Above her, sunlight slipped through the towering trees.

She tried to stand.

Her legs trembled.

A dull ache spread from the injured tail across her entire body.

She looked behind her.

All nine tails were still there...

But one barely moved.

She bit her lower lip.

"I have to find the gem..."

Without it, her power would continue to fade.

She took one shaky step.

Then another.

The forest was unlike anything she had ever seen.

The air carried unfamiliar scents.

The trees were taller.

The birds sang strange melodies.

This wasn't the Emerald Realm.

She had truly fallen into the Human World.

A sudden cry pierced the silence.

"Chirp! Chirp!"

Lyra stopped.

The desperate sound came from somewhere deeper in the forest.

Another cry followed.

Louder this time.

Filled with fear.

She hesitated.

Finding the missing gem should have been her first priority.

Yet...

She couldn't ignore that frightened voice.

She turned toward the sound and disappeared between the trees.

Lyra pushed aside a curtain of tangled vines and froze.

A tiny blue bird struggled wildly beneath a hunter's snare.

Its fragile wing was caught in a loop of rough rope tied between two young trees. Every desperate attempt to escape only tightened the trap around its body.

"Chirp!"

The frightened creature looked straight at her.

Its bright black eyes were filled with panic.

Lyra lowered herself to one knee.

"So... humans hunt even the smallest creatures here."

She glanced around the forest.

No voices.

No footsteps.

The hunter was gone... at least for now.

The bird flapped harder as she reached toward it.

"Easy," she whispered.

"I won't hurt you."

It didn't understand her words, but something in her gentle voice calmed it.

Its trembling slowly eased.

Lyra wrapped one hand around the rope.

The fibers were surprisingly thick.

She pulled.

Nothing.

Her strength had weakened too much.

She closed her eyes.

A faint blue glow escaped from beneath her skin.

Not enough to cast healing magic...

Just enough to strengthen her fingers.

The rope snapped.

The little bird dropped into her hands.

It trembled violently.

One of its wings was bleeding where the snare had cut through the feathers.

Lyra sighed softly.

"I suppose I can't ignore that."

She placed two fingers against the wounded wing.

A gentle blue light spread across the tiny injury.

The bleeding stopped almost instantly.

The torn skin slowly closed.

The bird blinked in surprise.

It carefully stretched its wing once...

Twice...

Then flapped both wings together.

Healthy.

A cheerful chirp echoed through the trees.

A small smile appeared on Lyra's face for the first time since her fall.

"There you go."

The bird didn't fly away.

Instead, it hopped onto her shoulder.

"You should leave."

Another cheerful chirp.

"...You're stubborn."

She laughed quietly.

"Very well."

The bird tilted its tiny head as if trying to memorize her face.

A sudden wave of dizziness struck.

Lyra staggered backward.

The blue light around her fingers disappeared.

"No..."

Her breathing became uneven.

The loss of one Fox Gem...

The injured tail...

Using healing magic...

Everything was draining the little divine power she still possessed.

A strange warmth spread across her body.

Her nine white tails shimmered.

One by one...

They dissolved into countless silver particles.

"My tails..."

Panic flashed across her face.

Her pointed fox ears shrank.

Her sharp senses faded.

The divine aura surrounding her vanished completely.

Within seconds...

A young woman with long white hair stood where the legendary Nine-Tailed Fox had been only moments before.

Lyra stared at her trembling hands.

"This... can't be..."

She had become human.

Not an illusion.

Not a disguise.

A real human body.

Before she could understand what had happened...

Crunch.

A dry branch snapped somewhere behind her.

The little bird instantly took flight.

Lyra's heart pounded.

Someone...

Was coming.