"Come outside, daughter."
The words echoed through the shrine.
Musha stood completely still.
Daughter.
No one had called her that before.
Not in that voice.
Not with such certainty.
Her fingers tightened around the hilts of her swords.
Katsurane stepped in front of her.
"Stay behind me."
Musha didn't move.
Outside, hundreds of footsteps pressed through the snow.
The Crimson Shadows had surrounded the mountain.
Rei looked toward the entrance.
"They came sooner than I expected."
Katsurane glanced at her.
"You knew they were coming?"
"I knew they would eventually find her."
Musha's voice was quiet.
"Why are they looking for me?"
Rei didn't answer.
Musha turned toward her.
"Why?"
"Because of the stone inside you."
Musha touched her chest.
"The stone is inside me?"
"It has been since the day you were born."
Katsurane's expression darkened.
"Enough."
Musha turned toward him.
"You knew too."
Katsurane lowered his sword.
"Yes."
"Everyone knew except me."
"You were a child."
"I am not a child anymore."
Her voice echoed through the shrine.
The white light around her body flickered.
Rei watched carefully.
"The power is responding to your anger."
Musha looked at her hands.
White light moved beneath her skin.
Black veins surrounded it.
"What happens if I lose control?"
Rei's expression became serious.
"You become what they fear."
"What is that?"
"The White Shadow."
A horn sounded outside.
The shrine shook.
Then arrows flew through the entrance.
Katsurane deflected the first three.
The fourth struck his shoulder.
He staggered.
"Master!"
Musha moved instantly.
She crossed the chamber and caught him before he fell.
Blood soaked his sleeve.
"I'm fine."
"You're bleeding."
"I've survived worse."
Another volley came.
Musha pulled him behind a stone pillar.
Rei raised her hand.
A wall of pale energy appeared across the entrance.
The arrows struck it and fell.
Musha stared.
"You can use the stone too."
Rei shook her head.
"No."
"Then what?"
"The stone recognizes me."
Musha frowned.
"Why?"
"Because I helped your mother create it."
Musha froze.
"You created the stone?"
"Not alone."
Rei looked toward the dragon.
"Your mother, the dragon, and I created it together."
Katsurane stared at her.
"You never told me that."
"You never asked."
A deep voice echoed outside.
"Rei!"
The woman went still.
The voice came again.
"You have nowhere left to hide."
Rei's expression changed.
Fear.
Musha had never heard fear in her voice before.
"Who is that?"
Rei whispered:
"Your father."
The entrance exploded.
Stone flew across the chamber.
Katsurane shielded Musha.
Through the smoke came a line of warriors dressed in black.
Their armor bore a crimson serpent.
At their center stood the masked man.
The serpent mask covered his entire face.
Two narrow eye slits revealed nothing.
He carried a long curved sword.
He took one step forward.
Then another.
The warriors behind him lowered their weapons.
The masked man looked directly at Musha.
"Hello, little shadow."
Musha's chest tightened.
She knew that voice.
Not from memory.
From the vision.
The voice that had spoken to her when she was a child.
"Your father will come for you."
Musha raised her swords.
"You are my father?"
The man nodded.
"Yes."
"What's your name?"
Silence.
Then he removed the serpent mask.
Musha heard the reaction from Katsurane.
She couldn't see the man's face.
But she could hear his breathing.
"I am Lord Raiden."
Musha felt the name strike something deep inside her memory.
Raiden.
A name she had heard whispered by villagers.
A name spoken with fear.
A name attached to the disappearance of entire clans.
"You're the leader of the Crimson Shadows."
Raiden smiled.
"So you've heard of me."
"I've heard enough."
He stepped forward.
"I came for you."
"Why?"
"Because you belong to me."
Musha's expression hardened.
"I belong to no one."
Raiden laughed.
"You sound like your mother."
At the mention of Aiko, Musha's grip tightened.
"You killed her."
Raiden's smile disappeared.
"No."
The shrine became silent.
"Your mother died because she chose you."
Musha's heartbeat accelerated.
"Explain."
"She knew what the stone would do."
Rei stepped forward.
"Don't listen to him."
Raiden looked at her.
"You've lied to her for eighteen years."
"And you haven't?"
His eyes returned to Musha.
"I can tell you the truth."
Musha raised her sword.
"Then tell me."
Raiden pointed toward her chest.
"The stone isn't a weapon."
Musha waited.
"It is a key."
"To what?"
"The Dragon Gate."
The White Dragon suddenly roared.
The entire mountain trembled.
Raiden smiled.
"Now you understand."
Musha turned toward the dragon.
"What is the Dragon Gate?"
Raiden answered:
"The place where your ancestors imprisoned something older than the dragon itself."
Rei's face went pale.
"You promised never to speak of it."
"That promise died with Aiko."
Musha's voice shook.
"What is behind the gate?"
Raiden looked at her.
"Your inheritance."
Katsurane stepped forward.
"Don't believe him."
Raiden's eyes narrowed.
"You still protect her."
"I swore an oath."
"You swore an oath to a dead queen."
"I swore an oath to her daughter."
Raiden raised his sword.
"Then die with it."
The Crimson Shadows charged.
Katsurane met them head-on.
Steel struck steel.
CLANG!
Musha moved.
One warrior attacked from the left.
She ducked.
His blade passed over her head.
She struck his wrist.
He dropped his sword.
Another came from behind.
Musha heard his footstep.
She spun.
Her katana cut through his weapon.
He stumbled backward.
More surrounded her.
Too many.
Musha breathed slowly.
The world became quiet.
She heard every movement.
Every heartbeat.
Every sword.
Then the white light returned.
Her left hand began glowing.
The attackers stopped.
One whispered:
"The White Shadow…"
Another dropped his weapon.
"She has awakened."
Musha felt something inside her break open.
Her body moved before she could think.
She disappeared.
A flash of white crossed the chamber.
Three warriors fell.
Musha reappeared behind them.
She didn't remember moving.
Katsurane stared.
"Musha…"
Raiden watched her carefully.
A smile appeared beneath his eyes.
"Excellent."
Musha turned toward him.
"You wanted this."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because only you can open the gate."
The dragon suddenly slammed its claws into the ground.
The stone floor cracked.
A circular symbol appeared beneath Musha's feet.
She felt the stone inside her chest burning.
Rei screamed:
"Musha, move!"
Too late.
The symbol activated.
White light erupted beneath her.
The chamber vanished.
Musha found herself standing before an enormous door.
It was carved into the heart of the mountain.
A dragon was engraved across it.
A serpent wrapped around the dragon's neck.
And at the center—
a small symbol shaped like an eye.
Musha touched it.
The door spoke.
Not in words.
In memory.
She saw her mother.
She saw her father.
She saw Katsurane.
She saw the dragon.
And finally—
she saw herself.
But the girl in the vision was older.
Much older.
She stood before the same door.
Her clothes were covered in blood.
Her two swords were broken.
And beside her stood a man Musha had never seen before.
A young man.
With the same white eyes as hers.
He turned toward her.
And said:
"Sister."
Musha's breath stopped.
The vision disappeared.
She returned to the shrine.
Katsurane was shouting her name.
Raiden stood before her.
His sword was raised.
Musha barely had time to react.
She crossed both blades.
CLANG!
The impact sent her sliding backward.
Raiden stared at her.
Then he whispered:
"You saw him."
Musha's heart pounded.
"My brother."
Raiden lowered his sword.
"Yes."
"Where is he?"
Raiden's expression became unreadable.
"He is alive."
Musha stopped breathing.
"Where?"
Before Raiden could answer—
the mountain split open.
A roar thundered beneath them.
The Dragon Gate began to open.
And from the darkness behind it—
something whispered Musha's name.