I lay in a small rock alcove about ten feet above the floor of the small cavern I had stopped in. This crack seemed natural and smelled of nothing alive, so I was likely safe from anything coming home and finding me in their den. I had been lost underground for at least, I think, three or four days. When I had escaped from the ritual chamber, I hadn't realized that it was a classic supervillain, "I'll take you someplace no one will ever find you!" type of deal. What I had thought was a hidden underground lair had turned out to be an endless maze of tunnels and caverns. I could only try to find paths that led up. My [Navigation] skill was helping me a lot with not going in circles, and I had a natural feel for up and down. Most of what I had traveled so far seemed like natural caverns, but I was no geologist. The tunnels connecting those caverns weren't always so natural in appearance. Most looked like lava tubes or long channels carved over time by water or other natural processes, but others looked manufactured. A few had the squared feel of a tunnel cut with tools, but significantly more concerning were those that had to have been dug by large creatures. I certainly didn't know what kind of monsters might be down here, but I was glad I'd not run into anything of that size.

My lack of run-ins with monsters wasn't entirely a fluke. I had been lucky in my escape from the ritual chamber. During my initial run out of that horrible place, I encountered a few demons, but none of them saw me or even suspected I was sneaking past them. That helped me realize afterward that I wasn't as completely naked as I'd thought. I had almost never removed my mask, and no one could remove it without my permission. It was just easy to forget since it disappeared when worn. I also had my family signet ring on for the same reason. The mask was doing real work here with its [Shadow Walker] and [Silent Steps] enchantments. They were hard to beat in these dark caves, and I was very thankful for that. Between that and my [Spiritual Senses], I was able to detect and evade any creature I wanted to avoid, and they never knew I was there to search for.

Outside of hunting for food, I had avoided any fights. I was still really hurt. I knew I was in bad shape before I fled, but after I changed into my [Spirit Fox Form], it was far easier for me to understand the damage. I had been poisoned, stabbed with a spear, then possessed, with my body being seriously broken and disfigured in the process. I was fortunate to stop the changes from becoming permanent when I disrupted the ritual and purged the demonic and magic-infused blood from my body. At least, most things were purged. Some changes were complete, and I didn't know how long they would last – assuming I could get rid of them at all. Saying the purge had undone the changes would also be somewhat misleading. The ritual had been trying to pull me apart and rebuild me in the image of whatever Mezesh was. My bones had been broken, my muscles torn and stretched, and many of my organs and soft tissues disfigured and damaged. A lot of that was reversed when I was finally able to expel the demon blood and ritual magic, but nearly everything hurt. The purge put me back together, but that didn't repair all the damage. Several of my bones still had stress fractures, and many of my organs and most of my muscles were healing from tears and wounds. My status was happy to illustrate this with my hit points stuck below half while the injuries were healing.

In a way, the changes that hadn't reverted were worse than the injuries. I could hide from them in my fox form, but I knew they were still there, waiting for me. They were a constant reminder of what had happened that I couldn't ignore or try to forget. I still had horns that curved around my head like a deadly floating crown. My nails, both on my hands and feet, were still that dark red material. They still retracted, which I was thankful for, but they were much larger if I extended them. The worst part of these physical changes was that my Status was showing them as traits, [Devil's Crown] and [Magic Rending Claws], and I was terrified that I'd be stuck with them forever.

The last injury, and the one that I was the most afraid of, was to my soul. Mezesh had begun attacking me there before I even knew she was in me. The very first drops of that blood had opened a path for her right into my very being, and she had not hesitated to attack me where it mattered most. Long before I understood what was being done to me, she had cracked my soul open and began trying to corrupt it and change it into something she could use. She needed my soul as a vessel for her own to fully manifest here, and she needed it to be suitable for her. She began seeping in, tearing and eating away at me from the very beginning. She was subtle, gentle, and perfect at this. She knew exactly what to do to ensure I wouldn't know what was happening until it was too late.

Only when she had managed to contain me, trapping me in my own mind, and began to take over my body did I have enough awareness of my soul to know she was already there. I was fortunate to have the traits and experience to fight back, but a lot of damage was already done. At the end of that terrible ordeal, I had been in agony in every ounce of my being. But when I changed to my fox form, I could see the damage so much more clearly. I could also better contain it and was able to see how to pull myself back together. I spent time every day working on this. Pushing out the impurities in my soul from both Mezesh and Jalmonnoth, then using the abundance of energy there to seal up the cracks around the edges and heal the damage. That abundance of energy from devouring their souls was the only bright spot in this, despite the side effects. Both of them had pushed what they were into my being, and I had drawn them both in, too. I didn't have a choice, but it was still partly my doing. I understood that unfamiliar rage and hate I'd sometimes feel in combat as the essence of Jalmonnoth. I was somewhat embarrassed by some of what Mezesh was making me feel, but I was alone and hurt, and it was easy to ignore. All I could do was push that influence out while I worked to heal the damage. I knew that their influence over my actions had already been significantly reduced and that at least gave me more motivation to keep at it.

I had only tried to revert to my humanoid form once since I escaped, shortly before I climbed into this alcove to rest. I needed to know how bad things were and to know if I was healing. The pain was so much worse, and I had trouble walking, but at least I was back to being a mostly normal person. I didn't have a mirror, but I did have [Starlight]. The horns were still there. I knew they would be, but I had hoped enough time had passed that they might have faded or gone away. Tug at them as I might, which was not comfortable, they were firmly affixed to my skull. My nails had not reverted, but they did an excellent job of digging into even the stone around me when I tested them. When I extended them, they were as good as having long, curved red knives attached to my hands and were both mesmerizing and horrifying. My skin had not changed back to its normal color, either. It stayed the same creamy porcelain white that it had been after the ritual. I was fortunate enough to have the cracking black lines disappear. It was stupid, but I was ashamed of how I looked. And that was fine. I was lost underground, and I really needed to just stay in my fox form until I was healed in both body and mind. Eventually, I would escape and find Amélie. She would help me fix myself, and we'd keep our promise to each other to go adventuring. That was – if she and the others ever forgave me for letting Zoila die. I was overthinking, and I needed rest. I closed my eyes and focused on sleeping.

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It was a few hours later when I finally awoke. It was always hard to tell exactly how many, but I was getting good at seeing how far the stars had moved to guess. As refreshed as I was going to get, I looked around and climbed down from my sleeping spot after judging it safe. It was time to move on. To survive down here I'd been hunting the various small creatures and monsters. I had found only very rare water supplies, but I had promised myself that I'd take the time to accept that I was a Kitsune, not a human, and I was doing things how my instincts told me to. After the first several kills, I had accepted that much of my repulsion was in my mind. If I didn't focus on the fact that I was killing small mammals, insects, and monsters and then eating most of them, it was natural, and I didn't get upset. I didn't even mind the taste or texture. I tried to keep my mind occupied by working on my soul or trying to focus on remembering things about Mom or Music or other memories I didn't want to lose. I was afraid if I didn't try, one day, I'd barely remember Mom at all. Now, though, was time to move. Quietly, quickly, and carefully.

I looked in the direction I had come from, felt the air moving around me, and followed the movement in the direction that went up. I was soon in another long round tunnel. There were a lot of these. I wasn't sure if they were lava tubes or tunnels that some giant worm dug. I just knew that they were great because I could always see far along them, and if they were going up, they'd keep at it until I hit another cavern or a collapse. I began my trot. Not too far along, I came across another one of the bug-like monsters. They looked vicious. They had six legs but then a body portion that was above the thorax, like a bug centaur. That upper part had scythe arms like a mantis and a giant spike on its face for a mouth. They were at least as big as me, usually bigger. Fortunately, they mostly explored alone, and I was much more sneaky than they were. Also, they tasted like chicken. A quick, electrically charged ambush later, and I had breakfast. I ate quickly and quietly, methodically taking it apart and pulling out all the soft muscles and juices. I needed the moisture.

As soon as I was done, I began to move again. I had a good feeling about today. I was going to find my way out. The air was not really fresher, but it had more smells. That had to mean something good. I wanted to hurry on, but I never ran down here. I had done that once and learned a lesson about being a fox in a giant spider web, and now I mostly moved with care. I didn't want to fight. It hurt too much. So, I was back to my light trot. I carried on this way for hours. I avoided monsters, rodents, bugs, and once, what I thought was a giant living ball of slime. Not today, snot boy. I had gone through two more tubes, explored my way through several caverns and tunnels, and I was again in a large cavern that looked good for finding a hiding spot. I had already traveled a full day's worth and more. I kept pushing because I knew today was the day, but… Maybe tomorrow was the day. I explored the chamber for a few minutes. It was pretty extensive, and I was trying to find a suitable place to hide from anything else hunting the area while I slept.

I noticed a small hole a bit up a wall and went for it. I could fit in, and if something else was there, I was hungry. I ran up the wall, claws punching little grips, and got my head into the hole when I realized it was more of a long crack than an alcove. I pulled myself all the way up anyway. It would still do. I was tired. I started to lie down when I heard an odd sound. I turned toward it and saw nothing. I had to investigate, though. I couldn't have anything sneaking up on me in my sleep. I crept to the far end of the crack and heard it again. It sounded like words! I scratched around a bit and found that there was a very small opening into another cavern connected to this one by the crack. If I squeezed really tightly, it looked like I should be able to make it through. I stopped to listen again, and almost right away, I heard someone laugh. That was definitely a human laugh. I knew it! In a flash, I was pulling myself through that tight space, entirely forgetting to freak about maybe getting stuck. I popped out on the other end and looked around. I couldn't see anyone from where I was, so I started to snoop around and listen. They were farther away than I had initially thought, and I ended up leaving the new cavern I was in, going through a short passage that looked man-made and into another.

It was there that I saw a small table with four men sitting around it. They were talking, not too loudly but not exactly trying to hide, laughing, and playing cards. I slowly moved closer, and the scent of death caught my nose. Maybe they had fought something? The floor in this room had many broken-away chunks of rock lying around for me to navigate between, and I used them for cover. When I was less than twenty feet away from them, I finally got a clear look. Three people, or what was left of them, were lying in a pile on the floor. They were in rags and chains, and it looked like their bodies had just given out before they'd been tossed aside like trash. I saw another girl sitting on the floor. Her legs were drawn up to her chest, and her head was tucked into her knees with her black, rough, chopped shoulder-length hair falling around them. It was hard to see much about her, but I knew what I was looking at. The chains connecting her to a pin on the floor were a dead giveaway. I growled unconsciously. That made all four men jump to their feet. They spun around and couldn't see me at first, but eventually, one of them did.

"It’s just a damn fox. How did that thing even get in here?" he said with a laugh.

"Who cares? Let’s eat it. We've not had any real meat in a few days." his friend replied.

"Alright, go fetch it then." the first man said.

"Wait now. Let’s have a bit of wager. It’s not going anywhere."

He tossed a small knife down on the ground next to the girl.

"Slave, pick that up. I will unchain you, and you will go kill that fox and bring it back to us. You may not do anything else. You may not return, eat, or drink until you've got that fox. You will not give up."

The girl looked up at the word "slave," and her face fell further and further with every word, which was a bit of an achievement because she already looked so broken. She looked like she was barely a teen. When she looked up, I also saw that she had ears on her head that were kind of like mine. No way. She can’t be another kitsune? I was really confused by that. I knew the system message had said Kitsune were extinct before us, so she couldn't be, could she? The man undid her chain, though, and she stood right up, took the knife, and mechanically and with very little resistance began to walk towards me. As she walked, I saw she did have a tail, too, but it was nothing like mine. Much less fluffy and more streamlined. Also, her ears were too small for a Kitsune.

She looked terrified of me but never stopped moving. I stopped growling, turned, and ran into the previous room. I heard the men laughing again, and one called out, "Run, Slave, or it'll get away!" She immediately began to run. I darted around the first bend I saw and blended right back into the shadows. She ran right past me. That's when I saw why she was so obedient. She had one of those collars around her neck. She couldn't tell them no. She couldn't even stop her own body from moving. She was just a little girl. This was so wrong. She darted around the room, looking for me, crying and not knowing where to go or what to do. She would die like this too, I knew. They ordered her to run, so she had to keep running while she looked, and she couldn't stop. I knew what I had to do, and I didn't want to do it. I really didn't want to do it.