Damion opened his eyes and found himself walking down a narrow tunnel, his footsteps echoing around him. He looked around him and found Alvar, Kiki, and Miyuki walking alongside him.

 How did I get here? He thought, confused as he tried to think of where they could be. He thought he had just fallen asleep; but then how did he end up here in this tunnel? He pondered it, glancing up when he noticed a dim light appearing a ways up ahead. He saw Miyuki's face light up as she noticed the light and the group picked up the pace, anticipation buzzing in the air.

 "What are we doing here?" Damion asked Miyuki, feeling somewhat drawn to the light at the end of the tunnel that was steadily growing brighter the closer they got. When Miyuki didn't answer he figured she hadn't heard him. "Miyuki?" Still no answer. He turned to look at her as the light ahead started to reach an almost blinding state. Her eyes were trained on the light ahead, not even registering that Damion had talked to her.

 "Kiki? I think there's something wrong with Miyuki." He said uncertainly, coming up beside her. She didn't answer him as well and when he looked into her eyes he found they were focused on the light, just like Miyuki's. He was starting to grow more anxious as they got closer to the light, feeling like they should turn around and find their way out of this place. He rushed to Alvar's side, hoping that he would be able to explain what was going on.

 "Alvar we need to get out of here, something terrible is waiting for us up ahead. I can feel it, but it's dragging Miyuki and Kiki in. We have to help them!" Damion exclaimed, growing more anxious the closer they got to the blazing white light. He paled as he saw even Alvar's eyes were dazzled by the light ahead. He pulled as hard as he could on Alvar's limp arm but they just kept heading towards the light until they were enveloped by it, causing Damion to shout in alarm as he covered his eyes.

 Once he got over the shock of the blinding light he opened his eyes, gasping as he realized they were in a large cavern. Crystals of various colors and sizes jutted out from every surface, glittering and shining with thousands of lights bouncing around the spacious room. Damion stared in awe around the room, marveling at the different crystals and wondering how long it took them to form. His eyes finally rested on something that wasn't crystal in the center of the cavern.

 "Is that . . . " Damion murmured, walking closer with the others. Miyuki was grinning excitedly, barely able to contain her excitement. Alvar was scowling, his eyes dark; Kiki was slack-jawed as she stared at the object in front of them. It was a perfectly polished kabuki mask in the likeness of a fox.

 It was a mostly opalescent white with pale yellow eyes that gleamed like two twin moons. Two claw-like stripes hung above the eyes in arches and two hung below the eyes, giving the mask a fierce expression. A dull, diamond-shaped blue gem stood out on the forehead, seeming out of place on the mask but still seeming like it belonged there. An elegant muzzle with a triangle-like nose and sharp points jutting out on either side like tufts of fur completed the look of the mask.

 "We finally found it: Mori's Mask." He heard Miyuki say reverently as she reached out to take it. As she was reaching for it Damion suddenly had a terrible suspicion that they were not alone. He looked around the cavern, trying to spot anything out of place. Just as Miyuki picked up the mask he saw two fiery amber crystals, that were not actually crystals, blink.

 A horrible screeching sound filled the cavern, causing everyone to drop to their knees and cover their ears. As Damion recovered, his ears ringing, he glanced over and saw Miyuki clutching the mask to her chest as she crouched on the ground and plugged her ears to try and block the awful noise. He looked up as the cavern shook and the walls started cracking. Chunks of crystal fell to the ground, shattering into thousands of pieces as the wall collapsed, sending up a huge cloud of shimmery dust that envelped them.

 Once it had cleared Damion opened his eyes and gasped. Standing where the wall once stood was a gigantic dragon. Crystal shards clung to its gleaming crystaline blue scales, making it look like spikes jutting out of its skin. It shook itself, causing glittering dust to fly off it and litter the ground. The ground shook as it took a step, arched its neck, and flared its large wings, filling the cavern with its massive size.

 "Let's get out of here." Miyuki whispered, not taking her eyes off the beast. Alvar nodded and flashed a look at Damion for him to follow close behind. Inching backwards they headed back towards the entrance of the cavern when the dragon noticed them. A deep rumbling began in its throat and, with a quick lash of its tail, knocked down several large crystal chunks. They leaped back as the crystals fell and blocked the entrance, trapping them with the vicious beast.

 "We have no choice but to fight it." Alvar rumbled, changing into his fox form. Without a word he charged at the dragon, not faltering as the dragon stepped towards him, its fiery amber eyes narrowed. The dragon lowered its head snarling at Alvar as he neared. Alvar was just a few feet away when the dragon opened its giant jaws and snapped them shut around Alvar. Damion gasped but sighed in relief as he saw a black vortex dissipate in front of the dragon's snout and Alvar now running down its long neck.

 Damion felt Kiki breeze past him at an incredible speed, outraging the dragon as she zipped around its large talons. Her five tails lashed behind her as she sprinted back and forth under the beast, trying to draw its attention to her. Miyuki shot him a grin before turning into her fox form and joining the battle. He watched her race to the dragon's lashing tail and snatched the end in her teeth.

 The dragon glared at her for a moment before turning and narrowing its gaze at Damion. He felt his heart skip a beat and his blood turn to ice as he stared into the furious gaze of the beast, feeling horrified yet awed at the beast's majestic gaze. He wanted to scream and runaway as the beast snarled and started taking steps toward him but he couldn't get his feet to move. He glanced down as he noticed he was clutching something. It was the mask.

 Miyuki must have given me the mask when she changed into her fox form. Damion thought glancing back up and jolting in fear as the dragon started lumbering towards him despite the foxes attacking it. Black shadow-like spears stuck out of its back with Alvar adding two more to the base of its tail. Kiki was doing her best to trip it up and dislodge crystal chunks in hopes that it would hinder it but nothing seemed to affect it. Miyuki was still holding on to the dragon's tail with her jaws but the whites of her eyes betrayed the fear she felt.

 "Change form and run!" Alvar shouted, his deep voice echoing around the room. Damion nodded and closed his eyes, trying to capture the image of his fox form. But it wasn't there. He tried reaching for it but it was just a fuzzy memory now, no longer an ability he could use. He opened his eyes and saw the dragon drawing closer. He backed up until he stumbled on the crystals that blocked the entrance. He glanced up at Alvar, then at Kiki, and finally at Miyuki.

 "I can't change form!" He shouted, feeling helpless and scared as he pressed himself against the crystal shards. Frantically glancing around, he tried to find some way he could escape or fight the dragon. Alvar rapidly raced up the dragon's neck, stabbing more shadow-like spears into it as he rushed to the beast's head. Kiki launched herself into the air and grabbed onto a large crystal chunk sticking out of its forearm, hoping to wrench it loose but to no avail.

 With a horrendous hissing noise the dragon reared back and opened its mouth, revealing a fiery blue glow gathering in its throat. It slammed to the ground with tremendous force and released a searing blue fire straight at Damion. It immediately enveloped him and instantly burned him to ashes.

 "AH!" Damion awoke in a cold sweat, trembling as he sat up on the mattress. He checked himself just to make sure he wasn't on fire or anything. He sighed in relief but couldn't stop the shivering that still racked his body. Laying back down he tried to go back to sleep but every time he closed his eyes that scene with the dragon was there, burning him to a crisp.

“Guess I'm not getting anymore sleep tonight." Damion murmured as he threw the pillows and blankets off himself. He squinted around in the thick shadows to see if there was some sort of clock or window so he could tell what time it was but there was nothing. Still rattled from the dream he stumbled to the curtain, not feeling safe alone in his room. He threw it open and felt his heart stop as he found himself face to face with someone.

 Before he could shout in alarm a hand covered his mouth and another strong hand gripped his arm and forced him back into his room. Damion felt himself tripping over the pillows and blankets but the strong grip on his arm kept him from falling. Quick as a flash the hand over his mouth flew to the nightstand, lit the lamp sitting there, and returned to cover his mouth. As flickering firelight filled the room Damion was able to see the assailant's face and felt like fainting in relief.

 "Mmph." Damion mumbled, pointing to the hand covering his mouth. It left his mouth so he could talk properly once again. "Alvar, what are you doing here?" He whispered, trying to study Alvar's stony face. The odd look there had been earlier was gone and he looked like his regular self once again.

 "I heard your shout and I was just about to check on you when you nearly ran into me. Knowing the reaction would cause you to shout in surprise and alarm several people I covered your mouth, brought you back in your room, lit the lamp so you could recognize me, and wait until you were ready to talk to me quietly." Alvar replied, releasing his grip on Damion's arm. Damion stumbled and fell back on the pillows, off-balanced without Alvar's hand holding him up.

 Damion quickly got back to his feet and put one of his hands firmly on the nightstand.

 "Why did you shout out?" Alvar asked, staring intently at Damion.

 "I had a bad dream." He replied, glancing at a pillow at his feet. He didn't want to tell Alvar how terrified he had been and was hoping he wouldn't press him for more details. Alvar narrowed his eyes as he studied Damion, making him feel uncomfortable. After scrutinizing Damion for what seemed like hours but in reality was minutes he spoke.

 "Would you like to go get breakfast? We can check the Tournament schedule then too." Damion glanced up at Alvar's face, finding it as emotionless as ever and nodded. Without a word Alvar slipped out of the room but Damion could see his fox like shadow lingering outside the curtain. He glanced down at himself and realized he had fallen asleep in his Yukata, noting it looked rather wrinkled.

 "Kiki and Miyuki are going to be steamed." Damion muttered, slipping his shoes on and heading out of his room. Alvar was standing outside, pinching the bridge of his nose. When he opened his eyes they were glazed, just like they were when he had finished his match. "A-are you okay Alvar?" Damion asked nervously, watching as Alvar steadied himself against the wall and took a shuddering breath.

"I'm fine. Let's go." He rumbled, straightening up and walking down the tunnel without looking back. Damion hesitated then followed, wondering what had happened to Alvar.