Zephan;

Serion’s head snaps toward Koda and me, and for a split second... I see relief flood his face. But then, he looks down at the bloody sword in his hands, and he looks back up at me in horror.

"Don’t come closer!" He screams, and I look over at Koda, who is still silently observing the chaos.

"Please—don’t—" Serion yells again, as his body jerks.

The sword lifts... and being this close, I realise that he isn’t moving like himself... His movements are currently like that of a... puppet. A reluctant puppet.

Suddenly, he lunges at me, and I lift my sword, just in time.

The impact when our blades meet is immediate and violent. So violent, the force behind it sends a sharp vibration up my arm.

My eyes widen.

This is wrong. Serion is strong. But not like this. This—this is something else...

I’m broken out of my thoughts when Koda moves in from the side and grabs Serion’s arm. He’s trying to force the weapon down, but Serion twists out of Koda’s grip with a strength that should not exist, a mere Beta against an Alpha.

We’re forced to let him go, and he staggers away from us.

"I don’t want to hurt you!" He chokes out, with his voice breaking under the strain.

"I don’t—I can’t stop. I—I don’t know what’s going on—" He cries as his arm jerks again.

The blade shifts toward Koda, and I smack it aside, stepping in closer, locking him in place as much as I can.

"Serion," I yell in the tone I have known him to always obey, but he barely flinches.

"Look at me." I plead, and for a moment... for a painful, slow moment, he does.

And what I see there is not madness.

...It is terror.

"I can’t stop," he whimpers as his entire body shakes, and I feel my heart squeeze.

What the hell is going on? Serion would never hurt his soldiers. He’ll never stand against me, or the Ashfang family... so—

"Help me..." He whispers further, and this time, my heart skips.

Something is pushing him. Something has taken over him...

Koda tightens his grip around Serion, trying to pin him fully, but Serion lets out a broken cry as his strength surges again. It’s unnatural, erratic, overwhelming in ways that make no sense.

"Drop the sword," Koda growls, and Serion shuts his eyes tightly.

"I can’t!"

The words tear out of him helplessly as his muscles strain— veins standing out along his arms as his body fights itself.

I shift my hold, trying to force the blade from his grip, but his fingers lock tighter, refusing to release.

"Keep fighting it," I whisper to him, and his tear-filled, mortified eyes flicker back to mine.

And for a second— He’s there.

"I am," he whispers, breathless, desperate.

Then his body jerks again. Harder and stronger.

Serion repositions the blade, and I blink in horror as he angles it toward himself.

He lets out a strangled sound that lies somewhere between a sob and a scream.

"I’m sorry..." He says quietly, and before either of us can react, he shoves us both aside.

I do not get the chance to regain my footing when he drives his blade through his own chest.

The force he used pushes through armour and flesh in one motion. Blood spills instantly, dark, heavy, and soaking through.

Koda catches him as his body gives out, lowering him to the ground, but it doesn’t matter.

Serion is already gone.

Silence follows that knowledge, because no one knows how to move forward from what they just witnessed.

I stand there, my gaze fixed on the body, and my mind running through what just happened with sharp, unforgiving clarity.

That was not a loss of control. Neither was it rage.

It was something else.

...Something inside him. Something that moved him. Something that... used him.

Footsteps approach behind me, soft and measured.

When I turn around, I find Mother standing there.

She takes in everything at once—the body, the blood, the few stunned soldiers who stayed back, as well as me and Koda standing over what should not have happened.

For a moment, I see her composure crack. Worry flashes through her eyes, sharp and undeniable.

But she quickly wipes it away.

She says nothing.

Not a question, not an order...Nothing.

She just turns, and she leaves.

She didn’t even make eye contact, and that... that is what seals it in my mind.

Because Aunt Selthía never walks away from what she does not understand. If she is silent... It’s she already knows something.

My jaw tightens as the memory surfaces.

Elián.

His voice... His unease. The fear in his eyes when he spoke about that vision... Of something entering Nagari.

At the time, it sounded like paranoia or stress. But now?? Now, I’m beginning to think I should have done more than set out more scouts.

On instinct, I lift my head, and my heart skips a beat when I see him.

He’s in a yellow, night robe, standing on one of the balconies above, with his hand pressed against his stomach. His face is drained of colour, and I let out a breath when I see his expression.

The horror written plainly across his face is proof that he saw everything.

He shouldn’t have had to see that!!

Koda steps beside me, following my gaze, and he sees him too.

For a moment, neither of us speaks. Then Koda exhales slowly.

"He was right," he says, but I don’t look away from Elián.

"Something dangerous has infiltrated Nagari," He adds, and I nod once.

My gaze remains locked on Elián as I respond, because suddenly... It feels like Elian is at the centre of whatever is going on.

"And whatever it is, has gotten dangerously close..." I whisper back to Koda, and we watch in silence as Elian slowly takes a step back and retreats into the castle.

Once again... trouble has found us. And this time... I can tell that it’s something big. Maybe bigger than anything we’ve had to deal with.

The thought of that alone... scares me.