Chapter 406: When the Future Screams

The forest blurred past in streaks of shadow and frost.

Cold wind tore at Sophia’s hair, whipping loose strands against her cheeks as Noctis thundered through the dense forest of Nirvana. His massive body moved with predatory grace, paws barely skimming the frozen earth as he wove between trunks and jagged roots. Every powerful stride sent a steady rhythm through her bones, grounding her, anchoring her to the present.

Branches snapped overhead. Snow sprayed in white arcs beneath their passage.

Behind them, the rest of the group kept pace — dark shapes weaving through the trees, breath steaming in the cold air, their instincts tightly aligned with Noctis’s lead. The forest was alive with motion, alive with urgency.

Sophia leaned forward slightly, fingers buried in Noctis’s thick fur. The warmth beneath her palms steadied her racing heart.

They were close.

She could feel it in the way Noctis’s stride sharpened, in the subtle adjustments of his direction, the tightening of his shoulders beneath her grip. Something ahead tugged like a taut wire pulled too tight.

But then pain detonated behind her eyes.

Sophia gasped sharply, fingers tightening in Noctis’s fur as a sudden, violent pressure slammed into her skull. It felt as if something had struck her from the inside — a white-hot spike driving straight through her temples.

"Fu—"

A broken groan tore from her throat.

Her vision warped instantly, the forest smearing into distorted shapes and fractured light. The steady rhythm of Noctis’s movement suddenly felt too fast, too loud, too much. The wind roared in her ears like static.

Sophia squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head hard as if she could physically dislodge the sensation.

The pressure only intensified.

A sharp pulse rippled through her mind — not pain alone, but something else riding beneath it. A presence. A pull. A relentless insistence that refused to be ignored.

Flashes of light burst behind her eyelids.

Fragmented images flickered like shattered glass: snow stained dark, shadows twisting, steel flashing, something enormous moving just beyond sight.

Her breath came in shallow, panicked bursts.

Noctis sensed it instantly.

His pace faltered, massive strides shortening as his head tilted slightly, ears flicking back in concern. A low, questioning rumble vibrated through his chest.

Sophia barely registered it.

The pressure surged again — harder this time — and her body jolted violently.

A sharp cry ripped from her lips as her eyes rolled upward.

Her fingers slipped and her body slumped forward as the world went black.

---

She was standing in a clearing.

But not truly standing.

It felt as though she were hovering just above the ground, unseen and untouchable, trapped between breath and silence.

The air was thick with the smell of blood.

Snow churned beneath dozens of clashing bodies, the pristine white ground smeared crimson and black. Trees loomed like silent witnesses around the battlefield, their branches rattling under the violent tremors of combat.

Sophia’s heart slammed painfully against her ribs.

She knew this place.

The clearing.

Ronan.

Her gaze snapped toward the center.

He was there — sword flashing as he fought against overwhelming odds, his expression carved from fury and desperate determination. His movements were fast, precise, brutal.

But he was surrounded.

Not just by the cloaked figures.

Her breath hitched in shock.

Trihydras slithered through the snow like living nightmares, their massive three-headed forms weaving and striking with venomous precision. Their scales gleamed darkly beneath the fractured light, jaws snapping and hissing as poison dripped from exposed fangs.

Skylurs walked with them like they belonged right next to each other, like it should not be absurd that something like this was happening.

Further back, massive tidebreakers surged from the frozen ground itself, their bodies rippling with unnatural power as they smashed through wolves and trees alike, sending debris exploding in every direction.

And there were others.

Beasts from Nirvana Sophia had never seen before — twisted forms that defied logic and nature, their silhouettes wrong in ways that made her stomach churn.

Her chest tightened painfully.

This wasn’t the fragmented nightmare she had seen before.

This was different and perhaps clearer. It was like the one she had seen before was from a myopic view, but this was clearer.

Her gaze darted desperately across the chaos.

Sam was locked in combat with a tidebreaker, her movements sharp and feral as she dodged its crushing limbs. Frost sprayed around her as she lunged forward, blade driving deep into the creature’s core with a guttural cry.

The beast staggered, then collapsed.

Sophia’s heart leapt in fragile hope.

But it shattered a second later.

Two cloaked figures emerged from the smoke behind Sam.

Sophia screamed — though no sound escaped her throat.

The vision lurched violently away before she could even see everything.

Her breath came out in a broken sob.

Her gaze snapped back to Ronan.

He was moving toward a pair near the edge of the clearing — a young man shielding a trembling little girl who clutched desperately at his torn clothes. Her face was streaked with dirt and tears, her small hands shaking as she buried herself against him.

Ronan cut down one attacker with ruthless efficiency, positioning himself protectively between them and the encroaching chaos.

Sophia’s chest tightened. The young man fought beside Ronan, but he wasn’t as skilled. Suddenly, a blade slid cleanly through his back.

His eyes widened in stunned disbelief before his body collapsed forward into the snow.

The little girl screamed.

She dropped beside him instantly, shaking him frantically, sobbing as she begged him to wake up, to help her, to find her brother.

Sophia felt something inside her crack.

"No..." she whispered helplessly.

Ronan turned — too late.

A Trihydra lunged from the side.

He barely managed to deflect one snapping head while fending off a cloaked attacker from the opposite direction. Steel clashed. Venom sprayed. Snow exploded beneath their feet.

Another shadow moved behind him.

Sophia saw it before he did. Just like before, but this time with the added threat of a Trihydra.

A blade slid between his ribs.

Ronan staggered and blood darkened his coat.

Her gaze snapped to the left.

Darek lay sprawled against a shattered tree trunk, his leg gone below the knee, blood pooling heavily into the snow. His face was pale, eyes glassy, breaths shallow and uneven.

He wasn’t getting up.

Her stomach twisted.

Her gaze swept desperately for Gregory.

She found him near the center of the clearing.

He lay still.

Too still.

Blood soaked his armor, dark and thick against the white ground. His eyes stared blankly at the empty sky — lifeless, hollow.

Sophia’s chest tightened sharply.

Then she saw it.

His head lay several feet away.

Her breath caught in a strangled gasp.

Tears burned violently behind her eyes.

Bodies littered the clearing.

Every member of the Nightshade pack lay motionless in the snow.

Dead.

Only a handful of cloaked figures remained standing.

One of them bent down and lifted the sobbing little girl into his arms.

She struggled weakly, crying and calling out for help.

The cloaked figure turned.

And walked toward the cave.

Sophia tried to scream.

Tried to move.

Tried to reach them.

But then the hairs on her skin stood on end, and suddenly she heard mocking laughter right in her ears.

The sound wrapped around her mind like chains. It was like they were laughing at her.

And then she woke up.

Sophia jolted violently.

Air tore into her lungs as she gasped loudly, her body jerking as if yanked back into reality. Her vision swam wildly, the forest snapping into chaotic focus.

Strong arms tightened around her.

"Sophia—Sophia, breathe—"

Orion’s voice cut through the panic, urgent and steady as he pulled her fully against his chest. His heartbeat thundered beneath her cheek, grounding and real and alive.

She sucked in a shaky breath.

Then another.

Her fingers fisted into his cloak desperately, nails biting into the fabric.

Her body trembled uncontrollably.

Sophia lifted her head sharply, eyes wild and glassy.

"We have to go," she rasped urgently, her voice breaking. "We have to go faster. Now."

Orion frowned deeply, brushing her hair back from her damp forehead. "Sophia, slow down — what happened? You collapsed—"

"There’s no time," she interrupted, gripping his collar tightly. "They’re dying. Ronan — Sam — Gregory — all of them — they’re surrounded by beasts and cloaked men and—"