Chapter 3 The beast within

Smoke filled the palace halls. Screams rang like broken bells. Steel clashed against steel. The scent of fire and blood danced in the air. The fight because more fierce.

Kael's chest heaved as he pushed through the chaos. Nyra followed behind him, her hair wild and glowing with faint purple light. Both their faces were streaked with soot and sweat.

"Where is he?" Kael shouted.

They searched through the broken glass and bodies scattered across the floor. Guards and villagers lay groaning, some dead, some worse. Kael's sword dripped red. He didn't remember how many men he had cut down.

Nyra held a fireball in her hand, lighting the hall.

"Draven jumped toward the west wing," she said. "He's running."

Kael growled low in his throat. The wolf in him stirred again.

"We have to find him before the villagers do."

But a loud growl echoed behind them.

They spun around.

At the far end of the hall stood Draven.

But he was no longer just a boy.

His body had twisted, his arms were longer, his fingers like claws. His hair was thick and wild, and his skin shimmered with something unnatural. His eyes glowed red, and veins pulsed along his face.

He looked like a monster.

"Draven," Kael said, stepping forward. "It's me."

The boy growled louder, his teeth sharp like knives.

"Don't come closer!" he roared. "I don't want to hurt you!"

Nyra held up her hand. "Let us help you. You're changing because of the curse."

Draven shook his head wildly. "Something's inside me! It's... talking! Screaming! I can't stop it!"

Kael tried to take another step, but Draven lunged forward with lightning speed. Kael barely raised his sword in time.

The two crashed into the wall.

Kael rolled aside, heart pounding. "He's not in control," he gasped.

Nyra raised her other hand and whispered words in the old tongue. Her power pulsed in the air, glowing in symbols around her wrists.

But before she could cast her spell, Draven vanished, his body leaping through a broken window and into the night.

Kael cursed and slammed his hand against the wall.

"We've lost him."

Nyra's shoulders fell. "No... we haven't. He's running to the mountains."

In the throne room, Queen Amira stood still while the flames outside threw flickering light across the marble walls. Her crown lay forgotten at her feet.

Venna stood beside her, pressing a blood-soaked cloth to her arm. "You need to leave the palace," she said. "It's not safe."

"I will not run from my own people," Amira said. Her voice was steady, but her eyes trembled.

"They attacked your home, Your Majesty," Venna whispered. "The people think your children are demons."

Amira looked down at her hands. "Because they are afraid. And maybe they're right. Maybe I did curse my bloodline."

She knelt beside the scroll she had dropped earlier. The Blood Oath. Her fingers traced the ancient words.

"I need to return to the Grove," she said. "That's where it started. That's where it must end."

Venna paled. "No one returns to the Forbidden Grove and lives."

"I did once," Amira said. "And I brought this curse back with me. I must go again."

The next morning came slowly and cold. The city was quiet, like it was holding its breath. Smoke still curled in the air above the chapel ruins. The villagers had retreated, but whispers spread quickly.

"The Queen's youngest is a beast."

"She let demons into the palace."

"The gods are angry."

Kael stood on the palace balcony, looking over the streets. He saw nothing but fear in the eyes below.

Nyra joined him, her cloak wrapped tight against the wind.

"We can't stay here much longer," she said.

"I know," Kael replied. "But where would we go? The mountains are crawling with cursed ones. The forest hides things worse."

Nyra glanced at him. "Then we go to the source."

Kael raised an eyebrow. "The Grove?"

She nodded. "Mother is planning it. I saw it in her dreams."

Kael didn't ask how. He had learned long ago not to question Nyra's riddles.

"I don't trust that place," he said. "The last time she went there, everything changed."

Nyra's voice was soft. "And maybe that's the only way to change it back."

Draven ran far beyond the city.

He walked through the forest roots. His breath came heavy, steaming in the cold mountain air. The beast inside him whispered louder now, laughing in his mind.

He couldn't remember his name.

He couldn't remember the last time he felt like a boy.

He fell to his knees in a clearing surrounded by dead trees. The moonlight poured down like silver blood.

And there, standing among the stones, was a figure in a black cloak.

Elder Varek.

Draven tried to stand, but his legs shook.

"Who are you?" he growled.

"I am the truth no one told you," Varek said. "The part of your family you were never allowed to know."

Draven bared his teeth. "You're a liar."

Varek smiled. "Amira lied to you. She told you this curse was an accident. A mistake. But she never told you what the bloodline was really meant for."

Draven blinked. "What?"

Varek stepped closer, slow like a wolf circling prey.

"You are not cursed. You are chosen. You and your siblings are vessels, meant to hold the power of gods. You were made to destroy the old order and create something new."

Draven's eyes widened. "You mean... we're supposed to be like this?"

"More than that," Varek whispered. "You are the future of the land. But only if you stop fighting what you are."

Draven's hands twitched.

The beast inside purred.

Queen Amira rode alone through the forest. Her horse moved slow, careful of every broken branch. Mist curled around her like a living thing.

The Forbidden Grove lay ahead, dark, ancient, and full of memory.

She passed the tree where she had made the blood oath years ago. Its bark still bled black.

"I came to protect my children," she whispered. "But I gave you too much."

The grove seemed to listen.

Voices rose from the wind.

**"Amira... you have returned."**

She turned toward the sound. In the center of the Grove, a pool of still water reflected nothing. It was where the gods once spoke.

She knelt before it.

"I need to break the curse," she said.

The water rippled.

**"There is no curse. Only truth."**

Amira's breath caught.

**"You swore the oath with your heart. The land answered. Your children are not cursed, they are what the land has become. Wild, broken and powerful."**

Amira trembled. "Then tell me what I must do."

The water rose into mist, forming a shape.

A face. Her father, King Alden.

"Daughter," the figure said. "You are not the first to carry this burden."

Amira's eyes filled with tears. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I tried to protect you," the figure said. "But the blood in our line is old. It remembers things older than the gods."

"Is there a way to save them?" she asked.

King Alden's image nodded. "Yes. But it will come with a price."

Back at the palace, Kael and Nyra packed the little they needed. The palace had grown quiet. Too quiet.

As Kael wrapped his sword, he looked at Nyra.

"If anything happens to me"

"Don't," she interrupted. "We go together. We survive together."

Kael smiled faintly.

Suddenly, a knock at the door.

A messenger stood there, pale and shaking.

"My lords... the Queen has vanished."

Kael's heart stopped. "What?"

"She left before dawn. Alone."

Nyra's eyes darkened. "She's gone to the Grove."

Kael turned to her. "Then we follow."

As night fell again over Eldoria, thunder rumbled in the distance.

Draven stood at the top a cliff, the wind tearing through his hair. Behind him, Elder Varek placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you ready to claim your place?"

Draven didn't speak.

His red eyes stared down at the kingdom.

Something ancient moved inside him.

And far below, the land itself began to groan.

The gods were waking.