Snow.
Cold.
Weightless.
Floating across my skin like tiny shards of memory.
Voices pressed around me—too blurred to decipher.
My chest rose once.
Struggled.
Stopped.
Then the world slipped.
Owain's POV
(Not labeled, but written from his emotional perspective.)
"DON'T—STOP—BREATHING—"
Owain's hands shook violently as he held Kanah's limp body against him.
Her head lolled against his shoulder, blood trailing from her nose onto the snow.
Her lips were losing color.
Her pulse was faint.
Too faint.
"Owain—move!" Yllas barked, already kneeling beside him.
"I'm not—letting—her—go," Owain growled through clenched teeth.
"You have to."
Yllas grabbed his wrist.
"If her heart drops further—she won't come back."
Owain snapped his fangs at him—half-shifted from panic.
"DON'T TOUCH HER!"
Yllas didn't flinch.
"I'm not trying to take her. I'm trying to keep her alive."
He placed a hand over Kanah's sternum, fire sparking beneath his palm.
Owain bared his teeth.
"What are you doing?"
"Warming her blood. Dragonfire can restart internal flow."
Owain's voice cracked.
"It'll burn her—"
"I'll keep it low. Controlled. Trust me."
Owain snarled—until Kanah's breath hitched.
Just one shallow inhale.
Owain froze.
"Again," he whispered urgently. "Yllas—again—"
Yllas pressed his hand back onto her chest.
His flame softened into deep, gold warmth.
Kanah's ribs rose again—barely, but enough.
Owain bowed his head, throat tight, eyes burning.
"Thank you," he whispered.
Raw.
Unsteady.
Humbling.
Yllas nodded, gaze still focused on her heartbeat.
"It's not enough. We need answers now."
Gerrin Acts First
Gerrin knelt beside her, markings blazing silver.
His voice trembled with fear he couldn't hide.
"Her magic is fighting itself. The Queen's blood wants to stabilize. The Beast King's blood wants to dominate."
Owain clutched her tighter.
"And the third?"
His voice shook.
Gerrin's breath stopped.
"I don't know what the third is."
Owain snarled, loud enough to crack ice.
"FIND OUT!"
"I'm trying—"
Gerrin pressed his palm to Kanah's forehead.
Her body jerked violently, magic blasting outward.
Yllas shielded Owain and Kanah with his wings.
Helion shouted from behind them—
"Gerrin! You idiot—DON'T touch her directly when she's like—"
But it was too late.
A shockwave sent Gerrin flying across the snow.
He hit a tree so hard it split.
Owain screamed, "GER—"
But Gerrin stood up instantly, gasping.
"I saw it!"
All three males turned toward him.
"What?" Yllas demanded.
"What did you see?" Helion added.
Gerrin's lips parted in terror.
"Her third bloodline—it isn't new."
Owain's chest tightened.
"Then what is it?"
Gerrin swallowed.
"It's the oldest."
The snow froze mid-air.
Even the wind held its breath.
"What?" Yllas whispered.
Gerrin's markings flared violently, revealing ancient runes beneath his skin.
"I saw a symbol inside her magic. A crown. But not the Queen's. Not the Beast King's."
Helion's tail stopped moving.
"What kind of crown?"
Gerrin looked at them with dread.
"The First King's."
Owain blinked.
Slow.
Disbelieving.
"…What?"
Yllas staggered backward.
"No. That's impossible."
Helion cursed.
"Absolutely fucking not."
But Gerrin shook his head frantically.
"It's him. The First King. The origin of all beast races."
Owain's blood ran cold.
"The First King…
the one who vanished before the Beast King rose?"
Gerrin nodded.
"The one the world believed dead. The one who reigned even before the First Queen."
Helion rubbed a shaking hand over his jaw.
"The father of beasts. The creator of shifting magic. A godlike being."
Yllas whispered, "Kanah carries his blood?"
Gerrin clenched his staff.
"Yes.
She's Queen-born.
Beast King–born.
And First King–born."
Owain's heart felt like it stopped.
Three bloodlines—
one heart—
one body.
"She can't—she can't survive that," Yllas whispered.
Gerrin's voice broke.
"She shouldn't."
Kanah's POV — Inside the Realm
(Not labeled, but written from her internal experience.)
Floating.
Weightless.
Suspended between three colors of light:
Violet.
Silver.
White.
Each burned.
Each called.
Each fought.
My body felt split into pieces.
My mind in fragments.
Three voices battled inside me.
The Queen:
You are mine.
The Beast King:
You are mine.
*A third voice… older… deeper…
Like mountains shifting.
Like time cracking.
You are…
everything.
I gasped at the third voice.
"Who—who are you?"
The void trembled.
I am the First King.
The blood that shaped the world.
The origin of beastkind.
Your first ancestor.
Your third inheritance.
My heart froze.
"I don't want—any of this—"
You will.
When the time comes.
When power demands its vessel.
When fate demands its heir.
"No—st-stop—get out—"
But the three lights crashed over me—
and I screamed.
Back to the Real World
Kanah convulsed in Owain's arms.
Her skin flashed between violet, silver, and white.
Owain held her tighter.
"Stay with me—please—stay—stay—"
Yllas stepped forward.
"Owain… she's going into heart-shock. She can't—she won't last much longer—"
Owain's voice broke completely.
"What do I DO?!"
Gerrin grit his teeth.
"She must choose which bloodline to stabilize FIRST. Otherwise they'll collapse her heart."
"She already chose Owain," Helion said.
"That was anchoring her mind," Gerrin shot back.
"This is her blood. Her soul.
She must choose one of the three powers—or she dies."
Owain's world shattered.
"She can't. Don't make her choose again—don't—"
Gerrin yelled over him.
"She MUST.
NOW."
Owain shook his head violently.
"No—NO—she can't—she's too weak—she'll break—"
But Kanah convulsed again.
Her pulse dropped.
Her skin went cold.
Owain screamed.
"KANAH—CHOOSE SOMETHING—CHOOSE ANYTHING—"
A voice echoed from her lips—not in her tone.
Three voices layered into one.
I choose—
Owain held his breath.
Gerrin grabbed Helion's arm.
Yllas went still.
And Kanah whispered—
Something no one expected.
"…none of you."
A blast of white erupted.
Yllas was thrown backward.
Gerrin slammed into a tree.
Helion rolled across the snow.
Owain shielded her body with his own as the explosion swallowed them both.
The world turned blinding white.
After the Light
Silence.
Smoke.
Snow drifting like ash.
Kanah lay motionless in the crater of magic.
Owain crawled to her, shaking violently.
"Kanah… please… open your eyes…"
Yllas approached slowly, trembling.
"I felt… something pull. Something ancient."
Gerrin knelt beside her, markings flickering.
"Her choice wasn't rejection," Gerrin whispered.
"It was resistance."
Helion narrowed his eyes.
"To what?"
Gerrin looked up.
"To the First King."
Owain stiffened.
"She rejected him?"
"No." Gerrin swallowed.
"She resisted him."
Yllas frowned.
"Is that… better?"
Gerrin's voice dropped.
"No."
Owain trembled.
"Why?"
Gerrin exhaled shakily.
"Because resisting a god… makes him notice you."
Helion muttered a curse.
Owain's heart thudded painfully.
"Kanah…"
He lifted her gently again, cradling her face.
Her eyes fluttered—
just once.
"Owain…"
Barely a whisper.
He almost collapsed.
"I'm here—gods—I'm here—"
"I'm… cold…" she whispered.
Owain tore off his cloak, wrapping it around her.
"I've got you. I've got you."
She blinked weakly.
"Owain… don't leave me."
His voice broke.
"I never will."
Gerrin looked up, face pale.
"Owain."
Owain snapped his gaze toward him.
"What?"
Gerrin inhaled deeply.
"She won't survive another bloodline surge."
Owain's breath left him.
"We need to find somewhere safe. Somewhere shielded. Somewhere that contains divine magic."
Yllas's eyes widened.
"The Trial Mountains."
Helion groaned.
"Oh, you've GOT to be kidding."
Gerrin nodded.
"Yes. The sacred beast mountains.
The oldest protected land in the continent."
Owain didn't hesitate.
He stood.
Lifted Kanah fully against his chest.
And said, voice sharp and full of fire:
"Point me in the direction."
The others exchanged glances.
Yllas stepped forward.
"Owain. It's not a short journey."
"I don't care."
"It's not safe."
"I'll make it safe."
"Even for her?" Gerrin asked quietly.
Owain looked down at Kanah in his arms—
and something ancient burned in his eyes.
"I'll carry her through the entire continent if I have to."
Helion muttered, "Well, that's settled."
And just as they prepared to move—
The clouds split.
A massive shadow passed over the snow.
Yllas looked up first—
eyes widening.
"No. No—no—NO—"
Owain spun.
Gerrin's markings flashed in alarm.
Helion cursed loudly.
Because descending from the sky—
wings of metal
eyes of fire
armor of obsidian—
was not a Basilisk.
Not a dragon.
Not a leopard.
Not an elf.
It was something the Beastworld hoped never to see again.
A war sentinel.
A machine forged by the First King.
Its voice boomed across the frozen land:
"HEIR IDENTIFIED.
SECURE THE VESSEL."
Owain clutched Kanah tighter.
Over his dead body.
And the chapter ends there.