The ground split open with a sound that didn't belong to nature.
Not cracking.
Not rumbling.
Not tearing.
It was a wet, organic sound
—like muscle being forced apart, like bone twisting where it shouldn't.
Kanah's stomach lurched.
Owain tightened his grip around her waist, pulling her fully behind him, claws scraping deep grooves in the earth.
"DON'T LOOK," he growled.
But Kanah did.
She couldn't help it.
Something rose from the fissure—
Huge.
Tall as three wolves.
Broad as a dragon's chest.
Shaped like a humanoid beast…
but wrong.
Skin like black marble veined with gold.
Bone armor fused into its limbs.
A face that resembled a human skull wrapped in stretched skin.
Its resonance hit Kanah so hard she staggered.
It felt like a mirror cracking.
Gerrin went pale.
"Hells…
that's a perfected Devourer brood."
Yllas's flame flickered violently.
"That thing was built to be a general."
Helion hissed, tail puffing.
"It's built to kill HER."
The brood turned slowly—
mechanical, unnatural—
and its gaze locked onto Kanah with terrifying precision.
Owain slammed in front of her, shielding every inch of her from view.
"YOU DON'T LOOK AT HER!" he roared, voice shaking the treeline.
The brood didn't respond.
It didn't need to.
Its resonance was clear:
target located.
Kanah gripped Owain's back, shaking as the pressure from the brood's aura throttled her lungs.
"Owain—
it feels like—
like I'm falling—"
He wrapped his arms around her, grounding her with his scent, his heat, his presence.
"You're NOT falling," he snarled.
"You're here. With me."
The Devourer King watched from the ridge, expression unreadable.
"This," he said softly, "is what you were meant to be."
Kanah's heart seized.
"No," she whispered.
"I choose human."
A flicker — the faintest twitch — crossed the King's face.
Disappointment.
Annoyance.
Possibly even… disbelief.
"You cling to weakness."
Owain snarled back:
"She clings to CHOICE."
The Devourer King lifted a hand.
And the perfected brood charged.
THE FIRST STRIKE
The brood moved impossibly fast—
a blur of black-gold muscle and bone.
Dragons dove.
Leopards leapt.
Elves cast barriers.
Nothing stopped it.
Every attack skidded off its fused armor.
Every flame hit but didn't sink in.
Every arrow shattered.
The brood hit the front line of wolves—
and half the formation buckled.
Rhaegor crashed into its side, claws raking—
but the creature didn't bleed.
It didn't flinch.
It didn't even SEE him.
Its eyes saw only:
Kanah.
Owain roared and lunged, intercepting the brood halfway.
He slammed into it so violently the ground cratered.
The brood's arm snapped up—
blocking Owain's claws mid-strike.
Not with instinct.
Not with training.
With programmed efficiency.
Owain snarled, trying to force through—
but the brood didn't budge.
Kanah grabbed the roots behind her, voice breaking.
"Owain—STOP—it's too strong—he made it too strong—"
Owain didn't even look back.
"I DON'T CARE."
The brood shoved him—
and Owain went flying.
"OWAIN!" Kanah screamed.
He hit the ground, rolling, blood splattering the dirt.
Before he could rise—
the brood was already moving toward Kanah again.
Helion flashed in front of her, claws glowing.
"Oh no you don't—"
He slashed—
the brood caught his wrist and threw him like a ragdoll.
Helion hit a tree so hard the bark cracked.
"HELION!" Kanah cried.
Yllas swooped down, flames bursting around him.
"Kanah—DO NOT MOVE—"
He exhaled fire point-blank at the brood.
Blue flame engulfed it.
For a heartbeat—
Kanah hoped.
Then the flames dispersed.
The brood stepped out.
Untouched.
Gerrin's voice wavered.
"His father…
he didn't just perfect the form…
he shielded its resonance.
Magic barely touches it."
The brood lunged again—
Owain tackled Kanah, rolling her away from its grasp.
"STAY. DOWN."
Kanah shook.
"Owain—your ribs—"
"DON'T—CARE—" he snapped, rising between her and the monster.
The brood's hand slammed into Owain's side—
a blow so brutal Kanah heard the crack.
Owain coughed blood but didn't fall.
Didn't step back.
Didn't blink.
He stood between Kanah and death.
Again.
Always.
He wiped his mouth.
"You'll have to do better."
The brood didn't respond.
It simply raised its arm—
and Kanah felt it.
Not hunger.
Not dominance.
Not instinct.
Programming.
Her father's resonance pumped through it like a command line.
"Gerrin," Kanah whispered, "it doesn't think.
It doesn't feel.
It…
obeys."
"Yes," Gerrin said hoarsely.
"It's not alive in the true sense.
It's a weapon."
Kanah's throat ached.
"A weapon built for me."
Owain struck again—
and again—
but every blow rebounded.
His claws broke at the tips.
Blood soaked his fur.
"Owain—STOP—please—you'll die—!"
He spat blood.
"If I die protecting you—
that's a good death."
Kanah's heart shattered.
"No.
No—no—NO—
You don't get to say that—
NOT HERE—NOT NOW—"
Her father watched her break—
and his eyes glimmered with cold satisfaction.
"You see now?" he whispered.
"Beasts are fragile.
Choices are fragile.
Love is fragile."
He gestured to the brood.
"But power…"
Kanah choked.
Her father finished:
"Power is eternal."
KANAH'S RESONANCE SURGES
The brood lunged again—
aiming straight for Kanah.
Owain moved—
but not fast enough.
A massive clawed hand closed in.
Kanah screamed.
Her Devourer eye snapped open—
and something inside her unlocked.
A blast of gold-white resonance exploded outward.
The brood froze mid-strike.
Not from damage.
Not from fear.
From interference.
Kanah gasped as her resonance burned through her veins like molten light.
"Owain—!"
He caught her as her knees buckled.
"KANA—WHAT ARE YOU DOING—?!"
"I—I don't know—
I just—
I FELT its resonance—
and I PUSHED—"
Gerrin shouted:
"YOU'RE DISRUPTING ITS COMMANDS—
YOU'RE OVERRIDING ITS CONNECTION—"
The brood's body convulsed.
Its eyes flickered.
Owain's breath caught.
"Kana…
are you taking control of it?"
"No," Kanah gasped, trembling,
"I'm…
breaking it."
The brood screeched—
a horrible, metallic sound.
Kanah's resonance pulsed harder.
Her father reacted instantly.
He raised both hands—
and his aura slammed into the battlefield like a tidal wave.
"ENOUGH."
Kanah's vision blurred.
Her father's presence crushed her chest—
not magical
not divine
biological instinct pressure at its peak.
Kanah staggered.
Owain caught her head, holding it to his shoulder.
"DON'T LISTEN TO HIM—
FOCUS ON ME—
ON MY VOICE—!"
Kanah sobbed against him.
"I—I can't—
he's pushing too hard—!"
Owain snarled, wrapping both arms around her.
"You can.
Because you're not DEVOURER.
You're KANAH."
Kanah's resonance flared—
bright
painful
unstable.
"OWAIN—!" she cried.
"I've got you," he whispered fiercely.
"I ALWAYS have you."
She reached inside herself—
past the fear
past the pain
past the seed—
to her humanity.
Her choice.
Her voice.
Her heart.
And she screamed at the brood—
"STOP!"
The resonance hit the creature like a shockwave.
The brood convulsed—
its bone armor cracking—
its gold-black aura flickering—
Owain held her tighter.
"KANA—YOU'RE DOING IT—
YOU'RE BREAKING HIS CONTROL—!"
Kanah's entire body burned.
She screamed—
and the brood dropped to one knee.
Its connection to her father severed.
The Devourer King's expression finally shifted—
into something like… anger.
Kanah collapsed into Owain's arms.
The brood collapsed too.
Not dead.
Not defeated.
Freed.
Owain lifted Kanah gently.
"Breathe, love.
I've got you."
Kanah trembled in his hold.
"I…
I think…
I broke the perfect one."
Owain's voice cracked.
"Kana…
you did more than that."
He looked up at the ridge where her father stood.
"You defied him."
The Devourer King's aura crackled with warning.
The war had officially changed.