The Devourer King knelt.
Not by choice.
Kanah felt the shockwave ripple from him like a dying heartbeat—
a pulse of disbelief
confusion
rage
and, deeper still—
something like grief.
Owain tightened his grip around her waist as her father's aura cracked.
"Kana," he murmured, "stay behind me—this isn't over."
Kanah shook her head.
"No.
This ends with me."
Her father lifted his gaze.
The gold-black of his eyes flickered, unstable.
"You reject me," he whispered again.
As if repeating it might make it untrue.
"You kneel with beasts instead of standing above them."
Kanah stepped forward, Owain's hands hovering near her hips, ready to yank her back the second her father moved.
"I don't kneel to anyone," Kanah said softly.
The Devourer King's jaw tightened.
"You kneel to weakness."
"I kneel to love."
The battlefield shifted.
Dragons stilled mid-flight.
Wolves froze mid-snarl.
Elves lowered their hands.
Leopards stared from the branches.
Her Devourer-born pack trembled.
Even the perfected brood lifted its head, watching.
Owain's breath hitched.
Kanah continued, voice raw:
"I kneel to loyalty.
To the ones who stood for me when you wanted to break me.
To the ones who saw me as more than a seed."
Her father rose slightly, fighting the instinct pressure she'd turned against him.
"You speak of weakness as if—"
"As if it's power," Kanah snapped.
"Because it IS."
Her father inhaled sharply.
Kanah came closer.
Not afraid.
Not shaking.
Resolute.
"Humans break," Kanah said.
"But we heal."
Her voice trembled at the edges.
"Devourers only destroy."
Her father growled softly.
"You speak lies taught by lesser creatures."
Kanah shook her head.
"Owain didn't teach me that."
He froze behind her.
Yllas looked down from the sky.
Gerrin's hands stilled mid-spell.
Helion blinked.
Kanah placed her hand on her chest.
"I taught myself."
Something in her father's expression cracked deeper.
He stared at her—
not as a king
not as a conqueror
but as a being who suddenly did not understand the world in front of him.
"You should not… be this."
"I know."
"You should not have defied me."
"I know."
"You should not have stabilized them."
Kanah looked at the trembling Devourer-born behind her.
"They deserved better."
Her father's voice softened, almost disbelieving:
"You shame me."
Kanah's throat closed.
"You hurt me."
Owain stepped to her side.
Her father saw it—
and his aura spiked in pain rather than anger.
Not fury.
Not dominance.
Loss.
"You choose HIM."
Kanah's voice broke.
"I choose me.
And choosing me means choosing him."
Owain's breath caught.
He reached for her hand—
she took it.
Her father's body flickered.
His aura destabilized, collapsing inward.
Gerrin whispered:
"His seed is failing…
He can't sustain dominance anymore."
The Devourer King staggered, one knee slipping in the torn earth.
Kanah's Devourer-born pack rose around her, forming a half-circle.
The perfected brood positioned itself between the King and Kanah—its creator—
its instincts turning toward HER as anchor.
Owain stepped forward, voice deep and even.
"You hurt her.
You hunted her.
You tried to erase her choice."
The Devourer King growled, chest heaving.
"You are NOTHING next to me."
Owain bared his fangs.
"Then why are YOU the one kneeling?"
Silence.
The King trembled.
Dragon flames lit the sky.
Wolves growled in unison.
Elves raised their staffs.
Leopards crouched, ready to strike.
The guardian beast stepped closer, towering behind Kanah like a mountain.
And Kanah—
small
human
shaking—
stood at the center of it all.
Her father's voice frayed, raw.
"Kanara…
you would cast aside your bloodline…
for a beast?"
Owain snarled, "WATCH YOUR MOUTH—" but Kanah squeezed his hand.
"It wasn't just him," she said softly.
Owain froze.
Kanah looked at the tribes.
"At Yllas.
At Gerrin.
At Helion."
She smiled faintly.
"At all of them."
Her father's face twisted in something ugly—
grief, perhaps—
or a Devourer's version of it.
"You choose THEM."
"Yes."
"You choose humanity."
"Yes."
"You choose… love."
Kanah's breath shuddered.
"Yes."
The Devourer King's aura shattered.
Not in a violent blast—
in a quiet collapse.
Like a body giving in.
Like a heart realizing it had already lost.
Kanah stepped closer.
Owain reached for her—
but she touched his arm.
"It's okay."
Owain's jaw clenched.
"It's NOT okay, Kana—he's dangerous—"
"I know," she whispered.
"But he's already lost."
Her father's breathing slowed.
His voice thinned.
"You break the Devourer line."
"I save what's left of it."
He looked at the trembling Devourer-born behind her.
At the perfected brood kneeling at her back.
At her.
Not as an enemy.
Not as a daughter.
But as something he failed to understand.
"Kanara…" he whispered.
She knelt before him, Owain tensing like a bowstring at her side.
"You could have chosen power," her father rasped.
"I chose people."
"You could have chosen immortality."
"I chose life."
"You could have ruled."
"I chose freedom."
His chest rose and fell in uneven breaths.
"You should have been mine."
Kanah's eyes burned.
"I was never yours."
A long, silent moment.
Then—
Her father bowed his head.
The Devourer King.
Kneeling at her feet.
Not in surrender.
Not in respect.
Not even in regret.
In acknowledgment.
"You win," he whispered.
Kanah inhaled shakily.
"I wasn't trying to win."
"I know," he murmured.
"And that is why you did."
His aura flickered once—
twice—
Then—
silence.
A final breath.
The Devourer King's body slumped forward, collapsing into the earth.
Not dissolving.
Not vanishing.
Not turning into energy.
A body.
A father.
A Devourer.
Dead.
Kanah's breath fractured.
Owain caught her as she fell to her knees.
"Kana—hey—HEY—look at me—"
She sobbed into his chest.
"I didn't kill him—
I didn't—I didn't—he—he chose—"
Owain pulled her tight against him, voice broken.
"I know.
I know, Kana.
You didn't kill anyone.
You saved everyone."
Around them—
The battlefield finally stilled.
Dragons lowered their wings.
Wolves sat, panting, exhausted.
Elves dropped their staffs.
Leopards slipped down from trees.
The perfected brood crawled toward Kanah—
not threatening
but seeking comfort.
Her Devourer-born pack pressed into her legs, shaking.
Kanah's tears fell onto Owain's fur.
Owain held her like she was the only thing in the world.
"You ended a war," he whispered.
"You ended HIM."
Kanah sobbed harder.
Owain stroked her hair.
"And now, love…
we get to live."