Chapter 536

Nina

The weathered old leader rushed to the unconscious man’s side, cradling his sweat-drenched face in his calloused hands. For several agonizing heartbeats, the newly-cured man didn’t move or make a sound.

Matt, Jessica, Lori and I stood off to the side, biting our lips. We watched silently, hoping that the antidote had worked properly—this man wasn’t a wolf shifter, after all. Perhaps the side effects were different than expected.

Just when I was starting to fear the worst, the man’s eyelids fluttered open, his glassy eyes wandering the room before managing to settle on Kai.

“Wh-Who is this?” the man whispered, lifting his weak hand to touch Kai’s face.

“It’s me, Isaac. Your father.” Kai took Isaac’s hand and pressed it into his cheek, letting his fingers explore his face. Isaac, still blind, wandered his father’s face before recognition took over him.

“D-Dad?” His voice was a barely audible rasp, like rusty hinges creaking open on a weathered door. “What... what happened? Where am I? Why can’t I see anything?”

Relief washed over the old leader’s face as he gripped Isaac tighter. “What matters now is that you’re alright, my boy,” he murmured hoarsely. “You’re safe now. Thanks to…” He paused, looking up at me with tears in his eyes. “A friend.”

Kai swallowed, wincing as he did so. Kai waved me toward him, and I stepped forward, dropping to my knees.

“Isaac,” I said softly, reaching out to touch his arm. “My name is Nina. I gave you an antidote to pull you out of your feral state, but I must warn you that you’ve lost—”

“I know.” Isaac nodded weakly. “I can feel the absence of my panther. But it’s better this way.”

There was a brief silence. I looked over at Kai, and he nodded, encouraging me. “Isaac, I have to ask you,” I said, “what happened? How did you wind up like… that?”

Jessica and the others crowded around, all of us straining to catch Isaac’s next words as he blinked owlishly with unseeing eyes.

“I was... trapped,” he muttered, his brow furrowing as he tried to recall everything. “In that body, that... animal. But now…” He lifted a trembling hand, flexing his fingers.

Kai chuckled wetly, smoothing back Isaac’s damp hair. “Yes, son. You are yourself again, thanks to Nina. But now, you must tell her everything you remember from Mila’s palace. What happened to you there?”

For a long moment, he simply stared blankly up at the ceiling, his eyes glazed and vacant. Then, a tremor seemed to pass through him, and a spark of clarity lit behind his cloudy irises.

“The gasses,” he breathed, the words tumbling out in a sudden rush. “Deep in the heart of the mountain, there are these… pools. It looks like water, but it’s not. And the steam… At first it’s not so bad, just a tickle in your lungs, a thickness in the air…”

He trailed off, his haunted gaze growing distant as he recalled whatever fresh hell he had endured. I felt a chill run down my spine.

“But then it gets worse,” he continued in that same ragged murmur. “Seeping into your mind, your very bones, until your thoughts start to... twist. Fracture. Every breath is agony, burning you from the inside out until all you want is for the pain to stop…”

A tremor ran through him, and suddenly Kai was there, grasping his face and whispering soothing words in their native tongue. I glanced over at the others, seeing my own fear mirrored in their ashen expressions.

After a few moments, Isaac seemed to come back to himself. He blinked hard, refocusing his eyes with frightening intensity.

“That’s how she does it, you see,” he said. “Mila... sh-she lets the fumes drive you to the brink of madness. And once you’re nearly gone, a husk of your former self…” He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. “That’s when she comes for you.”

I frowned, leaning in closer. “What does she do?” I pressed gently.

Isaac flinched, as if my words had caused him physical pain. “She... unmakes you,” he whispered, his face going bloodless. “Takes whatever scrap of humanity you have left and twists it beyond recognition. Reshapes you, remolds you into her own twisted vision until you’re nothing but a thrall.”

A thrall.

Nausea coiled in the pit of my stomach as that word settled in. I thought of the feral state the panther—Isaac—had been reduced to, and felt bile rise in my throat. A thrall, a servant, a pawn.

Would that be Enzo’s fate, if we didn’t find him soon enough? How many others had she reduced to this state? Hundreds? Thousands?

“Thank you for telling us this, Isaac,” I said softly, reaching out to grasp his trembling hand. “I swear to you, we will put an end to Mila’s cruelty once and for all.”

The haunted shifter’s eyes darted over to me then despite their unseeing nature, shining with an intensity that almost made me forget that he couldn’t see.

“You must,” he said. “Before it’s too late. I could feel myself slipping away in there, day by day, and there are so many others, others who never asked for this pain… and Mila herself…” He trailed off, shuddering bodily.

“What about her?” I pressed.

Isaac swallowed hard. “Her dragon blood has allowed her to withstand the fumes, but she’s not immune,” he said. “The gasses, they... they’re poisoning her, too. Just like the rest of us. I saw it in her eyes; she’s going more and more mad by the day, albeit slowly.”

A heavy silence fell over the cramped hut at his words. My blood turned to ice in my veins as the pieces began to fall into place. If Mila was growing even more mad, then her actions would only grow more mad, as well.

And so many, my husband included, were subject to her whims.

At last, Kai sighed heavily, straightening up to look at me. “I assume, now, that there is nothing—not even myself—that could stop you from venturing into her domain.”

I took in a deep breath. “I have to,” I said, injecting as much conviction into my voice as I could muster. “Mila has to be stopped, no matter what state of mind she’s in. And if there’s a chance, even the slimmest one, that we can save the people trapped under her control…”

I trailed off, thinking about the haunted depths of Isaac’s eyes, the weariness etched into his face. Nobody should have to suffer like that, twisted and unmade until they lost their very humanity.

“Then yes,” I continued firmly. “We have to try, no matter the danger.”

For a few beats, Kai simply studied me, his expression unreadable. Then, finally, he gave a single, solemn nod.

“Very well,” he intoned gravely. “You and your... companions will have our aid in this quest. But I must ask one thing in return.”

I arched an eyebrow warily. “What’s that?”

The village leader leaned forward, bracing his hands on his staff. “My people have suffered greatly under Mila’s reign,” he said. “So I beg of you, wolf girl... show as much mercy as you can to those trapped within her grasp. Cure who you are able with your medicine. But do not slay any more than what is absolutely necessary.”

His eyes bored into me, more of a warning than a request. “They were not always monsters,” he said hoarsely. “Most were once good souls, only led into a trap by the Dragon Queen’s poisonous promises. If there is a way to save any of them... you must try.”

My throat grew tight as I absorbed the weight of his request. It would be no simple feat, infiltrating Mila’s palace and attempting to dole out cures while undoubtedly fighting for our lives. Mercy and restraint would be difficult to come by, no matter how noble the intention.

But as I looked around at my friends—at Jessica’s resolute expression, Matt’s grim determination, even meek Lori’s jaw thrust out stubbornly—I knew we would find a way. We had to.

“You have my word,” I said, turning back to Kai with a solemn nod. “We’ll do everything in our power to save who we can.”

Relief visibly washed over the old leader, causing his shoulders to slump. “Thank you, wolf girl,” he said. “I will call upon my finest warriors to aid you in your mission. But please… hurry.”