Evilside’s fingers tightened briefly around Snake’s wrist before she released him, her expression smoothing into something unreadable as she returned to the noise of the great hall. Snake lingered on the balcony a moment longer, breathing in the scent of sap and old stone, then followed her back inside.The hall roared with layered conversation, elders debating in low, dangerous tones, generals laughing too loudly, priests murmuring blessings over steaming bowls of root stew. Cellok was never quiet when the high ranks gathered; too many histories shared the same air.Snake returned to Darkside’s side. Blood had rejoined them as well, rubbing his ear where Moon, his mother, had tugged it mercilessly.“She enjoys humiliating me,” Blood muttered.Darkside smirked. “She enjoys reminding you that you’re still her child.”Blood glanced across the hall. “I’m surrounded by grandmothers. It’s a tactical nightmare.”Snake’s eyes drifted again, inevitably, to Doom.She sat stiffly at a side tabl

Everyone in the hall knew one immutable truth: Dark did not bend.Not to the elders. Not to blood. Not even to gods.That was why Evilside moved quickly.Before Dark could ignite the room beyond repair, the goddess drew the two apart, Dark sent away under Darkside’s reluctant grip, and Irinrod pulled into the private study, the doors sealing shut behind them with a sound like judgment.Evilside stood at the center of the chamber, ancient and unyielding.Her voice, when she spoke, was calm.“Irinrod,” she said, “your husband is long dead. He refused to bow. His fate was sealed by his own will.”Irinrod laughed, sharp, broken.“Dren was no different from Nonia’s King Beb. Tell me, Mother…why did Beb live when Dren could not?”Death stepped forward, eyes cold. “It was his choice. Let the dead rest.”That was when Irinrod finally snapped.“You have always been a heartless mother,” she hissed. “And you wonder where I learned to turn my heart to stone.”The room seemed to shrink around her

He met Dragon and Dark at their family home, and the moment Snake crossed the threshold, memory struck him like a living thing.The house had not changed, not in its true essence. The stone still carried warmth, the beams still groaned softly as if breathing, but they had. And somehow, that made the place ache even more.He could almost hear their father again.Rhel’s laughter had once filled these halls, deep and unrestrained, a sound that made the world feel safer than it was. Rhel had been warmth given form, a presence that gathered them all without force. Around him, even Doom had softened. She had always kept to herself, distant and sharp as frost, but whenever Rhel entered a room, something in her eyes would ignite, a light, fragile, and fleeting.Snake had never known where that light went after their father died. He suspected it had been buried with him.Dark, then, had been all fire and mischief. Explosive, rebellious, forever testing boundaries just to see which ones would b

They left the temple side by side, the hum of prayers fading behind them as Cellok opened once more into stone corridors and living streets. The sap still lingered on Snake’s tongue, bitter, grounding. It always did that. The Goddess’s reminder that whatever doubts they carried were theirs to master, not excuses to falter.Outside, the wind carried news. Cellok always whispered through banners, through servants’ hurried steps, through the way elders paused too long in conversation. Something was shifting again. It always was.Dragon broke the silence first. “You didn’t answer Yellow.”Snake adjusted the clasp of his cloak. “There was nothing to answer.”“There was,” Dragon said mildly. “About finding the weakness in the curse.”Snake’s gaze stayed forward. “If I find it, I won’t speak it aloud. Weaknesses spoken become weapons.”Dragon chuckled under his breath. “Still the Serpent.”They reached the lower court where their mounts waited, sleek, ash-scaled beasts bred for endurance rat

The gates of Cellok had barely finished groaning shut behind them when steel sang.Snake did not resist.Hands closed around his arms, royal Liroid guards, disciplined, silent, blades angled not to kill but to contain. The weight of command pressed down harder than the grip itself. He allowed himself to be taken, eyes calm, breath steady.Dragon reacted instantly.“I am a General of Cellok,” he thundered, stepping forward, aura flaring like heat before flame. “And I command you to unhand your commander.”The guards hesitated. Just for a breath.Then one of them stepped out. Serpent Liroid, scarred cheek, eyes steady, a veteran who had bled beside them more than once.“I am sorry, Dragon,” Serpent said, voice low but unyielding. “These are the Goddess’s orders.”Snake finally looked up. “Orders rarely travel alone. What else did she decree?”Dragon turned sharply. “Yes. What exactly is about to happen?”Serpent swallowed. “Lady Irinrod and… Blood are to be brought back. Dead or alive.”