Dawn arrived without birdsong.
The sky lightened slowly—as if even the sun hesitated to rise over what was coming.
The forest exhaled fog across the ground, curling around roots and boots and bare feet.
Every breath Kanah took tasted of anticipation.
Owain stood at the front line, wolf form halfway through his skin—
ears sharp, eyes blazing gold, claws out, breath steaming in the cold morning air.
The tribes were already in formation:
WOLVES lined the forest floor in layered ranks, snarls rumbling in their chests.
DRAGONS circled above, casting shadows like wings of war.
ELVES stood behind carved barriers of living roots.
LEOPARDS crouched high in branches, invisible except for flickers of gold eyes.
THE GUARDIAN BEAST blocked the rear, towering over all of them.
Kanah stood in the center, Owain on her right, Yllas on her left, Gerrin behind her, Helion above her on a branch.
And her Devourer-born pack clustered around her legs, trembling but trying to be brave.
Kanah's chest tightened.
They shouldn't have been soldiers.
They shouldn't have been tools.
They should've been… anything else.
Owain nudged her hand with his.
"Stay with me," he murmured.
She nodded.
"I will."
THE APPROACH
It came in waves.
First the ground—
thud… thud… thud-thud…
Like a heartbeat too large for the forest to hold.
Then the wind—
sour, cold, heavy with fumes from Veylor's corrupted lands.
Then—
the silence.
Every beast froze.
Even the dragons stalled midair.
Gerrin whispered, "He's suppressing the sound around his army…"
Kanah's pulse stuttered.
Her father…
was close.
Owain stepped forward, voice ringing through the clearing:
"WOLVES — READY!"
Howls erupted instantly, rolling across the forest like thunder.
Vaeryn raised his wings.
"DRAGONS — ASCEND!"
Flames burst into the sky.
The Eldress hissed.
"LEOPARDS — AMBUSH POSITIONS!"
Gold eyes vanished among the leaves.
Elven mages lifted their staffs.
"ELVES — BARRIERS!"
Roots curled out of the earth, forming a living shieldwall.
The Devourer-born pressed into Kanah.
"Mother," one whispered, panic rising, "they come… they come…"
Owain growled.
"They won't reach her."
Kanah placed a hand on the creature's cheek.
"Stay with me. Stay behind the line."
Owain nodded.
"That's right. Let the wolves take the first hit."
It should've comforted her.
It didn't.
Because Kanah felt it before anyone else—
a cold, sharp spike under her ribs.
Her father's hunger.
Not directed at her.
Not yet.
But sweeping outward like a net cast across the forest.
"OWAIN!" Kanah gasped. "He's scanning the field!"
Owain didn't hesitate.
"ELVES — SHIELD HER!"
Roots shot up around Kanah instantly, forming a dome that pulsed with silver-green mana.
Gerrin steadied her shoulders.
"Breathe. His resonance can't reach you past this."
Helion crouched on the barrier.
"If he even touches her aura, I'm biting him."
Yllas crossed his arms, flames rising around his shoulders.
"He won't touch her."
The ground split.
And the Devourer King's army arrived.
THE FIRST WAVE
They poured into the clearing like a dark river—
hundreds of incomplete Devourer-born, half-shifted beasts, bone-armored horrors, and soldiers with empty eyes.
Not like Kanah's pack.
Not like the ones she healed.
These were…
Wrong.
Twitching, twisted shapes created too fast, without instinct or care.
The ground burned under their feet.
Kanah covered her mouth, tears stinging her eyes.
"He… he didn't let them finish forming—"
Owain snarled:
"He didn't care."
The Devourer King had always been cruel.
Now he was desperate.
Owain barked a command.
"FIRST LINE — CHARGE!"
The wolves surged forward.
A wall of fur and claws and teeth, smashing into the front ranks of the Devourer army.
Dragons dove from the sky, fire streaking behind them.
Elves sent shockwaves of mana through the ground.
Leopards leapt from the trees, slicing through spines with perfect precision.
The forest exploded into battle.
Kanah felt the resonance of every impact shake through her bones.
She clutched the barrier roots.
"Owain—"
"I'm here," he snapped, striking down another malformed creature with a swipe that shattered bone.
"Don't look at them. Don't look away from me."
But Kanah couldn't help it.
She felt them.
Every broken pulse.
Every terrified shriek.
Every hungry, confused cry.
Gerrin shouted behind her:
"KANA—focus! You can't stabilize them now—there are too many—"
Kanah trembled violently.
"They're dying—"
"They were already dying," Helion said, voice harsh but not cruel.
"You didn't do this."
Owain ripped through a Devourer soldier, blood splattering across his fur.
"Kana!" he roared. "Don't break! You stay with me—"
But then—
Kanah felt something familiar.
A resonance.
Soft.
Weak.
Begging.
It came from the battlefield.
One of the incomplete creatures—
small, trembling, curled around itself—
was being trampled by its own army.
Kanah gasped.
"That one… that one is like mine—he's scared—Owain, he's scared—!"
Owain lunged forward—
"DON'T GO TO HIM—"
But Kanah was already moving.
Gerrin reached for her.
"KANA—NO!"
Helion dove from the branch.
"KANAH!"
Yllas hissed flame.
"STOP—"
But Kanah stepped out of the barrier, heart pounding, instincts pulling her toward the injured creature.
Owain sprinted toward her—
but not fast enough.
A shockwave hit the battlefield.
Every beast froze.
Every dragon hovered.
Every elf staggered.
Every Devourer-born jolted.
Kanah swayed, clutching her chest.
"Owain… something's wrong…"
Owain reached her and grabbed her shoulders.
"Kana, look at me—what is it? What do you feel—"
Her Devourer eye snapped open.
Gold-black.
Glowing.
Her breath cut short.
"My father," she whispered.
"He's here."
Owain's blood went cold.
"WHERE?!"
Kanah lifted a trembling hand—
and pointed to the treeline.
The shadows parted.
A figure stepped out.
Tall.
Unbroken.
Terrifyingly calm.
Her father.
The Devourer King.
His eyes gleamed black-gold.
And when he spoke—
every creature in the clearing stopped breathing.
"Kanara," he said softly.
"Come home."