Pov ~ Nyx
The moment I heard that Reve had been taken from Striavapos to Blemush Castle—by none other than my own brother—the world around me narrowed to a singular focus. My mind, sharp and strategic in any other moment, faltered. My thoughts, usually a tide of precision, scattered like leaves in the wind. I was not thinking of the politics of this situation, nor of the others that had a stake in her fate. I thought only of her. My mind clouded with an overwhelming darkness—her. She was mine to punish, mine to destroy, and I had been giving her time, waiting for the exact moment to break her spirit, to smash her soul into pieces. But now, all I could think was that she was gone, taken from me.
Elio arrived soon after, his footsteps soft but heavy with the weight of troubling news. "She's been taken," he said, his voice controlled, though I could see the uncertainty in his eyes. "But I don't know why. Cyrus took her with him."
Elio couldn't guess the reason, but I knew. Cyrus, ever the fool, thought to play the hero. He thought he could shield her from me, become her savior in this tangled web of betrayal and vengeance. But he didn't understand. He never would. He was not her salvation—he was only a pawn in this game, a pawn I would crush if he stood in my way. There would be no hesitation, no mercy. If Cyrus wanted to challenge me, to stand between me and my rightful retribution, then even the bond of blood would not save him.
I was outwardly composed, my face a mask of calm control. To anyone who glanced my way, I seemed my usual self—detached, calculating. But inside, a storm raged. Elio sensed it, of course. His sharp instincts could read the smallest tremor in my demeanor, and I knew he saw the distress beneath the surface, though he said nothing of it. Perhaps he understood better than anyone else how close I was to the edge, how much I wanted to rip apart everything and everyone that had crossed me.
I clenched my fists, the tension building within me, before turning on my heel and leaving the main hall. "Prepare the horses," Elio began to suggest, but I didn't wait. Horses were too slow, too constrained by the earth. I needed to reach her swiftly, to tear her from whatever sanctuary she thought she had found in Cyrus's protection.
As I stepped onto the front terrace of Mournshade, my castle, I closed my eyes and let the shift overtake me. My body elongated, bones cracking, flesh stretching, as my other form took hold. My wings, massive and leathery, unfurled with a sharp snap, and a low growl rumbled deep within my chest. This form was power, raw and unfettered, capable of reaching places no human could dream of. With one powerful beat of my wings, I took to the skies.
The world below blurred into a streak of dark greens and deep blues, the landscape rushing by as I soared towards the River of Oasis, where Cyrus had taken her. In this form, the journey was short, far shorter than it would have been otherwise. My mind raced as quickly as my wings. Fury—more intense than I had ever known—boiled within me. I had felt hatred before, but this was different. This was darker, more violent, more... consuming.
I spotted them before they saw me, standing close by the river's edge. Cyrus was speaking to her, his hand hovering protectively near her arm. Something primal snapped within me at the sight. My vision went red. All I could see was him and her—him, standing between me and the justice I was owed; her, the one who had ripped apart a part of my soul that could never be restored. Without hesitation, I swooped down, my claws extended. Reve's head snapped up at the sound of my wings, her eyes widening in terror.
Before Cyrus could react, I was upon them. My claws wrapped around her, seizing her with a grip that left no room for escape. She struggled, kicking and screaming, but her efforts were futile. I had her now, and I would never let her go. Cyrus shouted something—his voice lost in the rush of wind—but I paid him no mind. He was no longer of consequence. He had lost my trust, lost any chance he had to stop me. If he tried to interfere again, I would deal with him then.
With a powerful surge of my wings, I took off into the air, carrying her high above the ground. Her struggles grew weaker as the altitude rose, as fear set in. I could feel her panic in every shudder of her body. She was helpless, and I relished it.
It didn't take long to return to Mournshade. The vast, looming castle greeted me, its dark spires reaching toward the sky like the claws of a great beast. I flew to the highest tower, landing on the balcony with a thud that reverberated through the stone. I released her, letting her crumple to the cold floor. Her breath came in shallow gasps, her body trembling.
The rage that had driven me here hadn't faded, but it had changed. When her hand, trembling and tentative, reached out to touch me, to caress the rough scales of my arm, something else stirred within me. It was unfamiliar, unsettling. A part of me—some deep, buried part—wanted to crush her beneath the weight of my anger. But another part… something I couldn't name, wanted something different.
For a brief moment, she seemed to relax. Her body softened, her eyes—wide and fearful—held something else, something that looked almost like trust. But it was fleeting.
I shifted back into my human form, the transition swift and seamless. She recoiled the moment I did, her face a whirl of emotions—terror, confusion, something close to despair. The shades of her expression changed so quickly I could hardly follow. She knew now, though. She knew she could never escape me.
Her fate was sealed, and no one, not even Cyrus, would change that. Whatever I had once been, whatever I had lost, was gone. But I still had her. And for that, she would pay with everything she had left.