"Hurry, they are just ahead! We must find them!" Grayson commanded the Djinn as they soared upon a cloud.
The Djinn propelled them forward swiftly, passing over fallen Serpentfolk bodies along the way. Grayson and Seraphine scanned ahead anxiously, spotting a mass of Serpentfolk crowded at the mouth of a canyon to the right of the valley.
"It looks like Morven and Katheren have entered the canyon," Grayson mused with suspicion, eyeing the snake throng. "But why haven't these Serpentfolk followed them?"
"Let's go in and check," Seraphine suggested, pointing toward the canyon.
Skimming the rock face, the Djinn carried them past the Serpentfolk into the canyon, where Grayson and Seraphine searched for Morven and Katheren from above. The silent canyon was lined with strange serpent statues and mysterious runes etched on the walls, but no Serpentfolk were to be seen.
Suddenly, a wide circular clearing came into view, and a colossal Serpentfolk statue carved from the mountain itself caught Grayson's gaze. The figure, with four arms outstretched to the heavens, exuded an intimidating presence.
"Such a massive statue—did the Serpentfolk build this?" Seraphine marveled.
Grayson nodded silently, a sense of foreboding gnawing at him. What kind of Serpentfolk woman would merit such a monumental likeness?
Before he could ponder further, Seraphine suddenly pointed to the ground not far from the statue, "Look, there they are!"
Grayson looked down to see Morven and Katheren standing close to the statue, gazing up in awe. He urged the Djinn to descend swiftly, but as they approached, a beam of red light descended from the sky, sweeping across the land.
"What was that?" Grayson and Seraphine, momentarily blinded by the light, squinted toward the statue to see the last of the red glow fading from the Serpentfolk statue's eyes.
"I don't know, but I have a feeling it's nothing good!" Grayson exchanged a worried glance with Seraphine and instructed the Djinn, "Quick, let's get down there and pick them up—we need to leave this place!"
They landed quickly, and Grayson jumped off the cloud, calling out, "Morven, Katheren, are you alright? Come on, we need to—"
Before he could finish, Morven and Katheren turned to face him, their eyes glowing red like the statue's. Their expressions were fierce and hostile.
Without a moment's delay, Morven lunged forward, sword slashing at Grayson, who deftly stepped back and caught Morven's arm, tossing him aside.
Morven rolled and sprang to his feet, but Grayson was already upon him, landing a solid punch to his jaw, sending him tumbling back to the ground.
Steadying himself, Grayson heard a whoosh from behind and whirled around, deflecting silver bullets off his gauntlet with a shower of sparks.
He turned to see Katheren firing the gun, and a surge of water sent her crashing to the ground.
"Elyra, help Seraphine!" Grayson shouted as the owl took flight toward Katheren, and he stepped back from the fray.
"It's time to wake up, Morven!" Grayson called out to the adventurer, who with bared teeth, charged again with murderous intent.
"If you won't listen to reason, don't blame me!" Grayson drew his sword, extending his gauntlet blades into a chain, hurtling toward Morven.
Morven managed to parry the striking blades, but Grayson charged like a gust of wind, delivering a potent punch to Morven's chest.
Thrown by the impact, Morven collapsed on the ground, and Grayson retracted his blades, pointing the sharp gauntlet at Morven's throat, "If you were someone else, you'd be dead by now."
Grayson's taunting only intensified the red in Morven's eyes, and with a snarl, he threw a silver ring that transformed into a blade at Grayson.
Grayson parried the blade, but Morven was already upon him, extending a stinger from the hilt of his sword straight for Grayson's heart.
At the critical moment, Grayson's gauntlet clamped down on the hilt, narrowly avoiding the stinger. Dropping his sword, he punched Morven off balance, seizing the sword hilt with his left hand and gripping Morven's throat with his right, staring deep into his eyes.
"It's over, brother!" Grayson declared, gazing into Morven's hate-filled, glowing red eyes, which were met by a soft green luminescence in Grayson's own gaze.
Seconds later, the red in Morven's eyes was replaced by green, his body ceased trembling, his skin turned pale, and sweat dripped from his forehead, his pupils dilating as he shook uncontrollably.
The light in Grayson's eyes faded, and he released Morven, who lay on the ground in terror, gripped by an unseen dread.
"I guess it was right to bring the talisman," Grayson murmured, glancing at the wolf's eye pendant on his chest. "It's been five years since my teacher gave it to me."
Picking up his silver sword, Grayson walked back to where Seraphine and Elyra were with Katheren, now calmed by the owl's hypnosis.
Approaching them, Grayson caught Elyra as she transformed back into an owl, and just as he looked down at Katheren, the giant Serpentfolk statue rumbled, and a massive stone door slowly opened, revealing eyes glowing red in the darkness behind it.
Grayson and Seraphine turned to see a slender female Serpentfolk emerging, her eyes shimmering with red light as she gazed upon them.
Unlike ordinary Serpentmaids, her torso was covered in gleaming red crystal scales, and a clear crystal crown adorned her head, her long, dark red hair flowing down to her waist, giving her an aura of regal seduction.
She stopped not far from them, her eyes sweeping over Katheren on the ground, then locking onto Grayson's face with a sultry, triumphant smile.
Grayson stepped forward, fixing his gaze on her crown, "Hey, darling, I hope you're not here for a fight. Maybe we can talk. How should I address you? Your Highness? Your Majesty?"
At the mention of 'Your Majesty,' the Serpent Queen smiled coyly, staring intently into Grayson's eyes, which took on a hint of red as he continued to close the distance between them.
Seraphine, sensing an abnormal surge of magical power from the Serpent Queen, felt a strong psychic force trying to breach her defenses, invading her mind.
"Danger!" Seraphine raised her staff to strike at the Serpent Queen but found herself overwhelmed, unable to concentrate amid the cacophony in her ears and the chaos swirling in her vision, forcing her eyes shut to resist the magical intrusion.
Meanwhile, Katheren curled up, her eyes shut, crying out in terror, and not far off, Morven writhed in agony.
"I am your nightmare, the bad dream you cannot escape..." the Serpent Queen whispered seductively, looking into Grayson's reddened eyes.
"The boasting snake is pathetically weak!" Elyra muttered disdainfully from Grayson's shoulder.
The Serpent Queen glanced at her in surprise, but before she could react, a brilliant green light burst from Grayson's pendant, transforming the red in his eyes to a chilling emerald, clashing with the red in the Serpent Queen's gaze.
She felt a strange magic strike her chest like a hammer, stumbling backward. Grayson seized the moment, flashing his gauntlet blades at the Serpent Queen's torso.
The Serpent Queen retreated rapidly, the blades' tip glancing off her chest, only for Grayson to eject the blade's tip, hitting her abdomen, yet her shiny scales deflected each strike.
She smirked smugly, flicking her tail and sending a barrage of sharp scales at Grayson, who vanished like a wisp of wind, evading the attack.
Shocked, the Serpent Queen scanned around, only to hear Grayson's deep voice behind her, "The nightmare ends now, witch!"
Spinning around, she saw the blades encircling her head, ready to cleave it in two.
"You cannot kill me," the Serpent Queen said, locking eyes with Grayson.
"Give me one good reason not to," Grayson replied, shifting his fingers slightly, the blades pressing closer to cast a cold gleam upon her face.
"If I die, the Titan Prince dies with me," she said calmly, not moving an inch.