The meadow was gone.
In its place loomed a cathedral of sinew and gold, its spires clawing at a starless sky. Vines pulsed like arteries across the walls, birthing hybrids that dropped, wet and shrieking, onto the blood-soaked soil. Older Kael stood atop the central spire, his gold-veined eyes scanning the ruins. Below, survivors huddled in the carcass of a shattered tank, their breaths shallow, their hope thinner than ash.
Tessa pressed her mutated hand to the earth, violet tears streaking her cheeks. "Nyx says… the Seed's weakness is its creator's blood. But she's gone. The timelines ate her."
Young Kael clenched his claw. "Then we're dead."
"No." Tessa's voice sharpened, Nyx's ghost flickering in her irises. "The creator's blood lives here." She pointed to Young Lira, asleep by the tank, her shadow pooling like oil. "Your mother's DNA is in her. Gideon spliced it into Lyra. Into all the clones."
Young Lira stirred, her shadow whispering: "Liar. She wants to carve you open."
"We need a sample," Tessa insisted. "Enough to poison the Seed's core."
A hybrid's screech tore through the air. Older Kael's thorns rained down, skewering a rebel who'd ventured too far. His corpse aged to dust, fueling the cathedral's growth.
"There's no time!" Young Kael grabbed Young Lira's arm. "Give me your hand. Just a drop—"
She yanked free, her shadow coiling around her. "You'd sacrifice me for him?" She glared at the spire. "He's not your brother anymore."
"He's all I have left!"
The shadow laughed. "Then join him."
Older Kael descended, the ground cracking under his steps. His voice boomed, devoid of warmth, a chorus of the Seed's will: "The cycle demands tribute. You will serve, or perish."
Young Kael charged, claw slashing. Gold veins deflected the blow, lashing around his wrist. "Fight it!" he begged. "You saved us once!"
Older Kael tilted his head, curious. "Salvation is a lie. There is only the Seed." He flung Young Kael into a thorned wall, pinning him. "You resist. Why?"
"Because someone has to!" Young Kael spat blood, his claw cracking the vines. "You taught me that!"
For a heartbeat, gold flickered to amber. Older Kael's hand trembled.
Young Lira's shadow struck, tendrils spearing his chest. "Enough nostalgia."
Older Kael roared, thrashing. The cathedral convulsed, hybrids swarming.
Tessa dragged Young Lira behind the tank. "Your blood—now! Nyx says it's the only way!"
"No!" The shadow writhed, but Young Lira slashed her palm, pressing it to Tessa's mutated hand. "Do it."
The hybrid horde froze as golden light erupted from Tessa. She screamed, her body dissolving into a swarm of luminous moths. They surged toward Older Kael, devouring his veins.
"What have you done?" the Seed shrieked through him.
"What you taught me," Young Kael whispered.
Older Kael collapsed, gold receding from his eyes. The cathedral crumbled, hybrids disintegrating mid-scream. Young Kael caught his brother, now frail and human, as the moths faded to dust.
"It's… quiet," Older Kael rasped. "Finally… quiet."
His body stiffened. Gold veins reignited.
"No!" Young Kael recoiled.
Lyra's shadow engulfed Older Kael, puppeteering his corpse. "You didn't think it'd be that easy?"
Young Kael grabbed the Seed shard from the rubble. "Then I'll end it myself."
He plunged the shard into his chest.