Gorochi's body, split in two, was laid dead on the ground.
Nobody moved.
For several moments, the forest seemed to have forgotten how to breathe. The flames that still burned among the trees crackled softly, but even that sound felt distant. Gorochi's blood stained the earth beneath him, while the two halves of his body lay several feet apart. The soldiers who had followed him were gone, and the cage that had once trapped the four men had already vanished.
Yet nobody celebrated.
There was no relief.
There was only fear.
The mermaid stood beside the river, completely still. Her pale face showed almost no emotion. She simply looked at them, as if they were nothing more than small creatures that had wandered into her territory.
Damien slowly swallowed. His eyes remained fixed on the mermaid, and for the first time since Eamon had known him, there was genuine fear in his expression.
"This is the first time we are facing a primal obsidian seraph. I am shaking."
Eamon turned toward him, confused despite the danger surrounding them.
"What are you talking about? We have fought Winston before. How is this the first obsidian seraph then? And what is this primal thing?"
Damien slowly turned his head toward Eamon. For a second, he simply stared at him as though he could not believe what he had just heard.
"Are you serious? Did you use to live in a cave before, you moron?"
Eamon frowned.
"Huh? Why can't you just give a straight answer? Why do you always have to mock me?"
The two stared at each other, their voices slowly becoming louder despite the terrifying creature standing only a short distance away.
Roneth finally lost his patience. He stepped between them and glared at both of them.
"You dimwits! Don't you see the situation we are in? We can literally die here. Is this really the time for your senseless quarrel?"
His voice cut through the tension like a blade.
Eamon and Damien immediately fell silent.
Damien took a breath and looked back at the mermaid.
"Listen now. The obsidian seraphs who first fell on land from the heavens are called primal ones. The original ones."
Eamon's expression became serious.
"Original ones?"
"Yes. The first of their kind. They existed long before most of the races we know today. Winston was not the first vampire. Among all the seraphs, only a few possessed the ability to reproduce or share their power with others. Vampires can do both. Winston must have received his powers through one of those two ways from the descendants of the original vampire."
Damien paused.
"But this mermaid is different. She is a primal one."
Eamon looked at the mermaid again. Something about Damien's words made his stomach tighten.
"Wait... wait... wait. How are you so sure that she is the primal?"
Roneth answered before Damien could.
"Look at her eyes, Eamon. The primals have a specific symbol in their eyes."
Eamon slowly turned toward the mermaid.
He had tried not to look directly into her eyes until now. Something inside him had warned him not to. But curiosity finally overcame fear.
His gaze met hers.
And for a moment, the world disappeared.
The forest, the river, the burning trees, Damien and Roneth—all of it seemed to fade into the background.
Eamon could see only her eyes.
Where her pupils should have been, there was no ordinary darkness. Instead, something moved inside them.
A creature.
An ouroboros.
A serpent curled into a perfect circle, endlessly chasing its own tail. Its body was bright red, almost glowing against the darkness of her eyes. It moved without ever stopping, forever circling itself in an impossible loop.
But the serpent was not the most frightening part.
Inside the circle formed by its body was a magic circle.
Eamon had seen countless magic circles before. Some were simple. Some were complicated. Some required years of study just to understand their structure.
This one was unlike anything he had ever seen.
It contained layers upon layers of symbols, patterns, lines and shapes that seemed to move even though they remained in the same place. It had a depth that made Eamon feel as if he were looking into something far larger than an ordinary spell.
It was beautiful.
And horrifying.
Eamon's breathing stopped.
The serpent.
He knew it.
He had seen it before.
Not in a book.
Not in a legend.
Inside himself.
The exact same serpent was wrapped around his heart.
His mind suddenly returned to Verdelane Forest. He remembered Arvin examining his body, the confusion on the old man's face when he had discovered the strange curse inside Eamon.
Eamon remembered the moment Arvin had seen the serpent.
The same serpent.
The same impossible shape.
The same red creature.
His heart began pounding.
Why was it inside him?
Why was it inside the eyes of a primal obsidian seraph?
What did it mean?
A dozen questions crashed into his mind at once.
But Eamon forced himself to look away.
This was not the time.
Whatever connection existed between him and the mermaid could wait.
The creature standing before them was already powerful enough to destroy everyone in seconds.
The mermaid again raised her hand toward Haizer.
Her fingers moved slightly, almost like she was asking for something.
Eamon understood immediately.
The pearl.
She wanted the pearl.
Haizer understood it too.
His left hand slowly moved toward the pocket where he had hidden the pearl. His fingers touched the cloth covering it.
His breathing became heavier.
He knew he should give it to her.
Every instinct inside him screamed that surrendering the pearl was the only way to survive.
But then he remembered Kael.
The man who had found him dying outside Seraphim land.
The man who had saved his life.
The man who had preserved his wife's body so that Haizer could give her a proper burial.
Kael had given him a reason to live when Haizer had lost everything.
He had promised to complete this mission.
He could not return empty-handed.
He could not betray Kael.
Even if it meant dying here.
Haizer slowly shook his head.
No.
The mermaid's expression changed.
The calmness disappeared from her face.
Her eyes became colder.
Her hand moved sideways.
A sharp sound tore through the air.
A long arrow made entirely of water appeared above her. It was thin, almost delicate, but the pressure surrounding it made the nearby grass bend away from its path.
Haizer's eyes widened.
He immediately pulled his sword up with his left hand.
The mermaid swung her arm.
The water arrow shot forward.
Haizer swung his sword sideways.
Steel struck water.
The impact exploded through the forest.
The arrow broke apart, but the force behind it was monstrous. Haizer's feet were dragged backward across the ground. His sword shook violently in his hand, and he nearly lost his balance.
Eamon and Damien both felt the pressure from the attack.
Even after the arrow had been deflected, the remaining force seemed to travel through the air around them.
Damien narrowed his eyes.
"That was only one attack..."
Roneth said nothing.
His hand had already moved to his swords.
He had drawn his weapons.
But he did not attack.
His eyes remained fixed on Haizer.
Eamon noticed it.
Again.
Roneth was behaving strangely around Haizer.
There was something between them.
Something Roneth still had not explained.
But before Eamon could ask, the mermaid raised her hand again.
Water began gathering above her.
At first, it was only a few drops.
Then dozens.
Then hundreds.
They began spinning together, forming a large circular shape above her head.
A rotating ring of water appeared in the air.
It was perfectly round, with streams of water constantly moving around its edge. The pressure coming from it was so strong that loose leaves were pulled from the ground and disappeared into the spinning current.
Haizer stared upward.
He did not understand what she was preparing.
The mermaid slowly moved her hand.
The water circle began floating toward him.
Haizer stepped backward.
The circle grew larger as it moved.
It passed above him and stopped directly over his head.
Haizer looked up.
His expression tightened.
He raised his sword toward the strange formation, unsure of what he was supposed to defend against.
He slowly turned in place, watching the rotating circle.
Nothing happened.
For one brief second, there was silence.
Then the mermaid blinked.
As she blinked, long, sharp arrows made out of water gushed through the circle.