RHYDIAN POV
Isla caught the vial mid-air.
My heart stopped. One wrong move and she'd shatter it. One slip of those small fingers and the bond-poison would spread everywhere, making it impossible for any Heartweaver to safely bond ever again.
But her hands were steady.
She held the vial up to the light, examining it with those sharp scientist eyes that saw patterns where others saw only chaos.
"Clever," she said to Zephyr. "Really clever. Threaten to destroy the one thing I need most—safe bonding—and force me to choose you to prevent it."
Zephyr smiled like a snake who'd already swallowed his prey. "So you'll bond with me?"
"Absolutely not."
His smile vanished. "Then I'll make more. Poison every potential bond until—"
"You'll make more with WHAT?" Isla held up the vial. "This isn't just poison. It's made from corrupted essence mixed with... is that crystallized Heartweaver blood? Ancient blood, based on the degradation patterns."
Every male in the clearing went silent. How did she know that just by LOOKING at it?
"You found Morana's old blood samples," Isla continued, her voice cold and analytical. "Which means you've been to her hidden laboratory. Which means you're working WITH her."
Zephyr's face twisted. "I'm working for my own SURVIVAL!"
"By helping the person who's trying to kill me? How does that save you?" Isla's eyes narrowed. "Unless... you think Morana will cure you after I'm dead. Did she promise you that?"
Silence. Damning silence.
"She's lying to you," Isla said simply. "Morana doesn't cure corruption. She SPREADS it. You're a tool to her, nothing more. The moment you're no longer useful, she'll kill you too."
"You don't know that!" But Zephyr's voice wavered.
"I know that she murdered a teenage boy yesterday just to keep him quiet. I know she's been poisoning warriors for centuries to destabilize the tribes. And I know," Isla's voice went soft, almost gentle, "that you're terrified and desperate, and she's exploiting that."
I saw the exact moment Zephyr broke. His shoulders slumped. His toxic-green eyes filled with something that looked like relief.
"I don't want to die," he whispered. "I've been poisoned for five years. It's eating me alive. She said if I helped her, she'd cure me. But if you're right, if she's lying..."
"Then you've been hurting people for nothing." Isla stepped closer to him, somehow unafraid despite being surrounded by thousands of aggressive males. "But here's the thing, Zephyr. I'm NOT lying. I can actually cure you. Not someday. Not maybe. Right now."
"Isla, don't," Kael warned. "He just threatened you."
"He threatened everyone out of fear." She looked at Kael, and something in her expression made my chest ache. Compassion. Understanding. "Just like you've been ruling while dying for twenty years out of duty. Just like Draven isolated himself for two centuries out of fear of hurting others. Everyone here is making terrible choices because they're desperate and scared."
She turned back to Zephyr. "So here's MY choice. I'll heal you, free of charge, no bonding required. But in exchange, you tell me everything you know about Morana's plans."
"You'd heal me? After I threatened you?"
"I'm a doctor," Isla said simply. "Or I was, in my old world. And doctors heal people, even people who don't deserve it. Even people who've made terrible mistakes."
My wings spread involuntarily—a display of emotion I couldn't control. This female was EXTRAORDINARY. Not just powerful. Not just beautiful. She saw people at their worst and chose mercy anyway.
I was falling for her, and I barely knew her.
Zephyr dropped to his knees. "Morana has operatives in every territory. She's been poisoning tribal leaders for decades, making sure the strongest warriors all have corruption so they're desperate when the Heartweaver finally appears. She WANTED you to come. Wanted you surrounded by dying males who'd fight each other over you."
"Why?" Theron demanded.
"To recreate what happened to her. To prove that Heartweavers always end in tragedy." Zephyr looked up at Isla with genuine remorse. "She's been setting up the perfect storm. Thousands of desperate males, one overwhelmed female, and bond-poison to make sure anyone you DO bond with might die anyway. She's trying to break you before you even begin."
The assembled males started murmuring. Angry. Scared. They'd been USED.
"Where is she hiding?" Kael growled.
"I don't know. She contacts me through corrupted animals. I've never seen her actual location." Zephyr hesitated. "But she said something strange last time. She said, 'When the Heartweaver bonds with the dragon, the real game begins.' I don't know what it means."
Everyone looked at Draven. He'd been silent this whole time, but now his ancient eyes were troubled.
"The dragon," he said slowly. "Not A dragon. THE dragon. She's talking about me specifically." His jaw tightened. "I'm the original source of the corruption. Two hundred years ago, I was infected by something from beyond our world—a Void entity that tried to consume my core. I survived, but the corruption has been spreading from me ever since, passed through challenges, fights, shared territory."
"You're patient zero?" Isla breathed. "The corruption started with YOU?"
"Yes. Which means if Morana is planning something connected to me bonding with you..." Draven's face went pale. "She might be trying to use our bond to access my connection to the original Void entity. If she could control THAT—"
"She could corrupt the entire Beastworld at once," Elder Kora finished, horror in her voice. "Every beast core connected through territorial bonds, tribal links, family lines. It would cascade through the population like wildfire."
"So I can't bond with Draven," Isla said. Her voice stayed steady, but I saw pain flicker across her face. "Because if I do, Morana wins."
"But you have to bond with SOMEONE," I interjected, hating how desperate I sounded. "Or your power will burn you out. Kora said three months maximum."
"Trapped either way," Isla laughed, but it wasn't a happy sound. "Bond with Draven and doom the world. Don't bond at all and die. Great options."
"There might be another way," Kora said slowly. "If you bonded with multiple males simultaneously—created a network of connections instead of individual bonds—the power would be distributed. Diluted. Morana couldn't access the Void through one connection if it's spread across many."
"How many is many?" Isla asked.
"Historical Heartweavers managed four to seven successfully. But given your power level..." Kora's expression turned grave. "You might need double that. Ten bonds. Maybe more."
"TEN?" Isla's voice went shrill. "I'm supposed to bond my SOUL to ten different men?"
"To save your life and the Beastworld? Yes." Kora's tone was unapologetic.
I saw Isla's hands start shaking. Saw her brilliant mind racing through impossible calculations, trying to find a solution that didn't exist.
She was breaking. Right in front of thousands of males who wanted to claim her.
"I need time," she whispered. "I need to think. I need—"
The ground exploded beneath our feet.
Corrupted vines erupted everywhere, grabbing males and dragging them down. Warriors screamed and shifted, fighting back against plants that moved like living weapons.
Morana's voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere:
"Time's up, little Heartweaver. You've been studying my poison, learning my patterns, thinking you're so clever. But while you were busy saving one pathetic serpent, I was activating every corruption seed I've planted over two centuries. In thirty seconds, every infected male in this clearing goes feral simultaneously. Including your precious four protectors."
I felt it then—the corruption in my wings surging. Growing. Taking control.
My beast screamed to be free. To hunt. To KILL.
I looked at Kael and saw the same horror in his eyes. Theron's wolves started howling, fighting their own nature. Even Draven's newly purified core flickered with returning darkness.
"No!" Isla ran toward me, but corrupted vines blocked her path. "Rhydian, fight it!"
"Can't," I gasped. My wings spread against my will, golden feathers turning black at the tips. "She's taking control. Isla, RUN!"
"I won't leave you!"
"Then you'll die!" I shifted involuntarily, my eagle form bursting out in a wave of pain and corruption. My mind started going dark at the edges.
The last thing I saw before the feral madness took over was Isla pressing both hands to her chest.
Her core blazed so bright it was like staring into the sun.
And she screamed one word that echoed with impossible power:
"BOND!"
Every male in the clearing—thousands of warriors, including me—felt the connection SLAM into us.
Not a complete bond. Not even close.
But enough.
Enough to pull us back from the edge.
Enough to burn away Morana's control.
Enough to make us ALL hers.
And as my mind cleared, as my corruption receded, I realized what Isla had just done.
She'd created a partial bond with THOUSANDS of males.
To save our lives, she'd chained herself to an army.