Owain hit the sentinel with the force of a crashing mountain.
Snow exploded around them.
Metal screeched.
Teeth sank into steel.
The sentinel staggered back—
But it did not fall.
Its arm-blade swung toward Owain's head.
Owain ducked under it, slammed his claws into the sentinel's knee joint, and ripped sideways.
A chunk of metal tore free.
The sentinel readjusted with a mechanical whine.
"DAMAGE DETECTED.
ADAPTIVE RESPONSE ENGAGED."
It moved faster.
Much faster.
A blow caught Owain across the ribs, knocking him into the snow.
He rolled, breath knocked out of him, but scrambled back onto his paws immediately.
Kanah screamed behind him.
"Owain—stop—STOP—!"
He didn't look.
If he did, he wouldn't be able to keep fighting.
Yllas tried to stand, blood pouring down his chest.
"Owain—DON'T let it pull you too far!"
Owain charged again.
He slammed into the sentinel's chest.
The sentinel absorbed the impact and grabbed him mid-lunge.
Owain snarled, thrashing violently, jaws snapping inches from its visor.
The sentinel lifted him like he weighed nothing.
It slammed him into the ground once, twice—hard enough that the snow cratered beneath him.
Owain coughed blood but bit into the sentinel's wrist, refusing to let go even as metal cut his gums.
"Owain!" Gerrin yelled. "Break free! Instinct isn't enough—you need strategy—"
Owain ignored him entirely.
He tore harder.
The sentinel's fingers tightened around his ribs.
Crack.
Owain yelped—
A sound Kanah had never heard from him before.
Her heart broke in real time.
"No—NO—please—stop hurting him—STOP—please—STOP!"
The First King's whisper slid through her mind:
"A wolf who cannot survive instinct is not worthy of my heir."
Kanah clutched her head, sobbing.
"Leave him alone! He's not part of this—"
"He is your chosen.
Therefore he must be tested."
Her vision blurred.
"Owain… don't lose yourself—please…"
But Owain—
still pinned beneath the sentinel's crushing grip—
was losing control.
His fur darkened.
His pupils thinned.
His claws elongated unnaturally.
Gerrin's face drained of all color.
"…No. No, no, NO—this is exactly what the sentinel wants—"
"What?" Yllas gasped, clutching his wound.
Gerrin's voice broke.
"Owain is slipping into Aetherwolf state."
Helion coughed blood from where he lay sprawled in the snow.
"That's impossible—Aetherwolves are extinct—"
"Aetherwolves," Gerrin said shakily, "were the FIRST wolves. The purest. The most lethal. They could challenge gods."
Yllas's hand tightened on the snow.
"…Which is why the First King exterminated them."
The sentinel lifted Owain again, crushing his ribs further.
Owain's howl cracked across the valley—
deep
low
ancient.
Gerrin backed up.
"No—he's going too far—if he loses himself completely, he may never shift back into a man—"
Kanah's head snapped up.
Her voice broke.
"No.
NO.
He promised he'd come back to me—"
The sentinel raised Owain over its head—
ready to slam him down again—
And Kanah's scream shattered the air.
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!"
White magic exploded outward—
But not enough.
She collapsed again, chest heaving in pain.
Owain twisted mid-air—
biting the sentinel's arm hard enough to warp metal.
He ripped himself free—
and landed in the snow, panting, blood dripping from his mouth.
Then he lifted his head.
And Kanah felt something inside her freeze.
His eyes were no longer amber.
They were white.
White as her rune.
Gerrin whispered, horrified:
"He's slipping."
Inside Kanah's Mind
Kanah stumbled through a dim, shifting landscape.
Vines of silver and violet twisted through the darkness.
Snow fell upward instead of down.
A heartbeat echoed faintly in the distance.
"Owain…?" she whispered weakly.
No answer.
A silhouette approached.
The Beast King.
Silver eyes glowing.
"You struggle in a place not yours."
"Go away," she rasped.
"You deny my claim.
You deny the Queen's.
Now you deny the First King's."
"I deny YOU."
He smiled.
A slow, cruel smile.
"You forget the oldest truth."
Kanah trembled.
"What truth?"
He leaned close.
His whisper slid into her bones.
"No heir survives three crowns."
The world warped—
and the scene snapped like shattered glass.
Back in the Snow — Owain Descends
Owain lunged at the sentinel again—
but now his movement was different.
More fluid.
More savage.
More instinct than thought.
He sank his fangs into the sentinel's throat joint.
Metal snapped.
Sparks flew.
He tore a chunk free—
The sentinel responded by driving its arm-blade into Owain's shoulder.
Blood sprayed across the snow.
"Owain!" Kanah screamed, trying to crawl toward him.
He didn't hear her.
He didn't hear anything.
He lunged again, snarling, ripping, clawing—
His fur bristled with white static.
Energy surged around him.
The snow drifted away from his paws.
Yllas watched in awe and fear.
"He's… becoming something else…"
Gerrin nodded, voice shaking.
"That's what the trial wants.
It wants to force him into full Aetherwolf form."
"Why?" Helion groaned.
Gerrin swallowed.
"So the First King can judge whether Kanah's chosen mate is worthy of her lineage."
Kanah's head whipped toward them.
"What—did—you—say?"
Gerrin turned toward her, eyes wide.
"Kanah—your anchor—your chosen bond—
the First King intends to test him.
If he deems Owain unworthy—"
Kanah's chest stuttered, pain ripping through her.
"NO—no no NO—Owain is WORTHY—Owain is—"
Her vision blurred.
Her breathing faltered.
The First King whispered through her again:
"If he dies, you will be released."
Kanah screamed.
"OWAIN—DON'T LET GO—STAY—STAY—!"
But Owain—
Was gone.
Or mostly gone.
The sentinel swung at him with blinding speed.
Owain dodged—
barely—
but then something snapped inside him.
He lunged with unnatural power, crashing into the sentinel so violently the ground cracked beneath them.
Snow shot upward like a geyser.
Owain pinned the sentinel to the ground.
He clawed its visor with rabid ferocity.
Tore at its chest.
Broke through the armor.
White energy crackled around him like lightning.
Gerrin's breath hitched.
"He's… almost fully gone…"
Helion forced himself upright, trembling.
"If Owain goes full Aetherwolf, he won't recognize Kanah—or us—or himself."
Yllas grit his teeth, clutching his wound.
"And if he DOESN'T go full Aetherwolf—he dies."
Kanah's voice broke into sobs.
"No.
No, please—please—don't do this—don't make him choose like this—"
The First King whispered:
"This is trial.
Survival demands instinct."
Kanah choked.
"Owain… please… come back…"
Owain didn't hear her.
He sank his fangs into the sentinel's energy core—
the very thing Helion had tried to reach.
The sentinel spasmed.
Red runes flickered.
"CRITICAL DAMAGE—
CRITICAL DAMAGE—
CRITICAL DAM—"
Owain ripped the core free.
Red light shot through the sky—
then went out.
The sentinel collapsed.
Owain staggered away, shaking violently.
He lifted his head—
And stared at Kanah.
But he didn't see her.
He didn't see anything.
His pupils were gone.
His eyes were pure white.
"Owain," Kanah whispered, crawling through the snow toward him.
"Stop.
Look at me.
LOOK at me—please—"
Owain snarled.
Low.
Dangerous.
Predatory.
Gerrin stepped back.
Yllas stiffened.
Helion tensed.
Kanah froze—
hands trembling.
"Owain… please… it's me…"
Owain stepped toward her.
Slow.
Predatory.
No recognition in his eyes.
"Don't…" Kanah whispered, voice breaking.
"Don't you dare leave me. Not like this."
Owain's claws flexed.
He lowered his head.
Snarled.
And charged.
Straight at her.
Kanah screamed—