Zee, Mae, Nori, Vilak, and Lia watched as Ercale approached them, his pace steady despite the chaos still unfolding behind him.
"Why are you coming here?" Mae asked, her tone cautious as she shifted slightly, still keeping herself between Zee and the battlefield.
"Cain…" Zee muttered under her breath as she looked at him.
Ercale paused at that, one brow lifting, a flicker of genuine surprise crossing his face. "Huh," he said, sounding faintly impressed. "Didn't think you'd know." He let it drop just as quickly, shaking his head as he refocused. "Let her go."
Mae hesitated for a brief moment, her grip tightening instinctively before she exhaled and slowly released her hold on her twin.
"You, stand up," Ercale added, looking down at Zee.
Zee pushed herself up without protest, her eyes already drifting past him toward the fight. "You're hurting him…" she said quietly, the words barely above a whisper.
"I doubt he's the one feeling it," Ercale replied bluntly, folding his arms. "But put that thought aside. I'm going to need you to calm that thing down and bring out Xain."
Nori's head lifted at that, a flicker of hope returning to his eyes as he watched them.
"How is she meant to calm that down?" Vilak asked, gesturing toward the Beast in the distance, where Bram was currently driving his blade into it as it thrashed on the ground.
"It can absolutely happen!" Lia cut in suddenly, stepping forward a fraction. "I've seen it happen before! I can try and help too!"
Ercale glanced at her, his expression flattening as he shook his head. "I am not taking the gamble with your family history."
Lia flinched at that. "Ouch, but fair… wait, you know about my family?" she asked, but he had already moved on.
His attention returned to Zee.
"So, are you going to do it?" he asked, tone direct. "You go talk to it about… I don't know, friendship or love or some stupid thing like that, and it should work."
Zee didn't hesitate. She nodded immediately. "If it'll bring him back, then yes. I'll do it."
Mae stared at her. "Are you insane!?" she snapped, grabbing her arm again for a second. "Look at him! He'll kill you if you get close!"
"I need to," Zee answered, turning fully to face her. "I need to help him."
Mae held her gaze, searching it, and what she found made her falter. The desperation was there, but so was something steadier, something unyielding.
She exhaled sharply and shook her head. "Fine," she said, letting go again. "But just be careful, for the love of goddess."
Zee gave a small nod, then turned back to Ercale. "I'm ready."
Ercale gave a noncommittal shrug and shifted his attention back toward the fight, checking on how Bram was handling the Beast.
Zee lingered for just a moment longer, looking down.
Nori met her gaze from where he lay, his expression fragile, hopeful, pleading.
She gave him a small, steady nod. "Don't worry," she said softly. "I'll do my all to bring him back, for both our sakes."
Meanwhile, the Beast and Bram remained locked in combat. The black longsword the Beast had formed whipped through the air in heavy, unrefined arcs, each swing driven by brute force rather than any semblance of technique. Bram, in contrast, moved with controlled efficiency, his footing steady, his blade precise. When the Beast slashed toward his stomach, he simply angled his saber into the path of the strike and redirected it with a sharp tap, the force sliding off to the side as he stepped in and carved into its shoulder. When it thrust at him, he shifted just enough to let the blade pass by his torso, his own weapon already moving as he cut cleanly across its neck.
The wound closed almost instantly, flesh pulling itself back together, but the Beast did not adjust intelligently. Instead, it lashed out again, its sword flailing in a rapid series of wild swings that tore through the air in every direction. Bram met each one with minimal movement, steel striking steel in controlled beats as he blocked, deflected, and slipped through the gaps. The moment an opening appeared, he stepped in and drove a deep slash across its chest, forcing it back a step.
"Phew, had me worried there for a second, but you're just wild," he remarked, exhaling lightly as he reset his stance.
The Beast stilled.
For a few seconds, it simply stared at him, its many eyes locked onto his posture, his grip, the angle of his blade. Then, slowly, it shifted. Its stance changed, feet repositioning, shoulders settling, the sword drawing in closer to its body in something far more structured, far more deliberate, even if still rough and amateur.
Bram raised a brow. "Oh yeah, you can change that way too," he muttered with a sigh.
Before either of them could continue, movement cut in from behind.
Callum appeared in his full werewolf form, closing the distance in a blur of motion. His claws drove into the Beast's side with force, sinking deep enough to draw a sound that had not been heard from it before, a roar that carried genuine pain. He did not stop there. His claws hooked into flesh and muscle, and with a violent twist of his body, he wrenched the Beast off balance and hurled it across the crater.
It did not have time to recover.
Drimus was already there, having shifted into his massive lion-like form. As the Beast came into range, Drimus brought his front legs down in a crushing impact, smashing it into the ground with enough force to crack the earth beneath it.
Bram glanced between the two of them and shook his head. "Great, stuck between the two who can't speak, just great," he muttered.
Drimus pulled back immediately after the strike, giving space as all three of them fixed their attention forward. The Beast rose again, its body repairing itself as it stood, its side still bleeding where Callum's claws had torn into it, the damage slower to close than the rest. It looked down at the wound, pressed its hand against it, and felt the blood there before lifting its gaze.
All of its Bestial Hatred shifted.
Focused.
Locked entirely onto the werewolf.