The distorted reflection of the moon shivered on the lake's surface, shattering into silver fragments as Cyan splashed cold water onto his face. The chill was sharp, enough to dampen the roar in his chest and the lingering sting on his cheek.

  ?He stared at his reflection. The girl’s look of pure contempt still burned in his mind. As an Anex, he was used to such stares; usually, they were just background noise. But this was different.

  ?Behind Cyan’s calm exterior lay a fractured psyche—a remnant of a failed training ritual from his past. It had left him with a broken defense mechanism:

  ?The Trigger: Being called a "woman."

  ?The Reaction: A total loss of control. A primal, uncontrollable lust if the speaker was female; a lethal, murderous rage if the speaker was male.

  ?He had tried therapy, but it yielded nothing. His teammates in Cygnus often "helped" him by slapping him back to reality—or in the cases of Winn and Sev, occasionally letting him spiral for their own amusement. Like tonight.

  ?Such fatal lapses were rare, occurring only seven times in five years. Cyan understood why Rhona had been mistaken; the light in the hut was dim, and she was in shock. But her gaze... that was something else. It was the first time he had seen a hatred so pure, so murderous, without a single flicker of fear. And her words stung because he knew, in that moment, he was in the wrong.

  ?Cyan exhaled a long breath and rose. He activated a specialized dim light wrapped around his wrist, its faint glow enough to pierce the forest's gloom. He moved toward a hidden rock face that masked the entrance to the Cygnus headquarters—a place invisible to the untrained eye.

  ?He pressed a concealed stone, and the heavy door slid open. Inside, the rustic forest vanished, replaced by an artistic, modern corridor with ornate walls.

  ?When he entered the main room, all heads turned.

  ?"I won, Sev! He got slapped!" Winn cheered, seeing the reddened mark on Cyan’s cheek.

  ?"Ah, damn it. No fun," Sev grumbled.

  ?"Your failure to interrogate her was much more entertaining, Sev," Regawa mocked.

  ?Cyan ignored the banter. He sat beside Winn and looked directly at the man at the end of the table. The Leader.

  ?"Leader, did I miss anything?" Cyan asked flatly.

  ?"No," the Leader replied calmly, setting down his phone. His eyes were sharp. "But we shouldn't tangle further with the Yodanian President's family. Let’s discuss our next move..."

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  ?Rhona gasped as she woke.

  She wasn't in her luxury suite. She was in a simple, windowless wooden shack. Simple, sturdy, and suffocating.

  ?Memory flooded back: the physical pain, the mental betrayal, and the scent. She was inhaling a calming, ambiguous aroma—moss and wildflowers. It was coming from the cloth draped over her nose and mouth.

  ?She sat up abruptly, ripping the fabric away. A scarf. His scarf.

  She had spent the night breathing in the scent of the man who had humiliated her.

  ?"Filth!" Rhona hissed, throwing the scarf to the floor in disgust.

  ?She stood up, her body aching, and caught her reflection in the glass of a small window. Her breath hitched. Her long, golden hair—her pride—was a jagged ruin. Shorn off in uneven, ugly clumps. She turned away, hating what she saw.

  ?“Noble Yodanian, you’d better not leave this hut if you don't want to die…”

  ?Cyan’s threat echoed in her mind. Rhona clenched her fists. This hut was a prison, and that threat was the lock.

  ?"I won't let that bastard scare me," she whispered.

  ?She wasn't a prisoner. She wouldn't wait for them to come back and finish her off. She shoved the door open and stepped out into the oppressive silence of the forest.

  ?

  ?The Nirwana Core Forest was a labyrinth of giant trees and thick briars. There were no paths, no signs of where the Cygnus had gone. Rhona tried to orient herself. The core is east, so I must go left. But as she tried to step left, her legs locked.

  Her muscles refused to obey. It was as if an unseen force was pulling her, steering her nervous system. Despite her mental resistance, her feet began to march steadily to the right.

  ?Something is wrong! Rhona panicked.

  She fought it, but her body moved with mechanical precision, carving a path through the brush that scraped her bare skin.

  ?High above, a youth in black watched from a tree limb. His red hair was tied in short braids, and his fingers moved with fluid, rhythmic grace.

  ?Modified silk threads, nearly invisible to the eye, stretched from his fingertips. They were connected to vital points on Rhona’s legs. By channeling his internal energy through the silk, Zinx was "guiding" their guest through the treacherous terrain.

  ?A hiss erupted from the shadows ahead. Zinx flicked a finger, sending a thread toward a tree. A massive triangular-headed snake—Jung, his pet—tried to strike, but its head was instantly bound by silk.

  ?Stay back, Jung, Zinx thought. She’s a guest.

  ?The Leader had assigned Zinx to watch her, knowing she’d be stubborn enough to flee. As the group’s medic, Zinx knew her spinal injury needed care. Sev had bandaged her head with his red bandana, but the internal damage required the Lava Lake.

  ?Zinx continued his work, steering Rhona away from poisonous flora and leading her toward the water.

  ?Finally, the trees thinned. Rhona reached the lake’s edge. Thirsty and exhausted, she knelt and drank greedily from the crystal water, unaware of its healing properties.

  ?But Zinx’s eyes narrowed as Rhona stood up and walked toward a black, life-sized statue standing by the shore.

  ?He cursed under his breath. He wouldn't let a stranger’s hands touch his masterpiece.

  ?Zinx snapped his fingers. A silk thread lashed out, wrapping around Rhona’s waist and yanking her backward with violent force. She hit the ground with a thud.

  ?Zinx dropped from the trees, landing protectively in front of the statue. He glared at her, his eyes burning with sudden hostility.

  ?"Don't you dare," Zinx snarled, his voice sharp with intelligence and rage. "Don't you dare touch my Goddess Freya!"