(Sebastian's POV)
He couldn't breathe.
The dream had sunk its claws into him, but it was the after that haunted him.
His mother's face lingered, beautiful and kind, then contorted in pain—her scream echoing like shattering glass. The ground split, black vines erupting from below, dragging her under. He reached out—but claws had replaced his hands. His voice wasn't his—it was something beastly. Animalistic. Wrong.
He woke up screaming.
The room was not just warm—it was boiling.
The air sizzled.
His back arched violently on the bed before he tumbled to the cold stone floor, body convulsing.
No no no no—
He gritted his teeth, biting back a roar as his bones cracked. His chest expanded unnaturally, his heartbeat thudding like war drums. Muscles stretched, bones snapped and reformed.
His fingernails tore through his skin—claws, thick and sharp, forced their way out. His eyes burned so brightly they glowed in the dark. He clutched his head as if he could contain the fire inside his skull.
The beast was coming.
It had been sleeping... until now.
She woke it.
With a cry of agony, his body slammed into the stone wall, leaving a deep dent. The mirror burst into shards. Paintings caught fire. Curtains tore from their hooks.
He could hear voices—guards shouting, Elara somewhere screaming his name—but they sounded far away, like echoes underwater.
Then a sharp voice cut through everything. Kael.
"SEBASTIAN!"
The name anchored him. Barely.
Kael burst in, not hesitating despite the destruction. He rushed forward, dropped to his knees, and grabbed Sebastian's arm just as another convulsion twisted through him.
Kael held on.
"Breathe. Look at me. You're not lost."
But Sebastian's face was already half-shadowed, black veins creeping from his neck, eyes pitch-black with a ring of glowing silver.
"The beast—it's waking," Sebastian choked out. "She's the trigger."
"Who? The girl?"
He nodded violently, struggling to suppress a snarl.
"Freya," he hissed. "She's not just some village witch. She's something else. And if I lose control—" He looked down at his claws. "I'll kill everyone."
---
(Elara's POV)
She stood outside the chamber, hand trembling against the wall as the guards held her back.
She had never heard him scream like that.
Not even when their father used to beat him. Not even when their mother died.
This was... inhuman.
Something inside him had been torn open.
And it terrified her.