The academy’s southern alarm rose into a full emergency siren.
Red lights flashed along the dormitory hallway.
Doors opened as confused students stepped from their rooms, some still dressed in sleep clothes.
A recorded voice sounded from the ceiling.
“Perimeter disruption detected in Southern Sector.
Students will remain inside their assigned dormitories.
Security personnel report to defensive positions.”
Lee stood in the middle of the hallway with his divine sword burning gold in his hand.
Lilith stared toward the dark windows.
Her blond hair hung loosely around her shoulders, catching the crimson emergency lights.
“The Thornreaver is moving toward Declan’s house,” she said.
Declan still held the dead crow against his chest.
“How long before it reaches Buster?”
Lilith’s silver eyes flickered.
The vision caught her.
She saw through the trees.
Buster stood near the rear porch of Declan’s family home.
His compact body had gone rigid, every muscle tense beneath his short coat.
Violet light pulsed in the forest.
A massive antlered shape moved between the pines.
Lilith gasped and grabbed the wall.
“Minutes.”
Lee headed toward the stairwell.
Ella caught his arm.
“You can’t walk through the academy carrying a divine sword.”
Golden light collapsed around Lee’s hand.
The weapon returned to the Elysian Void.
“I’ll summon it outside.”
“You’re assuming we can get outside,” Emerson said.
The red light on every academy wristband flashed.
LOCKDOWN ACTIVE
RETURN TO ASSIGNED QUARTERS
William looked toward the stairwell.
“Garrett said private training at five.
He might be awake.”
“He’ll stop us,” Lee said.
“He might help us.”
Lee pictured Captain Garrett standing between him and the Anunnaki warrior after the Morvane attack.
Garrett had protected him.
He had also made it clear that Lee’s secrets were becoming harder to ignore.
Explaining that an antlered corrupted bear was using Buster to lure him home would only confirm the pattern.
The Morvane had pursued the Aether Soul.
Now the Thornreaver had chosen Lee’s dog.
Someone was testing him.
“If we tell Garrett, he’ll send a security team,” Ella said.
“That’s good,” William replied.
“Unless whoever controls the creature wants to see how the academy responds,” Emerson said.
Everyone looked toward him.
He adjusted his glasses.
“The previous attack measured Lee’s reaction.
This could be measuring the academy’s response time, defensive range, or willingness to leave the perimeter.”
Declan’s face hardened.
“My family is not a measurement.”
“No,” Emerson said.
“They’re bait.”
The word settled heavily among them.
Hermes appeared beside Lee.
Only Lee could see him.
“Your friends have identified the trap.”
“I already know it’s a trap.”
“Knowing a trap exists does not prevent you from entering it.”
“Buster is still there.”
“And the creature was placed there because your enemy knew you would say that.”
Lee looked toward Declan.
He had gone pale.
“Are your parents home?”
“They should be.”
“Call emergency services.”
Declan activated his tablet again.
No signal.
He tried his academy wristband.
The call failed before connecting.
“External communications are still down.”
Michelle raised one hand.
Faint electricity gathered around her fingers.
“The academy network isn’t down.
Something is blocking outgoing signals from this floor.”
Emerson took out his tablet.
He scanned the local frequencies.
“She’s right.
Internal systems are active.”
“So someone inside the academy is preventing us from calling home,” Ella said.
Lee looked toward the nearest security camera.
Its small indicator light remained dark.
The camera had been disabled.
The entire southern dormitory sector was isolated.
This was not only an attack beyond the walls.
Someone inside Academy 151 wanted Lee to leave without help.
A door slammed open at the end of the hallway.
Captain Garrett stepped into view.
He wore black combat fatigues and carried his Aetherium sword across his back.
Captain Hailey followed him with a medical bag over one shoulder.
Garrett’s gaze moved across the group.
Most of them stood outside their assigned rooms.
Lee’s hand still glowed faintly from dismissing the divine sword.
Declan held a dead crow.
Lilith’s eyes shone silver.
Garrett stopped several feet away.
“Why do I suspect none of you plan to remain here?”
No one answered.
Hailey saw the crow.
“What happened?”
Declan stepped forward.
“This bird came to warn me.
A corrupted creature is near my family’s house.”
Garrett looked at the dead animal.
“A bird warned you?”
“My ability lets me receive impressions from animals.”
“What kind of creature?”
“A giant bear with antlers.
The horns produce lightning.”
Hermes spoke quietly.
“A Thornreaver.”
Lee repeated the name.
Garrett glanced toward him.
“You recognize it?”
“I’ve heard of them.”
“From whom?”
“Hermes,” Ella said.
Lee turned sharply toward her.
Garrett’s expression changed.
“Hermes?”
There was no time to repair the mistake.
Lee looked toward the invisible god.
Hermes sighed.
“Reveal me.”
Golden light gathered beside Lee.
Hermes appeared in the academy hallway wearing white robes beneath a short crimson cloak.
His winged sandals rested several inches above the floor.
Captain Hailey froze.
Garrett’s hand went to his sword.
Hermes inclined his head.
“Captain.”
Garrett drew the blade.
“Identify yourself.”
“I believe Ella has already done so.”
Garrett stared at him.
“You expect me to believe you’re the Hermes?”
“The definite article is unnecessary, but otherwise correct.”
Hailey looked between Hermes and Lee.
“You’ve been carrying a Greek god around inside you?”
Lee rubbed one hand over his face.
“It sounds worse when you say it like that.”
“It sounds exactly as bad as it is.”
Garrett kept his sword raised.
“Why are you here?”
Hermes’ amusement disappeared.
“To prevent your student from charging blindly into a trap.”
Lee crossed his arms.
“I’m standing right here.”
“Yes.
It is the only reason I can speak to them.”
Garrett looked toward Lee.
“The Morvane followed you.
Now another corrupted creature appears near your home.”
“Declan’s home,” Lee corrected.
“Where your dog is staying.”
Garrett understood immediately.
“It’s drawing you out.”
“Yes.”
“Then you don’t leave.”
Declan stepped forward.
“My parents are there.”
Garrett looked at him.
“That changes the operation.
It does not change the trap.”
He activated his wristband.
“Command, this is Garrett.
Request immediate response team to civilian residence near Stump Lake.”
Static answered.
Garrett tried again.
Nothing.
Hailey checked her own device.
“My medical channel is dead.”
Emerson held up his tablet.
“Only this section has lost external access.”
Garrett looked toward the disabled camera.
His expression hardened.
“Internal compromise.”
A low boom sounded outside.
The southern windows shook.
Students cried out inside nearby rooms.
The academy speaker activated.
“Southern gate malfunction.
Security teams report to alternate routes.”
Garrett turned toward the stairwell.
“They’re opening a path.”
“For us?” William asked.
“For whatever is outside.”
Garrett drew his sword fully.
“Everyone back into your rooms.”
Lee stepped in front of him.
“You can’t keep us here while Declan’s family is attacked.”
“I can keep untrained freshmen from entering a combat zone.”
“You saw us fight the Morvane.”
“I saw students survive because trained fighters held the line.”
Declan’s eyes closed.
His body jerked.
The dead crow slipped from his arms.
Ella caught it before it hit the floor.
Declan grabbed both sides of his head.
“What is it?” Lee asked.
Images struck him through the fading animal bond.
Buster barked from the yard.
Declan’s father opened the rear door and called the dog inside.
The forest exploded.
A bolt of violet lightning tore through a pine tree.
The trunk split and crashed across the porch.
Declan’s mother screamed.
Buster ran toward the woods instead of the house.
Drawing the creature away.
Declan’s eyes opened.
“Buster’s leading it away from my parents.”
Lee’s chest tightened.
“He knows?”
“He knows they’re in danger.”
A second wave of sensation passed through Declan.
Fear.
Loyalty.
Protect home.
Find Lee.
Then pain.
Declan cried out.
His back arched.
His fingernails darkened and extended into short black claws.
Brown fur spread across his forearms.
Everyone stepped back.
Declan stared at his hands.
“What’s happening?”
Hermes moved closer.
His eyes narrowed with interest.
“Your affinity is evolving.”
Declan’s pupils widened.
His nose and mouth shifted slightly, not enough to form a muzzle, but enough to alter the shape of his face.
He inhaled sharply.
The hallway filled with information.
Sweat.
Cleaning chemicals.
Hot wiring inside the walls.
The dead crow’s blood.
The faint ozone clinging to Michelle.
Lee’s familiar scent mixed with fire, shadow, and something ancient.
Declan staggered.
“I can smell everything.”
Hailey moved toward him.
“Stay still.”
She reached for his wrist.
Declan recoiled faster than a human should have been able to move.
A growl left his throat.
He immediately covered his mouth.
“I didn’t mean to do that.”
Hermes examined the fur across Declan’s arms.
“Contact with the crow carried more than memory.
His Aether interpreted the animal’s traits and reproduced several of them.”
“Crow traits?” Ella asked.
“No,” Declan said.
He turned toward the dark window.
His nostrils flared.
“Dog.”
Everyone went still.
“I can smell Buster.”
Lee looked toward the wall.
“From here?”
Declan closed his eyes.
“Not exactly.
It’s like his scent is attached to the bond.”
His ears shifted upward slightly.
Not canine ears.
Not yet.
But the cartilage moved beneath the skin, sharpening his hearing.
He caught a distant sound beyond the academy grounds.
A dog barking.
Thunder.
The roar of something enormous.
Declan pointed south.
“That way.”
Garrett watched the transformation.
“Can you control it?”
“No.”
“Can you fight?”
Declan looked at the claws extending from his fingertips.
“I don’t know.”
Garrett sheathed his sword.
“Then you stay with Captain Hailey.”
“No.”
“That wasn’t a request.”
Declan stepped closer.
The beginnings of a growl vibrated in his chest.
“My family is there.”
Hailey placed herself between them.
“Garrett, his Aether is responding to emotional stress.
Forcing him to remain behind may make the transformation worse.”
Garrett looked toward Hermes.
“Can you stabilize him?”
“I can guide him.
I cannot control an affinity that belongs to him.”
“Then guide him.”
Hermes turned toward Declan.
“Focus on one sense at a time.”
“I can hear everyone’s heartbeat.”
“Choose one.”
Declan looked toward Lee.
Lee’s heartbeat thudded in his ears.
Fast.
Controlled.
“Lee.”
“Follow it.
Let the rest fade.”
Declan breathed slowly.
The fur stopped spreading.
His claws remained.
His face moved closer to normal, though his eyes retained a golden-brown shine.
Hermes nodded.
“This is only a partial manifestation.
With training, you may learn to select traits deliberately.”
Declan looked at his arms.
“And without training?”
“You may take the form your instincts consider necessary.”
William stared.
“You mean he could turn into an animal?”
“Not precisely.”
Hermes studied Declan’s altered features.
“His human form appears to be integrating animal characteristics rather than being replaced by them.”
Declan looked toward Lee.
“A hybrid.”
“Eventually,” Hermes said.
“Perhaps.”
A deep impact shook the academy again.
The southern emergency exit opened.
No alarm sounded.
Beyond it waited a service road leading through the perimeter wall.
Garrett stared at the open doorway.
“They want us to take that route.”
Lee summoned his sword.
Golden armor began forming beneath his sleep clothes.
“Then we know where they expect us.”
Garrett turned toward him.
“That does not make it safe.”
“No.
It makes it predictable.”
Achilles’s lesson returned to Lee.
The objective was not to defeat every enemy.
It was to reach Buster and protect Declan’s family.
The Thornreaver was an obstacle.
Not the mission.
“We don’t chase the bear,” Lee said.
“We evacuate the house and recover Buster.”
Hermes gave a slight nod.
Garrett noticed.
“That came from him?”
“Achilles.”
Captain Hailey closed her eyes briefly.
“Of course there’s an Achilles too.”
Garrett looked down the hallway.
More students had begun opening their doors.
He made the decision.
“Hailey, lock down this floor.
Keep the students inside and report the communications breach the moment the network returns.”
“You’re going?”
“Yes.”
Garrett pointed toward Lee, Declan, Ella, Michelle, William, Emerson, and Lilith.
“They remain here.”
“No,” Lilith said.
Garrett looked at her.
Silver light filled her eyes.
“If only you and Lee leave, you die before reaching the house.”
Garrett’s jaw tightened.
“And if everyone goes?”
Lilith stared through the possibilities.
Her breath caught.
“I can’t see all of it.”
“That is not enough.”
“I see Buster alive in more futures when we’re together.”
Declan’s claws extended farther.
“That’s enough for me.”
Garrett looked around the group.
“We are not forming a student strike team.”
Hermes folded his arms.
“You already have one.
You merely have not accepted it.”
Garrett stared at the god.
Then toward the open exit.
“Fine.”
Everyone reacted at once.
Garrett raised one hand.
“You follow orders immediately.
You do not pursue targets.
You do not separate from the group.
The objective is civilian evacuation.”
His gaze settled on Lee.
“That includes you.”
Lee nodded.
“Understood.”
Garrett drew his sword again.
“Move.”
They left through the southern service gate.
The opening sealed behind them.
No guards stood outside.
No vehicles waited.
The road disappeared into dense forest beneath a cloudless night sky.
Garrett examined the empty checkpoint.
“Someone rerouted every patrol.”
Emerson accessed the security terminal.
“The system shows this gate as closed.”
“Can you identify who changed it?”
“Not without more time.”
“We don’t have it.”
Declan crouched beside the road.
His altered fingers touched the dirt.
The moment his claws scraped across an animal track, his body reacted.
His shoulders narrowed slightly.
Muscles tightened along his legs.
His balance shifted toward the balls of his feet.
Ella watched him.
“What did you touch?”
“Deer track.”
“You can copy traits from footprints?”
Hermes shook his head.
“Not the print itself.
Residual Aether remains where living creatures interact with the environment.
His affinity is unusually receptive.”
Declan stood.
His movements had become lighter.
Faster.
“I know which way it went.”
Garrett frowned.
“The bear?”
“Deer.”
“We don’t need the deer.”
Declan tilted his head.
“The deer smelled the bear.”
Hermes smiled faintly.
“Useful.”
Declan pointed southwest.
“The Thornreaver crossed the road about ten minutes ago.
Buster went ahead of it.”
Lee started forward.
Garrett caught his shoulder.
“We move as a unit.”
Lee looked toward the hand.
Garrett released him.
Wind moved through the trees.
“I can carry our scent away from the house.”
Ella joined her.
Together, they directed a steady current eastward.
Garrett nodded.
“Do it.”
They entered the forest.
Declan led.
His night vision had sharpened enough that he moved without hesitation beneath the trees.
Lee followed behind him with Garrett.
Michelle and Ella maintained the crosswind.
William stayed beside Lilith.
Emerson brought up the rear, using telekinesis to move branches without touching them.
The academy disappeared behind the pines.
The farther they traveled, the stronger the smell of ozone became.
Trees bore deep claw marks.
Several trunks had been scorched black.
Garrett touched one.
“Recent.”
Declan crouched near a patch of disturbed earth.
“Buster stopped here.”
“How do you know?” William asked.
Declan pointed toward a small paw print.
Then he touched it.
His body convulsed.
Short fur spread across the back of his neck.
His nose flattened slightly.
His jaw strengthened.
The change lasted only seconds before settling.
Declan inhaled.
His eyes widened.
“I can hear him.”
“Where?” Lee asked.
“Farther south.”
“Is he hurt?”
“I don’t know.”
Declan started running.
Garrett caught him by the shirt.
“Unit.”
“He needs us.”
“So do your parents.”
That stopped him.
Garrett lowered his voice.
“Your emotions are driving the ability.
If you lose yourself, you become another casualty.”
Declan stared toward the darkness.
The claws on his fingers trembled.
Lee moved beside him.
“Achilles taught me something tonight.”
Declan looked over.
“Besides dying?”
“The objective matters more than the enemy.”
Declan breathed.
“Get Buster.
Protect my family.”
“Exactly.”
His claws shortened slightly.
The group moved again.
They reached the ridge above Declan’s property twenty minutes later.
The house stood below them among the trees.
One side of the rear porch had collapsed beneath the fallen pine.
Lights burned inside.
Declan’s parents had barricaded the rear door with furniture.
Lee saw movement through the window.
They were alive.
Relief crossed Declan’s face.
Then violet lightning flashed behind the house.
The Thornreaver emerged from the trees.
It was larger than the Morvane had been, though lower to the ground.
The corrupted bear moved on four massive legs, its shoulders rising nearly twelve feet above the earth.
Thick brown fur covered most of its body, broken by purple-black veins that pulsed beneath the skin.
Two twisted antlers rose from its skull.
Lightning arced between their branches.
The creature’s red eyes followed something small moving through the yard.
Buster.
The French bulldog barked from behind an overturned wheelbarrow.
He charged three steps toward the bear.
Then retreated when it moved closer.
He was trying to keep its attention away from the house.
Declan made a broken sound in his throat.
“Buster.”
The dog’s ears lifted.
He turned toward the ridge.
For a moment, his eyes found Declan.
Then Lee.
His stubby tail moved once.
The Thornreaver noticed.
Its head turned toward the ridge.
Hermes appeared beside Lee.
“It has been waiting.”
The bear opened its jaws.
Violet lightning gathered between its antlers.
“Down!” Garrett shouted.
The bolt crossed the distance instantly.
Michelle and Ella reacted together.
Wind formed a curving barrier.
The lightning struck it and split into several branches.
Two bolts passed overhead.
One hit a tree.
The trunk exploded.
The shock wave threw everyone to the ground.
Lee rolled and summoned his shield.
Golden armor covered his body.
Garrett stared at it for half a second.
“Later.”
The Thornreaver charged uphill.
“Fall back from the ridge!” Garrett ordered.
“Draw it away from the house.”
Lee understood immediately.
The bear was already moving toward him.
If they retreated east, they could pull it from Declan’s family and Buster.
Lee ran along the ridge.
The Thornreaver changed direction.
“It’s following Lee,” Ella shouted.
“Keep the wind on its left side,” Garrett ordered.
“Force it away from the property.”
Ella and Michelle pushed.
The Thornreaver’s massive body shifted slightly with each gust.
It dug its claws into the earth and continued climbing.
Garrett looked toward Declan.
“Get your family out.”
Declan hesitated.
“I need Buster.”
“William goes with you.”
William nodded.
“We’ll get him.”
Declan looked toward Lee.
“Don’t kill it before I get back.”
Lee stared.
“That’s your concern?”
“I want to touch it.”
Hermes’ eyes sharpened.
“That may be unwise.”
Declan looked at his clawed hands.
“It has bear strength and lightning senses.”
“It also contains corruption.”
Declan’s expression hardened.
“Then I need to know whether I can reject that part.”
Before Hermes could answer, Garrett shouted.
“Move!”
Declan and William ran toward the house.
Lilith followed.
Garrett started to stop her.
She shook her head.
“I know the safe path.”
He let her go.
Lee, Ella, Michelle, Emerson, and Garrett remained on the ridge.
The Thornreaver climbed toward them.
“High Tier Four,” Hermes warned.
“The antlers channel its lightning.
Destroying them will disrupt the ability, but not remove the bear’s physical strength.”
Lee lifted his shield.
“Objective?”
Garrett glanced toward him.
“Keep it away from the house until the civilians are clear.”
“Not kill it?”
“If the opportunity presents itself.”
The Thornreaver roared.
Lightning rolled across the ground.
Emerson raised both hands.
Loose stones and fallen branches lifted around him.
Ella and Michelle gathered wind.
Garrett lowered his sword.
Lee stepped forward.
The night hunt began.
The Thornreaver attacked with shocking speed.
It bounded up the ridge, each leap covering several yards.
Emerson launched the debris.
Stones struck the bear’s face and shoulders.
Broken branches tangled around its antlers.
The creature shook them free.
Ella compressed the air in front of its chest.
The Thornreaver struck the invisible wall and slowed.
Michelle released lightning into the wind.
Blue-white energy collided with violet arcs around the bear’s horns.
The competing currents exploded.
Ella and Michelle were thrown backward.
Lee planted his shield.
The shock wave hit.
His boots carved trenches through the earth, but he remained standing.
The Thornreaver swiped.
Its paw struck the shield.
Lee’s arm went numb.
The impact launched him into a tree.
The trunk cracked behind his armor.
“Lee!” Ella shouted.
“I’m fine.”
He was not.
The divine armor protected his bones, but pain spread through his shoulder and spine.
Achilles’s lesson returned.
Do not resist strength you cannot match.
Redirect.
The bear charged again.
Lee waited until the last moment.
He stepped aside and angled the shield against its shoulder.
The Thornreaver’s own momentum carried it past him.
Garrett attacked the exposed flank.
His Aetherium sword cut through fur and skin.
Black blood sprayed across the ground.
The bear twisted faster than expected.
A backhanded paw caught Garrett across the chest.
His kinetic barrier flashed.
It shattered.
Garrett hit the ground and rolled.
The Thornreaver raised one paw to crush him.
Lee released two shadow tendrils.
They wrapped around Garrett’s armor and dragged him clear.
Garrett stared at the darkness retreating into Lee’s back.
“Shadow too?”
Lee ran past him.
“Later.”
“That list keeps growing.”
Lee slashed the bear’s front leg.
His divine sword opened a deep wound.
The Thornreaver roared and lowered its antlers.
Hermes shouted.
“Move!”
Violet lightning struck Lee’s shield.
Energy spread across the golden surface.
The shield redirected part of the blast, but the rest traveled into Lee’s arm.
His muscles locked.
He dropped to one knee.
The smell of burned cloth filled the air.
The Thornreaver charged.
Lee’s body refused to respond.
Garrett intercepted it.
His sword met one antler.
The collision released a burst of blue and violet light.
The antler held.
Garrett’s blade did not.
A crack appeared near the center of the Aetherium weapon.
The Thornreaver threw its head sideways.
Garrett flew across the clearing.
Emerson caught him with telekinesis before he struck a boulder.
Blood ran from Emerson’s nose.
“I can’t hold him.”
Garrett dropped the final few feet.
Lee forced his fingers to close.
The divine sword remained in his right hand.
Fire gathered along the blade.
The Thornreaver turned.
Its red eyes fixed on him.
Show me more.
Lilit’s whisper moved through the bear’s shadow.
Lee felt Harvest respond.
The creature possessed lightning.
Predatory senses.
Massive strength.
One victory could give him all of it.
The temptation formed before he could stop it.
Hermes saw his expression.
“Do not.”
“It’s not intelligent.”
“That does not make Harvest safe.”
“It could help me protect everyone.”
“Or teach you that every enemy is merely a collection of abilities waiting to be taken.”
The Thornreaver charged.
Lee stood.
He dismissed the fire.
Instead, he drove the shield into the ground and crouched behind it.
The bear struck.
Lee allowed the shield to rotate with the impact.
He moved with the force rather than against it.
The Thornreaver’s paw slid across the curved surface.
Its chest opened.
Lee rolled beneath the creature.
He drove the divine sword upward.
The blade entered below its front leg.
Black blood poured over his armor.
The bear screamed and kicked.
Lee withdrew the sword and rolled clear.
“Good,” Achilles’s voice echoed from memory.
“Complete the objective.”
The creature remained alive.
But it had turned away from the house.
Lee ran deeper into the forest.
“Come on!”
The Thornreaver followed.
Declan reached the yard as the battle moved away.
Buster ran toward him.
“Buster!”
The French bulldog leapt against Declan’s legs.
Declan dropped to his knees and caught him.
The moment his hands touched the dog, the bond opened fully.
Relief.
Fear.
Home.
Lee.
The animal’s emotions flooded Declan.
His body changed again.
Brown-and-black fur spread across his shoulders and spine.
His jaw extended slightly.
His teeth sharpened.
Muscle thickened across his arms and chest.
He remained mostly human, but the shape was no longer entirely his.
William stopped several feet away.
“Declan?”
Declan looked at him.
His golden-brown eyes reflected the porch light.
“I’m okay.”
His voice had deepened.
Buster showed no fear.
The dog licked Declan’s altered face.
Images continued pouring through their connection.
The Thornreaver’s approach.
Buster drawing it away.
The smell of corruption.
Something else.
A second scent on the bear.
Anunnaki metal.
Declan looked toward the forest.
“It was brought here.”
Lilith helped his parents through the rear door.
Declan’s mother froze when she saw him.
“Declan?”
He turned.
Her fear hit harder than the physical transformation.
Declan looked down at his clawed hands.
“Mom, it’s me.”
His father stepped in front of her.
He held a hunting rifle, though his hands trembled.
“What happened to you?”
“I don’t know.”
William moved between them.
“His ability evolved.
He’s still himself.”
Declan’s father kept the rifle lowered but did not release it.
The reaction cut deeper than Declan expected.
Buster growled.
Not at Declan.
At the rifle.
Declan placed one hand on the dog’s back.
“It’s okay.”
His claws shortened.
The fur began to recede.
His face slowly returned to normal.
His mother rushed forward and hugged him before the change fully ended.
Declan stood stiffly.
Then wrapped his arms around her.
Lilith looked toward the forest.
Silver filled her eyes.
“Lee’s in trouble.”
Declan released his mother.
“Take them toward the road.”
William nodded.
“What are you doing?”
Declan looked at Buster.
The dog’s fear and loyalty still moved through him.
“I’m finishing the bond.”
Before anyone could stop him, Declan ran toward the battle.
Buster followed.
Lee could no longer feel his left arm.
The Thornreaver had driven him nearly a quarter mile from the house.
That meant the plan was working.
It also meant he had separated himself from most of the group.
Garrett remained behind them, injured but moving.
Ella and Michelle followed through the trees.
Emerson had fallen farther back after exhausting his telekinesis.
The Thornreaver’s wound slowed it, but anger made it reckless.
It tore through trees instead of circling them.
Lightning flashed from its antlers.
Lee changed direction whenever the air began to hum.
One bolt struck near his feet.
The explosion threw him forward.
He hit the ground.
His divine sword slid into the darkness.
The bear emerged behind him.
Lee summoned the sword back.
Golden light formed in his hand.
He rolled as a paw struck the ground.
The impact opened a crater.
Lee slashed at the nearest antler.
The divine blade cut halfway through.
Violet electricity exploded.
Lee was thrown backward.
The damaged horn hung at an angle.
Hermes appeared beside him.
“Again.”
Lee tried to stand.
His legs shook.
The Thornreaver lowered its head.
The broken antler crackled violently.
Lightning began feeding backward into the bear’s skull.
Hermes had been right.
The horns were both weapon and weakness.
Lee raised his sword.
The bear charged.
A roar came from the forest.
Not the Thornreaver.
Something smaller.
Faster.
Declan leapt from between the trees.
He no longer looked fully human.
Brown-and-black fur covered his shoulders, arms, and the sides of his face.
His hands ended in curved claws.
His legs had changed shape, giving him a digitigrade stance that propelled him forward in powerful bounds.
Buster ran behind him.
Declan struck the Thornreaver’s injured side.
His claws tore through the wound Lee had opened.
The bear twisted and threw him away.
Declan hit the ground on all fours.
He rose immediately.
Lee stared.
“You followed us?”
Declan bared sharpened teeth.
“You told me the objective was Buster.”
The dog barked from behind a tree.
“Objective complete.”
The Thornreaver roared.
Declan’s altered ears flattened.
His pupils widened.
He could hear the lightning building before it discharged.
“Left!”
Lee moved.
A violet bolt passed through the space where he had stood.
Declan charged again.
He touched the Thornreaver’s wounded leg.
His affinity reacted.
Muscle expanded across his shoulders.
His arms thickened.
Dark brown fur spread farther across his body.
Violet sparks moved through the claws on his right hand.
Then corruption surged with them.
Black veins appeared beneath his skin.
Declan screamed and released the bear.
He fell backward.
Hermes appeared beside him.
“Reject it!”
“I don’t know how!”
“Choose what belongs to the animal.
Refuse what was placed inside it.”
Declan gripped his arm.
The corruption climbed toward his shoulder.
Buster ran to him.
The dog pressed against his side.
The bond reopened.
Loyalty.
Home.
Declan.
Declan focused on Buster’s scent.
His heartbeat.
The warmth of his body.
He separated those sensations from the cold hunger carried by the Thornreaver.
The black veins stopped.
Then receded.
The bear strength remained.
The violet sparks vanished.
Declan rose.
“I can’t take the lightning.”
Hermes nodded.
“Not without taking the corruption with it.”
Lee looked toward the damaged antler.
“Then we break the source.”
Garrett reached the clearing.
He leaned against a tree, one arm pressed to his ribs.
“Plan?”
Lee pointed toward the hanging horn.
“Force it to discharge through itself.”
Michelle and Ella arrived behind him.
Michelle saw the broken antler.
“If I connect the two horns, I might create a feedback loop.”
“What happens to you?” Ella asked.
“If the current comes back?”
Michelle looked toward the enormous bear.
“I don’t know.”
Lee shook his head.
“We redirect it through the sword.”
His divine weapon could channel fire.
Perhaps it could channel lightning long enough to guide the current.
Hermes frowned.
“The sword may survive.
You may not.”
“Better option?”
No one offered one.
Garrett looked toward Declan.
“Can you hold it?”
Declan flexed his altered arms.
“Not for long.”
“That’s all we need.”
They moved at once.
Ella compressed wind around the Thornreaver’s head, forcing it downward.
Declan leapt onto the bear’s back.
His claws sank through fur and bone plates.
The creature reared.
Declan wrapped both arms around one antler and pulled.
Bear strength surged through his hybrid body.
The damaged horn bent farther.
Garrett struck the creature’s front leg.
The Thornreaver dropped to one knee.
Michelle raised both hands.
Electricity gathered around her arms.
“I need a path.”
Lee drove his divine sword into the ground between the bear’s antlers.
Golden light spread along the blade.
Michelle released the current.
Blue-white lightning struck the sword.
The weapon carried it upward.
The energy jumped from the blade to the damaged horn.
Then across to the second.
The Thornreaver screamed.
Violet lightning surged backward into its skull.
Declan released the antler and leapt clear.
The first horn exploded.
Fragments of corrupted bone tore through the air.
Lee raised his shield.
The second antler cracked.
The bear staggered.
Its six-ton body swayed.
The corrupted core beneath its chest became visible through the wound.
Lee saw the opening.
Harvest pulled toward it.
He refused.
“Garrett!”
The captain understood.
He ran forward and drove the broken Aetherium sword into the exposed core.
The blade snapped.
But the core fractured with it.
Lee followed.
He drove the divine sword through the same opening.
Fire traveled down the blade.
Not lightning.
Not shadow.
Only the ability he had already revealed.
The core shattered.
The Thornreaver collapsed.
Black veins faded from its fur.
The creature’s enormous body struck the earth.
Silence returned to the forest.
No Aether crystal rose from the corpse.
Instead, the corruption burned away, leaving the body of an impossibly large brown bear beneath the moonlight.
Lee stared at it.
Hermes stood beside him.
“You chose not to Harvest.”
Lee released the sword.
“I didn’t need to.”
Achilles’s lesson remained with him.
Complete the objective.
Do not mistake every enemy for a prize.
Garrett pulled the broken remains of his weapon from the bear’s chest.
“Someone is going to explain what Harvest means.”
Lee looked toward Hermes.
The god pretended not to notice.
Declan staggered.
His hybrid form began collapsing.
The fur receded.
His arms returned to human proportions.
His legs shifted back.
He fell to one knee.
Buster ran to him.
Declan wrapped both arms around the dog.
“I’ve got you.”
Buster licked his face.
Declan laughed weakly.
Lee crouched beside them.
“You look terrible.”
Declan looked up.
“You died forty-three times tonight.”
“That wasn’t real.”
“It hurt, didn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Then I win.”
William and Lilith arrived with Declan’s parents several minutes later.
His mother rushed toward him.
Captain Garrett attempted to stop her from entering the battlefield.
She ignored him.
She dropped beside Declan and hugged both him and Buster.
Declan’s father stood behind them, staring at the dead Thornreaver.
Then toward the group of freshmen surrounding it.
“What exactly are they teaching you at that academy?”
Garrett looked toward Lee’s divine armor.
Ella and Michelle stood exhausted beside a crater filled with glassed earth.
Emerson emerged from the woods with blood drying beneath his nose.
Lilith’s silver eyes still shone.
Declan’s hands retained the last traces of claws.
Garrett released a slow breath.
“Not enough.”
The academy response teams arrived twenty minutes later.
Too late to fight.
Early enough to control the scene.
Military vehicles surrounded Declan’s property.
Human investigators collected fragments of the Thornreaver’s antlers while Anunnaki technicians examined its body.
Sarratum arrived with them.
Her metallic eyes moved immediately toward Lee.
Then Declan.
She knelt beside the bear’s head and removed a small golden device buried beneath its ear.
The object resembled a thin needle connected to a crystalline disk.
Garrett saw it.
“What is that?”
Sarratum studied the device.
“A directional beacon.”
“Anunnaki?”
“Yes.”
“Who placed it?”
She looked toward the academy lights in the distance.
“The device carries no identifying seal.”
Lee knew that meant very little.
Zal’thar would not sign his work.
Sarratum placed the beacon inside a containment case.
“This creature was guided here.”
Declan’s father stepped closer.
“To my house?”
“No.”
Sarratum looked at Lee.
“To him.”
The investigators turned.
Captain Garrett moved between Lee and the Anunnaki personnel.
“The student requires medical treatment.”
Sarratum’s gaze shifted toward his burned armor and shaking left hand.
“So does the shapeshifter.”
Declan looked around.
“Shapeshifter?”
Hermes appeared beside him.
“An imprecise term, but not entirely inaccurate.”
Several soldiers reached for their weapons when Hermes materialized.
Garrett raised one hand.
“Stand down.”
Sarratum stared at the Greek god.
For the first time since Lee had met her, genuine surprise broke through her control.
“Hermes.”
“Sarratum.”
“You know each other?” Lee asked.
Hermes smiled without warmth.
“We have met.”
Sarratum looked toward Declan.
“What form did he take?”
“Partial canine and ursine traits,” Hermes said.
“The manifestation remained unstable.”
Declan examined his normal hands.
“Canine and ursine.”
William nodded.
“Dog-man-bear.”
Declan glared.
Sarratum ignored them.
“His affinity is not animal communication.”
“What is it?” Declan asked.
“Adaptive therianthropy.”
No one spoke.
Declan frowned.
“In English?”
Hermes answered.
“Your Aether allows you to manifest attributes from animals with which you form a sufficiently strong physical or spiritual connection.”
Declan looked toward Buster.
“So I can turn into animals?”
“Not exactly.”
Hermes gestured toward him.
“You remain human at the core.
The animal traits build upon that foundation.”
“Like a werewolf?”
“Potentially.”
Declan’s eyes widened.
“A weretiger?”
“If you survive touching one.”
“A werebear?”
“You have already begun forming that path.”
William grinned.
“This is the happiest I’ve ever seen him.”
Declan looked down at Buster.
“What about French bulldog?”
Hermes considered the question.
“You may become compact, stubborn, unusually loud, and prone to breathing difficulties.”
Buster barked.
Declan pointed toward him.
“He says that was disrespectful.”
Hermes raised an eyebrow.
“You understood him?”
Declan paused.
The words had not entered his mind exactly.
He had felt them.
Indignation.
Challenge.
Treat demand.
“He didn’t use words.”
“The bond is deepening,” Hermes said.
“Communication was merely the first expression of your affinity.”
Declan scratched Buster’s head.
The dog leaned against his leg.
Lee felt relieved.
Then he noticed Sarratum watching him again.
Not his armor.
Not his sword.
His face.
“You expected the creature,” she said.
“No.”
“You recognized its purpose.”
“After it attacked.”
“You also resisted the Morvane’s corruption.”
Garrett stepped closer.
“This conversation is over.”
Sarratum rose.
“The academy will require full reports.”
“You’ll receive one.”
“Complete reports.”
Garrett’s expression hardened.
“You’ll receive what human command authorizes.”
Sarratum closed the containment case.
“Zal’thar will not accept that.”
“Then Zal’thar can discuss it with me.”
Sarratum studied him.
“I suspect he will.”
She walked toward the waiting transport.
Lee watched her leave.
Hermes’ voice entered his thoughts.
“She is afraid.”
“Of Zal’thar?”
“Perhaps.”
“Or me?”
Hermes looked toward the dead Thornreaver.
“You refused Harvest when it offered significant power.”
“That’s good, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Then why do you look worried?”
“Because Lilit learned something tonight.”
Lee looked toward the forest.
“What?”
“That you can resist temptation.”
Hermes’ expression darkened.
“She will choose a different weapon next time.”
They returned to Academy 151 shortly before dawn.
Garrett ordered the official report to describe the incident as an emergency civilian rescue conducted under faculty supervision.
It was technically true.
It omitted nearly everything that mattered.
Captain Hailey examined Declan first.
His body showed no permanent animal characteristics, but traces of unfamiliar Aether remained distributed through his muscles and nervous system.
“You will not touch any more corrupted animals,” she told him.
Declan sat on the infirmary bed with Buster beside him.
“Wasn’t planning to.”
“You asked about weretigers less than an hour ago.”
“That would be a normal tiger.”
Hailey stared.
“No tigers.”
“What about lions?”
“No large predators.”
“Wolves?”
“Declan.”
“Fine.”
Buster sneezed.
Declan looked down.
“He thinks you’re being unreasonable.”
“I’m adding the dog to the restriction.”
Buster growled.
Hailey turned toward Lee.
“Your friends are exhausting.”
“They were like that before Aether.”
She examined the electrical burns along his left arm.
His divine armor had repaired itself, but the skin beneath it remained damaged.
William placed both hands around Lee’s forearm.
Blue healing energy spread through the tissue.
Pain eased.
Lee looked toward Declan.
“Can you still feel the bear?”
Declan closed his eyes.
“For a second.”
His shoulders thickened slightly.
Then returned to normal.
“I can remember how its muscles felt.”
Hermes nodded.
“Memory will allow you to recreate traits without direct contact, but only after sufficient practice.”
Declan looked toward the mirror.
“Can I choose which parts change?”
“Eventually.”
“Could I have wolf legs, tiger claws, eagle eyes, and bear strength?”
“Possibly.”
William shook his head.
“He’s already designing himself.”
Declan ignored him.
“What about wings?”
“Animal attributes must remain physically compatible with your available Aether and body structure.”
“So maybe.”
Hermes sighed.
“Yes.
Maybe.”
Declan smiled.
Lee had rarely seen him look so excited.
The transformation had frightened him.
His parents’ reaction had wounded him.
But beneath both emotions lived wonder.
His ability was no longer limited to hearing animals.
One day, Declan might stand beside Lee as a towering wolf-man or striped feline warrior.
If he learned control.
If corruption did not take him first.
Captain Garrett entered the infirmary.
His ribs had been wrapped beneath a clean uniform shirt.
He carried the broken pieces of his Aetherium sword.
“Woods.”
Lee looked up.
“Sir?”
“Private training is still at 0500.”
Lee glanced toward the window.
The first traces of sunrise colored the sky.
“That’s in twenty minutes.”
“I know.”
“You’re injured.”
“So are you.”
“That seems like a reason to cancel.”
Garrett placed the broken sword on a nearby table.
“It seems like a reason to start.”
Lee looked toward Hermes.
The god smiled.
“You did say you wanted to become stronger.”
Lee leaned back against the infirmary bed.
“I regret telling anyone that.”
Garrett turned toward the door.
“Training field three.
Twenty minutes.”
He left.
William laughed.
Lee looked toward him.
“You’re enjoying this.”
“Immensely.”
Michelle entered the infirmary carrying several cups of coffee.
Ella and Lilith followed her.
Michelle handed one to Lee.
“You look like you need this.”
Lee accepted it.
Their fingers touched.
A small spark jumped between them.
Not ordinary static.
The Aether Soul stirred.
Mimicry reached toward Michelle’s lightning.
Lee severed the connection immediately.
Michelle noticed his expression.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
Her eyes narrowed.
Lee remembered Achilles’s warning.
Do not apologize with words.
Show restraint when power offers an advantage.
He looked down at the coffee.
“Mimicry activated.”
Michelle became still.
“Did you copy anything?”
“No.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
She watched him carefully.
Then nodded.
“Thank you for telling me.”
It was a small moment.
But it felt more important than another stolen affinity.
Lilith sat beside Declan.
Her silver eyes flashed.
She gripped the edge of the bed.
Ella caught her shoulder.
“What do you see?”
Lilith stared toward the academy window.
The sunrise vanished from her vision.
She saw a dark chamber beneath Academy 151.
Zal’thar stood before a wall of floating images.
Lee fighting the Thornreaver.
Declan changing form.
Michelle channeling lightning.
Ella shaping wind.
Garrett protecting them.
Every movement had been recorded.
Behind Zal’thar stood a tall figure hidden beneath a black cloak.
Two pale eyes glowed beneath the hood.
Zal’thar pointed toward Declan’s image.
“The therianthrope is developing faster than predicted.”
The cloaked figure spoke.
“Then separate him from the pack before he learns what he can become.”
Lilith gasped.
The vision ended.
Everyone looked toward her.
“What?” Declan asked.
Lilith’s face had gone pale.
She reached for his hand.
“They saw you transform.”
Declan’s excitement disappeared.
“Who?”
“Zal’thar.”
Lee set down the coffee.
“And someone else.”
Hermes moved closer.
“Who?”
Lilith shook her head.
“I couldn’t see his face.”
Silver light lingered in her eyes.
“But he wasn’t looking at Lee.”
She tightened her grip on Declan’s hand.
“He was looking at you.”