Ian:

For a brief moment, everything turned dark for me.

I did not know where I was until I started to regain my senses and found a scuffle between two people I did not expect to see.

One looked like me, and the other was my father.

For a moment, I thought I was dreaming, until I realized my father was in the north, and that was not me.

That was my brother, Zian.

I forced myself up and pushed forward because I realized Zian was uncontrollable here, especially on the dark side.

He was unable to control his negative side.

I watched my father’s face turn red, black veins popping into his temples.

The dark side had touched my father too. The two were technically monsters.

They were supposed to stay away from the north, especially the dark side.

Sadly, they were here now. I failed to understand how it happened.

I only knew that they were here.

"Father!" I yelled, clearing my throat as I got to my feet and rushed toward him.

My brother had already pulled my father’s arms away from around his neck and pushed him back.

Then he charged at him at full speed and raised a punch in the air.

For a few seconds, everything went silent.

It felt like Zian would realize what he was about to do, that he was about to raise his hand on his own father.

Then it felt like all the humanity inside him vanished.

He suddenly struck his own father with a punch.

"No!" I screamed before Zian could punch again, and I dashed into him.

I drove my shoulder into his stomach and knocked him back with me as I fell.

We both hit the ground and rolled for a moment.

Then I got on top of him and grabbed both his hands, trying to control him, but it was not working.

It was as if he was far more powerful than anything I had ever seen.

The way he fought back, he grabbed both my hands and shoved me backward.

I realized that if he was not controlled, things would get much worse.

Right now, we had to act fast. There was no time to hesitate.

I pushed myself up and ran back toward Zian because his attention had shifted to our father again.

My father tried to grab him with both hands, but Zian shrugged himself free.

As he turned, he punched my father in the face, then turned around and swiftly kicked him in the chest.

He sent my father flying back into a tree. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

As my father hit the ground, I noticed claws starting to emerge from his hands.

"So it is not just you who has this power," Zian laughed at my father as he stretched his hands out, and the claws came out without any effort.

Suddenly, the ground shook so violently that it felt like we would all fall.

My eyes shifted to Clementine and the others.

Rue and Leysa were gone. They had already moved deeper into the forest.

Troy was lying there, covered in blood.

Clementine kept looking between us, then at Troy, and then toward Leysa, who was no longer in our sight.

"We should transition," Clementine said.

I shook my head.

"No, you know that if a wolf transitions, its negativity or even its presence attracts monsters. They start following it, thinking another beast has entered the area. We cannot afford that right now," I explained quickly to Clementine.

The ground shook again, and we fell once more. Zian was the only one still standing.

My posture wavered slightly, but Zian did not even flinch.

Then our eyes lifted upward, and we saw dark clouds spreading across the sky.

I suddenly snapped my head back toward Clementine, and realization struck.

"The five hours are up. They have taken the second stone out," Clementine said, and I pulled her back.

When I turned again, my father and my brother were crashing into each other, throwing punches and kicks.

My father was trying his best not to give Zian enough time to complete his full transition.

"Clementine, dig a ground and bury this and leave a mark for Yorick and Haiden to later find it. Quickly," I instructed as I threw the stone toward her.

I moved forward to protect my father because it had become clear that Zian intended to kill him.

In his hand, he held a white tiger, a special kind my father kept in his basement.

It could injure any monster. Whether it could kill, I did not know, but it could paralyze them.

My father was running into the woods, trying to get as much distance from Zian as possible. Zian was right behind him with the dagger.

He caught up to my father and tried to stab him, but my father kept dodging.

Then my father kicked him in the chest, making him fall back, but he got up again.

I lunged forward, and before Zian could attack my father, I pushed him back. Now it was just the three of us.

One of us would strike, another would endure, and then the blow would land on someone else.

Then Zian would kick me, and while I was recovering, my father would attack him.

When Zian threw my father away, I would rush in and punch him in the back of the neck.

It kept going until we realized we were back on the road again.

We were exhausted. We had no idea how much time had passed, but I hoped Clementine had buried the stone because the earth had stabilized.

Then my father finally grabbed Zian by the collar.

"You have lost your mind," my father yelled at him.

Zian’s eyes began to fill with tears.

"Yeah, after I found out that you wanted to kill me and show my body just to secure Ian a future."

As soon as he said that, my body tensed.

Tears formed in my eyes as I watched my brother look at us so helplessly.

"But I would have never let that happen," I said to my brother, making his eyes soften at me.