CHAPTER 77: CHAPTER 77

"Why?" Rhea asked, her voice a gentle whisper as she knelt close to Zeenare.

"There seems to be some kind of poison in their claws." Ravira’s fingers trembled as she trailed them through the liquid around Zeenare’s wound.

"What can we...do—" Rhea’s voice broke. The word died in her throat as her eyes rolled back and she slumped forward, and her body went limp, collapsing to the ground.

"Madame!" Ravira shouted, lunging forward to catch her, but Rhea’s body had already gone limp, crumpling before her hands could reach.

Then she turned to Othimise who was by Aluna side, "Can you carry her?" She asked, with a frantic voice.

Then added. "We have to leave this place, there no home for us here anymore." Her eyes slid to the wreckage of mansion. "We should go to Lexicon, the Alpha Queen has to know of... this." Her eyes shifted to the scattered remains of the Kegi.

"With her?" Aluna croaked, his eyes wide with fear as he stared at Rhea.

"It’s all the more reason we should go." She rasped, her voice tight, "She is the reason why all of this happened."

They all shared a glance amongst themselves, as the wind pass through with the smell of reckoning, waiting for the portal to open.

The portal opened with a shimmering hum, and a wave of cool, pristine air washed over them.

Othimise staggered through, his arms full of Rhea, who was still limp and unconscious, his face pale and his wings mangled. Ravira followed, with Aluna by her side. But it was the sight of Zeenare that drew every eye. A team of powerful Sirens, a specialized medical unit, rushed to his side. They took him and carefully placed him on a hovering stretcher.

Before Othimise and the others could even reach the palace gates, a figure emerged. She was tall, with hair the color of a blinding light and eyes that glowed with a cold, unyielding authority of the deep ocean. The Alpha Queen—Zeenare’s mother—stopped dead, her gaze sweeping over the chaos. Her face a mask of cold fury.

"Explain," she commanded, her voice not a shout but a low vibration that made the ground tremble. "Why was Lexicon not informed? Why is my son bleeding on my doorstep?" Her eyes, sharp and accusatory, settled on Othimise. "And why is this... human here?"

Othimise bowed his head, clutching his side tightly. "Your Grace, we had no choice. It was an unplanned attack from our part and it was swift and brutal."

The queen’s gaze didn’t soften. "What is it that could cause this much damage to my son?" The queen asked, not taking her eyes of Othimise.

"A Kegi. You Majextry." He answered softly, his voice trembling.

"A Kegi?" she repeated, a scoff in her voice. "Are you telling me a mere Kegi from Auxe did this to my son?" She pointed at him, then turned to Ravira. "To the extent that even she can’t heal him?" She spat out, her voice laced with venom.

Othimise hesitated, then spoke again, his voice barely a whisper. "They are elder Kegi—one that could speak and transform, Mogxecheni." He gave a deep bow.

Her brow slightly twiched then it disappeared as she tried hidden her emotion. Murmuring ripped from the others standing by, listening.

Then her gaze drifted to Rhea. "I don’t know why you brought her here but you are taking her back." She stated.

"You Majextry," Ravira rushed to the front then fell on her knees. "There is a reason we brought her here. We know the rules too well to want to break them. But this..." She point to Rhea, "Will not disappoint you."

"Then speak before I have your head for this insolence. I’m not ready for your pitt-patt." The queen’s voice was like ice.

With a brief hesitation Ravira began, "We believe the kegis were on a mission to kill Rhea." She paused, her voice shaking slightly. "But mysteriously she killed them all by transforming into something... somewhat of a siren. She is a Siren now, a fully awakened one or perhaps an hybrid. And she is also the one who saved him... us too." She added.

The Alpha Queen’s gaze flickered to Rhea. "A Siren? Impossible. The Tide Bureau would have known."

"This is beyond any knowledge we have," Ravira insisted, her voice tight with conviction. "but we have proof. Her rewritten cells... her regenerative ability is unlike anything we’ve seen."

As she spoke, the medical team stepped forward. Their faces, once serene, were now etched with confusion and a growing dread. The head healer stepped forward, his voice tight. "Your Grace, we cannot stop the bleeding. The wounds... they are not closing."

The Alpha Queen’s cold mask finally cracked. "What do you mean?" she asked, her voice laced with a genuine fear that wasn’t there before.

"The wounds... they’re laced with a powerful substance. It’s not a poison we have ever encountered. It’s destroying his regenerative cells. It’s... it’s killing him." The healer swallowed hard. "We have to go to the Deep to drill it out of his body. It is the only way."

A heavy silence filled the space. The Alpha Queen’s eyes drifted from her son’s still form to the unconscious Rhea, then back to the healer. "What is this poison called?" she asked, her voice a death moving whisper.

"We don’t know yet, Your Grace, but we think it might be WitchWool," the healer rasped,

"What made you come to that conclusion?" The queen asked.

"it seems to be designed to kill our kind. And the witches came to mind because they are the only clan that can make potions that can hurt us." The healer said.

"Give them a room and attend to the wounds." She ordered, then turned to the head healer. "And do everything in you power to bring my son back to health."

As she moved forward a voice asked among the soldiers. "What about that human your Majextry?"

She stopped in her tracks. Her back was to the soldier, as chilling silence fell. Slowly, she turned her head. Her eyes, filled with a cold, terrifying finality, settled on the unconscious Rhea. "Lock her up in a celler."

Ravira tried to speak up but Othimise stopped her, holding her by her shoulder, slowly shaking his head.

Moment later, Zeenare was laid on a medical slab, his skin a ghostly pale from it former self. As the healer surrounded him, moving the table over a glowing light greenish water. As he levelled on it, they began chanting, their hands glowing with soft, pure energy, weaving healing chants into his body.

As the light increases and began to form unison of total healing the light flickered and dimmed, unable to take hold.

Zeenare’s mother who stood at a distance, her arms crossed, her face a mask of terror. Shifted in her stance. She who was a being of immense power, couldn’t even hide the terror in her eyes. She watched as the deep wounds on Zeenare’s body, which should have closed instantly, remained the same with a, viscous fluid trailing from it.

Everything they did was all wrong. Totally wrong. The wounds were unnaturally still, refusing to respond to any magic, anything at all.

With the growing tension within the medic capsule, The head healer, a stoic male Siren with centuries of experience, looked up, his face etched with dread. "Your Grace, it’s not working. The regenerative spells have no effect on him." He stated.

Though she could see that, the Queen still asked, her composure shattering.v"What do you mean, ’no effect’?" she demanded, striding forward. "He is my son! A prince of the Tide! His body can heal from anything!" She voiced desperately.

"Not this," the healer said, his voice grave, his eyes darting back to Zeenare. "The wounds are poisoned. And the substance doesn’t seem to be witchwool either. It’s not a simple toxin. Who ever created this, did it as a weapon designed to dismantle life force itself. It is consuming his healing cells faster than we can replenish them."

"Then what is it? I need something to hold onto. Give me something." She said.

"The analysis is complete, Your Grace." A young healer, his hands trembling, stepped forward with a data slate. "The poison is a sophisticated magical construct. We have never encountered anything like it."

"What is wrong with all of you? You keep going on in circles saying the same thing. Is this what makes you my best healers." She snapped, her gaze unfiltered.

The healer took a shuddering breath. "With the type of herb components in this, it has the ability to turn our very strength against us."

The Queen’s eyes, blazing with fury, bored into him. "Then what do you call a poison that attacks the very essence of the Tide?" she asked, her voice a grave whisper.

"I would have named it Tidebane."

A heavy silence fell over the room. The word "Tidebane" hung in the air, a cold weight of fear and dread. The Queen looked from her dying son. Her face was grim, her mind already racing with the implications.

She turned to her guards. "Secure the medical wing," she commanded. "No one enters or leaves. A call for an emergency council meeting. We have a new enemy."