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"Sila, stop! Leave him alone!" I screamed, lunging forward, but the guard with the iron rod shoved it closer to my skin, the blistering heat pinning me back.

Sky let out a wheezing, desperate gasp. In a blind, instinctual move of self-defence, the boy reached his hand up, his fingers pressing hard against Sila’s pale, scarred cheek to push her away.

And then, the world seemed to stop spinning.

Sila froze. Her grip didn't loosen, but her red eyes widened into massive plates of sudden, paralysing shock.

I stared, my breath catching in my throat as the sickly green torchlight caught the boy's face. Sky’s eyes—the completely milky, hollow eyes of a Vakra—were changing. Deep within the cloudy centres, a slow, swirling warmth bloomed, shifting from a dead white to a vibrant, glowing amber.

It wasn't just his eyes. Where his fingers pressed against Sila's face, the friction caused a sudden, unbelievable reaction. The ghostly, dead-grey skin of his hand and wrist began to warp, gaining a deep, healthy flush of colour—the unmistakable tone of the earth, the trees, and the sun.

The realisation crashed into my mind like a shattering pane of glass, turning my panic into a roaring, blinding epiphany.

They weren't a separate, deformed species of aliens. They weren't trash meant to rot in the dark.

"They're Oru-ka," I whispered, the words trembling before exploding into a fierce, desperate scream that echoed over the machines’ roar. I looked up, shouting at the sprawling cavern, my eyes tearing across the faces surrounding us. "Look at him! Look at his eyes! You are Oru-ka! The Alu’un will take you back! The forest will accept you! You're not monsters—you're just broken! You're worth saving! All of you are worth saving!"

My voice pierced the mechanical thrum, and for a heavy, breathless second, the dynamic in the cavern fractured. Near the central vertical shafts, several of the impoverished dregs stopped their slaving, staring at Sky’s transforming skin with wide, hollow eyes that kindled with a sudden, fragile hope. Even a few lower-ranking guards stepped back, their pikes lowering an inch, confusion warring with the ingrained fear on their scarred faces. But the higher-ranking warriors immediately snarled, their expressions twisting into deep, venomous disgust as they hissed warnings to the lower tiers to keep them in line.

CRACK.

A brutal, heavy backhand caught me squarely across the jaw. The force of Geth’s massive hand sent me crashing violently to the floor. My vision swam with black spots, the metallic taste of my own blood instantly filling my mouth as my cheek slammed against the cold decking.

"Silence the boy”, Geth roared, his chest heaving with a sudden, dark fury as he stared at Sky's trembling form.

But before Sila could snap the boy's neck, the entire cavern suddenly went deathly still.

The low hum of the machinery didn't stop, but everything inside me locked into absolute alignment. From deep within the upper tunnels, travelling through layers of solid bedrock and weeping stone, came a sound that made the very foundations of the cavern vibrate.

It was a roar. A massive, deafening, prehistoric sound of pure, unadulterated wrath.

Geth’s back instantly went rigid. His massive tail whipped horizontally, slamming against a structural pipe as his head snapped toward the eastern archway. Beside him, Sila froze, her grip on Sky slackening just enough for the boy to gasp for air.

My heart leapt into my throat, a fierce, soaring warmth bursting through the agony in my body. The bond behind my ribs flared to life, burning like a beacon in the dark.

Kaelen.

He was here. He was coming to tear this mountain apart.

Geth looked down at me, his red eyes narrowing as a slow, knowing smirk crept across his jagged jaw. He didn't look afraid; he looked like a predator whose trap had just snapped shut.

"The tree-prince has followed his pet," Geth murmured, his voice dripping with malice. He turned his gaze back to Sila. "Leave the runt. Go to Plan B."

I pushed myself up on a trembling elbow, spitting blood onto the metal grating. "Plan B? What the hell is Plan B? What are you doing?!"

Geth ignored me entirely. Sila roughly dropped Sky to the floor, the boy curling into a shivering ball as he clutched his throat. Sila turned her head toward the shadows of the recessed alcove and hissed a sharp command. "Pet. Over here. Now."

Tyler stepped out of the darkness, his frame rigid, the iron collar around his neck reflecting the pipes’ sickly red light. He walked with his head down, but when he reached Sila, she leaned down, her long tail twitching as she whispered a low, rapid sequence of orders directly into his ear.

Tyler’s face went completely pale. His shoulders tensed, but under the absolute weight of his forced compliance, he simply nodded. He turned away from us and walked directly toward the dark corridor where the echoes of Kaelen's roar were still fading.

Before he disappeared into the gloom, Tyler paused for a fraction of a second. He turned his head, his guarded eyes finding mine through the dim light. No malice in his expression—only a profound, crushing weight of apology. An unspoken I'm sorry before he walked into the dark to do exactly what they commanded.

I don't know what she whispered to him, but I just know it's going to involve Kaelen... my mate. A sickening dread twisted in my gut, sharper than any of the physical torture they had inflicted. They were going to use Tyler as bait, or a weapon, or a shield.

"Tyler, no! Don't do it!" I screamed, trying to scramble to my feet, but Sila stepped over me.

With a brutal, swift strike of her boot, she kicked Sky hard in the temple. The youngling went instantly limp, rolling onto his side, unconscious.