The crackling of burning wood echoed through the night, the flames licking hungrily at the air as thick black smoke curled into the dark canopy above the forest on the outskirts of town. The scent of ash and blood lingered, seeping into the trees like a curse.
A circle of cloaked, broad-shouldered men stood solemnly around the fire, their eyes cold, their mouths murmuring incantations in a language long forgotten by time. At the center of it all stood Nemus, a towering figure cloaked in shadow and menace. His voice thundered in a steady chant, ancient and guttural, as if the forest itself recoiled from his words. Beside him, regal and eerie, was Regina, her expression unreadable in the firelight.
As the final words of the spell fell from his lips, silence fell like a shroud. Nemus reached for Regina's hand, his eyes burning with a twisted devotion.
"It's time," he whispered.
Regina nodded once and knelt by the fire, her eyes locked with his.
"I remembered my promise, Gina. And tonight, I will fulfill it. Close your eyes."
She hesitated, then slowly shut them.
Darkness.
Then light.
Flashes of memory came unbidden, painful, vivid, and unrelenting.
She stood once more in the familiar, echoing hallways of Caveroop High, but they were different now, quiet, dreamlike, haunted. Voices from the past whispered on the wind, tugging at her soul.
"You're so cool... I wish I could be like you..." her own voice echoed faintly, full of naïve admiration.
"I would make you like me... if you stand by me..." replied another, deeper voice one she now knew too well.
She turned and there it was.
The memory she could never forget.
Rejoice and Nemus locked in brutal battle, gods among mortals. The hallway was aflame, shattered by the force of their clash. The walls cracked and pulsed with supernatural energy.
Rejoice stood tall, divine flames of silver engulfing her, her white eyes burning with fury. Nemus, monstrous and wild, radiated chaos. His skin pulsed with black veins, his claws slick with corrupted power, his eyes an abyss.
They clashed light against shadow, faith against fury. Walls crumbled, air shattered. Nemus overwhelmed with brute force and fearsome illusions, but Rejoice's will was indomitable. She shattered the lies, the phantoms, the fear.
Regina watched, powerless, heart racing, her throat tight.
The scene shifted.
Now she was seeing herself again carrying Nemus's broken, lifeless body through the forest, away from the carnage. She remembered the weight of him, the pain in her chest.
Tears rolled down her cheeks as the present pulled her back. The men chanted louder around her, their voices unified in rhythm and darkness.
She opened her eyes.
Nemus was no longer the same. His veins bulged, black and pulsating. His teeth had grown into jagged fangs. He looked at her, and without warning, he sank them deep into her neck.
She gasped, her eyes fluttering open, catching the shifting clouds above. Darkness was gathering. She saw herself now, standing in the clearing, drenched in sweat and mud, her clothes torn from running, holding Nemus to her chest.
A figure emerged from the woods, Tarrus, cloaked in disappointment, wearing an expression of solemn acceptance.
"Plan failed. Target not found. I told ya," he said coldly, looking down at his brother's half-destroyed body. He shook his head. "His loss. Burn the body. We're done."
Regina grabbed his clothe eyes desperate. "No! It's not over! Not until he keeps his promise!"
"The dudes dead Gina, get a grip"
She slowly left his clothe crying bitterly
Tarrus stared at her in silence. Then, reluctantly, he sighed.
"You owe me," he said, his voice low.
He knelt beside Nemus's body, drew a dagger, and slit his own wrist. Blood gushed freely. He pressed it to Nemus's lips, letting the crimson flow into his brother's mouth. With his free hand, he began chanting a different spell, older, raw with forbidden power.
A sharp light, sweeping over the trees. The chanting stopped. The wind stilled.
Nemus stirred.
His wounds began to close. His breath returned.
Regina turned toward Tarrus, shocked.
He stood in the light, trembling. His skin had gone ghostly pale, almost translucent. As the sun pierced through, his skin turned red and raw. He hissed, stepping back into the shadows.
Regina stared, wide-eyed. "You're..."
"I know," he cut her off, eyes glowing a sharp, unnatural blue. "Just don't tell him."
And with that, Tarrus disappeared into the forest's dark embrace.
Regina hissed, wincing.
She could feel the transformation now her veins ablaze with new energy. Her skin began to dry, scales vanishing. Her throat ached, parched. Her fingernails lengthened into claws. Her teeth pushed forward, sharp and cruel. Black veins webbed across her face as her eyes turned blood red.
Pain screamed through every nerve.
But when it ended, she stood, stronger, reborn.
Nemus held her hand and helped her rise. Their eyes met.
"You're like me now," he whispered.
Regina grinned, a cruel, satisfied smirk twisting her lips.
"Good," she said darkly. "Now let's focus on the witch."
Nemus raised an eyebrow.
"I've already got that covered," she purred.