The evening settled over the forest like a warm, glowing blanket.
Inside the cave, Novalyn rested in the brothers' newly-built nest, lulled by the soft hum of Kallis and Cadmus' absent-minded petting of her hair—as if either of them could go five minutes without reassuring themselves she was still there.
Harvey had left an hour earlier, repeatedly promising not to have a panic attack about meeting a creature that shouldn't exist.
Things were calm.
Which, naturally, meant the universe was about to ruin everything.
---
Outside the cave...
A shadow passed silently over the treetops, wings cutting the air with predatory precision.
Muir perched on a branch that swayed under his weight, talons digging in as he surveyed the cave's entrance with an intensity that bordered on reverence…
…and obsession.
He had been circling the area for three days.
Ever since a faint, ancient pulse of divinity brushed against the sensory nerves unique to his species—the "Farsight Instinct" the City of Beasts relied on for scouting.
It called to him.
No—
She called to him.
"The glow is real…" Muir whispered, his feathers puffing slightly. "Golden. Warm. Impossible."
He tilted his head, pupils narrowing like a hunting raptor's.
His breath hitched, the sound dangerously close to a lover's sigh.
"And those snakes have her!" He let out a cold laugh, "They think they can keep her for themselves?"
---
Back in the cave...
Cadmus stiffened first.
Then Kallis.
Both turned their heads sharply toward the forest entrance, bodies lowering into silent, predatory readiness.
Novalyn sat up in her nest of furs.
"What is it?"
Kallis hissed softly, each sound razor-edged. "Eyes."
Cadmus' pupils thinned to black slits. "A scout."
"A vulture?" she guessed.
"No." Cadmus bared his fangs.
"Worse."
Kallis' voice was a harsh whisper filled with disgust.
"Eagle."
Novalyn tilted her head. "Why is that worse?"
Both brothers turned to her slowly.
"With vultures," Cadmus explained, "you only worry after you're dead."
Kallis' gaze darkened.
"But eagles? They want what's alive."
A beat.
"Oh," she murmured.
---
Cadmus and Kallis slithered out as one unit—two large serpent males whose bodies formed a protective barrier across the entrance.
Muir approached with confident steps not slowing.
If anything, his stride grew more confident.
"Well," the eagle drawled, voice low and far too smooth. "That answers my question. Someone rare is glowing in this cave."
Kallis' tail rattled sharply. "Leave."
Muir smiled, sweeping a hand to his chest.
"I would never leave a lady alone in the hands of two snakes—"
Cadmus lunged.
Muir didn't flinch, even as fangs stopped inches from his throat.
Instead, he leaned in.
"—especially not your lady."
Cadmus' muscles strained with the effort not to bite.
Novalyn stepped forward from behind them, drawn by the rising tension.
Muir froze.
His wings flared half-open in shock, pupils dilating to enormous circles.
"…Oh," he breathed, voice breaking. "You're real."
Novalyn blinked. "Um… hello?"
Muir's knees actually buckled.
He dropped into a reverent crouch, head bowed like he was kneeling before a saint.
"You are light… given form."
Cadmus hissed. "Stop looking at her."
Kallis hissed louder. "Stop breathing at her."
Muir ignored them entirely.
His eyes lifted to Novalyn with such intensity she instinctively stepped back.
"You're the one," he whispered. "The blessing I felt. The beacon in the wilds. The one my wings… kept returning to."
Kallis slithered toward Novalyn, tail coiling protectively around her legs.
"You are not wanted here."
Muir smiled—sweetly.
Too sweetly.
"Oh, that's where you're wrong."
He stood with fluid, silent grace.
"I've already reported a divine-grade energy source to the City of Beasts. They'll be sending retrieval teams soon."
His wings rustled.
"And I intend to be the one who brings her in."
Cadmus snapped. "Over our dead bodies."
Muir tilted his head.
"Yes," he said pleasantly. "That was the plan."