General Baxter was the first to break the silence.
"No."
His voice was firm.
"This doesn't make any sense."
His eyes remained locked on the lich.
"Why would you choose her as your master?"
The lich remained silent.
It didn't even turn its head.
Its hollow gaze stayed fixed on Rose.
General Baxter's brow furrowed.
"I asked you a question."
Still…
Nothing.
Not a word.
Not even an acknowledgment.
Sergeant Bill slowly lowered his hand from his weapon.
The creature wasn't refusing to answer.
It simply didn't recognize General Baxter as part of the conversation.
The room fell into an uneasy silence.
The lich had already understood enough.
The questions.
The confusion.
The way they looked at Rose.
So he remained silent.
Some truths were better left untouched.
His attention belonged to one person.
Rose.
She studied him for several moments.
Then finally spoke.
"What do you know about Claudette's death?"
The lich's eyes brightened faintly.
At last…
The question he had been waiting for.
"You said you knew who was responsible."
Rose took one slow step forward.
"So tell me."
"Who killed her?"
A faint smile appeared beneath the lich's hood.
"I shall answer."
His voice remained calm.
"But I ask for only one thing."
Rose's expression never changed.
"What is it?"
"A name."
The room became quiet again.
The lich slowly lowered himself until he was bowing before her.
"Allow me to serve you."
"I seek nothing else."
"Give me a name when you decide I have earned it."
"And permit me to stand at your side."
General Baxter frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
Again…
The lich ignored him completely.
Its attention never left Rose.
Rose looked toward Claudette.
Her eyes softened for only a moment.
Then she looked back at the creature.
"When this is over…"
"I'll give you a name."
The lich's smile widened.
Rose continued.
"I'll acknowledge you."
"But first…"
Her voice became cold.
"Tell me who murdered Claudette."
The lich slowly rose.
"As my master wishes."
He paused.
"The one responsible…"
"…was among those who rode with you."
General Baxter's expression hardened.
Sergeant Bill's breathing slowed.
Rose remained perfectly still.
"The killer possessed the power to command water."
Another pause.
"She struck not from the front…"
"But from behind."
"She waited until your attention was elsewhere."
The lich tilted his head slightly.
"Her jealousy outweighed her duty."
The room became deathly silent.
Rose's fingers slowly curled into a fist.
There was only one person on Red Team who controlled water.
Only one.
"…Sophia."
It wasn't a question.
It was a realization.
The flames surrounding Claudette's bed flickered.
Once.
Then again.
The temperature inside the room began to rise.
Outside the door…
The dragon slowly lifted its head.
Its golden eyes opened.
It could feel her.
General Baxter noticed the change immediately.
"Rose…"
She didn't answer.
The crimson flames around Claudette's bed burned higher, yet they harmed nothing they touched.
The lights above them flickered.
Sergeant Bill instinctively took one step backward.
He had seen Rose angry before.
This…
This was different.
Something dark flickered within the flames.
Only for a second.
Then disappeared.
Bill blinked.
Had he imagined it?
The lich watched Rose quietly.
The flames reflected within his hollow eyes.
He did not retreat.
He did not show fear.
If anything…
His smile grew.
General Baxter carefully raised one hand.
"Rose… listen to me."
Her head slowly turned.
"If Sophia is responsible, we'll investigate."
"We'll gather evidence."
"And we'll make sure justice is served."
Rose stared at him.
Her eyes burned like living fire.
"This isn't about revenge."
Her voice was quiet.
"So don't mistake it for that."
"Claudette trusted the people beside her."
The flames rose higher.
"She fought beside us."
"She risked her life to save people she didn't even know."
Rose's breathing became heavier.
"And someone she called a teammate murdered her from behind."
The room trembled.
General Baxter remained still.
Rose's eyes darkened.
"Justice isn't optional."
Her voice dropped.
"It's deserved."
Silence.
Then—
General Baxter's expression suddenly changed.
"Sophia…"
The name carried a different weight now.
Princess Sophia Williams.
A daughter of the Sea Kingdom.
Royal blood.
A member of one of the oldest noble families beneath the sea.
General Baxter's jaw tightened.
Of all people…
His eyes moved toward Claudette.
If an ordinary soldier had done this, the path forward would have been simple.
Arrest.
Investigation.
Trial.
But Sophia wasn't an ordinary soldier.
She was a princess.
And if she returned to her father's territory…
They couldn't simply follow her.
Not without permission.
Not without evidence.
Not without risking something far greater.
A conflict between territories.
Possibly…
A war.
General Baxter looked at Sergeant Bill.
"Bring Princess Sophia here."
Sergeant Bill nodded.
"She should be in the living quarters."
"Find her."
"Yes, sir."
Sergeant Bill turned and opened the door.
The moment he stepped into the corridor, the dragon's massive golden eyes shifted toward him.
Bill stopped.
The dragon remained positioned near the entrance.
Guarding the room.
Guarding Rose.
Guarding Claudette.
After a tense second, the dragon lowered its head again.
Sergeant Bill continued.
Several members of Red Team were gathered nearby.
Ryder sat forward on the couch, his elbows resting against his knees.
James stood near the wall.
August and Benny remained silent.
Achelous hadn't taken his eyes off the dragon.
Irish stood beside Selene.
No one seemed willing to leave.
Sergeant Bill approached them.
"Where's Sophia?"
Everyone looked at one another.
Selene frowned.
"I… don't know."
"When was the last time you saw her?"
Selene thought for a moment.
"The hangar."
Irish slowly looked at her.
Selene's expression changed.
"Wait."
Sergeant Bill noticed immediately.
"What?"
Selene hesitated.
"I thought it was nothing."
"What was nothing?"
She lowered her eyes.
"My Third Eye doesn't only allow me to see long distances."
Everyone listened.
"Sometimes… if someone's emotions are strong enough…"
"I can feel them."
Her gaze slowly moved toward the room where Rose remained.
"When we escaped the castle…"
Selene swallowed.
"Rose's emotions terrified me."
Even now, remembering that pressure made her uncomfortable.
"That was why I told everyone to leave."
"That thing back there…"
She paused.
"That wasn't the Rose I knew."
Irish remained silent beside her.
Selene continued.
"But Sophia was different."
Sergeant Bill's expression hardened.
"Different how?"
"At first… jealousy."
Selene frowned.
"I felt it before."
"Every time she looked at Rose."
"But when the castle collapsed…"
"Her emotions changed."
Selene looked confused even as she explained it.
"She was relieved."
Irish slowly turned toward her.
"Relieved?"
Selene nodded.
"Almost… happy."
The corridor became quiet.
"Then Rose returned."
Selene's voice became softer.
"She walked into the hangar carrying Claudette."
"And Sophia…"
Selene stopped.
Sergeant Bill waited.
"She panicked."
"Fear."
"Confusion."
"Anger."
"All at once."
Selene shook her head.
"It was like she had seen someone who wasn't supposed to be alive."
Irish's eyes widened slightly.
Selene looked at her.
"That's the last time we saw her."
Irish nodded.
"She's right."
"She disappeared after the hangar."
Sergeant Bill searched every face.
"Has anyone spoken to her?"
No one answered.
"Seen her in the living quarters?"
Silence.
Bill's jaw tightened.
He turned and immediately returned to Rose's room.
The dragon watched him again.
This time, Bill barely noticed.
He entered.
"General."
Baxter turned.
"No one has seen Sophia since the hangar."
Rose's eyes lifted.
Sergeant Bill continued.
"Selene sensed something strange from her."
"What kind of strange?" Baxter asked.
"Jealousy."
Bill paused.
"Then relief after the castle collapsed."
Rose's flames flickered.
"And when Rose returned alive…"
Bill looked toward her.
"Fear."
General Baxter's face hardened.
He closed his eyes.
Sanju.
The mind link opened instantly.
A moment later, General Sanju's voice entered his mind.
I'm here.
We have a problem.
A brief silence.
What happened?
Find Sophia.
Sanju paused.
Princess Sophia?
Yes.
Baxter's expression darkened.
Search the entire base.
Living quarters.
Hangar.
Every vehicle.
Another pause.
And check the portal room.
Sanju immediately sensed the seriousness behind Baxter's thoughts.
Why am I looking for her?
General Baxter opened his eyes for a moment.
He looked at Claudette.
Then Rose.
Then the lich floating silently nearby.
He closed his eyes again.
I'll explain later.
His thoughts hardened.
Right now… find her.
Understood.
The connection ended.
General Baxter opened his eyes.
Rose remained beside Claudette.
She hadn't moved.
"So…"
Her voice was quiet.
"Sophia ran."
No one answered.
Rose slowly turned her head.
Her eyes darkened.
"She ran."
The flames rose again.
Outside—
The dragon stood.
Its massive body shifted in the corridor.
Several members of Red Team immediately moved backward.
The dragon's wings twitched.
A low growl vibrated through the walls.
"Rose," General Baxter said.
She looked at him.
"We don't know that yet."
Rose stared at him.
"Don't."
Baxter became silent.
"Don't stand there and tell me you don't know."
Her voice remained calm.
Too calm.
"She murdered Claudette."
"She saw me alive."
"And now she's missing."
Rose tilted her head.
"You're a general."
"Put it together."
Baxter's jaw tightened.
"We still need evidence."
The room went silent.
Rose slowly turned toward him.
The fire in her eyes darkened.
"Say evidence one more time."
Baxter stared at her.
Rose stepped closer.
"Look at Claudette."
Her voice dropped.
"Look at her."
General Baxter's eyes slowly moved toward the bed.
Claudette remained beneath the blanket.
Still.
Silent.
The crimson flames surrounding her flickered gently.
Rose's voice trembled.
"Now look me in the eyes…"
Baxter did.
"And tell me to wait."
Silence.
Rose's eyes filled with anger.
But beneath it…
Pain.
"Tell me her life is worth less because Sophia is a princess."
"I never said that," Baxter replied.
"Then don't make me feel like that's where this is going."
The words struck harder than a threat ever could.
General Baxter's expression changed.
Rose stepped back.
"I don't care whose daughter Sophia is."
"I don't care what throne her father sits on."
Her voice remained steady.
"Claudette deserves the same justice you would demand for a princess."
No one spoke.
The lich's smile slowly disappeared.
For the first time…
He simply watched her.
Sergeant Bill stepped forward carefully.
"Rose…"
She looked at him.
"We understand what it's like to lose someone."
Rose lowered her eyes.
"Then understand me."
Bill became silent.
"This isn't revenge."
Rose turned toward Claudette.
"This is someone murdering a comrade."
"Someone she was supposed to stand arm in arm with."
Her fists tightened.
"How could she do that?"
No one answered.
"What made Sophia think she was above Claudette's life?"
Rose's voice cracked.
"Because she's a princess?"
The room remained silent.
"Because she has royal blood?"
Rose laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
"Then what is Claudette's life worth?"
General Baxter stared at her.
Rose continued.
"I came here because Marina told me I needed experience."
"I needed to learn combat."
"To learn how to survive."
Her voice weakened.
"I thought this war would end."
"I thought summer would end."
"And I would go back."
Back to school.
Back to normal life.
Back to the small things she had once taken for granted.
Rose slowly turned toward Claudette.
The anger inside her began to crack.
Behind it…
There was only pain.
She walked toward the bed.
The flames parted for her.
Rose sat beside Claudette.
Her hand reached out.
She gently brushed a strand of hair away from Claudette's face.
"We had plans…"
Her voice was barely a whisper.
Sergeant Bill lowered his eyes.
General Baxter said nothing.
Rose stared at Claudette.
"We were supposed to go back."
A tear formed in her left eye.
"We were supposed to do stupid things."
The corner of Rose's mouth trembled.
"Normal things."
The tear fell.
As it traveled down her cheek…
It turned crimson.
Blood.
"We were supposed to have more time."
Another tear followed.
Rose lowered her head.
"If only I had met you earlier…"
Her fingers gently held Claudette's hand.
"I would've made sure you had more summers to live."
No one in the room spoke.
Even the lich remained silent.
For the first time since entering…
He did not smile.
He simply watched Rose.
Outside the room, the dragon slowly lowered itself back to the floor.
Its golden eyes remained open.
Waiting.
Guarding.
The room fell completely silent.
Until—
General Baxter's eyes suddenly widened.
Sanju.
The mind link opened.
Baxter.
General Sanju's voice was different.
Serious.
We searched the living quarters.
Baxter remained still.
The hangar.
The vehicles.
A pause.
She's not here.
Baxter's jaw tightened.
The portal room?
Silence.
Then—
One of the circles was recently activated.
General Baxter slowly looked toward Rose.
Rose lifted her head.
She didn't need to hear the mind link.
She saw the answer on Baxter's face.
"She ran."
This time…
It wasn't a question.
General Baxter said nothing.
Rose slowly released Claudette's hand.
Then she stood.
"What happens now?"
Baxter remained silent for several seconds.
When he finally spoke, his voice was measured.
"If Sophia crossed into the Sea Kingdom…"
He paused.
"We cannot simply follow her."
Rose stared at him.
"Why?"
"Because it's sovereign territory."
Rose's expression didn't change.
Baxter continued.
"Entering without permission could be considered an invasion."
"And Sophia is the Sea King's daughter."
The flames around Claudette's bed flickered.
"So because she's a princess…"
"No."
Baxter's voice was firm.
"That's not what I'm saying."
"Then what are you saying?"
"I'm saying one wrong decision could put thousands of people in another war."
Rose became silent.
General Baxter looked toward Claudette.
"I heard you."
Rose watched him carefully.
"Claudette's life is not worth less."
His eyes returned to Rose.
"And Sophia's title will not erase what happened here."
Rose said nothing.
"But I have to do this correctly."
Baxter's voice hardened.
"Because if I don't…"
"The Sea King can turn his daughter's crime into our crime."
The room became silent.
Rose understood.
She didn't like it.
But she understood.
Her eyes moved back toward Claudette.
"How long?"
Baxter hesitated.
Rose looked at him.
"How long do I wait?"
"I don't know."
Wrong answer.
The flames rose.
General Baxter noticed immediately.
"But I will contact the Sea Kingdom."
The flames stopped.
"I'll demand Sophia be questioned."
"And I'll open a formal investigation into Claudette's death."
Rose stared at him.
"No disappearing evidence."
"There won't be."
"No protecting her because of her father."
"I won't."
"No one changes the story."
Baxter's expression hardened.
"They won't."
Rose held his gaze.
Then slowly nodded.
"Fine."
Sergeant Bill exhaled quietly.
Rose looked back at Claudette.
"But understand something."
General Baxter waited.
"I am trusting you."
Her voice was calm.
"Don't make me regret it."
General Baxter gave a single nod.
"I understand."
Rose turned away.
The lich watched her.
Quietly.
Carefully.
Something about his master had changed in his eyes.
He had followed power before.
He understood strength.
Fear.
Destruction.
Those things were simple.
But this…
Rose had enough power to act.
Enough anger to destroy.
And yet…
She had chosen to wait.
Not because she was weak.
Because Claudette deserved justice that no kingdom could deny.
The lich slowly lowered his head.
This time…
Rose did not ask him to.
⸻
Hours earlier…
Sophia walked away from the hangar with a smile on her face.
Rose was dead.
She had to be.
The castle had collapsed directly on top of her.
No one could survive that.
Not even Rose Maxwell.
Sophia's steps were light as she moved through the corridor.
For the first time since arriving in Alaska…
She felt relieved.
The girl from Marina's village was gone.
The girl everyone whispered about.
The girl who had supposedly killed a Shadow.
Claudette had always spoken about Rose's power as though she were something extraordinary.
Sophia had hated it.
Rose this.
Rose that.
Rose was powerful.
Rose was different.
Rose survived.
Sophia rolled her eyes.
Not anymore.
A faint smile returned to her face.
Then—
People began moving toward the hangar.
Sophia slowed.
Soldiers whispered around her.
"She's back."
Sophia stopped.
What?
Another soldier rushed past.
"Rose returned."
The smile disappeared from Sophia's face.
"No…"
She turned toward the hangar.
Her heart began beating faster.
Impossible.
Sophia pushed through the gathering crowd.
Then…
She saw her.
Rose.
Alive.
Walking through the hangar.
Claudette's body in her arms.
Sophia stopped breathing.
No.
The castle had collapsed.
She saw it.
Rose should have been crushed beneath it.
She should have died.
Sophia stared at her.
For one terrifying moment…
Rose's eyes moved through the crowd.
Sophia stepped backward.
Her heart slammed against her chest.
That burst of energy.
The pressure.
The creatures running.
That was Rose.
Sophia's hands began trembling.
Claudette hadn't exaggerated.
The Shadow…
The stories…
Rose's power…
They were true.
Sophia took another step backward.
No one noticed her.
Everyone was watching Rose.
Good.
Sophia turned.
She walked away.
Slowly at first.
Don't run.
Don't look suspicious.
She reached the corridor.
Then her pace quickened.
Faster.
Faster.
Until she was running.
Her mind raced.
If anyone discovered what she had done…
If Rose discovered it…
Sophia's stomach twisted.
Royal blood might protect her from military punishment.
But would it protect her from the truth?
She didn't want to find out.
She needed to leave.
She needed the sea.
Her territory.
Her kingdom.
Her father.
Sophia rushed toward the portal chamber.
She opened the door and slammed it shut behind her.
Several teleportation circles covered the floor.
Sophia hurried toward one.
Her trembling fingers reached for her phone.
She dialed.
The call connected.
"Father…"
Silence answered her.
Sophia struggled to breathe.
"Father…"
Her voice trembled.
"Everything has gone wrong."
The Sea King remained silent for several seconds.
Then—
"Come home."
Sophia closed her eyes.
"But—"
"Return."
His voice was firm.
"We will speak when you arrive."
Sophia looked toward the portal circle.
For one brief moment…
Claudette's face entered her mind.
The moment the water dagger struck.
The shock in Claudette's eyes.
Sophia's hand trembled.
She shook her head.
"No…"
She refused to think about it.
She activated the circle.
Blue light began to rise around her.
Sophia stepped into the center.
Her breathing slowed.
Once she reached the ocean…
She would be home.
Her father's territory.
Her kingdom.
Sophia closed her eyes.
The blue light swallowed her.
Then—
She was gone.
The portal chamber fell silent.