Season 1 – Chapter 11: Shadows and Secrets

The fire was gone.

In its place—nothing but suffocating darkness and the slow drip of moisture from the cave walls. Serah's breath was caught in her throat as she felt the icy edge of a blade brush against her cheek.

"Easy, soldier girl," Eliara whispered, her voice like venom laced with silk. "Move too fast, and I'll take your tongue before you scream."

Serah didn't flinch. Her voice was steel. "If you touch me, I'll bury a bullet in your skull."

A soft laugh echoed in the dark.

"Oh, I'm not here to kill you," Eliara said. "Not yet."

Drayk lit a flare, red light blooming across the chamber. Eliara's face was fully revealed—sharp, foxlike features with a deep scar running down her jaw. Her white cloak was soaked from the jungle, and yet she stood poised, dangerous.

"What do you want, Eliara?" Drayk growled, stepping between her and Serah.

"I want what everyone wants," she said, tilting her head. "Thorn."

Serah's hands curled into fists. "You're not going to touch him."

Eliara walked slowly around them. "You think he loves you, don't you? You think those dreamy eyes and your little jungle romance make you special." She leaned in. "But do you even know what he truly is?"

Serah didn't reply.

"Thorn," Eliara whispered, "was never meant to fall in love. He was meant to be a weapon. His kind were created to destroy, not protect."

Drayk shook his head. "That was never his destiny."

"Oh, but it was," Eliara said with a smirk. "And I have proof."

She pulled a sleek silver cube from her cloak and placed it in Serah's hand. The moment Serah touched it, images flashed in her mind—

A boy strapped to a metal table. Screaming. Needles. Wires. His back tearing open as his first spikes broke through. And in the corner, scientists cheering. Not mourning. Cheering.

Serah dropped the cube, trembling.

"No…" she whispered. "That wasn't love… it was torture."

"Yes," Eliara said coldly. "And now he's yours."

Meanwhile, far beneath the Earth, Thorn stirred.

His body was broken, but his heart throbbed with something stronger than pain.

A vision—Serah's face, wet with tears.

His muscles twitched. Thorns began to grow again, slowly, painfully, one by one.

He was not dead.

He was becoming.

Back in the cave, Drayk paced anxiously. "Why are you here, Eliara? What do you gain from all this?"

"I want what was stolen from me," she snapped. "You think Thorn is the only one they experimented on?"

Drayk's eyes widened. "You were—?"

She ripped open her sleeve to reveal a glowing scar along her forearm—lines of burned circuitry fused into her skin.

"I was their first failed hybrid."

Serah was stunned. "You're like him?"

"No," Eliara said bitterly. "I'm less. I never reached his level. But now… if I get his DNA—if I can have his child…"

Serah stepped forward, eyes blazing. "Don't you dare talk about his child."

"Oh?" Eliara said, tilting her head. "You're already carrying him, aren't you?"

The room went silent.

Serah's mouth opened… but no words came.

Eliara smiled, slow and sinister.

"I can smell it. You're glowing with his energy already."

She turned away, her words dropping like knives.

"I wonder… will the child have his thorns… or your weakness?"

Outside, thunder rumbled over the jungle.

Storms were coming.

Not just from the sky—but from within every secret that was about to unfold.

Because deep in the jungle, beneath roots and ruins, something had awakened—a second subject.

One with more rage… and no conscience.