Rubble cracked beneath Velra’s feet as she flipped backward.
She narrowly dodged Drayv’s fist as it smashed into the ground.
Stone shards exploded outward.
She landed in a crouch.
But her breath was heavy, her arms trembling.
Karven didn’t give her ti.
He waved his hand forward.
A wall of tal spikes surged from the wreckage around her.
Rynka’s echo voice shimred through the zone.
It distorted sound, throwing off Velra’s sense of where they were.
Three against one.
Three who once fought beside her.
Velra gritted her teeth and ducked under a twisted beam, vaulting sideways.
But the mont she landed, Karven was already there.
His eyes burned, not with rage, but with sothing worse.
Possession.
"You were mine."
"I trained you. I built you."
"And now you let so unknown man collar you like a pet?"
Velra dashed backward again.
She tried to draw them into open space.
Karven stepped forward, his blood threads twitching.
"If I can’t have you, no one can."
He shot them at her.
Velra spun into a high kick, pushing herself off the ground.
A sharp crack echoed.
From the air, her foot sliced across the space between them.
Leaving a thin, shimring trail of energy behind.
Blade Trace.
Invisible to most eyes, the delayed arc of death lingered.
Just long enough for Drayv, charging behind Karven, to crash into it.
A scream tore out as the trail cut across his shoulder.
Velra landed in a slide, panting.
"Don’t act like you ever had ."
Karven didn’t flinch. "You wore my mark."
She raised her head, eyes narrowing.
"Now I wear his."
He snarled, tal twisting in the air again.
"You’re not getting away, Velra."
She set her stance.
"Then co and bleed for it."
Karven’s fingers twitched.
But before anyone moved, the air behind them distorted.
A sharp hum.
And then a figure entered the battlefield.
Velra blinked. Her eyes widened.
"...Master?"
Zain erged from the smoke.
Eyes glead with a cold glow.
His body looked the sa, but not for his two sharp black-red horns.
They were not decoration.
Not a costu either.
Real.
Velra exhaled with a strange relief.
"You’re here..."
Zain didn’t look at Karven.
He walked straight to her.
"Are you okay, first slave?"
Velra straightened, a breath caught in her throat.
"I’m okay."
"But if you were any later, they might’ve actually killed ."
Zain smiled faintly.
"They’re welco to try now."
Karven’s voice cracked the mont.
"So you’re the one..."
Zain finally turned.
Karven stepped forward, fury barely restrained.
"The one who took Velra. Who dared to collar her like a beast."
"I didn’t take her," Zain said simply.
"She chose ."
Karven flinched. "Chose?"
"She was mine long before you even—"
Zain raised a hand.
"Don’t."
"You think binding soone with guilt and orders is ownership?"
"She followed you because she had nowhere else to go."
Karven’s eyes narrowed.
"I found her when she was weak. Alone."
"She was crawling through BC sewers, begging for scraps."
"I trained her. I gave her a na."
Zain’s smile vanished.
"And you think that gives you the right to control her for life?"
"I raised her!" Karven roared.
"I built her into sothing."
"And you think you can just—what?"
"Brand her like property and parade her around?"
Zain stepped forward, now face-to-face.
"You’re the one trying to break what’s already mine."
He raised a hand and tapped his chest.
"You think your claim ca first, but I’m the one she gave herself to."
"You’re insane."
"No," Zain said coldly.
"I’m the man she respects. Not the one she feared."
Velra stepped beside him, eyes locked on Karven.
"You were never a real man, Karven."
Karven turned to her, stunned.
"You were a cage I tolerated," she said flatly.
"Never soone I followed by choice."
Rynka’s mouth opened slightly.
Even Drayv looked montarily stunned.
Zain stretched his neck, rolling his shoulders.
"You thought you could punish her. Kill her. Drag her back like a dog."
He raised his hand, the air around him distorting with pressure.
"Now get ready to be beaten like the stray you are."
Karven’s fists clenched, blood threads twitching.
"Then co try it."
Zain grinned.
"With pleasure."
---
Zain turned slightly.
His eyes turned back to Velra, who was still leaning against the wall.
Her legs trembled slightly from the last exchange.
"So," he said casually, "can you move?"
Velra shook her head, a faint wince in her eyes.
"Not yet. My right knee’s cracked."
"The Waltz Zone drained more than I thought."
Zain sighed, as if mildly disappointed.
"Tch. I see."
He leaned forward just enough for only her to hear.
"That ans I’ll have to punish you later."
Velra didn’t even flinch.
She lowered her head slightly, smirking.
"Yes, Master. I’ll be waiting for it."
Zain smirked.
Then he turned back to the three enemies.
He cracked his neck once, hands at his sides.
"Now then..." he said, voice dropping low.
"Ti to exterminate so pests."
Karven’s rage boiled over.
"Exterminate—? You think this is a ga?"
Rynka hissed through clenched teeth.
"She was ours!"
"We bled together for years, and now she talks like so kind of leashed dog!"
Drayv snarled, stomping forward, fists clenched.
"No one talks down to us and walks away!"
Zain raised an eyebrow, amused.
"But here you are... foaming at the mouth because she finally left you."
He pointed at Karven.
"You’re not angry because I took her."
"You’re angry because she never chose you."
Karven’s face twisted. "She was mine—!"
"No," Velra called from behind, voice sharp.
"I was yours... because I had no one."
Zain’s gaze never left the trio. "And now?"
Velra’s voice was calm, unwavering.
"Now I have my Master."
Karven’s blood threads snapped into the air.
"THEN DIE WITH HIM!"
The blood thrashed forward, shooting toward Zain.
Zain didn’t dodge.
He caught them.
He gripped tight and pulled hard.
Karven’s eyes widened as his own ability yanked him forward.
He was dragged against the broken street like a puppet.
Zain didn’t move.
He waited, one foot braced.
As Karven stumbled in range, Zain grinned.
"Let’s see if you’re strong enough to call yourself Velra’s master."
He cocked his fist back.
"Try to take her from , little dog."
CRACK!
The punch landed square in Karven’s face, sending him back.
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