Sseraphis fell for the beautiful memories that flooded his mind. They were so familiar and every of him felt like he had lived through them.

In the scarlet eyed beasts hand he was genuinely happy. Every day was like living through a fairytale. The beasts touch was sweeter and gentler than Nytherael and Aeltharion’s.

The beasts seemed to have fallen from the heaven’s with the one purpose of loving him and healing his scars.

He no longer ached over Nytherael’s betrayal or Aeltharion’s bias treatment. His bond to the two felt severed and part of his history that he no longer looked back.

He grew more sure as the night went on that he wasn’t meant to be with Nytherael and Aeltharion. And honestly it was for the best as in his memories, Nytherael and Aeltharion had moved on together and they found a way to survive the death that had seeped into their bond and we’re living happily in Western skyrift.

"My name is..." The scarlet eyed beast was interrupted as Sseraphis’ door was pushed open. He vanished and his essence slithered down Sseraphis’ neck and disappeared in the skin beneath the snakes robes.

Aeltharion walked in. Instantly, his feet froze as he sensed a strange dark aura looming in the room. He released his dragon flame and all the candles in the room lit up.

The illuminated room became brighter, he could see every corner of the chamber but spotted nothing out of ordinary.

He ambled over to the bed without lowering his guard. A wrenching gut feeling has torn through him in his sleep and his thoughts drifted to Sseraphis immediately so he woke up and came to check on him.

As soon as he arrived, he had a bad feeling that something wrong was going on in Sseraphis’ room. However, he couldn’t put his finger on what the anomaly was.

"Venom," he nudged Sseraphis’ arm. His voice was soft and low as not to startle the snake.

Sseraphis had been up for hours fully focused on treating his sister, he didn’t want to seem ungrateful by bothering him, but he couldn’t shake the horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Aeltharion touched Sseraphis’ arm. The fiery skin he came into contact with made his skin become cold.

In the time they had known each other, he had seen Sseraphis through every lens available but there was never a day when Sseraphis temperature reached such a high level.

"Oh, heavens. What happened to you?" He asked, taking Sseraphis’ temperature, that’s when he noticed that under the blanket, Sseraphis’ eyes were wide open. "If you are awake then why didn’t you respond, dearest?" He asked.

Sseraphis remained still. His opened eyes staring unblinkingly at the ceiling. His body looked lifeless as though someone ripped his soul out and left the vessel behind.

"Venom?" Aeltharion’s eyes darkened. His protective side came alive.

He scooped Sseraphis’ into his arms and held him close to his chest. He cupped Sseraphis’ face in his palm and raised his chin so that the snake was facing him.

Despite his actions, Sseraphis showed no reaction like he couldn’t feel his touch or sense his presence.

Aeltharion’s eyes hardened with worry. His venom’s skin kept getting hotter and hotter but he remained immobilized.

"What’s wrong?" He asked, no response.

He lifted Sseraphis up and started walking out the room. Behind him, the scarlet eyed beast appeared and stared at his retreating back with spite.

Aeltharion, as though sensing the gaze, stopped and turned around. His eyes scanned the room and found nothing standing out.

"Strange," he uttered.

His feet carrier him forward. The second he stepped out, Jura was walking towards him and next to him was Nytherael, who was running his sleepy eyes and yawning.

"Hurry. We can’t waste time or it’ll be too late," Jura urged Nytherael forward.

"Jura," Aeltharion called out, relieved to see him.

"Oh, you’re already he..." His body froze and the words got stuck in his throat. His eyes saw the new thread of fate from an unknown source forcing a bond on Sseraphis’ heart.

It was overpowering the tri-soul bond and forcefully breaking through to Sseraphis’ connection to Nytherael and Aeltharion.

It was blacker than the death attached to the tri-soul bond. He was glued to the spot.

The intruder was powerful, unlike anything his eyes had ever witnessed. Their energy far surpassed the seventh level of cultivation which would put him in a race to reach the tri-soul mates.

However, Jura couldn’t understand how a beast weaker than the three was able to invade their bond and was forcefully pulling Sseraphis away from it. The rip was destroying the parts of Sseraphis that was in love with the nine-horned dragon and the nine-tailed fox.

"What happened to Sseraphis, Jura?" Aeltharion rushed over with the burning body in his hands.

Nytherael became fully awake when he heard Aeltharion’s voice. His eyes landed on the dragon and the unconscious venomous snake in his arms. His heart was in his throat.

"Ael, what happened?"

He reacted and inched closer, his hand reaching out to touch Sseraphis. Unlike the dragon who was used to fire and wasn’t deterred by the heated body, Nytherael felt his palm burn when he touched Sseraphis.

"He was burning up when I put him to bed but it wasn’t this hot," he said, blowing on his palm.

"He was like this before bed?" Aeltharion asked, his tone carrying a wave of guilt.

In his move to be considerate and let Sseraphis rest after the tiresome hours of healing his sister, he hadn’t gone to him and went to sleep in one of the guest chambers and missed the fact that something was amiss with his snake.

"How could you not tell me that he was unwell. Why must you be so inconsiderate about everything?" He questioned, his voice full of blame.

"I thought it was because he was exhausted from working too hard. How was I..."

"It doesn’t matter," Aeltharion cut in. He turned back to Jura. "You have to help him. He’s not reacting to anything..."

"We are under attack," Jura stated, his eyes drifting passed Aeltharion and into Sseraphis’ room. "Sseraphis isn’t unwell. An unknown beast is corrupting his brain, his heart, soul and body and trying to forcefully pair with him by forcefully breaking your tri-soul bond!" He warned them.

Nytherael and Aeltharion grew pale. "What did you say?" They chimed, hearts racing in panic mode.