"I got the hourglass while I was searching for a way to save Aeltharion’s life," she confessed, her tears flowing endlessly and wetting Sheana’s dress but Sheana didn’t push her away.

"Save Aeltharion’s life?" Nytherael found his eyes wondering to the dragon. His mismatched eyes held a sea of questions that his mouth didn’t dare ask. ’Is he sick?’ he had caught the scent of herbs and poisons in the dragons scent earlier.

Nytherael felt lost. He has only been gone for a year and a half, what could’ve happened in that time to threaten Aeltharion’s life to the point that he needed a magical artefact to save his life.

Aeltharion met his gaze. Guilt washed over him and he turned away immediately. He didn’t want Nytherael to see the pain pooling in his eyes at the truth he’d kept hidden from him since the fox returned.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to tell him. However, with everything going on with their bond, the fractures and the anger, it wasn’t the right moment. And he feared that as long as he kept postponing it with that excuse then there was never going to be a right time.

"Where?" Jura’s sharp voice cut through the silence.

Aenyra shook her head. She had no recollection of where she picked up the device from. In her search for a miracle cure, she stumbled into a lot of treasures from all corners of the world, the hourglass was just one of them.

All she remembered was the warning she received when she acquired it. ’The hourglass can move back but only a few hours back, a day at best and only to alter a time where the user was present but it came with a hefty price.’

She hadn’t known that the price would be releasing a beast trapped inside that would go after Sseraphis.

"Why did he target Sseraphis?"

Jura scratched his chin. "I don’t think Sseraphis was the target."

"How come?" Nytherael pushed away the troubling thoughts in his mind and focused on the urgent one at hand, Sseraphis.

"I believe that the beast was released. It would’ve naturally clung to you as it has already latched onto your arm but Sseraphis treated you and forced it out of your body," Jura spoke as he processed the facts in his head, piecing everything together. "It left your body and must’ve slipped into Sseraphis. Seeing as how Sseraphis was exhausted after the treatment session, he didn’t notice it and let the beast act catching him and the rest of us unaware."

"I’m going to kill that beast!"

Nytherael stated, a lightning struck from the sky, passed through the wards of the abyssal coil and struck the water around the palace causing a quake.

"Calm down, will you," Jura let out. "If anger could solve this, I would encourage you to lose your temper as you will it but I need you to be calm, happy and recalling your past memories."

"Yes, Nythe. We will have enough time to deal with the beast later. Let’s save Sseraphis first," Aeltharion said, more to himself than to Nytherael because he too needed that reminder.

"Save Sseraphis? Save me from what?" Sseraphis asked, sitting up.

"Little truth," Nytherael squatted down and scooped Sseraphis into a deep hug. Aeltharion didn’t waste time either, he joined in on the hug and embraced them.

The hug lasted a few breaths. Nytherael and Aeltharion let free their worries and felt relieved that Sseraphis moved and surprisingly, his body temperature had returned back to normal. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"Could you have been wrong?" Aenyra looked up at Jura, she motioned for Sheana to help her move close to Sseraphis. She too wanted part of the hug. She wanted to hold Sseraphis and be assured that the snake was unharmed and safe.

Worrying and caring for the snake had become a second impulse. Despite being younger than Sseraphis, she’d never felt so in their relationship, her protective nature always viewed Sseraphis as someone younger than her that needed her to protect him.

"I am never wrong," Jura said, pride oozing out of every word.

Before she could join in on the hug, Sseraphis pulled back from Nytherael and Aeltharion. He glanced at them, his eyes blinking his mind awake. He took another look at them before checking his surrounding and frowning.

"What are you both doing in my house?" He asked, getting up and stepping back to put a distance between himself and them.

"Venom, what kind of question is this?" Aeltharion stepped forward to hold him, Sseraphis blocked his hand and dodged to the side.

"I have already made peace with out realities. I have accepted that you and Nytherael love each other and are more compatible in the mate bond without me... I have moved on," he spoke up. "So what are you both doing here?"

"What are you talking about, little truth?"

"Don’t!" Sseraphis silenced him. He walked further back. "I have already forgiven you for choosing Ilyrien over me in the past. I have already accepted that you only ever loved Aeltharion all through out marriage and that the two of you have moved on together. So please don’t call me so sweetly, I don’t want any misunderstanding in my relationship," he added.

Nytherael and Aeltharion looked at each other. They were stunned and puzzled. It was hard to make head or tail of what Sseraphis was saying.

Sseraphis fixed his loose tunic and crossed his hands defensively over his chest and stared at the beasts in the room. "I don’t know what’s going on here or why the two of you have invaded my home but you need to leave," he said firmily.

"Invaded? Us?" Nytherael asked. Yes, he was an invader who’d come uninvited but Aeltharion wasn’t. Sseraphis personally brought Aeltharion in so what he was saying wasn’t making any sense.

"Ssese, this isn’t funny!" Aeltharion snapped, he assumed that Sseraphis was throwing a tantrum because he disliked that he allowed Nytherael to stay.

"That’s exactly what I am thinking," Sseraphis shot back at him. "This isn’t funny. We all have our lives. Our paths are different now so why are you both here and not in your home in western skyrift?"

Before they could continue arguing Jura stepped forward and asked Sseraphis, "You’ve moved on, I agree but who is your new partner?"

"He is..." Sseraphis paused. He had all these memories that dated back years as far as he could tell yet he couldn’t name the person in his memories. Not because he didn’t want to but... He didn’t know. "He is..." He struggled to remember but nothing came up.

He looked up at them with accusation in his eyes. "What have you crazy beasts done to me?"