Chapter 12: The Traitor’s Gambit
The throne room trembled as Garrick's roar split the air.
**"ZAYNE!"**
The bald brother's face twisted into something monstrous, veins bulging along his neck like roots bursting from soil. His axes quivered in his grip, notched blades thirsty for traitor blood. "You spineless, backstabbing *worm*—we gave you a home!"
Zayne flicked blood off his curved sword, golden eyes glinting with something between amusement and apathy. **"And I gave you five years of free labor. We're even."
Vex snarled, his whip coiling around his forearm like a living thing. "You think siding with these *vermin* will save you? The Purgatorist will peel the flesh from your bones for this!"
"Bold words," Zayne mused, "from a man who licks their boots for pocket change."
Above them, the balcony creaked under the weight of Lulusia's archers. Another volley of arrows hissed through the air—
Annie's **Mother's Hands** lashed out, spectral fingers snatching shafts mid-flight. She didn't even blink. **"Zayne."** Her voice was ice. **"Prove you're not wasting my time."**
Zayne sighed. **"You're *such* a demanding mother."**
Then—he moved.
Human Creation // Red Speed of Death