The path to the Siren's Pools shimmered with mist and moonlight.
Kade walked alone, body still aching from the Garden of Thorns, the golden mark on his chest pulsing faintly with each step. The trees here grew taller, their leaves silver-blue and dripping with dew. Somewhere ahead, the sound of flowing water lured him forward.
He reached the Pools at twilight.
Steam rolled off crystalline waters nestled in an open grotto. The sky above was a canopy of stars, impossibly close, almost… fake.
Waiting in the center of the largest pool was a woman who looked carved from dreams.
Her hair fell in waves of sapphire silk. Her skin gleamed like pearls under moonlight, and her eyes—violet, but not like Nyx's—were wide, ancient, and filled with music.
Mira.
The Siren.
She lounged on a rock, water curling around her body like silk, as if nature itself obeyed her form.
"You're late," she said, her voice soft and echoing.
"I didn't know I had an appointment."
"You always did." She gestured to the water. "Come in. Leave the pain behind. I offer you relief… if you're brave enough to drown in it."
---
Kade undressed and stepped into the water.
It was warmer than it looked—almost erotic in its embrace. With every step, tension melted. Bruises faded. Even fear seemed to dissolve.
By the time he reached her, he felt weightless.
Mira circled him, trailing a fingertip across his shoulder, over the golden mark left by Nyx.
"I can see it. The first piece of power. She gave you pain… I give you illusion."
Kade's eyes flicked to hers. "Illusion?"
She smiled. "Pleasure is the sweetest lie. But lies have power. And if you cannot resist your own fantasies, you will never control others."
"What's the trial?" he asked.
She leaned in. "Let me give you everything you've ever wanted. And see if you can still say no."
---
The world dissolved.
One blink—and Kade was no longer in the pool.
He stood in a grand marble palace, crowned with banners that bore his name. Dozens of women—goddess-like, perfect—knelt before his throne.
Lyra. Nyx. Mira. More he hadn't met yet. All naked. All his.
"You've conquered the island," one said, voice trembling with desire. "You are our king."
He turned—saw himself in polished silver. He wore golden armor. His eyes burned like stars. Power flowed in every breath.
The perfect fantasy.
It felt real.
One of the women—no, Mira again—slid into his lap and whispered, "All you have to do is accept it. Claim it. Say yes, and this paradise will never end."
His heart raced.
His blood surged.
His body wanted this. His mind screamed caution.
Something's not right.
He closed his eyes.
Pain.
He remembered the thorns. Nyx's lessons. Control.
He opened his eyes—and said one word:
"No."
---
The palace shattered.
Water rushed back in.
He gasped, coughing, flailing—but Mira caught him. She was laughing, delighted.
"You did it," she whispered.
"You tried to trap me."
"I had to." Her expression softened. "If you had believed the illusion, the trial would've consumed you. Men have drowned in their own fantasies before. You resisted. You endured."
Kade looked at her—truly looked.
Beneath the beauty was loneliness. A creature cursed to test men she could never keep.
"You're not just a Matriarch," he said. "You're a prisoner."
Her smile faltered.
"Maybe," she said quietly. "But perhaps you're the one who could break the cage."
She placed her hands on his chest.
And a new mark bloomed—silver and fluid, like flowing water—beside Nyx's golden one.
Two Matriarchs. Two trials passed.
And the island… was waking.
---
That night, Mira held him beneath the stars.
Not as a temptress.
But as a woman.
And for the first time, Kade didn't feel like prey.
He felt like the storm on the horizon.
Kade awoke under a canopy of dense green, the scent of jungle earth rich in his nostrils.
The air was thick, almost humid with energy. Birds screeched from the high trees, and somewhere nearby, something large was stalking the undergrowth.
He sat up.
Gone was Mira's pool. Gone was the comfort. Here, everything breathed with wild hunger. There were no signs, no guides—only instincts.
And a mark on his forearm. A claw.
"The Huntress has accepted your challenge," a disembodied voice echoed—animalistic, female, and cruel. "Run."
Then the forest came alive.
---
Kade sprinted, ducking under hanging vines, leaping over fallen logs. Behind him, there was a sound—too rhythmic, too precise to be a beast.
It was her.
The third Matriarch.
Seraphine.
They said she ruled the wild places of the island—the queen of predators, mistress of the hunt. Unlike Nyx, who dealt in pain, or Mira, who played with illusion, Seraphine demanded something primal.
Dominance.
---
He ran for hours. Or maybe minutes. Time bent in the jungle.
When he finally collapsed in a clearing, soaked in sweat, breath ragged—he saw her.
She stood atop a boulder, half-shrouded in shadow, her skin glistening like polished obsidian. She wore leathers—tight, flexible—and her hair was braided in rows, decorated with bones and golden beads.
A curved bow sat across her back, and clawed gauntlets clung to her arms.
Her eyes were amber—and not human.
She leapt down, barefoot and silent, stalking him like prey.
"You run well," she said, licking her lips. "But do you fight?"
---
She pounced.
Kade barely rolled aside before her clawed glove scraped bark from a tree behind him. She was fast—blindingly fast.
He grabbed a branch and swung.
It cracked against her shoulder. She growled—but smiled. "Good. Hurt me."
He struck again.
She caught it mid-air, yanked him forward, and they crashed to the earth.
Now she was on top—legs pinning his waist, claws at his throat.
Her breath was wild against his ear.
"You think you can pass my trial, little pup?" she whispered. "You think you can claim me? Then take me."
She leaned in to bite his neck—
And Kade flipped her.
---
Now he was on top.
His hands gripped her wrists, pinned her down. For the first time since landing on the island, he was in control.
Seraphine's smile twisted.
"Interesting…"
Kade didn't back off. "No more running. No more illusions. You want dominance? Then submit."
Her lips curled, eyes narrowing, testing him.
Then—slowly—she leaned up, kissed him with blood and fire, and whispered, "You pass."
---
They lay there, tangled in leaves and sweat, both bruised and breathing hard.
But it wasn't over.
Seraphine sat up, dragging her claw along his chest. "The jungle doesn't just test strength. It rewards the worthy."
She traced the mark on his shoulder—and a new symbol emerged: a red fang crossed by a leaf. The third seal.
"Three Matriarchs," she murmured. "You're not just surviving the island… you're awakening it."
He looked at her, curious. "Awakening what?"
She stood, fierce and bare beneath the moonlight.
"You'll see. When you reach Ishtar, the Queen."
---
Later that night, as they lay by firelight, Kade asked the question he feared most.
"Is this island... real?"
Seraphine chuckled. "What is reality but the sharpest pleasure, the deepest pain, and the most dangerous desire?"
Kade wasn't sure if that was an answer—or a warning.
Either way, the wild had marked him.
And the Queen was waiting.