<h4>Chapter 100: Help her please!</h4>


    **~ Hazel’s POV ~**


    My heart—my entire soul—shivered when I heard the words slip from Cyrius’s mouth.


    "You’ll climb that tree. You’ll stay there. You’ll watch them look for you. And you won’t say a word."


    "No... no, please don’t do this," I whispered, my voice already cracking under the weight of disbelief. My fingers reached for his hand, desperate, trembling, pleading—but he snatched it away like I was some venomous thing. Like touching me would corrupt him.


    "No," he hissed, and that single syble split me open.


    Then it happened. My body—it betrayed me. Thepulsion surged beneath my skin, and I started to move without control, my legs guiding me toward the tree he pointed at. I turned back once—just once—and my eyesnded on Ada.


    She was crying. Tiny, frail arms outstretched toward me, her baby fingers twitching in the air, reaching for a mother she could no longer touch.


    I wanted to scream. I wanted to grab her. But my voice was already gone. I turned back to the tree, teeth clenched so tightly they ached.


    I climbed.


    Each branch bit into my palms. The bark tore into my skin. But I kept going,pelled, possessed, robbed of my will. I reached a high perch and crouched there like some cursed bird, trapped in my own skin, a silent observer to my own nightmare.


    I turned back once more. I mouthed his name. Please. Just once more.


    But Cyrius—he stood there, still and cold and unmoving, like a statue carved from cruelty. His eyes betrayed him for just a second, the faintest glint of pain... or was it satisfaction?


    And then he turned away.


    I watched him walk off, cradling the babies. I screamed..Or tried to.


    Nothing. No voice. No sound. Not even a whimper. Just silence. That cursed, suffocating silence.


    My hands dug into the branch so tightly I thought my nails might crack. God—please—if I could just break this damnpulsion.


    The wind shifted and then... a whisper. "Shhh... I think she’s here."


    <i>Cayden</i>. I can recognize that voice anywhere.


    My heart leapt. My body jerked. I almost lost bnce right then and there, slipping from the branch but my reflexes caught me. I held on.


    No! Damn it! Even my instincts were underpulsion. Even the part of me that could fall and make a sound was locked down. My body refused to betray Cyrius.


    I couldn’t even fake a fall if I wanted to.


    Leaves rustled below. Footsteps.


    And then Aurora emerged from the trees, her fiery hair catching the light like a me. Her face was tear-streaked, raw. Hope and fear danced in her eyes as she looked around, scanning the clearing.


    I watched them all move carefully, eyes tracking the faint smoke drifting from the hut’s chimney.


    They were so close. I screamed again..no sound.


    <i>Damn Cyrius.</i>


    <i>Damn this curse. Damn this world that lets monsters win.</i>


    Please. Please. Someone look up. I’m right here. I’m so close.


    "I can smell her," Aurora whispered. "She’s nearby. I know it."


    Cayden was the first to step forward. His body moved like a storm was inside him, barely held together by grief. He pushed the door of the hut open, eyes burning.


    "Do you see them?" Aurora asked quickly.


    He shook his head. "No. I can’t see anyone. The ce is empty."


    "No," she muttered, brows furrowed. "They should be here. I can still smell them. They haven’t gone far."


    She turned to the pack behind her. "They’re close. Go this direction," she said, pointing toward the right.


    No.


    I sat up straighter on the branch.


    No no no! That’s the wrong way! Cyrius didn’t go right...he went left. LEFT! Please!


    "<strong>NO! IT’S THE LEFT! THEY’RE ON THE LEFT! I’M IN THE TREE..LOOK UP! LOOK AT ME!!"</strong>


    I shouted it with everything I had. But again, only silence.


    Aurora turned...Cayden hesitated.


    Then..they all left. Walking straight into the trees to the right. The wrong direction. The fading scent of my children and my own broken soul behind them.


    I watched them go as i sat there powerless. My heart dropped into the pit of my stomach.


    But then...Cayden stopped.


    He looked over his shoulder, eyes narrowing as if something tugged at him. He didn’t follow the others. Instead... he stepped away from the group and turned back toward the hut.


    Toward me.


    And then...he came.


    He walked slowly, quietly, until he reached the base of the tree I was hiding in.


    I froze.


    He sat down, exhaling like the wind had been knocked out of him. His head tilted back, eyes scanning the canopyzily.


    If he just... if he just looked ten degrees higher—


    I leaned forward, fingers digging into the bark.


    My lips quivered, trying to form words they weren’t allowed to say.


    "Please look up... please."


    My heart splintered as Cayden stood, dusted his pants, and turned away. He didn’t nce back. Not even once. And just like that, he disappeared with Aurora, heading down the wrong path...left, where Cyrius had gone, and my babies with him. The others followed.


    No one looked up. No one saw me.


    I tried to scream again, but my voice gone. Still sealed by Cyrius’spulsion. A silent prisoner perched above them, helpless and screaming inside.


    All I needed was for Cayden to look up. Just once. Just once. My heart beat so loudly I thought it would echo off the trees and draw him back. But nothing. He didn’t look back. Not even a flicker of suspicion. And now he was gone. They were all gone.


    Tears streamed down my cheeks, warm against my cold, numb skin. I couldn’t even wipe them. I stood there, trembling, gagged by magic, until thest trace of them vanished from sight. Then...suddenly I coughed. My throat burned. I gasped and felt air rush back into my lungs. My voice cracked free.


    "<strong><i>Cayden! Aurora! I’m here! I’m here!!"</i></strong>


    I sat there for hours, silent and broken, until finally, I managed to climb down from the tree. My legs were trembling, but I didn’t care. I took off running down the same path they had taken screaming, yelling, calling their names with every ounce of strength I had left.


    "Cayden! Aurora! I’m here! Please!" The forest echoed with my cries, but no one answered.


    Then suddenly, a hand grabbed me firmly by the waist. I gasped, twisting around in panic only to freeze.


    <i>That bright smile...Those glowing yellow eyes.</i>


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