The Petalshade Blooms drifted closer, their glow deepening into a soft, hypnotic silver. Each petal pulsed like a heartbeat, slow and steady, as if the forest itself were breathing around them.

Beast stepped in front of Nira without thinking, fire simmering beneath his skin. “Stay behind us.”

Nira shook her head, wings trembling. “It doesn’t want you. Not yet. It wants me.”

Brinrose moved to her side, emberlight warming the air. “Then it’s going to be disappointed.”

A soft chime rippled through the trees—gentle, melodic, and wrong. The Blooms responded instantly, drifting upward in a slow spiral. Their petals shimmered, shifting from silver to pale lavender, casting long shadows across the glowing forest floor.

Elias stiffened. “It’s changing its lure.”

Elira’s eyes narrowed. “It’s learning.”

The Blooms pulsed again, and the air thickened with sweetness—warm, comforting, familiar. Beast felt the whisper brush against his mind once more.

Beast… come closer…

He clenched his jaw, forcing the voice away. “It’s trying to separate us.”

Brinrose stepped closer, her emberlight flaring. “Let it try.”

But the Blooms didn’t attack.

They drifted.

Slow.

Graceful.

Beautiful.

A constellation of glowing petals circling the group, tightening with each pass.

Nira’s breath hitched. “It’s surrounding us.”

Elias crouched, fingers brushing the ground. Moon‑glyphs flickered beneath the petals—symbols shifting in and out of focus, unstable and trembling. “These glyphs aren’t natural. They’re being rewritten.”

Elira’s wings flared with warning light. “It’s preparing a trap.”

A soft rustle echoed from the trees.

Then another.

And another.

More Blooms emerged—some small as lanterns, others large enough to cast shadows like drifting moons. They floated between the trees, weaving patterns of light that shimmered like illusions waiting to take shape.

Nira stepped back, voice trembling. “It wasn’t like this before. It was just one. One Bloom. Gentle. Curious. I thought it was harmless.”

Beast turned to her. “What changed?”

Nira swallowed hard. “I trusted it.”

The Blooms pulsed in unison, as if answering her.

Brinrose’s emberlight flickered. “Nira… what did it show you?”

Nira hesitated, wings curling inward. “Someone I lost. Someone I wanted to believe was still alive.”

The forest fell silent.

Even the Blooms paused.

Elira stepped forward, voice soft. “It used your grief.”

Nira nodded, tears gathering in her eyes. “I didn’t know. I didn’t see it. And when I realized… it was too late. It had already grown.”

Elias rose slowly, eyes scanning the drifting petals. “It’s feeding on trust. On longing. On hope.”

Beast’s fire flared hotter. “Then it picked the wrong group.”

But the Blooms were already moving.

They drifted upward, forming a ring of light above the Spiralbound Four. Petals spiraled downward like falling stars, each one glowing brighter as it neared the ground.

Brinrose grabbed Beast’s arm. “It’s activating something.”

Elias stepped back, eyes widening. “A moon‑glyph snare.”

Elira’s wings snapped open. “Everyone move—now!”

But the ground beneath them pulsed.

Once.

Twice.

A third time.

Moon‑glyphs ignited in a perfect circle around them, forming a glowing boundary that hummed with soft, eerie resonance.

Nira gasped. “No—no, no, no—this is what it did to me!”

Beast slammed his fist against the glyphs. Fire burst outward, but the light absorbed it like water swallowing flame.

Elias tried next, resonance crackling through his hands. The glyphs flickered—but held.

Brinrose stepped forward, emberlight blazing. “Elira—can you break it?”

Elira closed her eyes, listening. “It’s not a barrier.”

The Blooms drifted closer.

“It’s a choice.”

Beast turned to her. “What kind of choice?”

Elira opened her eyes, and for the first time, fear flickered there.

“One of us is about to be taken.”

The Blooms pulsed.

The glyphs brightened.

And the trap began to close.

The moon‑glyph circle tightened with a soft hum, its light rising like mist around their ankles. The Petalshade Blooms drifted closer, petals shimmering with a hunger too gentle to be trusted.

Beast braced himself, fire simmering beneath his skin. “If it wants one of us, it’s not getting any.”

But the Blooms didn’t move toward him.

They drifted toward Elias.

A single petal brushed his shoulder—light as breath, soft as memory. Elias flinched, resonance crackling instinctively through his skin. The glyphs beneath him pulsed in response, brightening with a sharp, silver flare.

Brinrose grabbed his arm. “Elias—don’t let it touch you!”

“I’m trying,” he hissed, stepping back—only to find the glyphs shifting beneath his feet, guiding him toward the center of the circle.

Elira’s wings snapped open, glowing with warning light. “It’s chosen him.”

Nira shook her head violently. “No—no, it shouldn’t be him. It should be me. I’m the one it fed on. I’m the one who trusted it.”

The Blooms pulsed in unison, their glow deepening into a soft lavender. The air thickened with sweetness—warm, comforting, familiar. Beast felt the whisper brush against his mind again, but this time it wasn’t calling him.

It was calling Elias.

Elias… come home…

Elias froze.

His breath hitched.

His eyes widened.

His shoulders trembled.

Brinrose stepped in front of him, emberlight flaring. “Elias. Look at me. Not at it.”

But Elias wasn’t looking at the Blooms.

He was staring past them—into something only he could see.

Beast moved toward him, but the glyphs surged upward, forming a thin barrier of light that pushed him back. “Elias!”

Elira pressed her palm against the barrier, her voice steady but urgent. “What do you see?”

Elias swallowed hard, voice barely a whisper. “My mother.”

The forest fell silent.

Even the Blooms paused.

Nira’s wings curled inward. “It’s using your memories.”

Elias shook his head, eyes glassy. “No… it’s her. I can hear her. She’s calling me.”

Brinrose stepped closer, emberlight warming the air. “Elias, listen to me. The Bloom doesn’t know your mother. It’s using your longing.”

But Elias didn’t move.

The Blooms drifted closer, petals swirling around him like a soft, glowing storm. The moon‑glyphs beneath him brightened, forming a spiral that pulsed with each beat of his heart.

Elira’s voice sharpened. “It’s binding to him.”

Beast slammed his fist against the barrier again, fire bursting outward. The light absorbed it, rippling like water. “Let him go!”

The Blooms pulsed.

The spiral tightened.

And Elias stepped forward.

Just one step.

But it was enough.

The Blooms surged, petals swirling around him in a luminous vortex. The glyphs flared, rising like silver flames. Elias gasped, resonance crackling wildly through his body.

Nira screamed. “No! Elias, don’t trust it!”

But the Bloom had already taken hold.

A soft chime echoed through the forest—gentle, final.

The petals closed around Elias like a cocoon of light.

And in a single, silent flash—

he vanished.

Brinrose staggered back, emberlight flickering. “Elias!”

Elira’s wings trembled, her breath sharp. “It took him into the Bloom’s heart.”

Beast’s fire roared to life, fury burning through his veins. “Then we’re going after him.”

Nira stepped forward, tears glowing on her cheeks. “You can’t just follow it. The Bloom doesn’t lead you to where someone is. It leads you to where you’re weakest.”

Beast turned to her, eyes blazing. “Then tell me how to find him.”

Nira swallowed, wings trembling. “You don’t find him.”

She looked up, moonlight reflecting in her eyes.

“You let the Bloom choose you.”