12. Predator and Prey

Like a wolf recognizing its master and yielding to serve him, I pushed myself hard to the ground, like giving in to my new master.

'That's right, in front of this monster, I am nothing but a mere servant. I almost forgot...'

'He is the king.'

I knelt before Aslan, my own brother, who regarded me with an expression of bored detachment as he held the cold blade steadily at my throat.

My heart pounded in my ears as I thought, He will kill me.

Tears welled in my eyes, and I couldn’t shake the desperate plea echoing in my mind: Please, anyone, save me!

Just as Aslan poised to thrust his blade down to finish me, a sudden, blood-curdling scream tore through the silence.

Our duel had been secluded—no one had been watching—so it was plausible that someone might burst in at any moment.

Aslan’s head snapped toward the sound. But the scream did not come from within our hidden battleground.

Instead, it rang out from near the inn.

The inn where Elliot resided in.

Rushing outside, we saw chaos:

several warriors lay strewn across the ground, their bodies bloody and broken, unable to stand.

It was clear someone had massacred them, leaving a trail of carnage that no one could ignore.

Amid the shock and confusion, one cry echoed above all:

“Where is Elliot?”

Even as our confrontation continued in a haze of terror and betrayal, Elliot’s fate was unfolding elsewhere.

In the midst of the chaos, a doctor had brought Elliot back to the inn.

The kiss—his fateful kiss with Aslan—had left him literally breathless.

Liam, ever at Elliot’s side, followed closely.

Over the years, Liam had grown into a formidable young man.

Though he still retained his arrogant streak, he had become impressively handsome, his body now large and muscular from relentless training with Eric.

He had even acquired a surprising skill with the sword.

Yet as Elliot’s limp form was tended to, something shifted within Liam.

In that moment, the memory of the kiss—the intimacy and the violence of it—broke something inside him.

Though he had been haunted by sudden, fragmented visions and debilitating headaches for years, now, following Elliot’s rescue, Liam began regaining memories long suppressed.

The pain and confusion receded ever so slightly, replaced by a dawning clarity about the past—and about what had been lost.

Liam regained his memory.

He remembered everything.

His title.

His home.

His family.

His hobbys.

His dislikes.

His friends.

His enemys.

The accident...

The kidnapping...

The Fire...

The waterfall...

And the cave, he has long forgotten.

'F....e'

'We need to flee!'

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