Traveler stopped.
Something lay beneath the broken trees.
Seris.
Her body was exactly where the Devourer had struck her.
She hadn't moved.
Traveler approached cautiously.
The forest was silent.
He crouched beside her.
There was no breath.
No movement.
Traveler reached toward her shoulder.
The moment his fingers touched her—
Seris's eyes snapped open.
Her body moved violently.
She twisted upward and struck him.
Traveler barely blocked the attack.
Seris launched herself backward.
Her eyes were no longer the same.
The beautiful human expression was gone.
Her pupils had narrowed into thin serpentine slits.
Scales spread across her neck and face.
Her fingers curled unnaturally.
Her breathing became rapid.
She wasn't looking at Traveler as a person.
She was looking at him as prey.
Traveler slowly stood.
"Seris."
She hissed.
Then attacked.
Her movement was far faster than before.
Traveler moved aside.
Her claws tore through the tree behind him.
He caught her wrist.
She twisted free and opened her mouth.
A stream of venom shot toward his face.
Traveler turned.
The venom struck the ground.
The soil immediately blackened and began to smoke.
Traveler's expression hardened.
Seris lunged again.
This time, he caught her by the throat.
She hissed violently and struck at his chest with her other hand.
Traveler pushed her back.
"What happened to you?"
Seris answered with another hiss.
There was no recognition in her eyes.
No memory.
No hesitation.
Only instinct.
She attacked again.
Traveler dodged.
Her claws missed his face.
He grabbed her arm and forced it downward.
Seris opened her mouth.
Two elongated fangs emerged.
Venom gathered between them.
Traveler's eyes narrowed.
She lunged.
He moved his head aside.
The fangs missed his neck by inches.
Traveler shoved her away.
Seris landed on all fours.
Her back arched.
Her entire body had changed.
She wasn't the woman who had spoken to him beneath the trees.
Something primal had taken control.
Traveler watched her carefully.
Then he noticed something.
A faint black mark was spreading beneath the scales around her neck.
The same darkness that had appeared when the Devourer struck her.
Traveler stared at it.
Seris suddenly stopped.
Her head turned toward the forest.
She heard something.
Traveler heard it too.
A distant movement.
Slow.
Heavy.
Something was approaching.
Seris's instincts immediately reacted.
Instead of attacking Traveler—
she turned toward the sound.
Her pupils narrowed.
Traveler looked into the darkness.
Nothing emerged.
But somewhere deep beyond the trees—
twelve enormous footsteps moved through the forest.
Traveler's expression became serious.
The creature hadn't left.
It was watching.
And Seris—
whatever she had become—
was reacting to its presence.