The sounds of screeching and crying rang in Zakk's ears.  He raced over.

The sight that met his eyes terrified him.

There was his mother, standing over his sobbing brother that was curled up in a tight ball.  His eyes were wide and filled with shimmering tears.

"MAMA, NO!" Zakk screeched, but it was too late.

The blood-curdling sound of crunching bones and screaming rang for a split second.  Billy's body flopped to the side.  His shirt was stained with blood, which was starting to pool on the floor.  Splatters dripped down the walls and off the knife onto the ground.

Zakk quickly raced out of the room.

"DADDY, DADDY!  MAMA STABBED BILLY!"

Dak looked at him.  "She what?"

"SHE STABBED BILLY!  WE HAVE TO HURRY!"

The two of them raced to Billy's room.  Light from the fire danced on the walls. Dak roared and went into his dragon form, lunging at Reshia, who let out a startled screech and also went into her other form.

Her tail whacked Zakk in the side as hard as it could, causing him to let out a screech of pain. The sound of bones breaking sounded, followed by a thud, then nothing.

"Zakk... Zakk.... ZAKK!!!"

Zakk jerked awake with the loudest roar he could muster, panting. His eyes were wide and glistened with tears.

"Are you okay?" It was Flash. She was hovering over him, a concerned look on her face. Zakk had never seen Flash concerned before. "You were squirming and thrashing. You almost melted all the snow with fire."

"I...I wha..?" Zakk rubbed his head. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. It was just a nightmare..."

That's what he wished was true. He wished it was all just a nightmare, but it wasn't. His brother was dead. His mother was gone.

"If you say so...well, hurry up, slowpoke. It's time to get moving."

Sure enough, the fire was put out, and everyone was up and ready to go.

"Uh...right. Yeah. Let's...let's go."

The group started heading off.  Zakk was unnaturally quiet. He didn't crack any jokes. He didn't even say a word.

"H-hey, you okay?" Cory finally asked.

"I'm fine." Zakk said quickly.

"B-but you-"

"I'M FINE."

A puff of smoke escaped his mouth as he repeated his words. Cory cringed away.

"... o-okay."

Doug gave a warning growl. He didn't like seeing Cory startled.

Zakk just sighed. The "nightmare" wouldn't stop replaying over and over in his mind. Flash gave him a concerned look. She knew exactly how he felt. Losing a sibling is hard, especially if it's a sibling you're close to.

"Hey, Sasha?" he muttered, breaking the temporary silence.

"Hm?" The shy siren looked at him and tilted her head.

"Have you ever heard this melody before?"

Zakk hummed the melody again. Sasha listened quietly.

"I know you were humming it last night, but other than that, no. I haven't heard it. Why?"

"It...it's something my mom used to hum for me. I learned how to play it on piano."

Zakk was a very skilled pianist. He could easily learn to play any song he's heard by ear.

"Oh?"

"Yeah.  I was just wondering if you've heard it before."

"Well, I haven't."

"Oh..."

Zakk seemed slightly disappointed for some reason, but he hid it.

The ground finally made it out of Snowy Mountains and started heading for their respective villages.

Of course, Kasai went to check on her brother.

"Hey, Fuego!  Guess who's ba-"

Her words were cut short.

A loud, terrified screech escaped her throat and echoed through Hadari.

Fuego was missing.