(Opening Scene: The air in Astrid's chambers crackles with tension. Eclipse, having headbutted Lysander, now coils defensively in Astrid's arms, its golden eyes narrowed at the sputtering prince. A faint, sickly sweet odor begins to permeate the air.)
Astrid noticed a subtle shift in the light around Eclipse's fangs. A viscous liquid, unlike the usual dark venom she had witnessed before, began to form, shimmering with an unsettling grayish hue. It pulsed faintly, and the sweet odor intensified.
"Eclipse, no!" Astrid said quickly, her voice firm but laced with concern. "He is foolish and arrogant, but do not harm him." She tightened her hold on the familiar, a silent command for restraint.
Eclipse hesitated for a moment, its golden eyes flicking between Astrid and the still-fuming Lysander. Then, with a swift, decisive movement that Astrid couldn't fully prevent, it lunged forward, striking with lightning speed. Its fangs grazed Lysander's forearm before Astrid could fully pull it back.
A thin, grayish liquid welled up from the two small puncture marks on Lysander's skin. It didn't look like blood; it was thick and viscous, mirroring the substance Eclipse had been forming.
Lysander stared at his arm in disbelief, his anger slowly giving way to alarm as a strange numbness began to spread through his limb. He swayed slightly, his face paling.
"What… what was that?!" he stammered, his voice weakening. He looked at Eclipse, a dawning horror in his eyes.
Astrid, though she had tried to stop him, couldn't suppress a small smirk. Lysander's entitled arrogance had finally met a force he couldn't command.
The grayish poison began to take effect rapidly. Lysander wobbled precariously, his eyes rolling back in his head. He let out a soft groan, his knees buckled, and he collapsed onto the floor with a dramatic thud, completely unconscious.
Astrid watched the prince's ignominious descent with a certain degree of amusement. Perhaps a temporary incapacitation would finally grant her some peace. Eclipse, having delivered its swift dose of grayish venom, settled back into Astrid's arms, its golden eyes fixed on the unmoving prince as if to ensure its work was complete. The tense atmosphere in Astrid's chambers had shifted once more, now dominated by the unconscious form of a royal prince and the silent satisfaction of a protective shadow serpent.