"When the gods woke, they were hungry. Not for food. But for worship. For war. For blood."
---
The flames devouring Vareth were not natural.
They were divine.
Blood-red lightning forked across the sky, striking the bell towers of the Holy Chapel of the Nine. Stone shattered. Choirs screamed. Priests dropped to their knees as the walls burned—not with fire, but with memory.
Torvax—the God of Hunger—had returned.
Ten feet tall. Wrapped in living bronze. Chains wound around his arms like serpents, dragging the bones of his fallen victims behind him. Every step cracked the earth. Every breath melted air into ash.
> "WORSHIP," he roared. "OR BE CONSUMED."
His voice rolled over the city like an avalanche.
And the people screamed.
---
Far from the chaos, deep in the Heartwood Ridge, Selene dropped to her knees, her body seizing.
Kai caught her, panic in his eyes. "Selene—Selene!"
"I saw him," she gasped. "He's here. He's feeding."
Riven's face drained of color. "Torvax? The Devourer?"
Selene looked up, eyes wild, glowing with golden rage.
> "He ate the gods who stood in his way. Now he's come for me."
---
The pack erupted in fear.
Some wanted to run. Others wanted to pray.
Nyra stood on a rock above them and shouted, "You think running from a god will save you?"
Her voice shut them up like a blade to the throat.
She pointed at Selene. "This is our only salvation. Our last fire."
Selene stood, fists trembling.
"I won't hide," she growled. "But we need more than fire to kill a god."
Riven stepped forward, hesitant. "There's a weapon. Forgotten. Hidden."
Kai frowned. "Where?"
Riven looked away. "In my past."
---
They rode that night.
Selene, Kai, Nyra, and Riven.
The path Riven led them through was steep and savage—into the old forest known as the Griefroot Hollows. It was silent there. No birds. No wind. Just trees that whispered names no one remembered.
"Where are we going?" Selene asked.
"To my shame," Riven muttered.
---
After hours of silence, they reached a broken altar in the shape of a wolf's skull.
Riven dismounted.
"This is where I lost them," she said softly.
Selene approached. "Who?"
"My mate," Riven whispered. "And our unborn cub."
The words hit like a blade. Even Nyra looked away.
"I was once a priestess to Torvax. Before I broke the chains."
Selene blinked. "You served him?"
"He promised strength. Power. Revenge." Riven fell to her knees, her voice raw. "And I gave him everything… even what I loved."
Silence.
Then she stood and pulled out a dagger.
Forged from bone. Covered in glowing runes.
> "This is the Fang of the End. A godbane blade. It drinks divine blood."
She offered it to Selene.
"End him. For me."
Selene took it.
It vibrated in her grip.
Hungry.
---
Back in Vareth, Torvax marched through fire.
He ripped banners from towers. He crushed statues with his fists. The High Paladins charged him with enchanted lances—
—and he laughed as they shattered against his skin.
He turned, pointed to a child in a burning window, and whispered, "Sacrifice."
The child exploded into light.
Then was no more.
---
Selene stood at the edge of the Griefroot cliffs, wind tangling her hair.
Kai stepped beside her. Quiet. Watchful.
"You okay?" he asked.
She didn't look at him. "He's not just a god. He's a void. A hunger with a name."
Kai touched her arm.
"I'd give you my life," he said. "But I'd rather give you my future."
Selene turned to him.
And kissed him.
It wasn't gentle.
It wasn't slow.
It was wild and desperate and divine.
A promise made in fire.
> And in that kiss, their bond surged—not just blood to blood.
> But soul to soul.
---
The next morning, the four rode to Vareth.
Smoke painted the skies like an omen.
Bodies littered the road.
Selene gripped the Fang of the End, its weight cold with intent.
"Once we reach the city," Nyra said, "you'll have one shot."
Selene nodded.
Kai didn't speak. He just held her gaze like he might lose her forever.
Riven whispered, "He'll feel you coming."
"I want him to," Selene said.
---
They entered the ruins of Vareth at dusk.
Torvax stood on a mountain of skulls.
He turned slowly, grinning.
"So the flameborn bitch comes," he rasped.
Selene stepped forward.
"No more sacrifices," she said.
Torvax spread his arms.
"I AM THE SACRIFICE. I BURN FOR YOU!"
---
The battle began like thunder.
Torvax slammed his fists into the ground—runes exploding. Selene flipped backward, dodging flame. Kai leapt over a crumbling wall and tackled the god's leg, slashing with his claws.
The god kicked him like a ragdoll.
Nyra launched fire from her hands.
It bounced off his chest.
Riven dove in from the side, striking with silver daggers. Torvax caught her arm and snapped it like a twig.
Selene screamed.
> The Fang of the End glowed in her grip.
She lunged.
Torvax caught her throat midair.
Held her up.
"YOU THINK YOU CAN KILL A GOD?"
Selene coughed blood.
"I think you forgot… what made me."
And she stabbed the blade through his eye.
---
Torvax howled.
Not in pain.
In fear.
His body exploded in light.
The city shook.
And then…
Silence.
His body fell.
Dead.
Dust.
Ash.
The god of hunger had fed on his last soul.
---
Selene collapsed.
Kai caught her.
Blood soaked his hands.
Riven knelt beside them, arm dangling broken.
Nyra laughed.
Not coldly.
Not cruelly.
But with relief.
"You did it."
Selene whispered, "One down."
Nyra's smile faded.
"You don't know?"
Selene blinked.
"Torvax wasn't the first to wake. He was just the loudest."
---
Far away, in a temple beneath the ice…
A new eye opened.
White. Glowing. Endless.
A name was whispered across time.
> "Velex... the Dreamer of Endings."