The cave was quiet—too quiet. Only the faint crackle of dying fire broke the silence, throwing trembling shadows across the walls.
Ragnar sat apart from the others, his hand resting on his knee, eyes closed as if meditating. But inside his mind, chaos churned.
He could feel it—the whisper, soft at first, like wind brushing across glass.
Then sharper. Closer.
"You keep running, but you know what you are."
Ragnar's breath hitched. His fingers dug into the dirt, the soil trembling beneath his grip. He'd thought he silenced it—the voice that had haunted him since the Purge. The same one that guided him to devour, to consume the Laws of others.
But it was back.
And this time… it sounded almost human.
He opened his eyes. The firelight flickered crimson, then black for a heartbeat before returning to normal. No one else noticed—Kael was sharpening his blade near the entrance, Dax was asleep against a rock, and Selene sat beside the flame, quietly humming something soft, almost broken.
Her voice… it reminded Ragnar of a world before all this madness. A world where laughter wasn't a memory.
He stared at her. The faint light danced across her face, glinting against the silver chain around her wrist—the same one that bound her power, the curse she never complained about. Her lips moved with the tune, and for a moment, Ragnar felt…peace.
Then the voice returned.
"Peace? That's what killed you the first time."
He flinched. The air around him seemed to grow heavier, pressing against his skin.
Selene looked up immediately. "Ragnar?"
He blinked once and forced a nod. "It's nothing."
But she didn't believe him. She rarely did.
Kael's voice cut through the silence. "You should sleep. We move at dawn."
Ragnar gave no reply. His gaze shifted toward the cave mouth. Outside, the night burned faintly red—the smoke of distant cities still rising from the Purge's destruction.
He'd been part of that fire once. The Law Devourer. The walking sin.
He exhaled slowly, but his shadow twitched against the wall, shape shifting like something alive.
And then it spoke.
"Why pretend, Ragnar? You'll devour them too. All of them. That's what you do."
His pulse quickened.
He stood abruptly, drawing every eye in the cave.
Kael frowned. "Something wrong?"
Ragnar hesitated. "I… need some air."
Selene started to rise, but he shook his head. "Stay."
Without another word, he walked into the cold night.
Outside, the moon hung low and heavy, veiled behind ash clouds. The air tasted of iron.
Ragnar moved to the cliff's edge and looked down at the valley below—black ruins, faint fires, and the distant glimmer of patrol lights.
He clenched his jaw. He could feel it again—that hunger, that strange burning deep in his chest. Every Law he had consumed screamed within him, each voice begging for release.
"Stop it," he growled under his breath.
But the shadow only laughed.
"You keep trying to be human. But monsters don't get to choose peace."
He slammed his fist into the ground, cracking the rock. "I'm not you."
"No?" the voice sneered. "Then why do you enjoy it every time you devour one of them? Why does it feel right?"
His hand trembled. He remembered the first time—the first life he took. The power, the rush. The way it filled the void inside him for just one heartbeat.
He hated that it still called to him.
Behind him, the cave rustled. Selene's voice came softly. "You shouldn't fight it alone."
Ragnar froze. "I told you to stay."
She stepped closer, her eyes glowing faintly silver in the dark. "And you think I listen to orders?" she said with a faint, tired smile. "You look like you're about to collapse."
He didn't answer.
Selene reached out—hesitant, almost trembling—and touched his arm. "You're burning again," she whispered. "That curse of yours… it's getting worse."
Ragnar's throat tightened. "It's not a curse."
Her expression darkened. "Then what is it?"
He looked at her, and for a long moment, said nothing. His voice, when it came, was barely a whisper.
"It's what I am."
Selene's hand lingered on his arm. She didn't pull away. "Then I'll stay until you learn how to live with it."
The shadow inside him hissed, "Foolish girl. She'll die for this."
But Ragnar didn't move. For the first time, he didn't silence the whisper. He let it rage, burn, scream in his skull—because her presence reminded him there was still something worth protecting.
Even if it meant standing against the very darkness that made him.
Back in the cave, Kael's eyes opened. He'd been pretending to rest.
He glanced at the entrance, where faint whispers of their voices carried through the night.
A faint, knowing smile crept across his lips. "So… even the monster bleeds."
Then his expression hardened. His blade hummed faintly with runes. "Let's hope it doesn't get both of them killed."
Far away—deep within the ruins of the Purge citadel—a different flame stirred.
A figure crawled through the rubble, body broken but not dead.
Valerius, his armor shattered, whispered through bloodied lips.
"They think they won…"
A twisted laugh escaped him as he reached for the shattered Law stone beside him. It pulsed faintly—dark, alive.
"No… they've only fed the fire."
The stone sank into his flesh, merging with bone and blood. His scream echoed through the ruins, sharp enough to wake the dead.
And somewhere far away, Ragnar's shadow shuddered—like it had heard the call.