Aylin's body swayed, lifeless, the rope creaking softly with each faint motion. Blood trickled in slow, deliberate lines from her neck, pooling at the ropes digging into her wrists, the fibers stained a deep, brutal red. A single droplet gathered, fat and heavy, before slipping free.
Catigan’s head jerked upward and his tongue flicked out, unnervingly fast, catching the falling bead of blood mid-air. He froze, as if the world itself had stopped to watch. His eyes rolled back, white and gleaming, and a shudder rippled down his hulking frame. His shoulders twitched, and the muscles in his monstrous spine knotted like coiled snakes.
“Elder blood,” Catigan purred, his voice a chilling symphony of discordant layers, as if a dozen devils spoke through him, each vying for dominance. He licked his lips, slow and deliberate, savoring the last crimson traces of her blood. His monstrous grin spread wide, revealing teeth too sharp and too many. “Sweeter than sin,” he purred, the words dripping with dark delight, each syllable a curse.
Through the haze and the searing pain, the pieces began to fall into place, each one sliding into position with agonizing clarity.
Mr. Silhouette. An Elder Demon. And Aylin’s father.
The realization hit like a blow to the chest, but I didn’t have time to process it before flashes tore through my mind. Images that weren’t mine. War. Death. Blood. Screams. Each one too fast to make sense of, yet the emotions hit like a tidal wave—grief, rage, despair, pain so raw it burned.
“Frank?” I gasped, struggling to focus as the world swam around me. “What’s happening?”
His voice rumbled within me, fragmented and strained, like he was clawing his way back from the depths of something terrible. I… I remember… His words were slow. I remember everything.
Then came the surge—hate, pure and unfiltered, coursing through me like venom. We have to kill him, Jack.
“That’s the plan, Frank.”
With a guttural snarl, I charged at him, the world narrowing to a single target: Catigan. But before I could reach him, he raised his hands, and the blood pooled at my feet shivered, rippling with unnatural intent. Then it convulsed, writhing to life in a grotesque, macabre dance. It slithered upward, pulsating vines that coiled around my legs, anchoring me in place. The tendrils were cold and slick, moving with a sinister will of their own as they crawled higher, wrapping around my torso like liquid chains. They gripped my arms in an iron hold, tightening with every struggle. I could feel it—malignant and unyielding—as it tried to drag me down, to pull me under, to drown me in a crimson sea.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
I thrashed, every muscle straining, every ounce of rage and strength pouring into the fight. The blood vines tightened, their grip unyielding, pulling me down. I growled and fought harder, but no matter how fiercely I struggled, I couldn’t break free. The harder I fought, the tighter they bound me.
Catigan laughed, low and mocking.
“This…” he growled. “This is power.” His head tilted back, eyes burning with an unholy light as he shuddered with ecstasy. “And this…” He raised his hands, letting the violet energy swirl around them like serpents, wrapping him in its vile embrace. His grin widened. “This is the future.”
Then his nostrils flared, and his gaze snapped to Aylin. I stretched my senses toward her, reaching for what he must have felt—and there it was. The faintest, most fragile rhythm of her pulse, a thread of life clinging stubbornly in the darkness. His grin widened, sharpening like a predator’s as he turned fully toward her. She was still alive. Barely. But alive.
He spoke then, not to me, not to her, but to the darkness of night. “You think you can control me? That I am your dog? For years, you’ve disrespected me.” He paused, his sneer twisting into a snarl. “Who’s the dog now?”
I saw Aylin’s eyes flutter weakly as Catigan grabbed her, his clawed hands clamping down on her bloodied neck. His fingers dug into her flesh with a cruel, deliberate pressure, her body trembling against his grip.
He took a step forward. His voice dropped to a low, lethal whisper. “If you’re out there, if you or your precious minions can hear me, just know this.” He leaned in close to Aylin's still body, fangs gleaming in the firelight, mere inches from her throat. “I was the one who killed your daughter.”
“No!” The roar ripped from my throat, raw and unrestrained, echoing in the night like a dying animal’s cry. I strained against the blood vines, every fiber of my being burning with the effort, but they held fast, chocking me as I fought them.
Terror surged through me—pure, blinding, and suffocating. Not the sharp fear of danger, but the deep, primal kind that claws its way out from the darkest recesses of your soul. I didn’t know I still had that kind of fear left in me. After everything.
It wasn’t logical. I should have hated Aylin, wanted to hate her—for using me, for lying to me, for turning my life into… whatever this was. But something deep inside me refused to let go. It clawed at me, anchoring me to something beyond rage, beyond betrayal.
Screams pierced the air—mine, hers, the city's. I couldn’t tell anymore. They blended into a maddening cacophony, an endless symphony of despair. My body fought to break free, but my mind was already fracturing under the weight of it all. Something inside me whispered that this was the end. But I wasn’t ready to believe it. Not yet.
Then, a burst of flame exploded against Catigan, knocking him back. Fire swirled, embers coiling like serpents as Kane stepped through the inferno—eyes blazing, fury etched into every muscle, flames licking up his forearms like living armor.
The blood binds collapsed, losing their unnatural form, and splattered to the ground in a dark, viscous puddle.
“Not tonight, Catigan,” Kane growled, his voice steady but hot enough to melt steel.
They clashed—Kane moving like liquid fire, all grace and death, while Catigan lunged, a mountain intent on crushing all beneath it. Kane’s flames arced around him, each movement cutting the air, forcing Catigan back step by step.