I shook my head, the blade rattling in my hands. “No! No, you’re wrong! I always loved you. I cared for you. You were the only one who ever stayed. The only one who?—”
“Enough!”
His roar crashed into me like a breaking wave. His eyes burned like forge-fire, his voice as cold as the stones underfoot.
“I stayed because I thought you were my brother. My friend. But you’re nothing but a liar, Salvatore—a coward too weak to face the emptiness inside him.”
The words tore through me deeper than any strike. Deeper than my father’s whip, deeper than Severen’s trials.
And for the first time, I knew—he meant every fucking word.
With shaking hands, I reached for him, desperate, my voice breaking. “Lazarus, please?—”
“Get away from me!” he roared, shoving me back. His eyes were pure hate. “You’re a monster. I despise you!”
The world tilted. My chest hollowed.
Then came the sound of sandals scraping over stone. The guards entered—bare-armed, faces blank, their spears dragging grooves through the blood-slick floor. The iron tips clicked and rang, sharp against the silence. The air reeked of serpent flesh and burnt pitch.
They dragged us further apart, chains clattering, the sound echoing through the pit like a funeral drum.
And then he came.
Severen.
He strode into the pit, sandals crushing serpent flesh underfoot. Black blood burst beneath his steps. The stench of venom and decay rose thick and choking. Shadows writhed at his heels, hungry and trembling, slithering up the walls as though worshiping him.
His eyes burned like twin furnaces, his grin sharp and glistening with madness.
“Hatred and pain are what bind you,” he hissed, his words sinking into my skin like barbed hooks.
He spread his arms, and the chains bolted to the walls answered in thunder, clanging like applause from the dead.
“You have earned your place,” he said. “You will both ascend.” His grin widened, splitting his face. “And ascension will be the final trial—your mostbrutalyet.”
He leaned closer, his breath hot. The shadows quivered, hissing, alive with anticipation.
“We’ll see,” he whispered, “who crawls out alive.”
The shadows erupted—screaming, raking the walls, clawing at the air until even the firelight seemed to bleed. Their fury rolled through the chamber like a storm made of teeth and flame.
And in that moment, I understood.
Everything before this had been Severen’s game.
Every trial, every wound, every betrayal—only a prelude.
The real trial was coming.
And this time, it would not test our strength.
It would test what was left of our souls.
Chapter19
Lazarus
The guards dragged us back to the cell. The iron dug deep into my wrists, grinding against the bone. The air reeked of venom and blood; it clung to my skin like rot. My legs trembled, not from weakness, but from the exhaustion of carrying a rage that had nowhere left to go.
