Chapter 64: The storm before reckoning
The world outside the throne room returned in a sudden, jarring blur of sound and color.
Cain stumbled as the shift dropped them into the forest where it had all begun. The blackened ash circle still smoldered faintly behind them, a haunting reminder of the trial they had just survived.
Leo was the first to speak, voice low. "He's preparing for war."
Eren sat down against a tree trunk, rubbing his temples. "He said it like a promise. Not a threat."
Selene stood near Cain, holding onto him—not out of fear, but something else. Something deeper. Her eyes traced the outlines of his bruises, the blood on his shirt, the fire still dancing beneath his skin.
"You three," she whispered, "are not just sons of a devil anymore."
Cain looked up at her. "Then what are we?"
Her voice broke, just a little. "You're the only family I have."
A beat of silence followed—thick with unspoken emotion.
Then Leo cleared his throat. "I guess we'll need more than sibling love to survive what's coming."
He pulled a scroll from his coat, one he had taken during his trial, hidden from their father's eyes. It glowed softly with ancient script.