Chapter 16: Names of the Forgotten
The silence after the battle was deafening.
Ash still hung in the air, swirling lazily around the shattered stones of the forgotten shrine. Lyra stood unmoving, her bloodfire spell flickering out slowly from her hands. Raen knelt beside the charred remains of the godmarked child, his expression unreadable.
She had begged for death.
And he had given it.
Not out of mercy—but necessity.
"I saw her soul," Lyra whispered, voice hoarse. "It was... fractured. Like she didn't remember who she was—just the commands etched into her."
Raen didn't respond at first. He reached out, brushing away a strand of scorched hair from the girl's face. "The gods aren't content to kill us anymore," he said. "They rewrite us. They forge us into weapons and send us to die... not even knowing our own names."
Lyra's breath caught.
"You heard it too," she said. "When she touched the monolith—something called her back. A name, but not hers. It wasn't even human."
Raen stood. The wound on his side from the guardian's talon bled slowly, soaking into his coat. But his voice was firm. "It's time I told you what the Demon God showed me."
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