Chapter 10: The Belly of the Beast - 7
"Listen, angel, you’re going to die here. You’re soft, you’re dumb, and you’re warm. And nothing warm survives in the Abyss."
Azareel nodded solemnly, his blood-matted hair falling over his eyes. "I know."
"Then leave," she roared, her claws striking the stone beneath her feet, cracks spiderwebbing outward like a shattered mirror.
"GO. Go rot somewhere else. Go cry on a rock. Go bleed under some corpse tree. Just—not here. Not in my den. Not in my silence!"
He looked at her for a long time, his silver eyes steady, not with fear or judgment, but with a quiet presence that felt like a weight she couldn’t shake.
Then he said the most infuriating thing possible.
"You’re not as loud as you think."
Her jaw dropped. "What—?!"
He stood slowly, brushing dust off his knees, his movements pained.
"You’re angry. But you’re not cruel. You’re loud. But your silence is louder."
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Nyxsha towered over him, her golden eyes blazing, her tail lashing like a storm. "I will bite your arm off."
He stepped closer, unflinching. "I’ll use the other one."