Chapter 105: Brothers Divided
Back in the cave, Ronan felt the familiar burn of his berserker rage. But something was different this time.
Colder. More focused. The trial had changed him. He watched Kael hide something in his jacket pocket. Watched Darian’s shadows move restlessly around his feet.
Watched Elara touch her growing belly with hands that glowed too bright. Everyone had secrets now. "We need to talk," Elder Vera declared.
"The trials have revealed disturbing truths." "What truths?" Elara asked, but her voice sounded strained. "Each of you failed," another Council member said frankly.
"Your bonds are poisoned by jealousy, fear, and ambition." Ronan felt his anger spike. "We didn’t fail anything." "Didn’t you?" Elder Vera pointed her stick at him. "Show them what you learned, young berserker."
Suddenly, images filled the air above them. Not images this time, but memories. Ronan’s memories from his trial. The burning wasteland. The army of people he’d hurt. And his final moment of acceptance. "I am a monster," his voice echoed from the memory. "Maybe that’s what the child needs to learn."
"Ronan!" Elara gasped. "You don’t mean that." But Ronan wasn’t looking at her. He was looking at Darian, whose face showed no surprise at all. "You knew," Ronan said quietly.
"You knew what I’d face in there." Darian’s face didn’t change. "I suspected." "Suspected?" Ronan’s voice got louder. "Or planned?" "What are you talking about?" Kael stepped between them. "Ask him," Ronan growled.
"Ask your precious strategic brother what he’s really been doing." Elder Vera waved her staff again. New images emerged. These showed Darian in his trial, but from a different angle than what he’d experienced.