Rashaad tried to scream, to hurl some insult or threat, but the words choked in his throat. Every time he tried to move, he felt as if shadows were holding him back; however, that wasn't the case. The shadows didn't restrain his movement—it was his own fear that paralyzed his body. Finally, he could only look at Ethan with a mixture of hatred and terror, unable to hide the humiliation consuming him.
"You should have understood from the beginning," Ethan said, his voice almost a deadly whisper. "You were nothing but a tool, a pawn in a game you never comprehended. You thought you could defy me, but now you're going to learn what it means to cross me."
With each word, Ethan shattered Rashaad's mind. The confidence that Teti's descendant once held crumbled like sand, leaving him alone, terrified, and trapped in that absolute darkness, at the mercy of a being he never should have challenged.
