The dream came again, as it always did.
Veiss stood in the center of the farmhouse, his hands slick with blood that wasn't his. The walls were painted crimson, the crude symbols of the Black Sun carved into the wood. The air was thick with smoke, choking him, but he couldn't leave.
"Veiss…"
The voice was soft, familiar. He turned toward it, his breath catching in his throat. Alia stood before him, her pale hair streaked with blood. She cradled something in her arms—too small, too fragile.
"No," he whispered, his voice breaking. "Please…"
Her eyes locked onto his, glassy and lifeless.
"You let this happen."
He tried to move, to reach her, but his legs refused to obey. Around him, the cultists chanted, their voices rising in a cacophony that drowned out everything else.
"Let me save them," he begged, his voice raw.
But Alia turned away, her figure swallowed by the black, swirling mass that coalesced in the center of the room. The Black Sun. Its light consumed everything, leaving him in darkness.
Veiss woke with a start, his heart pounding in his chest. His fingers were clenched so tightly around Umbraclaw's hilt that the blade's jagged surface had cut into his palm. Blood trickled down his wrist, but he didn't loosen his grip.
The whispers came immediately, sliding into his thoughts like poison.
"You can't outrun it, Veiss," the blade murmured. "The past will always find you."
He didn't answer. The chill of the night air seeped into his skin, and the dim twilight filtered through the canopy of dead trees above. Kaela lay curled a few feet away, her frail body wrapped tightly in his cloak.
The sound came then—a low, guttural growl that sent a shiver down his spine.
He stood slowly, his every sense on high alert. The forest was alive with movement, the faint crunch of leaves and snapping twigs growing louder.
"Wake up," he said sharply, kicking the ground near Kaela.
She stirred, her eyes bleary as she looked up at him.
"Stay quiet," he hissed, drawing Umbraclaw.
The growls grew louder, coming from all directions now. The shadows between the trees shifted, unnatural shapes moving in the gloom.
"Shadow-beasts," he muttered under his breath. "They've caught our scent."
Kaela's eyes widened, but she didn't make a sound.
Veiss placed himself between her and the approaching shapes, his body tense. The first beast emerged from the darkness—a hulking creature of sinew and shadow, its eyes glowing faintly with an eerie, pale light. Its maw was filled with jagged teeth, dripping with black ichor.
It lunged.
Veiss sidestepped the attack, bringing Umbraclaw down in a vicious arc. The blade cleaved through the creature's neck, and it crumpled to the ground, its body dissolving into a pool of dark, viscous liquid.
Two more appeared, their movements unnervingly silent as they flanked him.
"Stay back!" he barked at Kaela, his voice harsh.
The beasts attacked in unison, their claws slashing through the air. Veiss ducked low, driving his blade into the chest of one while spinning to avoid the other. The second beast's claws raked across his arm, tearing through flesh and drawing blood.
He didn't flinch. Pain was nothing to him now.
With a snarl, he yanked the blade free and swung upward, splitting the second creature's skull in two. Its body convulsed before collapsing into the same black ichor.
The forest went silent for a moment, but Veiss knew better than to relax.
"Four more," Umbraclaw whispered, its tone almost playful. "Behind you."
Veiss turned just in time to see the pack charging from the shadows. He bared his teeth in a grimace, his eye blazing with fury.
The fight was a blur of blood and darkness. Veiss moved like a force of nature, his blade a whirlwind of death. Every strike was precise, brutal, and efficient. The beasts snarled and snapped at him, their claws raking his flesh, but he didn't stop. He couldn't.
By the time the last one fell, the clearing was a mess of black ichor and broken bodies. Veiss stood in the center, his chest heaving as blood dripped from his wounds.
Kaela emerged from her hiding place, her small figure trembling. Her wide eyes took in the carnage, and for the first time, she looked at Veiss not with fear, but with something else.
Disgust.
"You're…" she began, her voice barely audible. "You're just like them."
Veiss turned to her, his face expressionless. His armor was slick with blood, his blade dripping with the remains of the beasts.
"No," he said flatly. "I'm worse."
Kaela didn't respond. She just stared at him, her frail body seeming even smaller against the backdrop of the slaughter.
"Get moving," Veiss said, sheathing his blade. "We're not safe here."
Kaela hesitated, but she followed, her steps hesitant as she trailed behind him.
Veiss didn't look back. The girl's words lingered in his mind, gnawing at him, but he shoved them down, burying them beneath the weight of his purpose.
He wasn't a monster.
Not yet.