"Lies are the currency of the Holy City," the voice said. "But look at you now. You've got the Void in your veins. You've tasted the nightmare. You're not a sacrifice anymore, boy. You're a predator."
I clenched my fist, and a flicker of black flame danced between my knuckles. It didn't give off heat; it sucked the light out of the air. "I want to go back."
"Back?" The voice laughed. "The gates are sealed. The ritual was a lock. You can't just walk through the front door."
"I don't care about doors," I spat. "I'm going back. I'm going to find her, and I'm going to make her feel every second of this."
"Ambitious. I like it," the voice whispered. "But you're still weak. One nightmare doesn't make you a king. You need more. You need to feast. There are things in this dark that would make Selena's 'purification' look like a bedtime story. Hunt them. Eat them. Grow. And when you're strong enough to rip the sky open... I'll show you how to get home."
I looked out into the gray mist. Something was moving. Something huge, with a thousand clicking legs and a scent like rotting lilies. It was circling me, sensing the new power, sensing the prey that had suddenly become a threat.
I didn't back away. I stepped forward, the black flames on my fingers growing into a roar.
"Come on then," I whispered, a dark smile twisting my lips. "I'm still hungry."
For hours—or maybe days, time didn't exist here—I hunted. I learned that the Void wasn't just a place; it was a mirror. The monsters here were manifestations of the worst fears of the people in the world above. I ate a nightmare of betrayal. I devoured a scream of loneliness. With every feast, the ink in my veins grew darker, and the power in my chest grew colder.
I stopped feeling the cold of the Void. I stopped feeling the hunger in my stomach. The only thing I felt was a growing, obsessive need to see Selena's face when I returned. I wanted to see that mask of purity crack. I wanted to see her realize that the boy she discarded had become the thing she feared most.
Finally, I felt it. A ripple.
A hairline fracture in the gray sky of the Void. It was tiny, a sliver of golden light that looked like a needle piercing a shroud. It was a leak. The seal wasn't perfect.
"You've grown quickly," the voice noted, appearing as a flickering silhouette beside me. "Most take centuries to reach this threshold. You've done it in... how long has it been? A week? A month?"
"Does it matter?" I asked, staring at the crack. "Can I get through?"
"Not as a man," the voice replied. "But as a shadow? Yes. But be warned, Cane. The moment you step back into the light, you'll be a beacon. Every nightmare you've eaten will want to follow you. You won't be returning as a survivor. You'll be returning as a breach."
I didn't hesitate. I didn't care about the risks. I stepped toward the sliver of light, my body beginning to dissolve into a swarm of black smoke and jagged shards.
"I'm not coming back to survive," I said, my voice echoing with a thousand devoured screams. "I'm coming back to own."
I lunged. The Void shrieked as I tore through the fracture, the pressure crushing my lungs, the friction burning my skin. The golden light of the upper world blinded me for a second, and then the smell hit me—incense, expensive lilies, and the metallic tang of blood.
I slammed onto a hard marble floor. The sound of a bell echoed in the distance. I looked up, and my heart stopped.
I was in the cathedral. The Holy City of Luminis.
And standing ten feet away, draped in white silk and surrounded by a circle of terrified priests, was Selena. She looked older, her eyes tired, but she was still the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
She froze, her gaze locking onto the swirling mass of black shadow that had just ripped through her sanctuary.
"What... what is that?" she whispered, her voice trembling.
I stepped out of the smoke, the black ink still pulsing under my skin, my eyes glowing with a void that no light could touch. I didn't say a word. I just reached out and grabbed her wrist, my cold fingers sinking into her warm skin, and yanked her toward me with a force that knocked the priests backward.
"Miss me, Selena?" I hissed into her ear, my breath smelling of the abyss.
Before she could scream, I felt the Void behind me snap shut, but not before I felt a familiar, jagged pull. I wasn't just taking her—I was dragging her back into the dark with me.