Freedom was the only thing she didn’t have. The only thing that could explain the need for a pact—why a being like her, brimming with divine wrath, would stoop to bargain with flesh and bone.

  Kronen’s golden gaze sharpened. She sensed Lucian’s thoughts but—unlike with Velari—she could not hear them. Not yet. Something had changed in her bloodline. Lucian was not like the others.

  “What deal did my ancestor make with you?” Lucian asked, voice low, weighted with resolve.

  With her arm outstretched, Kronen’s finger touched Lucian’s forehead— in an instant her memories poured into him—silent visions rippling like a mirror atop the water's surface.

  “Centuries before you were born, the great Velarians did not exist– not really.They were nothing more than fragile humans—prey—scrambling for survival on a continent infested with monstrous beasts and abominable horrors.”

  The scene unfolded, revealing primitive settlements being crushed under the rage of claw and fang; terrifying screams echoing across the land. Lucian watched as the nightmare of the past played out as if in real time.

  “Then came the Crimson Night.”

  The scene in the vision shifted, showing a lone man standing amid a field of corpses, his body mangled, his eyes wide with despair.

  “Velari. The first of your line. The only survivor of a massacre that swallowed his entire village in one night. He cursed the gods for their silence; screaming into the void until the void screamed back.”

  Kronen’s eyes gleamed with dark pride.

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  “That scream called out to me—deep in the void,trapped, forgotten-- a prisoner in this realm. I answered that call. I offered him what the gods denied him— vengeance. Power. Purpose. In return…” she turned to face Lucian, her voice deepening with tension,“he swore to free me.”

  Lucian's throat tightened as he watched Velari kneel before Kronen.She a drop of blood to him which he readily acepted. The sky above him cracked open as fire descended.

  “When our pact was sealed, his body changed. Crimson hair, golden-brown eyes—the marks of my gift. And from that moment, the power of a god burned in his blood.”

  The scene shifted again. Velari, now regal and formidable, stood at the head of a vast army. Mythical beasts fell beneath his blade. Cities rose in his name. He married, bore children, and from his seed, the Velarian race bloomed like wildfire across the continent.

  “But when it came time to fulfill his end of the bargain…”

  Kronen’s voice turned to venom.

  “He turned away. He forsook me.”

  Lucian’s fists clenched.

  “He dared to believe he could outrun a god’s will.”

  Her tone was a low growl now, the sky above them flickering with distant thunder.

  “So I cursed his bloodline. I marked every descendant with the Rite—a ritual that would unlock their potential but tear their minds apart. Madness became your inheritance. And I whispered to your enemies, fanned the flames of envy. Let them come with swords and fire to cut you down. And when they didn’t, you cut down each other.”

  The final image showed a young Velarian woman, eyes bloodshot with madness, driving a blade through her own brother. Behind her, a city burned. Corpses littered the streets.

  “I think you know which path your people chose,” Kronen whispered.

  Lucian said nothing for a moment. He simply watched the devastation play out—generations of pain, of betrayal, of inherited madness passed off as divine punishment. A curse born not of justice… but of vengeance.

  Finally, he spoke, his voice like gravel.

  “You used us as pawns in your grudge.”

  Kronen stepped forward again, unflinching.

  “I gave you power when no one else would. I offered a throne where others gave you a grave. Your people chose ambition… and now you curse me for the consequences?”

  Lucian glared.

  A beat of silence.

  Then Kronen smiled again—sharp, unapologetic.

  “Then stop living it. Make a new one. Finish what Velari could not… and I will give you the strength to burn every last god who ever looked down on your kind.”

  Lucian met her gaze, but he didn’t answer—not yet. The truth was bitter, the fire in his blood heavier than ever. But a fire forged of truth could no longer be shackled.

  The flames around them dimmed slightly, and in the silence, a new question bloomed in Lucian’s mind—one more dangerous than the last.

  “Why the hell would i make a pact with you after seeing how ewll the last one went?”

  Kronen tilted her head, amused, intrigued.

  “Because how bad is a deal with the devil when you are already in hell.”