“They say monsters don’t feel pain.

  They’re wrong.

  We just survive it differently.”

  The forest didn’t welcome life. It devoured it.

  Twisted roots jutted from the ground like ribs from a corpse. Cold fog coiled through the trees, muffling even the wind. Vorgrimm Velk moved like a shadow—silent, low, and fast.

  He wasn’t strong. Not by birth. Not by blood.

  But every scar on his body was proof he’d earned the right to be feared.

  A snarl shattered the silence.

  Something big—slithering, armored, hungry—lurched through the brush. Vorgrimm crouched, gripping the worn hilt of his sword. His muscles coiled, not in readiness, but in restraint. He wasn’t stupid. That thing was a killer.

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

  The beast stepped into the clearing. Twelve feet tall. Bone-plated legs. Yellow eyes like twin suns in the dark. It didn’t hesitate.

  Neither did he.

  He surged forward—inhuman speed, a skill earned in blood and terror. His blade slammed into the beast’s leg with a metallic crack. Sparks flew.

  The beast barely flinched.

  Its tail whipped around. He dodged too late.

  Pain exploded through his ribs as he crashed against a tree. His vision blurred. He coughed blood.

  Too fast. Too strong.

  The creature lunged. He rolled. Its claw split the tree where he’d just been. The fight wasn’t just out of his league—it was suicidal.

  The monster inside him stirred. The one he’d taken from his mother the night he killed her in her sleep.

  It clawed at his chest, begging to be unleashed.

  Not yet.

  He dashed beneath the beast’s belly, slashing its inner thigh. This time, the blade pierced flesh. The beast roared.

  And now it was angry.

  The fight turned brutal. Every strike pushed him closer to death. His barrier magic fizzled after one hit. His arm trembled. His breath burned. One more blow and he’d be gone.

  Run.

  And so he did.

  Not out of fear—but survival.

  He dove into the fog, heart hammering, blood slicking his side. The beast didn’t follow. Maybe it thought he’d died. Maybe it just didn’t care.

  He collapsed behind a boulder, coughing, shaking, alive.

  “I’m still here…” he muttered, a bitter grin cracking through the pain. “You didn’t win.”

  The monster inside him was silent.

  For now.