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Chapter 6 — Voices in the Fire
The fire had long gone out, but the smell of ash clung to everything.
Kael Riven walked through the outskirts of Elaris, his boots sinking into damp soil still blackened from the night before. The world was quiet — too quiet. No birds sang, no wind stirred the leaves. Even the river seemed to hold its breath.
In the distance, smoke still rose from the ruins of the tavern. The villagers whispered of demons, of cursed wings, of divine punishment.
And Kael could hear them. Every word. Every tremble in their voices.
They were right.
He had become what they feared.
He stopped by the edge of the forest where his old home once stood. Nothing remained but scorched earth and melted stone. He knelt, touching the ground where his mother's bed had been. The soil was cold, lifeless. He closed his eyes, and her voice echoed faintly in his memory — soft, warm, alive.
> "Don't lose the kindness in your heart…"
His hand trembled. The mark on his palm pulsed once, faintly.
Then the whispers began again.
> "Why do you grieve for the dead, Kael Riven?"
"Your mother's soul is gone — but the wicked still breathe."
"Do you not smell their rot in the air?"
The Devil's voice flowed like smoke through his mind, smooth and patient.
Kael stood up, clutching his pendant tightly. "You said this was justice. But why do I feel like I'm dying inside?"
A low chuckle echoed from nowhere and everywhere.
> "Because judgment is never gentle, my child. Every sin you purge burns away a piece of your heart. But what's the use of a heart when the world has none?"
Kael's wings twitched, feathers shifting with embers. The words crawled into his chest like fire. For a moment, he thought he could hear faint cries — not from outside, but from within. He tried to ignore them, but the air around him rippled, and the shadows on the ground moved on their own.
And then, through the silence, came another voice — one that wasn't the Devil's.
> "Kael Riven… the blood on your hands cries to the heavens."
Kael spun around, wings flaring. A blinding light appeared between the trees — pure and white, burning through the fog like dawn cutting through night. He raised an arm to shield his eyes as a figure stepped forward.
It was tall, robed in silver light, with hair like falling snow and eyes that shimmered like morning stars. In its hand was a blade that seemed carved from pure radiance.
An angel.
> "Kael Riven," it said again, voice both calm and sorrowful, "you walk a path that leads only to ruin."
Kael's eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"
> "Seraphion. Sentinel of the Seventh Choir. I have come to guide you back before the darkness consumes you."
The Devil hissed in his mind, venomous and sharp.
> "Lies. The light seeks to chain you again. Remember their silence when your mother died."
Kael flinched, gripping his pendant. "You… you could've saved her," he said through clenched teeth. "You angels watch from above while people suffer."
Seraphion lowered his gaze. "The balance forbids direct interference. But what you've done… what you've become… it distorts that balance."
Kael's wings flared open, casting a crimson glow across the trees. "Balance?" His voice broke with fury. "Where was balance when she was taken from me? When I was beaten? When the innocent die and the guilty laugh?"
Seraphion stepped closer, the light around him softening. "And do you think slaughter will heal that pain? The Devil deceives you. You are his pawn, not his chosen."
Kael froze, trembling. The Devil's laughter reverberated like thunder.
> "Pawn? I gave him power beyond angels. You fear him because he can end your hollow light."
Seraphion raised his blade, but not in anger — in sorrow. "Then prove your soul still belongs to you, Kael. Stand down. Let me cleanse the mark before it consumes what little remains of your heart."
Kael's mind was chaos — his mother's face, the screams of the bullies, the Devil's laughter, the angel's pity.
It all swirled together until he couldn't tell which voice was his own anymore.
"I… I can't."
The mark on his arm flared. Flames licked across his veins. The pendant at his neck cracked, and a shockwave rippled outward. The forest around them ignited, trees burning with unnatural red fire.
Kael's wings erupted into their full span — red angel wings, blazing and terrible.
Seraphion raised his arm to shield his face, his voice strained. "You're blinded by grief!"
Kael shouted, voice trembling with rage and pain, "Grief is all I have left!"
He lunged forward, fire trailing from his wings like comets. Seraphion met him midair, their collision shaking the earth. The sky above darkened as light and flame clashed — white radiance against crimson fire.
Their battle painted the forest in chaos. Every strike sent shockwaves that split the ground. The trees turned to ash. The air screamed with energy.
But deep down, Kael wasn't fighting Seraphion — he was fighting himself.
Every strike brought flashes of his mother's face. Every roar of fire echoed with her final breath. And with every heartbeat, the Devil's laughter grew louder.
> "Yes, my Punisher… let the light taste your wrath."
Kael broke through Seraphion's guard, slamming him into the ground. The angel coughed, wings flickering with fading light. Kael stood over him, fire swirling in his hands.
Seraphion looked up, eyes calm even in defeat. "If you kill me, Kael, the last piece of your humanity dies with me."
Kael hesitated. The fire in his palm pulsed, alive and hungry.
The Devil's voice slithered through the silence.
> "He lies. He would see you bound again. End him. Fulfill the punishment."
Kael's eyes flickered — from orange to brown, then back again. For the briefest moment, the boy inside screamed.
"I don't want this…" he whispered.
> "Then give it to me," the Devil hissed.
Kael's body jerked as if pulled by invisible strings. The fire burst outward — but instead of striking Seraphion, it exploded into the sky, tearing through the clouds. The shockwave sent both of them tumbling back.
Kael fell to his knees, breathing hard, his wings dimming. The Devil's laughter faded into a whisper.
Seraphion stood slowly, clutching his chest, his glowing eyes filled not with hate — but pity.
> "You still resist him," the angel said quietly. "That means there's hope."
Kael's voice cracked. "Hope died with her."
The angel sheathed his sword. "Then I will find you again, Kael Riven. And when I do… I pray you have not forgotten the sound of her love."
The light faded, and Seraphion vanished into the wind.
Kael was left alone in the ashes — trembling, broken, his wings folded tight against his back.
The forest was silent again, save for the faint hiss of dying fire.
He pressed his hand against his chest where the mark burned like a second heart.
> "Voices in the fire…" he murmured. "I can't tell which one is mine anymore."
And in the distance, a low laugh echoed — not the Devil's, not human — something older, watching, waiting.
The world of angels and demons had noticed The Punisher.
And it would never be the same again.
TO BE CONTINUED