Elias didn't sleep.
He sat on the floor long after Seraphine left, staring at his hands. They trembled with leftover energy, Solar Basilisk essence mingling with the abyss inside him.
He felt stronger.
Clearer.
But also… wrong.
The voice inside him purred.
"You tasted power. You will taste more."
Elias shook his head. "No. I won't become a monster."
"You already are."
He pressed his palms to his ears, but the voice only grew louder.
"You devoured the boar. The rabbit. The girl's essence. You hunger for more. You always will."
Elias's breath came in ragged gasps.
"No… I can control it."
"Control?"
The voice laughed, a sound like cracking stone and shifting void.
"You are a fragment of me. And I am hunger incarnate."
The room darkened.
Shadows twisted.
A shape formed in the corner, massive, coiling, eyes like dying stars.
Elias froze.
The First Serpent.
The Devourer.
His bloodline's true origin.
"Soon," the serpent whispered, "you will shed your human skin entirely."
Elias trembled. "I won't."
The serpent leaned closer, its breath cold as the void.
"You will. Because the abyss does not ask."
The vision shattered.
Elias collapsed, gasping, drenched in sweat.
He wasn't alone.
Seraphine stood in the doorway, eyes wide, face pale.
She had seen everything.
"Elias…" she whispered. "What are you?"
Elias looked up, tears in his eyes, voice breaking.
"I don't know."
But the abyss inside him did.
And it was waking.