The first thing Riven felt was pain.
Not sharp. Not sudden.
Heavy.
Like his entire body had been dragged through stone and left there to settle under its weight.
His eyes opened slowly.
The sky above him was dim, stained orange by flickering light. Smoke drifted lazily through the air, curling upward in slow spirals. For a moment, he didn't move.
He just breathed.
In.
Out.
Each breath grounded him in the reality that he was still alive.
That alone felt… strange.
Memories came back in fragments.
The fight.
Kael.
The power.
The moment everything inside him… snapped.
Riven's fingers twitched against the cracked earth beneath him. He pushed himself up slowly, his muscles screaming in protest. His body trembled, exhaustion running deeper than flesh into bone, into core.
He sat up.
And then he saw it.
A fire.
Not wild.
Not raging.
Controlled.
Deliberate.
Kael's body was burning.
The grotesque remains of the demon wolf lay at the center of the scorched land, flames consuming what was left of him. Bone spikes, twisted limbs, corrupted flesh everything that Kael had become was being reduced to ash.
A final rite.
A warrior's end.
Standing before the fire were Astra and Eryx.
Silent.
Still.
Watching.
Riven swallowed and forced himself to stand. His legs nearly failed him, but he steadied himself and walked forward.
Step by step.
Slow.
Heavy.
Alive.
Astra noticed him first. Her gaze shifted slightly, calm but observant.
Eryx didn't turn.
He already knew.
Riven came to a stop beside them, his eyes fixed on the flames.
For a while, no one spoke.
Only the crackling fire filled the space between them.
Then Eryx said, without looking
"Well done, kid."
Riven blinked.
That was it.
No relief.
No praise beyond that.
Just acknowledgment.
"…That doesn't feel like a win," Riven muttered.
Astra responded quietly.
"It wasn't just a win."
Riven didn't argue.
Because he knew.
Eryx exhaled slowly.
And for just a brief moment
Something slipped.
His hand tightened into a fist at his side.
The flames reflected in his eyes, but beneath that calm surface, something darker stirred.
Riven didn't notice.
Astra did.
Eryx's jaw clenched.
A memory fresh, sharp, unwelcome cut through him.
His sister.
Alive… all these years.
Alive… and he hadn't known.
Alive… and still
Dead.
Killed.
By the First Progenitor.
His breath slowed, but the rage didn't.
It coiled deep inside him, controlled, suffocating.
And beneath that rage
Guilt.
Heavy.
Unforgiving.
Because he remembered something else.
Not long ago…
He had struck Riven.
His sister's son.
His own blood.
A violation.
A breaking of something sacred.
The Nocturne Vow a law older than any Alpha.
Never raise your hand against your own blood.
And he had broken it.
Eryx closed his eyes briefly.
Not in peace.
In restraint.
When he opened them again
The storm was gone.
Buried.
Locked away.
Only Astra had seen it.
And she said nothing.
Eryx finally turned toward Riven.
"I need you to come with me."
Riven frowned. "Where?"
"To the capital of the Third."
"…Why?"
"The Alpha wants to see you."
Riven shook his head slightly.
"I don't get it… I'm not part of your order. I'm not anything special."
Then he looked at him directly.
"What's so special about me… uncle?"
The word hit.
Eryx froze for half a second.
"…Uncle," he repeated quietly.
He studied Riven more closely now.
Then slowly
He exhaled.
"So it's true…"
His voice lowered.
"You really are her son."
Riven's expression hardened slightly.
"I don't care about that right now."
His voice was steady.
"All I want… is to avenge her."
Eryx didn't interrupt.
Riven continued.
"But first I'm getting my pack out."
A pause.
"And Nyss."
Eryx's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Nyss… the daughter of the Fourth?"
"Yes."
Then Riven added, quieter but certain
"She's my fated mate."
Eryx looked away.
A brief moment of discomfort crossed his face.
"…You really chose the hardest path," he muttered.
"What does that mean?" Riven asked.
Eryx didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he made a decision.
A heavy one.
"Get ready."
Riven frowned. "For what?"
Eryx stepped forward, voice firm now.
"We're infiltrating the capital of the Fourth."
Riven's eyes sharpened instantly.
"We get your pack out."
A pause.
"And we get Nyss."
Riven's heart pounded once.
Hard.
Then Eryx added
"After that… you're coming with me to the Third."
His tone left no room for argument.
"No complaints."
"No delays."
"Understood?"
Riven stared at him.
Everything he wanted
Was now tied to this.
He exhaled.
Then nodded.
"…Understood."
Eryx extended his hand.
Riven looked at it.
Then took it.
Firm.
Certain.
A pact.
Behind them, the last of Kael's body collapsed into ash, carried away by the wind.
Astra watched silently.
And though nothing more was said
The fire wasn't the only thing that had been lit that day.
Something far deeper had begun to burn.
Inside all of them.