Chapter 417: The Price of Belief

Meanwhile Back At The Cave;

Kairen couldn’t move.

His legs trembled so violently that he had to lock his knees just to remain standing, every muscle screaming for him to run while his mind refused to catch up with what his ears had just heard.

The beast had spoken. And it wasn’t that he had just made an incomprehensible noise. It wasn’t nonsense or something strange that he hadn’t heard before. No, this was clear. Yes, he counted his words a bit, but one could make sense of what the beast said. It was clear and coherent.

Morven stood rigid beside Lysandra, his grip tight around the hilt of his sword, knuckles pale. Lysandra herself stared openly now, her usual sharp composure fractured by disbelief and unease.

The cave seemed to hold its breath around them.

The beast tilted its head slightly, studying their frozen expressions with mild curiosity.

"...Is there a problem?" he asked calmly. "You look as though you’ve seen a ghost."

His golden eyes flicked between them, amused. "Did you not come for me?" he asked.

Morven swallowed hard, throat bobbing visibly. He forced himself to nod.

"Yes," he answered, voice rough. "We... we did. We came for you."

"Hmm... from the way you guys are behaving, it’s like you didn’t," the beast said. His lips curved faintly upward. He lifted his chained hands again, the massive links grinding softly against the stone. The runes shimmered faintly as if reacting to his movement. "Since you came for me, could you try breaking them again?"

Lysandra hesitated. Her instincts screamed that this was wrong — deeply wrong — yet the mission echoed louder in her mind. Orders were orders, and Victoria did not tolerate failure.

The beast continued casually, as if discussing the weather rather than what was obviously a very bad decision.

"It’s been a long time since anyone tried to rescue me," he mused. "I always enjoy it when they do. Young ones like you always cling to the hope that they can do it."

His gaze sharpened slightly. "Unlike what a certain person believes... her kind is not righteous. Evil runs in the world as naturally as breath. Sometimes the line between evil and good is just so little that one just needs to step over it to tap into it."

Morven stiffened.

Lysandra frowned. "What are you talking about?" she asked, confused.

The beast’s eyes lingered on her, studying her.

"You’re too young to understand," he replied calmly. "Just do what you came here for."

He gestured again toward the chains. "Try to get me out of them. I’ll do whatever you want me to do if you do."

Kairen’s stomach twisted violently.

"No," he blurted, shaking his head hard. "Don’t. This is wrong. We shouldn’t do this."

Neither Morven nor Lysandra looked at him or listened to him.

Morven tightened his grip on his sword and faced the beast. "Our Alpha wants you. If... if we free you, you will come with us?"

The beast nodded thoughtfully. "That is a simple request. If you can get me out of this, then I will come with you to see your... alpha."

He extended his bound hands again, offering them forward. "Try again."

Morven and Lysandra exchanged a brief glance.

A silent agreement passed between them.

They raised their swords.

Steel struck rune-forged metal.

The impact echoed sharply through the cavern, sparks flashing briefly in the dim light. The chains did not even tremble.

They struck again.

And again.

The runes pulsed brighter with every blow, glowing like warning embers beneath the metal.

The beast observed quietly, almost patiently.

"Come closer," he said after a moment. "From that distance, you won’t accomplish anything."

Morven hesitated.

Lysandra frowned slightly but took a step forward anyway.

Kairen took a step farther back instead of stepping closer. He did not trust the beast at all.

The beast’s gaze followed Morven and Lysandra’s movement. "Closer," he encouraged. "I just remembered... there might be a way to remove them."

Kairen’s heart slammed violently against his ribs.

"No!" he shouted. "Don’t go any closer!"

His voice echoed uselessly off the stone walls.

Neither of them listened.

Morven moved closer.

Lysandra followed.

The beast’s smile widened as they did.

He beckoned them nearer, his golden eyes gleaming with something that made Kairen’s skin crawl. "Just a little more."

Kairen backed away slowly, dread flooding his veins. His hands shook so badly he nearly dropped his weapon.

Something was horribly wrong.

The air felt heavier. Thicker. As if the cave itself had tightened around them.

Lysandra stepped directly in front of the beast, close enough now to see the fine cracks in the hardened skin around the chains.

Morven positioned himself beside her.

The beast’s eyes softened; they even appeared tender for a moment — but it was all fake.

It happened so fast that Kairen’s mind refused to process it at first.

One sudden movement.

A blur of power.

Lysandra never had time to scream.

Her body collapsed forward in a lifeless heap before Morven even understood what he was seeing.

The cave seemed to shatter into silence.

Morven froze, eyes wide, blood draining from his face.

"Lys—" The word died in his throat.

The beast turned toward him calmly.

Morven tried to move, but he was too slow and too close to the beast. He couldn’t escape.

A powerful grip seized him, lifting him effortlessly off the ground as though he weighed nothing at all. His sword clattered uselessly to the stone.

His eyes locked onto the beast’s glowing gaze, horror flooding his face.

"No—!"

The sound cut short.

His body went limp moments later.

The beast released him without ceremony, letting him fall beside Lysandra.

Kairen’s lungs locked as his vision blurred.

His mind screamed for him to move — to run — to survive.

The beast leaned down slowly, dipping his fingers into the spreading blood and dragging them across the stone floor in deliberate, careful patterns.

Kairen finally found his voice.

A raw, broken scream tore from his throat, and without waiting another second, he turned and fled.

His boots slipped against stone as he sprinted blindly through the cave, breath tearing from his lungs, heart pounding so violently it felt like it might burst from his chest. His vision tunneled, panic swallowing everything else...