Chapter 62: The Truth that Hurts

The darkness held him still.

Cold. Smothering.

Sinking into his skin, his bones, his soul.

Ragnar fought it. Tried to move.

But it wasn't just his body that was frozen—

It was his will.

The voice chuckled, low and knowing.

"Still struggling?" it mused. "Even now?"

Ragnar gritted his teeth.

"You're going to have to try harder than that," he growled.

The voice hummed. "Oh, Ragnar. I haven't even started yet."

And then—

The world shifted.

The abyss around him tore open, revealing something Ragnar never expected to see.

But now—

Now he saw what he had refused to see.

Because in the memory, as Sylvy cradled Liam in her arms, exhausted but smiling—

Her golden eyes had flickered.

For just a second.

Just long enough to reveal something else beneath them.

Something dark.

Something inhuman.

Ragnar staggered back.