The sun bled behind the horizon, streaking the sky with gold and crimson as the White Halo set up camp beneath the arms of an ancient tree. Its roots coiled like sleeping serpents across the forest floor, sheltering the group from the evening breeze. Firelight soon flickered between the trunks, dancing against the faces of monsters, mages, and something else entirely.
Their laughter was soft. Their peace, real.
For now.
"Come on, Korrak. Move your feet!"
Brakka's voice cracked like a whip.
Korrak grunted, bracing himself behind the shield she'd made for him. Her custom steel-forged ogre shield gleamed in the firelight, catching the swing of Brakka's greatsword as it clashed against his block.
"Too slow!" she barked, swinging again. Korrak blocked but barely.
They circled the camp's edge in a fierce dance of brute strength. Brakka moved like thunder, precise and brutal. Korrak gave ground, swinging his club but getting outpaced.
Then... THOOM!
Brakka ducked under his swing, drove a shoulder into his gut, and swept his legs with a wide spin.
Korrak hit the ground with a surprised grunt.
Brakka stood over him, panting slightly. She extended a hand.
"You got better," she said, helping him up. "Put on some muscle too."
Korrak wiped his brow, grinning. "Thanks to my teacher."
Brakka smirked, slapping his shoulder. "Damn right."
A few paces away, Kyra crouched near a mossy patch of stone, sparks flaring at her fingertips.
"Fire… ice… lightning," she muttered. "Fire… ice… lightning…"
A burst of fire sputtered from her palm, followed by a puff of snowflakes, then a zzzzt of blue lightning that made her hair puff.
Sylthea stood behind her, arms crossed, cloak trailing behind her like a shadow.
"You're thinking too hard," Sylthea said. "Magic is will. Not worry. Shape it like a story, not a scream."
"I'm trying!" Kyra snapped, cheeks puffed.
"You're flaring. Control it."
"I'll flare you in a second."
Sylthea raised an eyebrow. "Is that a threat?"
Kyra blushed furiously.
Then another zap of lightning sent a nearby stick flying.
"Better," Sylthea nodded.
Axel sat alone on a mossy log near the fire, gently stirring it with a stick. His helmet retracted into his suit. The Black Wolf suit hummed faintly on his body, runes pulsing like a heartbeat.
He watched them, Brakka laughing, Korrak wiping sweat, Sylthea coaching, Kyra zapping trees and for the first time in a long time… he didn't feel like a weapon.
Inside his mind, the voice came.
"This… This is the happiest you have ever been."
Black Wolf.
Axel blinked.
"How do you know if that ?" he thought.
"We're not just linked by thoughts, Axel. Our minds share more than words. We can see each other's memories… if we choose."
A pause.
Then Axel focused to see Black Wolf's memories.
It hit him like a spear to the skull.
Axel's body jerked, his breath catching in his throat as the world changed.
He was no longer by the fire.
He was inside Black Wolf's memories.
Inside hell.
Screaming voids, red skies. Corpses and flames. He saw a child-demon, small, with jagged horns and hollow eyes, dragged in chains across volcanic glass, tossed into a bone-pit full of starving, clawing monsters.
The child was torn apart. Regenerated. Torn apart again.
For years.
Then... a demonic arena, surrounded by roaring giants. Black Wolf was forced to fight beasts ten times his size. When he lost, they broke his bones with hammers. When he won, they beat him for rising too quickly.
He was kept starving, forced to eat ash and worms from cracks in the stone.
Axel felt the pain.
He watched Black Wolf cry in silence, because crying was punished by burning iron shoved into his chest.
And then… worse.
He saw Black Wolf's only friend, another young demon with cracked wings, cornered, broken, and thrown to the pit. Black Wolf was told to kill her… or they'd both be burned for eternity.
He obeyed.
Tears running down his face, he clawed her apart.
The memory screamed.
Axel snapped back.
He fell off the log, landing on his hands and knees.
Sweat drenched his face. His breath came in ragged gasps.
"Axel!"
Kyra rushed to him, panic in her voice.
Brakka followed, sword already halfway drawn. "What happened?!"
Sylthea knelt beside him. "What did you see?"
Korrak grunted in worry.
Axel stared into the fire. "I just… thought of something. That's all."
Brakka frowned. "Are you sure...?"
"I'm fine," Axel said quickly, forcing a weak smile.
But his eyes betrayed him.
They glistened.
The group returned to their leaf beds around the fire, one by one. The camp quieted. Only the whisper of wind and the flicker of embers remained.
Kyra slept on Axel's chest again, arms wrapped around him like a child holding her home. Her breath was soft, warm.
Korrak was already snoring.
Sylthea and Brakka lay beside the fire, sharing soft words and comfort until sleep took them too.
Axel stared into the dark canopy above.
In his mind, he spoke.
"You didn't deserve any of that."
"...You'll never be alone again."
"And I won't let anyone hurt you like that ever again."
There was no reply.
But the gauntlet on his arm pulsed once.
Warm.
Almost like a heartbeat.