The slavers' den stank of rusted iron and rotting straw. Chains rattled with every shift, and the air was heavy with sweat and despair. For months, Azrael had lived behind those bars, a child with nothing but scraps and silence.
But in that silence, he found her.
She had ashen-gray eyes and long silver hair that was always matted from neglect. Her name was Selene. Unlike the others who cursed or wailed, she rarely spoke, sitting quietly with her knees drawn close.
Her family had sold her here after she failed to awaken a blessing. A daughter of the Vertos bloodline, once considered untouchable, now reduced to a bargaining chip.
Azrael and Selene became shadows pressed together against the cold bars. They whispered when the guards grew drunk, shared stale bread when fortune smiled, and scratched lines into the wall to mark passing days.
One night, when the guards celebrated loudly outside, Azrael held out half a crust of hardened bread.
"Happy birthday," he said softly.
Selene blinked. "You remembered?"
He gave a faint nod. For the first time in months, her lips curved into a trembling smile. They split the bread and ate it slowly, as if it were a royal feast. The hollow dark of the den felt almost warm that night.
For a brief moment, Azrael forgot. Forgot the gods, the priests, the orphanage. Forgot the blood on his hands.
But the voice never forgot.
When the others slept, it came slithering into his mind. Deep, guttural, ancient.
"Look at them, Azrael."
His body tensed.
"Children blessed by the heavens while you rot in chains. Nobles feasting on silver while you gnaw on crumbs. Humanity is filth. They will strip you of everything, just as they did your father, your mother… and soon, this girl."
Azrael covered his ears, biting his lip until it bled. Selene stirred beside him but he forced his breathing steady.
"The gods watch and laugh as you suffer. They will laugh when she is taken, when her screams echo in the dark. All things you love… will be broken. Remember that."
The words sank like claws into his chest. He wanted to fight them, to shout they were wrong. But deep down, he knew the voice was only saying what he already feared.
Selene opened her tired eyes and saw him trembling.
"Azrael… are you okay?" she whispered.
He forced himself to nod. "I'm fine."
But in the quiet, the voice chuckled.
And Azrael realized that no matter how warm Selene's smile made him feel, the world was waiting to tear it away.