The Devourer's Dominion

Aetheron sat in silence.

The chains were gone.

But their weight still lingered.

The others had released him—for now.

But their eyes said everything.

They didn't trust him.

The Silence Between Them

The campfire flickered.

No one spoke.

Reina sharpened her blade, eyes occasionally flicking toward him.

Varian pretended to check supplies, but his hands clenched the straps too tightly.

Even Oris, usually the loudest, had nothing to say.

Aetheron could feel it—the gap forming.

Like they were waiting for him to slip.

Like they weren't sure if he was still him.

The Power That Wasn't His

Aetheron looked at his hands.

The mark remained.

Faint, but pulsing.

The power was still there—vast, uncontrollable.

Before, his Devourer ability had been like an extension of himself.

Now?

It felt like a beast inside him.

Watching.

Waiting.

He flexed his fingers, trying to focus.

But the moment he reached for that power—

A voice slithered into his mind.

You took what was mine.

Aetheron froze.

The Sovereign's presence lingered.

It hadn't been erased.

He had absorbed it.

And now?

It was awake.

Confrontation

"Hey."

Aetheron looked up.

Oris stood over him, arms crossed.

"You gonna say something or just sit there?"

Aetheron hesitated. "What do you want me to say?"

Oris narrowed his eyes. "How about an explanation? Or did you think we'd ignore the fact that you went feral back there?"

Aetheron clenched his jaw.

"I wasn't—"

"You weren't yourself." Reina's voice cut in, cold and sharp.

Aetheron exhaled slowly.

She wasn't wrong.

Cael, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke.

"Did you know this would happen?"

Aetheron met his gaze.

"…No."

He wasn't lying.

Not entirely.

But deep down, he had known Devouring wasn't simple.

This wasn't just stealing power anymore.

It was taking in something else.

Something alive.

And now, it was inside him.

The Warning

Varian stepped forward, expression tense.

"You need to control this. Fast."

Aetheron looked away. "I know."

"No, you don't."

Varian's voice was sharp.

"You think we can afford to wait and see if you'll 'figure it out'? If you lose control again, what happens next? Will you stop at just attacking us? Or will you start devouring us too?"

The words hit like a blade.

Aetheron stiffened.

The thought had already haunted him.

Now, it was out in the open.

Reina spoke next, her voice softer.

"We're still here because we want to trust you."

A pause.

"But trust isn't blind."

Aetheron swallowed hard.

They were right.

All of them.

If he didn't fix this…

Then next time, they wouldn't be holding back.

Inside the Mindscape

That night, Aetheron closed his eyes.

And he descended.

Back into the void.

The Sovereign's presence was waiting for him.

Tall. Shadowed.

Watching.

Aetheron exhaled. "What do you want?"

The Sovereign chuckled.

You already know.

Aetheron narrowed his eyes. "Then say it."

The air shifted.

And the Sovereign finally spoke.

Give in.