The night after Nox's warning felt heavier than the others. The campfire's glow barely reached Sid's tent, and the sounds of the squad winding down seemed distant, muted — as if someone had drawn a curtain between him and the world.
Sleep came slowly.
When it did, it didn't feel like rest.
Sid found himself standing on a blackened plain, ash falling like snow. Above, the sky burned red, clouds spiraling in great whirlpools of flame. In the distance, an entire city was on fire — not ordinary fire, but a searing gold-white blaze that devoured stone, steel, and souls alike.
The voice came next. Not Ravh'Zereth's usual mocking whisper, but a raw, commanding roar that seemed to vibrate through Sid's bones.
"Do you see? Do you remember? The gods bled here."
The ground shifted under his feet. Armies clashed — not human armies, not demon ones either, but titans of light and shadow. The air split with screams as buildings crumbled into molten rubble. Sid's heart pounded as a flicker of recognition hit him.
That city… that archway at its gates…
It wasn't from the past.
It was their next mission's target.
Ravh'Zereth's voice slid back into its usual smooth tone.
"History repeats when fools do nothing. Will you stand by again?"
Sid woke with a sharp gasp, drenched in cold sweat. His hand was on his weapon without realizing it. Outside, the first grey hints of dawn crept across the camp.
Lucien sat by the fire, staring at nothing, a half-finished cup of tea in his hands. His usual calm was gone — replaced by a hollow, brittle stillness.
"You're up early," Sid said quietly.
Lucien didn't look up. "Couldn't sleep." There was a pause, then, softer: "I… remembered something. No. Not remembered. More like… something was put back."
Sid's brow furrowed. "Put back?"
Lucien's hands trembled slightly as he set the cup down. "It's like a crack opened in my head for a moment. I saw a street, burning… and you were there. But it wasn't now. It wasn't… normal."
Sid froze. "When?"
"I don't know. But you weren't… you. Your eyes—" Lucien stopped himself, shaking his head as if the words themselves were dangerous. "Never mind."
Before Sid could press him, Thorne's voice cut through the camp. "Gear up. We move in two hours. New target: the northern city of Drelith."
Sid's stomach sank. The name landed like a hammer. He glanced at Lucien, who was already staring back at him — both of them knowing, without a word, that this was the same city from their visions.
Nox passed by, his gaze lingering on Sid for just a heartbeat longer than necessary. "Stay steady," he murmured. "The core remembers more than it tells."
Sid didn't ask what he meant. He already knew.
The "core" wasn't just the daemon inside him — it was the echo of something older, something that was now stirring.
As the squad packed their weapons and prepared for departure, Sid felt it — faint but steady — a pulse deep in his chest, like a second heartbeat.
The demon's power.
The memory's weight.
And far above them all, those unseen divine eyes… still watching.