Fire consumed him.
Not with heat, to Caspian's surprise, but with warmth, they might be similar, but they feel completly different.
The moment Caspian was thrown into the light, the world shattered into brilliance. Pain should have followed. Screaming agony. Flesh burning away.
Instead, everything went silent.
He felt himself falling inward, deeper than flesh, deeper than bone.
Into himself.
Darkness and light collided.
Caspian found himself standing in an endless void split cleanly down the middle.
To his left, blazing radiance stretched into infinity—golden light like a merciless sun, pressing down on him, stripping away warmth and comfort alike. To his right, vast darkness churned, deep and endless, whispering with familiar hunger.
Day.
Night.
He stood between them, barefoot, naked of claws and fangs, wearing only his own heart.
A voice spoke.
Clear. Calm. Unyielding.
"Compassion."
Verdam's voice.
It echoed not from one direction, but from the light itself.
"Tell me, creature of the night" the voice said evenly, "how many have you killed?"
Caspian's throat tightened.
"I don't know" he answered honestly.
The light flared.
Images burst into existence around him.
The Citadel of the Stars.
Blood-soaked streets.
Bodies falling.
Screams.
Then—slower now.
A crushed man beneath rubble, eyes already dim.
A woman bleeding out, breath rattling, relief flickering as Caspian knelt beside her.
Animals in the forest.
A deer's final shudder.
"Did you enjoy it?" Verdam's voice asked.
"No" Caspian said immediately.
"Did you stop?" His voice asked again.
"…No."
The light intensified, searing into him—not burning flesh, but the thruth in his heart.
"You chose who lived and who died" the voice said. "You decided mercy was yours to grant."
Caspian clenched his fists.
"I didn't choose to be a monster" he said hoarsely. "But I chose not to be mindless."
The images shifted.
A dying boy shielding his sister.
A whisper—Brother.
Caspian dropped to one knee, like he was hit by a physical strike.
"I hate what I am" he said. "But I still cared. Even when it hurt."
Silence followed.
Then, slowly, the light receded.
"Compassion acknowledged."
The void shifted.
The second voice spoke.
It came from everywhere and nowhere, layered, distant—neither warm nor cold.
"Choice."
This voice was unfamiliar. Caspian had no idea from whom it could be.
The darkness surged, forming scenes not of the Nightmare—but of Caspian's life before it.
A good house, the only place Caspian considered home, he could swear he heared his mother cooking, she wasn't good at it, but no one had the heart to tell her.
A laughing little girl, Thea, his beloved sister.
His father's stern face, Awakened Alexander.
"Stay calm. Stay alive."
The scene shattered, replaced by branching paths stretching infinitely before him.
One path glowed gold.
Safety. Obedience. Survival.
Another sank into shadow.
Defiance. Pain. Uncertainty.
"You had options" the voice said. "You could have surrendered to the thirst. You could have fled into darkness. You could have served."
Caspian watched visions of himself kneeling before the Tyrant, powerful, fed, empty.
"And yet" the voice continued "you chose something else."
He saw himself crossing the river.
Walking east.
Toward the Sun.
"I chose to gamble" Caspian said quietly. "On people. On hope."
"Why?"
Caspian lifted his head.
"Because if I don't choose" he said "then I'm already dead."
The branching paths collapsed.
Only one remained—narrow, painful, uncertain.
"Choice accepted."
The darkness stilled.
Then—
The third voice spoke.
And Caspian's blood froze.
"Will."
It was deep. Resonant. Regal.
The Tyrant's voice, made Caspian to shiver.
But not the venomous monster from the Citadel.
This voice was calm. Commanding. Proud.
The darkness shaped itself into a towering figure crowned by moonlight. Not a beast. A king.
"You resist me" the voice said, almost amused. "Even now."
Caspian trembled.
"You carry my blood" the Tyrant continued. "My hunger. My inheritance. You could rule. You could feast."
The image leaned closer
"Why do you deny what you are?"
Caspian's claws threatened to return—but he forced his hands open.
"Because I remember" he said through clenched teeth. "Who I was. Who I loved."
The Tyrant laughed softly.
"A weak answer."
Caspian met his gaze.
"Yes" he said. "Because i'm weak, but i'm also more than a mindless beast."
The darkness pressed in, crushing, demanding submission.
"Then stand" the Tyrant commanded. "Stand against night. Against hunger. Against me."
Caspian screamed—not in pain, but in defiance.
"I will!" he roared. "Even if it kills me! You will curse the day you gave me this hunger!"
For a moment, the void shook.
Then the Tyrant smiled.
Not cruelly.
Proudly.
"Will confirmed."
The darkness withdrew.
Light and night receded together.
The void shattered.
Caspian staggered forward—
And fell out of the fire.
He hit cold marble hard, gasping, body shaking violently. Smoke rose from his skin, but there were no burns. No wounds.
Alive.
He pushed himself up, trembling.
Verdam stood before him, hands clasped behind his back, eyes bright with amusement.
"Well" the Saint said cheerfully. "Took you long enough."
Caspian glared at him, chest heaving.
"I hate you" he said shakily.
Verdam burst out laughing, sunlight dancing around him.
"Oh, good" he replied. "For a moment i thought you would thank me."
The light dimmed behind them.
And Caspian remained standing.
"So now...what..."
Verdam's demeanor changed, one second it was like a warm breeze, the next one was scorching heat.
"You will tell me everything you know about what happened, we haven't received notices from the Citadel of the stars in a week, and also...i need you for something."
Caspian was surprised by the abrupt change, for a moment he thought he stepped out of the frying pan into the fire, or, more accurate, from a fire to the sun.
"And what exactly do you want me to do?"
"Oh, nothing too dangerous." Verdam smiled again. "I just need you to go to the city of the moon, bring me the Guiding Moonlight from the high tower, and help me kill my corrupted brother."
Caspian could only answer one word.
"What?..."