Rin sat in silence within the warship's observation chamber, eyes focused on the ever-shrinking horizon below. Clouds swirled like ink in water, obscuring the remnants of what was once the proud northern kingdom of Kareth-Thorne. Now, it was rubble stretched for miles,a city turned graveyard.
But what haunted him more wasn't the desolate land. It was the silence between him and the two guards assigned to him. They stood like statues, masked and void of presence, yet their gaze never left him. Two shadows at his back.
Why now? he kept thinking.
Why this sudden care after years of being left to rot in gates with no protection?
He replayed the pieces in his mind.
When he was weaker, Kaelion ignored him.
Now that he'd advanced rapidly ,surging from 29% to 42% in mere months,his brother had assigned two 80% warriors to "protect" him.
Rin's lips curled bitterly.
It wasn't protection. It was surveillance.
A noose made of loyalty and fear.
"Two guns pointed at my head…" he muttered under his breath. "Smart. Send me to a lawless wasteland and let 'accidents' do the dirty work."
The brother in the memories of rin solas was kind,rin regretted trusting these memories.
But he wasn't panicking.
He was adapting.
Rin made a deliberate decision: Stay close to the master. Gain his trust. Stay alive.
The man in question, Master Arkan, sat quietly across the chamber. A figure of chilling composure. Long black robes. Pale skin lined with scars of old wars. Horns dark as obsidian curved backward from his skull. His aura was heavier than the gravity holding the warship down.
Rin approached.
"Master Arkan," he said evenly.
Arkan glanced at him, but didn't dismiss him. A subtle nod granted him space.
Rin sat beside him.
"I was wondering," he said, keeping his voice measured, "what you think of the war. Of the way the family is handling it."
Arkan was silent for several seconds before answering. "The Solas family has always ruled by domination. Sentimentality clouds vision."
Rin nodded, feigning respect. But internally, his disgust brewed deeper.
At least he doesn't pretend to be kind.
Two days passed in silence and strategy.
The ship's alert tone rang sharply. They were over Kareth-Thorne, once the jewel of the northern resistance. Now, nothing but splintered towers and dead stone.
From above, the city looked like a shattered mirror.
Master Arkan stood, voice like an executioner's verdict.
"Prepare the soul-shatterers."
Officers around him flinched ,but followed orders. Rin's eyes widened.
He'd read about them. Bombs designed not to burn or maim,but to rip apart the soul core. They left bodies intact… but empty. Lifeless husks.it was the equivalent to nukes in Rin's planet.
"Two hundred?" one officer whispered.
"Yes," Arkan said, expression flat. "Scatter them across every sector."
No one questioned him.
Except Rin.
He stepped forward. "Sir," he said slowly, "wasn't the objective to capture first? If they resist, then we eliminate."
Arkan turned his eyes to Rin. Cold. Measuring.
"That was the plan," he said calmly. "But I'm not in the mood for a long game. And don't worry… there will be survivors. Everyone will get a turn."
Rin stared at him.
He didn't flinch.
But his hands tightened into fists behind his back.
He turned away, looked down at the kingdom once more.
These people call themselves saviors.
These people call their slaughter order.
He remembered what he once was ,curious, eager to see this world.be strong and explore.
But the deeper he sank into its heart, the more it reeked of rot.
Even monsters would hide in shameif they saw these people. these men? They smiled as they burned nations.
And the cruelest part?
They thought they were righteous.
Rin closed his eyes as the soul-shatterers fell like silver rain.
He made a vow in silence.
"If I must be a monster to survive… I will be one they'll never control."