Renji woke up feeling sweaty and insanely aroused. He didn't know what was happening to him—or around him. His heart thundered in his chest, and the sheets stuck to his skin like guilt. Every inch of his body tingled, alive with a fire he couldn't name.
The dream still clung to him—Lilith. Her sultry voice echoed like a seductive curse. That smirk. Those eyes. The way she owned every atom of the space around her. It wasn't just a dream. No… it felt too real.
He sat up, gripping his head. "What the hell is wrong with me…"
A flicker. The shadows in the corner of the room twisted—too smooth, too slow. For a heartbeat, he thought he saw her again, lounging like a queen draped in silk and ego. Then it was gone.
Renji stumbled to his feet. The air felt heavier. The room colder. Even the wind outside whistled with something sinister.
Zach's voice rang out from the den's open corridor. "Rise and shine, sunshine. Hope you slept well. You were moaning like a man being strangled and seduced."
Renji groaned. "Don't ask."
Zach leaned against the stone doorway with a steaming mug in hand, smirking like he already knew. "Oh, I won't. But she might visit again if you keep thinking about her that hard."
"You know about her?"
"Lilith?" Zach's eyes narrowed. "Everyone in the Exile knows of her. The Queen of the Dark Order. Your aunt. And if she's walking into your dreams now, it means one thing."
Renji met his gaze, unsure if he wanted to hear the answer.
Zach took a long sip, then said with deadly calm:
"She knows you're awake now. And that the heir of the Dark Order is no longer hidden.".
Zach studied Renji for a moment, then nodded to himself like he'd come to a decision.
"Well, kid… guess it's time."
Renji blinked. "Time for what?"
Zach tossed him a black cloak embroidered with silver runes. "We're going to see Lilith."
Renji froze. "What? No—she tried to seduce me and threatened to—"
"—make you kneel? Drain you? Crown you king of darkness?" Zach interrupted, eyes twinkling. "Yeah, she's a bit much. But she's also your aunt. And in this godforsaken chessboard, you need allies. Big ones. Evil ones. Hot ones."
Renji scowled. "This feels like the worst family reunion ever."
"Not if you bring a gift."
Zach grinned, a devilish glint in his eyes as he pulled out a jagged, obsidian-bladed dagger from the folds of his coat.
"You're gonna kill a dragon."
Renji choked. "I'm sorry—what?!"
"A Venomscale Wyvern," Zach said, like he was listing items for brunch. "Big, scaly, temperamental. Lives in the Bonecrag Peaks, not too far. You cut out its heart while it's still beating. That's what we'll offer Lady Lilith. She appreciates… dramatic gestures."
Renji swallowed. "And if I die?"
Zach winked. "Then I'll tell her you tried. She likes ambition almost as much as she likes blood."
The trek to the Bonecrag Peaks was grueling, a path carved through jagged rock and snow-covered cliffs. The wind howled like a vengeful spirit, clawing at their faces as they pressed on, the silence between them heavy with unspoken thoughts. Renji's mind raced—his head still spun with fragments of the dream and the madness Zach had unleashed. The strange bond to the Exile, Lilith's fiery allure, the dragon heart he had to rip out—it was all too much to grasp.
Renji couldn't stay quiet any longer. "Zach," he called, pulling his cloak tighter around his body. "How do you even plan on saving the Exile? What's the play here?"
Zach didn't break stride, his hands casually tucked into the pockets of his coat as he looked ahead. "You're in a rush to figure things out, huh? Slow down, kid. It's a long road, and you're not ready to understand it all just yet."
Renji's frustration bubbled over. "I'm not ready? Are you telling me I'm just some pawn in this game of yours? You're throwing me at Lilith's feet, telling me to kill a dragon like it's Tuesday, and I'm supposed to trust you?"
Zach finally stopped, turning to face Renji, his silver eyes gleaming with the same casual arrogance that had drawn Renji to both fear and awe. "Trust? Nah. You shouldn't trust me. Not now, not ever. But I'm your only shot at surviving what's coming. That much you can trust."
Renji narrowed his eyes. "So, you're just... chilling here, not exiled, and pulling my strings while we march to our deaths. What's your endgame?"
Zach's smirk deepened. "Endgame? You think I'm playing some hero's game? Hell no, kid. The Exile is alive, it's old, and it's smarter than all of us. I'm here to keep it from crumbling. To keep it from getting eaten by those kingdoms. I'm a guardian, of sorts. A necessary evil, as they like to say."
Renji's brows furrowed. "And you think killing a dragon is gonna change anything?"
Zach chuckled darkly, eyes never leaving the path ahead. "No. But you need to understand the kind of power you're dealing with here. Killing that dragon isn't about the beast. It's about you. You need to start feeling that hunger, that pull in your blood. This is the Exile calling you in ways you can't even begin to grasp."
Renji hesitated. "So... how do I even navigate this world? I'm still just a damn kid. I've got no clue what the hell's going on."
Zach stopped and looked at him, his expression darkening slightly. "That's the point, kid. No one knows what's going on. That's the beauty of it. The Exile is a place of chaos, of endless shifting, and if you let it, it'll swallow you whole."
Renji's pulse quickened. "So, how the hell am I supposed to fight back?"
Zach cracked a grin, his eyes wild with something unholy. "You don't fight back. You learn to embrace it. You ride the chaos like a wave, let it fuel you. You stop questioning why things are fucked up and start using it to your advantage. Make the Exile your bitch."
Renji clenched his fists, something primal stirring inside him. "And that's what you're doing?"
Zach's smirk twisted into something more dangerous. "Exactly. And I'll teach you how to do it too. But first, we need that dragon heart."
He turned his back to Renji and began walking again. "The Exile's calling you, kid. You just need to learn how to answer."
Just then a strange growling voice began echoing in the far corners of the mountains that stood unshakable yet seemed to be trembling from the force of the growl. Zach only smirked and Renji knew things are not gonna go easy for him - at least for now.