Capítulo 26: Shadows Of Truth
The aftermath of the battle hung heavy in the air. The forest was eerily quiet, the oppressive energy from the Monari gone but leaving a hollow, unsettling silence in its wake. The squad gathered near a rocky outcropping, catching their breath and tending to their wounds. Smoke from Wake's residual flames curled upward, dissipating into the darkening sky.
Orin stood a little apart from the group, his claws still extended, his glowing veins pulsating faintly with the stolen energy of Valkas. He stared down at his hands, flexing his claws as if testing their weight. His body felt foreign, heavy with the power coursing through him, but it wasn't just physical. Something deeper had shifted.
"Everyone still in one piece?" Zeela asked, her tone sharp as she surveyed the others.
"Barely," Wake muttered, rubbing his shoulder where a Monari claw had grazed him. "I've had better days, but I'm still standing."
Hiroshi leaned against a tree, inspecting one of his daggers for chips. "I'm fine. The kid over there, though?" He nodded toward Orin. "Not so sure."
Zeela followed his gaze, her eyes narrowing. Orin was still partially transformed, his monstrous form unyielding even as the tension of the battle ebbed. His claws twitched, his glowing eyes distant, and the aura around him felt… wrong.
She crossed her arms. "Orin."
He didn't respond at first, his gaze locked on the ground. Finally, he turned toward her, the faint glow of his eyes meeting hers. "What?"
Zeela's expression hardened. "You need to explain what's going on. Whatever this is—" she gestured to his claws and glowing veins, "—it's not normal."
Wake nodded, stepping closer. "She's right. That power you're using—it's not just yours anymore, is it?"
Orin's jaw tightened. He wanted to deny it, to push their questions aside, but the truth was glaringly obvious. He wasn't the same. The Monari's power had changed him, and the beast inside him was growing louder by the second.
"I don't know what's happening," Orin admitted finally, his voice low. "I don't understand it yet. But… I had to do it. To win."
Zeela's gaze softened, though her expression remained stern. "And what happens next time? What if you can't control it?"
Orin's claws twitched, the beast whispering in his mind. *You don't want control. You want power.*
"I'll figure it out," he said firmly, though he wasn't sure if he believed it himself.
The group fell into a tense silence, each of them grappling with the unspoken truth that hung between them. Orin had changed, and they didn't know how far that change would go—or what it would cost them.
It was Starke who finally broke the silence, his voice cutting through the tension with blunt precision. "So, Orin," he began, his tone calm but laced with dry humor. "When were you planning on changing back to normal?"
The question caught Orin off guard. He looked down at his claws, his glowing veins, the monstrous traces of his transformation that still clung to him. He hadn't even realized it hadn't fully receded. The beast inside him stirred, its laughter a low growl in his mind.
"I…" Orin hesitated, his claws flexing unconsciously. "I thought it would… fade on its own."
"It's not fading," Hiroshi said, his voice sharper now. "You're still halfway to being one of those things we just killed."
Orin's chest tightened, his breath quickening. He clenched his fists, willing the transformation to recede, but it didn't obey. The power thrummed beneath his skin, alive and unyielding.
Zeela stepped forward, her voice softer this time. "Orin, you need to calm down. Focus. You can't let it control you."
Orin closed his eyes, his mind a storm of whispers and fragmented thoughts. The beast snarled and resisted, but he pushed back, forcing it down. Slowly, painfully, the glow in his veins dimmed, his claws retracting as his body returned to its human form.
When he opened his eyes again, the glow was gone, replaced by the familiar brown irises that his squad recognized. His breath came in ragged gasps, his body trembling with the effort.
"There," he said, his voice hoarse. "Better?"
Starke smirked faintly, though his eyes were serious. "It's a start. Let's keep it that way, yeah?"
Orin managed a weak nod, his shoulders sagging with exhaustion. He felt raw, exposed, like a part of him had been stripped away and replaced with something darker.
The squad gathered their things and prepared to head back to the Academy. The tension between them lingered, but no one spoke of it directly. They moved cautiously through the forest, the memory of the Monari's attack still fresh.
As they walked, Orin fell into step beside Zeela. "You think they'll let me back in?" he asked quietly.
Zeela glanced at him, her expression unreadable. "The Academy? Yes. But that's not the question you should be asking."
"What should I be asking?" Orin pressed.
She stopped, turning to face him fully. "What are you going to do when they ask *you* what happened out here? When they realize you're not the same Orin who left?"
Orin didn't have an answer. The truth was, he didn't know who he was anymore—or what he was becoming. All he knew was that the beast inside him was getting stronger, and the line between them was growing thinner with every step.
As the group pushed forward, the looming walls of the Academy came into view on the horizon. Orin's heart sank. Returning would mean questions, scrutiny, and the possibility that the truth about his transformation—and what he had done to Valkas—would come to light.
But more than anything, it would mean facing himself.
Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder