Igor

Another month bled into the history of Veridian like poison into a wound.

The citadel suffered. We all suffered. Sixty-seven dead became a memory that haunted every corridor, every face, every meal eaten in silence. The wounded filled our clinic, their silver scars a permanent reminder of that night. Trade routes faltered. Morale crumbled. And through it all, Nikolai sat in his cage, a beast in the darkness, unreachable and unchanged.

But Lorelei kept visiting.

Every night, without ...