Two days remained. One Dark had chosen. Nine remained resistant. And time was running out.
The nine watched everything with increasing hostility. Increasing certainty. Increasing determination to prove nothing was better.
They saw the Dark who chose. Saw it existing among the pack. Saw it learning. Growing. Becoming.
And they judged it. Condemned it. Declared it corrupted.
"You fell," they said to the one who chose. "You were deceived. You were manipulated by the small being. You let temporary feelings override eternal truth. You betrayed nothing. You betrayed us. You betrayed everything we are. We will not make the same mistake. We will not fall to the same corruption. We will remain nothing. We will stay true. We will prove you chose wrong."
The chosen Dark did not argue. Did not de
