Kael.
My head hurts, my body hurts. But nothing compares to the pain in my soul, like a dead weight that has refused to lift, squeezing my chest and ripping my heart out. Sitting in the center of my chambers, my gaze unfocused, I tried to ignore the voices in my head, but they are loud and unrelenting, each one harsher than the other.
The memories are even crueler. From the ones I thought had long buried, the ones I pretended didn't exist, to the ones I always longed for but never received, all playing like a movie in front of me, reminding me of the times before, the horrors during, and the emptiness after.
My beast, which I had thought was dormant, was scratching my chest, baring its teeth in a snarl before unleashing a blood-curdling howl. The sound echoed through my mind, a primal
