Glass Heart Syndrome

Chapter 39

Eren awoke to the first hints of dawn, the pale light slicing through the cracks in his tent. The sky was an eerie, washed-out gray, casting a bleak shadow over the camp. Alaric's words from last night lingered, coiling tightly around his mind like a snake preparing to strike.

He forced himself to rise, his movements slow and deliberate, as if each action required him to sever a piece of himself. There was no time for hesitation; not with Azrael's watchful gaze lurking just beyond the shadows.

As he stepped outside, he found Azrael waiting for him by the camp's edge, arms crossed, his expression one of barely veiled impatience. Behind him stood a group of the loyalists, their eyes gleaming with something dark and anticipatory. Whatever Azrael had planned, it wasn't going to be subtle.

Azrael's gaze sharpened as he gestured to Eren. "We march today. There's been resistance gathering in the western valleys. Time to remind them who leads these lands."

The words were simple, but they settled over the camp like a threat, leaving a grim silence in their wake.

Eren nodded, forcing himself to stay expressionless. "Understood."

But Azrael didn't dismiss him immediately. He leaned in closer, his eyes narrowing with a chilling intensity. "Keep close, Eren. I need to see how...committed you really are."

Eren swallowed, his mind racing. He had followed Azrael for long enough to recognize a test when he saw one. This wasn't just a skirmish—it was a trial, one Azrael had arranged specifically for him.

---

The journey to the western valleys was harsh and unforgiving. The cold bite of the mountain wind cut through their cloaks, and the muddy terrain slowed their march, but Azrael's forces pressed on without complaint. The tension was a silent undercurrent, each soldier's gaze trained forward, expressions hardened with purpose.

Eren kept close to Azrael, but his thoughts were elsewhere. Alaric's warnings replayed in his mind, filling him with a growing sense of dread that mingled with something far darker—something that whispered to him in tones of betrayal and retribution.

As they neared the valley, Azrael raised a hand, signaling them to halt. Ahead, Eren could see a small group of villagers gathered, their faces marked with fear and defiance as they stood between the soldiers and the narrow mountain pass.

Azrael's smile was sharp, almost cruel. "They've been harboring rebels. Let's see if they still value loyalty."

He turned to Eren, his gaze unreadable. "Show them."

Eren hesitated, his heart pounding. The villagers were unarmed, clutching each other in a show of resistance that was as futile as it was courageous. Eren could feel their fear radiating, could see the trembling hands, the wide eyes.

But Azrael's stare bore into him, unwavering and cold.

For a moment, Eren considered refusing, the thought crossing his mind like a flash of light in a dark room. He could end it here—make a stand, break away from Azrael's twisted loyalty. But then he remembered the countless nights he had spent clawing his way up from the depths of despair, fighting to survive. This was his path now, one paved in shadows and sacrifice.

He raised his hand, the familiar cold rush of magic pooling in his fingertips. With a flick of his wrist, the spell crackled through the air, slamming into the ground in front of the villagers. They stumbled back, cries of panic breaking out as the dirt exploded in a cloud of dust and debris.

Azrael's smirk grew, his eyes gleaming with approval. "Again."

Eren's hand trembled as he summoned another spell, the weight of it settling in his chest. The villagers' cries filled the air, piercing and raw, and for the first time, he could see the price of his loyalty laid bare before him.

---

By nightfall, they returned to camp, but Eren's mind was a battlefield of its own. The villagers' screams echoed in his ears, blending with the hollow approval in Azrael's voice. He knew he couldn't keep this up—not without losing whatever was left of his soul.

As he sat alone by the dying embers of the fire, he noticed Alaric's shadow stretching toward him. Alaric's face was unreadable, his eyes dark and calculating.

"Azrael seems pleased," Alaric said, his tone laced with sarcasm.

Eren's jaw tightened, but he said nothing, his gaze fixed on the smoldering coals.

Alaric knelt beside him, his voice barely a whisper. "Is this who you wanted to become?"

Eren clenched his fists, the answer twisting painfully in his chest. "There was no choice."

"There's always a choice, Eren," Alaric replied, his tone unyielding. "I'm leaving tonight. With or without you. But I'm done playing Azrael's pawn."

Eren's heart skipped a beat. The idea of breaking away, of escaping this unending nightmare, felt like a distant dream, almost impossible. But Alaric's eyes held a fire, a determination that called to something buried deep within him.

"You'll never get far," Eren said, his voice cold even as a flicker of hope ignited in his chest.

Alaric's smirk was grim. "Then we'll take as many of them down as we can before we go. It's better than dying on our knees."

He rose, leaving Eren alone with his thoughts. Eren stared at the coals, the weight of Alaric's words pressing down on him. There's always a choice.

And for the first time in what felt like ages, he felt the faintest glimmer of something he thought he had lost—a spark of defiance, fragile but burning bright.

---

Eren waited until the camp was silent, the only sounds the rustle of leaves and the crackle of dying fires. He moved like a shadow, slipping through the camp toward the meeting place Alaric had mentioned.

Alaric was already waiting, his gaze steely as he nodded at Eren. "You're sure about this?"

Eren's mouth was dry, but he nodded, the resolve solidifying within him. "I'm done following orders I don't believe in."

Alaric's smile was brief, but it held a fierce pride. "Then let's make them pay."

Together, they moved through the camp, gathering a few other loyalists who shared their disillusionment, each one a silent promise of resistance. The night stretched before them, a path of uncertainty and danger, but for the first time, Eren felt a clarity he hadn't known in years.

As they slipped into the shadows, he couldn't help but feel that this was only the beginning. The choice he had made would set him on a new path, one forged not by loyalty but by a burning need for freedom—and vengeance.

And though he couldn't know what lay ahead, one thing was certain: he would no longer be a pawn in Azrael's twisted game.

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