Poison and Flowers

Kade's answer vanished into the winds of the Heavenly Chasm, but the honesty and courage belonging to a mortal seemed to ease the oppressive atmosphere around them by a fraction.

"Then who will be second?"

"I will."

A cold, slightly impatient voice rang out.

Sera crossed her arms and stepped out from behind Xia Lin.

She raised her head, her face showing not the slightest reverence, only mockery and provocation.

"I hate creatures like you the most, lording yourselves above everyone else and spouting pretentious riddles to flaunt your wisdom," she said bluntly. "So hurry up and get this over with."

If Orpis's gaze toward Kade had been one of scrutiny, then the gaze he directed at Sera now was filled with judgment.

Those golden eyes seemed to disregard her Tiefling bloodline and her identity as a warlock, seeing directly into the depths of her soul—to the filthy, twisted thread linking her to an indescribable existence beyond the Astral Plane.

"Warlock." Orpis's voice once more echoed in everyone's minds, this time carrying an unsettling note of judgment. "I can smell the color of your soul. Half belongs to the struggles of the mortal world, and half comes from the corruption of the void."

Sera's body stiffened slightly, and her folded arms tightened instinctively.

"You despise the source of your power, yet depend on it to walk this world. You use that power to protect your companions, but that does not change its twisted nature."

Orpis slowly rose to his feet. His enormous wings spread behind him, casting an oppressive shadow.

"Then tell me—when a flower is raised on poison, does the beauty of its bloom belong to the flower's own resilience, or to the poison's victory?"

Here we go again... Sera sneered inwardly. *An ancient creature full of itself, judging