Page 112 of Fallen: Darkness Ascending, Vol.1

I press the cold blade against my skin, the steel biting just enough to draw a thin line of heat. My hands tremble, but I don’t lower the knife. Not yet. I want him to understand—this isn’t a game. I’m done being his pawn, done with his cruel dance of control.

“You think this scares me?” I whisper, voice shaky but fierce. “I’ll end this. I’ll end us. You don’t need me.”

His eyes flash with something dark, a slow, simmering fury that curls beneath his arrogance. He steps closer, his presence folding around me like a shadow I can’t escape. His voice drips venom and silk all at once.

“Is this another game, angelica? Another cry for my attention? That blade won’t save you.

The world will burn with or without you.

” He leans in, breath warm against my cheek, voice low and intoxicating.

“I need you. Not because I’m weak, but because without your love—your submission—everything I’ve fought for will crumble.

You are the keystone. Without you, there is only ash. ”

I feel the weight of his words, dragging me under. He’s not just threatening me—he’s threatening everything I know, everything I fear. The twisted promise of ruin if I refuse. My family, what’s left of it, will suffer because of my decision.

He probably doesn’t realize I see how he’s razed countless cities to the ground—everywhere but my hometown, left untouched like some twisted trophy.

“Give me your love,” he murmurs, “and I’ll give you a world reborn. Refuse, and watch it burn.” His eyes pierce mine, burning with a fire that promises both destruction and salvation.

I tighten my grip on the knife, my breath catching. The choice is mine. Or is it?

The wind howls outside the walls, but here, in this ruined chapel, it feels as if the world has gone quiet. As if everything is holding its breath. Waiting.

“Angelica.” Solareth’s voice comes to me softly, coaxing, dangerous. “My little flame. The time for games is over. You have the attention you want.”

All eyes are on me. His figure looms over me, his wings twisting and morphing into something akin to broken mirrors and blades in reaction to his turbulent emotions.

His eyes burn brighter when he realizes his control over me might be slipping.

But he’s watching me with that same knowing gaze, like he’s already won.

“Angelica,” he says again, but this time there’s something different in his voice. A sharp edge, a promise. “You’ve made a covenant with me. Do not forget our agreement, our… union.”

I can see his cock stir beneath his coverings. I’m not the only one. One of the female cult members throws her naked body in front of him, opening her legs in invitation .

“She is stupid to deny you. Take me instead! Please! I offer myself as tribute to?—”

His lips curl in unabashed disgust right before his hand morphs into monstrous claws, slamming it into her throat, severing it immediately and ripping her head from her shoulders, pulling out her blood coated spine with her.

Her torso slumps like a ragdoll at his feet, the eyes in the head still blinking a few times before it fully glazes over in death.

I want to gag, but I’m too enraptured by his reaction to another woman offering to take my place. His expression blanks out as he stares at the severed head in his hand.

“I’ve given you everything… and all I ask in return is your loyalty. Your body.”

He flings the vile thing at another cult member, who shrieks and recoils, gagging as it lands with a wet thud.

I swallow back bile, my voice cracking. “What are you even looking for, Solareth? What is it you truly want?”

“Become mine in the only way that matters. I promise an eternity of nothing but pleasure. Give me your womb, little flame, and I will give you the world.”

I freeze.

I can feel the air in my lungs stall, and my heart stops for a beat, as if trying to escape my chest. The words hang in the space between us, thick with implications. His offer.

It should be the worst thing he’s ever said. It should make me want to flee, to run far, far away. But instead, it makes my blood run cold and hot at the same time.

His womb.

His child. One that is probably already growing inside of me with how ravenously he breeds me.

That’s what he’s asking for.

He’s not asking for my love. He’s asking for my obedience, my sacrifice.

“Do you not understand?” he continues. “You are the key to everything. Without you, this world will fall. Without you, I will destroy more than you can ever imagine. The death, the decay… it will all be on your hands.”

He’s flip flopping his tactics. The more my logical mind comes to the forefront, the easier I spot it.

I want to tell him he’s lying. I want to shout that I won’t let him manipulate me like this.

But his words make sense. They feel real.

They burrow into my thoughts, twisting into the places where my resolve is weak.

“I will give you everything,” he says, cradling my face while his wings tremor with unrestrained fury. “Power. Immortality. The world will bend to you if you simply give me what I need. I will save you. The world will be reborn through us, through you.”

He traces the curve of my jaw. It’s so gentle, so soft, like he’s caressing the very soul inside me.

“Your simple human mind fools itself with notions of right and wrong, doesn’t it?

” he sneers, amusement dripping from every word.

“Have I not been nothing but your source of pleasure, the architect of your satisfaction? I’ve bent to your will before you even knew what you desired.

A true lover anticipates without words—tell me, what does that say about us ? ”

Run. Scream. Fight. Follow through with your threat! Do not show him your weakness.

I open my mouth to speak, but the words die in my throat as his lips land on mine in a passionate kiss. And then he does something I don’t expect.

His hand curls into my hair, and with a sudden sharp tug, he forces me to my knees, the knife slipping from my hand and clattering next to me.

Pain explodes across my scalp, and I gasp. His other hand presses against my chest, pushing me down further. I feel his weight above me, his presence pressing down on me like a mountain.

He doesn’t speak at first. He just watches me, his gaze burning, a smirk curling on his lips.

“I gave you a chance,” he says coldly. “And you squandered it.”

I want to scream, but his grip on me is iron. I am powerless. One of the cult members clambers to grab the knife, glaring at me with eyes accusing me of betrayal.

“I’ve tried to be patient with you,” Solareth continues, his voice now chilling. “But you need to understand something, my little flame. There is no escape. Not from me. Not from the role you were born to play.”

He leans down, his tongue licking seductively licking the tip of my ear. “And if you refuse me again, I will take it all away. I will make you feel the weight of your refusal.”

My stomach lurches with terror, but I try to fight against him. I try to crawl away, but he tightens his hold on me.

His grip on my hair pulls harder, and a wave of pain crashes through me.

“You will be the one who destroys everything,” he says, his voice low and full of dark promise. “You will be the one to make them all pay. Is that what you want?”

I feel a tear slip down my cheek as I squeeze my eyes shut.

“No,” I whisper, my voice broken, my mind on my late mother and her death.

“You do,” Solareth corrects, his voice soft, almost gentle. “You do want this. And I will make you want it, over and over again. You are mine.”

A shudder wracks my body, and I gasp for air, as if I’m suffocating in the pressure of it all. I can feel the breaking point. His fury is coming, I know it is.