“You know, when I was younger…
I was afraid of everything.”
Atriya laughed.
“Really? You?”
“It’s the truth.”
Verus didn’t look embarrassed.
Didn’t soften it.
Didn’t try to make it sound better than it was.
“I used to lie in bed and shake.
Every night.
There was something in the room with me.”
Not a nightmare.
Not imagination.
Something that moved.
Something that breathed.
Something that watched.
“I could hear it.
Heavy.
Wet.
Sometimes I’d see its eye…
yellow.
Sick-looking.”
Most people would dismiss it.
Call it fear.
Call it childhood.
Call it nothing.
But she didn’t.
She endured it.
Night after night.
Until one night—
she decided it would end.
“I was either going to get rid of it…
or kill myself.”
No hesitation.
No drama.
Just a decision.
So she ran at it.
Crying.
Terrified.
Breaking—
and she shoved it.
Turned on the light.
And saw the truth.
Not a monster.
Not something powerful.
Just…
a small, ancient thing.
Pathetic.
Shrinking from the light.
And in that moment—
her fear vanished.
Continue Atriya’s Story
Atriya’s journey through war, hierarchy, and the hidden forces shaping his path begins in the Echo Saga.
New readers can enter the story here:
or start the full book:
Curious about the rest of Kent Wayne’s worlds?
Kent Wayne 
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