CHAPTER 78: CHAPTER 73: THE OUTCAST’S STORY

Location: Dark Forest, Mid Ring | Doha (Lower Realm)

Time: Day 460, Midday

The forest smelled wrong.

Blood—iron-sharp and thick—mixed with something darker. Corrupted essence, maybe. The kind that clung to auraflayers like rot. Jayde pressed herself against the shadowbeast’s massive flank, feeling the slow rise and fall of labored breathing. Warm fur, damp with sweat and worse things. The creature’s heartbeat thundered against her shoulder—too fast, too weak.

[They can smell you, but won’t challenge me.] The voice in her mind carried exhaustion like a weight. [Even dying, I’m more dangerous than you’re worth.]

"You saved me." Jayde’s throat felt tight. Didn’t make sense, really. Why would a dying beast protect a stranger? "Why?"

[Because you were terrified.] Simple. Matter-of-fact. [And I know what it’s like to run.]

Silence stretched between them. Just the forest sounds—distant rustling, wind through leaves, her own breathing trying to steady itself. The shadowbeast’s silver eyes watched her, intelligence there that shouldn’t exist in an animal. Not like this.

[My name is Kameko.]

"Jayde." She swallowed. "I’m... I’m Jayde."

[Strange name. Two sounds that fight each other.] A pause, and if a telepathic voice could smile, this one did. Sad, though. [Like you.]

Yeah. Like her.

[Sit with me, little one. I don’t have much time, and I’d rather not die alone.]

The words hit harder than they should’ve. Jayde looked at the massive creature—obsidian fur rippling with fading essence, broken wings dragging in the dirt, blood pooling beneath torn flesh. Dying. Definitely dying. And asking for company.

(Nobody should die alone.)

She sat.

**

Water helped. Jayde pulled a flask from her spatial ring, offered it first to Kameko. The shadowbeast’s tongue—rough, warm—lapped at the opening. Careful. Gentle. Then Jayde drank, throat dry from running and fear and too many things she couldn’t name.

"What happened to you?" The question came out softer than intended. "Who hurt you?"

[Let me show you.]

Before Jayde could ask what that meant, Kameko’s consciousness wrapped around hers. Not invasive. Not forcing. Just... opening. Sharing.

And suddenly Jayde wasn’t sitting in blood-soaked dirt anymore.

She was running through darkness, paws pounding against earth, breath coming in ragged gasps. Not her paws. Kameko’s. The memory flooded through her like water breaking a dam.

Auraflayers. Three of them. No—four. Corrupted beasts with twisted essence and hatred in their eyes. They’d found her den, tracked her scent, and waited for her to emerge weak from childbirth.

Jayde felt Kameko’s terror. Her rage. The desperate need to protect the cub hidden behind her.

Fighting. Claws and teeth and essence crackling like lightning. Pain—gods, the pain—as corrupted talons ripped through wing membrane. Blood. So much blood. But she couldn’t stop. Wouldn’t stop. Not while Reiko lived.

One auraflayer is dead. Two. Three. The fourth, larger than the rest, lunging for her exposed flank—

The memory released. Jayde gasped, back in her own body, hand clutching Kameko’s fur.

"You..." She couldn’t finish. Couldn’t find words for what she’d just experienced.

[Shadowbeasts are empaths, little one. We don’t just speak with our minds—we share what we feel. What we’ve lived.] Kameko’s mental voice came soft. [Now you know my pain. And why I’m dying.]

Jayde’s hand trembled. She’d felt it. The wounds tearing open, the desperate fight, the love for a child that outweighed everything else. Not just understood it—lived it.

"The auraflayers found you after..." She trailed off, unable to say it.

[After I gave birth. Yes.] Kameko shifted slightly, each movement bringing fresh waves of pain. [But that’s not the beginning of my story. Would you like to hear the rest?]

"Please."

[Then I’ll share it all.]

***

The memories came like waves.

Pride territory. Deep forest. Kameko young, strong, running with her packmates beneath canopy shadows. Alpha bloodline. Destined for greatness. Expected to serve the pride, hunt for the collective, never question the sacred laws.

Jayde experienced it through Kameko’s senses—the unity of pack hunting, the warmth of sleeping in a pile of shadowbeasts, the pride’s collective essence humming like a heartbeat.

Then the hunt. Chasing a direwolf. And there—another shadowbeast, hunting alone. Male. Scarred. Beautiful. Voren.

The memory shifted, and Jayde felt what Kameko had felt. Recognition. Not just physical attraction—something deeper. Empaths seeing each other, understanding instantly. He was lonely. She was lonely, despite being surrounded by her pride.

Their first meeting. Wary circles, testing scents, opening their minds just slightly. His story bleeding through: exiled for challenging the alpha in his youth, surviving alone for decades, marked as outcast forever.

She should have left. Should have run back to the pride. But she didn’t.

Their second meeting. Deliberate this time. Her seeking him out, drawn by that connection she’d never felt with her own kind. His surprise, his hope, his fear of being rejected again.

Love growing over months. Secret meetings at the border between pride territory and the wild lands. Learning his scars, his stories, his gentle humor despite everything. Him showing her what freedom meant—choosing your own path instead of following orders.

Jayde felt it all. The joy. The fear of discovery. The first time Kameko realized she was carrying his cub, and the terror that followed.

[I should have left then,] Kameko’s voice narrated through the memories. [Should have run to him, become an outcast together. But I was afraid. Thought I could hide it. Convince the alpha it was theirs somehow.]

The memory darkened.

Discovery. Four months pregnant. The alpha female’s silver eyes narrowing as she scented the cub’s essence. Wrong signature. Not hers. The rage that followed—not just anger, but betrayal. Sacred laws broken. Pride hierarchy destroyed.

Trial before the pack. Kameko forced to confess. Every shadowbeast in the pride bearing witness as she was cast out, dragged to the border, and thrown into exile with nothing.

Voren finding her. His fury at what they’d done. His fierce protectiveness as he guided her deeper into the wild lands, away from pride territory, building a den for two where there should have been a den for one.

Three months of peace. Three months of building a life together, preparing for their cub, daring to hope—

The memory turned into a nightmare.

Alpha hunting party. Five of them. Ambush at dawn. Voren pushing Kameko behind him, telling her to run, to save their unborn child, while he held them off.

Jayde felt Kameko’s desperation. The physical inability to fight—pregnant, weak, useless. The agony of running while her mate fought alone.

And then—the death-scream. Voren’s final cry echoing through the forest. Not pain. Triumph. He’d bought her time. Given her what she needed. Died so their cub could live.

The memory released its grip. Jayde found herself gasping, tears streaming down her face. She’d felt Kameko’s heart break. Experienced the exact moment love turned to grief.

"Nearly five years," she whispered. "You’ve been alone for nearly five years."

[Carrying him. Feeling Voren in every kick, every movement. Our son.] Kameko’s eyes found hers. [Do you understand now? Why I protected you? Why I know what it means to run?]

"Yeah." Jayde’s voice came out broken. "I do."

***

"Can I tell you something?" The words escaped before Jayde could stop them. "Something I’ve never told anyone?"

[You want to share your truth as I shared mine.]

"I... yes."

[Then show me, little one. Like I showed you.]

Jayde hesitated. She’d never done this before. Didn’t even know if she could. But Kameko’s presence in her mind felt safe. Warm. Understanding.

She opened herself. Let the memories flow.

***

The Kindling ceremony. Age five. Temple of First Flames. The Emberstone’s cruel verdict: Voidforge. Her father’s face twisting with disgust. Her mother turning away. Saphira’s triumphant smile.

Rejection. Immediate, total, devastating. The beloved child becoming worthless trash in a single moment.

Years of abuse. Beatings. Starvation. Isolation. The clan’s collective cruelty as they punished her for existing wrong.

Sent to the slave pits. Age six. Learning that humans could be monsters. That pain had no limits. That survival meant becoming hard, becoming cruel, becoming unbreakable.

The explosion. The impossible—a soul from another place, another time, crashing into hers as she lay dying.

The memories shifted. Federation timeline bleeding through.

Eighty years of life in another universe. Military commander. Rebellion leader. Fighting to free the Centauri from slavery. Building something beautiful, something worth dying for.

Lawrence. Sixty years of brotherhood. Trust built mission by mission, battle by battle, shared trauma bonding them closer than blood.

The betrayal. Learning he was a spy. Always had been. Everything a lie. Her love—and it had been love, in its way—weaponized against her.

Death. Choosing it. Antimatter bomb. Destroying the kill-chip network. Saving her people by burning herself out of existence.

And then—

Waking in a broken child’s body. Two souls merged, two lives tangled, two sets of trauma bleeding together. Voidforge and Commander. Slave and warrior. Fifteen and eighty. Neither. Both.

The memories pulled back. Jayde opened her eyes, found Kameko staring at her with something like awe.

[I believe you.] The shadowbeast’s mental voice carried absolute certainty. [Every word. Every feeling. It’s all true.]

"How can you—"

[Shadowbeasts smell lies, little one. And what you showed me... gods, what you showed me carries truth so raw it bleeds.] Kameko’s presence wrapped around Jayde’s mind like a warm embrace. [You’ve suffered as I have. More, perhaps. Rejected for circumstances beyond your control. Betrayed by those you loved. Forced to survive alone in a world that wanted you dead.]

"I’m tired of being alone." The confession escaped like a breath. Vulnerable. Honest. Terrifying.

[You understand, then. Why I asked you to sit with me.] Kameko shifted, wincing. [Outcasts recognize each other.]

They sat in shared silence. Two beings who’d been broken by the world, finding a brief connection in the space between life and death.

***

Something shifted in Kameko’s consciousness. Jayde felt it—a realization clicking into place, pieces assembling into a pattern the shadowbeast had been circling without seeing.

Kameko’s private thoughts hummed just beneath the surface of their connection, not shared but... sensed. Like hearing someone think in the next room.

The shattered soul. The birth. Just over a year ago...

That faint red star. So dim most never noticed. But Reiko had noticed. Still in the womb, he’d reacted to it. Kicked. Pulsed with essence. Like recognizing something. Someone.

Not a god. Not yet. But the potential...

The strands of fate weaving between them since that moment. This meeting is not a chance. Not luck. Destiny.

My death is required. Price to be paid. Doha always demands payment.

But my son... my son will stand beside greatness. Will rise with her. Will be there when—

Kameko’s thoughts pulled inward, became private. But peace settled over her mental presence. Understanding. Acceptance.

Purpose.

"Kameko?" Jayde asked, sensing the shift.

[There’s something you need to see.] The shadowbeast’s voice carried weight now. Determination despite the fading light in her eyes. [Someone you need to meet.]

Slowly, painfully, Kameko lifted her broken wing.

Underneath, hidden in shadow and warmth, lay a cub.

Small—well, small compared to Kameko. Still massive compared to Jayde. Obsidian fur so dark it seemed to drink light, rippling with infant essence. Silver eyes, exactly like his mother’s, stared out with intelligence too deep for something so young.

Beautiful.

Terrified.

"Oh," Jayde breathed.

[This is Reiko.] Kameko’s mental voice carried such love it hurt to hear. [My son. My only child. Voren’s legacy. Everything I have left in this world.]

Reiko’s gaze fixed on Jayde. Those silver eyes reflected hope and fear in equal measure—the desperate wish to be wanted tangling with the certainty of rejection. He’d heard everything. Understood his mother was dying. Knew he’d be alone soon.

Unless.

Unless this strange human accepted him.

Jayde stared at the cub. He stared back.

The question hung in the air between them, unspoken but deafening:

Will you accept me?