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“He was alone, but no, in the end, he led the resistance. They took his father, his sister, his only son and his two daughters. Most of his clan were dead, turned to ash by the voids in a single night.”
“That’s awful,” Jay said, while Nick felt his stomach twist.
“The old Samuel, my Samuel, never came back. A stranger wore his face, but it was still him. Deep down, he was still the same man. He lost a part of himself with them, but it gave him the strength to do what needed to be done.”
“An army of voids must have been terrifying,” Jay said.
“Not an army,” Barden said. “Three.”
“Three?” Nick asked.
“Three.”
“Three voids couldn’t have done that,” Nick said. “It’s impossible.”
“I lived through it,” Barden said. “There are just a few of us who remember, who survived, but I was there. I believe there are those among the witches who also remember.”
“The elders,” Jay murmured.
Barden took a few steps closer, and Jay tensed, but Nick didn’t feel like he was in danger. “What did Samuel do?”
“He created his own army. An army of dozens to face the army of three. The werewolves had made a foolish attempt to fight the voids directly, and they were driven to the brink of extinction, and the survivors fled the city. After that, every other supernatural community ran as far from this place as they could. Except the witches.”
Nick stepped closer. “The vampires and witches joined forces.”
“They did, and Samuel was at the head of the army.”
“I can’t imagine it,” Jay said.
“It was unimaginable,” Barden said. “But the voids changed all the rules. They would have wiped us all from history. Nothing mattered as much as survival.”
“If the voids were so powerful, how did Samuel beat them?”
"He took his pain, his grief, and he let it shape him. It turned him into something cold and merciless, and he played the voids at their own game. Eventually, he won."
“How?"
Barden took another step closer, and Nick felt Jay touch his arm, trying to signal him to pull back, but Nick ignored him.
“The thing most people forget is that voids are people, too,” Barden said. “Sadistic and twisted and corrupt, but still people. Samuel didn't forget. He watched, he waited, he spent every waking moment searching for his moment. And he got it."
“What was it?"
“They made a mistake. One of the voids - the youngest, a boy of barely twenty-one - fell in love. She was a human, and vulnerable. Voids don't love - or at least, they're not supposed to - so the others didn't know of her existence. He never told them. He kept them in the dark, and he made sure she stayed far away from their violence. She was separate, and she was alone.”
“Samuel used her.”
Barden nodded. “After that, it didn’t take much to force the boy’s hand. He betrayed the others, and Samuel came for them. The man was taken by surprise, and the woman fought hard, but she was overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the army. She fell, but she took dozens with her. More than any of us imagined.”
“And the boy?”
“He thought it was over. The halls were filled with blood and ash, but it wasn’t over. Samuel took his head with a broadsword, and the last void fell.”
Nick hesitated. “And the girl? The human?"
"She was screaming, but Samuel forced her to look into his eyes. He took her memories. Every moment with the void, every second of terror, of violence, of pain. He took everything from her, and she walked out of that building to return to her life as if nothing had changed.”
“Oh my god,” Nick said. “I can’t believe-”
