What Have We Become?

by bluelily42

What if the Volcra were as aware of their actions as Nikolai was when he was transformed by the darkling? A short story from the POV of a Volcra. Grisha Trilogy.

The Shadow Fold, The Unsea, the name does not matter. It is the same terrible place. A slash of darkness, intense, unbroken darkness. A place where no light shines and no colours but black and grey can be seen. The place all humans fear, be they rich or poor, Grisha or Otkazat'sya. They are all the same. The silence is heavy, broken only by the screams and the beating of wings. The floor is grey sand, often stained with blood. That is where we live.

We are the Volcra. We are monsters, ravenous monsters. We prey on the soldiers and merchants brave or stupid enough to attempt to cross the fold.

Their dying cries haunt us afterwards, but, in the moment, we are so consumed by uncontrollable hunger and aggression, that we become no better than the humans think we are. We become savage animals. We become monsters.