"Trying to escape?" Ethan finished for him, walking closer. "Maybe alert some roaming clans? Or gather information to sell to a rival Sanctum?"
The goblin dropped to its knees. "Mercy, my lord, I swear I—"
Ethan sighed, stepping around the goblin. "I don't punish assumptions. I punish actions."
His sword gleamed into existence with a whisper of mana.
Kaeryx landed behind him, snarling low.
But then, Ethan stopped. The blade paused inches from the goblin's neck.
He looked down, the corners of his mouth tightening.
"You're afraid," he muttered. "Not of me. Of them."
The goblin's trembling worsened.
"I won't tolerate betrayal," Ethan said sharply. "But I understand fear."
His blade vanished in a flicker of mana. "You get one chance. Waste it, and Kaeryx will be the last thing you ever see."
The goblin collapsed into a panicked bow, gasping out thanks in broken Common.
Ethan turned away.
Control isn't just about fear. It's about knowing when to show restraint.
