He needed to breathe. Gods, the quiet was starting to feel too loud again.

The campfire had burned down to its red core. Astarion was snoring and Gale had curled up with one of his tomes like a cat with a pillow. Lae'zel was still upright, but her head lolled. Even Shadowheart had uncoiled from her ever-watchful ball of suspicion.

They were all asleep. All of them. That's too trusting.

The white dragonborn sat rigid near the edge of the firelight, his tail coiled tight against himself out of pure restraint. Nails scraped softly against the leather-bound edge of his grimoire, the pages long since stopped making sense.

They’re asleep. You could do it now. Just one of them. One slice, just one, come on—

He stood suddenly, sandals crunched the dirt as he moved past the fire, past the tents, past the weight of temptation that wore the faces of his companions. He needed the dark to think for a moment. Staying away from the warm bodies helped the urge quiet down a bit.

They’ll all betray you eventually, the voice oozed inside his skull. Wouldn’t it be beautiful to make the first move? But he scolded himself and resisted it.

The forest beyond the camp was damp. The smells hit him first—wet moss, old bark, something rotting nearby. He stared at the ground, half-hoping some poor bastard of a bandit would try to rob the camp. At least then he'd have an excuse.

Then he heard it something, a little rat crawling through some dried leaves. His eyes locked onto it.

Crush it. Under your heel. Hear the crunch. Feel it. Do it. DO IT.

His foot twitched. His tail straightened out behind him.

"...It’s a rat."

His voice hissed approval and disgust in equal measure. He could already feel it: the mess, the slick warmth, the noise of it stopping forever.

But he stepped back.

The rat darted under a root and vanished.

He rubbed at his jaw with one hand, the claws on the other twitching with unused energy. But what he really wanted was control.

He sat down in the cold dirt. Leaned back against a tree and let the night air settle into his scales. The sorcery still buzzed in his blood. He closed his eyes and waited. For what, he didn’t know. Not unless someone made a very stupid mistake.