The chamber still smelled of smoke iron and blood. Hours might have passed since the first strike, but to Amari, it felt like seconds time stilled, compressed beneath the weight of the King's gaze. The floor still bore streaks of blood, marks of a fight never won but lost, half-forbidden.
Devon stood a few paces away, silent, watching . His blade rested loosely in his hand, glinting with faint, cold light. The fire's blue hue carved sharp edges across his face, revealing no warmth only calculation as his presence engulfed everywhere .
"Again," Devon said.
Amari's body obeyed before his mind did. He moved, faster this time, the rush of power threading through his veins like wildfire. His hand shot forward, reaching for the blade that had cut him moments before, he won't back down.
Steel met his flesh. Devon cracked a dangerous smile. His eyes Sparkled with interest.
Devon didn't flinch. He was sidestepping Amari's strike with almost careless grace. "You're learning," he said leaning in to Amari's blade, voice low, amused. "But instinct without control is chaos."
Amari straightened, chest rising with each slow breath. "Then stop holding back." He scowled.
For a heartbeat, silence then Devon's laughter broke through, soft but cold, devoid of any emotion. "Careful, halfling. You might just get what you ask for."
The room seemed to tremble when he moved. He was no longer merely fast; he vanished, reappearing behind Amari in a flash of shadow better still wind. The next second, Amari was flung backward, body crashing against the stone wall hard enough to send cracks spidering through the mortar, his bones breaking.
Pain flared as he screamed but so did something else. His pulse, his heart quickened and His rage. His power.
Amari's hand struck the ground, and the air rippled outward. The torchlight flickered. His veins glowed faintly beneath his skin, the blue of his eyes deepening to something unearthly.
Devon's smirk faded into something more… devilish . "Ah," he murmured. "There it is."
Before Amari could rise, Devon was already there his blade slicing downward. Amari caught it, fingers closing around the metal, stopping the strike bare-handed. Blood welled where the edge cut, but the wound sealed as he moved his blade downwards till it was withdrawn.
"I told you to stop holding back," Amari hissed.
"I never said I was," Devon replied cocking his head to the side.
They clashed again—faster, harder. The sound of it filled the chamber like a storm trapped within stone. Each blow was a conversation of its own, wordless but precise strike, parry, twist, evade, jump, swing, dodge, hurt. The rhythm built until it became something almost musical, violent yet strangely elegant, fast as Amari's eyes welled up his patterns appearing, he wanted to know why no, he needed to know why the king sort interest in him.
Devon shifted mid-strike, his form blurring. His wings black and edged with faint silverunfurled behind him for the first time. Power flooded the room, pressing against the air like a rising tornado.
"Vampire, demon, fairy, witch ," Amari breathes hagged "You really do hold all their power."
"And you," Devon said, his eyes gleaming of different shades, "carry something I don't yet understand."
Their eyes met. The ground trembled, no one wanting to back down.
Amari moved first fast enough to leave afterimages in the air. His hand shot upward, palm glowing with that strange blue-white light. It struck Devon square in the chest. For a fraction of a second, the King staggered. His cloak tore, the force of it driving him back a step.
Devon looked down at the faint burn marring his skin a mark, however fleeting. Then he smiled. "Interesting, again ."
He vanished again.
The next instant, Amari felt a hand around his throat. Devon had him pinned to the wall, his strength effortless.
"You almost made me bleed," Devon said, voice a low rumble, a promised threat of death in his tone. "Almost."
Amari's hands clawed at his wrist, but the king healed before he could bleed, his eyes blazing. "Then let me finish the job."
Devon's grip tightened cruelly, firmly enough to make every breath a decision of struggle. "No. I think I'd rather see what happens when you try."
Power and anger surged through Amari's body. The energy that had simmered all this time finally snapped free. The stone beneath their feet split. The torches flared bright, the blue flames turning white for an instant before dimming again, his teeth elongated longer than supposed to.
Devon didn't release him. He looked fascinated. The crimson in his eyes shifted, catching faint threads of gold.
"Are you angry…You shouldn't exist," he said quietly. "And yet—" His thumb brushed Amari's jaw, tracing the faint scar from an earlier cut that had already vanished. "you do."
Amari glared at him, every nerve alive, every breath trembling between fury and something dangerously close to awe. "What am I to you?"
Devon's smile returned, small but sharp. "A question I intend to answer… soon."
He released him suddenly. Amari stumbled forward, catching his balance. The air around them was still humming from the clash of their power, like the aftermath of lightning, both emitting a strong surge of power .
Devon stepped back, sliding his blade into its sheath. "Enough for today."
Amari's voice was rough when he spoke eyes calculating. "You're stopping?"
"For now." Devon's gaze drifted to the faint scorch on his chest—the one mark Amari had managed to leave. He ran a finger over it thoughtfully. "I've learned something new. You can hurt me, if only slightly. That makes you…" He paused, as though searching for the right word. "…rare." Immediately the mark disappeared.
Amari's eyes narrowed. "A specimen?"
"A mirror to something more" Devon corrected softly.
The words lingered. The torchlight flickered once more, catching the faint sheen of sweat on Amari's skin, the pale gleam of Devon's eyes. The distance between them felt fragile, almost breakable.
Devon's tone softened. "When you fight me, do you feel it,?"
Amari frowned. "Feel what?"
"The pull," Devon said. "The part of you that wants to strike harder, not to kill but to understand, to mold The same thing that drives me."
Amari said nothing. He couldn't. The truth of it hurted in his chest dangerous, undeniable, painful .
Devon turned, heading for the door. "Rest, halfling. You'll need it. Tomorrow, we begin again."
"Another experiment?" Amari asked looking away.
Devon paused at the threshold. "No," he said without looking back. "Tomorrow, we see what happens when I stop holding back too, get some rest."
The door shut behind him with a sound that echoed through the empty chamber.
Amari stood there, alone, every muscle trembling from the effort not to shake. He looked down at his hands hands that had nearly met the King's strength and saw the faint blue light still flickering in his veins, healing him.
Devon's words replayed in his mind like a curse or as a promise.
A mirror.
He exhaled slowly, the sound breaking the silence.
Whatever the King had awakened in him today, it wasn't going back to sleep, it burned and yearned to be free.