Kaelen's shadow form still hung over the carnage, his massive claws dripping with something dark and shimmering that definitely wasn't blood. It looked like liquid night, catching what little moonlight pierced the canopy.
The remaining Temple guards had practically disappeared into the forest screaming. I just stood there, my back pressed to the damp cave wall, my scars flickering.
He turned towards me, those glowing red eyes pinning me in place as his enormous frame blocked the moonlight. He was breathing heavily and his I noticed his exhale was like a plume of restless shadow.
I began to wonder if he'd lost himself completely—if the monster, having tasted blood, would decide to finish what the guards had started. Would he even recognize me? Or would I just be another obstacle, another warm body in his path? The thought sent a jolt of ice through my veins, despite the humid night air.
Then the system, always ready to insert itself into our misery, chimed in.
____
[System Penalty: Echoes of the Past.]
[Current State: Excessive emotional output during combat.]
[Prepare for memory extraction.]
____
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me... " I started, but the words died in my throat. I didn't even have time to finish my complaint.
The world around us dissolved.
Zahara's Echo:
Smoke… There was so much smoke. It was burning my lungs and stinging my eyes until I cried. I was a small and trembling twelve year old again. Hiding in the hollow of an old oak tree.
The village square was lit by torchlight, but not the warm, welcoming kind. This light hissed and spat, a hungry, living flame licking at the wooden buildings.
My mother stood in the center, her hands tied tightly. She held her chin up despite her situation. The Temple Inquisitor, a man whose face was as cold and sharp as his blade, read her crimes aloud. His voice boomed, amplified by magic, echoing through the square.
"Unauthorized curse-breaking. Defiance of the Eternal Contracts. Corrupting the natural order."
I bit my lip until it bled and the tears streaming silently down my face. My small body shook with barely suppressed sobs. She was my everything. "The world is made of chains, Zahara," she'd whispered just that morning, her voice soft, pressing a quick, fierce kiss to my forehead. "But you, my spark, will learn to break them. You are stronger than you know."
The axe fell.
A scream tore through the air, but it wasn't mine. It was a collective gasp from the terrified villagers. I didn't scream. I didn't move. I became the oak, the dirt, the shadow, willing myself invisible, willing myself to disappear.
My world shattered into a million painful pieces. But the grim faced Inquisitor turned. His ice cold gaze slicing through dark gaze. "Find the girl," he hissed, his voice like grinding stones. "The bloodline dies tonight."
Kaelen's Echo:
A boy whose hands were shaking knelt on cold, polished marble. The large throne room felt impossibly huge.
"You'll be strong, Kaelen," Queen Lyra crooned, her smile chilling. "Stronger than your weakling father. Stronger than anyone who dares defy me. But first, you must learn to fear me. You must learn obedience."
Her slender, ring-laden nails dug into his shoulder, her touch a viper's kiss, her dark magic already flowing into his veins. It felt like fire and ice, twisting something deep inside him. The shadows beneath him writhed, coiling, alive, imbued with a terrible, sentient darkness.
"Emotions are a flaw," she purred, her voice weaving through the agony. "They make you weak. They make you vulnerable. Let me… fix you. Let me make you perfect."
Pain. So much pain. His ribs cracked, his spine arched, his small body convulsing and his screams were muffled by her evil laughter.
When it ended, he stared at his reflection in a puddle of his own tears—a boy with glowing red eyes and a monstrous shadow that twitched and writhed like a caged beast, a part of him that was no longer his own.
"There," Stepmother sighed, a smug, satisfied sound. "Now you're perfect."
The visions snapped away, leaving us both raw and exposed gasping for air. Kaelen's monstrous form shuddered violently. The shadows peeling back in patches to reveal pale, human skin under.
His fingers trembled as his massive claws retracted with a sickening snap. His eyes flickered between red and his true stormy gray. He collapsed to his knees, hitting the floor with a muffled thud. His voice a raw, broken scrape. "Get… out… of my… head…"
I wasn't faring much better. My scars not flaring but blazing with white-hot pain. The horrifying memory of my mother's blood pooling in my mind, mingled with the crushing despair of Kaelen's own childhood torment.
The system's holographic text flickered back to life.
____
[Echoes of the Past: Synchronized.]
[Bond Destabilization Detected.]
[Recommended Action: Physical Stabilization Protocol.]
____
"Physical stabili—what?!" I yelled, my voice hoarse, disbelief warring with the lingering terror. "Are you serious? After that?!"
Kaelen snarled deeply. His shadow surged again, uncontrolled, making the very cave walls tremble.
"Don't… touch me…" he choked out, his voice sounded desperate. He was fighting himself, fighting the curse and the pain.
The system, ever so helpful and completely without empathy, flashed a quick, direct translation.
____
[Translation: Hug him.]
____
I gagged, in utter revulsion. "Absolutely not," I stumbling back a step. "I'd rather gargle broken glass! Or jump into a pit of angry piggies! This is insane!"
____
[Alternative:
Perish in mutual anguish. Irreversible Corruption of Bond Partner's Mana Core. Prolonged Memory Extraction.]
____
My head was still swimming from the double dose of trauma. The thought of reliving my mother's death, with Kaelen's own tormented childhood as a soundtrack, was too much.
And the 'Irreversible Corruption' for Kaelen sounded like a permanent monster. I hated the thought. I really, really hated it. But I hated permanent monsters and endless anguish more.
"Fine!" I shrieked, the word tearing from my throat, raw with fury and resignation. My pride was screaming, but my survival instincts, and that annoying, grudging concern for him, were louder.
I lunged forward before I could overthink it, before my brain could present any more awful alternatives. I wrapped my arms around his heaving, still-shifting shoulders, squeezing my eyes shut.
It was like hugging a live thunderstorm that was contained in a fragile human shell. "This isn't a hug," I hissed into his ear, irritated with the sheer absurdity of all of this. "This is… tactical contact. A forced system-mandated intervention. Don't read anything into it!"
He stiffened under my embrace. For a heartbeat, I thought he'd push me off, that his monstrous instincts would lash out. Then, slowly, the shadows that had been writhing around him calmed down.
His strained body relaxed a little. His head dipped, his forehead pressing against my collarbone, his breathing shallow but less ragged. The system hummed approvingly in my mind.
____
[Bond Stabilized.]
[Bond Level Increased: 5.]
[New Ability Unlocked: Telepathy -10 minutes.]
____
"Telepathy?" My face was still pressed to his armor, his head still resting on my shoulder. This was entirely too close for comfort. "You mean the system's going to live in my brain now? I barely tolerate my own thoughts, let alone yours, Kaelen!"
His voice echoed clearly inside my head before his lips even moved. "Apparently."
I flinched, recoiling from the sudden, intrusive voice in my own mind. "Oh, that's disgusting! Get out of my head! That's private property!"
"Gladly," he thought back, his mental voice as dry as sandpaper, an internal chuckle that was somehow even more infuriating than his usual verbal sarcasm. "But first, perhaps you'd like to explain why your mental 'voice' sounds like a startled squirrel?"
"Says the guy whose inner monologue is basically a funeral dirge sung!" I retorted, my own mental voice sharp. The physical awkwardness of our position was still there, but now it was layered with the mental equivalent of tripping over his thoughts.
He finally got up and I had to scramble to untangle myself. His human form was mostly restored, though his eyes still glowed faintly red. The scars on my arms were aching again, a dull, familiar throb.
"We need to move," he said, his voice now audible, though still a little rough. "The Temple will send more guards. They won't stop with just three."
I crossed my arms, feeling utterly spent but determined to get the last word. "Oh, now you're chatty? Where's 'thank you, Zahara, for hugging the murderous rage out of me'?"
He paused, his back to me, scanning around cave entrance. After a moment, a grudging thought echoed in my head. "...Thank you." It felt about as sincere as a politician's promise, but it was there.
"Wow," I thought back, stretching out the word, making sure he could feel my sarcasm. "Felt that sincerity all the way in my toes. Truly heartfelt, Your Royal Highness."
The telepathy carried a wave of his irritation—a very distinct and powerful huff of annoyance. A faint, flicker of gratitude, buried under layers of sarcasm and shadow.
____
[Telepathy Timer: 9 minutes remaining.]
____
I groaned, physically this time. "This is going to be a long nine minutes."
Kaelen looked over his shoulder, with a smirk on his lips. "Indeed."
As they fled the cave, the lingering telepathy buzzed with a sudden, foreign thought—not Kaelen's. It was cold, ancient, and utterly terrifying.
"Interesting," purred a voice like smoke and shattered glass, sliding into my mind like a snake. "Two broken things, bound together. How… entertaining."
I froze mid-step, my blood running cold. "Did you… hear that?" Kaelen's hand went instantly to the hilt of his sword, his body tensing. "Hear what?" his thought snapped back, alarmed.
The voice laughed, a dry, rustling sound, fading like wind through dead leaves. "Soon, Chainbreaker."
A new system notification, cold and final, blared only in my mind.
____
[New Quest Alert: Discover the Third Voice.]
[Reward: Answers.]
[Penalty: Eternal Annoyance.]
____
"Oh, come ON—" I yelled, stomping my foot in frustration.