🔁 Previously…
Lynx completed the First Ritual with Kaethe, the mysterious priestess who awakened with his cursed blade, Nyxfang.
Their union bound him to the sword, fusing magic, flesh, and desire into a power few have ever survived.
But power always hungers for more.
Kaethe warned of the next woman — Rika, a rogue assassin from Lynx's past.
She nearly killed him once. And if he can't tame her…
She'll try again.
🌒 Into the Maw
The city of Thornehold was built like a dagger—sharp, vertical, and lethal.
Rain ran down the rusted walls. Steam hissed from grates in the cobblestone. The entire underbelly stank of oil, sweat, and secrets.
Lynx moved through it like a shadow with a sword strapped across his back. The mask gave him anonymity. The cloak gave him purpose.
But inside?
Nyxfang pulsed, eager.
Kaethe had warned him: "Rika doesn't yield. She takes. If you want her, Sovereign, you must earn her through pain."
He found her trail within hours. A string of bodies. All male. All smiling before their deaths.
He remembered that smile.
Rika smiled when she killed.
🐺 Rika of the Claw
She didn't hide.
She waited.
Perched above the fighting pits in the slums, Rika lounged like a lioness. Her black leather armor was tight, cracked from heat, and kissed with claw marks. Her skin was golden-bronze, her eyes wolf-like, and her short silver hair slicked from sweat.
She was drinking something red from a steel cup.
When Lynx stepped onto the platform, she didn't move. Didn't even blink.
"Didn't I kill you?"
He tilted his head. "Almost. You got my throat."
She grinned. "Should've gone for the heart."
Rika rose, rolled her shoulders, and walked toward him — hips swaying, claws glinting.
"You look different."
"Woke up in a grave."
"Hot."
She lunged.
🩸 Blade Meets Beast
It wasn't a fight.
It was a storm.
Claw against cursed steel. Mask against fang. Rika's speed was animal. Her strength — supernatural. She moved like a dance, and every step was violence with rhythm.
But Lynx had changed.
Every strike she landed made him stronger. Every graze fed the sword. The pain fueled him. He didn't just parry — he predicted. The sword showed him openings before they happened.
But he didn't want to kill her.
He wanted to break her. Bind her. Claim her.
So he let her pin him.
Straddling him, dagger at his throat.
Panting, flushed, smiling.
"You're holding back," she hissed.
"So are you."
She blinked. Then—
He kissed her.
Rough. Dominant. Mask and all.
And she laughed against his lips.
"You son of a—"
She kissed him back.
🔥 The Second Ritual
They stumbled into her den — all shadows, fur rugs, blades hanging like trophies.
Clothes tore. Magic surged.
Nyxfang pulsed in the corner like a red eye, watching.
Rika pushed Lynx onto a mattress made of wolf pelts. She climbed atop him again, but this time, her eyes were wide with something new.
Not lust.
Recognition.
"The sword," she breathed. "It's feeding on us."
"It wants the ritual," Lynx growled. "And so do I."
Rika didn't need convincing.
The second ritual wasn't gentle.
She bit. He bled. She rode him like she meant to conquer, not love. Magic exploded from their bodies like steam from a volcano.
When she came, it wasn't a moan — it was a snarl.
And when he followed, the room trembled.
A mark burned into her back — a wolf curling around the symbol of Nyxfang.
And in that moment, she gasped:
"You're the Sovereign."
🐺 Afterglow & Teeth
Later, tangled in sweat and silence, Rika traced the scars on his chest.
"You're not the same man I almost killed."
"I'm not."
"Good. He was boring."
He chuckled, low and rough.
"So… do you kneel?"
Rika rolled her eyes. "I bite. I don't kneel."
"…Good enough."
She stretched, catlike. "Who's next?"
Kaethe's voice echoed from the sword, though her body was far away.
"The Seer. She dreams of you every night. And she weeps fire."
🔮 Next Chapter — "The Seer Who Burns"
The third woman awaits. A blind prophetess touched by flame.
She's seen Lynx's future — and it terrifies her.
But to ascend, he must make her surrender…
…and silence the fire in her heart.
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