Daxos
I felt it the moment it clicked into place.
One of the last threads of our bond, sealed in blood, in moans, in magic so old some of the gods themselves forgot its name.
And so did the Council.
But they remembered quickly enough.
The second it locked, they panicked.
I tasted it in the air. Bitter. Cowardly.
They knew they couldn't stop the bond, so they did the only thing left:
They sent something to kill me.
Not banish. Not silence.
Erase.
I could hear their murmurs around me.. they never came down here unless it was to torture me for information.
One of the new council members screamed at me though the magic dungeon wards and bars.. "HOW DO WE DRAIN HER POWER" He said.
I laughed a DEEP ROARING LAUGH and noticed the crack in his composure. He was scared of me, weak. "Over a century chained up in here, and they couldn't get me to crack" I said tilting my head at the other council members. "and you think YOU were going to get me to talk? To betray my mate?" I smirked at that.
He regained his composure... "Very well then," he sighed "if it must be this way so be it." he said turning and walking out with the other council members following him.
As soon as the dungeon doors squeaked and slammed shut with finality, the smell of rotting corpses and doom hit me. That is when I realized I wasn't alone anymore.
The wardline burned before the creature even stepped into the chamber.
It didn't knock. It didn't speak. It simply appeared crawling out of the shadows like bone-stitched void. Tall. Hulking. Black smoke trailing its claws. When it locked it's black 10 sets of eyes on me, it stood up to its full hight and its mouth opened with razor-sharp teeth sticking out all jagged like in a circle and then its tentacles came out of the black abys that opened op out of its stomach. Before I could even process what it was doing it licked me and I stumbled back as it's acid coated tongue, left a bubbling, burning trail across my chest where it touched me.
Then it screeched a horrifying screech shaking the dungeon, rocks crumbling down.
An Unmaker.
I hadn't seen one since the old wars. Thought them extinct. Turns out the Council had kept one in reserve just for me.
"Come, then," I growled, pushing up from my knees, chains biting deep into my wrists. "Let's see if you're more nightmare than myth."
It lunged.
And the battle began.
I fought. Gods, I fought.
Fangs bared, fists bloodied, fire surging from what scraps of magic I could reach through the ward-weakened walls.
But it wasn't enough.
The creature dragged me across the floor like I was nothing.
Its claws pierced my shoulder. Its teeth sank into my side. It was draining me.
I hit the stone floor, blood gushing from my mouth.
And that's when I felt it,
A whisper.
A ripple.
Valkhara.
My mate.
The bond thrummed weakly, and I reached for it.
For her.
Even as everything in me broke.
**************************************************8
Valkhara
The dream was soft at first.
A flicker of flame. The scent of cedar and blood.
Then it darkened.
Smoke. Pain. Screaming.
Daxos screaming.
I jolted in bed, heart racing, body drenched in sweat, shirt twisted around my hips.
"Daxos?" I croaked, sitting upright, throat dry.
And then I felt it.
The bond.
Snapping.
Tearing.
Losing him.
"No—no, no, no—"
My chest exploded with heat, and I screamed. Not just in pain. In rage for what ever was trying to take what was MINE.
I clawed at my skin, at the marks on my body, at the heat crawling up my spine.
"Bring me to him," I sobbed. "I don't care what it takes, bring me to him!"
The room exploded in light.
One second I was in bed.
The next, I was standing barefoot in a dungeon of death.
Smoke. Blood. Chain-rattled darkness. And him—
Daxos.
Slumped against the wall. Bleeding. Fading. Eyes half-lidded. Skin pale.
And the creature,
That thing—
Still looming over him, magic flaring in its claws, ready to end him.
No.
FUCK NO.
I dropped to my knees and slammed both hands into the stone.
"Take what you need," I whispered to the forest magic still buried in me. "Take it, just let me save him."
The floor lit up.
Roots broke through the cracks. Fire surged around my arms, crawling up my spine, wrapping my body in glowing heat.
I screamed.
And the magic answered.
Flames exploded from my chest, laced with forest green and ancient gold.
The Unmaker turned.
But it was too late.
I unleashed.
Fire poured from my palms, the stone scorched black. Roots wrapped the beast's legs, dragging it back as I incinerated every cursed bone in its body.
It screamed as it died.
I didn't stop until there was nothing left but ash.
I looked down then and saw him...
He was barely conscious.
I ran to him, falling beside his body.
"Daxos—"
His eyes fluttered open. And when they saw me, really saw me—
He smiled.
"Flameheart."
I choked on a sob. "You're hurt. I—I didn't mean to leave you—"
"You came," he whispered.
"I didn't choose to. I just, I felt you slipping and—"
"You gave part of yourself," he said, gaze unfocused but reverent. "I felt it. You bled to reach me."
"I'd bleed more."
"No. You won't have to."
He pushed up with shaking arms. His chains cracked and shattered like glass.
His body was broken, but his spirit? Untouched.
And then... Daxos knelt in front of me.
And bowed.
Head to floor.
Because he knew.
He didn't find me.
I came for him.
And nothing, not even the gods could stop me from getting to him.