Elira didn't sleep.
Even hours later, she could still felt the echo of that whisper in her bones.
"He's not the only one who heard you bleed."
She sat on the edge of the massive bed, arms wrapped around her knees. The flames in the sconces had dimmed to a low red glow and the silence pressed in thick and heavy but her mark the one bound to Ravion was pulsing faintly. Like it sensed something watching.
Something other.
A low knock interrupted the silence.
She jumped.
Before she could speak, the door creaked open.
Ravion stepped in, shirtless, shadows curling around him like smoke. His eyes went straight to her.
"You felt it too," he said.
It wasn't a question.
She nodded slowly, "It spoke."
He crossed the room in two strides, the air heating as he moved. "What did it say?"
She hesitated. "That… you weren't the only one who heard me bleed."
His jaw tensed.
"That's not possible," he muttered.
"Not possible?" she echoed. "You told me the bond woke something. You said demons, hunters—"
"This wasn't them," he cut in. "This was older, this was something else."
Elira's skin prickled,"What's older than you?"
He didn't answer and that terrified her more than anything.
"Ravion what was that voice?"She asked with shaky voice.
He turned to the window, fists clenched. The lava rivers outside pulsed brighter, like reacting to his mood.
"There are things sealed in the deeper realms," he said after a moment. "Things even devils don't name, they sleep until called."
Elira stood slowly. "You think i called it?"
He faced her again, "You didn't mean to but blood calls to blood and what you did down there raw magic, no control, bound by emotion? It was like a beacon."
She swallowed. "So what do we do?"
Ravion stepped closer, "We find out what's listening before it finds you first."
The air between them thickened. His eyes flicked to her lips for just a second quick, instinctive. She saw it and felt it.
But then-
The ground shook beneath their feet.
Not a tremor, not a spell. A warning.
Ravion cursed under his breath, "It's already here."
"What?"
"The voice. It crossed the boundary."
He grabbed her wrist warm skin against warm skin and pulled her toward the hall. "Stay close."
She didn't argue.
They raced down the corridor, past the obsidian archways, through the corridor where the walls began to hum with energy low, dark and dissonant. Like the temple itself was groaning in its sleep.
They reached the sanctum door.
Ravion skidded to a stop.
The bone-carved runes were glowing. Not red.
Black.
"No," he muttered, eyes narrowing at the glowing runes. "That seal was blood-locked. Nothing should've been able to open it but you."
Before Elira could say anything, a scream ripped through the air from inside the chamber.
High, unnatural and wrong.
She froze. Her blood chilled despite the heat.
"Something's inside," she whispered.
"Not for long." Ravion raised a hand, fire igniting instantly across his palm. He glanced at her. "Stay behind me."
But Elira stepped forward.
He frowned "What are you doing?"
Her voice was calm, "This is my magic that woke it , i have to face it."
"Elira—"
"I'm not hiding anymore."
His jaw flexed then he nodded once. "Then we do it together."
He pushed open the sanctum door.
The air inside was cold ,frost rimmed the bookshelves, the spell-circles cracked and smoldering. The candles had all been snuffed out and in the center of the room, something hunched over the altar.
Elira's breath caught.
It looked like a man once but its skin shimmered like oil and its face was a blur of shadows.
The creature turned toward her.
Its mouth stretched impossibly wide, a grin full of teeth that didn't belong.
"Little witch," it rasped, voice identical to the one she'd heard in her room. "I heard you scream."
Ravion stepped in front of her instantly, flame roaring up his arm.
"Speak again," he growled, "and I'll reduce you to ash."
The thing didn't move.
"Too late, Prince of Ash," it hissed. "She called. We heard."
"We?" Elira whispered.
More whispers slithered from the shadows the walls pulsed again.
The creature lunged.
Ravion struck first, fire crashing into its chest. It howled, its body flaring in gold and black but it didn't die.
"Elira!" Ravion shouted, "The sigils! Seal it now!"
She sprinted to the spell circle, hands slick with sweat and fear. Her blood magic responded instantly, red light flaring beneath her palms.
She traced the circle from memory, voice shaking:
"By fire and flesh, by mark and bone—return what was never known—"
The creature shrieked as the magic pulled tight.
It clawed at the air, desperate.
"WE'RE NOT DONE-"
Elira slammed her hand to the center of the altar.
Light exploded through the room.
Then—
Silence.
The cold vanished the whispers stopped and the sanctum was empty again.
Elira collapsed to her knees, chest heaving.
Ravion dropped beside her, grabbing her shoulders. "Are you hurt?"
She shook her head, shaking, "I—I think it's gone."
His hands gripped her tighter. "Don't ever do that again."
"I had to."
"You almost died."
She looked up at him, eyes shining. "But I didn't."
He stared at her for a long moment.
Ravion's grip on her tightened, not in anger but fear.
Real fear.
She'd never seen that on his face before.
"Elira…" he said slowly, eyes glowing molten gold, "you don't understand."
She swallowed. "Understand what?"
He looked at the scorched altar, then back at her like he was still trying to convince himself she was real. Still alive.
"That thing didn't come to kill you."
She stiffened. "Then what did it want?"
Ravion's voice dropped, barely a whisper.
"It came to claim you."
Elira's blood went cold.
"Claim me?"
He nodded once.
"The bond you created… it didn't just bind you to me. It made you visible to every ancient thing that's ever thirsted for power like yours. You bled, Elira… and something old bled in return."
Her heart thundered.
"You're marked now," Ravion said darkly. "And they'll keep coming... unless we find a way to stop it."
She barely had time to breathe before—
The whisper came again.
"Mine…"