The corridor shook again.
Dust rained from the ceiling as distant footsteps echoed through the stone halls slow, deliberate, like whoever was coming wasn't in a rush. Ravion's expression darkened.
"They're inside," he muttered.
Elira stood beside him, pulse pounding,"You said no one could get through the barrier."
"They didn't break it," he said grimly. "Someone opened it for them."
Her stomach twisted. "Why would a priest risk entering your realm?"
"Because he thinks you're worth it," Ravion said, glancing at her. "Or worse... someone told him you were."
They stepped into the outer chamber just as the two figures intruders emerged from the smoke. One, a priest wrapped in silver armor etched with glowing runes.
A second figure stepped into the hall a woman this time, with silver rings through her nose and a hood hiding half her face. Her magic was different not light, not fire.
Just cold.
Elira felt magic press against her skin, cold and cruel.
Ravion's stance shifted. "She's a shadowbinder stay behind me."
"I can handle cold," Elira muttered.
"You've never fought one."
"I wasn't bound to a devil before either," she shot back.
He smirked. "Fair."
"Found her," the priest said, his eyes fixed not on Ravion but on her.
The priest moved first quick, blade up, aiming straight for Elira.
"You've strayed far, witch," he said. "Release the devil, and you'll be granted a clean death."
Elira almost laughed. "I don't take orders from ghosts in metal suits."
Beside her, Ravion's fire flared. "Touch her and I'll burn your soul to ash."
But the priest didn't even blink. "You're already damned, Ravion. She just made it permanent."
The shadowbinder stepped forward next. "You summoned something you can't control," she said to Elira. "That was your first mistake."
"My second was letting you speak this long," Elira replied coldly.
She raised her hand.
Flame licked her fingertips.
The purger moved first, blade flashing toward her but Ravion blocked it with a roar of fire. Metal met flame holy magic grinding against infernal heat. Sparks flew, runes flickering wildly.
Elira had no time to watch.
The shadowbinder lunged, her cloak unraveling into dark tendrils.
Elira ducked, rolled and came up swinging. A whip of red flame snapped from her palm, cutting through the shadows like a live wire. The woman hissed and staggered back.
"You've got fight in you," the shadowbinder snarled. "Too bad you're using it for him."
"I'm not fighting for him," Elira said. "I'm fighting for me."
She hurled a second blast of fire, this time mixed with blood magic. It shimmered scarlet and gold,wild and unstable slammed into the woman's chest. The shadowbinder screamed and vanished into smoke.
Elira turned, breathing hard.
Ravion still held the purger against the wall, flames curled around his blade, melting the runes. The priest grunted, struggling.
"Want him dead?" Ravion asked without looking at her.
Elira stepped closer. Her mark burned faintly under her skin. She stared into the purger's eyes cold, unafraid, righteous.
"You'll regret this bond," he hissed. "You've made yourself a target. A witch who touches a devil never walks free again."
She raised her palm, fire humming just below the surface.
"I'm not interested in freedom," she said, "Just survival."
Her flames flicked toward the priest's sword and cracked the blade in half. Runes shattered like glass. Magic leaked out in harmless wisps.
"Go home," she said,"Tell your brothers what you saw. Next time, I won't be feeling generous."
Ravion let go.
The purger dropped to the floor and vanished into the shadows, limping.
Silence followed.
Elira turned, heart still pounding. "They knew about the bond."
Ravion nodded slowly. "They'll all know soon. It won't stay quiet."
She walked past him, her steps uneven with exhaustion. "Thanks for the warning."
He followed. "You're mad at me?"
She spun around. "Of course I'm mad! You said I was safe here."
"I said with me, you're safe. The temple's old, it has cracks."
"No," she said sharply. "You have cracks! You keep telling me nothing matters, that you don't care But clearly, you do. So what is it, Ravion? Am I your burden or your responsibility?"
His jaw tightened. "You think I'm protecting you out of guilt?"
"I don't know what to think," she said, voice low. "One moment you're mocking me, acting like none of this matters and the next, you're setting the room on fire just to keep me safe from them."
He stepped close too close but she didn't move back.
"You don't want me to care?" he asked.
"I don't want to be confused," she snapped. "I already lost everything my coven, my place in the world and now I'm hunted by priests and pulled into your war and I don't even what's inside me that they're all so desperate for!"
Her voice rang out, sharp, cutting through the stone like a blade.
"I deserve to know what's happening to me. Why everyone keeps acting like I'm some prophecy waiting to explode."
The silence after was heavy.
Ravion's expression darkened. "Then figure it out. Get stronger but don't expect me to hold your hand through it."
She stared at him. "I never asked you to."
"No?" he said, tone flat. "Then stop acting like I owe you answers. You called me, you spilled the blood and you made the pact."
Elira's eyes narrowed. "Because I was desperate not because I trusted you."
"Good," he snapped. "Because I'm not here to be trusted. I'm not your friend, Elira. I'm not your shield. I'm the devil you bound yourself to and that means consequences."
She took a step closer, face tight with fury. "Then stop pretending you care what happens to me."
"I don't," he said.
Too fast.
Too sharp.
A beat passed.
They both knew it wasn't true.
She turned away, jaw clenched, every part of her trembling. "If I find out you're lying to me about the bond, about what I am, about any of this…"
He didn't speak.
She faced him again. "I will make you regret it."
Ravion's eyes burned not with amusement but something colder. "You think you're the only one with something to lose?"
"No," she said. "But I'm the only one who still has something worth fighting for."
She shoved past him, her steps echoing hard and fast down the corridor.
Ravion didn't follow.
He stood alone in the empty hall, staring at the place where the purger had breached the wall.
And for the first time since she summoned him…
He looked uncertain.