The Blood Bracelets #3: Soul Scarred

Chapter Twenty-Five

Taryn almost let go of Kael, but she stopped herself before she could and doubled over as the pain in her chest twisted viciously. She opened her eyes to see what had struck her, and although she wasn't sure what she had been expecting she certainly didn't expect to see the same rope of red light which had led her to Kael now piercing her chest.

Her eyes followed the red light which had impaled her, to where it wrapped around her and Kael's blood bracelets, and to where it had then pierced her hand straight into Kael's chest.

She wasn't even sure if her heart was beating at all, but since she wasn't dead she reassured herself her heart was fine. Breathing was difficult, though whether that was because of the binding or Taryn's own panic she wasn't sure. She wanted to grab at the red light, to pull it out of her chest, but she didn't want to let go of Kael. Something told her that if she did, she would lose her chance to save him.

What's happening? Taryn shouted internally, if only because speaking wasn't possible around the pain in her chest.

Stay calm. I know it hurts, but this is the only way. You are sharing your soul with Kael, so that not only will you be bound in blood but you will be bound in soul as well. Kael's pain will become your pain, and your pain will become his. This is the highest binding a blood bracelet can achieve.

So it was true, Taryn thought. Bennet had dismissed the idea when she and Kael were first bound, but the possibility that their pain - their lives - could be shared by the blood bracelets wasn't myth at all. It just depended on how far you were willing to take the bond.

With a grimace Taryn straightened up where she sat, but still she felt the red light pulling at her chest like it had hooked into the deepest part of her where her soul could be found. It wasn't too dissimilar to how she felt when Kael had tried to take her soul, but she wasn't filled with fear or the desire to run and protect what Kael was trying to take. It hurt, yes, and at the back of her mind she wondered what repercussions this would have on her own soul, but knowing that the pain would lead to healing Kael meant that she would bear through it.

The blood bracelets began to change then. Taryn watched as the gold lettering across the surface of the bracelets seemed to weave around each other, shifting the lines and curls of the letters to form new ones. Normally, Taryn could read what the words said even though she had never studied the language they were written in, but this time the meaning of the words didn't come to her. The lettering looked different as well, a mix of both delicate and sharp lines, and Taryn wondered just how old the language was that had now written itself across the blood bracelets.

It means "Ensouled", the presence said gently. You and Kael have not just bound your souls together, but you have imbued the blood bracelets with your souls as well. Should you two ever pass away, a part of your souls will live on in the blood bracelets - even after the bond is broken.

Has a bond ever been broken? Taryn asked.

Once, came the response. Taryn heard a touch of sadness in the woman's voice, and although it made her curious as to who this presence belonged to Taryn decided not to pry.

Taryn's attention was drawn to Kael's chest where her hand had begun to shed a delicate, white light. It smothered the wound, banishing the wisps of smoke-like energy that had been pouring from it, and slowly the wound began to close. Kael's skin warmed as well, as if life was returning to it, and at the same time Taryn felt the pain in her chest ease away.

It's working! Taryn told the presence, but as soon as she did she felt a sudden absence, like someone who had been standing at her side was no longer there. Nothing about the silence around her had changed, but Taryn knew instinctively that whoever the presence had been, whoever had helped her, was gone.