Bonds of Flame & Desire

Chapter 1 - Caged

I was cold. Everything was so dark. My body numb.

"She's half dead!" screamed a voice I did not recognize.

My body jostled. I tried to open my eyes but I had no strength.

"Things didn't go as planned," Theis said, panicked. His voice was muffled and distorted.

"Clearly," came a female voice. "We've risked everything for this. We have the body."

"It can still work," Theis snapped.

"Take him to the dungeon," the first voice ordered. "She's bleeding out and she'll be useless if she's dead."

"Just take the soul," the female hissed.

"The bindings are too messy. I don't have time to unravel them."

"She knows," the female said, her voice panicked. "The Queen knows she's here."

There was a long silence and I started to slip once more. The healing slowed and my body felt like ice.

Warmth blossomed in my chest, unfurling like a fresh flower and radiating out. Magic flowed into my body, clinging to the parts of me that threatened to slip away. It was an anchor that kept me from fading. From giving into the waiting darkness.

In that center of magic, I felt something stirring. A cord that wound around my soul, alongside that tether that connected me to Firion.

I reached for that cord, seeking him out.

"Bring her back. Bring her back. Bring her ba—"

His voice was fading until it cut off and a wall slammed between the ends of the tether, barring me from him.

I followed this new one that coiled around me and towards that warm sensation. It led me to a soul, one that was broken and hurt and guarded. One that was cold as ice, keeping the vulnerable center safe from the world.

"Don't let her die. Please."

Alaric. His voice was clear. Pained and desperate.

My soul hardened at it, recalling the hurt. The betrayal.

"She's fading," the female said.

"Hold her down. She's taking all of my magic."

Fight this.

The voice was all around me. A soft, feminine voice. Gentle but firm. The voice I needed.

You are stronger than this. This is not where you end. You are destined for something great.

And my hands clenched as I dragged myself back from the abyss that wanted to devour me.

***

The smell of lavender was the first thing I noticed. It filled my nose, keeping me in that place between dreams and reality. For a moment, I thought I was back in the lavender fields with my parents, the last vacation I enjoyed with them.

The last time I felt happy.

As my eyes fluttered open, I knew immediately that I was not in the lavender fields. I also wasn't in Alaric's cottage or even Jens' manor.

Memories came back in bursts. Devils tearing each other apart. Blood coating the immaculate marble floor. A contract with my name on it.

The pain of Alaric's betrayal.

Firion running after us as Theis brought us into this strange world. Voices around me as I faded. White wings wrapping around my body. Eyes blue as the sky.