The Spark That Ignites the Dawn

Chapter Ten: Bound Together

A/N: Artwork is definitely the Koschei/Marya vibes I get in this chapter...let me know what you think!

Pain lashed through Marya's body like a lance as soon as the blood spell hissed on the stone.

She screamed, clutching the space in her chest where something felt missing. She fell forwards, gasping for breath, and trying to decipher her thoughts. Was that meant to happen? Had Koschei the Immortal tricked her, somehow? Perhaps she was easy to read— or maybe it was the glare and distrust in her gaze when she looked up at him— but the young man had the decency to try to help.

'It can be a little painful,' he said, kneeling next to her. 'And in your case, I'd imagine it's the pain of separation from Vasilisa. You've been sustaining her with magic for many years.'

Marya was still holding her body, wincing at the dulling pain. She was rapidly realising that something had to happen now, before Siegfried could return.

'What now?' she asked, breathing in short, sharp gasps. 'We have to get out of here.'

'We have to get out of this dungeon,' Koschei said, his eyes focusing. 'You'll have to get me out of these cuffs.'

Marya blinked at him. 'I don't know how to do that.'

Koschei's head snapped to look at her, eyes alert with confusion. 'You've been tutored by the best Koldun and you don't know how to do basic metalwork?'

Marya felt her cheeks turn red. Koschei's words made her feel like a small child. She found the only answers she could give were excuses. 'Just tell me what to do so I can try.'

'Alright. What's your power source?'

'...I don't know,' Marya's frustration leaked through her voice. 'I don't know what that is.'

Koschei was looking at her with a mixture of humour and terror. 'R—ight,' he repeated, and his glance towards the door was now uncertain. His tongue ran over his bottom lip as his mind worked on a plan.

Marya had a thought. 'Why can't you open it?' she demanded.

Koschei sighed. 'It's designed for keeping mages locked in. It absorbs your power whilst you are in it.'

'But you can still perform a magic pact?' she folded her arms, afraid she'd been conned.

'It's a blood pact,' Koschei said, as if that explained everything. When she still looked fierce and angry, he sighed again, but this time, with weariness. 'My blood is tied to the spell, even if it was you who spoke it. Blood heightens magic. The spirits of our ancestors rise within it.'

'The Koldun did not teach any of that nonsense,' Marya said, shaking her head. 'There's no such thing as blood magic, or ancestral trace.'

'We do not have time to examine how inaccurate you are!' Koschei hissed. He glanced again at the door where the prince had vanished. 'Find a way to get me out— I order it!'

Marya didn't notice the pull at first, but within a few moments of hesitation she felt magic tug at her middle, commanding her find an exit for Koschei. And, as if by magic, the door to the dungeon creaked open at that instant, and a familiar prince walked in, flagged by guards.

Had she not been ordered by Koschei, Marya might have blanched at the number of bodies he'd brought, all decked in uniforms and armed with swords. Had she not been ordered by Koschei, Marya might have fled into the shadows, to give up before Siegfried could hunt her down.