I would never forget the morning I woke up with horns growing out of my skull.
After two weeks of basic training, I thought life couldn't get any more surreal. With twice the limit of Fireborn treatments, I could hardly stand the agony any longer.
Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, I woke to a stabbing pain in my temples like two blades piercing my skull. I peered into the mirror. Two black horns about three inches long poked out of the surrounding dry, inflamed, itchy flesh.
Until my horns appeared, I could pretend that a strange illness had caused my physical changes, aggression, and burgeoning desires. But now I could no longer escape the truth.
I was transforming into a Fireborn.
Despite Peter's attempts to preserve my soul, a pure demon would stare back at me in the mirror one day. Liselle Alta would fade and never return. A fate worse than death. I'd lose myself with my eyes wide open.
I roared in anger.
Peter raced from his adjacent room through our shared bathroom and knocked non-stop on my door. "Liselle? Let me in! What's wrong?"
I wanted to tell Peter how my soul was slipping from my grasp. How my magic had faded, leaving only anger and lust in its wake.
Instead, I simply cried out in dismay, "My horns are starting to grow!"
He raced into my room to find me leaning against my bureau. "Oh, Liselle, it won't be long now."
"Tell me that means the pain will stop soon." I gingerly touched the pink, raw skin. "I want this to end."
"Let me take away your pain."
Peter placed his hands on both sides of my head and muttered guttural words that I believed to be Ancient Draconic. Black tendrils of wispy fog burst forth from his hands and surrounded my head. With a grimace, he imbibed my pain until my headache finally eased. He waved his hand, and the magical tendrils vanished into thin air.
"Thank you."
Peter gave me a reassuring squeeze. Turning his face towards me, I gazed into his silver-gray eyes, the intensity of which almost stopped my heart.
"Peter?"
"Yes?"
"We can't fight this anymore," I said in a regretful tone. "I'm becoming a Fireborn, no matter how much we try to stop it."
"I know it's helping, or you'd have no soul left to save."
"Don't protect my soul anymore."
Peter furrowed his brow and grasped my shoulders. "How could you ask that of me?"
"Every time you try, you go through such agony and physical stress. It's not worth it."
"That's not true."
"You wait until you think I can't hear you." I shook my head. "Every night, you yell into your pillow in anguish."
He averted his gaze, pretending to stare at the wall. "You weren't supposed to hear that."
"Peter!"
"Yes, I admit that it can be painful," he muttered, "but it won't last much longer."
"It's my fate to become a Fireborn. I accept it."
"You can't give up now. Not after everything we've been through together."
I pointed at my horns. "Look at me! There's no point in delaying the inevitable."
"Please let me try."
"Just let the old Liselle go."
"I'm not ready to do that yet!"
As he gripped my arms tight, his talons grazed my skin. Before my treatments, they would have torn my flesh, but now the gesture felt as innocuous as grasping my hand.
"I'll try harder." He rubbed his face with his palms. "Maybe if I can boost my magic..."
"Let. Her. Go! We're just friends."
"That's a lie," he growled, "and you know it."
"The guard told you what could happen to you when I complete the change," I said. "You shouldn't suffer that fate."
"Do you think this has to do with my curse?" He gave me a gentle shake. "I need to protect you. At first, I thought the Creator had your best interests in mind, but he's become a monster."
"Listen," I said, jutting my chin. "In less than a year, you'll heal. You can leave all this behind and start a new life."
"I don't want to start a new life without you."
"You have to leave this god-forsaken pile of rock and go home," I cried. "Don't stay here out of misguided loyalty to me."
"You don't get it, do you?" he yelled. "I've made my choice."
A rush of blood ran through my cheeks. I had to stem a tidal wave of passion that coursed through my blood like the lava flows of Teufelwald. The more demonic I became, the more I could detect his mutual attraction to me. It swirled around him in a confusing whirlpool of emotion.
"We can't."
I cupped my face in my hands and tried to calm my racing thoughts. Unfamiliar tingles raced across my stomach at the mere thought of touching him. As Peter rubbed my back with tender touches, heat welled up inside me like Teufel volcanoes ready to erupt.
This isn't normal anymore.
"We make our own destiny," he whispered, "I don't believe in curses."
"Peter--"
"I've told you that I can make your Risan soul immortal," he said. "Let's put a stop to your decline while we still can."
"We've talked about this," I said, the anger rising in my chest. "I won't let you fall for me."
"If we bond, the poison won't be able to destroy your soul. Don't be so stubborn."
"I've made a Purity Oath I can't break."
"I'm not asking you to give me your body." He cupped my neck in his hands, and my cervical receptors tingled at his touch. "If your soul survives, neither of us will suffer anymore."
"The treatments have changed my spirit into a raging fire until I hardly recognize myself," I murmured. "The Risa say that she who plays with fire shall burn in the flames."
Peter cupped my cheek in his hand, tracing tender strokes with his thumb. His gaze seemed to cut through all the pretense and speak directly to my heart as he quoted my retort back to me.
"Then let the ashes fall."
I inhaled a deep breath and relished his scent. In a dizzying mixture of embers and mint, it intoxicated me, tempted me, lured me, almost reeled me into him.
"Why do I feel this way?" I asked him. "Is it even real, or is it just the drugs?"
Peter lifted my chin until my gaze met his. "We've always liked each other, but only you can decide what's real."
"If we join our souls, you might fall for me," I said, shaking my head. "The danger is too great."
"Enough lies," he said in a stern voice. "You must know I've already fallen for you."
"Peter..."
He gazed into my eyes and then down at my lips, his chest rising and falling like the tide. "I detect the pheromones from you as well, so please don't try to deceive me anymore."
"What if it's just a phase?" I choked out. "It could come from all the rapid physiological changes."
"We can figure that out later," he answered. "We have to act now before your soul is lost forever."
"What if I never desire a physical bond?"
"I'll respect your wishes." His thumb drew reassuring circles on my shoulder. "My life will continue for thousands of years after yours, and I want a part of me to stay with you. Eighty years is a drop in the ocean of time. I've spent more years as a celibate Cleric in a past life."
"You say that now..."
A low growl echoed in the doldrums of his chest. "Trust me or don't. I won't force you, but I can't understand why you won't let me try."
A sudden twist of nerves knotted my stomach. "Will the ritual put you in danger?"
He shook his head. "They say Dividing the Soul feels more pleasant than a warm bath on a cold winter's night when you share it with the right person."
"You'd split your spirit to protect me?" I thought aloud in wonder. "Without knowing how long I'll live in this war?"
"Only for you."
An awkward silence permeated the room, and I could hear my blood rushing in my ears. With trembling fingers, I traced his square jawline and marveled at his skin, dark as obsidian stone with a shiny silver patina. His icy gaze darted to my lips again, willing me towards him.
With slow, deliberate movements we drew nearer. Neither of us dared to breathe as we bridged the gulf that had separated us for months.
I pressed my lips to his.
It began as a soft, lingering touch at first, almost chaste in its tenderness. When I pulled back, Peter wrapped an insistent hand around my head and another around my back, pressing me against him. Our hearts thrummed in unison as he kissed me back, this time with fervor, igniting a blaze within me that I didn't know existed.
Tracing my hands up his sides, he shuddered as I grazed my fingertips over a patch of his chest not covered by leather armor. Goosebumps rose on his smooth flesh at my touch, and I kissed him with the same passion he'd shown me. As our tongues danced and teased one another, I longed to touch him in ways I'd never imagined.
"You see," he said after our kiss, breathless as he pressed his forehead against mine. "Not just friends, are we?"
"No."
For a few moments, we held each other in a tight embrace, the silence broken only by a series of gentle touches. My insides pooled as his fingertips trailed down my sides, softer than a feather's kiss.
"Peter?"
"Mm?"
"Is it worth the risk?" I asked. "Dragons can only give their soul to only one person."
He pulled away from me, surprised. "Just say the word, and I will protect your spirit forever. Not only in this world but in the next as well. My spirit will always find yours, even after death."
A twinge of guilt made my insides clench. In these uncertain times, could I ask that much of him?
"Yes, Peter," I whispered. "Please salvage it while you still can."
Peter took both of my hands in his and opened his mouth. A small circle of light escaped, the same one I'd seen on the day of his death and at the Tree of Life. With a gasp, I watched as it grew to twice the size, split in half down the center like a dividing cell. After one half re-entered his Fireborn body, he inhaled sharply.
My heart thudded against my ribs as I opened my mouth. The tiny firefly floated towards me and burned as his life force traveled into my lungs and spread throughout my bloodstream.
Tingles traveled across every nerve like electric fire as his soul bonded with the tiny sliver of my Risan spirit. Tiny bolts of lightning danced and tingled across every patch of my skin as our spirits united. We both gasped in pleasure as our souls nestled together inside my chest, his essence wrapping itself around that vulnerable sliver like plate armor.
"Thank you, Peter," I whispered, pressing my lips to his.
He cupped his hand around my neck, causing tingles to travel up and down my spine. "We are soulmates now. I'll feel your pain, I'll relish in your joy, and I'll stand by your side."
"As will I until my final breath," I whispered as I rested my head against his racing heart.