Bloodbound to the Beastly King

It's been an hour…or maybe two since Mason was taken out. Adina sat by the wall, head buried in her arms. Kora was opposite her, staring blankly at the wall. The two of them dwelled in uncomfortable silence.

Then, Kora cleared her throat as she sat up. "Adina," she called.

Adina lifted her head, blinking.

"I think—" Kora began, "I think you should tell me what's going on. What are they talking about? Why is Lord Carter after you? Why is—" her voice cracked, and she dragged a hand over her face. "Why are all of these happening."

Adina's heart stuttered at this. She didn't know what she was expecting, but it wasn't this.

She opened her mouth to talk, but the words felt heavy. "Kora…" she croaked out.

Kora shifted closer to her, grabbed Adina's hand, holding onto her tight as her eyes bore into hers. "Tell me, what's going on?"

Adina inhaled deeply, her gaze flickering to Kora's hold on hers. She looked at the other again, and her lips trembled. "Do you know what a sage is?"

Kora's brows furrowed in slight confusion, and then her eyes widened as if she could piece things together. "Adina," she muttered.

Adina's throat tightened. The words felt like shards of glass, but she forced them out. "I'm… a sage." Her words were soft, shared between the two of them. "The last living sage of the realm."

"I—Adina. That's—" Kora couldn't get the words out. Her mind was a blurry haze.

"Adina," she called again, squeezing her hands tight. "Y-You're a sage."

Adina nodded, "I am, and that's not all. Lord Carter. I guess he figured it out. I don't know how, but he did, and I'm guessing he created that stunt in the palace. He did all of this…created this mess just because…because he's a worshipper."

"What do you mean he is a worshipper?"

"He's a rebel. He and the witch, they're reawakening Khaos, the dark lord."

Kora's face paled, her grip tightening until Adina's fingers throbbed. "Khaos?" She shook her head slowly. "That's… that's impossible. He was killed centuries ago. Sealed away."

Adina shook her head slowly, tears burning her eyes. "Not anymore. Carter wants to bring him back, and he needs me to do it. A sage is the bridge between realms. He needs my body to remove the curse placed on Khaos and to put his powers in me as a vessel. That's why I'm here."

Kora's lips parted, trembling. "What? No." She shook her head, strands of her hair falling into her face. "No, Adina. That can't happen. If Khaos rises again, the entire realm, everyone we love will burn. We can't let this happen. We can't."

Her panic was contagious, flooding into Adina's chest. She wanted to say something, promise escape, swear on the bond she once thought unbreakable with Thorne. But her voice faltered.

Kora gripped her hands tighter, "We have to do something. We need to do something. We can't let this happen. You—we need to contact The king. Let him know what's going on." She paused suddenly, eyes widening like she got an idea.

"Your bond. You're mated to his majesty. You can contact him, can't you? You can tell him what's going on. I heard of the soul bind. You practically share the same soul. You can try to—"

Tears blurred Adina's eyes the more Kora spoke. All of this, she's tried. Her soul bind with Thorne, her mindlink to him. None of them worked. She couldn't feel Thorne's emotions nor could he feel her. If he could…he would've known it was her that day. He would've—

"I can't," she whispered.

Kora's rambling was cut off, despair clouding her eyes. "Adina."

"The soul bind. Something must have gone wrong. I- I can't feel him. Not anymore. It's like I was cut off," she choked out, her heart aching the more she spoke. These were words she's tried to silence in her head. She'd told the witch, Thorne would find her. They share a sacred bond. He would find her.

The witch had laughed in her face. She laughed so hard she clutched her belly. Adina looked like a fool, watching the woman.

The witch stopped laughing and said…If the soul bind wasn't working. Thorne must've cut it off because she didn't do anything to that. Thorne must've seen her true self and cut the bond himself.

Of course, Adina didn't believe that.

But still, the little doubts that crept up in her mind were there. Perhaps Alma was right. Perhaps Thorne cut her off. She did see it. The undiluted hatred in his eyes toward her. The disgust.

"Adina," Kora's voice jerked her back to reality.

Adina shook her head, "I can't reach him, Kora. It's like the bond is gone," she replied.

Kora opened her mouth to speak some more but paused, eyes boring into Adina. She leaned closer and hugged her instead.

"We'll figure something out. We'll escape, but you won't be some storage space for Khaos or Carter."

Adina's tears burned hot, but she nodded, gripping Kora tight. "I'll find a way. I promise. We'll survive this."

But before either could say more, the gate screeched open again, and the two of them jumped apart. The beasts returned, their disgusting rotten smell returning. Their clawed hands reached for Adina.

Kora lunged, clinging to her, but one of the monsters wrenched Adina away, kicking Kora back.

"Adina!" Kora screamed, struggling against the chains that bound her.

Adina kicked, screamed, and fought, but the beasts dragged her down the hall, her friend's voice fading behind her. "Where are you taking me to?" Adina screamed, but the beasts said nothing.

The air grew colder the deeper they went. When the doors at the end of the corridor opened, the scent of incense filled the air. Adina was pushed inside the room, and she fell forward.

Adina whimpered as she finally looked up. An altar stood in the center, carved from black stone, glowing faintly with runes that looked like they were breathing.

Adina's breath quickened. The place was creepy.

"Get up." Carter's voice had her flinching, and she looked to her side only to find the man there, watching.

Adina scrambled to her feet, her chest heaving heavily as she looked around with fear. The door cracked behind her, and she jumped, turning to see the witch stepping in.

"Ah, she's here. I guess we can get started now."

Adina looked between them nervously. "Get started with what?"

"Your initiation," the witch said, walking over to the altar. Adina's eyes widened, and she staggered backward.

"M-my what?"

The woman burst out laughing at this. "She's so gullible, Lord Carter. How could the goddess think this one is worthy of being called a sage?"

"Let's get this over with, Alma," Carter said gruffly. "Move to the center," he said to Adina, who stiffly did as she was told.

"What is this about? What's going on?" Adina asked.

Alma stepped backward from the altar, holding a knife and a wooden bowl. She turned to Adina. "You ask way too many questions, Sage."

"What's that? Why do you have a knife? Are you planning on killing me? Is that what this is actually about?" Adina rushed out, nervous and scared.

Alma rolled her eyes. "Oh child, there's so much you don't know about." She glanced at Carter, then back at Adina. "To fully awaken the dark Lord, we need something called the Aetheris core. It's a sigil the head sage had. It holds the core power of the realm, and the sages were made to protect it. As you may have heard, The dark Lord was once a sage and thus…his full powers and reawakening are also tied to the Aetheris core."

Adina was fast losing track of the words. Core…sigil…power…they were all mixing together.

"In conclusion?" She interjected. Alma's eyes narrowed dangerously at being cut off.

She inhaled deeply and continued. "You need to bring us the Aetheris core."

Adina frowned, "What? I don't have it. I don't even know what that is."

"Of course you don't know it. You've been a sage for what? Ten days. You're a child," she spat out.

Adina's confusion grew even more. "Then if I don't know it…how can I bring it to you?"

At this, Alma grinned. "You don't need to know it. Your blood does."

Carter moved before she could react, turning Adina around and slicing her palm open. Her scream split the air as her blood spilled onto the ground only to be blocked by the wooden bowl in Alma's hand.

Once she collected Adina's blood into the bowl, she moved to the altar and poured it right into it.

Nothing happened at first. Then suddenly, the ground trembled. The dark runes changed colors into a bloody red. A wall groaned heavily, like it was shifting itself.

Alma jumped forward, eyes pinned on the wall. She cleaned the dusty font with her shawl, reading the jarred, roughly carved words.

Suddenly she grinned, turning to Carter and began to cackle loudly and unhinged. "The crypt of Noctra."

Adina's blood froze at the words. The crypt of Noctra? That was only located in—

Carter turned to Adina, eyes gleaming with greed. "Get ready, little sage. We leave for Crystal Moon at dawn."