Chapter 10
966 Words
The world no longer held shape.
It came in fragments now—light, shadow, sound—never whole, never steady. Caelira drifted somewhere between waking and absence, her body too heavy to move, her mind slipping in and out of clarity like something caught between tides.
Breathing was the only constant.
Shallow.
Uneven.
Each inhale careful, each exhale slower, as though her body had begun to ration what little strength remained.
The pain had changed again.
It no longer came sharp.
No longer flared.
It had settled deep inside her, a quiet, consuming presence that did not leave. It stretched through her ribs, her side, her chest—threading into every part of her until it became indistinguishable from her own existence.
She no longer fought it.
There was nothing left to fight with.
The bond pulsed.
Faint.
Then—
Too strong.
It surged without warning, a violent pull that dragged her partially into awareness. Her breath caught, her chest tightening as the sensation twisted through her, demanding response from a body that could no longer give it.
Her fingers twitched weakly against the floor.
That was all.
The connection stuttered.
Faltered.
Then surged again—uneven, unstable, like something breaking under strain.
Somewhere, distantly—
Footsteps.
Voices.
She couldn’t make them out.
Only the presence.
“She won’t last.”
Seren’s voice.
Clearer than the rest.
Closer.
Caelira tried to open her eyes.
It took longer than it should have.
The room blurred into view slowly—shapes forming, light filtering through the window in dull streaks.
Seren stood near the foot of the bed, her posture composed, her expression controlled—but her gaze remained fixed.
Not sharp.
Not cruel.
But… intent.
Watching.
“You said that before,” Malrec’s voice answered.
He was closer.
Too close.
The bond reacted again—pulling, tightening, trying to force her awareness toward him. It hurt now in a way it hadn’t before, the connection fraying, resisting its own existence.
“And I was right,” Seren replied calmly.
A pause.
“She’s worse.”
Silence followed.
Heavy.
Measured.
Caelira felt it more than heard it—the shift in the room, the tension that settled when neither of them spoke.
Malrec stepped closer.
She felt it.
Even before she saw him.
The bond surged again—stronger this time, sharper, dragging a weak, involuntary response from her body. Her chest rose unevenly, her breath catching as if something inside her tried—failed—to answer him.
His shadow fell across her.
“You’re still conscious,” he said.
Not a question.
An observation.
Caelira’s lips parted slightly.
It took effort to form the word.
“Yes…”
Barely audible.
But there.
His gaze lingered on her longer this time.
Taking in the stillness.
The lack of movement.
The absence of strength where it had once been—however little.
“You’re failing faster,” he added.
Flat.
As though noting the progression of something expected.
Seren moved then.
Slowly.
She came to stand beside him, her presence no longer sharp with dominance, but quieter—more measured.
She looked down at Caelira, her expression unreadable.
“Her body isn’t keeping up with the bond,” she said. “It’s… breaking under it.”
Malrec didn’t respond immediately.
But the bond pulsed again.
Harder.
More erratic.
Caelira gasped softly, the sensation tearing through her chest in a way that forced her eyes shut again.
For a brief moment—
She felt it.
Not just the pull.
But resistance.
As though something inside her was no longer able to hold the connection in place.
“Make her stand,” Seren said suddenly.
The words were quiet.
But deliberate.
Caelira’s eyes opened again, slow, unfocused.
Malrec didn’t move at first.
Then—
“Stand.”
The command dropped into her like weight.
The bond surged violently.
For a split second, her body tried to respond—muscles tensing weakly, breath catching as something inside her strained toward obedience—
Then it collapsed.
Completely.
Pain followed.
Not sharp.
Not sudden.
But deep.
Consuming.
Her body didn’t move.
Didn’t even try again.
“I can’t…” she whispered.
The words were thinner now.
Breaking.
Silence filled the room.
This time, it was different.
Not indifferent.
Not distant.
But… aware.
Malrec’s gaze hardened slightly.
“Again,” he said.
The command came heavier.
More force behind it.
The bond reacted immediately—too strongly, too fast, surging through her in a way that felt wrong, unnatural.
Caelira gasped, her body trembling faintly as the effort forced through her—but it didn’t hold.
Couldn’t.
She didn’t rise.
Didn’t even lift from the bed.
Her body failed completely.
Seren exhaled softly.
“That’s it, then,” she said.
No emotion.
Just conclusion.
“She can’t answer it anymore.”
The words settled heavily in the room.
Even the bond seemed to react—its pulse uneven, unstable, as though it no longer knew how to function without response.
Malrec didn’t speak.
For a long moment, he simply stood there, looking down at her.
The silence stretched.
Thick.
Unresolved.
Then—
“She will remain here,” he said finally.
Decisive.
Cold.
Seren glanced at him.
“And if the bond breaks?” she asked.
A pause.
A fraction too long.
“It won’t,” Malrec replied.
But the certainty wasn’t complete.
Not entirely.
Caelira barely heard the rest.
The voices blurred again, fading into something distant as her awareness slipped.
The bond pulsed once more.
Weak.
Unsteady.
Still there.
But no longer holding her together.
If anything—
It felt like it was unraveling along with everything else.
Darkness came slowly.
Not sudden.
Not complete.
But heavier than before.
And for the first time—
It didn’t feel like something to fight.
- Writer
