Chapter 4: Running, Arguing, and Almost Dying (In That Order)
556 Words
We ran like people who had made very poor life choices.
Which was accurate.
Behind us, cloaks flapped, boots pounded, and someone shouted something in a language that sounded expensive and deadly.
“LEFT!” Rayan yelled.
“I DON’T TRUST YOU!” I yelled back—then turned left anyway.
We skidded into a dead end.
Of course we did.
The wall shimmered.
“Oh good,” I panted. “A magical wall. Because normal bricks were too simple.”
The hooded figures closed in.
Rayan stepped forward, sword out, voice calm in that annoying heroic way.
“Stay behind me.”
I blinked. “Is this the part where you get dramatically injured?”
“Please don’t curse it.”
Too late.
A spell flew.
I screamed.
Rayan blocked it—barely.
The bond between us flared, heat ripping through my chest.
“Ow!” I yelled. “WHY DID I FEEL THAT?”
“Because we’re connected,” he grunted. “If I get hurt—”
“I FEEL IT.”
“—yes.”
“I HATE MAGIC.”
I did the only logical thing.
I grabbed the glowing ring and shouted, “DO SOMETHING USEFUL!”
The ring pulsed.
Reality hiccupped.
The attackers’ cloaks turned into bright pink wedding drapes.
One of them screamed, “WHY AM I LACE?”
Another tripped over his veil.
Rayan stared at me. “You can do that?”
“I DON’T KNOW.”
The wall behind us cracked open—revealing a tunnel.
We dove in just as the wall sealed again.
Silence.
Then heavy breathing.
Then laughter.
I slid down the tunnel wall. “I almost died.”
Rayan dropped beside me. “You saved us.”
“I turned assassins into brides.”
“That too.”
Our eyes met.
The bond hummed softly now—warm, steady.
Too intimate.
I cleared my throat. “So. About earlier.”
“The Truthbrew?” he asked.
“Yes. The… things we said.”
He smiled, but there was tension under it. “Still true.”
My stomach flipped.
“Mine too,” I admitted.
Great. Fantastic. Falling for him was officially a terrible idea.
A slow clap echoed through the tunnel.
We froze.
A figure stepped from the shadows—tall, elegant, smiling like he’d already won.
“Impressive,” he said smoothly. “Very few survive their first chase.”
Rayan went rigid. “You.”
“Me,” the man agreed. “You may call me Vaelric.”
My ring burned.
Vaelric’s eyes flicked to it. “Ah. The bond has chosen.”
“Un-choose me,” I snapped.
He laughed softly. “If only.”
He leaned closer. “Break the bond, and one of you dies.
Complete it… and the world changes.”
Silence fell heavy.
Rayan’s hand found mine—instinctive.
Protective.
I squeezed back.
“Great,” I muttered. “So we’re cursed, hunted, and emotionally compromised.”
Vaelric smiled wider. “Welcome to the game.”
He vanished.
The tunnel trembled.
Rayan exhaled slowly. “We need answers.”
“And training,” I added. “And possibly therapy.”
He laughed.
Despite everything, I smiled.
Because danger was everywhere—
but so was something else.
Something terrifying.
Something bright.
Something that felt like us.
- Writer
