Chapter Five: The Bargain of Blood
946 Words
Nayara knelt beneath the ancient tree, Ethan’s lifeless body cradled in her trembling arms. The night whispered around them, the hollow heavy with the weight of broken curses. His skin was cold, his breath gone — yet his lips still lingered with the taste of a love that had freed her.
Her golden eyes shimmered, locked onto his pale face. The curse was broken, but the gods were cruel — granting her freedom only to steal the one soul who had ever seen the heart buried beneath her scales.
“No... please...” her voice cracked, barely above a whisper.
Her fingers traced the lines of his face — the warmth already fading from his skin. Every soul she'd ever touched had turned to dust in her arms... but this death tasted different.
He had chosen her.
Loved her.
And now, he was gone.
Tears slipped down her cheeks, burning against her cold skin. She had spent centuries cursing the gods, begging them to lift her chains. Now, with the curse shattered, she would have given up her freedom a thousand times over... just to hear his heartbeat again.
A broken sob ripped from her throat, echoing through the hollow.
“Take me instead...”
Her voice cracked, raw with desperation.
“Do you hear me?” she cried into the night. “Take me! Let him live!”
Only silence answered.
The gods had turned their faces away.
Nayara’s heart twisted, rage flickering beneath her grief. She had been cursed to kill for centuries — a puppet bound to hunger. Now they would punish her again? Now... when she had finally learned to love?
The wind whispered through the branches, carrying the scent of ancient promises — the taste of old gods who still watched from the shadows.
“I know you're listening,” she hissed through clenched teeth. “You bound me to this curse... you can unbind him".
Her golden eyes flickered as she glanced down at Ethan’s still face.
“Please... don't let him pay for my sins".
The forest held its breath.
Somewhere in the distance, the hollow groaned — ancient and hungry.
A voice rose from the darkness.
Soft.
Female.
Cruel.
“A life for a life... that was always the price".
Nayara’s heart clenched.
She knew the voice.
Yira.
The goddess who had cursed her.
The shadows stirred, wrapping the trees in whispers. A shape flickered between the branches — tall and pale, with eyes black as the void.
“Would you trade your freedom so easily?” Yira’s voice coiled through the air, low and venomous. “After centuries of begging me to lift your chains?”
Nayara's jaw clenched, her arms tightening around Ethan’s lifeless form.
“Yes”.
Yira's hollow laughter echoed through the forest.
“Foolish girl... love makes you weak".
Nayara's golden eyes burned beneath the goddess's gaze.
“No... love makes me human".
The goddess circled her slowly, shadows trailing in her wake.
“The curse is broken. You could walk free beneath the sun... forget this boy and live".
Nayara’s breath trembled.
“I don't want freedom... not without him".
Yira's black lips curved into a cold smile.
“Then you will have your bargain".
Nayara's heart clenched.
“What must I do?”
The goddess's pale fingers traced the air, weaving invisible threads between the living and the dead.
“Give him your heart".
Nayara’s breath caught.
Her hand drifted to her chest — where the serpent’s curse had once coiled around her soul.
“Will he live?”
Yira's smile widened.
“Yes... but he will never remember you".
Nayara's heart splintered.
She glanced down at Ethan’s still face — the lines of pain smoothed in death, his lips slightly parted as if waiting for one last breath.
He had given her love without fear.
Would she give him life without memory?
Her golden eyes shimmered, throat tightening.
“Yes".
Yira's cold fingers pressed against Nayara's chest.
The serpent’s heart — blackened by centuries of hunger — pulsed beneath her ribs, still bound to ancient magic. The goddess's nails carved through skin and bone, blood blooming against Nayara's pale flesh.
Pain burned through her body — searing, endless.
But she did not scream.
She would not break.
Not for this.
The goddess pulled the heart from her chest — a dark, twisted thing — and pressed it to Ethan's still lips.
“Breathe, mortal".
For one terrible moment, the forest held its breath.
Then Ethan's chest rose... shallow... fragile.
His fingers twitched.
A gasp broke from his lips.
He was alive.
Nayara's knees buckled, blood pouring from the wound in her chest. Her golden scales began to dull, fading beneath the weight of her sacrifice.
Ethan's eyes flickered open — soft brown, dazed.
He looked at her... but there was no recognition.
Only fear.
“Who... who are you?”
Nayara's heart shattered.
Her voice trembled as she forced a broken smile.
“No one".
The gods always demanded their price.
Ethan's breath came slower, steadier. His eyes darted around the hollow — confused, lost.
He would never remember her.
Never know that she had died to give him life.
Nayara staggered back into the shadows, her body already fading — her curse broken, but her heart bleeding in its place.
For centuries, she had killed every man who loved her.
Now, she had finally saved one.
Even if he would never know her name
The hollow swallowed her whole, leaving only whispers behind.
Ethan sat alone beneath the ancient tree, breathless and alive — unaware that the woman who had loved him most was already turning to dust.
- Writer
