Rivals, Shadows, and Shared Stubs
The ten Temple attack-dogs snarled at us. Their forms rippling with dark Contract magic, with teeth like sharpened obsidian.
Their glowing eyes, fixed on Kaelen and I, bent on fulfilling their mission. Veyon stood there with a smug grin plastered on his handsome face. As for Sari, ever like a statue, adjusted a stray strand of hair.
"Fetch their dignity, Fido!" Veyon called out. His voice was annoyingly cheerful, as the first two hounds lunged forward, its maw snapping with very unnatural speed.
My instincts screamed. This wasn't just about survival anymore. It was about unadulterated annoyance at being mocked.
I felt the familiar surge of my scars, their lines burning with a raw, destructive energy. But before I could even raise my hands, Kaelen moved.
His shadow erupted. Not a full, monstrous transformation, but a brutal, terrifying surge. One arm twisted, bulging with muscle and shadow.
Then his hand started to elongate into a giant, clawed monstrosity. His eyes were blazing an angry, unholy red, and a low, guttural growl tore out from his throat.
He was now a semi-feral creature, hanging on the edge of full beast mode. It was horrifying, beautiful, and very terrifying all at the same time.
My breath caught in my throat.
He slammed his clawed hand into the lead attack-dog and then to the second as if he was slicing bread. There was a sound like shattering glass and tearing metal as the creature dissolved into black smoke, its glowing eyes extinguishing.
Two down, eight more to go.
"Ooh, semi-feral? Cute!" Sari's voice sounded flat and unamused. She stood beside Veyon, watching the chaotic brawl unfold with an aloof air.
"We tamed ours by Level 3." She reached up, not to pat Veyon's head, but to smooth a wrinkle from his impeccably tailored tunic. Showing off their familiarity, while subtly mocking Kaelen and I.
"Sari, darling, do try to be supportive," Veyon purred, though his eyes never left Kaelen's enraged form. "Obviously, they are still in their 'awkward adolescent bond' phase."
This was a nightmare and it was making my stomach churn. Fighting for our lives while being subjected to snarky commentary and mockery from two perfectly coiffed, annoyingly powerful rivals.
"Get ready, Chainbreaker!" Kaelen snarled, his voice a distorted rasp, half-human, half-beast. He was a whirlwind of dark energy, his shadow claws ripping through another attack-dog, which exploded in a shower of sparks.
The already cramped tunnel became a swirling vortex of shadows and flashing claws.
I tried to focus. These weren't normal dogs; they were Contracts given monstrous form.
My magic pulsed from my scars in a dance of defiance. I raised my hands, feeling the familiar strain, and aimed at the nearest snarling beast.
The Contract etching on its flank glowed, then fractured. The attack-dog whimpered, its glowing eyes losing their spite.
Its sinister form shimmered and shrank, transforming with a puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared, a tiny, confused squirrel sat there, twitching its nose, completely puzzled by its sudden change in circumstances.
"Another one down!" I yelled, feeling a perverse sense of satisfaction. My scars stung with the effort, but it was worth it to see the terror in the other dogs' glowing eyes.
My curse-breaking wasn't pretty, but it was effective.
"And turning them into confused squirrels! Classic!" Lyra's voice chimed in from further down the tunnel. She was still nowhere to be seen.
"Very distracting! Good job, Z!"
Meanwhile Kaelen turned around with blazing eyes and swiped a massive shadow claw at Veyon. The attack was fast, brutal, and aimed to maim.
Veyon's eyes widened, genuine surprise crossing his face for the first time. But before the claw could connect, Sari moved.
She yanked Veyon back with a forceful, almost casual tug on his arm, pulling him out of the path of Kaelen's strike with surprising speed.
The air crackled where Kaelen's claw had just been, leaving a faint scorch mark on the damp stone.
"Aww, such devotion," Veyon mused, once he'd regained his footing, dusting off his sleeve as if he'd merely avoided a particularly rude splatter.
"Our Bond Perk: Quick Reflexes. Very practical."
"It's about anticipating his stupidity," Sari added, giving Veyon an unreadable look.
My own irritation flared. They were so annoying. So perfect. So unscathed. I launched myself at another attack-dog, determined to prove that my brand of messy, chaotic power was just as effective as their polished, synchronized nonsense. I focused on its glowing eyes, on the pulsing Contract within.
Just as the beast started shining and shrinking, my foot slipped on a slick patch of moss on the ground. I stumbled, lost my balance, and slammed my toe into a sharp rock sticking out from the wall.
A sharp, burning pain shot up my leg, making me gasp.
At the same exact time, Kaelen, who was in the middle of tearing through another Contract hound across the tunnel, howled.
It wasn't a growl, or a roar. It was a genuine, surprised yelp of pain that echoed in the entire tunnel.
He staggered and grabbed his foot. His shadow momentarily fluttered and receded. The hound that was just ignored took the opportunity to dissolve into harmless smoke.
He stared at his foot, then at me, his eyes wide with disbelief, the red glow receding. "Why do I feel like I just kicked a wall?!" he demanded, sounding very irritated.
My own toe still throbbed with a dull, insistent ache. My eyes widened as a slow, realization dawned over me, followed by a fresh wave of annoyance.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," I muttered, looking at the System text that had just flashed in front of me.
____
[Bond Level 15 Achieved!]
[New Ability Unlocked: Shared Pain.]
[…Seriously, you two? You couldn't just kiss? The hiccups would have been hilarious.]
____
"Shared Pain?" Kaelen roared, his face a mask of outrage. He hobbled towards me, clutching his foot. "So every time you do something idiotic, I feel it?! This is unacceptable!"
"Hey! My toe is the one that actually hit the rock, alright?!" I shot back, feeling a fresh wave of indignance. "And besides, this is your fault for distracting me with your semi-feral display! What happened to 'stay behind me'?"
"My display saved you!"
"From your own father's attack dogs!"
Our bickering was cut short by a glint of metal. Sari had pulled a long, slender dagger from her belt, her expression still unreadable.
She threw it with an alarming precision. It whirled through the air in a blur, aimed directly at Kaelen's chest.
My heart literally jumped into my throat. The shared pain was new, but the protective instinct has been even though I didn't like it.
Without thinking, I reacted fast. I shoved Kaelen hard, pushing him out of the dagger's path. He stumbled, his shadow flaring as he regained his balance.
The dagger missed his chest, but it grazed my upper arm, slicing through the fabric of my tunic. A thin red line bloomed on my skin, just above my most prominent scar. It was a shallow cut, nothing serious, but it stung.
Kaelen cried out. He clutched his upper arm, an identical line of red appearing on his sleeve as if he'd been cut too.
He looked at his arm, then at mine with anger and pain. Blood seeped through his sleeve, mirroring the scratch on my arm.
"You idiot!" he barked in a raw tone while his expression was a mixture of disbelief and genuine agony. "Why would you do that?!"
I looked at the blood welling on his sleeve that matches the minor scratch on my arm.
A small, vindictive smirk touched my lips, despite the pain. "Shared pain's a bitch, huh, Prince?" I said, my voice low but filled with a triumphant edge.
"Welcome to my world."