Anastasia's eyes snapped open, slamming against the gritty darkness that clung to her vision. Her body, a dull ache under the cold stone floor, felt hollowed-out, repetitively drained of its vibrant essence. Golden cuffs dug into her chilled wrists, pulsing with a malevolent light that painted grotesque shadows on the dungeon walls. Beside her, a faint stirring, a hiss of indrawn breath. Damian. His once lifeless shell mended, flesh knitted back, a testament to their cursed immortality.
How long? Had it been months, years, trapped in this godforsaken tomb, their magic bled dry, only to be reborn like grotesque marionettes? A chuckle, cold and metallic, echoed through the chamber. A figure coalesced from the shadows, pure golden energy blazing like a monstrous sun
"Incredible," it boomed, the sound vibrating through her bones. "I drained you, yet here you stand. Still alive."
Anastasia spat, "For a God, you know nothing, do you?"
Its laughter, a chorus of clanging chimes, filled the air. "Still a fiery little moth, drawn to the flame. My dear Anastasia, how did you do this? How did you break the rules? How did you break MY rules?"
"Haven't you figured it out yet?" Her eyes burned violet. "Your tank overflows with our essence. You're not as clever as you think."
The being's laughter choked into a snarl. Its golden form shimmered, morphing into a grotesque mockery of a man, eyes like burning embers. "Your essence," it roared, tendrils of energy crackling around it, "turned mortals into immortal beasts, but none held the fire you two possessed, none kept their humanity like you did. An uncertainty I couldn't tolerate."
Anastasia chuckled, a cold, humourless sound. "Get on with it then, god-thing. Or are you going to bore me to death for another eternity?"
The iron gates of the dungeon groaned open, revealing a figure cloaked in twilight, molten gold glowing in his eyes. "Lady Anastasia, flee!" he rasped, his voice a tortured echo. With a desperate cry, he raised his hands, veins pulsing with divinity, shattering the golden shackles binding them.
But before he could take another step, the fire in his eyes sputtered, his borrowed power bled dry by the being's insatiable hunger. "Indigo!" Anastasia screamed, amethyst inferno swirling around her fingers. She unleashed a torrent of violet flames, slamming into the being, shattering its form into a kaleidoscope of shimmering agony.
The being roared, reforming with a vengeance, but before its golden maw could engulf Anastasia, a gasp sliced through the air. Damian jolted awake, glacial magic erupting from his fingertips, meeting the being's fiery advance.
The dungeon echoed with the clash of violet flames and molten gold. Anastasia, a whirlwind of fury, unleashed her arcane with newfound ferocity. Damian, glacier eyes narrowed, his magic a frozen counterpoint to the inferno, kept the being at bay.
But victory seemed distant. The being was relentless. Each blow they landed felt like striking a mountain, their own power dwindling with each desperate assault.
Hope flickered in Anastasia's eyes. In the chaotic battle, she'd glimpsed a vulnerability - a shimmering core within the being's golden form. It pulsed with power, but also resonated with a dissonance, a discordant vibration. An answer formed in her mind, reckless and audacious.
With a scream that tore through the dungeon, she gathered her dwindling arcane, weaving it into a shimmering blade of icy fire. It crackled with impossible energy, a vortex of dissonance tearing at the fabric of reality around it.
Damian, sensing her intent, created a frozen tunnel through the being's defenses, a path for her blade to reach its mark. With a desperate lunge, Anastasia launched herself, violet ice scorching golden air.
The being roared, lashing out with an inferno, but Damian held firm, his metal magic absorbing the blow. Anastasia's blade met its target, piercing the core.
The world twisted. The dungeon groaned, cracks appearing in the stone walls. The being's golden form sputtered, its roar turning into a strangled yelp of agony. Its power, its stolen essence, began to bleed away, sucked into the vortex within its core.
Anastasia felt a searing cold, her own arcane drained by the backlash. Her legs gave way, but Damian caught her, his gaze a glacier in the storm. The being, its form flickering, retreated into the shadows, a whimpering shadow of its former power.
Anastasia staggered towards Indigo, legs heavy with exhaustion, vision bleary with tears. His youthful warmth had drained away, replaced by etched lines around eyes now holding only a flicker of their old kindness.
"You've aged…" she rasped, the words grating against her raw throat. Her hand reached out, trembling, to touch his cheek, roughened by the passage of countless moons.
Indigo smiled, a hint of his old warmth in his gaze. "Time, Anastasia," his voice cracked like dry leaves, "is a cruel mistress. But you, you don't look a day older than eighte-" He coughed, a crimson stain blooming on his lips.
The fire mage lunged forward, "What's happening?" Panic clawed at her throat. His touch, once grounding, felt clammy and hollow.
"His essence," Damien's voice, a solemn murmured, echoed from behind her, "stripped bare, along with his life."
Anastasia snarled, violet flames blazing in her eyes. "No! Not now! Not him!" Her palms cracked with raw power, amethyst light thrumming against her skin.
"Think, Ana!" Damien gripped her wrist, his voice a low growl. "Our essence...it only creates monsters."
She wrenched free, her eyes blazing defiance. "It's that or he dies!" Tears stung her eyes, blurring the lines of his fading face. Indigo, the only anchor in her storm, the sole flicker of kindness in this cold world, wouldn't be swallowed by darkness on her watch.
Violet light, raw and primal, poured from her palms, searing her own flesh. With a scream that tore through the dungeon, she forced it into Indigo's gasping body.
His form convulsed, ripped apart by the alien energy. Anastasia choked back a sob, a silent plea hanging heavy in the air. He was the only one who had never judged, never feared her fire. He was the last shred of humanity in this twisted world, and she would not let him be consumed.
Then, stillness. The violet light faded, and Indigo slumped back onto the ground. His chest rose and fell, shallow but steady. Color returned to his face, a faint smile playing on his lips.
"Indigo?" Anastasia's voice, barely a whisper, betrayed the ferocity in her eyes.
His eyelids fluttered open, earthy orbs meeting amethysts. A wry smile, tinged with pain, cracked his lips. "I can feel it, Lady Anastasia," he rasped, his voice a dry husk. "Your essence, it's…."
His words were cut short by a deafening roar that shook the very foundations of the dungeon. The air crackled with energy, a monstrous shadow coalescing in the darkness.
Damien, his face etched with grim determination, snatched Indigo's arm. "We have to go. Now."
Without another word, he propelled Indigo into the tangled embrace of the forest, the crumbling dungeon and the echoing roar of the god's fury fading behind them like a bad dream.
Indigo, his mind still reeling from the encounter, stumbled through the undergrowth, legs like lead. The memory of Anastasia's essence, imprinted on his soul, burned with an ethereal intensity. It was an overwhelming arcane power, yet somehow warm, comforting, like sunlight filtering through stained glass. Dazed, he whispered into the gathering dusk,
"Lady Anastasia," his voice barely a tremor, "I will follow you, until the very end of time."