ADRIAN'S VISION SWAM as he drifted back into consciousness. The last thing he remembered was the excruciating pain in his stomach, the burning sensation as blood seeped through his clothes, and the desperate struggle to keep his eyes open.
Now... everything was different. The searing ache in his gut had dulled to an uncomfortable throb, and although the wound looked horrific, it was healing, albeit slowly, and the worse of it - the bleeding, had stopped.
He blinked and took in his surroundings, groggy and disoriented. He realized he was laying on the bed inside the cabin. The only sounds in the cabin was the burning wood in the hearth, and his own labored breathing.
A faint rustle beside him, and he turned his head to see a small meal laid out. Fresh bread, a cup of warm milk, and roasted chicken. Only then did he realize that a large part of his exhaustion was because he was so hungry. He couldn't even remember how long it had been since he'd eaten properly.
He reached for the food without hesitation, his hands trembling slightly as he tore into the bread, savoring the simple taste. He devoured it quickly, and for a moment, it felt like the world hadn't turned upside down.
- "Feeling better?" - Daevera whispered, a soft presence in his mind.
Adrian flinched at the sudden intrusion, the connection between them like an electrical pulse that jolted through his skull.
"You shouldn't have forced me out of the water," he muttered, his voice hoarse from the effort of speaking, a sharp edge of irritation in his tone.
- "I didn't force you," - Daevera replied. - "I made sure you reached the riverbank. You were the one who pulled yourself out." -
He didn't respond, and they lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. Adrian continued to eat, not wanting to engage, not wanting to think about the pain, or what had happened, or what was happening now.
When the food was gone, he leaned back, his breathing still labored. He tried to relax, but he was still hungry, and the throbbing ache in his stomach wouldn't quite let him. He couldn't ignore it.
"Thank you," he muttered, his voice softening as he closed his eyes. "For removing the wood. I didn't think I was going to make it."
- "You're welcome. I used some of my energy to stabilize your heart rate and heal what I could. But I couldn't do much. Your body still need some time to heal properly." -
"Energy... saved up?" Adrian shook his head slowly, trying to focus, but his mind still felt foggy. "What does that even mean?"
Daevera was silent for a moment. Then she spoke again, her words careful. - "I'll explain later. You need to rest now." -
Adrian let out a heavy sigh, his frustration bubbling to the surface. "I never asked for this," he muttered, "I never asked for any of it. You know, magic... this whole thing. It seems like it's turned my life upside down."
Daevera didn't respond, and for a long moment, the only sound was Adrian's uneven breath. He shivered, not from the cold, but from the strange sense of emptiness that gnawed at him.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he broke the silence again. "Where did you get the food?" His curiosity slipped through despite himself. "I'm assuming you didn't just conjure it out of thin air."
She chucked, and he had to admit, it was a nice change in her tone. - "I swiped it when we passed through town. You were too stubborn to stop, and I knew you'd need it. So I took it." -
Adrian couldn't help but laugh, though the sound was dry and bitter. "A thief, huh? Never would've pegged you for one."
- "You needed it." - Daevera said flatly. - "Magic takes its toll. The more you use, the more strength you'll need, otherwise, you'll start having fainting spells." -
"I'm fine," Adrian shot back, though the faint tremor in his hands betrayed his words. He was far from fine. And the hunger that still gnawed at him only made everything worse, but he wouldn't admit that. Maybe she could even already tell, with her reading his thoughts and all.
"And why do you care? We just met, and I still don't like having you in my head."
- "I care because... you're my last hope, Adrian. Without you, I'll cease to exist." - Daevera's voice softened, and something in it made his stomach twist, as if he had been a complete jerk to her.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"I'm bound to you now," she explained, "But without your acceptance, the bond will never be complete, and eventually, it will break." -
He felt there was more, so he asked, "What happens if the bond breaks?"
- "I don't know. I'll fade into whatever death means for my kind." -
Adrian's breath hitched in his chest as he felt the responsibility of a life - of Daevera's life weighing down on him. "I don't even know what this bond means... what you are. What I am."
- "I can try to answer two of those questions. Do you know what a mage tower is?" - she asked.
Adrian shook his head, the word was completely foreign to him. "I don't know anything about magic. Like I told you, it's outlawed in the Emerald Dominion. At least, to the public," he added, remembering the horrid beast the City Watch had summoned.
Summoned and lost control of, the idiots.
- "A mage tower is a powerful source of magic, capable of amplifying a mage's magic beyond anything else." - She let him fill in the gaps himself.
Adrian blinked, reaching into his jacket to pull out the figurine. "Are you telling me this is a mage tower?"
- "Of course not," - she replied as if he had just said the most outrageous thing. - "That's only a shell, a container, if you will. Twist open the head of the figurine." -
Adrian twisted the head, feeling resistance at first, before it finally gave in, and he was staring into a hole in the wooden carving. He turned it upside down and a small stone fell into his palm.
- "That's a mage tower, Adrian." -
Adrian turned the stone around, inspecting it's design, but it didn't look like anything special, just a stone. "Uh... a little help here?"
- "That's all that's left," - She said in a quiet voice. - "The stone contains the essence of my tower, but I don't have the energy to construct the tower, if that I even possible anymore. My power core was stolen centuries ago. Since then, I've been trapped in a state between life and death, a shadow of what I once was." -
Adrian's thoughts swirled. "Who took your core? Was it the same person who locked you away?"
- "I don't remember," - she whispered, the faintest trace of sorrow in her tone.
"How did you become a mage tower, then? Who created you?"
- "Even that is lost to me now. I don't recall who created me, or why, but after my core was stolen, and I was locked away, many mages have sought me out, but I refused to reveal myself to them. They felt... wrong, twisted. And I'd rather die than be used as the mindless tool of a mage." -
She said the last part with so much certainty, Adrian didn't doubt she meant it. He felt sympathy for her, being trapped in a state of life and death for centuries.
- "...but then I felt you," she continued with a faint sense of wonder. - "Your energy... it felt familiar. Safe. And so, I chose you. I bonded with you. And in doing so, I saved my own life." -
Adrian's mind raced as he processed her words. "So, now you're better?"
- "No,"- she said with a bitter laugh. - "It's a half-formed bond. I've accepted you, but you haven't accepted me." -
"And you'll die if I don't?"
She paused. - " Yes." -
Adrian let the silence fill the space between them. It was too much to take in all at once. She was something- someone-he couldn't fathom, and yet, and she had saved him twice now.
Once during the battle with the wizard, and again, when he nearly drowned. But what could he even offer her? All he had left was a shattered life, a burned village, and a heart full of broken pieces.
"I don't know if I'm ready to care about anyone else right now," he muttered, the words slipping from him before he could stop them. "My mother's dead. Thorne's dead. Jax betrayed me. My entire world has gone up in flames. I'm...I'm alone."
"I don't know what I'm supposed to do," Adrian continued, his voice raw. "I've got nothing to keep going for."
Daevera's voice was soft and firm. - "You have me." -
The idea of completely accepting her, of giving into this strange bond... it felt like a betrayal of everything he had ever known. All his life, he had been mocked for being different, for his cursed eyes, and the belief that magic was bad had been beaten into him.
But the thought of letting her die... of being truly alone when she did....was much worse. He closed his eyes. Letting her in felt like stepping off a cliff, but he had nothing left to hold on to.
With a deep breath, Adrian allowed her presence to fill the empty spaces in his mind. He didn't fight it. He didn't need to.
He felt her reaching out for him as well, her presence in his mind was like a warm sun, and he headed for it, dived into it as they merged, their minds becoming one.
The bond clicked into place.
And with that, his mind was assaulted by memories that didn't belong to him.