ADRIAN GASPED AS an overwhelming tide of emotions and images surged through his mind. It felt like falling backward into a vast, starless abyss. The bond crackled to life, and Daevera's entire existence - all that she could recall, came rushing toward him like a storm that would swallow him whole.
At first, there was light.
He saw, no - he felt - great wings beating against a clear sky, heard laughter, a sound so pure and joyful that his chest ached with something he couldn't name.
He saw glimpses of a majestic tower that radiated power. Magic pulsed around it like a living thing, vibrant and untamed. The walls held enchantments that thrummed with life. It was powerful, and for an instant, Adrian felt that power running through him, fierce and unbroken.
Then the scenes shifted. Battles roared beneath the tower, thunderous clashes of magic and steel echoing across vast fields. He felt the tower tremble under attack, its foundation quaking, but it held.
Always, it held.
But soon, the battles faded, followed by a deep and haunting silence that settled in, pressing down on her, smothering her.
She was alone.
Time stretched like an endless void. She had no voice, only the walls around her, walls she had to absorb just to stave off death. She consumed enchantments and knowledge, swallowed magic, becoming more tower than creature. Soon, she was locked away, trapped...
Centuries bled into one another, and she began to unravel in the silence. Occasionally, magi's would find her, chasing the legend of her mage tower, but their presence burned, a jarring wrongness that drove her to shut them out, to hide herself and refuse to be found.
She could sense the greed in them, their desire to command her power, something in their magic that filled her with fear. Each time, she pushed them away, further sealing herself off, choosing to die over being owned. Trapped in the darkness after they had walked away, the silence would consume her.
But then… Adrian.
The day he came near, she sensed him, like a light slipping through the tiniest crack. For the first time, she felt a warmth - one that felt strangely familiar, as though they had once been connected.
And just like that, she knew she couldn't bear the thought of fading without trying to bond. His presence had stirred something in her, something she couldn't understand, and yet…it felt right. For the first time in centuries, she felt hope.
The memory faded. Then the roles reversed, and now Adrian felt Daevera's mind within his, sifting through his past. He gave no resistance, as he was forced to relive all fourteen years of his life again.
She saw him as a boy, scrawny, mismatched eyes wide with fear as he darted through city streets, always just a step ahead of some older boy eager to torment him. She saw people throw stones at him when they saw his eyes, the way they spat on his feet and looked away with disgust in their eyes.
She felt his stomach twist with hunger, his hand slipping into pockets to steal bread or coins, the quick dash away before anyone could catch him.
She saw his mother's face, pale and worn, her eyes haunted, yet soft when she looked at him and forced him to repeat her survival lessons back to her.
She felt Adrian's heart swell with fierce love, but also with a raw, burning fear. Every day, he wondered just how long she had before the sickness took her away.
Then the later years came, the pain stacking up like stones - Jax's betrayal, Thorne's death, his mother's passing, and the fire that took his village, leaving him adrift in a world that felt as cruel as it was endless.
She understood now why he was so guarded, so reluctant to let her in. Adrian had learned to keep others at a distance; it was safer that way.
When the connection finally settled, Adrian opened his eyes, feeling a strange sense of fullness, like he'd carried Daevera's memories and pain alongside his own.
"I didn't realize you…" Adrian murmured, words trailing off as he tried to make sense of what he'd felt. The loneliness, the betrayal, the weariness of it all - they weren't so different, really. Daevera had suffered in silence for centuries, and he felt a pang of guilt for the way he'd treated her.
- "I know you plan to go after Jax," - Daevera's voice was soft, her tone almost hesitant. She had seen it in Adrian's mind, seen all his plans involving Jax, and some of them shocked her.
She also hasn't missed how despite the range of emotions Adrian was experiencing, he spared no remorse for Valtak, nor the guards he had killed.
- "Think about it,.Adrian. If the world believes you're dead, that's to your advantage. Don't waste that on vengeance, you can never get it back." -
Adrian clenched his fists, the thought of Jax's face twisting his insides. "I was going to go back for him. I was never going to leave him there to be tortured. But his actions cost me my mother, the village, everything."
Thorne and Jax were orphans, so Adrian couldn't stop thinking. If Jax's family had been at the village, would he have held on longer?
- "I know. All the way to the village, all I kept thinking about was how to talk you out of it. It was a suicide mission." -
Adrian shook his head. "I can't believe he did this, gave me up, the people in the village... my mother."
- "I'm sorry, Adrian." -
Adrian wanted Jax to pay, but Daevera was right. There was nothing left for him in the Emerald Dominion. If he went back to the keep and got caught, he would surely be hanging at dawn. He had to move on, leave everything in the past.
""I know you're right, but every time I close my eyes, I see Jax's face, and all I can think is how he made me lose everything."
Daevera signed. - "I don't want to tell you how to feel, Adrian, but... revenge can consume you, and when it's gone, there's nothing left. Not even you. If you let go now, maybe you can find something else worth living for."
Adrian shook his head. "So, what then? I just... leave? Where would I even go?"
- "Anywhere else, just leave this place," Daevera replied gently, her voice brushing his mind like a warm breeze. "There's a whole world out there, Adrian. One that doesn't know or fear you, one where you can rebuild in your own way." -
Adrian took deep breaths, his head swirling with thoughts. It felt strange, feeling someone else in his head, and now, her presence was magnified unlike before, where she was there, but not really. Now, there was no denying that he shared his mind with someone else.
"Fine," he said at last, the word tasting both bitter and strangely freeing. "But that snake better pray they hang him, or he dies in prison. Because if I ever come access Jax, he'll wish he was dead."
- "So we're leaving?" - Daevera sounded like she released the breath she had been holding, waiting for his decision.
Adrian nodded. "Yes. We go to the docks and get the hell out of the Emerald Dominion."