The sanctum of the Binding Rite was unlike anything Elyria had seen, even within the surreal sights of Nox. Moulded from stone crystals and carved with red gold veins of flame beneath its surface, the chamber moved like a living heart. No candles burned. The light came from the walls themselves, from braziers fueled by soulfire, and from Kaelith standing shirtless in front of her, shadows and flame circling across his chiseled form.
He had not spoken since they descended the spiral path.
A ceremonial circle ringed them, carved in an ancient script that pumped as if it took breath. Pillars carved also in demonic script stretched high up. Between them, Elyria stood in a sheer robe of silk. Beneath it, her skin still carried faint lines from the trial, not scars, but glowing traces of power.
Her hands trembled. But not from fear.
Kaelith stepped into the circle, his golden eyes unreadable.
"This rite binds flame to flame," he said, voice low and deep. "If you walk it with me, you carry my fire. And I yours."
Elyria lifted her chin. "And if I stop?"
"The bond weakens. The realms are in doubts again."
"So it's survival."
Kaelith tilted his head. "It's truth."
She was still sceptical.
He reached out his hand. She took it
The circle burned.
Warmth rushed over her body, not painful but enveloping. Pressure built between them, thick with power. Kaelith's other hand pressed against her sternum, fingers rested over the place her heartbeat pounded.
"Say the vow," he murmured.
Elyria hesitated. Then: "I take your flame. And you take mine."
The chambers trembling. Their bodies were pulled together as if by a magnet. Skin to skin. Breath to breath. The robe between them burned away in silence.
Kaelith did not flinch. His hands cupped her cheek, and fire traced his fingertips.
"Your soul has always known this path," he said.
Their lips nearly touched.
Runes lit across her collarbone, moving down her arms and thighs. Kaelith's bare chest bore the same matching marks, the mirror hers. Their bodies, glowing, fit together like puzzle pieces carved from light.
She stepped back almost collapsing.
He caught her, lowering her onto the floor, the heat rising beneath them.
Not a single demon voice echoed through the sanctum. They were alone in this world of flame and sacrifice.
The Binding Rite finished not with an explosion, but with a sigh—as if the realm itself exhaled.
Kaelith pulled her into his arms.
He stood up and he carried her to her chambers in silence.
Their robes was gone. His shirt was gone. Their skin burned with shared flame, but not from pain.
When he laid her onto the bed, Elyria reached out for him without thinking.
His lips brushed her wrist.
"I should go," Kaelith whispered. "You need rest."
"Don't you dare."
Her voice was bold, charged. And so was his smile.
He leaned down, placing his arms on either of her sides. "You don't know what you're asking."
"I know what I want, do you know what you want?
Their mouths met.
It wasn't gentle.
Her fingers tangled in his hair as he pressed her into the bed, their bodies were already tuned to the same rhythm from the Rite. His hands mapped every line of her, relearning the fire he now carried in her name.
He kissed her again, then her throat, her collarbones, the marked rune trail down her chest. She gasped, arching into him, the sheets below were consumed by their heat.
Kaelith paused, eyes glowing.
"Say it," he demanded.
"What?"
"That you're mine."
She dragged him down with her, mouth grazing his ear.
"I'm yours. And you're mine."
With a growl, he claimed her.
It was not just the sex. It was power and surrender, the clash of two forces that were never meant to collide. He worshipped her body with his hands and mouth, she answered with gasps and nails and cries that echoed against the chamber walls.
Time bent. The world outside disappeared.
When they finally lay undone, breathless and sweaty, the fire still pulsed faintly beneath their skin.
Kaelith kissed her temple.
Elyria's voice was a whisper. "What now?"
He stared at the ceiling, jaw tight.
"Now the realm knows you're mine. And gods help them if they try to take you."
She turned into his chest, her fingertips glowing faintly.
"Let them try."
He held her tighter.
And for the first time in decades, Kaelith slept in peace.