The ashes of the slain dragon had long since scattered to the wind, yet the void energy lingered—coiling around Lirien like a lover's embrace. She stood on the cliff's edge, the setting sun painting her skin in hues of fire and gold. Her heart was steady. Her breath calm. But her mind was a storm.
Behind her, Kaen leaned against a boulder, arms crossed, watching her with a gaze that burned hotter than the fading daylight. He hadn't spoken since the battle ended, but his silence was its own language.
Lirien exhaled, her fingers flexing at her sides. "So…" she murmured, her voice rough with unspent energy. "What did you do to me?"
Kaen pushed off the rock, shadows curling around his boots like serpents. He stepped closer, his presence a weight against her back. "I gave you a choice," he said, his voice a dark caress. "And you made it."
She turned, her crimson eyes locking onto his. "That wasn't just a pact, was it?"
His lips curved, slow and knowing. He said nothing for a long moment, letting the tension between them thicken like smoke. Then, with a sigh that was almost tender, he reached out, tracing a thumb along her jaw.
"I am not what I appear to be, Lirien." His fingers slid down her throat, lingering over the pulse that quickened beneath his touch. "I was never human."
Her breath hitched. "Then what are you?"
Kaen's hand settled at the base of her spine, pulling her flush against him. The heat of his body seared through her clothes, and she could feel the power thrumming beneath his skin—ancient, hungry.
"You already know," he murmured, his lips brushing the shell of her ear.
A shiver raced down her spine. The way the shadows bent to him. The way death itself had bowed before his command. A single word echoed in her mind—*Darkness.*
"You're… the Darkness," she whispered.
"Since before the stars were born," he admitted, his mouth trailing to the curve of her neck. His teeth grazed her skin, not quite biting, not quite soothing. "Even the god you worshipped once looked to me for strength."
Lirien's hands fisted in his shirt, torn between pushing him away and dragging him closer. "Then why me? Why make a pact with *me*?"
Kaen's grip tightened, his other hand sliding up her thigh, hitching her leg around his hip. "Because you're worth it." His voice was rough, possessive. "Because when you stood between that dragon and the world—you didn't flinch."
She gasped as his lips found hers, the kiss deep and claiming. His tongue swept against hers, tasting of smoke and something darker, something addictive. When they broke apart, her cheeks were flushed, her lips swollen.
"That night…" she breathed. "Was it real?"
Kaen nipped at her lower lip, his hands roaming her body with deliberate intent. "Yes. Every. Second."
A moan threatened to escape her throat as his fingers traced the scars along her ribs—marks from the pact they'd forged in blood and pleasure. She remembered the way he'd pinned her beneath him, whispering promises in the dark, his touch both punishment and worship.
A silence stretched between them, heavy with desire and unspoken truths.
"You're the third," Kaen said at last, his voice thick with something like regret. "The third being to make a pact with me."
Lirien blinked, struggling to focus past the heat pooling low in her stomach. "Who was the second?"
His grip on her tightened, possessive. "Zian."
She stiffened. "The angel girl?"
"She doesn't remember yet." His thumb stroked the inside of her wrist, a silent promise. "But she will."
Lirien pulled back just enough to search his face. "And the first?"
Kaen's expression darkened, his hands stilling. For the first time, she saw something raw in his gaze—something like grief. "She was… important to me." His voice was barely a whisper. "That's all I can say."
Lirien stepped back, crossing her arms, but the fire between them still simmered. "I want to know everything. About her. About Zian. About you."
Kaen watched her, his eyes burning with a hunger that went beyond flesh. "You will," he vowed. "In time."
As the stars blinked into view, Lirien stared up at the sky. She had reached godhood. She had made a pact with the source of darkness itself.
And the night was far from over.
As the stars blinked into view, Lirien stared up at the sky. She had reached godhood. She had made a pact with the source of darkness itself. And somehow… it felt like only the beginning.