Kaelen's shock quickly changed back into his default setting: intensely pissed off. His eyes, narrowed into literal slits. He looked like he wanted to incinerate me on the spot, system bond be damned.
"What did you do?" he asked, the quiet gravelly voice now sharp. His hand, the one that had almost touched me, was clenched into a fist, white-knuckled. The energy radiating off him was… volatile.
"Me?" I squeaked. "I was just breaking a Contract! How is any of this my fault?" Okay, technically my curse-breaking might have been the catalyst, but 'accidentally soul-binding the prince' wasn't exactly on the instruction manual.
"You think this is normal?" He gestured vaguely between us, his gaze flicking down to his own chest, then back to mine, searching. "Feeling… this?"
Yeah, 'this.' It felt like having a magical leash tied around my very essence, with the other end tied to him. It was the antithesis of everything I stood for – freedom, self-reliance, not being magically bound to someone, especially royalty.
Before I could snap back a sarcastic reply, the Temple decided to hurry things along. A massive section of the roof crashed down right beside us, sending a tidal wave of dust and debris.
Instinct took over. I didn't think, I just ran. Kaelen was right behind me. Not in pursuit anymore. More like… keeping pace.
We scrambled through crumbling hallways, dodging falling masonry and the occasional genuinely terrified temple guards.
Finally, we burst out into the cool, damp night air. The capital was a few miles distant, a cluster of lights against the horizon.
We didn't stop running until the sound of the collapse faded into the distance. We ended up in a patch of forest on the outskirts of the city, breathless and covered in dirt.
I doubled over, hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath. My lungs burned, my legs ached, and my scars felt like they were trying to peel themselves off my skin. But beneath it all, that infuriating, magical connection to Kaelen was still there. A constant, low vibration.
When I finally straightened up, he was standing a few feet away, back against a tree with his arms crossed.
"You," he said, his voice still rough, his eyes darker now in the faint moonlight filtering through the trees. "My curse. You'll fix it now."
Seriously? Now he wants to talk about his curse? We just survived a magical catastrophe triggered by a forced soul-bonding, and his first priority is still his personal magical problem?
"Can you hear yourself?" I snapped, pushing off the tree I'd been leaning against. "We just got bound by some insane system! Forget your curse for a second! What is this bond for?"
Before he could answer, before I could even articulate that I also had no idea what this magical soul-binding system wanted from us, the system returned.
____
[Quest Reminder: Hold hands for 1 hour.]
[Reward: Shared Mana Pool.]
[Failure will result in penalty: Echoes of the Past.]
____
I stared at the hologram, then at Kaelen. Then back at the text. "You've got to be kidding me," I deadpanned.
"Hold hands?" Kaelen scoffed, the word a poison-laced cough. His jaw was clenched so tight I swear I heard his teeth creak. "For an hour? What kind of insane, ridiculous…?" He trailed off, looking utterly disgusted.
"Yeah, my thoughts exactly, Prince Charming," I cut him off, crossing my arms over my chest, basically sending a clear 'hands-off' signal to the universe.
"Look, no offense, but I'm not exactly looking for a magical snuggle session with my designated captor. This whole 'fated bond' thing? Not my style. I prefer to choose my own chains, thanks."
He looked like he wanted to argue, but the faint shadow clinging to his dark gloves, suggested his own curse was still buzzing unhappily. "There is no 'choice' here, Chainbreaker," he growled, his voice a low rumble. "This system… it is forcing compliance."
"Compliance? Darling, I break Contracts, I don't sign them," I retorted with a dismissive wave of my hand, already turning. I had enough problems. A magical bond with a grumpy prince wasn't one I intended to add to my to-do list. I had safe houses, hidden routes, and a general philosophy of 'run first, ask questions never.'
"You want to stand here arguing with a glowing rulebook, be my guest. I'm out."
I took a determined step. Then another. The forest floor was damp under my boots, silent except for the frantic beat of my own heart. Freedom. That's what I craved. Unchained, unbound, unbothered.
THWACK.
It wasn't a physical hit, not like a punch. It felt worse, like a sledgehammer blow to my soul. My mind, usually filled with sarcasm, was suddenly invaded. Not by Kaelen's thoughts, but by... a memory.
____
The biting cold of the wind on my face. The taste of ash and burning wood. The screams of the villagers, their faces contorted in terror. The searing pain of the Contract burning through their life-force, imposed by a ruthless noble. My own helplessness, my scars flaring as I tried to break a Contract too vast, too powerful for me at the time. The raw, agonizing grief as I watched everything I had sworn to protect turn to dust.
____
I gasped, a strangled sound that tore from my throat. My vision blurred, the forest dissolving into a swirling nightmare of smoke and fire. My knees buckled, and I stumbled, a searing pain lancing through my head.
This wasn't just a memory, it was a re-experience. Every agonizing detail, every desperate emotion, amplified a hundredfold. This was 'Echoes of the Past.' And it was the absolute worst kind of torture.
I clawed at my temples, trying to shove the vision back, to force the burning pain away. "No!" I whimpered, a word I rarely allowed myself to utter. The scars on my arms flared with blinding intensity, but it wasn't power; it was pain.
Then, a sudden, guttural roar ripped nearby. It didn't sound human.
I forced myself out of the crushing memory, my head still throbbing. The terrifying vision receded a bit so I leaned against a tree gasping for air.
Kaelen.
His entire body was shaking with violent tremors. Dark, viscous shadows poured off him. Thick, swirling and coiling around his limbs like hungry tendrils. His face was contorted in a silent scream, pure agony twisting his sharp features. And his eyes…
They were no longer just glowing red. They were pools of pulsating crimson, radiating a malevolent heat. His humanity was dissolving before my very eyes.
"The system," he choked out, his voice raw, barely audible over a low, chilling growl that vibrated through the ground. "It's… forcing the curse."
His transformation was accelerating. The shadows were growing, solidifying, starting to warp his hands into monstrous claws. He was falling to his knees, fighting every inch of the way, but losing. Losing badly. This wasn't just a threat of 'Echoes of the Past' for him; it was a forced, excruciating trigger of his greatest nightmare.
My own chest ached with the lingering phantom pain of my memory. I understood now. The system wasn't just vague about its threats. It targeted your deepest fears, your most traumatic moments, and forced you to relive them. And for Kaelen, the ultimate 'Echo of the Past' was losing control, becoming the monster he so desperately fought against.
The golden system text, hanging in the air between us like a cruel, cosmic billboard, pulsed mockingly.
____
[Penalty: Echoes of the Past.]
[Duration: Indefinite Till Task Completion.]
____
"Indefinite?" I whispered, my voice hoarse. No, no, no… This wasn't just a warning. This was a torment designed to break our very wills. He was twisting, struggling, his shadow self trying to consume him.
My own mind was still reeling from the devastating memory of my village's destruction. This pain wouldn't stop. Not until we gave in.
My eyes moved from his agonizing transformation to my own trembling, scarred hands. I hated this. I hated him. I hated the system. I hated being forced into anything.
My entire life was built on refusing chains. But this… this wasn't just a chain. This was a torture device.
"Fine!" I screamed, the word torn from my throat. "FINE! WE'LL DO IT!"
Kaelen, through a haze of pain managed to lift his head. The hatred was still there, but it was now overshadowed by a desperate plea. His face, contorted by the onset of his monstrous form, was raw agony.
"Your hand," I demanded, forcing myself to move, extending my own hand, palm up. "Give me your hand, Kaelen! Now!"
He hesitated, his gaze fixed on my outstretched hand. With great effort, he forced his trembling arm forward. His gloved hand, still wreathed in tendrils of dark shadow, painfully reached out towards mine.
My hand trembled as I met him halfway. The second our fingers touched, the shadows around him didn't just recede – they screamed. A silent, inward shriek that only I could hear, as if the dark energy was being violently ripped from him.
The intense magical connection, that intrusive hum, flared between us. But this time, it felt was drawing the raw energy of his curse into the bond itself. Pulling it away from him, stabilizing him.
Our hands clasped tightly. Even though unwillingly.
The red glow in Kaelen's eyes dimmed, leaving only his stormy gray gaze. The shadows still swirled around him, but they no longer felt like a raging storm. They were contained. He was back.
He let out a shuddering breath, the growl subsiding into a ragged gasp. His grip on my hand, though still firm, trembled with the agonizing aftershocks of his struggle.
The golden system text shimmered one last time, bright and impossibly cold, confirming our forced compliance.
____
[System Quest Initiated.]
[Task: Hold hands for 1 hour.]
[Penalty paused.]
____
There we were, in the silent, damp forest. Two stubborn, broken people, hand in 'reluctant' hand. Kaelen's eyes, still faintly red at the edges, met mine, a silent evidence to the pain we'd both just endured. He hated it. I hated it. But we were doing it.
This was just the beginning. And I had a sickening feeling that this forced intimacy was going to be the absolute worst part.