Ravon didn't ask for my help.
But he didn't stop me either.
He sat quietly against the tree, blood still leaking through his fingers, breath slow and uneven. I knelt beside him, heart racing—not from fear, but from something harder to name.
> "Let me see," I said softly.
He didn't move. But his crimson eyes flicked to mine—burning with silent warning.
> "If you touch me, priestess, the bond may… shift again. Grow stronger."
> "Then let it."
I don't know why I said that.
Maybe it was the way he looked at me—like I wasn't a threat, or a servant. Like I was familiar.
My fingers trembled as I touched his side. His skin was burning hot, the wound deep and jagged. Dark veins pulsed with cursed energy beneath it.
I closed my eyes, remembering what Lady Maeve once told me:
> "Your magic responds to emotion. Speak nothing. Feel everything."
So I let myself feel.
The pain in his body.
The ache in his soul.
The quiet, hidden longing buried beneath centuries of war and flame.
Warmth flowed through my hands.
Golden light shimmered from my palms.
And Ravon… flinched.
> "What are you doing to me?"
> "I—I don't know." I opened my eyes. "But it doesn't hurt, does it?"
He stared at me like I was something he couldn't understand.
> "You're healing me," he said quietly. "No one's… ever done that."
> "Everyone deserves healing," I whispered. "Even demons."
He looked away. "I am not a demon. Not fully. Not anymore."
---
🔥 Flashback: Ravon's Pain
He didn't speak much after that, but when the wound closed and the bleeding stopped, he finally said:
> "Long ago, I was human."
I blinked. "What?"
> "They don't tell your kind the full truth. Demons were once mortals—twisted by grief, rage, betrayal. I was the first… the one they sacrificed. The Ember Crown was forced onto me. I never wanted to rule fire. I only wanted…"
He stopped himself.
> "Wanted what?"
He stood, brushing ash from his cloak.
> "Someone I loved was taken from me," he said at last. "She looked like you."
My heart skipped.
He turned to me, voice quieter now.
> "You should stay away. This bond between us… it's not fate. It's a curse repeating itself."
> "Then maybe we can break it," I whispered.
He gave me a sad smile.
> "Or maybe… we'll fall again."
---