Dorian stared at her for close to five minutes. He wanted to be sure she wasn't actually joking.
Surely, she must have said something else... right?
However, the longer he stared, and the louder the silence grew, the more he realized that if it was a joke, she'd be laughing by now.
Her words replayed in his mind, the condition, the price. Dorian wasn't even bothered about the price yet. The condition alone half-frightened him.
"Uhm... you said I'd have to kill you, right?"
She nodded without leaving any room for doubt. When she noticed the look on his face, she narrowed her eyes. "Your body language changed. Is anything the matter?"
Dorian shook his head. Of course, there was nothing wrong. Except the impossible, unfair deal she was presenting.
He thought there must be a way around it, but the more the words rang in his mind, and the more he stared at her face, with the Rift pulsing right behind her, the more hopeless it seemed.
"Look," he finally spoke up, raising his hands weakly, "I don't know if you forgot, but I'm in no shape to fight you."
Heck, he didn't even stand a chance. The fact that she appeared on the tower to leave her mark said a lot.
"You could just let me die," he added with an awkward smile, knowing his fate had already been settled. He even preferred dying from blood loss than having to fight a strange being.
"Do you agree to the condition?"
"No!"
Dorian said it at once, and her brows curved upward. Behind her, the Rift began expanding, in response to her emotions.
When Dorian saw it, he scoffed.
"You think that's enough to threaten me?"
"..."
"I'm not fighting you. Whether you like it or not. Can't you even see my condition?" he gestured at his lower body.
"I am bleeding from every part of me, and when I say every part, I mean... every... single... part of my body. Now, you'd better get going and just leave me to die, because there is no way I am fighting you."
"I never said anyone was fighting."
Dorian's eyes shifted quickly to her face.
"You said—"
"I am not illiterate, human. I know what I said, and I meant it. But I never said you would be fighting me now."
She paused and looked him up and down with a mix of mockery, disgust, and disappointment.
"You're too pathetic and young to even withstand me."
"So why am I killing you then?"
"That's none of your business. Do you agree, or not?"
"What if I can't kill you?"
"Then another one thousand years of endless suffering."
Dorian frowned, slowly closed his eyes, and turned his face away.
"The fact that you're one of them, but you look like this, is a mystery alone."
"Do you agree to the condition?"
His eyes parted open, and he realized she was close now. So close that he had to hold his breath for no explainable reason.
"Do you agree?" she repeated.
Dorian frowned in annoyance.
"I would appreciate it if you... please give me room to breathe."
She didn't move. She only repeated the same thing again. It now made him wonder why she was so eager to die.
Sure, there were a lot of suicidal people, and she could've easily killed herself if she wanted to, yet she wanted someone else to do it.
He assumed she was trying to grow stronger, but the eagerness and hint of desperation in her eyes said otherwise.
For some reason, that made him smile, she wasn't that different from a human after all, but that didn't mean suicide was a good thing.
"You know, whatever you're going through, you don't need to kill yourself to get rid of it."
The woman's brow rose. She tilted her head, clearly confused at what the young human just said.
"What are you talking about?"
"I mean, you don't have to die for your suffering to end. Really... just find things that make you happy."
"Ho," she suddenly grinned, "But I am responsible for the Rifts, the Towers, and the reason children are made to stand before my kind."
Dorian's gaze darkened. "I'm sorry?"
"I'm the devil your kind speaks about. Winona Emberfell. I created the Rifts. Surely, you must have heard about me from your—"
"I agree!"
"Yay!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air in excitement. She snapped her fingers, and right before Dorian's eyes, the boulder turned to dust.
Dorian sighed in relief, though it didn't change much. In fact, it only made his wounds burn more as soon as air touched them.
His face twisted in pain, and a low hiss escaped his lips. He tried to raise himself, but she pressed down on his chest.
"Don't. I'll heal you. But first, you have to agree to the price."
Dorian exhaled loudly. He was secretly glad he could finally breathe without fearing he might rip his wounds open even more.
"Go ahead. And please be quick with it."
The woman nodded, and the Rift behind her slowly shrank. He had noticed that ever since she'd exclaimed happily.
That was a good sign, actually.
If she was happy, the Rift would eventually close. But if she was pissed off or upset, it would expand until it swallowed five miles.
"In exchange for my offer, I want your soul, your heart, and your name."
"...Just kill me already."
She shook her head gently.
"You cannot use such an ability while having all those intact."
"How am I supposed to move without a heart?"
She covered her face with both hands. Dorian could swear he heard her sigh heavily. When she took her hands off her face, she was smiling.
It definitely didn't reach her eyes. He knew she was forcing it.
"For a human with a strong mind and abnormal reaction to things, you are quite dense."
Dorian smiled with a wink, "I'll take that as a compliment," he said. Then his smile fell, replaced by a serious look. "But no, seriously. I don't even mind giving them to you, but what's the point if I'm just going to die afterward?"
"I only intend to take them when you finally kill me. That way, I'll leave a fraction of my ability with you... in exchange for your soul, heart, and true name."
"So if I don't kill you, humans keep dying... and I might die anyway if my luck runs out?"
She nodded. He mumbled an "oh."
"Do I get to have a better life?"
"No," she replied plainly, leaning closer.
"Do I take that as a yes?"
"Yeah, sure. A few years living in this world before I die doesn't sound so bad."
She snapped her fingers again, so loud Dorian thought she had some kind of microphone attached to her.
Suddenly, a red object floated out of the Rift. At first, it looked like a bird, but looking closer, it was just a ball of light.
It hovered above her outstretched hand, pulsing in different shades. And for some reason, Dorian sensed a new type of blood in the air.
He looked around, sniffed the air on his left. It was faint. But when he turned back to her and sniffed again, it was stronger.
He hadn't even gotten the time to react before she held the ball above his chest. She looked at him for a go-ahead.
Dorian didn't hesitate to nod. He didn't care about the consequences. As long as he got stronger and lived for a few more years, he was fine.
She withdrew her hand, leaving the orb to descend on its own. As soon as it touched his skin, his entire body turned red.
The ball sank deeper into his chest, and Dorian felt a strange heartburn that spread and intensified.
He looked at her to ask if it was normal, but she was just smiling and enjoying the show.
It took about five minutes for the ball to fully dissolve into Dorian's body. When it did, he noticed the changes.
His wounds had closed up cleanly. He even watched the ones on his arms stitch themselves before vanishing.
But that wasn't the only thing that changed.
His eyes were different now. The dull black color had been split in two, black at the top of his irises faded into deep crimson at the bottom, forming a crescent shape.
She snapped her fingers again and this time, they weren't on the tower anymore. They were behind a boulder, somewhere far off in the valley.
She looked around, as if she was searching for something., then she finally turned to him.
"You'll be taken to the new Nephilim facility for the usual experiment. I want you to stay alive or, if possible, escape. Under no circumstances must you let any of the serums or DNA into your body. Do you understand?"
Dorian nodded, although he didn't really understand what she meant. But when the light of a torch flashed in his face, he turned to tell her to run, only to realize she was gone.
And then...his body and his eyes suddenly grew heavy.
He tried to stand, but something glued him to the ground, not to mention the feeling of blood pouring down his dies. As the darkness slowly swallowed him, the last thing he heard was:
"We got our first subject, boys. Call the doctor and tell her to get the chambers ready."