The Seeker lunged forward, blade blazing with anti-bond runes, the kind designed to cut through magic as easily as flesh. Elara barely ducked in time. The blade sliced through the top of the wooden counter like it was parchment.
Orion pulled her behind a shelf of bottled moonwater, his eyes scanning the room with soldier instincts. "We can't fight a Seeker head-on," he said. "Their blades disrupt all magic — even blood magic."
"I'm not leaving," Elara growled, already drawing sigils into the air. Her hands moved with confidence, but her heart hammered in her throat. "This is my shop. My life."
"Then let me protect it with you," Orion said, his voice low and certain.
For a brief second, their eyes locked. And the bond pulsed — hotter, brighter, bolder than ever.
A new voice rang out: "Elara Moon, by order of the Circle, surrender your bond."
Another Seeker. Two now.
Elara's blood turned to ice.
She pressed her palm to the floor and whispered, "Spiralus Incendia."
The shop exploded with vines of white fire — harmless to witches, but binding to anyone wielding corrupted steel. One Seeker cried out, their runes flickering as flame wrapped around their legs.
"Nice trick," Orion muttered.
"Thanks," she panted. "Buy me ten seconds."
Orion charged.
Not with magic. With steel. From his jacket, he drew two small daggers made of obsidian and ash — witch-forged steel, illegal in most realms.
He wasn't just a hunter. He was trained by witches too.
The Seeker blocked one blade, but Orion flipped the other in his grip and struck fast — a clean slash across the shoulder that forced the attacker back.
Elara grabbed a moonstone vial and hurled it at the floor.
It shattered.
In an instant, the entire room shifted. Walls melted. Doors vanished. The shop folded into a pocket realm she hadn't used in years — her escape chamber.
Only she and Orion remained.
Breathing hard.
Safe… for now.
Elara slumped against the wall, sweat beading at her brow. Her magic buzzed beneath her skin like electricity, raw and reactive.
"That was too close," she muttered.
Orion looked at her with something unreadable in his eyes. "They want to sever our bond. That means it's real. And dangerous."
She nodded. "And someone told them about it. Someone inside the Circle."
"Someone who knows your bloodline," Orion added carefully.
Elara stiffened. "What do you mean?"
He hesitated. Then reached into his pocket and pulled out a crest — a silver emblem shaped like a phoenix entwined with thorns.
"This belonged to my mother," he said quietly. "She died when I was a child. I found this in her belongings after the bond activated."
Elara's eyes widened.
That crest… she'd seen it before.
In her mother's spellbook.
Orion and Elara didn't just share a bond.
Their pasts were already tangled. Their destinies written in blood.
The air shimmered — then cracked. A Seeker burst through the veil, sword raised.
The escape chamber had been breached.
Elara stumbled back, horror spreading across her face. "No... It's not supposed to be possible."
But it was. Someone had marked her haven. Someone who knew her magic.
The wind stirred around her, tugging at her hair like a whisper. She reached for it. Felt it answering.
She whispered, steady and sharp: "Aerith Vira."
The wind obeyed.
A sudden, violent gust tore through the chamber — lifting the intruding Seeker off their feet and slamming them into a wall. Bottles crashed. Light swirled.
"Now, Orion!" she shouted. "This is our chance — run!".
---
They didn't look back.
Elara clutched Orion's wrist as they raced through the folding passageways of the escape chamber. Walls warped and flickered. The exit was collapsing. Whoever had tagged the chamber's anchor rune knew how to break her wards.
"Almost there!" she shouted.
Behind them, the Seeker was stirring — broken, but not down. Runes along their gauntlet sparked to life.
They'd recovered too fast.
Orion skidded to a halt. "Go. I'll hold them."
"No." Elara spun on him. "I'm not leaving you."
"You won't be," he said softly. He placed a warm hand on her shoulder — then turned and drew both obsidian daggers again. "I'll catch up."
She hesitated, torn — then reached into her pouch and handed him a moon-sigil charm. "If you get caught—break it. It'll bring you to me."
"I'm not planning to get caught," he said, flashing that stubborn half-smile.
The chamber trembled. The Seeker screamed a guttural incantation, blood trailing from their mouth.
Elara sprinted into the final portal — a ripple of silver light — just as Orion charged toward the enemy again.
---
Moments later…
She fell to her knees on a moss-covered forest floor. The portal closed behind her with a hiss.
Silence.
Cold. Still.
She was in the Aethergrove — a hidden realm between life and dream. Safe, for now.
But her bond with Orion… it pulsed, faint and frantic, in her chest.
He was alive.
But hurting.
Elara stood, hands shaking. "Don't die on me, Hunter."
Above her, the wind stirred the trees — gentle, curious.
Her magic responded. Stronger than ever.
And in the distance… someone else was watching.
A hooded figure. Pale eyes glowing. And in their hand — a twin to the phoenix-and-thorns crest Orion had shown her.
---