Rhea's scream tore through the cavern, swallowed by the roar of the beast. Shadows poured from her like rivers of smoke, slick and writhing, reaching down into the fissure where the Hunger writhed. Fire seared through her veins,Kael's fire, his strength threaded into hers, holding her steady when her body threatened to collapse.
The Queen's voice slithered like silk through the chaos. Yes, little vessel. Open wider. Let me pour through you. Let us chain this thing together.
"No," Rhea gasped, sweat burning her eyes. "I am not your cage. I am not your slave."
The Hunger shrieked, a sound that shattered stone columns like brittle twigs. Tendrils whipped upward, battering against the edges of her shadow-bonds. The effort nearly ripped her apart. Her bones ached as if they might split, her skin stretched thin, fire and void colliding within her chest.
Kael's arms crushed around her waist, anchoring her. His voice, low and fierce, cut through the terror: "Breathe, Rhea. Don't let her win. Don't let it win."
She clung to his voice like a lifeline. She pulled harder. Shadows tightened around the beast, coiling across its spined hide, digging deep into slick flesh. Fire bled into them,Kael's flame,searing the creature's wounds closed, forcing the tendrils back into the fissure. For a moment, impossibly, it worked.
The Hunger bucked and roared, its maw yawning wide. A gale of foul wind blasted upward, hurling Elders like leaves into the abyss. The last of their chanting died with their screams. Only the leader remained, staff blazing with fractured light, his voice raw as he shouted: "You must finish it! Seal it or all is lost!"
Rhea's knees buckled. Her vision blurred, the Queen's laughter pounding like war drums in her skull. You cannot hold it without me. You will break. He will burn with you. And then nothing will be left.
Kael growled, his forehead pressed hard against hers. "Take what you need. Take all of me. I'm not letting go."
Her heart cracked. "Kael.."
"Do it." His golden eyes blazed, wild and unyielding. "If it takes me to keep you alive, then take me."
Tears stung her lashes. Shadows surged with his fire, weaving together, hardening into blackened chains rimmed with molten light. They plunged deep into the fissure, wrapping around the Hunger's maw, its tendrils, its spined ridges. The beast thrashed, roaring so loud the mountain groaned.
Stone split. The cavern ceiling fractured, daylight bleeding through the cracks above. The whole world seemed ready to collapse into the abyss.
Rhea screamed again, pouring everything she had into the chains,her fear, her fury, her love. Kael's fire blazed brighter, fueling the bind. Their power fused until she could no longer tell where she ended and he began.
The Queen shrieked inside her, furious, desperate. You'll die for nothing! This world will eat you alive!
"Then it dies with me," Rhea spat.
With a final cry, the chains snapped taut. The Hunger's maw slammed shut, its roar cut short as the bindings dragged it deeper, deeper into the green-lit abyss. The ground sealed over it, cracks fusing with molten light, until only silence remained.
The cavern stilled. Dust hung in the air. The only sound was Rhea's ragged breathing, Kael's arms still locked tight around her.
Her shadows hissed, twitching against her skin, before collapsing inward, gone as if they had never been. She sagged, every muscle trembling, her body little more than ruin.
Kael lowered her gently, brushing sweat-soaked hair from her face. His smile was raw, broken, but alive. "Told you we'd do it together."
But even as relief surged through her, Rhea felt it,the hollow space inside, the echo where her power had been. The Hunger was chained. Yet the Queen remained, coiled deep in her soul, whispering still.
And the cost? It had only begun.