The flames had died down, but the silence that followed was even louder.
Kael sat in the middle of the blackened ritual ground, arms resting over his knees, chest still rising and falling from the kiss that had shattered every law of nature.
He could still feel her lips on his.
Not just the sensation—but the power behind it.
Lilith stood nearby, silent and watchful. She hadn't said a word since the light faded, and that unsettled Kael more than anything. The demon princess was always smirking, taunting, commanding.
Now… she stared at him like he was something she couldn't quite understand.
He finally broke the silence.
"…That thing I did back there. With the blood. That was real, right?"
She nodded. "You manifested it without my will. Which means the bond is no longer passive. You're awakening."
Kael glanced down at his hands. They looked the same—but they weren't. His skin pulsed faintly with heat, veins glowing like threads of ember beneath the surface.
"But I don't even know what I'm awakening into."
Lilith folded her arms, her expression unreadable. "Neither do I."
Kael froze. "What?"
She turned to face him fully, wings unfurling again—soft this time, like a cloak of black velvet. "I've seen royal-blooded humans. I've seen corrupted hybrids. I've even seen ancient monsters return in human skins. But you... you're something else."
He frowned. "You said I wasn't human."
"You're not." She stepped closer, her voice soft and low. "But whatever you are... hasn't been seen for a very, very long time."
Kael's mind raced.
What the hell had they awakened?
Before he could ask more, a breeze rolled through the clearing. The hairs on his arms stood up. The forest—what remained of it—had gone silent again. Too silent.
Lilith tensed.
Kael noticed it immediately. "What is it?"
She didn't answer. Her eyes flicked toward the edge of the trees.
Then… the whispers began.
Soft at first.
Faint voices… like echoing screams underwater. A sound Kael didn't hear—he felt it in his spine.
> kael…
come back…
return…
He staggered back, clutching his head. "What the hell is that?!"
Lilith moved instantly, grabbing his shoulders. "You can hear it already?"
"What is it?"
Her grip tightened. "The Abyss."
Kael's blood ran cold.
Lilith's eyes narrowed, glowing brighter. "You're hearing its call. That shouldn't be possible—not this soon."
"The Abyss?" Kael gasped. "You mean where you're from?"
"No," she said sharply. "Where monsters worse than me were buried."
Kael's vision flickered. A shadow passed over the moon.
And something old… something dark… laughed inside his mind.
---
The world tilted.
Kael didn't remember falling.
One moment he was clutching his head—drenched in whispers, Lilith's hands tight on his shoulders—and the next…
He was standing in a world of nothing.
No sky. No earth. Just… black.
Endless black.
But in the distance, something pulsed.
Like a heartbeat.
Like a drum calling warriors to war.
> Thump... thump... THUMP.
Then came the voice.
> "So… you awaken, Broken Prince."
Kael spun. There was no body. No face. Just a presence. A weight behind the words.
"Who the hell are you?" he demanded.
> "You knew me once. You were me once."
Suddenly, visions assaulted his mind.
A man—tall, cloaked in a shroud of flame and darkness—stood atop a battlefield littered with corpses. His eyes were stars. His wings were made of knives.
Kael saw cities burn. He saw gods fall.
He saw himself sitting on a throne of bones.
"No… that's not me," Kael whispered, backing away. "That's not me…"
> "Not yet," the voice purred.
"But it will be. That throne is yours to reclaim."
Kael's hands trembled.
"You're part of the Abyss," he said. "A memory. A ghost."
> "No. I am the Abyss. I am what you sealed away to become mortal. But now…"
The heartbeat grew louder. Kael fell to his knees.
> "She woke you. Lilith kissed your blood. And in doing so… she unlocked the first seal."
"I didn't ask for this!" Kael shouted.
> "That's why it's perfect."
> "You didn't choose power. But power… chose you."
---
Kael opened his eyes with a gasp.
Lilith was holding him tightly, her arms wrapped around his body, her cheek against his.
He was sweating. Burning. But alive.
"What did you see?" she whispered.
Kael stared up at the moonless sky.
"Nothing," he lied. "Just a nightmare."
But he knew the truth now.
There was something inside him. A king. A monster.
Something the Abyss once feared.
And it wanted its throne back.
---
Lilith stared at Kael.
Not with amusement.
Not with arrogance.
But with something far more dangerous—fear.
"You heard it, didn't you?" she asked softly.
Kael hesitated. Then nodded. "A voice. A… thing. It called me Broken Prince. Said it used to be me."
Lilith cursed in her native tongue—a guttural, demonic whisper that made the grass wither beneath her feet.
"I knew the mark was strong, but I didn't think it would open the Gate so soon…"
Kael narrowed his eyes. "Gate?"
"The one between who you were… and who you're becoming," she said, pacing slowly, wings brushing the air behind her. "It's not just your body changing now. Your soul is waking up. And it's not human anymore."
Kael clenched his jaw. "You said I was bound to you. That we were linked. So why didn't you see it coming?"
Lilith stopped walking.
"I did," she whispered.
Kael froze. "What?"
"I felt it the moment I kissed you. The blood didn't just bind us. It recognized you. It worshipped you." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "That's why I didn't kill you. That's why I broke every Abyss law just to protect you tonight."
Kael looked into her glowing eyes and saw it—truth.
Not love.
Not lust.
But recognition.
She feared him.
She needed him.
And he… wasn't sure if that thrilled or terrified him.
"So what now?" he asked. "Do we run? Fight? Hide?"
Lilith stepped close. "We evolve."
She raised her palm. A small dagger of obsidian formed in her hand—shimmering with dark flame.
Kael took a cautious step back. "What are you doing?"
"A second bond. Deeper. Stronger." Her gaze was wild. "We can't run anymore, Kael. The world will hunt you. The gods will curse you. The Abyss will try to control you. If we're going to survive…"
She sliced her palm open. Black blood dripped from her skin, hissing as it hit the earth.
"…then we need to be more than master and vessel."
Kael stared at her.
His heart thundered.
"…You're serious."
Lilith reached out her bleeding hand, her voice velvet and venom.
> "Bind your blood to mine again, Kael Ardent.
Let the world burn. Let fate scream.
Let us become one—king and queen of the Abyss."
---
Kael didn't move for a long moment.
Then slowly, he raised his hand… and took hers.
Their blood mixed.
And the second bond ignited.
> [Abyssal Bloodlink – Level 2 Formed]
[New Trait Unlocked: Shared Will]
[Lilith's Power: +10% Amplified by Proximity]
[Kael's Awakening Progression: 33%]
As the flames rose around them again, and the night trembled with their vow, Kael whispered—
"Then let them come."
---