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Suddenly, I’m flipped backward, the beautiful spiraling aurora overhead spinning in mockery.

Its spiky, armored tail lashes out, almost invisible against the snowy backdrop.

I grunt, fending it off from my back, the heavy, plated limb crashing against my raised arms. Sparks flash as arcweave meets the toughest chitin, jolting my muscles and bones.

I brace for another oncoming tail swipe. This time, I drive my claws deep into its exposed underbelly. The creature screeches, a mixture of deafening clicks and grotesque sucking sounds as thick, white blood splashes across my dented arm plates. I grin—its pain only stokes the inferno of my Rush .

Leaping to my feet as the monster turns in its rage, it directs its tube-like head, filled with rows of needle-pointed teeth, toward me.

I spread my arms wide, prepared to rend it to bloody pieces—but before I can strike, it rears back on two legs, towering over me, seeking to trample the life from me.

Foolish.

I dash forward with blinding speed, my body a flaming meteorite of fury.

My claws bite deep into the soft underbelly of its torso.

As soon as my fingertips reach flesh, I rend and tear, slashing its insides to bloody ribbons.

The force of my charge flips the creature onto its shelled back.

Its thrashes grow weaker with each fleshy organ I rip from its streaming body.

Its life slips away until it ceases to move, but I hardly notice.

My claws continue their mindless frenzy, blood spraying as laughter bursts from my joyous lips.

Rush fills me with exultation, my hands drenched in inky, warm blood, which doesn’t burn as fiercely as the rivers of magma coursing through me.

As my fury subsides, I stand over the motionless carcass, its pink-white entrails spilling across the snow in a grotesque tapestry of gore. I lament my lack of control; many of the nutritious organs are now ruined, their smell wrinkling my nose with disgust.

No matter. The creature is large—it will suffice.

I wipe the gore from my snow-covered face, the effort only smearing more blood. Grunting, I grip the monster’s spiked tail and begin the long trek back to the cave, dragging the lifeless body behind me.

Despite the darkness, I easily retrace my steps in the snow. I’ve never come across such an animal before, but I feel a flicker of pride at having defeated it in battle, relishing the thought of Princesa and me honoring its life and vitality as we devour its flesh.

“Dracoth, is that your Bobo the Clown feet I hear?” Princesa’s mocking tone echoes through the dark cave, though the words hold little meaning as I enter, my gaze fixed on her.

She stands, illuminated by the glowing blue of my wrist console. Her eyes widen, disgust twisting her delicate features.

“What... THE FUCK... is that?” she exclaims, gesturing wildly at the mangled corpse behind me.

“My prey. Our food,” I reply evenly. Already, her reaction disappoints me. I should have known better—the female who shuns everything. I drag the carcass toward the firepit, its inky white blood leaving a splotchy trail in my wake.

“Prepare this,” I command, releasing the spiked tail with a final thud.

“You can’t be serious?” Princesa’s wide silver eyes dart between me and the grotesque remains. “God, it stinks too.” Her face wrinkles in revulsion, her hand waving dramatically in front of her nose. My jaw tightens as I watch her hesitation.

She leans in reluctantly, pinching her nose as she inspects the creature’s mangled shell.

“It’s like a giant mutant turtle,” she mutters, eyeing its slathering maw.

“Eww, eww, eww.” Her fingers poke at the thick, rubbery skin, recoiling as a gust of foul-smelling gas escapes from its mouth, revealing rows of spiky teeth.

“Ahh!” she shrieks, stumbling back. “No. No fucking way, Dracoth. I’d rather starve.”

Too weak to live.

Even after I made the kill, enduring the beast’s wrath, she lacks the strength to do even this! The Rush flares again, my fangs bared in rage.

“You are useless, female. Utterly worthless.”

Princesa doesn’t even have the grace to feign shame, raising her eyebrows with indignation. “Excuse me?” Her voice sharpens with anger. “I didn’t ask you to dump this... this— whatever the hell it is here!” She waves dismissively toward the carcass.

“Yet you spoke of hunger, did you not?” I step forward, my crimson eyes burning into hers.

Princesa snorts. “Yeah, hungry for a snack. Maybe even a jelly stick—not fucking Godzilla!” she exclaims, her eyes gleaming with intensity.

I shake my head with disgust, her pathetic excuses already grating. “Only a fool would expect such luxuries here.” I sweep my arm to encompass the freezing, barren cave around us. “Is that who the Gods bond me to? A fool?”

Princesa’s lips curl into a sneer, her pale skin turning almost as red as mine. “Listen, you giant red prick,” she hisses, her voice rising, “I was perfectly happy living a fabulous life before you stole me! And if you think I’m going to be your little slave, you’re delusional.”

There’s a flicker beneath her fury—through our bond. Her emotions swirl in chaotic intensity, something more than rage—a deeper wound.

“You lie,” I snap, instinctually sensing her hidden truth.

“What?”

“Your life. You hated it.” I speak from some raw place—not logic, just feeling—as I sense the turmoil she’s trying to bury. My eyes narrow, drawn to the tangled storm of emotions blazing in our bond.

Her lip trembles, her silver eyes spilling mercury. “What do you know?” She jabs a finger at my chest, her voice quivering between fury and hurt. “You’re just a dumb bore. You don’t know shit about me!”

“I hate you, Dracoth, you—big, fucking—bastard!” she yells, and in that moment, I feel it—a surge through our bond. Her silver flame ignites, crashing into my crimson one like a storm meeting a wildfire.

Together, they mingle and dance in their fury, hatred, and bitter disappointment.

Princesa gasps, her eyes glowing with swirling hues of silver and crimson.

But it’s the glow from the scorched band across her chest that seizes my attention—molten lava, cutting through her leathers and furs like the boiling magma that runs through my veins.

“Your chest—” My words are torn from my lips as a savage, unseen force smashes me into the icy wall behind. Agony sears through me like the biting cold as I struggle to understand.

Her power...

My fists pound against the shimmering silver barrier, but it holds. The translucent wall crackles with energy, pulsing with her hatred. I meet her gaze, seeing the glint in her churning eyes, the smirk curling her plump lips.

“What’s the matter, big boy?” she mocks, her tone dripping with sadism. “Don’t like it when someone bullies you?” She raises her hand and the silver barrier presses in tighter. The wall of ice behind me creaks as my armor groans, pushing into my molten flesh.

“Remember when you locked us in that cell? When you chained me like a fucking dog?” Her voice sharpens, spitting venom. Yet I barely register her words as the blood roars in my ears, my lungs screaming for air.

My muscles bulge, tendons taut like arcweave beams as I push back against her crushing power. The ice behind me begins to fracture, crumbling under the pressure, creating enough space to breathe a single lungful of crisp air before she smirks again.

“Not so fast,” she taunts, waving her hand. Another barrier slams into me from behind, clamping into the first one. A grunt tears from my strained throat.

I feel her elation—her joy at my suffering through the bond, a twisted reflection for her broken soul.

“If you say sorry, I might let you go...” Her smile twists into something darker. “Maybe.”

I will die before I bow again, feeling only the reddest fury coursing through my veins.

Arawnoth blazes within my soul. His presence flares, urging me to incinerate her, to sear her soft flesh to ash.

I could ... My hands blaze with fire. Yet I emit only the faintest flames, hovering them close to her skin, just enough to be painful.

“What in Arawnoth’s name—” Princesa flinches in pain, her eyes darting to the ring of flames encasing her like bars of molten fire. “Stop this, Dracoth, or I swear I’ll pop your stupid, boring head.” She sneers.

I feel the pain I’m causing her reflected at me through the bond. The twisted irony only fuels my manic laughter. I intensify the flames, watching with pleasure as sweat beads down her pale face.

“Show me the depths of your resolve, Princesa,” I hiss, the words seething through the pressure crushing my chest.

“My name’s not fucking Princesa!” she screeches, waving her trembling hands, the crushing force tightening around me. My armor groans, protesting against my molten skin. “You bastard!”

My eyes bulge as I flex my muscles, fighting for any nanometer of space to breathe. Yet she suffers under her own torments, falling to one knee, panting heavily.

“You think you know suffering?” I rasp, stoking the embers that surround her higher, savoring the searing pain being reflected to me.

“It’s what birthed my great people. It fuels me.

Unlike you weak, pathetic humans .” I spit the last word like a curse.

“I saved you from your life of misery. It was I who taught you pain, who gave you power!”

“Shut up!” Her eyes snap to mine, wet with tears that soon evaporate before my furious heat. “I... I...” Her words trail off as her eyes roll back, and in an instant, the crushing forces surrounding me blink out of existence.

I extinguish my numerous flames and rush to catch her before she hits the harsh, dripping ice. She feels impossibly light and soft in my arms, belying the unending storm of chaos and trouble she exudes.

I project my molten powers into the fire pit, flames roaring to life in the frozen cavern, casting a warm glow over the crystalline walls. The heat is a welcome change to this land of burning frost. I tuck Princesa beneath the furs, brushing a strand of golden hair from her clammy face.

What am I to do with this maddening female?