THE FROST SANCTUM

Seraphina gasped awake.

Her back hit cold stone. For a second she didn't know where she was only that her throat burned and her chest ached like she'd been struck by lightning. The air smelled faintly of ash and metal.

She blinked hard. Above her, a ceiling carved with strange symbols flickered with dull red light.

"Easy," Kael's voice said.

He was kneeling beside her, his expression calmer than it should've been. His arm was streaked with dried blood not his own, she realized.

Seraphina tried to sit up, but her vision spun. "Where? where are we?"

"A temple," Kael said. "Old one. Hidden in the ruins under the northern woods."

She rubbed her forehead. "How long was I out?"

"Half a day," he said. "You burned through your energy. If I hadn't pulled us through that portal

"You could've told me it would feel like dying."

Kael's lips twitched faintly. "It was close."

She sat fully upright, noticing faint blue cracks still glowing under her skin. "These lines-what are they?"

"Your conduit marks," he said. "When a witch releases too much raw energy, it scars the channels inside the body. The more you use it, the stronger and more dangerous it becomes."

Seraphina swallowed. "So I'm... changing?"

"Yes," Kael said simply. "And if you don't learn control, the next flare might kill you."

Silence stretched. Only the sound of dripping water echoed through the temple.

She glanced around. The walls were covered with runes ancient, jagged, almost alive. Some pulsed faintly when she looked at them too long. At the center of the room stood a black altar made of obsidian, carved in the shape of wings.

Something about it made her chest tighten.

Kael noticed her staring. "That altar once held the seal of the first Bloodbound."

Her head snapped toward him. "You said those were legends."

"They're not," he said. "This is where she died."

Seraphina felt cold crawl up her spine. "She?"

"Eris," Kael said quietly. "A witch who thought she could use her bond with a demon to rewrite fate. Instead, she tore three realms apart."

Seraphina hugged her arms around herself. "And you think I'm like her?"

He didn't answer right away. "Your magic is the same type. The Bloodbound aren't born they're awakened. Something triggered yours."

Her mind raced. "I was normal before this month. Maybe cursed, but not like this."

"Cursed how?"

"I've always had nightmares," she admitted. "Voices. Fire. And sometimes I wake up with my hands glowing."

Kael's jaw tightened. "Then it started long ago. The flare in the forest was just the first time it broke through completely."

She exhaled shakily. "You talk like you've seen it before."

"I have." He turned away, running a hand through his hair. "The last time it happened, the Bloodbound burned everything in a hundred-mile radius."

Seraphina's heart pounded. "You saw that?"

"I caused it."

She froze. "What?"

Kael looked over his shoulder, red eyes glowing faintly. "I was the demon bonded to her to Eris."

The world went still.

Seraphina stared at him, not sure she'd heard right. "You expect me to believe that? That you're centuries old?"

"I don't care what you believe," Kael said. "But the bond never truly dies. When she perished, the link passed through generations waiting to awaken again."

Her chest felt tight, like the air was being pulled from her lungs. "You think that link is me."

"I don't think," Kael said quietly. "I know. The mark on your wrist same place she bore hers. Same pattern. Same surge when I touched you."

Seraphina stepped back. "No. I'm not part of your curse."

He followed her with his eyes, but didn't move closer. "You can deny it all you want, but it won't change what's happening to you."

"I don't want this!" she snapped. "I didn't ask to be some some weapon!"

Kael's tone stayed calm, but his gaze softened a little. "Neither did she."

That shut her up for a moment. She sat on the edge of the stone platform, trying to breathe evenly.

The silence between them stretched long and heavy.

Finally, she muttered, "So what now? You keep me locked up here until I explode again?"

Kael shook his head. "You need training. There's a place north of here the Frost Sanctum. It's protected from the High Circle's magic. If you can learn to control your power there, you might survive long enough to break the bond."

"Break it?" she asked.

He nodded. "It's possible, but it's dangerous. No Bloodbound has ever done it and lived."

Seraphina gave a dry laugh. "Great odds."

Kael stood, offering her his hand. "Better than none."

She hesitated, then took it. His palm was warm unnaturally so but steady. For a second, their marks glowed in sync again.

She snatched her hand back quickly. "Don't."

"I wasn't doing anything," Kael said, though his expression betrayed a flicker of guilt.

Seraphina turned away from him, staring at the carvings on the walls. One of the runes pulsed brighter, as if reacting to her frustration. She frowned and touched it

The moment her fingers brushed the stone, the rune flared violently. The ground shook, dust falling from the ceiling. Kael swore and yanked her back just before the wall cracked open.

From inside, a faint light pulsed blue, the same shade as her magic.

"What is that?" she whispered.

Kael's eyes narrowed. "A relic. From the first war."

Something metallic glinted inside the crack a dagger, black as night, its blade veined with glowing runes identical to her mark.

Seraphina reached for it, but Kael's hand caught her wrist midair. "Don't."

"It's calling me," she said quietly.

"That's exactly why you shouldn't touch it."

For a second, they just stood there, the blue glow painting their faces. Then the light dimmed, and the ground stilled again.

Seraphina pulled her hand free. "You can't keep me from finding out who I am."

Kael's jaw tightened. "I'm not trying to. I'm trying to keep you alive long enough to find out."

She looked at him really looked and realized he wasn't as calm as he pretended. Beneath that controlled expression was fear.

"Fine," she said. "We go to the Frost Sanctum. But after that, you tell me everything. No more secrets."

Kael inclined his head. "Agreed."

She moved past him toward the tunnel leading out of the temple. As she walked, the faint blue glow followed her footsteps like her power was bleeding through the ground.

Kael watched her go, eyes narrowing. Under his breath, he murmured something too low for her to hear.

When she was gone, he glanced at the cracked wall again the dagger still pulsing faintly.

A shadow flickered across his face. "She's awakening faster than expected," he said softly. "The Bloodbound will rise again."

The dagger's light flared once, as if answering him.

And far above the ruins, in the night sky, a murder of crows took flight - screaming into the dark.