Chapter Nine; Bonded by Shadows

Elnare in a cold dream space, her body surrounded by dark smoke and golden sparks. She sees flashes of Zayven's memories, in it was; Fire all around a cabin, A child crying, His eyes burning and broken. She says; ''Why do i feel what he feels?'' 

Back on the underground refuge, Kael sketches the ash on the wall: two figures connected by a glowing line. 

Kael: ''Your bond is almost complete. That means she is bleeding into your world and you are bleeding into hers.''

Zayven ask: ''Can we stop it?''

Kael answers saying: ''No. But you can protect her, if you don't lose control.''

Zayven as he sleeps, he dreams of her again. This time around, they are both standing in a world of mirrored black water, and have a reflections of stars shining on their feet. 

They touch fingertips and both feel everything; Her fear, His guilt, Their longing.

She whispers; ''Why does your pain feels like mine?'' 

He answers; ''Because you are the only light i have ever touched in years.'' 

Kael wakes Zayven and showed him a cracked mirror that reveals a bonded when a souls form. Zayven looks into it and sees himself and behind him, was Elnare, chained, glowing, and calling out to him. 

Kael stares at the image; ''That is not a heart anymore. That is a beacon. They will all come now.''

Elnare wakes up, this time she really wakes up but she is not in her room. She is somewhere cold, and shifting. The place was like a cage that isn't fixed to any world. A voice speak in strange sound; ''Welcome, Heart bearer.''

She touches her chest and she says the glow is real. It pulses and hurts.

That night, around by the fire, kael shares his past of how he was bonded once, and how he lost her. How his curse grew worse. He became something else.

Kael says; ''They will twist your bond into a blade if you are not careful.'' 

Zayven, admits that he is scared, not of dying, but of being the reason she breaks.'' 

In the strange prison, where Elnare was placed, she place her hand on her heart and finally speaks; ''Zayven.''

The name travels like a whisper through flame. 

Zayven hears it in his sleep. His mark glows so bright it blinds him. He wakes in tears and finally, whispering her name back. 

Kael graphs Zayven's arm; ''She is crossing in , not her body, but her soul. And if they get to her before you do.....''

Zayven eyes flash; ''Then i will burn the path to bring her home.''

''She is not just bonded to me. She is becoming me.''