We stood there, just like that. My mind was still reeling from the agonizing memory the system had dredged up. It had left a bitter taste in my mouth. The silence was heavy and awkward.
And Kaelen… he was still breathing heavily from fighting off his shadow transformation. His face was pale, his eyes a dangerous, stormy gray. He looked like he'd been dragged through a very sharp hedge backwards.
"An hour," I finally managed, my voice a dry whisper. My throat felt scratchy. "Seriously. An hour of this?" I gestured vaguely with our joined hands, as if it were a particularly vile piece of art.
Kaelen didn't dignify that with a proper response. He just clenched his jaw, looking anywhere but at me. At the trees, at the faint glow of the distant city. Anything to avoid looking at the rogue mage he was now magically stuck to. Typical.
"So, what's the plan, Prince?" I prodded, trying to inject some of my usual carefree sarcasm into my voice, even though my insides felt like mashed potatoes.
"Are we just going to stand here like two statues reenacting 'reluctant high-fives' for the next fifty-nine minutes? Or do we, you know, do something productive? Like, figure out how to break this cursed bond?"
He finally turned his head, his gaze sweeping over me with an intensity that felt like a physical brush. "Breaking it would likely trigger the penalty again," he stated, his voice still rough, but regaining some of its usual tone. "And I have no intention of revisiting that… experience. My curse is unstable enough as it is."
"Oh, your curse," I scoffed, rolling my eyes. "Everything is always about your curse, isn't it? As if I enjoyed reliving the systematic destruction of my village!" The memory was still fresh, the raw pain bubbling just beneath the surface.
"You triggered the system!" he snapped, his voice rising, a flash of red returning to the edges of his eyes. The shadows around his hand seemed to pulse, a subtle thrumming passing through our joined hands. "Your reckless actions brought this upon us!"
"My 'reckless actions' freed a village from a Contract that was literally draining them dry!" I shot back, my own voice climbing.
"What were your 'actions,' Prince? Sitting on a golden throne, collecting tithes from starving people? Or perhaps hunting down anyone who dared to question the god-blessed order?"
He recoiled slightly at the mention of the tithes, a flicker of something unreadable – defensiveness? Shame? – crossing his features. But it vanished quickly, replaced by a cold, hard glare. "I ensure order! This realm would descend into chaos without the Contracts!"
"Oh, yeah, because widespread starvation and fear is what you call 'order'," I muttered, giving his hand a sarcastic tug.
"Look, we can argue about the socio-political implications of your divine Contracts later. Right now, we're stuck in a literal magical bind. We have an hour to kill. How about we try not to spontaneously combust each other?"
He sighed, a long, drawn-out sound that was more weary than angry, but still laced with irritation. "We walk," he commanded, pulling me forward. "I need to ensure no Temple guards followed us. And I prefer to move than… stand around arguing in the dark."
And so began the world's most awkward forest stroll. His stride was long and purposeful, accustomed to covering ground quickly. I, on the other hand, was used to nimble, quick movements, not being dragged along by a grumpy royal.
"Can you slow down, for the love of all that's not actively trying to kill us?" I complained, nearly tripping over a root. Our arms brushed as we moved, and the constant, low thrum of the bond between us was… undeniably weird. A constant reminder of his presence, his emotions. Which, for the record, seemed to be primarily 'annoyance' and 'brooding.'
He slowed slightly, but didn't respond, his gaze fixed on ahead. He moved with the quiet grace of someone used to navigating dangers. Even with a normal stride, his sheer height meant I was practically jogging to keep up. It was irritating. And also, grudgingly, a little bit impressive. The guy clearly knew how to handle himself.
"So, tell me, Prince," I prodded again, trying to break the oppressive silence. "Does this 'Fated Bond System' come with a user manual? Or are we just supposed to figure out if it grants us magical powers or makes us share a single brain cell by trial and error?"
He let out a short, dry chuckle then, a surprisingly husky sound that barely registered as amusement. "I doubt it comes with a manual. Most ancient magical artifacts prefer to be cryptic and painful."
"Oh, tell me about it," I muttered, thinking of my own cursed scars. We continued walking, our steps falling into a rhythm. The bond, that weird humming connection, seemed to be pulling at my own energy, too. My scars, usually a constant source of low-level pain, seemed… muted. As if the bond was absorbing some of their chaotic magic.
But Kaelen was different.
His movements, though still purposeful, were becoming heavier. I felt a subtle drain seeping through our joined hands, like a physical manifestation of exhaustion. It felt like his exhaustion. He was pale beneath the dirt, and the dark shadows under his eyes seemed deeper now.
"What's happening?" I asked, a flicker of concern overriding my usual cynicism. The cursed energy that had been writhing around him earlier was now completely gone, but it had left him utterly depleted.
He shook his head slightly, "the curse… it pulls," he said, his voice rough with fatigue. "When it's unstable, it draws energy. This bond… it's redirecting it. Stabilizing the surge. But the drain… it's still happening. From me. My mana… it's… low."
My mana. My power. I felt a chill run down my spine. "So this is why the system wants us to hold hands," I realized, a new wave of annoyance mixed with understanding. "It's using our connection to stabilize your curse. Like a magical battery and a very temperamental fuse."
"A living conduit," he corrected, his lips thinning, his gaze fixed on some point far beyond the trees. He clearly hated the thought. "And I'm the fuse."
"And I'm the battery," I finished, feeling a familiar wave of resentment. It was always me, always Zahara, the source of power to be drained. My scars prickled with the echo of that ancient truth. "Just great. So I'm stuck with the guy who's literally a walking magical disaster, and now I'm his personal energy source."
He sighed again, a long, drawn-out sound that was more of tiredness than anger. "I wouldn't have chosen this."
"Neither would I!" I snapped back, my voice rising. "My ideal partner is a nice, boring accountant who pays his taxes and never thinks about magic! Not a brooding prince with an unstable curse who looks like he walked out of a particularly dark fantasy novel!"
He actually let out a short, dry chuckle then, a surprisingly pleasant sound. "And I prefer… solitude," he countered, a hint of his earlier snark returning. "Not a loud-mouthed rogue mage who detonates temples."
The corners of my lips twitched despite myself. We were still arguing, but there was a subtle shift. A shared acknowledgment of the absurdity of our situation. And maybe, just maybe, a tiny sliver of shared misery that was, in its own way, a kind of connection. It was almost like the bond itself was subtly urging us to cooperate, to find some common ground.
We kept walking, we argued, we fell silent, we glared. I noticed the way his shadow seemed to shift and dance around him, a restless energy, even when it was contained. He noticed the way my scars glowed brighter when I got particularly agitated, the light reflecting in his dark eyes.
The thought hit me with a jolt: he could see my scars. Really see them. Most people just saw the marks and then looked away, uncomfortable. But he was looking at them, acknowledging them, almost analytically. It was… unsettling. In a perverse, infuriating way, almost… intimate.
The hour was almost up. I could feel the slight shift in the bond's energy, a lessening of the insistent pull. Kaelen stiffened beside me, a tremor running through his body. He stopped walking, his breathing ragged.
"It's ending," he rasped, his voice raw with exhaustion. The dark shadows under his eyes seemed deeper now. He looked genuinely drained, like someone had literally pulled the plug on his internal battery.
My own scars flared one last time, a farewell pulse of energy, before settling back into their familiar ache. The constant thrum of the bond quieted, becoming a faint, almost imperceptible whisper. The forced connection loosened, but didn't break. It felt… dormant.
And then, just as Kaelen swayed on his feet, looking like he might keel over any second. The golden text shimmered between us once more. Illuminating the dark forest.
____
[System Quest Complete: "Establish physical connection with Bond Partner."]
[Reward Granted: Bond Level 5 unlocked.]
[New System Feature Unlocked: Shared Mana Pool.]
____
"Shared Mana Pool?" I whispered, my eyes wide. My gaze snapped to Kaelen, who was now clutching my hand, his grip surprisingly weak. He looked like he was about to collapse.
Shared Mana Pool. That meant… my magic was now potentially his to draw upon. Or vice-versa. And his cursed energy could still affect mine. It was a terrifying thought. An ultimate violation of my independence.
But then I saw it. Kaelen's lips, pressed into a thin, weary line, his eyes struggling to stay open. He looked utterly spent, his power truly drained. The system had taken its toll, stabilizing his curse at the cost of his strength.
And just as I processed that, the bond, now subtly changed, sent another, unexpected surge. Not of magic this time, but… of exhaustion. His exhaustion. It hit me like a physical wave, making my own eyelids feel heavy.
His grip on my hand loosened further, his fingers almost slipping away. His body slumped.
"Kaelen!" I cried, trying to steady him. But he was already falling.
My unwanted bonded partner, the brooding prince, collapsed right there in the forest, his weary, unconscious body falling into my arms.
And then, just as the last of the golden system text faded, a single, horrifying one flashed.
____
[Bond Level 5: Shared Mana Pool Activated.]
____
Oh. Just… great.