The roar shook the cavern like the heartbeat of a slumbering titan. Cracks tore through the Oath dais, sending shards of glowing stone into the air. Crimson light bled from the fissures, painting Kean and Liara in eerie hues.
Kean staggered back, clutching his arm where the sigil still pulsed. It wasn't just glowing—it ached, like a second heartbeat pounding inside his veins.
Beside him, Liara winced, her own wrist glowing with golden spirals. Their marks pulsed in perfect unison, connected by an invisible thread.
Kean gasped. "I can feel… you."
Liara's eyes flicked to his, narrowed but unsettled. "And I can feel you. Your heartbeat. Your fear." Her cheeks flushed faintly before she snapped her gaze back to the shaking ground. "The bond is stronger than I expected."
Another roar thundered. From the fissures, shapes began to crawl—monstrous beings of molten stone and ash, their bodies cracked and oozing with red fire.
Liara cursed under her breath. "Infernal Wardens. Guardians of the Spiral's depths. They awaken when an Oath is forged."
Kean frowned. "So they want to kill us for making one?"
"Not kill," Liara said grimly, drawing her bow of light. "Test. If we survive, the Spiral accepts us. If not…"
The Warden nearest them let out a bellow, its molten jaw opening to release a torrent of flame.
Kean instinctively raised his arm. The sigil blazed, and a shield of spiraling runes burst forth, catching the firestorm. Heat rippled against his skin, but he held firm.
Liara's arrows shot past him, glowing like comets, striking the Warden's core. The monster staggered but didn't fall.
Kean gritted his teeth. "There's three of them!"
"Then we fight as one," Liara snapped.
Her words weren't just strategy. Through the bond, Kean felt her resolve surging like fire in his chest. It fueled him, steadied his shaking hands. In return, he felt his panic leaking into her—only to be met with her calm steadiness.
So this is what it means to share fate…
They fought together, their rhythm uncanny. When Kean faltered, Liara's arrows struck true. When Liara staggered under flame, Kean's shield flared stronger.
For the first time, he wasn't just alone in the chaos. He was part of something bigger.
Still, the Wardens pressed harder. One slammed a colossal fist into the ground, sending shockwaves that cracked the dais. Kean fell to one knee, the sigil flickering.
"Kean!" Liara's voice echoed both aloud and in his mind. "Don't you dare give in."
"I can't… I don't have the strength—"
"Yes, you do." Her hand brushed his, even in the chaos. Through the bond, he felt her conviction pouring into him, fierce and undeniable. "Draw from me. That's what the Oath is for."
Kean hesitated—then let go.
The world flared. His strength surged, not just his own but hers too, mingling into something greater. He rose, chains of spiraling light bursting from his arm and wrapping around the nearest Warden, dragging it to its knees.
Liara loosed three arrows in rapid succession, each glowing brighter than the last. They struck the creature's core, shattering it into molten shards.
The bond pulsed warmly, a shared rush of triumph.
Kean gasped, a wild grin on his face. "We… we actually—"
Another Warden's claw slashed, nearly taking his head. Liara yanked him back, their shoulders colliding.
"Don't celebrate yet!" she snapped, but her lips quirked in a faint smile.
The battle dragged on. Together, they defeated the second Warden, though exhaustion gnawed at their limbs. Only one remained, larger than the rest, its molten body glowing brighter.
Kean's chest heaved. "We can't keep this up."
Liara's gaze hardened. "Then we finish it now. Together."
They moved in unison, as though their thoughts were one. Kean's chains bound the monster's legs while Liara vaulted upward, her body glowing as if wings of light carried her.
"Kean! Now!"
He poured everything into the chains, forcing the beast to its knees. Liara's arrow blazed golden, infused with their shared strength. She loosed it, and the shot pierced the Warden's core in a brilliant explosion.
The cavern trembled. The Wardens dissolved into ash.
Silence fell.
Kean collapsed, gasping for breath. Liara dropped beside him, equally exhausted. Their shoulders brushed, and neither pulled away.
The bond between them pulsed, steady now, less like a chain and more like a heartbeat shared.
For a moment, in the quiet aftermath, Kean dared to meet her eyes. They weren't just emerald anymore—they glowed faintly, reflecting the bond.
"You saved me," he whispered.
Liara's lips curved faintly. "We saved each other."
Kean's chest tightened. It wasn't just the bond he felt—it was her. And for the first time, he realized he didn't want the bond to break.
Before the moment could linger, the Spiral shifted. The dais reformed, and a path opened deeper into the abyss.
But this time, it wasn't stone stairs. It was a bridge of glowing sigils, suspended over an endless void.
Liara stood, her expression unreadable. "The Spiral accepts our oath. Now it leads us further."
Kean swallowed. "Further into what?"
She didn't answer immediately. Her hand hovered near his arm before she pulled it back. "Every descent is more dangerous than the last. But… at least now we don't walk it alone."
Her words were soft, almost vulnerable.
Kean wanted to reply, but the bond pulsed again—this time with something alien. A surge of cold, sharp and suffocating.
From the void beneath the bridge, a voice whispered.
"So fragile… so naïve… The Oath is not salvation. It is a shackle. And soon, you will beg to be freed."
Kean froze. The voice wasn't just in his head—it was in Liara's too. He felt her flinch through the bond.
Her hand found his wrist, gripping tightly. "Don't listen. It's trying to sever us."
But Kean's heart pounded. That voice… it felt different from the Spiral's whispers. Older. Crueler. And it had noticed him.
As they stepped onto the glowing bridge, the voice echoed louder, weaving into the abyss.
"Descend deeper, claimant… and watch her break."
Kean's stomach twisted. He glanced at Liara, whose jaw was clenched in defiance, though her grip on his arm betrayed a flicker of fear.
For the first time, Kean realized: the Spiral wasn't their only enemy. Something else was waiting below.
Something that already knew their names.