The ruins shook with every growl that echoed through their empty halls. Dust fell from the cracked ceiling as Elara moved forward, guided by the faint red glow from her mark. The air felt heavy, thick with old magic and the metallic taste of blood. Each breath felt like inhaling the essence of a dying world.
"Kael…" she whispered, her voice shaking, not from fear but from the deep pain of what she already knew. The presence ahead stirred—it was him. But it wasn't.
The path twisted down into the catacombs beneath the ruins. Ancient runes crawled like veins across the walls. The symbols pulsed in rhythm with her heartbeat, alive and aware, whispering in a language she could almost grasp. Every step echoed in the vast emptiness. Then she heard it—claws scraping against stone.
She stopped. "Kael?"
From the darkness, something moved—slow, careful, animalistic. A faint outline of a massive body emerged, shrouded in shadows. Eyes like burning embers glowed through the mist. The creature that stepped forward was both beautiful and frightening—a perfect blend of man and beast. Muscles rippled beneath blackened skin, veins glowing red like cracks in the earth. Horns curled from his temples, and behind them, a faint glimmer of gold—Kael's eyes, buried deep within the monster's rage.
Elara's heart twisted. "It's me," she whispered. "It's Elara."
The creature breathed with ragged growls. His voice—what was left of it—rumbled through the air like distant thunder. "Elara… run."
She shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Not again. I won't leave you."
The beast's claws dug into the ground as he battled against the darkness inside him. The curse had claimed most of his body, but something within still resisted—his soul clung to her voice like a lifeline.
Elara stepped closer, her mark glowing fiercely. "You promised me," she said softly. "No matter what, you'd fight."
He let out a sound that was half a roar, half a cry of pain. The runes on his chest blazed as the curse fought back. Shadows poured from his body like living smoke, wrapping around her legs and whispering vile temptations. He's gone. Save yourself. Let him go.
Elara closed her eyes. "I won't."
With trembling hands, she drew a circle on the ground with her blood, the symbol of the First Witch—the Seal of Binding. The air vibrated, the stones beneath her feet pulsing with energy. The curse screamed through Kael's body, and he lunged forward, crashing into the invisible barrier that flared to life between them.
Elara's voice rose above the chaos. "By blood and moonlight, I call the bond that made us—and I bind it to truth!"
The light from her mark exploded outward, engulfing them both. Kael fell to his knees, howling, torn between beast and man. She could see his human form flicker through the monstrous shell—his face, his eyes, his pain.
"Elara!" he choked, his voice breaking through for a moment. "You can't—"
"I can!" she screamed. "I won't lose you to this!"
The mark on her wrist burned like fire as crimson light poured from her hands, forming a chain of energy that wrapped around him. But the curse was not passive. It struck back, sending a wave of black magic crashing into her. Pain lanced through her body—every nerve ignited, every memory laid bare.
Visions flooded her mind: her grandmother chanting the same spell, her mother's screams, the curse born beneath the first blood moon. She saw the truth—the curse was never meant to be broken. It was meant to be passed on.
Her reflection's voice echoed in her mind. You are the curse reborn.
"No…" she gasped, her knees buckling. "Not like this."
Kael's monstrous hand reached toward her, trembling. "Please… stop…"
But she shook her head. "If I stop, you die."
The ground beneath them cracked, glowing with red veins of power. Her energy collided with the curse in a violent surge, tearing through the ruins. The very air screamed.
And then—silence.
Elara opened her eyes. Kael knelt before her, human again, barely breathing. His chest rose and fell shallowly, his skin marked with faint runes that no longer glowed. She reached out, cradling his face. "Kael… it's over."
He blinked weakly, his fingers brushing her cheek. "You shouldn't have followed me…"
Tears fell onto his skin. "I told you—I'd rather be damned with you than live without you."
The shadows around them began to fade, retreating into the cracks of the earth. The curse had weakened—not broken, but subdued. As the blood moon above began to dim, Elara realized the cost of her defiance.
Her crescent mark was gone.
In its place, burned into her skin, was the full blood moon—glowing softly even in the darkness. She had taken the curse into herself.
Kael's voice trembled. "What did you do?"
She smiled through her tears. "I saved you."
As the first pale rays of dawn filtered through the broken ceiling, the beast within him slept—but the curse had found a new heart to call home.