She shifted her legs, trying to find leverage. "Listen, the guards will be back for the headcount in an hour. If you're still vibrating like a tuning fork by then, they won't even bother with a sword. They'll just throw a salt-circle over you and watch you shrivel. So, do we have a deal? You break these chains, and I'll give you the sequence to lock your core."
I stared at the chains. Heavy iron. Enchanted. I could feel the dampening magic humming through the metal, designed to keep her powerless.
I didn't want to just 'deal.' I wanted leverage.
I slid my hand down to her waist, the fabric of her ruined robes scratching against my palms. I felt her gasp, her body stiffening. I wasn't being gentle. I was measuring her. I was seeing exactly how much she would bend before she broke.
"Stop," she whispered, though she didn't pull away. "Just... just break the chains, you idiot."
I pulled back and looked at her. Really looked at her. She was a mess, but there was a fierce, burning intelligence in those gold eyes. She didn't want to be saved; she wanted a weapon. And that's exactly what I was becoming.
I didn't go for the locks. Instead, I focused every ounce of my remaining stability into my claws. I didn't just want to break the iron; I wanted to devour the enchantment.
As my claws sank into the metal, the 'Forbidden Devour' skill triggered. A jolt of electric blue energy surged from the shackles into my arm. It felt like drinking liquid lightning. My vision blurred, and for a second, I saw a flash of a throne, a crown of black glass, and a thousand voices screaming in unison.
*Shatter.*
I didn't just break the chains; I ripped the magic out of them. The iron snapped with a deafening crack, sending shards of metal flying. Lyra stumbled forward, her arms suddenly free.
She didn't hug me. She didn't thank me. She immediately stepped back, her hands instinctively rising to form a warding gesture.
"Now," she demanded, her voice regaining its authority. "The stabilization. But first..."
She paused, her gaze sweeping over my unstable, flickering form. She saw the way I was leaning toward her, the way my shadow-mass was subconsciously reaching for her light. A smirk touched her lips—not a kind one, but a calculating one.
"If we're doing this, we're doing it right," she said. "I'm not following a mindless blob around. We need a binding. A pact. Something that ensures you don't decide to eat me the moment you feel full."
I let out a low hiss. A pact? She wanted to put a leash on me?
I stepped closer, my chest nearly touching hers. I could feel the warmth of her skin, the frantic beat of her heart. I leaned down, my voice coming out as a distorted, gravelly rasp for the first time.
"Mine," I managed to choke out.
Lyra froze. The word was simple, but it carried the weight of a command. Her eyes searched mine, finding the void where a soul should be, and for the first time, she looked genuinely shaken.
"You... you can speak," she whispered.
Before she could react, I lunged again, not for her throat, but for the space between us. I didn't want a fair contract. I wanted her bound.
My shadow-matter surged forward like a living oil spill, wrapping around her wrist and ankle in a split second. I wasn't breaking chains this time; I was forging new ones. A dark, pulsing vein of shadow energy snapped into place, connecting my core to hers.
Lyra screamed, her eyes flying open as the pact locked into place. "Wait! I didn't agree to—!"
I tightened the grip, the shadow-band glowing with a sinister violet light. The power imbalance shifted instantly. I could feel her mana now, not as a distant scent, but as a tether I could pull.
She gasped, her knees buckling as the weight of the binding hit her. She looked up at me, the shock and fury warring in her expression.
"You arrogant little..." she panted, her voice breathless.
Just then, the heavy iron door at the end of the hall groaned open. The sound of armored boots echoed against the stone. The patrol was early.
Lyra's eyes went wide. She looked at the door, then at the shadow-leash connecting us.
"Pact," she screamed, her voice desperate, "finish the pact now or we're both dead!"