Chapter 11 The Trap
SERINA POV
"Hello, vessel. We need to talk about your brother."
Delphine's words froze my blood. She stood among the rubble, three Soul Reapers flanking her, looking at Tym with an expression that made my skin crawl.
"Don't you dare touch him!" Dragon fire erupted from my hands.
But before I could attack, Kellen stepped between us, hands raised. "Wait! Archmage, please give me a chance to explain. I can help you capture her without destroying the sanctuary."
I stared at him in shock. "You lying piece of "
"Serina, listen!" Kellen's voice was desperate. "I know where the Council stores their anti-dragon weapons. Binding artifacts that can suppress your power. If we don't destroy them first, you'll never be free. Let me show you where they are. Please."
It's a trap! Kaelthar roared in my mind. That one reeks of Delphine's shadow magic! I can smell her stench all over him!
"He's right," I said, glaring at Kellen. "You're working for her."
"No! I swear on my daughter's memory " Kellen pulled out a map, hands shaking. "Look. The warehouse is here, on the edge of the slums. Old Council storage facility. They keep the binding chains there, the artifacts they used on dragons a thousand years ago. If Delphine gets her hands on those, you're finished."
Arvain grabbed my arm. "Don't listen to him. This is obviously "
"Intelligence is intelligence," I interrupted. Even if Kellen was lying, knowing where the Council stored their weapons could be useful. "Where exactly?"
Don't you dare, Kaelthar hissed. I'm warning you
"You think everyone's an enemy," I shot back mentally. "Maybe you're just paranoid."
I regretted those words later.
The warehouse sat abandoned on the slums' outskirts, exactly where Kellen had indicated. Too quiet. Too empty. Every instinct I had screamed danger.
"See?" Kellen whispered, leading me through the entrance. "No guards. They don't expect anyone to find this place."
STOP! Kaelthar's voice was pure panic now. Serina, I'm begging you turn around. Run. NOW.
I'd never heard him beg before.
That should have been my warning.
The moment I stepped fully inside, chains erupted from the floor.
Silver chains, glowing with ancient runes. They wrapped around my wrists, my ankles, my throat. The instant they touched my skin, my dragon fire died. The scales on my arms went dark. And Kaelthar's presence in my mind that constant weight I'd carried for weeks vanished.
"No!" I screamed, trying to summon fire. Nothing came. "KAELTHAR!"
Silence. Absolute, terrifying silence in my head.
Kellen's expression changed. The fear, the guilt, the desperate remorse all of it melted away, replaced by cold satisfaction.
"Thank you for making this easy," he said calmly.
Twenty shadow mages emerged from the darkness, surrounding me. And walking through them came Delphine herself, smiling like a teacher pleased with a good student.
"Well done, Magistrate Kellen," she said. "Your performance was flawless."
I stared at Kellen, rage and betrayal burning through me. "You. You were hers all along."
"Deep cover for three months," he confirmed. "Everything the guilt, the daughter, the stolen documents all carefully crafted lies. Delphine is brilliant at shadow magic. She can make people believe anything." He tilted his head. "There was no Thomas. No burning three-year-old. Just a story designed to earn your trust."
"The documents "
"Real," Delphine interrupted. "But we wanted you to see them. Wanted you angry, desperate, ready to act rashly. Wanted you to believe there was no time for caution." She circled me slowly. "You're so predictable, vessel. Show you suffering children and you lose all sense of strategy."
The chains tightened. I gasped as they burned into my skin.
"These are the original binding chains," Delphine explained. "Forged from stolen dragon essence specifically to suppress your kind. They cut you off from the dragon completely. He can't hear you. Can't help you. Can't manifest." Her smile widened. "He's trapped in your mind, screaming and helpless, while we extract him piece by piece."
"You can't "
"Oh, but we can." She gestured to her mages. "Begin the soul-extraction ritual."
The mages formed a circle around me, chanting in a language that hurt to hear. Dark magic swirled through the air, pressing against my chest like a physical weight.
Then the pain started.
It felt like someone was reaching inside my chest and pulling out my soul with hooks. I bit down on my scream, refusing to give them the satisfaction.
Don't break, I told myself. Don't scream. Don't give them anything.
The extraction magic dug deeper. I could feel something tearing inside me the bond with Kaelthar being ripped apart strand by strand. Like having my heart slowly cut out while I was still alive.
"Fascinating," Delphine murmured, watching me with clinical interest. "Most vessels start screaming within seconds. You're remarkably resilient."
I tasted blood. I'd bitten through my lip.
Tym needs the resistance, I thought desperately, clinging to that idea like a lifeline. Can't break. Can't let them take Kaelthar. He's the only weapon strong enough to stop Operation Cleansing Dawn. Have to protect him. Have to
The pain increased tenfold. This time I did scream.
But even through the agony, even as my soul felt like it was being shredded, I thought only of protecting the dragon. Of keeping him safe so he could help Tym, help the resistance, stop the genocide.
I never thought about saving myself. Never blamed Kaelthar for being in my head. Never wished I'd never made the contract.
Somewhere in the prison of my mind, behind the binding chains' suppression, I felt something. A flicker of awareness. Kaelthar could feel everything I felt through our bond. Every second of this torture. Every moment of my soul being torn apart.
And because I refused to give him up, he was trapped experiencing it all, unable to help, unable to escape, unable to do anything but feel my agony as if it were his own.
I'm sorry, I thought toward where his presence used to be. I'm so sorry you have to feel this.
Even now, I was apologizing to him. Protecting him.
"Remarkable," Delphine said again. She knelt beside me, studying my face. "Do you know what makes you different from other vessels we've captured, Serina?"
I couldn't answer. The pain was too much.
"They all begged us to take the dragon out. Pleaded for release. Blamed the creature in their head for their suffering." Delphine tilted my chin up, forcing me to meet her eyes. "But you're protecting him. Even while dying, even while your soul is being torn to shreds, you're trying to shield the World-End Dragon. Why?"
Because he's mine, I thought deliriously. My dragon. My burden. My responsibility.
"The extraction is nearly complete," one of the mages announced. "We should have the dragon essence separated within minutes."
"Excellent." Delphine stood. "Once we have him contained in an artifact, we'll execute the vessel and study the remains. The dragon will spend eternity in a prison even smaller than his last one, and we'll finally have a weapon strong enough to complete Operation Cleansing Dawn without resistance."
Through my fading consciousness, I heard footsteps. Heavy boots. Many of them.
"Archmage," a guard called. "We have a problem."
"What now?"
"The sanctuary forces. They're attacking our position. Lord Corvus is leading them wait." The guard's voice changed to panic. "He's not alone. There are hundreds of them. Maybe thousands. Where did they all come from?"
I tried to smile through the blood in my mouth. Arvain. He'd figured out it was a trap. He'd come for me.
But it was too late.
The extraction magic reached critical point. I felt something fundamental tear loose inside me the connection to Kaelthar severing completely. The bond that had defined me for weeks suddenly gone.
I'd failed. Failed to protect him. Failed to keep Tym safe. Failed everyone.
My vision went black.
But just before I lost consciousness completely, I heard Delphine's shocked gasp.
"Impossible. The dragon he's not fighting the extraction. He's... he's reversing it."
The last thing I felt was power. Overwhelming, ancient, devastating power flooding into me instead of out.
Kaelthar wasn't being extracted.
He was giving himself to me completely.
And then I knew nothing at all.
I woke to Arvain's face above me, his expression desperate.
"Serina! Can you hear me? Stay with me!"
My body felt strange. Too light. Too empty. I tried to speak, but no sound came out.
"The dragon," I finally managed to whisper. "Is he "
Arvain's face went pale. "Serina, you need to see something."
He held up a mirror.
My reflection stared back at me. But my eyes my eyes weren't gray anymore.
They were molten amber. Dragon eyes.
And when I opened my mouth to scream, dragon fire came out.