Chapter 65 Abstinence
“Are you going out at this time of the night?” Klishei asked with worry. Yeseus met her gaze, a reassuring smile playing on his lips. He pushed a stray lock of dark hair from her face.
“Only to reinforce the perimeter. It’s a bit like patching a leaky roof during a storm.”
She pulled her hand away, the warmth of his touch fading from her skin.
“But you’re weakening. I can feel it.”
He stood, his tall frame casting a long shadow across the room. He walked to the window, peering out into the twilight that bled beyond Dirhana’s invisible walls.
“The barrier needs constant tending. It’s what keeps you safe. What keeps them out.”
He turned back to her, his blue eyes softening.
“Sleep, Klishei. You’ve had enough turmoil for one day. I’ll be back before dawn.”
Her lips parted, a protest forming, but he pressed a finger gently to them.
“Trust me.” His voice was a low rumble, a promise woven with the ancient magic that still clung to his form.
She stared at him for a long moment, then nodded, a sigh escaping her.
“Be careful, Yeseus.”
He offered another smile. Klishei watched the spot where he vanished, a cold knot forming in her stomach.
She tried to read, to distract herself with the worn pages of a forgotten novel, but the words blurred. She closed her eyes, pressing her palms against her temples, trying to push the chilling truth away.
Eventually, exhaustion claimed her.
Beyond Dirhana’s shimmering veil, the air crackled. Jaden stood at the head of a small contingent of Cosmic Knights, their silver-scaled armor absorbing the faint starlight. The barrier, a pulsating dome of emerald light, stretched before them.
“It grows stronger,” one of the knights, a burly figure with a face like carved granite, rumbled. “The Alpha exerts himself.”
Jaden’s honey eyes narrowed, fixed on the shimmering green.
“He drains his life force with every reinforcement. The Phoenix Bride fuels him, but she also consumes him. A tragic, beautiful irony.”
He raised a hand, his gauntleted fingers glowing faintly.
“Begin the assault. Target the weakest points.”
The knights moved, their movements fluid and silent. Their blades, infused with cosmic energy, struck the barrier in rhythmic pulses, each impact sending ripples through the emerald light, causing it to flicker and dim.
A shadow detached itself from the deeper gloom of Dirhana’s forests. Yeseus materialized, his form a blur of speed, his blue eyes blazing with an inner fire.
“You’re persistent,” Yeseus’s voice, a low growl, cut through the clashing sounds. “I’d hoped you’d learn your lesson.”
Jaden stepped forward, a faint smile on his lips.
“And I, Alpha, had hoped you would recognize the futility of your defiance. The King’s will is absolute.”
Yeseus scoffed.
“The King’s will is a child’s tantrum. Step aside, Jaden.”
“I cannot.” Jaden’s blade, a shimmering column of pure light, materialized in his hand. “My orders are clear. The Phoenix Bride belongs to the Cosmos. To the King.”
“She belongs to herself,” Yeseus retorted, his voice vibrating with a primal fury. He lunged, his claws against Jaden’s sword.
The clash of silver against cosmic steel was deafening. Jaden met Yeseus’s feral assault with a practiced grace, his light-blade deflecting his claws. Sparks, bright as nascent stars, flew with every impact. The other knights engaged the perimeter, their efforts focused on weakening the barrier, creating a diversion.
Yeseus fought with a desperate ferocity, each strike fueled by his waning power. He moved with the untamed power of a storm, a whirlwind of dark energy and ancient rage. Jaden, calm and precise, parried and dodged, his movements economical, conserving energy. He observed, he analyzed, he waited for an opening.
“You bleed yourself dry for a human,” Jaden remarked, his voice devoid of emotion.
Yeseus snarled.
“She is not ‘a human’. She is Klishei. And she is mine to protect.”
He pressed his attack, a flurry of rapid, brutal strikes, forcing Jaden back. The Cosmic Knight stumbled, his light-blade flickering. Yeseus saw his chance.
But Jaden was faster. He twisted, his blade transforming into a whip of pure energy, lashing out, wrapping around him.
Yeseus staggered, momentarily disoriented. Jaden moved, his hand a blur, striking Yeseus’s chest with a focused pulse of energy. The Alpha grunted, a sharp gasp escaping him, as he crumpled to his knees. The emerald barrier around Dirhana flickered violently, threatening to collapse.
Jaden stood over him, his light-blade humming, its tip poised at Yeseus’s throat.
“Yield, Alpha. This struggle is futile. You are weakened. Your blight consumes you even as you fight.”
Yeseus coughed, a thin trickle of blood escaping his lips. His blue eyes, though dimmed, still burned with defiance.
“Never.”
Then, an explosion caused the ground beneath them to tremble. Yeseus smirked. The traps he had set earlier worked. The disoriented cosmic knights were in disarray. They just inhaled Dirhana powder, a poisonous substance that only the wolves knew to create.
With a frustrated growl, Jaden withdrew his blade.
“This is not over, Alpha. The King’s patience wears thin.”
He vanished, his knights following suit, their forms dissolving into the starlit air. The low hum of the barrier, though still strained, resumed its steady rhythm.
Yeseus pushed himself up, his body screaming in protest, his chest aching from Jaden’s blow. The blight gnawed at him, a cold fire in his heart, sucking at his life force. He felt himself teetering on the edge of exhaustion, his vision blurring.
He needed Klishei. The memory of her body under his, her gasps, her cries, her potent juices filling him, surged through his mind.
He dragged himself back through the hidden passage, the scent of pine and damp earth clinging to him.
He reached their room, the door ajar, a sliver of warm light spilling onto the hallway. He pushed it open. Klishei lay sprawled on her back, the blankets tangled around her legs, her chest rising and falling in a deep, even rhythm.
He stood over her, his body aching, his core throbbing with a desperate hunger. He could feel her essence, warm and vibrant, a potent balm to his suffering. One touch, one kiss, one desperate, consuming act, and the blight would recede, his strength would return.
He reached out, his hand hovering inches from her skin, trembling with the effort of restraint. His fingers ached to trace the curve of her jaw, to feel the warmth of her breath against his palm. His gaze lingered on her lips, slightly parted, full and inviting. The temptation was a physical force, pulling at him, screaming at him to take what he desperately needed.
But he saw her face, innocent and peaceful in sleep. He remembered her fear, her quiet questions about his decay. He remembered his promise.
He pulled his hand back, clenching his fist until his knuckles whitened. He swallowed the metallic taste of blood on his tongue.
He turned back to the other side of the bed. He knew he could not take what he needed from her. Not tonight. Not when she was unaware, innocent.
He just slept, the cold, hard floor a stark penance for a love that was slowly killing him.