Chapter 108 Blood bound
"You should go and apologize," Orion repeated. His voice wasn't mocking this time; it was weary, as if the weight of Esperanza’s grief was pressing down on his psychic senses too.
Ezra felt a jolt of pure shock. A demon like him... has a heart? For all the talk of blood-bonds and ancient souls, Ezra had never considered that Orion might actually care about Esperanza’s peace of mind more than his own rivalry with a King. It was a humbling, bitter pill to swallow.
"I..." Ezra started, his voice failing him. He looked from Orion’s dark silhouette back to the bright, sun-drenched balcony where Esperanza stood, her silhouette trembling against the sky.
"Don't stand there gaping like a common soldier," Orion muttered, turning away to give them a semblance of privacy. "She doesn't need a King right now. She needs the man who promised to be her last breath. Go."
Ezra stepped out into the blinding midday heat. The stone of the balcony was warm beneath his boots, but the air felt cold with the residue of Esperanza's tears.
He approached her slowly, his shadow stretching out before him until it touched the hem of her dress.
"Esperanza," he said, his voice barely a whisper, stripped of all pride. "I was a fool. I tried to measure my losses against yours, as if grief were a competition. I didn't see the flames you were standing in because I was too busy looking at my own reflection."
He reached out, his hand trembling as he placed it gently on her shoulder, feeling the heat of the "Golden Dragon" pulsing beneath her skin.
"I am sorry. Truly. I will not just be with you for the journey... I will be the ground beneath your feet when the bridge starts to shake. Please... look at me."
"I spoke without thinking," Ezra said, his voice low and steady despite the bright, exposed air around them. "I tried to claim a seat at your table of sorrow, but I see now... your table is at the bottom of the sea, and mine is in the sun."
He took a step closer. The library behind them was a dark maw, where Orion stood watching, but out here, in the midday heat, Ezra felt the full weight of his mistake.
"I am sorry for the heartless words, Esperanza. I cannot know your pain, and I will never pretend to again. But I can promise you this..."
He reached out, his hand warm from the sun, and placed it gently on her trembling shoulder.
"You are not alone. You will never have to listen to those flames or those oceans by yourself. I am with you now, and I will be with you until my very last breath. If your mother is in the dark, then I will be the torch. If she is in the deep, I will be the anchor. I don't care about the kingdom anymore. I only care about you."
Esperanza didn't move at first. She stared out at the horizon, where the heat waves made the distant land look like it was underwater just like the visions of her mother.
She finally turned her head slightly, her eyes red-rimmed and fierce in the daylight. "Then don't just say it, Ezra," she whispered, her voice raw. "If you are with me, then help me reach my destination.
Orion stepped out of the library’s cool interior and onto the sun-drenched stone, his footsteps sharp and fast. The air around him seemed to shimmer with a dark, psychic heat that rivaled the afternoon sun.
"You need to let go of her body," Orion said, his voice dropping into a low, dangerous vibration.
He stopped just a few feet away, his eyes fixed on the exact spot where Ezra’s hand rested on Esperanza’s skin. He wasn't talking about "soul-written" secrets or "ancient bridges" anymore; he was burning in jealousy, and the raw, human pettiness of it was impossible to hide.
Ezra froze, his fingers tightening slightly on her shoulder before he slowly pulled back, his eyes narrowing as he faced his rival. But before he could snap back with a "King’s" retort, a small, unexpected sound filled the space between them.
Esperanza smiled.
It was a faint, tired smile, but it was there her first moment of lightness.
"Is my 'body' a map or a territory to you both?" Esperanza asked, her voice carrying a hint of her old strength. She wiped a stray tear, looking from Ezra’s flushed face to Orion’s dark, brooding glare.
"Orion, you look like you’re about to catch fire. And Ezra, you look like a boy caught stealing fruit." She stood taller, the Golden Dragon within her settling into a calm, commanding posture. "If you are both done measuring your shadows, the sun is high. The Bridge doesn't wait for jealous men."
Ezra stepped back, his hands held up in a gesture of disbelief. "You told me to go to her!" he countered, his voice rising in a mix of frustration and genuine confusion. "You literally stood there and lectured me on how to be a man, Orion!"
"Yes, I did!" Orion snapped back, his dark eyes fixed on the exact spot on Esperanza’s shoulder where Ezra’s warmth still lingered. "I told you to apologize, not to... to claim her! You need to apologize with your words, not your hands. Do not touch her."
The situation was so absurdly petty that the heavy, tragic air from moments ago evaporated. Esperanza looked from the fuming, psychic powerhouse to the stunned, indignant King, and a short, sudden laugh escaped her lips.
It was a jagged sound, still touched by her tears, but it was real.
"You both are impossible," Esperanza said, wiping the last of the salt from her cheeks. Her smile lingered, a faint, weary light in the afternoon heat. "Orion, you are 'burning' over a hand on a shoulder while my mother is drowning in a psychic ocean. And Ezra, you are arguing with a demon about permission to comfort me."
She stepped forward, placing herself exactly between them so neither could claim the "closer" spot.
"The sun is at its peak," she said, her voice regaining its draconic authority. "If the 'King' and the 'Demon' are done fighting over my skin, I would like to find my soul. Orion, the blood-bond—use it. Show me the bridge. Now."
Ezra straightened his tunic, his face still flushed, while Orion’s jaw remained tight, his jealousy simmering just beneath the surface like a dormant volcano.
"Now come inside," Orion said, his voice dropping into that low, resonant frequency that vibrated in the stone floor. "It’s just started."
Esperanza nodded, her face setting into a mask of grim determination. The "Golden Dragon" within her was no longer weeping; it was preparing for a hunt.
As they crossed the doorway, Ezra reached out. He didn't demand, and he didn't look at Orion for permission this time. He simply opened his palm, a silent offering of a King’s protection. Esperanza looked at his hand, then at his eyes, and placed her fingers firmly into his.
Orion led them to the center of the room, where the shadows seemed to pool on the floor like spilled ink. He watched their joined hands with a sharp, stinging look, but he didn't speak. He knew he needed Ezra’s stability to keep Esperanza’s physical body from collapsing during the vision.
"Sit," Orion commanded, gesturing to the floor. "The Bridge of the Serpent Twins is not a place you walk to with your feet. You walk to it with your pulse."
Orion knelt opposite them and held out his own hands, palms up, though he didn't touch them yet. The silver hue in his eyes began to bleed into the whites, and the room started to hum.
"Close your eyes, Esperanza," Orion whispered. "Follow the heat of the blood I gave you. Find the place where the water burns."
"Give me your hand," Orion whispered, his voice sounding as if it were coming from the bottom of a deep well.
As Esperanza placed her palm into his, a sharp, electric jolt the "blood-bond" surged through her arm. It wasn't painful, but it was ancient. Beside her, Ezra’s grip tightened instinctively, his protective instinct warring with the strange, cold energy flowing from Orion.
Then, they all closed their eyes.
The "Bridge" wasn't made of stone or wood. It was a narrow, translucent ribbon of light stretched over a terrifying abyss. To one side, an ocean of liquid midnight thrashed with silent fury; to the other, white-hot flames licked the sky, yet gave off no heat only a crushing, heavy light.
Then, she felt it.
A low, subterranean vibration hummed through the soles of her feet. It wasn't the wind. It was the mumbling of a Giant.
"Don't look at the serpents," Orion’s voice echoed in her mind, sounding strained. "Look past them. Find the golden thread. That is her life... that is the kingdom."
But as Esperanza looked, one of the Giant Serpents the one made of molten gold. turned its massive, moon-sized eye toward her. It sensed the "Golden Dragon" within her. It wasn't just a guardian; it was a relative.
Esperanza couldn't speak yet. Her palm, the one Orion had been holding, was burning not with heat, but with the lingering vibration of the Giant’s mumble. She looked at her hand as if it belonged to someone else.
Orion wiped a bead of cold sweat from his forehead, his breath hitching. "Why did you break it?" he whispered, his voice uncharacteristically thin. "We were almost at the Verge. I could feel the golden thread..."
Esperanza looked at him, her eyes fierce with a mix of horror and sudden, crystalline clarity.
"The Giant," she choked out, her voice finally returning. "It wasn't just guarding the bridge. It was eating the air around her. It’s not just keeping her there, Orion it’s keeping her silent."
She turned to Ezra, her fingers digging into his arm