The Primeval Era

Damian blinked at the sudden and shocking action of the Holy Daughter.

Truly, before she did what she did, he had been following her practice of Umoya munye. The breathing had helped. The naming of his burden had helped. The sensation of her hands against his, of someone sharing weight he had been carrying alone, had brought him to a level of calm that felt almost foreign after the chaos of the past hours.

And then she had...done that.

Her lips had pressed against his with warmth that cut through everything else, a contact so unexpected that his mind had simply stopped processing for several heartbeats. The power that had surged between them, the explosion of Mana and emotion that accompanied the touch, had been unlike anything he had experienced as a Dross or Anointed One.

He felt different thoughts rising in his mind.

Thoughts about the softness of her lips. How he had never tasted something like this before as it was...sweet?

But!

He pushed them down.

There was no time for that.

The guilt in his heart wasn’t entirely gone. It probably never would be, not completely, not while his Ama’s soul remained trapped in the hands of demons. But he knew how to deal with it now as he had a direction. He had a purpose. He had something to do other than simply survive and hide and pretend that revenge was enough.

If his mother was locked in the Lands of Demons, then he had to go and bring her back.

But he knew he couldn’t just walk into a place he had no knowledge of. Where was it located? What barriers separated the mortal Lands of Stone from wherever demons dwelt? What enemies awaited anyone foolish enough to attempt such a crossing? How powerful were the forces that had killed his father eight summers ago, and how much stronger had they grown since?

There was a lot he had to find out before he made a move.

For now, he was actually expectant about what might arise from those who had Seeds of Demons behind him. Imperators hung suspended in golden chains, their hearts still beating, their potential demon seeds still dormant. When he finally allowed them to die, those seeds would bloom. And blooming demons might provide answers that living traitors had been unable or unwilling to give.

He looked toward Serala.

She had scrambled backward during her panic, putting distance between them that seemed almost comical given what she had just done. Her face was flushed slightly.

It was almost amusing.

"Thank you."

His voice emerged steady and calm, carrying none of the turmoil that had gripped him before her ritual.

Whatever had followed, the Binding of Shared Breath had accomplished what it was meant to accomplish. She had helped him when he needed help.

He saw her note that he didn’t mention the other thing.

Relief flooded her features as she nodded, breathing out tension that had been coiling through her body. She gathered herself visibly, composure returning piece by piece as she rebuilt the walls that had crumbled. Within moments, she had recovered her extraordinary and imperious demeanor, spine straightening, chin lifting, wing-shaped pupils cooling to something approaching their normal intensity.

"What I did towards the end is..."

She paused, searching for words.

"Sometimes also part of the practice of ancient traditions."

Her voice came out remarkably steady.

"So don’t take it the wrong way."

...!

Damian looked at her.

He looked at her obvious lie, at the way she couldn’t quite meet his eyes. The Holy Daughter of the Covenant of the First Stone, a being of profound cultivation and sacred purpose, was trying to convince him that kissing was a standard component of breathing exercises?

He sighed at the return to normalcy.

"Sure."

A slight smile crossed his features.

"I like the tradition."

...!

His words almost caused her to lose her composure entirely.

Her eyes widened with shock and indignation. Her mouth opened to respond, closed, opened again!

Before she could react in any way, Damian continued.

"But for now, I have a change of plans."

His tone shifted, warmth giving way to the cold calculation that had sustained him through battle and torture alike. The moment of levity passed as quickly as it had come, replaced by purpose that pressed against the cavern walls.

"The Dominion of Crimson Stone. Demons."

He looked toward the suspended Imperators, toward Sir Alex hanging among them with star-filled eyes that had gone dim.

"It seems they cannot leave me alone, and I cannot leave them alone."

His hands clenched at his sides.

"The Demons have my Ama’s soul."

Saying it aloud made it more real.

"Everything I do now will be going towards retrieving it."

He turned back to Serala, finding her expression shifted from embarrassment to something more serious.

The recognition of what such a revelation meant for someone who had already lost everything else.

"I know the Covenant of the First Stone is something with a lot of knowledge and power."

His wing-shaped pupils burned as he studied her.

"They are looking for you. But if I can get you past the Imperators and those wishing you harm and back into the Covenant..."

He paused, weighing his words.

"Will you be able to obtain all the information you can regarding Demons? How to get to them? Their level of power?"

...!

Serala looked at him with shock that gave way to something softer.

Pity, perhaps or even empathy.

Then her eyes became firm.

The softness hardened into glorious resolve!

The Holy Daughter who had questioned everything she believed, who had watched her world crumble around her, who had chosen to stand beside a being the Dominion called enemy, made her decision.

"If I can get back to the Covenant and find my Master or talk with the Hallowed One..."

Her voice rang with conviction that echoed off crystalline walls.

"I will move stone and faith to help you."

Her wing-shaped pupils blazed with light that matched his own.

"I will move with you."

...!

Her winged pupils and his shone with brightness as the Holy Daughter made such a promise.

It was not a small thing, what she offered!

Not at all!

The Covenant’s knowledge of demons was tremendous, accumulated across ages of conflict with forces from beyond the River of the World. Their archives held secrets that could mean the difference between success and annihilation. Their Shamans understood bindings and banishments that existed nowhere else.

And she was pledging all of it to his cause!