The night sky hung low over the city, thick with storm clouds that looked almost alive—shifting, pulsing, whispering. Riven felt them before he saw them. A strange pressure, like the world was holding its breath.
Azael stood beside him on the rooftop, his black coat whipping in the wind. His eyes glowed faint gold beneath his lashes, focused on the distant shadows forming in the sky.
"They've found you," Azael murmured.
Riven swallowed hard. "Who?"
"The Council of Sundered Blood."
His voice was calm… too calm.
Riven turned to him sharply. "You're not telling me everything again."
Azael's jaw flexed—one of the rare signs that he was actually afraid.
"The Council are the ones who first cursed your power in your past life," he said quietly. "The ones who feared the Eternal One so much that they forced a binding on your soul. They created the contract that erased your memories and sealed your core."
Riven felt a chill crawl down his spine.
"I thought you said no one could use that magic anymore."
"I thought so too," Azael replied, eyes fixed on the sky. "But they've resurrected it. And tonight… they intend to claim you."
A loud crack tore through the clouds—like bone breaking. A ripple of red lightning stitched across the heavens. The air warped, bending like heat around invisible shapes.
Riven stepped back. "What do they want from me?"
Azael finally looked at him. His expression tightened—protective, fierce, almost desperate.
"They want your blood."
He took a slow breath.
"To re-bind your soul. To lock you away again. To erase everything you've become. Your memories, your emotions…"
His voice dropped.
"Your connection to me."
The words hit Riven with more force than the thunder rolling through the sky.
He didn't realize he was shaking until Azael gently touched his wrist.
"Hey," Azael whispered. "Look at me."
Riven looked up.
Azael's eyes burned with a quiet, terrifying promise.
"I won't let them take you."
Riven opened his mouth to reply—but the rooftop split in half before he could speak. A spear of crimson energy stabbed through the concrete, sending debris flying.
A voice echoed from the swirling clouds:
"Eternal One, submit your blood. The Contract calls."
A pale figure descended from the sky, robes made of ink-black mist, eyes glowing a dead, hollow red. Another followed. And another. Three in total—each carrying a sigil carved from bone.
Azael pushed Riven behind him instantly, wings erupting from his back in a violent burst of black-gold light.
Riven gasped. Even in danger, Azael was breathtaking—dangerous, impossible, divine.
The lead figure raised a skeletal hand.
"Guardian," it hissed. "Step aside."
Azael laughed—a low, lethal sound.
"You'll have to kill me."
"We intend to."
The Council members raised their bone sigils—the air twisted violently, warping around Riven like claws closing in.
Then everything happened at once.
Azael surged forward, blades of pure shadow forming along his arms.
The Council hurled chains of blood-red magic toward Riven.
Riven's chest burned—his core pulsing with the same ancient, golden fire he was still learning to control.
A single word tore out of him, instinctive and raw:
"ENOUGH!"
A shockwave exploded from his body—golden, blinding, alive. The rooftop shattered. The clouds split. The bone sigils cracked in their hands.
The three Council members staggered, stunned.
Azael's eyes widened.
"Riven… your power—"
Riven couldn't hear him—his heartbeat drowned everything out. The golden aura surged around him like a living storm, rising higher, brighter, hotter.
But with it came pain.
A sharp, stabbing pain in his chest—like something ancient was struggling to break free.
He gasped, grabbing onto Azael's arm.
"Azael… something's… awakening—"
Azael caught him instantly, pulling him close, shielding him as the golden fire raged.
"Don't fight it," Azael whispered fiercely. "It's your true form trying to break the seal. Let it come."
Riven tried—but the pain intensified, ripping through him like lightning.
Then, as if on cue, the lead Council member raised its cracked sigil and shouted:
"Now! While the seal is unstable—bind him!"
Chains of blood magic shot toward Riven again.
Azael reacted first—he wrapped his arms around Riven, wings cocooning him completely.
The chains struck Azael instead.
They pierced deep—through skin, through bone, through his very essence.
"Azael!" Riven screamed, reaching for him.
Azael trembled but forced a smile.
"Riven… stay awake. Stay with me."
The Council began chanting—the ancient curse meant for Riven now sinking into Azael's body.
Azael's voice broke in a rare, raw whisper:
"They can't have you. Not again."
Riven's eyes burned—his aura exploding violently outward.
The sky cracked open.
The rooftop trembled.
The curse reacted.
And Azael collapsed forward—
—falling into Riven's arms as the world turned blinding gold.
To be continued…