### Chapter 8: Shadow Manipulation I – The Tether
The Obsidian Arena smelled of scorched sand and old blood.
It was only the second week of proper classes, but the arena already knew Kael Voss and Riven Thorne by name.
Kael's POV
Kael stood at the edge of the duelling circle, palms sweating inside the fingerless gloves Lira had forced on him that morning. The arena was a sunken crater of black volcanic glass, ringed by tiered seats that rose five storeys high. Today every seat was taken. Word had spread: the eclipse-bound pair were scheduled for their first graded practical.
Professor Grimshaw—a hulking warlock with one eye made of living obsidian—strode to the centre, voice booming without amplification.
"Shadow Manipulation I, section A. Today's objective: Controlled Tether. One partner anchors, one extends. Distance: twenty metres. Duration: five minutes. Lethal force prohibited. Emotional bleed tolerated. Begin."
He pointed a gnarled finger straight at them.
"Voss. Thorne. Circle one. Everyone else—observe and take notes."
A collective inhale rippled through the stands.
Kael felt his stomach drop. They had practised tethers exactly twice—both times in the privacy of the dorm roof, both times ending with Riven pinning him to the wall and kissing him until the shadows forgot whose command they were under.
This was going to be mortifying.
Riven stepped into the circle first, coat discarded, sleeves rolled to the elbow. The vampire's forearms were traced with faint silver scars—old blood runes that caught the light like frost. He looked calm, almost bored, but Kael felt the bond spike with predatory focus.
Kael followed, rolling his shoulders. The black sand crunched under his boots. Twenty metres away, Riven took the anchor position: feet planted, arms loose at his sides, eyes bleeding from grey to full crimson.
Grimshaw raised a hand. "Anchor ready?"
Riven inclined his head.
"Extender ready?"
Kael exhaled. Shadows stirred at his feet, eager, almost playful. "Ready."
The hand dropped.
It was nothing like the roof.
The moment the exercise began, Riven's blood magic unfurled—thin crimson threads that rose from the sand like mist, tasting the air. Kael's shadows answered before he could think, surging forward in a black tide. They met in the middle of the circle and *twisted* together with a sound like silk tearing.
The tether formed in less than two seconds: a single cable of braided night and blood, thick as Kael's wrist, thrumming with shared heartbeat. It hovered between them, perfectly taut.
Grimshaw's single eye widened a fraction.
Then the emotional bleed started.
Because of course it did.
The tether wasn't just power—it was *them*. Every feeling either of them had tried to keep private poured through the link like floodwater.
Kael felt Riven's hunger—not for blood, but for *him*. The raw, possessive need that the vampire kept locked behind court manners and centuries of discipline. He felt the memory of last night: Riven's mouth on his throat, careful not to break skin, whispering *mine* against his pulse.
Riven, in turn, felt Kael's terror—that he would never be enough for this world, that one day the veil would rip him away again and leave Riven alone with half a soul.
The tether *shivered*.
The braided cable thickened, pulsing brighter. Shadows began crawling up Riven's arms like living tattoos; blood droplets lifted from Kael's skin, orbiting him in perfect crimson rings.
Someone in the stands whispered, "Holy shit."
Grimshaw cleared his throat. "Control it, gentlemen. Twenty metres. Extend."
Riven's voice was rough. "Kael. With me."
Kael gritted his teeth and *pushed*. The tether shot forward, stretching across the circle until it snapped taut at exactly twenty metres. Shadows anchored into the obsidian floor on Riven's side, blood runes flaring on Kael's.
Three minutes passed. Then four.
The bond was singing—high, sweet, dangerous. Kael's vision tunneled to just Riven: the faint sheen of sweat at his temple, the way his fangs had extended without noticing, the tiny tremor in his fingers that said he was holding back a tidal wave.
At four minutes fifty-three seconds, the tether *fractured*.
Not broke—*fractured*. A single crack of pure white light split down the middle, and for one impossible heartbeat the entire arena saw what the bond really looked like: two souls braided so tightly there was no beginning and no end.
Then it snapped back into place, thicker, darker, *permanent*.
Grimshaw blew the whistle early.
"Time!" he barked. "Dismissed. Voss, Thorne—my office. The rest of you—write a three-page reflection on what happens when you let a tether turn into a soul-bond in week two. Class dismissed."
The stands erupted into chaos—applause, wolf-whistles, at least three people fainting.
Kael's knees buckled.
Riven crossed the circle in a blur and caught him before he hit the sand, one arm around his waist, the other hand tangled in his hair.
"Breathe," Riven murmured against his ear, voice shaking for the first time Kael had ever heard. "I've got you."
Kael laughed—wet, overwhelmed, delirious. "We are so failed."
"On the contrary," Grimshaw called, striding over. "Perfect score. First perfect score in thirty-one years." He eyed the tether scar now etched permanently around both their left wrists—black on Kael, crimson on Riven. "Though I'll be recommending separate dorms. For everyone's safety."
Riven's grip tightened. "Not happening."
Grimshaw sighed the sigh of a man who had seen too many bonded pairs explode things. "Then learn control. Fast. Or next time I'll make you demonstrate in front of the entire university at the Eclipse Ball."
He walked away, muttering about paperwork and premature soul-marriage.
Kael looked up at Riven, still half-collapsed against his chest.
"So," he said weakly. "Detention together?"
Riven's smile was slow, sharp, and utterly wicked.
"Detention," he agreed, "and then I'm taking you somewhere the bond can scream as loud as it wants."
The shadows around their feet curled approvingly.
Shadow Manipulation I was officially the most dangerous class on campus.
And it was only Monday.
**To be continued…**