Chapter 10: The Weight of Choice (Or: Sometimes Love Means Letting Go)
Day 52
The dungeon's call had become impossible to ignore.
I woke that morning to find the mana signature pulsing through my chest like a second heartbeat... stronger, more insistent, almost desperate. Through the bond, Nyx felt it too. She lifted her head from where she'd been sleeping across my legs, eyes narrowing.
It grows urgent.
"Yeah." I sat up, careful not to dislodge the three fairies who'd decided my beard was a nest. "The System's been counting down. Forty-three days until 'critical destabilization,' whatever that means."
Then we go today. Her certainty was absolute, unshakeable. Together.
I'd been dreading this conversation for weeks.
"Nyx... we need to talk about that."
Through the bond, I felt her immediate resistance, a wall of stubborn determination that would've been impressive if it wasn't directed at me.
"The dungeon is calling me specifically," I said carefully. "It's been pulling at my mana since I found your egg. I think... I think it wants whatever this is." I gestured at myself, the demon body, the ember-shadow magic, the corruption that had been growing stronger with every level. "And I can't risk you in there."
No. Simple, absolute. We are bonded. We fight together. This is not a discussion.
"It is a discussion, because someone needs to stay and protect our territory." I reached out, scratching under her chin the way she liked. "The fairies, the grove, everything we've built... it's vulnerable while I'm gone. And if the dungeon destabilizes? This whole region could be destroyed."
She pulled away from my touch, scales rippling with agitation. You are trying to manipulate me with logic.
"I'm trying to keep you safe!"
And I am trying to do the same for you! Her mental voice was anguished. You think I do not know what that place is? I can feel it through our bond, ancient, hungry, wrong. It wants to consume you. And you wish to go alone?
"I wish neither of us had to go at all." My voice cracked. "But if I don't, and it explodes, and it kills you, and the fairies, and everyone..." I couldn't finish the sentence.
Nyx was silent for a long moment. Then, quietly: You are afraid.
"Terrified," I admitted. "Of losing you. Of losing everything we've built. Of going into that place and not coming back. Take your pick."
Then do not go.
"I have to. You know I have to."
She made a sound somewhere between a growl and a whimper, pressing her head against my chest. Through the bond, I felt her fear, her desperation, her absolute refusal to accept this reality.
"I need you here," I said softly. "Not just to protect the territory, but because if something goes wrong, if I don't make it back... you're my legacy. You and the fairies and this place we've made. Someone needs to remember that I tried to be better than what I was on Earth. That I built something instead of just surviving."
You are coming back, she said fiercely. This is not a goodbye.
"No. It's a 'see you later.'"
Promise me.
I wanted to. Gods, I wanted to promise her with every fiber of my being. But Emma had taught me that some promises couldn't be kept, no matter how much you meant them.
"I promise I'll fight like hell to come back," I said instead. "I promise I won't give up. And I promise that if I do come back, I'm never leaving you again."
It wasn't enough. I could feel it wasn't enough. But it was all I had to give.
Day 54
The fairies took the news about as well as Nyx had.
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Lira screamed directly into my ear. "You are not going into a murder dungeon alone! That's the stupidest thing you've ever said, and you once tried to eat glowing moss!"
"That was one time..."
"IT WAS THREE TIMES!"
Pip was quieter but no less upset. "Knox, please. There has to be another way. We could... we could evacuate? Find somewhere safe until it passes?"
"There is nowhere safe," I said gently. "If the dungeon explodes, it'll take out everything for miles. And even if we ran, what about all the other creatures in Shadowfen? The Scale Hares, the sprites, the treant? Everyone we've befriended?"
Elder Mirielle studied me with those ancient eyes. "You have made your choice, then."
"I have."
"And Nyx?"
"Stays here. Protects the grove. Keeps everyone safe."
The Elder nodded slowly. "A wise decision, though it will wound you both. The bond between dragon and chosen is not meant to be strained by distance."
"I know." My chest already ached at the thought. "But it's the only way."
"Then we shall support your choice." She turned to the assembled fairies. "Nyx will need aid while he is gone. The territory must be defended, resources gathered, spirits kept high. Can we do this?"
A chorus of affirmatives, some enthusiastic, some reluctant.
Lira landed on my shoulder, unusually serious. "You're really doing this."
"I really am."
"Then you'd better come back, because if you die in there, I'm going to be SO MAD AT YOU."
Despite everything, I smiled. "Noted."
Day 56
The preparation took on new weight knowing I was going alone.
I crafted obsessively, better armor, backup weapons, and emergency supplies. Stockpiled enough food and materials to last Nyx and the fairies for months if needed. Reinforced every defensive structure I'd built, showed Nyx how to use the territory's natural mana flows to create barriers.
She learned everything with grim determination, never once suggesting I should take her instead. She'd accepted the logic, even if she hated it.
At night, we slept pressed together, the bond humming with shared anxiety and desperate affection. I memorized the feeling of her scales under my hand, the sound of her breathing, the warmth of her presence in my mind.
I will miss you, she admitted one night.
"I'll miss you too. Every second."
The fairies will keep me distracted with their chaos.
"They're good at that."
And when you return, she continued, her mental voice taking on that tone that meant she was planning something, we are never separating again. Ever. I do not care if the gods themselves demand it.
"Deal."
Day 58
The day before departure, I woke to find half of Shadowfen's friendly creatures gathered at my camp.
The Scale Hares brought mana-rich vegetables. The sprites wove protective charms. Even the Mossbark Guardian showed up, leaving a massive crystal at the camp's entrance, an offering of power and protection.
The aerial goldfish with arms (I'd named him Gerald, because why not) did a complex aerial dance that I think was supposed to be encouraging. It mostly just made me dizzy.
"You've built something here," Elder Mirielle said, surveying the gathering. "A community that values life over power, protection over domination. That is rare, Knox Ashford. Especially for a demon."
"I'm a terrible demon," I admitted.
"The best kind." She smiled. "We will guard your home, your partner, and your legacy. Go face the darkness knowing that light waits for your return."
The fairies presented their gifts one by one:
Lira gave me a bell that would ring in the fairy grove when I was in mortal danger. "So we know when to start worrying versus panicking."
Pip offered a vial of concentrated healing potion. "Emergency use only. It'll hurt like hell but keep you alive."
Dewdrop and the others brought flowers, tokens, small blessings.
By the time they finished, I was carrying enough fairy magic to outfit a small army.
"Thank you," I said, my voice thick. "All of you. For... for everything."
"Don't thank us yet," Lira said. "Thank us when you come home."
Day 59 - Morning
The morning of departure came too fast.
I stood at the entrance to my hollow, our hollow, and looked at everything we'd built. The reinforced walls, the comfortable nest, the small herb garden Pip had helped me plant. Two months of work, of learning, of slowly becoming someone worth keeping alive.
Nyx sat beside me, scales gleaming in the early light. Through the bond, I felt her trying to stay strong, trying not to let me feel her fear.
"Okay," I said, checking my pack for the fifth time. "You know where all the emergency supplies are?"
Yes.
"And you'll keep the fairies from doing anything too stupid?"
I will try. They are very determined to be stupid.
"Fair point." I knelt in front of her, bringing us eye to eye. "Nyx, I..."
Do not. Her mental voice was firm. Do not say goodbye. You are coming back. This is 'see you later,' remember?
"See you later," I echoed, throat tight.
She pressed her forehead to mine, and through the bond, we shared everything we couldn't say... the love, the fear, the desperate hope that this wouldn't be the end.
Survive, she commanded. Come back to me. That is not a request.
"Yes, ma'am."
The fairies had gathered at the camp's edge, a cluster of nervous, glowing lights. Lira was crying and pretending she wasn't. Pip held Dewdrop, who was too small to hide her tears. Even Elder Mirielle looked somber.
"Right," I said, standing and shouldering my pack. The weight was familiar, comforting. "I'll be back before you know it. Try not to burn down the forest while I'm gone."
"Try not to die in a dungeon," Lira shot back, voice wavering.
"It's a deal."
I started walking toward the dungeon's location, each step feeling like I was leaving pieces of myself behind. The bond with Nyx stretched but didn't break, a constant awareness of her presence, growing more distant but never absent.
I didn't look back. If I looked back, I might not be able to keep walking.
Behind me, I felt Nyx's presence settle into determination. She would protect our home. She would keep everyone safe. And she would be waiting when I returned.
I love you, she sent through the bond, clear and fierce.
I love you too, I sent back. More than I thought I could love anything again.
Then I focused forward, toward the dungeon that waited like a wound in the earth, and let purpose override fear.
Day 59 - Afternoon
The dungeon entrance looked worse than I remembered.
The crystalline growths had spread, pulsing with sickly light. The mana radiating from it was thick enough to taste, metallic, wrong, hungry. The air around it shimmered with heat that had nothing to do with temperature.
[WARNING: ENTERING DUNGEON - SHADOWFEN HEART] [ESTIMATED DIFFICULTY: EXTREME] [ESTIMATED DURATION: UNKNOWN]
[SURVIVAL PROBABILITY: 34%] [PARTY SIZE: 1] [NOTE: RECOMMENDED PARTY SIZE: 5-8] [SECONDARY NOTE: YOU'RE INSANE] [GOOD LUCK]
"Better than 12%," I muttered.
I pulled out the Fae Token, pressed it against a nearby tree. A marker. A promise. Then I checked my weapons one last time, felt the protective charms the fairies had given me, and took a deep breath.
Through the bond, impossibly distant now, I felt Nyx's presence, steady, strong, waiting.
See you later, she sent.
See you later, I echoed.
Then I stepped into the dungeon.
The world swallowed me whole.