A Fire in the Flesh

“Your life could’ve been so fucking different. Your family never would’ve punished you. You wouldn’t have had to feel as if you were alone—never allowed to experience what most take for granted. You wouldn’t have felt like a monster. My apologies were and will never be enough. I could’ve—”

“I know who you are, Sera, and what you mean to me. And that is everything because you are everything to me. And that will never change.”

“Liessa. I’ve got you. Everything will be all right now. I’ve got you.”

“I…I don’t know much about love, or anything really. But love should inspire one to indulge in more than just violence and death.”

“It’s said that when the Arae look upon the threads of fate and see all the many different possibilities of one’s life, they can sometimes see what may come of the love between two or more souls. And in that union, they see possibilities that can reshape the realms by either creating something never seen before or ushering in great change. And when they see that one thread, they are forbidden to intervene in the affairs of those souls, as they believe the bond between them cannot be circumvented. So, not even death of the body or the heart and soul—the kardia—can break such a connection. And the joining of our souls has brought up something never seen before. A Queen of the Gods.”

“It’s from the oldest of our language. Toria had a few meanings. One meant garden. Another could be loosely translated into pretty flower. But a more exact translation is poppy.”

“Because I have not seen life restored—real life, with my own eyes—since Eythos. But more than that? I never thought his plan would work. Restoring life to a hawk is one thing, but a draken? Eythos was under the impression that the embers would protect you and maybe give you some ability to restore life, but not to that extent. Even before the embers he stole from Eythos died out, Kolis couldn’t bring a draken back.”

“I have a feeling Holland really likes to push that fine line he walks between interfering and casually observing.”

“Wait. Do you think to compare me to the mortal trash known as Tavius?”

“Those bones, when wielded as a weapon? Prick even the skin of a god? Dead. And because of the embers, if I try to take you through them and you get nicked? Dead. They can even put a Primal into years-long stasis. Nyktos is just as imprisoned by them as you are, and he’s far more guarded.”

“Fates, Sera, I…I love you.”

“They can kill a fledgling Primal, depending on where they are struck, like one who is just coming out of their Culling. They’d be susceptible to that for many years until they fully harness their eather. But if any Primal, fledging or not, is impaled by a bone, they would remain incapacitated until it was removed.”

“I knew what Eythos did before Kolis or Nyktos figured it out. Eythos and I were brothers in a way that he and Kolis never were. Friend. And I was one of the few entrusted with the knowledge of what Eythos did.”

“But if you handling it doesn’t actually handle it? And they still show you disrespect? I will fucking destroy them.”

“Because even if we weren’t mates of the heart, what you made me feel from the moment you stood in the Shadow Temple years ago to every moment between then and now, would’ve still made me fall in love with you. Your courage and strength, your beauty and utter fearlessness, your humor, and most of all, that softness of yours you share with me. It would’ve made sure my kardia somehow came back. I believe that—I know that—because you’re the first person I have ever felt has truly accepted me, no matter what I’ve done in my past or what has been done to me. You’re the first to refuse to allow any more drops of blood to be inked into my flesh. You were the first to ever make me feel anything that mattered. You’re…you’re simply my first, Sera, and you will be my last.”

“Sotoria’s soul is in you, but you’re not her. And even if Kolis never realizes that, it means you’re not the weapon Eythos believed he created.”

“Then I hope she hears this, I will save you this time.

“You have a real fucked-up, unhelpful way of showing your loyalty.”