Page 2 of Too Dangerous To Die

Again, my gaze drags toward the statue, toward those sightless golden eyes that seem to bore into my soul.

I have no magic. No weapons. No chance of survival.

But I have one thing left.

My blood.

I barely feel the sharp sting as I drag my nails across my palm, opening a thin line in my skin. The dark elf sees the movement and laughs, shaking his head.

"What are you doing?"

I don’t answer.

Instead, Ipress my bleeding palm against the stone.

Theair ignites.

Adeep, guttural sound rumbles through the ruins, the very ground quaking beneath me. The elf stumbles back, his face twisting in shock as the gargoyleshudders.

Cracks spiderweb across the statue’s surface. The sigilsignite, a burning gold that sears through the darkness.

And then itmoves.

The sound it makes isnot human, not natural—a deep, ragged breath, as if it’s the first time it inhaled air in centuries. Stone grinds against stone, piecesfalling away, revealing flesh beneath—dark, like molten obsidian,veined with flickers of ember-red light.

The elf doesn’t hesitate. He lunges for me again, his blade flashing.

But he never reaches me.

A massive clawedhand shoots forward, closing around the elf’s throat.The snap of bone is deafening.

The gargoylerises, wings unfurling,casting the ruins into shadow.

He is not whole. He isshifting, half-formed, caught betweenstone and something else entirely.

And he ishungry.

His head tilts, golden eyes locking onto mine.

Something deep in my chestpullstoward him, the bond alreadycoiling around us, twining through my ribs, my veins, my soul.

I can barely breathe. My magic surges, waking up as if inrecognition.

The dark elf’s lifeless bodydropsbeside me, discarded like an afterthought.

I cannot move. Cannot run.

I am bound.

The gargoyle crouches, those searing golden eyes drinking me in. His voice is a low growl, rough with disuse, ancient and powerful.

"You should not have done that."

My vision fades at last, the world tipping sideways.

The last thing I feel is the pull of the bond, sinking deep into my bones.

I hear my own heartbeat, slowing to match his.

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