Page 117 of Demon Monster's Little Human

I drag her back to me.

49

DAIN

The abyss is alive.

It breathes. It writhes. It watches.

The darkness coils like a living thing, reaching for us with spectral claws, its presence pressing into my bones. The void is thick, suffocating, endless—stretching beyond my sight, beyond my understanding. There is no sky, no ground, no boundary. Just an expanse of emptiness, broken only by the sickly glow of the artifact’s power, pulsing like a dying heartbeat.

And in the center of it all, Liora. I reach for her, dragging her back to me. Her form flickers again.

She flickers between forms, her shape shifting like a mirage. One moment, she is the woman who infuriates me, tempts me, defies me, the woman who chose me.

Next, she is Amara, the woman who betrayed me, the woman who swore she did it to save me.

Both are her. Neither are her.

I snarl, my grip tightening around her. The void ripples in response, shuddering like it can feel my defiance.

"You shouldn’t be here."Her voice is fragile, threaded with something ancient, something breaking.

"There’s no saving me, Dain."

I growl, stepping toward her, ignoring the darkness trying to tear me away.

"The hell I can’t."

Something hits me. A force, unseen and merciless, hurls me backward. I barely keep my footing, claws dragging through the nothingness as I struggle against the force trying to reject me. Shadows coil, twisting into a grotesque shape, a mouth, a face, an endless void staring back at me.

"She made her choice."

The words come from nowhere and everywhere, curling around me like chains.

"Let her go."

"She is not yours anymore."

I roar, baring my fangs.

"You think I’ll just let you have her?"

The darkness laughs.

Liora trembles in my arms, her fingers clutching at me, but she is fading. Her warmth is dimming, her pulse weakening. The magic, her magic is unraveling, the severed bond draining what little strength she has left.

And I feel it, the moment her soul starts slipping beyond my reach.

"She thought she was saving you."The voice is mocking, cruel.

"How tragic."

The rage inside me explodes.

"Shut up."

The abyss shudders.

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