Page 41 of Fade With Me

Lost in my reverie, the tenderness of his touch lingered, a quiet comfort that anchored me in the present. Slowly, the question surfaced, and I turned to him, curiosity tugging at me. “So…how did you find me here, anyway?”

He released my hand with a brief hesitation, like he didn’t quite want to let go, his fingers lingering for the barest heartbeat before shifting his attention to my injured hand. His gaze softened as he adjusted the bandages with careful precision, his touch slow and deliberate.

“Pure luck, honestly,” he said, his voice steady. “I never expected to run into you. That’s why I was so caught off guardwhen I did.”

He paused, eyes on the bandages before finally looking up. “Prison realms are well-hidden, cloaked in layers of magic. They’re almost impossible to find.”

I froze, taken aback.

“Prison realm? Wait…you’re sayingthisis a prison realm?” My voice faltered, disbelief creeping in as I gestured to our surroundings, the towering trees, the restless shadows shifting in the breeze.

He shot me a sidelong glance, something unreadable in his eyes, before focusing on my hand again. “Technically, it’s a mortal realm. But for our kind? It’s a prison, in every sense. Each one is unique, designed to inflict its own torment. This one…” His voice darkened, pupils contracting, focus razor-sharp. “This one is Retribution.”

I frowned. “Retribution?”

Zeke nodded solemnly. “When a magical being is sentenced, their powers are violently ripped away. It’s a brutal, agonizing process. They’re left to live as a mortal. It’s worse than death—a fate reserved for those who wielded their power with cruel disregard for others. There’s no punishment worse than having your magic torn from you. It’s like ripping out a piece of your soul, leaving you broken.”

I let his words settle, pressing into me like a dense stone. Who here was truly human? Who had once been powerful? What had they done to deserve this? The thought coiled in my stomach, uneasy and unshakable.

It felt…wrong.

“Do the others here know they’re trapped?” I asked, my voice tight, the question heavy on my tongue. “Or have they forgotten who they are…like me?”

“Oh, they know,” he said, bitterness cutting through his tone. “But you, you’re different. You weren’t sentenced here. You were taken. Dragged into this place against your will.” He shifted in his seat, shoulders tensing, discomfort etched into every movement. “Dark magic was used to erase your memories. They built a false world to control you, to make you compliant.” His gaze locked with mine, unwavering. “You don’t belong here. Not like the others.”

My memories. Who I was, Who I am. My entire life—stolen.

How could I have forgotten it all? How could I have forgotten Zeke? He wasn’t just someone who passed through my life; he was the kind of person who seared himself into your soul, leaving a scar that would never fade. Yet, he was erased as if he’d never mattered at all.

“If Reggie can twist my memories and strip away my powers…” I trailed off, watching a leaf flutter in the wind, its edges brittle and curling. “He must be incredibly powerful, wielding all that dark magic.”

Zeke went rigid, as though my words had hit him like a blow. “Bryn, you have a power that far surpasses his,” he said, his tone flat, as if the very idea were laughable. “No matter how much dark magic he wields, hewouldn’t stand a chance against you, not in a thousand lifetimes.”

He paused, allowing the impact of his statement to settle before continuing. “I knew the ring he put on your finger was imbued with dark magic. But its true nature…” He shook his head, disbelief flashing across his face. He exhaled sharply, as if struggling to come to terms with it. “Its power is beyond anything I ever imagined.”

I stared at the ring, examining its intricate band. The sunlight caught the ruby, casting a faint, almost eerie glow. Beautiful in a haunting way, like a secret yearning to be uncovered. Could this ring really hold such dark power? It felt like something out of a fairytale, but Zeke’s conviction made it feel all too real.

“I was lost—when he took you,” he confessed, his voice almost ashamed. “I tried to find you immediately, but without a single lead, I was blind. I couldn’t reach you.” His eyes darkened, the memory pressing in. “Tracking you through the prison realms? It would’ve been like finding a needle in a haystack.” He exhaled sharply, frustration clear. “Time blurred. I sifted through every realm I could, combing every inch, straining to hear the faintest trace of you. But there was nothing. Not a single sign.”

Guilt washed over me. He’d been searching relentlessly, spending hours tracking me down, hours I hadn’t even known about. It was more than duty. He wasn’tjustsomeguard,someknight. He was something more, something honorable. The realization hit harder than I expected. I couldn’t fully grasp it, but one thing was clear: he didn’t have to care this much. But he did.

His words grew distant, lost in the depths of his memories. His finger traced invisible lines in the dirt, the rhythmic motion seeming to ground him. “I shifted my focus,” he murmured. “Turned to the ring. I combed through ancient texts and hunted down forbidden knowledge, secrets guarded by those who understood the risks of uncovering them. Anything that might help me unlock its power, no matter the cost.”

I watched his fingers move, mesmerized by the way they danced over the earth. What had he uncovered during his journeys across the realms? And how did it all tie back to the ring now encircling my finger?

“Then, after what felt like an eternity, I finally found something, something that changed everything.” His voice dropped lower, the words slipping out like a secret long buried. “A legend. A long-lost relic. A pair of companion rings calledCorda Tenebrae.”

He pushed his hair back from his forehead. “The Siphon,” he murmured. “A thick gold band with a fiery red stone at its center, said to be the vessel.” His eyes drifted reluctantly toward my hand. “The Ruby, its companion, bears an uncanny resemblance to the one on your finger.”

His gaze sharpened, momentarily entranced by the ring as if searching for the right words. “According to the old lore, a cabal of necromancers forged these rings, drawing power from the dark essence of ancient sorcerers. They wove a spell of corruption and deceit into the rubies, binding the wearer to an eternal cycle of servitude, a bond that could never be broken.”

The intensity in his eyes burned like a fire I couldn’t escape. The air around us seemed to crackle with the force of his words.

“This power, forged in forbidden magics, was infused into the Siphon itself. It grants an unholy ability to warp reality as the wearer desires or as theringdoes. With it comes the darkness.” He paused, his head tilting as if drawn irresistibly toward the ring, its pull hypnotic. “A darkness that devours the soul, creeping deeper with every moment the Siphon stays on your finger. It willneverrelease its grip.”

His words struck me hard. The Siphon’s description, unnervingly familiar, mirrored Reggie’s wedding band a little too closely. I lifted my hand, and for an instant, both our gazes were fixed on the ruby. Its intricate lacework and shifting, kaleidoscopic patterns pulsed with unsettling energy, like we were staring into the heart of a celestial orb.

I felt it too—a magnetic pull that made it almost impossible to look away, as if the ring were drawing me deeper into its grip, entrancing me along with him.

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