Shadow of the First Sin

“You can’t!” Lilith shot up from her seat, screaming at Lyra, who lowered her head, suddenly realizing the gravity of her previous words. “You are my slave, my pet! You are bound to me by blood!”

“Blood oaths can be broken, Miss Lilith,” Theros interjected calmly.

“Not the kind she forged with me! The bond we share is stronger than all the love and hatred in this world combined. It was forged by her desire for power and my desire to control her! Bonds like that can’t be broken; they would bind her to me even after her death!” Lilith yelled, baring her fangs and clawing at the wooden table with her sharp, black-painted nails.

“What did you do to this poor girl?” Blythe asked, her voice filled with worry and her eyes with disgust toward her fellow mage.

“All I’ve done was out of her own free will!” Lilith tried to justify her actions, but everyone in the room saw through her, especially Blythe, whose eyes seethed with anger.

“A child’s will! A child from the slums would sell their free will for a few crumbs of bread!”

“It was her will to bind herself to me and her will to obey my commands—until he arrived!” Lilith shifted her attention to me. “Everything was fine until she met you; curse your blood! Begone, you filthy man!” Lilith screamed one last time before uttering, “Bloodlance.”

The veins on her wrists burst open, and blood poured out, floating in mid-air and curling around her arm like a snake to form a lance. From the pale skin of her back, revealed by the v-shaped cut of her red dress, a surge of blood erupted, forming a pair of wings. With a swift beat of her blood-formed wings, she took to the air and launched herself over the round table. Her lance pointed toward me.

In the last moment imaginable, I called upon my own wings and dodged to the side, leaving Lilith to crash into the wall, demolishing it and leaving a gaping hole that connected the room to the expanse of the sky.

“And here I thought this meeting would pass without a hitch...” Onyx, the earth mage, sighed as he cracked his knuckles and stepped into the fray, heading straight for Lilith.

In his wake, a stone formation erupted from the floor, splitting the table in half. Stones coated his fists like gauntlets, and just as he was about to strike Lilith, Orion intervened, catching his stone fists. The impact sent shockwaves through the room, causing Onyx to chuckle.

“Why would you interfere? Wasn’t she after your friend?” he questioned, increasing the force behind his punch, but Orion didn’t budge.

“Would you believe me if I said it was from the goodness of my heart?”

“No!” Onyx exclaimed as rocks formed around his leg. With a swift kick, he pushed Orion back and then immediately punched the side of his face, sending him sprawling across the room.

So there was someone else who could stand up to Orion? From what I knew of him, this punch wouldn’t harm him—it would only strengthen him. Orion is a man who loves the thrill of battle, welcoming each hit directed at him with open arms and a smile. He fights with no purpose, and in battle, he finds peace; like a berserker, all his thoughts turn to blank. Such a man is dangerous, and I wouldn’t want to be his enemy.

Orion smiled as he got to his feet, brushing the blood from his lips. He grinned like a madman and yelled at the top of his lungs.

“Onyx Stonemaw! Where have you been all this time?” he shouted, smiling wildly. “You are the challenge I’ve been waiting for and the challenge I welcome!”

As he rose, he smashed his fists together, creating lightning sparks that coated his entire being, his eyes glowing bright blue. Leaping across the room, he aimed for Onyx’s head, but was met with a stone wall the mage conjured. With ease, Orion shattered the wall and used the debris, throwing it in three consecutive strikes. Onyx dodged the first, smashed the second with his fists, and the third hit his chest, sending him sprawling through the hole Lilith had created.

Luckily, Onyx had formed a stone armor around his chest, protecting him from an impact that would have shattered his ribs and possibly killed him. Before he could plummet from the sky, he clapped his hands, creating a stone path that extended from the academy. He landed on it, escaping certain death.

Amidst of chaos, Lilith manipulated the blood spilled from the battle between Orion and Onyx, combining it with her own. She formed it into tiny floating spears and launched them my way like cannon fire. The first spear missed, piercing through the wall. The second grazed my cheek, and the third one impaled my abdomen like a blade. Once her blood was in my system, she muttered an enchantment, causing the blood inside me to boil and my wound to widen, burning my flesh. I fell to my knees, bellowing in pain and clutching the throbbing wound. Seeing me falter, Lilith took to the air once more, extending her arm back with her blood lance pointed toward me.

“Windstrider!” With a strum of his lute, Silas sang the spell’s name in a lofty tone. A surge of wind formed behind him, propelling him into the air on a collision course with Lilith. “Lute of Iron!” he sang again, transforming his lute into solid iron.

Before hitting the ground, Silas swung his trusty instrument, striking the back of Lilith’s head. The sound echoed through the room, capturing everyone’s attention. The hit was weak and barely caused any damage, but it created an opening for me to strike.

The Void Veil coated my wound, its shadows healing it. Rising from my knees, I delivered a powerful uppercut that connected with her jaw, sending her airborne. Swiftly, I flew over her tumbling form and delivered another strike. My wings spread wide as I channeled all my strength, clapping my wings simultaneously. The resulting force of wind sent her crashing to the floor, cracking the ground beneath her broken spine.

I descended upon her, locking eyes with her spiteful gaze. I wanted her to know her life was in my hands, that I could end it if I wished.

“This is the first and last time I will show you mercy. The next time you come after me or anyone I care about, I won’t hesitate to take your life,” I growled, stepping back. I addressed the table, who seemed to have the time of their lives. “Had enough fun?”

“Quite,” admitted old man Theros.

“Onyx and Lilith, you’re an embarrassment to the circle. Being bested by those unknown to the world is an insult to the rest of us,” Blythe remarked, casting a disdainful glance at her defeated comrades.

“My, my, this is the most fun I’ve had in a while!” exclaimed Luna Seamist, the water mage, with a merry tone.

Fabian, despite the bold spot on his head, looked at me terrified, trembling as I approached. He closed his eyes and flinched, but I simply walked past him.

“Are you hurt, my ember?” I asked, looking at Lyra’s pale face.

“N-No...” she gasped, still bewildered by the recent events. “W-What about you? You were... impaled?” Her voice wavered as she glanced at my abdomen, now completely healed.

Ignoring her question, I turned to the council. “Continuing from where we left off, can this blood oath between my Ember and Lilith be broken?”

“No,” Theros admitted. “Lilith has committed a grave sin by using a blood ritual long banned by the circle. We will exile her from the council and imprison her in Heaven’s Hold.” He paused, then a thought struck him, prompting him to speak again. “While the oath is unbreakable, it can be reassigned to another person if both parties will it.”

“Meaning?” I asked.

“She is bound to be a slave for eternity. The only thing she can hope for is a kind master. Are you kind, Valerian?” the old man inquired.

“No, I am not. She deserves someone far better than I, someone who will bring her joy and not despair, someone whose burdens are lighter. I cannot be responsible for her life,” I replied, my words hanging heavily in the air until Theros broke the silence.

“And that’s what makes you kind. You care for the girl, something she has never experienced.”

“No, I’m a...”

“I’ll do it.” Lyra interrupted confidently. “I’d rather have you as my master, someone who talks to me as if I’m a free person, and not someone who pities me just because I’m a slave. You are the haven where I feel safest, the one who will bring me closest to freedom. So please, I beg you, take me in...” Lyra pleaded, her blue eyes sparkling like the most beautiful diamonds, their depth capable of softening even the hardest hearts.

“Alright,” I conceded, approaching her. “But you have one thing wrong. I am not your master, and you are not my slave. You are free to go wherever you wish. If you want to leave me, you can. If you want to stay, then stay.”

“I’ll stay,” she decided. “It’s not like I have anywhere else to go, anyway.”

Theros approached us and placed his hands on both our shoulders.

“Is it all settled? Do you both agree to forge a bond that cannot be broken even in death?”

“Yes,” we both affirmed.

Theros took out a silver ornate dagger from his coat and prompted us to raise our arms. With a clean, vertical movement, he sliced our forearms from elbow to wrist and uttered a spell in a strange tongue. Our spilling blood floated and intertwined, binding our arms together. Her blood flowed into my veins, and mine into hers.

For a moment, I lost my vision and saw everything there was to see about Lyra—from her time in the womb to her childhood and up to now. It was as if I had been there all along. As my vision returned, I saw the fear in Lyra’s eyes, realizing she had seen all of me as well.