Page 52 of Bound In Stone, Claimed In Fire

Nerezza laughs, the sound echoing off the stone walls. “You flatter me. The lesser gargoyles do require… encouragement to follow my commands, but they’re so eager to please.” She eyes Sariah with mild contempt. “And you, little purna, continue to amuse me. Clinging to a gargoyle once beloved byme.Do you truly think you can keep him safe?”

My runes flare at her words. I step protectively between them. “You’re not the same being I once admired,” I growl. “Whatever love we had died centuries ago, with your cruelty.”

Her face flickers with momentary pain, then hardens to cold fury. “You speak of cruelty, Kaelith? Did you not seal me away, forcing me to languish in darkness? We could have soared beyond mortal strife, but you chained me.” She raises a hand, swirling black energy coalescing around her fingers. “I’ve forgiven you, but my generosity has limits.”

Sariah’s brand pulses in alarm. She grips her staff, lips peeled back in a silent snarl. “If you think we’ll kneel to you?—”

Nerezza cuts her off with a disdainful wave. “Kneel? Hardly. I offer you both a chance totranscendmortal shackles.” Her scarlet gaze settles on me again. “Especially you, Kaelith. Do you truly want to spend your time fawning over a lesser purna, watching her totter along, flirting with darkness she can’t hope to master? Why not join me? I can sever that inconvenient tether, restore you to the apex of gargoyle power. We’ll rule together, as we once dreamed.”

My entire body shakes with revulsion, yet I can’t deny the pang of old guilt.We did dream of forging a utopia, bridging gargoyle and purna. I believed in her so fervently.I clench my claws, forcing the memory aside. “You twisted that dream into horror. I’ll never stand with you again.”

She sighs, a theatrical sadness. “You keep saying that, and yet…” Her eyes flick to Sariah, a malicious smile curving. “You’ve replaced me with a mere child who can barely control her magic. Do you think she’ll spare you from heartbreak when her brand consumes her mind? Drayveth’s coven has already labeled her Nyxari. Face facts, Kaelith. She’s following in my footsteps.”

Sariah sucks in a sharp breath. I feel her heartbreak spike through the tether, recalling Drayveth’s condemnation. My wings twitch, a surge of protective anger flooding me. “Stop it,” I growl, stepping forward. “We see your games.”

Nerezza’s eyes narrow, swirling black energy intensifying around her hand. “Such devotion. Touching. Let me show you how I can free you from that devotion.” She lifts her other hand, and the air warps. My runes blaze in alarm, but the illusion slams into me before I can move.

“No!” Sariah cries. I barely register her voice. Shadows envelop my vision. The world tilts, leaving me disoriented.Nerezza’s illusions.She’s pulling me into her psychic snare, forcing me to relive memories of our past love.

My mind reels as images assault me: Nerezza and I standing atop a mountain peak centuries ago, the sky blazing with sunrise. She laughs, warm and untainted, her white hair blowing across her face as I grin at her. The memory feels so vivid, so heartbreakingly real.This was before everything decayed, before she unleashed chaos.

I stumble in the present, eyes rolling back. The tether’s hum recedes into static. Sariah’s voice fades. Instead, I hear Nerezza’s laughter from that old memory, see her wide smile. Then the vision shifts—her face contorting with pain as she wields forbidden magic to protect my gargoyle clan from dark elf raiders. Screams echo. Blood splatters. My clan’s gratitude morphs into horror as her spell warps them.I see it all from the vantage of that younger self, powerless to stop her.

I gasp, runes sputtering. The illusions swirl faster, yanking me through memory after memory: Nerezza coaxing me to trust her, to support her quest for ultimate power, the moment she used chaos to bind gargoyle souls to twisted stone bodies. My heart breaks anew.I recall the wave of guilt that nearly drowned me then.I watch it replay with brutal clarity, tears burning my eyes.

Through the haze, I dimly sense Sariah shouting my name, brand flaring to break me from the vision. But Nerezza’s illusions clamp down, suffocating. She steps closer in the real world, though I can’t see it. My consciousness is trapped in the swirl of memory.

Then her voice resonates inside my head:“Submit, Kaelith. Spare yourself—and your new purna—from the fate of my wrath. You know how destructive I can be. If you rejoin me, I’ll let her live, let her walk free from the nightmares.”

I choke, seeing Sariah’s face superimposed over Nerezza’s illusions, recalling the synergy, the closeness.If Nerezza truly wants Sariah gone, she could unleash horrors on her.My tail thrashes in the real world, wings shuddering.Wouldn’t it be simpler if I surrender, keep Sariah safe?

Tears slip unbidden in the vision as Nerezza conjures illusions of Sariah screaming, consumed by chaos. My runes flicker wildly.No, I can’t believe—But the illusions burrow deeper, cracking my resolve.If I just yield to Nerezza, maybe Sariah is spared.

The next scene hits me like a knife to the chest: I watch a twisted version of the future where Sariah, her eyes black with void, stands over my broken body, cackling as she becomes the new Nyxari. My mind reels with horror.No, that can’t be real, can it? But Drayveth’s condemnation… Nerezza’s manipulations…The fear I’ve harbored all along rears up, strangling me.

“Sariah,” I whisper, voice choked. “I… I don’t want this for you.” The illusions swirl around me, forcing me to witness unstoppable chaos if she succumbs.If I spare her that by returning to Nerezza… is it worth it?My heart cracks under the weight.

Nerezza’s voice purrs in my mind:“Yes, Kaelith, yield. I can seal the darkness away from her. Let me harness your synergy for the greater good. Isn’t it kinder to protect her from the path of another Nyxari?”

I’m drowning in guilt and anguish. My limbs jerk in reality. Sariah tries to hold me, brand flaring bright, but Nerezza’s illusions intensify, blotting out the real world. In this psychic realm, Nerezza appears in her old, uncorrupted form, gentle smile curving her lips. She extends a hand.“Choose me again,”she whispers.

My chest heaves with ragged sobs.I can’t watch Sariah become a monster.The illusions feed on that fear, bombarding me with twisted images of Sariah’s brand oozing black venom, of gargoyle bodies strewn about.If I do nothing, is that the fate awaiting us?

My resolve cracks. In the vision, I find myself trembling, stepping toward Nerezza’s outstretched hand.Better I sacrifice myself than lose Sariah to this horror.A flicker of betrayal ignites in me, but I cling to the desperate notion that maybe Nerezza will truly spare Sariah if I obey.

Suddenly, the illusions shift, and I’m back in the present, gasping for air. Nerezza’s eyes blaze with triumph. I realize I’ve physically moved closer to her, stumbling out of Sariah’s reach. Sariah’s voice crackles in my ear, frantic: “Kaelith! Don’t—please—listen to me!” I catch the anguish in her cry, but my mind reels with the memory of that horrifying vision.I must protect her.

Nerezza smirks, her illusions still swirling around us. She lifts a hand, conjuring a barrier of shadow that divides me from Sariah. My wings snap open, but I can’t muster the strength to resist. My head throbs. Nerezza’s mental assault left me disoriented, heart pounding with panic for Sariah’s future.

I turn to Sariah, hating what I’m about to say, but believing it might be the only way to keep her safe. “Sariah… I have to go. If I leave with her, she’ll spare you.” My voice breaks, shame coursing through me.

Her eyes widen in horror, tears brimming. “No! That’s exactly what she wants. Don’t do this!” She slams her staff against the shadowy barrier, arcs of silver magic sparking. But Nerezza’s illusions are potent, and Sariah’s exhausted from healing me. The barrier holds.

Nerezza laughs, stepping close to me, brushing her ephemeral fingers along my runes. Her touch makes my skin crawl, yet the illusions tangle my mind, reminding me of simpler times.A lie.Still, I can’t shake the dread that if I resist, Sariah will suffer a monstrous fate. My chest aches.

“Sariah,” I murmur, voice ragged. “I—I can’t watch you turn into… her. If siding with Nerezza spares you from that path, it’s a price I’ll pay.” My heart wails at the betrayal in her eyes.

She slams the barrier again, voice cracking with desperation. “Kaelith! You’re letting her illusions trick you. She wants you enthralled or dead. This won’t protect me—please, don’t leave me.”

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