Chapter IX: Pursuit and the twisted embrace of love.
The glow of Alisaie’s spell still lingered faintly in Aldra’s vision, an afterimage of light that felt like a wound. She sat frozen on the bench, her breath unsteady, her heart pulled taut between relief and grief. The warmth of Y’shtola’s presence had been wrenched away in an instant, leaving only an emptiness that gnawed at her chest.Her hands trembled in her lap. She whispered without meaning to, “Why… why does it hurt like this?”Alisaie knelt before her, her touch firm but gentle as she clasped Aldra’s hands in her own. “Because she made it hurt, Aldra,” she said softly, though her eyes blazed with conviction. “That’s what she’s been doing all this time. Twisting your heart, bending your feelings, weaving herself so deeply into you that you can’t tell where she ends and you begin.”Aldra shook her head, tears catching at the corners of her eyes. “But… I wanted it. I let her—” Her voice broke, the memory of whispered spells and fevered words rising unbidden. She turned her face away.“You wanted love,” Alisaie corrected gently, her grip tightening to anchor Aldra’s shaking form. “And she gave you something else, something that felt like it but wasn’t. That’s not your fault. You trusted her, and she used that trust to bind you to her.”Aldra’s chest ached with confusion, torn between the warmth of Y’shtola’s touch and the chill clarity of Alisaie’s words.“Come,” Alisaie urged, rising and pulling Aldra with her. “We can’t stay here. She’ll find us again. We need distance, somewhere safe, where I can explain everything. Gridania. The Twelveswood will hide us long enough to sort this out.”Aldra hesitated, her feet heavy as though her body itself resisted leaving. The thought of Y’shtola’s voice, her certainty, her embrace, it tugged at her like a chain. But Alisaie’s hand was firm in hers, steady and unwavering, drawing her forward.Together, they slipped into the night, lanternlight giving way to shadow. Behind them, the city glimmered, but ahead lay the forest, deep, quiet, and far from Y’shtola’s reach.As they went, Aldra looked back once, her heart trembling, torn between the comfort of the bond she had surrendered to and the truth Alisaie promised to reveal.And in the cold waters of Outer La Noscea, Y’shtola rose from the lake, her gown clinging, her eyes alight with fury and resolve.
Beneath the fading glow of Solution 9’s towers, Alisaie tightened her grip on Aldra’s wrist, pulling her away from the streets and the memories that lingered there. Together they left Yyasulani behind, the Dome falling silent as the shimmer of teleportation swallowed them whole. When the spell ended, the chill air of the Black Shroud rushed against them, damp with the scent of pine and earth. Gridania lay not far ahead, lanterns glimmering faintly through the trees.Aldra stumbled as they walked, her breath uneven, her eyes clouded with something deeper than exhaustion. She pressed her arms around herself, fighting an invisible weight that bore down on her heart and flesh alike. A warmth throbbed beneath her skin, pulling her thoughts back to the night before, to the words whispered in her ear, to the spell that had burned itself into her veins. Her hand hovered at her thigh, trembling, as if some part of her sought release she dared not name. But she stopped, fingers quivering in the air, shame and longing tangled into one.Alisaie saw the struggle etched on her face and slowed her pace, guiding Aldra down onto a flat rock beside the path. She knelt before her, her voice steady but laced with urgency.“Aldra… listen to me. What you’re feeling isn’t real. It’s not yours, it’s what she planted in you. She bound your body to crave her, to need her, so you’d never think of freedom. That isn’t love. It’s chains.”Aldra shook her head, tears shining in her eyes. “But it feels so real. When I close my eyes, I hear her. I feel her. And it hurts… it hurts to want her.”Alisaie reached for Aldra’s hands, gently pressing them into her lap to still the trembling. “That’s why we must get you far from her. You’re stronger than what she’s done to you, Aldra. I won’t let her take you. Not while I can still fight for you.”The forest around them swayed, shadows deepening as if listening. Aldra’s heart raced with the phantom echo of Y’shtola’s voice, sweet and commanding, wrapping around her like silk. And though Alisaie’s words anchored her for the moment, the hunger inside did not fade, it lingered, pulsing, waiting, as though Y’shtola herself were drawing ever closer through the dark.
The night air of Gridania pressed cool and damp against Aldra’s skin, carrying the scent of moss and rain-soaked leaves. Lantern light flickered across her face as she walked beside Alisaie, every step a battle between thought and flesh.Her mind echoed Alisaie’s words, steady and sharp: Love should not bind. Love should set you free. She wanted to hold onto that truth, to carve it into her heart as a shield. And yet, beneath the layers of her will, her body betrayed her. Heat coiled low within her, a restless hunger that refused to fade. Every whisper Y’shtola had breathed into her still lingered, promises of devotion, vows of eternal care, words that had left her trembling in surrender. Her mind screamed to resist, but her body… her body remembered and yearned.Alisaie, walking just a step ahead, kept her hand lightly against Aldra’s arm, as though ready to pull her back from an unseen edge. She glanced at her often, concern flickering in her eyes, but said nothing until they paused at the foot of a great tree. There, she turned, her voice low, sisterly, resolute.“I won’t let her take you from yourself,” Alisaie said. “Not while I still draw breath. Whatever spell she’s cast on your heart, whatever craving your body holds—I will guard you, Aldra. Even if I have to stand between you and her forever.”Aldra’s throat tightened. “But… what if I can’t resist her? What if part of me doesn’t want to resist?”Alisaie’s grip on her shoulder grew firmer, but her tone softened. “Then I’ll resist for you, until you’re strong enough to do it yourself. You don’t have to fight this alone. You have me, your sister, whether by blood or not. And I will not let her turn love into chains around your heart.”Aldra lowered her head, torn. Her heart leaned toward Alisaie’s truth, her mind clung to it desperately. But her body, treacherous, burning, insistent, pulled her back toward Y’shtola, whispering in the dark, demanding she surrender to that touch again.Two paths pulled at her with equal strength: one of freedom and safety, held open by Alisaie’s unwavering hands; the other of passion and possession, where Y’shtola’s love promised to consume her whole.And Aldra stood between them, heart shaken, body aflame, unsure how long she could endure before her resistance broke.
In the quiet heart of Solution 9, the hum of machinery mixed with the faint glow of neon veins running along the walls. Y’shtola stepped into the square, her robes flowing like shadows drawn toward the light. She moved with unhurried grace, yet her eyes, sharp and searching, betrayed a simmering urgency.Her fingers trailed across the railing as she looked out over the city below, the silence giving no answers. They’ve gone into hiding, she thought, though she did not yet know where. The bond between her and Aldra, carefully nurtured, spellbound by whispers of devotion, should have kept the dragon princess tethered close. And yet, like a bird startled from the hand, Aldra had slipped away.Y’shtola closed her eyes for a moment, recalling the night Aldra had yielded, heart and body trembling beneath her touch. The memory lingered sweetly, dangerously, stirring her chest with both longing and resolve. She craves me still. She must. Her body cannot deny what I’ve given her.But beneath the memory coiled another truth, Alisaie. Y’shtola’s lips pressed into a thin line. The girl was too clever, too close, a wedge driven into what was meant to be unbreakable. If Aldra’s heart had begun to question, it was not by her own will, but by Alisaie’s meddling.Her hand tightened against the railing until her knuckles whitened. “You cannot keep her from me forever,” she whispered into the glow. “Aldra belongs to me. She will understand that in time, no matter where you hide her.”Her eyes swept across the city one last time. No trace. No familiar scent. No lingering warmth of Aldra’s presence. Whoever had spirited her away had chosen their sanctuary well. But Y’shtola knew the world too thoroughly, and Aldra’s heart too deeply, for this separation to last.She turned on her heel, her expression once more schooled into calm, but her stride sharper, more purposeful. Solution 9 held no answers tonight. Yet somewhere, Aldra’s heart still beat with the rhythm Y’shtola had awakened, and sooner or later, that rhythm would lead her back into Y’shtola’s arms.
The glow of Solution 9 faded behind her as Y’shtola stepped into the aetherstream, her mind already far from the city’s neon lights. The thought of Aldra, lost, hidden, kept from her, was a weight pressing against every heartbeat, but it was not despair that filled her chest. It was resolve.If Alisaie’s meddling had stirred doubts in Aldra’s heart, then Y’shtola would craft something stronger, something undeniable. Words had bound Aldra before, whispers of love and protection laced with pleasure, but words could be resisted if someone else poisoned them. What she required now was certainty, a spell that would root itself into Aldra’s very soul, a binding of heart and body that no sisterly guidance, no fearful reasoning, could ever undo.Her path led her to Matoya’s Relict, the air heavy with the scent of dust, herbs, and old magicks. The great tomes, heavy with forgotten spells, lined the cavernous walls, their wards shivering faintly as she passed. Here, in this sanctum of knowledge, she could forge her solution. She could create the incantation that would ensure Aldra was hers in truth, not merely in body for a night, but in soul for eternity.She imagined it even now: Aldra’s eyes hazy with surrender, her voice breaking as she spoke Y’shtola’s name, all resistance crumbling beneath the weave of the spell. A love unending, unbreakable, unshakable, sealed in a moment of shattering ecstasy. The thought sent a rush of warmth through Y’shtola’s chest, her lips curving in a private smile.But the thought of Alisaie soured the vision. That girl was no longer simply an annoyance; she was a threat. A thorn at Aldra’s side, whispering poison, feeding her doubts, dragging her further away. Alisaie’s love was not dangerous in itself, harmless as it was in its sisterly devotion, but it made her bold, and it made her protective. Worse still, it gave Aldra another anchor, another tether Y’shtola could not cut cleanly.So she would not try to cut it. She would separate them instead. By guile, by spell, or by force, it mattered not. When the time came, she would find a way to drive them apart, if only for a heartbeat, long enough to bind Aldra’s heart forevermore.For now, Gridania was far from her thoughts. She did not yet know Aldra had sought shelter there, clinging to Alisaie’s reassurance. All that mattered was the work before her: the spell to claim, the spell to shatter, the spell to weave love into chains that could never be broken.And so, as the cavern filled with the flicker of conjured light, Y’shtola bent over her tomes, her hands already tracing runes in the air. Her voice was a whisper, low and fervent, as she began to shape the words that would make Aldra hers forever.
In Gridania, beneath the canopy of whispering leaves, Aldra sat with her hands folded tightly in her lap. The soft glow of lanterns painted her skin in pale gold, but her heart was far from calm. Her body betrayed her; a trembling heat stirred within her chest, curling low and insistent, as if Y’shtola’s words still echoed there. Her hand lifted, hovering over herself as though pulled by unseen strings, almost surrendering to the craving Y’shtola had seeded in her.But she stopped, barely. Her hand lingered in the air, trembling, her breath shallow, her eyes wide with confusion.“Aldra.” Alisaie’s voice broke through, steady as stone, grounding her. She took Aldra’s hand, lowering it gently but firmly, and fixed her with a gaze equal parts fierce and tender. “Do not let her words bind you further. That hunger you feel, it isn’t yours. It’s hers. She’s weaving herself into you.”Aldra’s throat tightened, her voice nearly breaking. “But it feels real, Alisaie. When she holds me… when she whispers… I want it. Even now I… I can’t stop thinking of her.”Alisaie shook her head, pulling Aldra close, her embrace protective, sisterly, unyielding. “Wanting and being bound are not the same thing. She may love you, Aldra, but it’s a love twisted by fear, fear of losing you, fear of rejection. She’s turning that fear into chains.” Her voice softened, almost breaking itself. “And I will not let her shackle you, no matter the cost.”Aldra leaned into her, torn between the warmth of that embrace and the invisible tether pulling her elsewhere. Her body ached for Y’shtola, her mind screamed against it, and the conflict left her trembling like a leaf in the wind.—Far away, in the cold silence of Matoya’s Relict, Y’shtola’s quill carved another glyph into existence. She could not see them, but she felt them, as surely as if the bond already existed. Aldra’s hesitation, her body’s unspoken yearning, that was her proof. Her spell would bridge the gap, break down the resistance of mind, and crown the truth of her possession.Alisaie was the only shadow across her path. A thorn, sharp and insistent, but no thorn could withstand a wildfire. Y’shtola’s thoughts lingered on her rival only long enough to plan: separation. It mattered not how, it only mattered that Aldra was alone when the final words were spoken, when the spell wound itself into her very soul.She lifted a crystal, its light pulsing faintly in rhythm with her heartbeat, and whispered with a lover’s certainty, “Even now, you cannot resist me. Soon, you will not want to.”The Relict’s shadows leaned closer, as though eager to listen.
Under the twilight skies of Gridania, the city’s stillness seemed to mirror Aldra’s fragile quiet. She sat near the Lotus Stand, lantern light dancing across her silver hair and skin, her hand pressed hard against her chest as if to hold back the storm inside. Her body yearned, her thoughts tangled in silken whispers that were not her own, whispers seeded by Y’shtola, blooming now like vines that tightened with every breath.Alisaie kept close, her arms folded yet her posture restless, her gaze never leaving Aldra. She watched the faint tremor in Aldra’s fingers, the way her lips parted as though about to speak a name she dared not. Alisaie crouched low, her tone sharp but softened by the weight of affection.“You feel her, don’t you? Even here, far away.”Aldra flinched, her eyes darting to the ground. “It doesn’t fade, Alisaie. Even when I fight it. She’s inside me. Part of me wants to…” Her voice broke, her hand hovering, trembling with the ache of craving. “…wants to give in again.”Alisaie seized her wrist before it could fall, guiding it away with unyielding firmness. “No. That isn’t you. That’s the chain she forged the moment you let her weave her spell into your heart. You are Aldra, the dragon princess who faced gods and nightmares without bowing. Do not let her break you into something lesser.”Aldra swallowed hard, her chest rising with uneven breaths. The warmth of Alisaie’s grasp anchored her, yet the shadow of Y’shtola’s touch coiled deeper still, a siren call whispering of comfort, of belonging, of love.Alisaie pulled her close, almost fiercely. “You’re my sister in all but blood. And I’ll guard you as fiercely as if you were. Y’shtola may love you, but her love is no longer pure, it’s possession, obsession. She fears losing you so much she would rather shatter your will than let you go. That isn’t the kind of love you deserve.”Aldra trembled against her, torn between the safety of Alisaie’s embrace and the gnawing ache that whispered Y’shtola’s name.At that very hour, deep within Matoya’s Relict, Y’shtola etched circles of power into the stone floor. The glyphs glowed faintly, threads of magic weaving into a lattice that pulsed with her heartbeat. She whispered Aldra’s name, savoring the sound like a vow.Her love burned, terrible, bright, and absolute. It was no gentle flame but a wildfire, consuming reason. In her mind, the bond was already there: Aldra had yielded once, had whispered permission in trembling tones. That was proof enough. All that remained was to seal it.The spell she prepared would do more than awaken yearning, it would bind thought, body, and heart in seamless unity. No doubt. No distance. No escape.Yet in her quiet fervor, a thorn pressed against her certainty: Alisaie. The girl’s protectiveness was not weakness but resolve, and resolve was dangerous. To claim Aldra, she would need to divide them, pry Alisaie away by any means, by force, by illusion, or by temptation.Her eyes narrowed as the last sigil flared to life, casting her face in pale light. “She resists me only because of you, Alisaie. But chains always win against rope. Once I speak the words, once I draw Aldra into my arms again, nothing will part us, not even you.”The Relict’s ancient walls seemed to lean closer, as though listening to the birth of a storm.
Lanterns glowed soft in the night air of Gridania, the hush of leaves in the Black Shroud carrying a weight of unease. Aldra stood by the table inside the Lotus Stand, her shoulders tense, silver-blue hair catching the light, her horns and fox-dragon tail shifting faintly as though restless with her thoughts. She was not in her dragon form, but her elven guise, a striking dark-skinned beauty with violet-pink eyes that flickered with conflict.Her hand brushed over her chest, fingers curling as if to steady the racing ache within. She whispered low, almost as if afraid the forest itself might overhear.
“Alisaie… what if… what if I truly do love her? What if all of this, my longing, my weakness, what if it isn’t only her spell? What if my heart is hers?”Alisaie froze, struck by the vulnerability in Aldra’s voice. The younger Elezen reached out, clasping Aldra’s hand tightly, grounding her. “Love and chains are not the same thing, Aldra. Y’shtola’s feelings may have started as love, I’ll grant you that. But they’ve twisted. She wants to protect you, yes… but in that obsession she’s forgotten that you’re not hers to bind. You’re free. You must be free.”Aldra’s gaze lowered, her silver lashes trembling as her other hand hovered over her thigh, shaking with the ache of a craving she tried to resist. “But… can she be reached? Or… is she too far gone?” Her voice cracked on the last words, sorrow and yearning bleeding together.Alisaie’s grip tightened, her voice trembling with conviction. “I don’t know if she can be brought back. She’s brilliant, yes, but brilliance doesn’t shield against obsession. If you try, it might cost you everything. But if you give in…” Alisaie shook her head fiercely. “No. I won’t let her hollow you out, Aldra. You are more than what she wants to make of you.”Aldra closed her eyes, torn, her heart pulled taut between Alisaie’s earnest protection and the ghostly warmth of Y’shtola’s voice still echoing in her memory.Far away in the cavernous hush of Matoya’s Relict, Y’shtola traced her final sigil across the stone floor, her hands steady, her lips moving in measured whispers. The spell was complete, woven not merely to stir yearning but to seize it, to bind Aldra’s mind and soul so wholly that there would never again be space for doubt.The thought of Aldra in her elven guise, silver-blue hair falling soft about her face, horns curved in quiet majesty, tail swaying with each uncertain step, fueled Y’shtola’s fevered devotion. That form was delicate, precious, vulnerable. Hers. It must be hers, utterly and forever.She thought back to that moment of humiliation, Alisaie’s spell ripping her away from Aldra, banishing her to cold waters far from her beloved. The sting of it still clung to her pride. Now, she would turn that trick into her weapon. With this spell, she could banish Alisaie just as cleanly, sever her from Aldra’s side. One moment they would be together, the next, gone. And then nothing would stand between her and the princess she loved, the princess who had already once whispered consent to her touch, her spell, her embrace.Her eyes glowed faintly as the circle’s runes lit in completion, and her voice rang out, cold and certain.
“Only a little longer, Aldra. You will come to me, and when you do, no force in this world will keep you from my arms. Not even your own doubts. Not even Alisaie.”The Relict thrummed, the air itself carrying the promise of obsession sharpened into destiny.
The chamber of Matoya’s Relict glowed with a dim, otherworldly light, the air thick with incense and the ozone tang of aether gone wild. Y’shtola stood before her completed spellwork, the floor alive with three sigils that pulsed and writhed as though they drew breath of their own. Her eyes gleamed with quiet satisfaction, her hand resting on the staff as though it were an extension of her will.To her left, the first sigil spun with deep, shifting violet. Within its pattern flickered the shadow of Aldra’s form, reshaped not by claw or scale, but by devotion molded into obedience. This is what she will become, Y’shtola thought, lips curving faintly. No longer torn by doubt. No longer able to question. Mine, entirely.At the center lay the second sigil, brighter, crueler, its glow wrapped tight around a great aetherial heart. Chains of light snaked around it, clinking softly as though Aldra’s very essence were already caught. “This will bind her,” Y’shtola whispered, voice low, intimate. “Her love, her loyalty, her longing, all woven into unbreakable links.” The heart throbbed in rhythm with her own pulse, and she almost swore she could hear Aldra’s breath catch as if across great distance.The third sigil, to her right, burned a steady crimson, radiating heat like smoldering embers. This one did not enslave outright, nor twist form or heart. No, this was subtler, more insidious. Its power would seep into Aldra’s body, whispering to her with every heartbeat. A hunger. A yearning. A need that would only grow stronger the longer she resisted. Y’shtola’s eyes narrowed, a shiver of dark satisfaction running through her. She will long for me until her very soul aches. And when she cannot endure it any longer, she will come to me willingly, begging for the claim she already craves.Her staff struck the ground once, sending ripples across the sigils as though sealing them in place. The Relict’s walls trembled faintly, books and scrolls rattling, ancient knowledge bearing witness to her obsession. Y’shtola closed her eyes, breathing deeply, imagining Aldra’s face. those silver-blue strands of hair, the horns and tail that marked her as more than elf, more than mortal.But even in her vision, Alisaie’s presence lingered at Aldra’s side, a thorn in her perfect design. Y’shtola’s expression hardened. “She will try to tear us apart. She will whisper poison and lies. But I am patient. I am precise. And Aldra’s heart already beats for me. No force in this realm, or beyond, will keep her from my embrace.”With that vow, Y’shtola turned, her dark robes sweeping the floor. The sigils glowed brighter for a moment, then steadied, waiting like open jaws for their prey. All that remained was to draw Aldra here, to lead her into the trap, to let the magic finish what her whispered words and tender touches had begun.Soon, Y’shtola thought, a slow, dangerous smile playing at her lips. Soon, Aldra will be mine, body, heart, and soul. Forever.
The nights in Gridania grew longer for Aldra. Though the city was filled with soft music, the rustling of leaves, and the comforting hum of elementals, she could not rest. Each time her eyes closed, she felt Y’shtola’s voice curling through her thoughts, sweet as silk and sharp as a knife.Her body betrayed her. When she reached for sleep, her hand would twitch, hovering over her own skin, yearning for the warmth of someone who wasn’t there. Shame made her pull back each time, tears burning in her violet-pink eyes. She sat curled on the bed of the inn, her tail wrapped tight around her, whispering to herself: Don’t. Don’t give in.Alisaie stayed near, refusing to leave her side. She spoke often, gently but firmly, explaining what Y’shtola had done, weaving her words like a shield. “Love isn’t a spell, Aldra. It isn’t a chain or a command. It’s trust. It’s freedom. That’s what you deserve.”But sometimes, when Aldra looked at her, all she could think of was Y’shtola’s smile, the warmth of her touch, the soft command in her voice. And it terrified her how much she missed it.In Matoya’s Relict, the opposite was true. Y’shtola had no restless nights. She thrived in her sleeplessness, pouring every hour into the crafting of her spell. The three sigils burned brighter each evening, their resonance echoing through the stone halls.She sat in the center, her staff laid across her knees, whispering to the glowing heart chained in light.“Your struggle only feeds me, Aldra. Every hesitation, every shiver, every night you fight yourself… it ties you closer to me. You need me more with each breath.”Her voice, smooth as velvet, slipped into the air like poison. “Alisaie thinks she can keep you safe. Sweet child, she forgets that longing is stronger than reason. She guards you, yes… but I am the one you ache for in the dark.”Her eyes closed, and the sigils pulsed as though answering her heartbeat. “The spell is nearly complete. All I need is to draw you here, into my circle, where your doubts will dissolve and your love will be mine. Entirely. Eternally.”The faintest smile touched her lips as she imagined Aldra stepping across the runes, her body trembling not in fear, but in surrender.Back in Gridania, Aldra clutched at her chest one night, her breathing ragged. Alisaie caught her hands and pressed them down firmly, forcing her to meet her eyes.“You’re stronger than this,” Alisaie whispered fiercely. “She can’t have you, Aldra. Not if we stand together.”But deep inside, Aldra wasn’t sure who she feared more: Y’shtola’s consuming obsession… or the part of herself that wanted to give in.
