The Jinn's Ten-Year Oath

The moment Liora's fingers closed around the Starblossom, the world screamed.

Not a cry from any living creature, but a sound from the fabric of magic itself—a piercing, ancient shriek as something sacred tore loose. Light exploded outward, not just from the flower but from Liora, from Kael, from the forest's bones. The air twisted in a violent spiral, rippling like water. Trees bent away from the burst as if bowing to a god's rage.

The beast's roar cut off mid-lunge. It struck a tree, splintering bark with a sickening crunch.

Liora dropped to her knees, gasping. The Starblossom's stem seared her skin, roots like molten silver coiling up her arm and burrowing deep. Veins of light spread through her flesh, glowing, writhing. Her breath hitched. Her fingers wouldn't let go.

"Kael!" she cried, pain warping her voice. "What is this?!"

But Kael was not answering.

The jinn staggered, his form convulsing as the magic poured into him. His edges sharpened—claws forming, the arc of his horns solidifying, his chest rising with breath he hadn't drawn in centuries. Eyes snapped open—twin stars of violet fire—and locked onto hers.

"Liora," he rasped. His voice wasn't just sound anymore. It was heat and thunder. "Let go—"

The earth cracked beneath them.

Roots ripped through the ground like blades, fanged and writhing. The beast's body split apart as it transformed. What had once been flesh became a storm of rotting petals and tentacled vines. Its shriek was human and not.

Kael froze.

"It's not a guardian," he breathed. "It's the last sacrifice. The one who failed."

A face emerged in the mass—a girl's, maybe sixteen, her mouth open in eternal terror—before it was swallowed again.

Liora recoiled. The roots had reached her collarbone, spiraling under her skin. Her heart thundered in her ears.

Kael moved.

One moment he stood apart. The next, he was with her, slicing the vines that bound her. His body pressed close—hot, solid, and startlingly real. His hand closed over hers, both of them gripping the flower.

"This will hurt," he whispered, breath ghosting her cheek.

She nodded.

He yanked.

Pain. White-hot. Blinding. The roots tore free with a scream of tearing magic. Silver and crimson blood sprayed across the grass. Liora's voice cracked, her legs buckling.

Kael crushed the flower to his chest. The bloom exploded in violet flame.

And the light died.

"Run," Kael growled. His voice echoed like thunder.

---

Later, in a cave hidden behind dripping moss and sleeping bats, Liora shivered beside a dying fire. Her arm, hastily wrapped in torn cloth, glowed faintly. The veins of silver still pulsed beneath her skin—a second heartbeat.

Kael crouched nearby. He had wrested control of the bats, their beady eyes watching from above like silent sentinels. His body, once flickering smoke, was fully formed now. Shadow and flame given skin.

"The roots didn't die," he said, studying her carefully. "They fused with you. You're not just marked. You're changing write now. "

"Will it kill me?" she asked.

His silence answered her better than words.

Kael's shoulders tensed. His clawed hand hovered just over her wrist. "I don't know."

She looked at him—really looked. At the horns curled back like a crown, the violet glow of his eyes, the scars etched across his neck. No longer a phantom. Real. Breathing. And because of her.

"You didn't just feed on the flower," she said. "You fed on me."

Kael winced. "Not on purpose. But... without your magic, I couldn't hold this form."

She tilted her head. "So I should be furious."

"Are you?"

Liora hesitated. Her eyes dropped to his hand. It was trembling. Not with hunger. With restraint.

"No," she whispered.

He touched her fingers gently. The pulse under her skin brightened. His gaze lifted.

"Who sent that girl?" she asked. "Who set this up?"

Kael exhaled. "Someone who wants royal blood to awaken something worse. Another jinn. Old. Starved. Maybe even sealed. The Starblossom was the key."

Her stomach twisted. "And I—was the lock."

"You were the sacrifice."

She swallowed hard. "But why me?"

"Because your bloodline sings to magic. Because they knew you'd survive long enough to make it work. Because you're stronger than the others."

"And the man who didn't bow to you after you free from alter." she said, voice hollow. "He knew."

Kael nodded. "He's not just a cultist. He's the master mind behind this."

"He plan to sacrifice you and if something goes wrong you will be teleport here. If I don't shield you before you would die in teleportation.If you survive you will be sacrifice for star blossom, like the girl from before. Whoever plan all this is a genius. It will be heard to get out from here but and it will be even harder to kill him. But I believe you can do it. I will help you getting our revenge. "

The fire cracked.

Liora pulled her knees to her chest. Her thoughts raced. Then, quietly:

"So... did I summon you? Why are you there.Is it coincidence or you just want to get my body"

Kael looked into the flames. "I think I was dying. In the void. Then I heard you. And I crawled back. Maybe God send me there. Or maybe your voice did.Yeah I want your heart and body both. Why will I take body when I can get both. "

She smiled bitterly. "Some one try to sacrifice me to a devil and another devil help me escape.Do you think I will love a devil?I can't even trust you porperly"

"No," he said, turning to her. "But I believe will see good in me one day."" My mother used to tell me if you want kindness you have to show kindness. If you want love , you have to love first. "

Their eyes met. Something flickered there. Not just magic. Something warmer.

---

Later still, Liora sat alone near the fire, the dagger in her lap. Her arm throbbed, veins pulsing with each heartbeat. She set the blade against her skin.

"Don't," Kael warned from behind.

"I have to. It's not leaving."

"It doesn't want to be removed. The roots like you."

"Then they can find someone else."

She cut.

Silver blood welled up, thick and glowing. But the veins twisted, avoiding the blade. Retreating.

She bit back a sob. "They're alive. They're *inside* me."

Kael knelt beside her. "It's not possession. It's a bond. It sees you as host."

She grabbed his shirt. "You devour magic. Then devour this. Eat it out of me."

He went still. "If I do, I might take your magic and soul with it."

She didn't flinch. "Then take it. I won't be a pawn in their ritual."

His forehead touched hers. "You trust me?"

"No. But I trust you more than I trust the forest."

Kael smiled—a crooked, quiet thing. "Fair."

He pressed his lips to her marked arm.

Power surged.

A root snapped up from her chest, aiming for her heart. Kael sank his fangs into it, tearing it away. Black blood sprayed his face. He spat it aside.

"We burn the source," he growled.

"Where is it?"

He took her hand. Flames danced in their joined palms.

The severed root pulsed, writhing. All around them, other roots stirred—summoned by pain.All attacks like sword. Kale shield her with his body.

"Get us out!" Liora shouted.

Kael grabbed her wrist. "I've got you."

She slammed the teleport talisman into the ground.

Light swallowed them.

---

They landed hard in the Wandering Woods, crashing through tangled roots. Fog pressed in like breath.

Kael collapsed. His body flickered again.

"The blossom... its energy is still inside you," he panted. "If I devour it, I might devour you too."

Liora's teeth chattered. "Then do it."

"Liora—"

"Do it," she snapped. "Before it finishes bonding."

He looked at her—soul-deep, afraid.

"You don't trust me," he said quietly.

"I don't have to. Just do what I say. "

They stumbled into a hollow tree. Bats flitted overhead. Kael called to them, silent and firm. More than 100 bats returned.

He drew a sigil in ash on the bark—a warding circle.

"We'll hide here," he said. "For now."

Liora pulled out a crystal. "I have magic left. Use it."

"It'll hurt."

"Everything hurts."

Kael's mouth found her arm.

Magic surged. Liora gasped, her body arching. Pain and heat and a strange pull, as if her soul were being unspooled. Kael drank, but carefully—siphoning the Starblossom, not her.

She trembled. Her fingers slipped. She crushed a second crystal.

The pain sharpened. The silver flared. Kael groaned, wrestling to hold the balance.

Then her body collapsed. She fainted.

Kael caught her.

He control her and use third crystal,and forth and this process going on.

The roots inside her curled, blackening.

Kael breathed hard. His body was steady now. Whole.

He drew her closer.It became strange. Kale is inside her body see his clone seeing her and holding her. He became jealous of himself. He became frustrated because kales main soul can't come out of her body.

Outside, the forest stirred.

When she woke up she found herself in kales arms. She asked furiously, "Why are you holding me. " Kales say, "Believe me I just watch you face . I don't touch you inappropriately. You lost control of your body. I just catch you so that you don't fall. " From inside his body kale say,"You can believe him. I will not let anyone touch you inappropriately." She said, "Are you still inside my body? Get out of my body. " Kale say, "I can't come out. "