Chapter 12: Broken Bonds and Crimson Sparks

Ethan scratched his head in sheer panic, his mind racing. What should I do now? How do we escape?

Before he could think of a plan, heavy footsteps brought Sofia rushing into the bedroom. She froze, her eyes widening as she looked at the armed men. "Hey... brothers? When did you guys get back?"

Ethan shifted on the bed, glaring at them. "Sofia... who are these guys?"

"Ah, they're my older brothers," Sofia explained, turning to Ethan. "They were away for work, but I guess they just got back."

The two men didn't look at Sofia with affection. Instead, they kept their cold, greedy eyes locked right on Ethan and Iris. "Sofia, how do you know these traitors? And why on earth are they inside our house?"

"Brothers, calm down!" Sofia pleaded, stepping between them. "This is Ethan and Iris. They were both badly injured in our forest, so I brought them here to eat some food and treat their wounds."

The older brother sneered, gripping his weapon tightly. "You made a horrible choice, little sister. We are taking them straight to Princess Cecelia."

"Why?!" Sofia yelled.

"Because this boy right here is a murderer," the second brother growled, pointing his blade at Ethan. "He brutally killed the Duke's son—Her Highness's fiancé, Lord Maximilian."

Sofia's mouth dropped open in absolute shock. "That... that can't be true!"

"It is the direct order of Her Highness to find both of them," the older brother snapped. "Step aside, Sofia."

Instead of moving, Sofia bravely planted her feet, shielding the bed. "Brother, no! Don't come any closer to them! Even if they did it, there had to be a reason behind it!"

Meanwhile, on the bed, Iris leaned closer to Ethan, her voice a tiny whisper beneath the shouting. "Ethan... let's run away while they are arguing."

Ethan looked at her and whispered back, deep in worry, "But Iris, you're sick!"

Iris made a weird, annoyed face at him. "Sick? Ethan, we are literally about to die. If we die, who cares about a sickness?"

Ethan blinked, lost in thought for a second. Oh... yeah. Good point.

"Sofia, get yourself out of the way!" the second brother roared.

"No, I won't!" she shouted back, her chest heaving.

"Are you really going to betray Her Highness and His Majesty for some random fugitives?" the older brother asked, his voice turning deadly dark.

Sofia looked directly into her brothers' eyes, her gaze filled with absolute, unyielding confidence. "Yes. I am."

The two men slowly drew their swords, the cold steel gleaming under the yellow lamplight. They pointed the tips straight at their own sister. "Fine, sis. If you're going to stand in our way, then we won't show mercy to anyone. We'll kill you too."

"Yes," the other added coldly. "You are no longer our sister."

A deep, crushing wave of disappointment washed over Sofia's face. She let out a hollow, bitter laugh. "Great. Wonderful. For a little bit of royal blood money, you completely forget about me. It's fine then. You guys were never my real brothers anyway. Have you already forgotten? This is the same thing that happened to Dad..."

The two men froze for a second, locking eyes with each other, before bursting into a loud, sadistic laugh. "Hahaha! Hahahahaha! Fine then, sis! This world is made of money. If you don't have this, you have nothing!"

From the back of the room, Ethan called out, his heart aching for her. "Sofia, just run away and save yourself! We'll be fine!"

Sofia stood there, her head hanging low as tears finally began to stream down her face, splashing onto the floor. She made a quiet, choking sound.

"Sofia... are you crying?" Ethan asked softly.

She slowly glanced back at them over her shoulder, a small, sad smile touching her lips. "I am not always strong, Ethan... I can be weak too, right?"

Suddenly, something strange rang deep inside Ethan's body. The imprinting bond on his wrist throbbed with a strange heat.

Sofia turned back to her brothers, her eyes glossy. "I want to go see Dad now. I'm going to complain to him about his sons... should I?"

"What are you saying...?" Ethan stammered, a terrible feeling rising in his gut.

"I will tell him his sons turned out to be the same monsters," Sofia whispered to the air. "Do you think Dad will listen to me...?"

"Stop crying, Sofia!" Ethan yelled, trying to force his broken body out of the bed.

Iris chimed in, her voice trembling. "Sofia, I don't know who you really are right now, but you are a nice girl! Please don't talk like this!"

Sofia looked at Iris, her eyes filled with an ancient, heavy sorrow. "You should know the pain of not having anyone by your side..." She shifted her gaze back to Ethan. "...And the agony of being constantly betrayed, with no safe place left to call home."

She looked down at the floor, the blades still pointed at her chest. "You guys don't know anything about me yet. But please... just implement my one last piece of advice."

"What?" Ethan and Iris asked together.

Sofia's voice turned perfectly calm. "This world is made of fighting and pain. Never have sympathy. Fight. Don't care who is standing in front of you. The world is cruel."

Before Ethan or Iris could even scream, the two brothers lunged forward. With a sickening squelch, they drove their swords straight through Sofia's chest.

Bright red blood began to drip rapidly onto the wooden floor. Sofia's legs buckled, and she collapsed heavily onto the ground. As her eyes slowly shut, a peaceful expression settled over her face.

"Finally..." she whispered, her voice barely a breath. "Finally, I can have some peace..."

Her chest stopped moving. Sofia was dead.

"What kind of brothers are you?!" Ethan roared, his voice shaking with absolute horror and rage. "You just murdered your own sister!"

The older brother wiped his bloody blade, smirking. "And you're the one who killed his own master. Oh well, we're in the same lane. But now, it's your turn."

They stepped over Sofia's body, coming forward to chain them up.

"I command you... stay right there, you creatures," Ethan growled.

He slowly lifted his head. In an instant, his humanity vanished. His eyes bled into a terrifying, glowing crimson, his hair shifted to pure pitch black, and his long, sharp fangs slid past his lips. He looked up at them with a deadly, mocking smirk. "Do you guys even have a heart? If not... tell me, because I will break the rest of your bodies so there's absolutely nothing left of you."

The brothers gasped, taking a step back. "A monster!" One of them quickly recovered, laughing mockingly. "Hahaha! You think you can do something to us? We are wearing protective amulets around our necks! The Duke gave these to us specifically to handle freaks like you!"

Iris stared at the glowing amulets around their necks, her breath catching. "That... my dad gave those to the Duke..."

"What is it, Iris?" Ethan asked, not breaking eye contact with the targets.

"They are wearing what my dad made," Iris whispered, her voice cracking before turning into a venomous hiss. "That was my father's magic!"

"Calm down, Iris!" Ethan urged, feeling her volatile energy skyrocketing through their bond. "You have to stay in control!"

"How can I be in control?!" Iris screamed.

The raw fury completely unlocked her hybrid form. Her hair instantly bleached into a striking, bright blonde, her fangs shot out, and her eyes burned a dangerous red. "This is exactly what they snatched away from me!"

With a terrifying burst of speed, Iris vanished from the bed. Driven by pure, unhinged anger, she slammed directly into the first brother.

"Iris, stay away from them! It's dangerous!" Ethan shouted from behind.

But she didn't listen. "AHHHHHHHHH!" Iris shrieked, sinking her fangs deep into the brother's neck, brutally tearing into his flesh and drinking his blood greedily.

The second brother went totally pale with fear. Seeing his partner drop to the floor, completely lifeless and drained, he frantically drew his sword and aimed it straight at Iris while she was distracted. She was completely off-guard, her body frozen from the sudden rush of blood.

"You could kill him, but I'm not as easy as him! I'll kill you!" the brother yelled, swinging his blade down at her head.

"Stay away from her!" Ethan roared.

He lunged across the room, tackling Iris from behind. He hugged her tightly against his chest, shielding her body with his own as they both crashed hard onto the floor. The sword sliced through the empty air right above them.

"Ah... you think you can live? No!" the brother snarled, stepping closer to swing again.

Ethan glared up from the floor, his wrist mark flashing with light. He thrust his hand forward, whispering a dark incantation: "Dark Spark."

With a violent crackle, the brother's steel sword instantly shattered into a million pieces. Before the man could even scream, dark, crackling magical flames erupted from the floor, instantly trapping him inside a flaming cage.

Without wasting a single second, Ethan activated a secondary teleportation spell through their shared bond. A flash of dark light consumed the room, and Ethan and Iris completely disappeared from the house.

---

A second later, they materialised in the pitch-black density of the deep forest. Shaking off the dizziness of the teleportation, Ethan looked around until his eyes landed on a structure hidden beneath the roots of a massive tree.

"There's something over there... let's go," Ethan gasped, his body heavily drained.

Iris silently followed him, her breathing ragged.

"It's an old cage... let's go inside," Ethan said, pushing open a rusted iron door that led into a rocky, deep cavern hidden underground. It was isolated, deep, and perfectly safe from the outside world.

They slid inside, using a tiny spark of magic to light a small candle. Sitting down on the cold stone floor, a heavy, suffocating silence fell between them.

Iris stared at her knees, her blonde hair falling over her face. "I'm sorry..."

Ethan looked over at her. "For what?"

"I went out of control," she whispered, her shoulders trembling. "It was my mistake."

Ethan let out a soft sigh, trying to lighten the mood. "Wow, didn't you realise that really quickly?"

"Okay, fine! Say whatever you want," Iris pouted, crossing her arms. "But at that time, I just couldn't help it."

"You couldn't help it?" Ethan's voice rose slightly, his sarcastic protective side taking over. "You know you could have died out there!"

Iris looked up, blinking at him. "Are you... worried about me?"

Ethan stared at her, completely flabbergasted. He sarcastically clapped his hands together. "Wow, great question! Truly amazing! I was so worried that my life was literally stuck in my throat, and you're sitting there asking if I'm worried?"

Iris huffed, looking away. "Do you think I am really that weak?"

"Iris, this isn't about weakness," Ethan said, his voice softening as he leaned closer. "It's about the fact that you blindly attacked a person and killed him."

"Have I really just...?" Iris stopped, her red eyes widening as reality finally set in. "No... I... I wasn't in my right senses..."

"It's the first time you've ever drunk human blood," Ethan explained gently. "Your hybrid body is still trying to adapt to it."

Suddenly, Iris's breathing started to get incredibly heavy. She gripped her chest, her skin turning pale. "I don't know why... but suddenly, I'm feeling so heavy again... the heat is coming back..."

Ethan's eyes narrowed as he realised her fever was returning from the massive magical strain. He lost himself in thought for a second, remembering what happened in the cellar.

He leaned in close, his lips brushing against her ear as he whispered, "Give me your blood."

Iris let out a loud, embarrassed cough. "Eh—what?!" She scrambled back a few inches, staring at him. "Have you caught a fever now?"

"Idiot," Ethan muttered, his cheeks flushing slightly. "I'm asking because the last time I absorbed your blood back in the cellar, your severe injuries healed and your fever went down.

"Oh..." Iris blushed deeply, her fingers twisting her skirt. "You... you were talking about that... But how am I supposed to give you my blood?"

"I don't know," Ethan muttered.

"Me either..." Iris whispered.

An incredibly awkward, heavy hesitation filled the small rocky cage. Ethan shifted uncomfortably, his heart hammering against his ribs. It felt so weird to ask, but it was the only way to save her.

"Can... can I bite your neck a little bit?" Ethan stammered, looking anywhere but at her. "Just enough to get some blood to cure you?"

Iris's mind raced. Oh wow... but it's okay. It's just Ethan. He's only doing this to cure me and take away the pain.

She swallowed hard, slowly pulling her blonde hair to one side to expose her skin. "Okay..." she whispered.

Ethan leaned in closer, his breath warm against her skin. Slowly, gently, he sank his fangs just a fraction into the side of her soft neck, absorbing her hybrid blood.

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[Chapter Ended - To Be Continued]