Xeravon bled silence.
Its body, all muscle and armored bone,
loomed like a titan of hollow wrath. Each of its three jaws dripped a thick,
void-colored ichor that hissed against the obsidian floor. Its wings, broad and
tattered, flickered with a sickly silver light that bent shadows backward.
But it wasn't attacking anymore.
Not directly.
It was watching.
Waiting.
And in the stillness between that gaze
and the next heartbeat, Ash felt something alien crawl across the edge of his
mind—a sensation like teeth pressing against his memory, testing it.
"It's reading me," he whispered.
Iriis stood beside him, sword ready,
her helm tilting in a slow arc.
"It's hungry," she murmured. "But not
for flesh."
Ash's breath misted. The temperature
had dropped suddenly, drastically.
He reached into himself, instinctively
pressing on the part of his spirit that now bore the mark of the Primordial
Binding. And in response, the mark on his palm pulsed with a dull violet glow.
"We can't fight it forever," he
muttered.
"We won't win if we try," Iriis
agreed.
Ash looked up at the creature, locking
eyes with its hollow sockets.
"Then we Bind it."
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION – BINDING
INITIATION REQUESTED]
Target Entity: Xeravon – The Starved
Warden
Threat Level: A- | Sentience:
Fragmented
Current State: Ravenous | Identity
Instability Detected
Primordial Binding Compatible: Yes
Warning: Target will resist. Soul
pressure exceeding safe thresholds.
Initiate Subjugation Attempt?
Yes
No
Ash whispered the word.
"Yes."
The chamber erupted with light.
A summoning circle far more complex
than the one used for Iriis unfurled beneath him—spanning the entire width of
the bone-ringed room. It was different this time—less geometric, more chaotic.
The symbols weren't stable; they flickered and shifted as though uncertain
whether this bond should be allowed.
The system was obeying… but reluctantly.
Chains of violet flame burst from the
runes, soaring toward Xeravon like spears—
—but they stopped, suspended inches
from the beast's skin.
Then the world screamed.
Not aloud. Not with sound.
With memory.
Ash's mind convulsed as he was slammed
into another's recollection. He felt it not like a vision—but like being forced
to live another's torment.
He was running. No—it was.
A forest of ash. A sky full of burning
courts.
A voice screaming: "Protect the Womb
at any cost—!"
Then betrayal. The voice reversed. The
command turned inward.
"Starve. Forget. Be forgotten."
He felt his hunger take over.
He ate the sky.
He ate his own name.
He forgot everything—except the pain
of duty.
Ash collapsed to his knees, gasping,
clutching his chest.
Iriis was suddenly beside him, a hand
on his shoulder. Her voice was low but firm.
"You're inside his collapse."
"You have to pull him back."
Ash grit his teeth, eyes glowing with
the full burn of the Binding. His voice was shaking.
"What… if he doesn't want to come
back?"
"Then you give him a reason."
Ash stood.
Staggered.
Then roared at the top of his lungs.
"Xeravon!"
The creature twitched.
Ash extended his hand.
"You were a guardian. You kept the
gate. You obeyed an oath."
"I don't want your submission. I want
your oath, again."
The creature bared all three rows of
jagged teeth. A ripple passed through the chamber as pressure gathered in the
air. The sarcophagi above trembled.
Then it lunged.
Ash didn't move.
He reached toward the beast instead of
away from it.
And in the instant where its jaws
should've crushed him, the Binding circle flared again—violently.
The chains struck, not to bind, but to
remind.
Ash's voice echoed with something
older than him.
"Your name is not hunger.
Your purpose is not wrath.
You were a Warden.
And I remember you."
The creature slammed to the ground
just inches from him, roaring—but not in rage.
In agony.
Its body convulsed, twisting,
changing. Its wings folded inward. The screaming light faded. Its form
shrank—still monstrous, but now defined, less chaotic.
And its eyes…
For the first time—they focused.
[BINDING COMPLETE – SECOND SUMMON
ACQUIRED]
Name: Xeravon
Title: The Bound Warden of Ash and
Hunger
Type: Echo-Class | Aberrant Sentient
State: Stabilizing
Sync: 5%
Current Form: Lupine-Chimeric |
Semi-Material
• Ability: Devour Instinct – Absorbs
weaker magical constructs and manifests them as adaptive resistances.
• Ability: Howl of the Unnamed –
Disrupts enemy spellcasting and memory-based skills.
• Trait: Guardian Remnant – Remembers
positioning, threat direction, and prioritizes protection of summoner by
default.
Warning: Bond is unstable. Loyalty
must be earned through progression.
Ash dropped to one knee, exhausted.
Xeravon lowered his head—not
submissively, but introspectively. He looked at Ash like someone seeing light
for the first time in centuries.
Iriis stood at the edge of the cradle,
watching. Her voice was barely above a whisper.
"You're doing it."
Ash looked up, dazed.
"Doing what?"
She stepped beside him.
"Building a Court."
They rested in the chamber for hours.
Xeravon didn't speak—he couldn't, yet. But Ash could feel him now, faintly.
Like a cornered animal learning to breathe again. Not tame. Not loyal. But… listening.
Iriis remained silent, watching from a
distance. Her bond with Ash still pulsed strong, but now… balanced. She no
longer stood as his sole anchor. There was another.
Ash sat near the cradle, staring at
the bone-pillar runes spiraling upward.
"How many more," he asked quietly.
"Like him?"
Iriis didn't hesitate.
"Dozens."
"Some deeper. Some older. Some worse."
He didn't blink.
"I'll bind them all."
[SYSTEM UPDATE – ASCENSION PROGRESS:
29%]
You now command two Primordial-bound
entities. Court designation in progress.
New Feature Unlocked: Court Name –
Pending Selection
Optional Bonus: A true Court is not
made of servants, but allies.
Your summons must believe in your
right to lead.
Current Alignment:
– Iriis: Loyal (Trust)
– Xeravon: Wild (Wary)
Ash stood at the edge of the cradle
and stared into its still-glowing core.
Whatever was within still slept.
But for the first time, he wondered:
What if I don't just want to survive
this Trial?
What if I want to own it?