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“Yes,” Ere whispered. “It was carved there by a gray witch thousands of years ago. It has kept him alive all this time. But I thought…”
Ere blinked in confusion, and Ben suspected that he was also trying to ward off tears. His pain and worry for his Mate were a palpable thing. Ben’s heart hurt just witnessing his sire’s distress.
“I thought he was reborn or at least renewed as the phoenix after the Hydra took him apart. He was so badly wounded. She’d torn his wings from his b-back.”
Ere’s breath hitched at the memory. His jaw flexed as he visibly steeled himself to continue.
“His skin had been pale gray just like this. But we…he came back for me. He healed.”
Ere raised his eyes to the Master’s.
“Why is this happening now? He was fine. Everything was fine.”
The old man raised his bushy white brows in question.
“Truly? Had you no warning at all? By chance, did you travel through any plains or realms of the afterlife in the recent past?”
Ere frowned in thought.
“Yes. We retrieved Orpheus’ lyre from Hades, along with Andros’ soul. We also struggled through the mire of the Deadlands on our last quest. That was all.”
He looked back into the Master’s eyes.
“You think that has something to do with this?”
The Master’s mustache twitched again.
“I do not know the particulars. This is simply conjecture. All I can tell is that your Mate’s soul seems to be weakened somehow. A soul that is not fully alive is often pulled upon by the dead. Like a magnet. He does not belong in the living world.”
“The hell you say!” Ere roared, hands clawing into fists.
Ben and Annie both shuddered reflexively from the echoing fury of the black dragon’s booming bellow.
Ben could see a vibrating energy around Ere’s form, as if the dragon inside was on the verge of bursting out. It was already there in the shadow his human body cast in the Great Hall.
Gigantic wings extended, sharp teeth bared, limbs locked to pounce, and claws curled to rip his enemies to shreds.
The Master simply regarded him as calmly as ever, not a flicker of emotion on his placid face.
“I am telling you what I see. Make of it what you will. Your Mate’s wellbeing is not my concern. It is not why I have brought you here.”
“I don’t give a fuck why you brought us here!” Ere continued to storm and rage, his eyes ablaze.
The Master merely blinked at him, unmoved.
“You are summoned for your next quest.”
“Fuck your fucking quests!”
“Failure to comply will result in the weakening and eventual demise of your own soul,” the Master coolly pointed out, ignoring Ere’s outbursts.
“A soul that owes its resurrection to the Jade Emperor’s largesse.”
“Fuck the—”
Suddenly, Ere’s voice was cut off mid-curse, as the Master’s eyes flashed with something like lightning, and just as quickly gone.
The rest of Ere’s words emerged in a lamb’s bleatingbaaaaa.
