Blood Oath (O/O CLOSED)

I furrowed my eyebrows as I popped a piece of bread in my mouth, looking around the room but unable to find Elliot. Was he resting? Or did he miss the timing and was practicing instead?

The castle lets out a shrilly alarm each time it’s time for food. He couldn’t have missed it. Excluding myself from my family’s presence, I sought to find him. Why, I didn’t know.

I first decided to search for him in the armory. It was where he liked to be most of the time, but he wasn’t there. I heaved a sigh and started for the dormitory. Music greeted me when I stepped in front of the door and I furrowed my eyebrows as I entered.

And was greeted by a rather surprising sight.

Elliot was dancing, his eyes closed, his body moving fluidly. It was like his body knew where to move. His movements felt natural—like they were second nature to him. And the look on his face was all bliss, as if he’d been set free. Never would I have guessed he could dance.

I leaned against the doorway, my eyes staying on him the whole time.

I let out a freeing, musical laugh, my voice sweetening as it skipped up a few notes to its natural feminine pitch. This, was what I lived for. Uplifting music flowing through the air like a river of song, keeping my body on track as it leapt and twirled, graceful, elegant, free. I took a strategic leap into the air and planted my arms on the arm of the sofa, snapping my legs up and over my head, which propelled me into a perfectly executed backflip. The flip transitioned smoothly into a cartwheel across the couch cushions, which ended with my hand farting out to grab my silver ball from the coffee table.

I began to toss it into the air, dancing under it, letting it slide across my shoulders and across the length of my outstretched leg. I danced wiith the ball rolling over my body, until the last note of the song played at a deafening crescendo. My feet fell perfectly into place, chin raised slightly, a victorious grin on my features….. and that’s when I saw him.

Colton.

My face went white.

The second he caught me, he went pale. I clapped slowly, making sure to keep a blank expression on my features.

“What a show,” I drawled, clapping slowly. I wasn’t going to comment that it was indeed a great performance. He was a dancer, that much I agreed with. And he was excellent.

But what I was most curious about was the rather feminine tone his voice went in to, or the way his movements seemed too soft, too… feminine to be a man’s. I decided music did that to you.

“Took off your weights, I see,” I went back to being my harsh self. “Even when I said not to.”

Shit.

I shoved my trembling hands into my pockets and forced a blank expression onto my face. On the inside, I was a shitstorm of panic, desperation, and shame, all coupled with a healthy helping of fear. He’d seen me. The one person who I hadn’t wanted to see me like this—and I had been discovered by them.

“I don’t know what to say,” I responded, voice going flat so I didn’t betray my actual emotions. “I’m sorry?”

“You should be,” I answered back. “What should I do with you, I wonder? Double the weight?”

I was still surprised with the new side of his I’d seen. It was too delicate, too gentle, but whatever it was, I didn’t want to jump to answers needlessly. He was just dancing.

“Do whatever you’d like, Your Highness.” I turned away from him directly before my meticulously constructed facial expression crumbled, hiding my features under the guise of stopping the music player.

I let out a scoff at his behavior.

“Upset that I barged in when you were enjoying yourself?” I raised an eyebrow, walking inside the dorm and closing the door behind me. “Should have done so in the safety of your room. Wear your shin guards and do not take them off unless absolutely necessary. I’ll let it slide this once, but the next time you disobey my order, I won’t be so lenient.”

“No, I’m upset with myself for being stupid enough to think that I could—“ I cut myself off abruptly, knowing how whiny and pathetic I would sound if I finished the sentence aloud. “Never mind. I’m sorry. Assign me laps, double the weight…. do what you want with me.”

“No, do continue,” I waved my hand. “Stupid enough to think that you could what?”

I realized he was still a child. He was acting like I just caught him with his hand inside a cookie jar, knowing what he did was wrong and accepting the punishment.

Except, he didn’t do anything wrong. Maybe just ignored my order and took off his shin guards, but he didn’t do anything wrong. Was he that ashamed at being caught dancing?

“It doesn’t matter.” Finally, I turned back to face him, new fears coming to life in my treacherous mind. How much had he seen? More specifically, how much femininity had he seen? Did he suspect anything.

“Looks like my secret is out,” I said, a surprising amount of bitterness seeping into my tone. “I enjoy a feminine art. Must make me a spineless weakling plagued by homosexuality.”

I walked over towards him, looking at him straight in the eyes as if I was going to berate him.

Instead, I rested my hand on his head, ruffling his hair. I bent down a little so our eyes were directly in line before I spoke up again.

“You’re not,” I finally spoke up. “You’re not a spineless idiot. Liking a feminine art is not being plagued by homosexuality. Having similar tastes as a woman does not make you a coward or weak. Do what you enjoy unless it causes others misery. Turn a blind eye towards those who judge you. Be yourself. What the world thinks does not matter.”

A hopelessly confusing rush of confusion and gratitude distorted my straightforward train of thought.

He….. was giving me a pep talk? A comforting speech? I had slight whiplash from the speedy change in attitude. What had happened?

“Thank you,” I told him hesitantly after a long stretch of silence.

I patted his head for good measure before standing up straight, stuffing my hands in my pockets. Elliot’s face resembled that of a confused rabbit and it was too amusing to look away from.

“You haven’t eaten, I suppose,” I didn’t mean it as a question. “God, I feel like I’m dealing with a little child, and we’re the same age. Come, I’ll get you something from the kitchen.”

His comment brought my self-esteem crashing back down again. Forcing my expression to go blank for the second time, I gave a slight shrug. “Is that an insult?”

I raised my eyebrow again.

“It’s however you want to take it as,” I turned my back towards him, walking towards the door before I paused. “Wear your shin guards and follow me to the kitchen.”

I sighed deeply through my nose and returned to the sofa, working quickly with the clunky, cumbersome shin guards. And once again, I was chained down to the Earth. Unable to escape, metaphorically.

Lucky me.

I made my way into the kitchen, hands slipping back into my pockets.

I won’t lie. I barely ate anything before I went to find Elliot, so we were both sitting in the kitchen, eating our food slowly.

Once we were done, I had us both run five laps around the field before I let him go, instead practicing magic with Key.

The Oath was in about three days from now, and I could recognize this feeling anywhere. I didn’t want his life to end, nor did I want him gone from the Academy.

He had to pass. He just had to.

Third Person’s POV:

The empty room lit with fire, the darkness licking at anything it could touch.

On the floor was a large symbol, drawn into the hard surface, and splattered with old blood. The room was where the Oath took place, the symbol being the summoning circle.

The door finally opened and a student stepped inside, taking a deep, shaking breath. He recited some words, cut into his finger and let the blood drop on the circle.

It flashed blue before immediately turning crimson, and was over before anyone could blink. The boy was all alone.

He had failed.

After him came another. He left with a level 2.

Another entered. All that remained of him was splatters of blood and the red dying into small sparks and finally, resting into blue.

And then Elliot entered the room.

The morning took an eternity to be over, full of anxious glances at the clock and failed attempts to emotionally prepare myself. But finally, it was time. Time for the Oath, the thing I had been praying for since before I could read. The ritual that I’d been preparing for, day after day, for the past day and a half.

I didn’t know whether to be terrified or excited beyond words.

As I was waiting for my turn, going over my notes for the millionth time while unbearable nausea twisted my gut, a heart-wrenching scream shattered the air. Dread flooded me from head to toe. Yet another young boy… dead. Eliminated. Gone. Was that to be my fate?

And suddenly, it was my turn. My feet were propelling me into the sacred chamber of their own accord. I stopped in the centre of the glowing blue circle, swallowing thickly at the sight of the blood beneath my feet, and reached for the handle of the ornate knife that hovered in the air ahead of me.

Most people sliced open the tip of their finger. I slashed a deep gouge through my whole palm, biting back a grimace of oain as my blood spilled down onto the circle below.

Third Person’s POV:

The second Elle’s blood hit the floor, the symbol flashed black. Darkness nipped at her skin, flames flickering, some growing out.

The darkness emitted from the symbol began to dance around Elle, wrapping around her frame as Elle’s eyes turned completely blank. She entered the Oath. Finally, it was time to form a bond.

Fear. That was the first thing I felt when the darkness engulfed me. But, unlike most, I didn’t hide it, didn’t try to cover it up. For once, I shed my act like a wool cloak in the summer, exposing myself completely. How on earth could I expect to form a Bond if my potential mate couldn’t see my entirety?

I was a woman. I was afraid, confused, lost. I had been dreaming about this moment for as long as I could remember. Surrounded by nothing but pitch black, I spilled all my secrets into the ground.

That’s when I heard the voice.

”Elle…”

Third Person’s POV:

The black light surrounding Elle immediately dissolved, flashing white, then blue, then white and finally red. Elle’s eyes turned white, her mind lost to the connection that was slowly beginning to form, her aura steady.

It didn’t fluctuate. It didn’t slip out of control. It leaked pleasantly, fearlessly, confidently.

And when it was over, the light died out. She wasn’t alone. A small, white and molten red creature was lying on the floor next to her feet.

Fireworks exploded through my mind, crackling with intense, burning energy. My potential bondmate—they were speaking to me. I was alive. I had a chance. Tears sprung to my eyes.

The creature was female. I couldn’t see her or what she looked like, but I could do much, much more. Her soul was an open book, her thoughts and emotions there for me to read. And I knew that I was the exact same for her.

The fabled ‘conversation’ between potential bondmates featured few words. Instead, we explored the depths of each other’s minds and spirits. I could feel the creature’s energy, felt like I knew her inside out. Most of all, we felt alive.

Eventually, the lights around me began to dim, the real world fading slowly back into view. The last thing I heard before my bondmate came into view and blood began to gush from my nose was a single word. No, something far more important. A name.

Scylla.

I growled, running a finger through my hair. I couldn’t be there for the Oath, and it was killing me. Metaphorically.

So far, I know five out of the twenty students had been sent home. Two of fifteen were dead. What about Elliot? Did he pass? Was it his turn already? If he failed, I would have known.

”You worry too much, dad,” Key rolled his eyes, popping an orange in his mouth. I shot him a look, silencing him and telling him to behave. We were in the presence of my father and his men.

Then a messenger threw open the door, gasping for breath, face pale.

“Another one!” He exclaimed, voice shaking. “It’s another A!”

I bolted out before I even knew what I was doing.

I collapsed onto my knees, scooping up the tiny creature and cradling it to my breast before I had time to think about it process anything that just happened.

Joy. That was all I could feel. Filling me from head to toe, lodging in my heart, which soared higher than ever before. The creature—Scylla—mewled against my chest, and I broke down completely, tears streaking down my cheeks at the same time that an exhilarated laugh escaped my lips.

I clutched her tighter, ignoring the sharp pain from the deep wound in my hand as I got my first good look at my bondmate. She seemed to be some sort of cross between a bird and a sea turtle, covered in downy, unbelievably soft features. Her wings, patterned like a turtle shell, swept over an actual one. And her eyes, huge and pure gold, were beautiful.

“Scylla,” I cried, lifting her and pressing a wet kiss to the top of her head.

It was only after I had stumbled from the room, choked with emotion, that the realization struck me. She was a baby. No, more than that. She was a Type A.

When I finally reached the room, I saw Elliot with his bondmate in his blood-stained arms. A baby creature. Type A. Like Key.

It wasn’t impossible to have more than one after all.

I was proud. I was bursting with immense approval for my junior. He managed to achieve something only I could. Something that was unheard of since the day this Academy was first created. He didn’t let me down. He didn’t just make me proud. He did more than that.

Taking slow steps towards him, I rested my hand on his head, knowing how much he liked it when I did that. And then I pushed him so his forehead was pressed against my chest. A small hug.

“Good job,” I said to him quietly. “You did well. I was right in thinking you had potential.”

Drained of all energy, I sank into the light embrace, pressing Scylla protectively against my chest.

“Is it bad that I’m crying?” I asked Colton weakly, continuing to press messy kisses to the top of my bondmate’s head.

I was overflowing with so much emotion that there was barely space for me to breathe. I was alive. I was the first woman in centuries to pass the Oath. But, infinitely more important: I had a bondmate.

“No,” I answered softly, a light smile on my features. I was glad he couldn’t see it. “It’s not. Those with a heart are bound to cry. Do you understand what I meant now on the first day of your lessons?”

He kept on pressing kisses in his bondmate’s head, and his behavior reminded of the time Key and I met for the first time.

The pitch of my voice had gone back up a note, but at that moment, I couldn’t have cared less. I hadn’t even registered the fact that Colton was hugging me, that he was being gentle, that he seemed to care. I just kept on crying and kissing Scylla, before holding her out to get a better look and breaking down again.

“She—She’s so beautiful—“

”Elle?”

He seemed to have frozen, and I knew why. I was familiar with it. Elliot’s bondmate was communicating.

Key snuck out of my hair, looking out to observe the new bondmates, wonder in his eyes. For so long, he had been alone. Just him as Type A. Now he had another partner.

”I’m not alone,” his soft voice whispered in my mind. ”There’s another one like me.”

”Yes, Key,” I replied back, reaching up to gently pat his head. ”You’re not alone anymore.”