The knot in my stomach grew tighter and tighter the farther we rode up the mountain. Fear washed over me as my suspicions about the poison running in Baal’s veins proved themselves true with each passing second. A few hours in, Baal began coughing and making small hissing sounds. When I asked him if he was uncomfortable, he confessed his gash was burning. The Goddesses knew how much I wanted to stop to comfort him…but that wasn’t an option. He got warmer as time continued passing by. The poison’s effects were getting exponentially worst.

The temple was in sight after a whole night of riding Ion. The huge entrance had a façade etched directly into the mountain, it was held up by large pillars and two large stone spears. Baal held on to me, but I knew that by now his strength was failing him. For the first hours, he bore with the situation pretty well, but as time went by he slumped against my back and started relying on me to keep him on the horse. His breathing got unusual, labored.

“Hey, still with me?”

“Mhmm.” He mumbled trying to sound cheery.

It had the opposite effect of what he probably intended.

“Just hold on a little longer. We’re almost there…”

The morning sky hadn’t cleared up of clouds, everything was gray and cold. Snow started falling and the wind picked up. A storm was upon us.

We finally arrived at the temple’s doorway and I dismounted Ion, taking Baal into my arms. He coughed a little in discomfort. His skin had gone paler than its usual milky color, dark spots appeared under his eyes. His purple eyes had gone dull and his lips were chapped thanks to the fever and cold wind.

“Help!” I exclaimed holding Baal in my arms, his skin fire hot against my own.

The runaway prince smelled like dying flowers, much like the poison on the dagger.

Monks dressed in gray tunics came to my call and, recognizing me in mere seconds, told me to follow them quickly. Rushing through the stone halls lit by yellow torchlight, Baal fell unconscious in my arms. I called to him but he wouldn’t open his eyes, I bit my lower lip feeling my whole world was going down the drain.

The halls lost their left wall to a series of pillars with gaps in between them giving sight to an icy valley. A storm made havoc outside. The sky flashed with blue light as lightning bolts raced across it to fall down on earth. Snow and cold weren’t getting in probably thanks to mana shields placed over the gaps. The monks finally led us to a bedroom. It was a small room with one bed, a chair and a desk.

I settled Baal on the small bed lit by a torchlight placed on the stone wall. One of the monks, a man with gray hair and dark slanted eyes, sat by Baal and told me to remove his top clothes. The graze wound on his side appeared to have festered. The skin had turned black and the gash oozed dark red blood.

“By smell alone, I can tell you what ails him, milord.” The old man turned to see me, his expression grim. “It’s poison from the Veritas flower, your friend may not have much longer at this rate.”

“I feared as much…”

Blood drained out of my face. I was right. Why would I have ever hoped to be wrong?

“We can try to make an antidote if you happen to have some of the poison.”

The old man stood up from the chair as I nodded and rushed back through the halls to Ion. I looked for the dagger inside the bags and ran back, Ion neighing worried. The small run gave me time to calm down. This might work, Baal might get better. He would be alright.

I handed the priest the poisoned dagger, the old man taking it with him alongside two others monks in the room. One priest remained behind to help me tend to Baal’s gash. My precious companion had started to sweat profusely. The fever got worst yet again. Tremors shook his body as if he were cold, his heart beating fast inside his chest. He must’ve been in so much pain… and I couldn’t do anything.

“I can’t do much about his wound, it refuses to heal after all.” The priest tending to Baal at the moment was a young man in his twenties. Fair skinned, blond with sharp eyes. “Keep him drinking water until we can come up with an antidote.”

The young man offered me his chair and I took place on it. I held Baal’s hand with both of mine and pressed my lips against his hot fingers. The priest handed me a bucket of fresh water he must’ve picked up while I was running back to Ion for the dagger. A wooden scoop floated inside the bucket, I used it and tried to feed Baal some water.

My companion wasn’t really cooperating and the water I took to his lips failed to go into his mouth.

“Baal…” I spoke his name and he opened his eyes slightly.

“…Luke.” He mumbled weakly.

My heart broke into tiny pieces, it wasn’t fair.

“Hey… can you drink this for me?” I asked him trying to not let my voice break.

Baal nodded and I took the scoop newly to his mouth. He drank little by little, at one point he seemed to be gettingfluff better. I smiled at him fearing that doing anything else might lead me to break down completely. Five thousand years of knowledge and all the power I had wouldn’t be enough to save his life. If I hadn’t met him maybe this wouldn’t have happened… if he hadn’t pushed me out of the way, then he’d still be okay.

The Veritas flower was as old as I was, the poison made from its nectar was the most potent and deadly poison in our world. Once inside the body, it made it impossible for mana, life energy or even heaven energy to cleanse it out. It didn’t matter how much I tried to heal him, Baal wouldn’t have gotten better, ever. I had lived two thousand years in constant agony, my infinite power held down by limiters, nevertheless still making me the most dangerous and powerful being in our world. Yet here I was. Brought to my knee and in deep despair, except this time I hadn’t murdered thousands of innocents… only found myself unable to stop the death of one.

“Why the long face?” Baal spoke looking at me with dull eyes and a soft smile. “It’s not the end of the world… this was bound to happen to me whether I met you or not…”

“You see, this happened with you at my side. I’ve failed to keep you safe.” It felt terrible. If I hadn’t let my guard down…

“…Luke, stop that. It’s not your fault… This was my sister’s doing, Sasha probably didn’t even know about his blades being poisoned. If she wished for this to pass, then we could’ve hardly stopped it from happening.” Baal grinned, coughing seconds after.

“What are you talking about?”

“She’s an oracle… she can see future possibilities, make things go her way.” Baal sighed pained, it must’ve hurt him to breathe and talk. “Umm, I’m cold…would you keep me warm?”

“…You’re running a fever. Do you want me to keep you cool better?”

Baal had just told me his sister was a seer and confirmed what I had heard him say to Freckles. I ignored that and decided to cheer him up somehow.

“Just get in here with me…please?”

We both laughed heartedly forgetting for a few seconds how somber our situation was. I gave him more water to drink before I got in bed with him. Holding his hand, I kissed his cheek sweetly. My legs tangled with his while my free hand lay over his chest, minding his wound. He was drenched in sweat, the scent of dying flowers overwhelming my nose. Happy humming gave away how cheerful he was despite his situation.

“You said you liked me… and this happens to you. If there was ever a doubt I was cursed, it’s most definitely been lifted.”

“I don’t recall telling you that…?” Baal took his free hand to mine and squeezed it slightly.

“You were talking in your sleep… I… I’m so sorry.”

“I’m the one that’s sorry… I should have just told you the moment I realized. Maybe our story would have been different then…” Baal whispered as he mustered the strength to move and lay on his unhurt side. Now facing me, he kissed my nose and kept his grin. “Despite realizing my feelings that last day we spent at Cordelica, I shut you out hoping we’d get back to whatever we had before then. I’ve been so afraid of falling in love again, scared you might leave me... but here you are. My whole world is upside down when I’m with you, and I kinda love it that way.”

“Oh, I wasn’t the only one thinking like that? What a relief!” I giggled, Baal rolled his eyes and smiled brightly. “…I’m not used to this, but…”

His heart beat was slowing down, his life energy seeping out of him...

“…I’m working on it. I’ll stay with you, to the very end. I promise…”

“I like you a lot, Luke.” I looked at him in the eyes, the dull orbs coming to life if only for brief seconds. “I’m not used to this either, but I would love if I could keep you, for whatever time I have left.”

“Are you asking me to be your boyfriend?”

“Fuck yeah, silly.”

Cold drops ran down my cheeks, was I crying?

Baal took his hand to my face, wiping tears off it all the while looking at me with starlit eyes. We pressed our foreheads together and just lay in bed saying no words afterwards. I held him close and he held on to me. The warm emotion blossoming in my chest spread throughout me, gave me a nice tingling sensation that reached my fingertips. This was bliss, regardless of Baal’s condition and the menacing heartbreak that would surely follow on his last moments.

“If today is my last day… I’m glad I’ll spend it in your arms.” His voice spoke in my head, his droopy eyes staring steadily into mine.

“I’m glad I met you.”

Baal’s eyes grew big with surprise and I understood, this time my voice did reach him.

“Luke…” Baal kissed me and I stopped thinking.

It was all clear now. During our time traveling, the Bond that had been established that first night we slept together had grown strong enough to be properly called by its name. Now that we acknowledged our feelings, that we both understood what they were, the Blood Bond could finally express itself in its entirety.

As our lips touched, I reached for the Bond, the spiritual connection that now fully linked us  together. His pain was at the tips of my fingers and, just like plucking an apple from a tree, I took it all away. Baal sighed relieved and I winced at the burning pain that took over my body. It was as if I were on fire, if I were human I probably wouldn’t be able to breathe at all. How had Baal held up against this agonizing pain?

“Give it back… you don’t have to do this.”

“It’s alright… I’m here for you. If I can take your pain away, then I will.”

It was all I could do for him.