16. Thyros #2
“They're the reason the Abyss is never quiet. We’ve been fighting them for our entire existence. Zapharos, as Praetor of War, leads the defense day and night. They are… relentless. Brutal in a way that’s hard to describe to someone who hasn’t seen them in the Abyss.
Inside Nox Eternum, they're far stronger, far more vicious; the rules of reality bend there, and they thrive on it. The Pandraxians laughed when we first warned them. They thought we were exaggerating some minor shadow creatures. They don’t laugh anymore. ”
I rubbed my jaw, the memory of endless battles flashing through my mind.
“Some of them have escaped the Abyss. We still don’t know how.
That shouldn’t be possible. But they have.
We don’t know if the Harrowed One raised them, or if they’ve always been there, lurking in the dark since the First Collapse.
Either way, they are its perfect weapons.
Or perhaps its children. They keep coming.
No matter how many we kill, more always appear. It’s a war without end.”
The room fell quiet except for the faint hum of the ship and the soft pulse of the golden thread between us.
Naeris was watching me closely, her expression holding a mix of fascination and something softer.
The way her eyes lingered on my face, then briefly on my chest and shoulders, sent another spike of heat through me.
My cock stirred again, heavy and insistent.
Being alone with her like this was pure torture.
I wanted to reach across the space between us and pull her into my lap.
I wanted to taste the questions on her lips and drown in the way she looked at me like I wasn’t a monster.
Instead, I stayed where I was, fists clenched on my thighs, fighting the bond and my own growing hunger with everything I had.
"But you say they're stronger on your side?" I circled back to her earlier remark.
She nodded. "I've never seen one before, but Kael’Varyn still bears the scars from them."
We both fell silent for a moment. I wished I had the time to investigate Naeris' claim further, but it didn't seem like our travels would take us in the direction of her universe anytime soon. In comparison to the Dark Abyss and the Harrowed One, the Mmuhr’Rhong only made for a minor nuisance.
A few heartbeats passed before Naeris spoke again. “And you think we’re supposed to stop it. The Dark Abyss. The Harrowed One?”
I gave a slow nod, my gaze never leaving hers. “I think the prophecy believes we can.”
She fell silent again, staring thoughtfully at me. The air between us felt charged, almost electric.
“And the Cryons?” she asked. “I know they attacked Earth, but I don’t know why that mattered to the Pandraxians or why the Emperor got involved.”
I explained, as best I could, the Cryons’ invasion, the discovery that humans were compatible as mekarries—the equivalent of Aelyth to the Pandraxians—and the Pandraxians stepping in to protect what they saw as their future mates.
Naeris listened intently, asking sharp, intelligent follow-up questions that showed how much she had already pieced together from the others.
Naeris studied me for a long moment, and the golden thread between us hummed with quiet intensity.
The room felt smaller, the air thicker. Her damp hair, the faint scent of her skin after the shower, the way her tunic shifted when she breathed, it was all becoming too much for me to resist much longer.
I was trying to figure out a way to excuse myself, but then she asked the question I’d been dreading.
“Don’t take this the wrong way,” she stared straight at me, her expression one of honest curiosity, “but yesterday… it was a big deal for you to show your mark on your back. Why?”
I closed my eyes.
The weight of millions of years pressed down on me.
Part of me wanted to shut down, to deflect, to keep that darkness locked away where it belonged.
Another part—a reckless, selfish part—wondered if telling her the truth might finally scare her away.
If she started avoiding me, it would be easier to stay away from her.
Easier not to give in to the constant, aching temptation of the Aelyth bond.
Because I absolutely did not deserve her.
I opened my eyes and met hers.
“Because it’s not just a mark,” I intentionally made my voice sound rough.
I wanted her to be scared. I wanted her to be scared of me.
“It’s proof that I’m… wrong. Different. The Abyss didn’t just birth me.
It stained me. The Harrowed One has whispered through that darkness for as long as I can remember.
Promises. Threats. Temptations. I’ve spent my entire existence trying to resist him. ”
I couldn't bear holding her gaze any longer and looked away. “Showing it to you… to all of you… felt like admitting I might never be free of it. That I might always be the thing that doesn’t belong in the light.”
The silence that followed was heavy. I waited for her to pull back. To see the disgust or fear I’d always expected. Instead, she shifted closer on the couch. The golden thread between us flared brighter, warmer. I could feel her heartbeat through it, steady, curious, unafraid.
Her voice was quiet when she spoke again. “And yet you still came for me yesterday. You tore through flooded tunnels and fought guardians even after I told you to stay away.”
I let out a low, bitter breath. “I couldn’t not come for you.”
Her gaze dropped to my mouth for a fraction of a second before returning to my eyes. The air between us crackled. I was painfully aware of how close her knee was to mine, how her damp hair smelled like something sweet and wild, how badly I wanted to reach out and pull her into me.
The bond thrummed harder, insistent and hungry.
Naeris didn’t move away. If anything, she leaned in just a fraction more.
“Thyros…” she whispered, and the way she said my name sent heat rushing straight through me.
I swallowed hard, fighting every instinct that screamed to close the distance.
This was dangerous. She was dangerous. I knew I was losing the battle.
I forced my hands to stay on my knees and answered every question she threw at me, even though all I wanted was to drown in her existence.
Because for the first time in my life, someone wanted to know the darkness inside me… and wasn’t running from it.