King Vine, Count Druitte, Count Halphas and Prince Sitri froze on the stone pillars staring down at my possessed body.
I crawled along the damp ground, pulling myself onto the altar searching blindly for our names etched onto the stone. I wanted to see for sure if they had really been washed away, or if it was just an illusion. The immense heat from the brands pulsed as my fingertips traced over our blood smeared inscriptions… they had resurfaced through the stone.
Everything around me dissipated except for the scent of pine still lingering in the air, a constant reminder of Dantalion's supernal power. I recited every prayer of invocation I could think of to call him back as my guardian, so much simpler than the elaborate demonic evocation I remembered.
He honored his promise to me as my guardian, showing his human form and melting my heart . He wanted to prove to me he wasn't just some phantom lover manifesting through visions. I remembered his words "You are with me…" haunting my thoughts ever since he became immortal.
The darkness of his eyes in comparison to the amber yellow I grew accustomed to became a new elixir… a new taste of immortality. He looked older since my last vision of him by the waterfall, his dark hair shorter now, still spiked in front and grinning a killer smile. He was his usual beautiful, though getting used to this angelic side of him was torture for a girl cursed with demon brands on her arms.
His presence was no longer of lust or obsession. A warm glow immersed his body with mine. His touch drew me in, closer… just like I'd felt before. One kiss devoured me, consuming me in his arms. I waited to hear the words "I love you," and when his voice spoke them they were like heaven itself.
"I love you too," my voice mingling with passion and desperation, clinging to his body tightly, unwilling to ever let go.
"Why did you wait to call on me?" his serious expression revealing the inevitable truth. "The brands on your arms… they cannot be reversed. You have to return to them… to the ritual."
"I don't want you to leave again…" I pleaded, running my hands through his hair.
"I know how to end this… the Brotherhood of the New Order believes my signing of the oath will unveil unto them a new world dominion. What they don't know in my exile is I discovered the true secrets of the mage," Dantalion revealed.