Beastforged Bond

Jura

“You heard what he said, didn’t you?” Jura asked into the nothingness of his shop as soon as the young human with pockets stuffed with Essence crystals left.

There were always a few humans in the Essence shop. Sometimes, they just wanted to talk to him or convince the Emperor beast to bind with them, but they never really bothered him too much. After all, he was the only one the Spirits allowed to purchase and sell Essence. While that didn’t stop the desperate and greedy from trying other methods, everyone knew that his Essence shop was the best.

It was also the only place any of the Emperors sold their Essence to. Though they only parted with an insignificant amount of Essence, it was enough to satisfy the Alchemy Tower and distract those foolish enough to think selling such a tiny amount of their Essence was a sign of weakness. If anything, it was the opposite.

However, today was different. Jura had only one visitor, an old acquaintance who had been awake for many years. She had been back for months now, yet it was only now that she visited him. And why? It was certainly not because she missed him. If anything, he reminded her of the darkest days of the past and all she lost. Yet, she visited him nonetheless. Because of a human, one they would have considered a child if not for the special circumstances revolving around his very existence.

A ripple of power swept through the seams of reality, freezing time around them. Dark, shifting tendrils flowed out of the seams of reality, coalescing into a shadowy figure that reminded Jura of the Spirit of Darkness. But she was Death, not Darkness, her natural presence draining the life from all those around her.

Jura’s Essence stirred in accordance with the Death Spirit’s Domain, yet he sealed his Essence and released a presence of his own before she could deprive him of any of it.

“You noticed me?” Death’s sonorous, yet also oddly hollow, voice rang in Jura’s ears.

“Of course.” The Emperor beast snorted. “Did you really think I wouldn’t notice you? Your presence and the absence of my regular visitors made it obvious enough.” He turned to eye the Death Spirit without an ounce of fear in his eyes. “Did you really have to scare my visitors away?”

“I didn’t scare anyone.” Death’s shadowy frame shrugged lightly. “If I had, Adam would have never stepped into your shop.”

Adam? Was that what the young human was called? Jura nodded slowly, but his eyes narrowed for a moment before shooting wide open when realization came to him.

“You know him.”

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“Of course I do. He picked up something that belongs to me. A small Source I left behind in the Netherkin’s quaint, lovely home.” Jura couldn’t see the Death Spirit smile through her shadowy frame, but he was sure she did. And that made little sense to him, knowing that she didn’t like any of the things that happened all those years ago. She still loathed herself for ever letting things derail to such an extent. If she had been a little bit faster, or not as generous as she had been, the Netherkin would have never become such a loathsome, greedy race. Or maybe they would have. Jura remembered the Netherkin well enough to know that they had always been nasty. He certainly didn’t mourn their demise.

“You did not kill him for taking away your ‘gift’?” Jura raised an eyebrow at the Death Spirit.

“Kill him?” She let out a laugh. “I’m not planning to wage war with Volca. My brother is a little too protective of that child, understandably so. If he really is who my brother thinks he is, killing Adam would harm everyone greatly.”

The Fire Spirit being protective of Adam didn’t sound right. It certainly didn’t feel like Adam liked Volca.

“Volca is the one who brought Adam here.”

“After what happened to Volix?” Jura asked, even though he didn’t know who Volix was.

“You heard about the Elemental Phoenix? How?” Death sounded surprised for the first time, which, in retrospect, surprised Jura as well.

You were there and listened to everything Adam said, weren’t you? You literally heard his request about Volix. The Emperor beast tried hard to rein in his emotions and rampaging thoughts, but Death confused him. Was there more about the Elemental Phoenix – Volca’s Voice, whom Adam seemed to call Volix – or was he overthinking?

“Anyway.” Death waved her hand, her voice a touch more irritated than a moment ago. “You noticed the boy’s condition, did you not?”

“His World.” Jura nodded. There was a lot about Adam’s World that caught his attention.

“Yes. He is in possession of one of Primal’s fragments,” Death said, even if that was not what Jura had been thinking about. If anything, he hadn’t sensed that, although it would explain a lot about Adam’s World. “It may only be one, yet it is growing within him.”

Jura understood right away and repeated himself. “In his World.”

“Exactly.” Death nodded slowly. “And you were drawn to him as well. Even though his World is too weak, severely damaged, and so much more.” She chuckled. “Curious, is it not? We found many of Primal’s fragments in the past, some even in humans, yet something about him is so much different, is it not?”

The Emperor beast could only grimace at Death’s words. He didn’t like the sound of the first part, not at all.

“What do you want from me?” Jura lowered his head, more from instinct than will. Even if he was an Emperor, antagonizing Death wouldn’t help him.

“What I want from you? Nothing,” Death said, and now he was certain that she was smiling, ridiculing him. “You can help him a little if you want, but you certainly shouldn’t make problems for him. If you do, Volca will come at you, and so will Thyria. If you want to return to Darkness’ embrace, you might as well bind yourself to him in the future. That would make many things easier for him, and for the Shard of Existence resting within you.”

With that, Death faded away and time accelerated once more. Familiar customers entered his shop, yet Jura didn’t move. He stood frozen, hand pressed firmly against his chest.