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Crimson Vein Arena

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Crimson Vein Arena (Chapter 7 and 8)

Chapter 7 – No One Leaves Clean

Rael

The next gate opens to silence.

No chants.

No trial name.

Just a blast of heat and a simple word echoing through the stone:

“Break what binds you.”

The floor glows with runes. The moment I step inside, I feel it—the pressure. The arena’s watching, breathing, waiting.

And we’re not alone.

Lira walks in on my left. Her jaw is locked, hands tense around her hilts.

Then he enters.

Kael.

The man who looks at her like they share a grave.

The man who looks at me like I don’t belong here.

The arena seals behind us with a hiss.

Then—light flares, and a new symbol appears in the center. Three intertwined rings. Glowing. Pulsing.

Soul Clash.

A rare trial. I’ve only heard whispers. No teams. No mercy. Just connection versus connection. The arena doesn’t just want us to fight—it wants to see who breaks first.

Kael chuckles. “Well. This is awkward.”

Lira doesn’t move. Doesn’t blink.

I draw my sword first. “We don’t have to do this.”

Lira’s voice is low, sharp. “Yes, we do.”

Kael opens his arms, mock-angelic. “Come on, Lira. At least let the new kid see how you fight when you're not pretending to be noble.”

She moves.

Fast.

Blade to throat, feint to heart, spin-strike—he dodges by inches, laughing, throwing a burst of energy at her feet. She flips back, lands beside me.

“You’re in the way,” she hisses at me.

“Then use me.”

She gives me one glance—one second of trust.

And we move.

I block Kael’s lunge, she slides in under my arm, and her blade grazes his side. But he’s not done. He’s never done. His aura flares red and violet, unstable, chaotic. He was marked by something darker than the arena itself.

He slams his palm into the ground and the arena shifts again—pulling us apart.

My body flings back. Vision swims. I land hard, weapon skidding across the stone.

I hear him talking. Not to me. To her.

“You never told him the truth, did you?” Kael calls out. “About the night I died. About what you gave up to forget me.”

I see her hesitate.

And in that split-second of silence—I feel it.

Through the mark.

Her guilt.

Her rage.

Her heartbreak.

And something else.

Fear.

Not of Kael.

Of me. Of what I’ll think when I know.

I pick up my blade. “Tell me later,” I say loud enough for her to hear. “Right now, we finish this.”

She lifts her chin slowly. Her aura flares like moonfire.

“Together?” she asks.

I nod once. “Together.”

Kael grins like the devil just found entertainment.

“Good,” he says. “Now bleed for me.”

Chapter 8 – What You Didn't Say

Rael

The match is over.

Kael’s gone—dragged into the arena’s red mist after the final blow. No victory speech. No honor. Just blood on the floor and silence where he stood.

I’m still bleeding from the ribs. But it’s not what hurts most.

Lira sits a few feet away, her back against the cold wall of the recovery chamber. Head down. Blades at her side, untouched. Her knuckles are scraped, her lip split. None of it was from Kael.

She hasn’t looked at me once.

I walk over anyway. Drop beside her without a word.

For a long moment, all we do is breathe.

Then—

“You knew him,” I say quietly. “More than you let on.”

She doesn’t answer.

“He said you gave something up to forget him.”

Still nothing.

“I’m not asking for the whole truth. Just… something real.”

Finally, she speaks. Voice raw. “I didn’t forget him. I erased him.”

Her fingers tighten. “He was the only person who ever saw the part of me I kept hidden. The part that didn’t follow orders. That questioned the missions. That… cared.”

“That’s not weakness.”

She looks at me then. Really looks.

“No. But I thought it was.”

I wait. Let her speak on her own terms. It’s the only thing I can give her right now.

“We were paired for three years,” she continues. “I trusted him with everything. My life. My soulmark. My name.” Her voice breaks. “He used it all.”

“He betrayed you.”

“No,” she says. “He invited me to betray with him. And I almost did.”

The confession hangs in the air like smoke.

“I was one breath away from saying yes. From walking with him into that fire. But I didn’t. I reported him. I buried him.”

“And now he’s back.”

She nods.

“He said something during the fight,” I say slowly. “About what you gave up. What did he mean?”

She exhales shakily.

“My mark.” She holds up her hand. The sigil etched there glows faintly. “It was once bonded to his. I broke the bond myself. The ritual nearly killed me.”

I blink.

“You were soul-bound?”

“For a time,” she whispers. “But that’s not what matters now.”

She turns to me.

“You felt it too, didn’t you? In the trial. That pull between us. It’s not the arena. Not just the mark. It’s real.”

I nod, slowly. “I felt it.”

“But you shouldn’t trust it,” she says, eyes hard again. “You shouldn’t trust me.”

“Too late.”

She flinches.

“I don’t know what this connection is,” I tell her. “But it helped us survive. And whatever Kael was... you’re not him.”

Her voice breaks. “How do you know that?”

“Because you stayed,” I say. “And you didn’t run from me.”