Chapter 161: Of Blood and Fire

’You’ll know.’

That blasted snake actually said such a thing, but Kael was nowhere close to figuring out if it was enough.

When he first started, he’d been careful—restrictive, even—with how much blood he gave Riley, thinking that surely, it would suffice. Each time, he’d glance at the guardians, his patience thinning. “Should I stop now?” he asked.

Only to be met with another low hiss. A sound that clearly meant keep going.

He did. A few more times. Until he began to understand that they were serious when they said it wasn’t enough.

How much blood did the twig even need?

Did they think this was some kind of blood transfusion?

Because by the looks of it, Kael couldn’t help but feel the guardians genuinely thought his aide was some sort of vampire.

Then again, with what Riley’s internal workings were clamouring for, it somehow didn’t feel too unlikely,

But then, it happened.

Riley’s body twitched. At first, it was just a small movement, a faint spasm. Then all at once, his limbs convulsed violently, arching off the marble table as his back curved sharply.

Kael’s breath hitched. He immediately stopped, withdrawing as a guttural sound tore out of Riley’s throat.

“Riley!”

The word was sharp, raw, almost desperate. Kael’s hand gripped his shoulder to keep him from injuring himself further.

And then Riley coughed.

It wasn’t air or spit or anything remotely normal. It was black blood—thick and dark, splattering across the marble like spilled ink. The sound was wet and jarring, a gasp between gurgles, like someone who had drowned and was trying to cough everything out.

For a moment, Kael just stared. The sight was horrifying. Yet, it was also something different from how he’d moved in the last several days.

Meanwhile, within Riley’s mind, the inferno had not faded.

Pain still ripped through him, tearing every nerve apart. He could barely think. Barely breathe.

He had long given up struggling, believing that whatever this was, it would be the end of him.

He had already accepted it.

But then, amid the blinding pain, something changed. The shackles that had bound him began to loosen. Slowly.

And for the first time in what felt like forever, he could move.

The motion came like a jolt. His chest convulsed, the air burning his throat as he tried to breathe.

Then came the surge.

It was sharp, overwhelming, and so intense that he thought his skull would split open. His lungs spasmed as if they had been forced to restart.

Then the coughing came.

“Ugh—” Riley’s voice broke through the pain, hoarse and weak. His hands twitched, curling against the marble. Each cough dragged more of the blackened blood from his throat until it began to ease.

Outside, Kael hovered close, his claws flexing in a rare display of unease.

Riley’s vision was hazy.

But unlike the storm of darkness and blinding light that had ripped through his mind earlier, what he saw now was… golden.

It shimmered faintly, as if light itself had taken shape above him.

And then came the sounds.

At first, muffled. Distant. But slowly, as if the world was returning to him piece by piece, he began to hear it.

Someone was calling his name.

“Riley! You—”

Cough! Cough!

The sound tore from his chest, violent and raw. His arms flew to his ribs, clutching hard as he tried to steady himself. His hazy eyes snapped open—green, gleaming, the pupils thin and sharp, catching the light in a way no human’s should.

Kael froze.

For a heartbeat, even the air seemed to still.

But then Riley squeezed his eyes shut, his whole body shuddering, and when he opened them again, they were normal.

Just as human as before.

A hand grabbed him before he could fall back. Kael’s grip was firm, unyielding, keeping him upright while Riley’s own hand flailed weakly in protest.

He needed to sit up. He had to sit up.

If he didn’t, it felt like all that blood would just go right back inside, and then he’d actually die from that.

He pushed himself up, trembling, black blood spilling between his fingers and staining the front of his clothes. It dripped thickly down the sides of the marble table, pooling dark against the white.

“Kael?” Riley rasped. His vision blurred again, and he blinked rapidly, trying to make sure it wasn’t another dream.

Was that really Kael?

But panic began to build. Because the pain—that brutal, tearing pain that had been his proof of being alive—was gone.

Completely gone.

The numbness spreading through him felt wrong, unreal.

What if he had actually died?

Riley tried to speak again, to make sure this wasn’t just his mind’s way of comforting him before the end. But when he opened his mouth, only blood came out.

“K-Kael… I—ugh.”

Cough! Cough!

More blood splattered across his hand. His lungs burned from the effort, and yet it wasn’t the same as before.

He was no longer suffocating in pain—just hollow. His body, which had felt like it was being ripped apart moments ago, now felt… fused. Whole.

But the coughing wouldn’t stop.

Why wouldn’t it stop?

And then came something worse.

His stomach twisted violently, an ache that sank all the way down to his bones.

Hunger.

Sharp, hollow, consuming hunger.

It struck so suddenly that it nearly made him cry. It was the kind of hunger that made his head spin, that made breathing hurt. It was as if he had been starving for days, months, even years, and only now did his body remember it needed something.

“Kael… P-please, I—” His voice cracked, weak and trembling.

Across from him, Kael was frozen even as he supported Riley’s frame. The dragon lord, normally composed to the point of cruelty, was speechless.

He could only stare.

Riley was awake—really awake—but he looked like something out of a nightmare, bloodied and shaking.

And the blood…

It wasn’t the right color.

It was black.

The sight froze Kael in his tracks. The veins in his arms ran cold. For someone born of fire, that was saying something.

Had he made it worse?

Had giving Riley his blood broken him beyond repair?

The thought split through Kael’s mind like lightning.

Then Riley’s hand reached for him, fingers trembling, his whole body barely able to stay upright. They were already this close together, and yet the twig was so weak his hand couldn’t even reach his face. Kael moved before he could think, his instincts roaring to life.

He caught him just as Riley slumped forward, the smaller body collapsing against his chest.

“Riley!”

Kael’s voice was sharp, raw, desperate. He shook him slightly, trying to get a reaction. “Riley, look at me.”

But Riley couldn’t.

He could hear Kael’s voice, but his body refused to respond.

He wasn’t in pain anymore. Just… tired. So tired.

He felt himself being pulled closer, strong arms wrapping around him, holding him tight enough that the world finally stopped spinning.

And just before the darkness claimed him again, one small, ridiculous thought crossed his mind.

He really, really hoped someone would remember to feed him when he woke up.

Because, surely, he would wake up, right?

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