The Void pulsed with rage.
Walls of obsidian cracked as the Entity's scream shattered the silence. Light...what little existed in this cursed domain, flickered, then died. Shadows screamed as they were dragged back into the depths, curling into themselves as if they could escape his wrath.
"She stole her," he hissed, voice splitting like jagged glass. "That luminous bitch. That goddamn meddling whore."
His claws raked down the vision mirror, fracturing the images of the ritual circle gone cold. The Bone Seer's blood runes were fading. The glowing tether to the Siren Queen's dungeons...gone. The girl, the prophecy, the vessel of divine chaos herself...gone.
Snatched away. Again.
The goddess Nythera had intervened.
Again.
But not with whispers or divine signs this time. Oh no. She'd slammed her full might down like a thunderstrike, ripping his prize from the bone forged spell and hurling her into another realm. A mirror world, sealed and ancient. One he'd not touched in centuries. One he couldn't touch. He'd already tried. Twice. He growled.
"What. Did. It. Cost. You?" the Entity muttered, pacing like a rabid beast. "What did you give up, little dove, to steal her from me?"
He didn't expect an answer. But he wanted someone to suffer.
And conveniently, someone was already chained in the center of the hall, suspended by enchanted irons, bleeding from his wrists, growling low and murderous.
Sable.
The demon shifter lifted his head slowly. His eyes were pitch black, rimmed in glowing red, and filled with raw hate.
The Entity smiled, lips peeling back like a rotting fruit. "Ah. Awake, are we?"
Sable didn't speak. Not at first. Not until the silence threatened to burn him alive. He had to know.
"What. Did. You. Do," he snarled.
The Entity chuckled. "Not me, pet. I planned. I coordinated. I watched the Bone Seer do her work. Virgins bled. Hearts torn. Feathers burned. Runes soaked in the darkest rot." He leaned in, eyes alight with malice. "She was mine. She was coming to me. I was going to peel her open, pour my essence inside, and mold her into the chaos bride I was promised."
Sable's chains rattled violently.
"Then Nythera showed up," the Entity seethed. "And....poof...just like that, the little goddess ripped her away. Flung her right into the lap of that fucking vampire."
Sable's growl turned feral. The air around him shimmered with heat.
"Oh yes," the Entity whispered. "She's in the Mirror Realm. With him. Liam. Another mate, I presume? Another cock between her thighs instead of mine."
CLANG.
The chains strained under a surge of power. Sable bared his fangs, muscles bulging against the enchanted irons. Dark energy poured off him in waves, thick as smoke and angry as hellfire.
"Touch her," he spat, "and I will shove your spine through your asshole."
The Entity laughed. "I will touch her. Oh, Sable… I will ruin her. I will fill her with spawn that choke the stars. I will make her scream for you and then make her forget you ever existed." He cackled madly. He really had lost his grip on reality.
Another crack as Sable pushed his magic into the chains. His skin split, bleeding fire. Symbols glowed along his chest and arms, demonic sigils tied to a power he hadn't dared tap into in centuries.
"You talk too fucking much," Sable growled, voice distorted with power. "Keep going. All you're doing is making it easier for me to tear you apart when I get free."
"Oh, but you won't get free," the Entity cooed. "These chains were forged in the Hollow Wars. They've held gods."
"I'm not a god," Sable said, low and deadly. "I'm worse."
The Entity's smile twitched.
For just a moment.
Sable bowed his head and began to chant. Dark words. Old ones. Power surged around him like a storm gathering speed. The chains burned his flesh, but they also trembled.
The Entity stepped back. Uneasy.
"I'll get her," he said, quieter now. "I always get what I want. And when I do, you'll hear her screams echo through every plane."
Sable met his gaze, eyes blazing. Voice fierce.
"You better kill me first," he whispered. "Because if I'm still breathing… you'll never touch her."