20 Chapter 19 - The Bond.

Back in the ghost town with Alana and Camus, the ice giant continues to wreak havoc on the buildings as Alana escapes the charging behemoth of ice with Camus trailing behind it on the roof tops keeping an eye on her movements.

"You just going to stand there?! HELP ME!" she screams as Camus smirks at her pleas for help, rushing forward as black tendrils wrap around the monsters arm stopping it from crushing her, its angry eyes glaring over at the Prince with a frosty fire in its eyes. The tendrils connected to his arms like a mummies wraps

"Your turn sweetheart!" he yells back, Alana turning direction and sprinting at the large creature with her feet kicking the snow at high speed with her dagger bared. Hitting at his legs like an ice pick, but it barely chips the pristine ice covering its body, kicking her with its other foot sending the woman into the side of a house, grabbing the tendrils with his other hand and propelling Camus from the roof tops into the trees.

It roars loudly with an icy mist coating his breath, shaking the nearby houses with its tremendous power, but the tinier two were determined to end this giants life, Alana crawling from the rubble with her dagger clenched in her bleeding hands with Camus jumping from the fray in front of the beast with an offensive stance.

More sharp and long tendrils of black emerge in his hands, using them as a weapon against the beast, whipping them high into the air and slashing at the giant cutting the ice surrounding its body, chipping away as it takes few steps back away from him.

its attention fully on the Prince attacking him, breathing more icy breaths of frost at him causing him to take cover behind a house as the tendrils fade with his fear rising.

"This is taking way too long! we need to kill it NOW!" he yells edging away from the crystals growing on the iced over building attempting to pierce and cut him.

"I'M ON IT!" Alana shouts back, taking the time to reposition herself on a nearby roof, jumping a large distance off of it and landing on its back; driving her dagger into its eye and pulling it back out, shanking him in the eyes with impressive speed blinding the behemoth as thick blue blood falls from the sockets. Slowly freezing as it touched the ice crystals on its body.

With Alana blinding the beast, Camus's hand burnt with a raging black fire, highlights of orange surge through it as he lets loose the dark spell upon the giant at full force, not taking into account she was on the back of its head.

It hits hard knocking her off it at a great height with the black fire melting the freezing ice off its body for good, along with its flesh as it shrieks in pain, Alana goes to stand but an invisible force holds her down and pushes her away fro the giants toppled body. watching as the prince approaches the weaken creature.

A giant smile on his face standing on its ceasing body, the fire scorching it beyond repair as another spell cradles in his hand, an angry spiraling green in his hands aim upon the giants head, a sadistic tone in his voice.

"Finally...a good meal~"

The spell pounces from his hands and attach to the giants head, seeping down its facial holes, its mouth, its nose and ears...even between its eyeballs. More blue blood spurting from the beast as it dies slowly in the spells grasp, all the while Camus stood there surging with power, his skin gaining in colour and his grey hair turning back to its vibrant orange.

All the roughness in his face had disappeared, appearing more younger and stronger than he was before, the green digging through his veins as pleasured moans leave his mouth, the smile never fading as Alana stands and watches him, slowly gaining in on him from behind.

"Muuuuch better~" he yells with joy and laughing while gazing down at his hands, then a mischievous smirk rises anew with his eyes looking behind him, seeing the creeping hunter behind him. The reinforced black magic was much stronger than before as he turn around with his new hand out.

The invisible force grabbing her by the throat and lifting her in the air, her feet dangling freely in the wind, slowly dying down now that the blizzard was over, the giant fully dead and its powers fueling the dark prince.

Alana clutching her throat with a calm look on her face, not scared but concerned he might run and escape her, fearful of her fathers wrath if she loses her pet so easily...but Camus had other plans.

"You know ever since i dropped inside your temple, you were the first person i vowed to kill one day..."

She doesn't answer and simply listens to his monologue.

"But then watching you murder those men made me realize something...you're a lot like me~" he urged to her, her face scrunches at his remark making her struggle with a fire in her eyes.

"You see, that's what i like about you, your anger...its useful to me...so lets come to an agreement" he sneers dropping her from the grasp as she looks up at him with a disgusted scrunched up nose, adamant she wasn't going to close a deal with him. But the tone of his voice showed he wasn't negotiating.

Standing slowly in front of him as he towers over her. Standing her ground and smiling at him with a cheeky grin.

"No, you aren't the boss here, and I know for a fact you cant hurt me...not even once~"

His face scrunches in defiance, going to hit her with his black fire but the spell fizzles in his hand and a harsh electrical shock comes from the inside of his neck, forcing him from casting at Alana.

"How?...that isn't...possible..." He groans in pain as the electricity ceases from its attack on his nervous system, he lays before her towering figure, every now and then twitching with surges of blue lightning exposed on his flesh before it dies down. A smirk coating her face nicely in the damp air, all the snow and ice melting and making the area stink of wet grass and wood.

"You'd have fun finding out what is and isn't possible in this cess pit of a realm" she sneers back at him and picking him up, putting him in a fire mans lift and carrying him from the town. His tired and strained eyes gazing upon it.

"What about...the live ones..."

"I'm no collector, I'm a hunter and i will catch my prey" she says going deeper into the forest with him on her shoulder, tightly secure in her arms, her face determined and focused on her surroundings and mission, retrieve the runaway, make her way back home unseen and with everyone in check.

"Good...luck with that..." his last words were cut off by his body giving out, passing out in her lift as she sighs.

"Fine...we can take a small break after that fight" she gives in and finds an area that was dim in light and out of sight where she starts to set up her camp, slumping the semi-unconscious prince on the floor while she sets up a camp. Camus wasn't full of his old power anymore and one giant isn't enough to restore the hard earned work he spent years achieving...or so he believes.

He groans in pain and straightens his back against the tree he was dropped by, feeling the device in his neck under there skin, now only realizing it was there the whole time, an impressed chuckle escapes him with Alana peering up from her set up in curiosity. Still on edge after her encounter with the giant and Camus's power.

"What are you laughing at whelp?"

"You're clever...but not clever enough to put this machine in my body...who was it?" he asks, every now and then wincing, the bolt of shock was high and hard hitting just like his black fire, leaving a long lasting effect of pain all over the body.

"You aren't wrong, not even my father could do such a thing"

He laughs even more gregarious than before, looking at him with a small tear of laughter trailing down his face, wiping it with his middle finger and sighing.

"Father? That boring and self serving bastard is your daddy dearest?! HAHAHA this is glorious indeed!" his extravagant attitude making her nervous, but concealing it well enough to continue with her set up, failing to make a flame to ignite her fire pit. A mischievous smirk on Camus as he begins feeling a tingle in his fingers.

Shooting his finger at the pit with his black fire as the entire pit catches in a grey and eerie looking flame, the warmth was nice and the light off of the fire was dim due to its nature, Alana stands from her seated place and moves to the opposite of Camus, leaning on it with her eyes fading out into the already darkened sky.

"Thanks..."

"Which bit? I've done a lot for you considering I'm your delightful prisoner"

"Don't flatter yourself, with my squadron out collecting humans and such id have been on my own...you're just lucky you got your cuffs off" she retorts to him, watching as the pain in his body slowly fades away, propping his leg in the stump nearby and gazing at her.

"If I'm so lucky why haven't you put them back on?~"

She remains silent before sitting at the trees roots, squawking of birds over head migrating south towards the temple and onward, nobody knows where they truly go.

"Even if you cant hurt me with your magic, you didn't need to save me back there with the giant...you still didn't explain why?"

"Would that please you Alana? telling you why someone you think is a monster would save you from certain death?" he mocks her with a satisfied smile on his face, she however wasn't pleased and glared at him with a non-verbal warning.

"I don't see you as a monster, because everyone in the realm knows you're a monster...you're little stunt was so much more than an opening for my people" she fires back at him with equal sass and sarcasm.

"What was it? humor me" he spits frustrated.

"A laughable display, that conquering was pathetic and you were beaten so quickly by the very thing I'm hunting" she replies, poking at the black fire with a stick, the moment it touches the fire it turns to ash. Floating away in the forests wind.

Camus stares at the ground, recalling the very moment he was defeated by the blood-witch, Endar. A deep scowl on his face with swirling thoughts of hatred after he took his hand, forcing him to retreat like a coward and get caught in the first place. Revenge for Camus was an understated, he wanted him to suffer.

But his whole demeanor changed when he looks at Alana. a smile forming once again.

"Do you still want to hear my offer?"

"As I said, there is no negotiation he-" she goes to say but is cut off by his fast motion of standing up, imposing over her.

"LISTEN!!" he shouts angrily at her, forcing her to stop stalking in a startled manner.

Camus taking a deep breath before continuing to speak.

"My offer is that you and I want the same thing, to capture that bastard and make him suffer for what he did" even as the prince talks about the blood witch you could see the veins popping in his head.

"Hes wanted alive"

He thinks it over, before looking back up to her with haggling eyes. Knowing he wont be able to kill him the moment they find him but he'll at least be close enough.

"Fine, ill help you with all i have to find the witch and bring him back...but on one condition"

She lifts her brow at him unsurprised but listening nevertheless.

"You have to remove all things that prevent me from using my gift, Ill let you keep your neck one however...to keep your tiny mind at ease~" he teases as she scoffs in disbelief at his confidence in his situation.

Suddenly sticking out her gloved hand towards the prince, just out of reach from the black fire as he giggles to himself leaning over, grabbing her hand and staring deeply into her piercing blue eyes with interest. she does the same with his noticing his eyes were also blue, but darker and they contrasted with his freckles.

Nodding to him, but wary of her newfound partnership with her prisoner...her pet. Always on guard with him around but maybe over time she might be able to trust him...but in her mind she was doubtful of him. Even in Camus's mind he thought of her as the enemy and had his own goals in mind with the partner ship.

Both of them were cautious but they still felt safe around each other, not knowing why they could turn their backs without feeling the paranoia of being attacked. But the crackling of the fire press over them with a soothing surge of warmth. Feeling the lure of sleep grip at them both, slowly falling into a blissful sleep in the peaceful forest.

They were exhausted from the fights, finally getting the break they both wanted. Sleeping opposite each other next to the black fire, dreaming of better and worse worlds.