Ba-dump… Ba-dump…

Something was knocking, that she knew for some reason and thanks to that she managed to wake up little by little, waking up she noticed her closed eyes were bothered with a glint on her eyelids, could they have died? Was it all a dream maybe...? It would be too good to be true, soon the pain in her shoulder, as well as the pain in her left arm, returned to torment her.

Opening her eyes she noticed that everything was kind of clear in white color and a green light came from a nearby wall, coming to herself she saw Illye clinging to her, she seemed already awake and all that light was her active barrier around them. Was his authority functioning normally again? That was a gift-

— Noell! You woke up... Finally! — With a clear joy in her voice despite her state where she had to create barriers being injured Illye spoke to her.

— Where are we...? — Noell asked, looking around.

What she could mostly see was water, like a sea below the ground whose rivers of water fell from the sky on it like rain, after which she noticed that they were on a small strip of land that resembled a beach around which those crystals were. again illuminating the huge place where they could see no end. A green light shone from a wall quite far away from them. She couldn't see what was there due to the light and finally she noticed the most worrying thing.

Kuurrrr!!!

Two of those monsters crashing into the barrier that desperately protected them, knowing that the barrier was protecting them from them was a relief, however the conditions they were in prevented them from trying to protect themselves in any other way and attack them. Eventually Illye would run out, and when that happened what would they do?

— How are you? How long do you think your barrier will last? What was there? — She asked as she checked on Illye's condition.

— After we fell these monsters tried to reach us again... I tried to protect us with a barrier when I noticed myself awake and luckily it worked until we got here. About my wounds, for now they are stagnant with small barriers... But I won't last more than half an hour. — Illye replied with a smile the way she managed to smile now, even if it hurt to do so. — Rest... Get some rest.  You'll know how to solve this for us, we're only alive for what you did…

— I told you to stop belittling yourself, if you hadn't protected us now we would have become food for these monsters. — Noell replied, sitting up properly.

— Even so, I can only postpone things… I can never resolve them. — Illye added and was silent.

Noell didn't answer her about this subject anymore, this was a problem that she had to overcome alone someday and it wasn't her now who would change that, she's tried several times so she knew she wasn't the right person to solve this problem of hers.

Ba-dump… Ba-dump…

— What is it? That green light... And... -— Asked Noell trying to change the subject and finding something strange.

— I don't know. And I couldn't go check it out in my state. — Illye replied, looking into the light.

The monsters were still there trying to break the barrier and they with their conversation kind of instinctively calmed down not to think about them for now.

— There is something... Can you hear it? — Something is beating, as if it's alive. Noell asked as he struggled to his feet after resting for a couple of minutes.

— Knocking? Noell... I don't hear anything. I only see this light. — Illye replied, uninterested in that light, she just wanted to go home.

— I… — Not knowing what to say exactly, she approached the light touching the barrier on the opposite side of the monsters. — We have to know what it is.

— What do you mean by that? Want to go there? — Lying down with her hands on the floor while supporting the barrier, Illye asked her.

KUUARRRR!!!

A new scream could be heard by them, from inside the water, something dark could be seen rising from the water and coming out of that subterranean sea and without words to explain a monster about ten meters tall that looked like a mixture of a gorilla wild with the scales, tail and fins of a shark.

— Ah… Goddess… —  Illye said in amazement.

In a leap propelled by her arms the large creature fell on the two monsters that attacked the barrier before crushing them completely.

— Illye! —  Noell quickly grabbed Illye.

In a punch, being already in front of them, he broke the barrier that protected them and the force of it threw them away hitting the wall that was halfway from them, Noell had taken all the impact with his back and lost consciousness after the hit while falling.

— Noell! Noell! Wake up! Wake up soon! — Screamed Illye trying to wake her up again with one hand as she too was lying on the floor.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

The monster tried to attack them, approaching quickly and seeing her death Illye closed her eyes.

— Ah mother!!! — She screamed in desperation as she tried to deploy another barrier.

Crack! Clangg!

KUAARRR!

Hearing her barrier break, as well as a strange sound of something hitting metal and still maintaining consciousness, after a few seconds she opened her eyes and saw her mother in front of her.

— Mother...? — Amazed, she asked.

A dark-skinned woman, wavy brown hair reaching down to the ground and bright white eyes found herself protecting her with a platinum sword clad in gleaming silver armor, the pure image of the Silver Queen in combat as she gripped that monster's hilt with your sword.

— Mother...? Are you really...? — She asked again.

Soon she could see that it was strange, Noell's body passed out from her side and the image of her mother flickered as if it wasn't real, she instinctively understood why something similar had once occurred.

— You're not really here, are you? —  She asked more calmly now, because the queen had already died a few years ago.

— No. — The woman answered in a voice that wasn't hers, in Noell's voice. — Fortunately you're together… Thank the Gods.

KUARRR!

Using his fin on his arm as a blade, the monster tried to attack the queen, wanting to cut her in half. Being pushed against the wall, the queen using her sword which was surrounded by what appeared to be a barrier pushed the creature's blade upwards with one hand which didn't even crack the wall upon hitting it, in this sort of the barrier on her sword became thinner and thinner quickly and taking advantage of the moment the queen plunged her sword into the creature's chest quickly and without much effort seen to cross, in which something that appeared to be a blade of energy pierced the creature's back and moments later more and more of them started to come out of different directions from his body.

KUUUUUARRRR?!!! KARRRR!

In a few seconds and after being almost completely pierced, the creature dropped dead without any movement while bleeding from all the wounds made. The queen walked back towards where Illye was and watched that green light as she stopped.

— Mother... I... I couldn't do anything. —  I didn't do anything... Even though I became Lord of the Barriers in your place... If it weren't for you we would... — Starting to cry after all this time and being able to vent her feelings, Illya told her what she felt as she sat down. — At least if…

— I'm sorry, my little Avillye... But I don't have time anymore. — With her right hand the queen ran her hand through her daughter's hair for a moment. — Noella isn't ready yet, and in her state… She won't survive like this.

His figure flickered like the light of a weakened natural lamp and underneath the layer of light that was basically his body was a unconscious Noell, Illye herself didn't know what to do because she didn't know anything about healing and became a lord through the Water.

— See that wall glowing? — I don't know what it is, but... I feel it beating, I feel a heart beating... She's actually feeling it. — Said the queen, seeing her worries. — Take her there.

After those few words in a few minutes of meeting after years, the queen disappeared in a white light that stopped being emitted by Noell's body as it fell on Illye.

— Mother…

After a few seconds Illye felt something strange in Noell's body, she couldn't feel her breath and her body was bleeding from the pores of her skin.

— Noell!!! — She screamed worriedly.

Not knowing how to help and fearing for Noell's life, Illye crawled beside her heedless of her wounds to the glowing wall, didn't it feel solid as she tried to touch it, did it feel like a liquid something like pudding maybe? She couldn't see very well what was there... But leaning against the wall with Noell all bloodied she simply begged whatever it was.

— Please... Whatever it is... Save her! Save her! I ask no more... Just save her! — Screamed Illye as she held her body, leaning Noell's bloodied hand against that wall.

While she was screaming Noell's blood flowed and through her body, through her hands and soon her arm started to be swallowed by the wall, something was pulling her body and despite being leaning against the wall Illye didn't suffer from the same effects, because she couldn't even cross it with one hand. So Noell's body was slowly engulfed and then disappeared in that green glow.

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It was a lot of pain, so much pain that she couldn't feel anything anymore. She could feel her body bleeding as if she was sweating, but with a lot of pain in every part of her skin. It was a little agonizing and she didn't know if she could resist it. More... Where was she? The last thing she remembered was being thrown at the wall, now what? Why was everything black?

Looking down she could see a desolate place, it looked like one of the most dangerous places in the world, the Salt Desert in which the Kingdom of Aggron was close but for some reason it was different, the Aven'Nath Abyss that must have been just below where her body floated, which was near the edge of the desert, the same did not exist. Only the lifeless, gray expanse in the midst of a storm could be seen in her vision.

In the midst of this, a man in torn clothes was panting as he walked on that land, apparently aimlessly, worn out, injured and unable to return to where he came from, with each step he took, clinging to life as much as he could. After a few minutes of his sad advance, soon his feet could not support himself any longer and he fell face down on that saline land, however, determined to continue, he forced himself to get up and walk again. Even if he had to drag himself, he would do it as far as he could, as far as he was safe.

His vision of it all disappeared as he started walking again and in the end she realized she was in another place where there was only black in all directions. It reminded her of a deep sleep, all people who sleep believe that when they don't dream they can see something while they rest they see everything as a dark environment free of worries, and it was this feeling that she could feel from that place, so she was. .. Sleeping?

— Where...? Where am I? — She asked worriedly wanting to wake up and even though she could speak, apparently her voice didn't seem to come out of her mouth because it echoed in all directions.

— You… —  Answered a distant voice. — Who are you?... Why were you calling me?...

— Calling?... — Strangely she asked as she held her body which still ached even now.

So she saw suddenly in front of her appear that man she had seen walking, now with his face visible she could see that his violet eyes didn't have at least a trace of emotion, as if just living was a torment.

— You... You're dying… — In a calm, indifferent voice he commented. — It won't last long...

Realizing that she was being analyzed, Noell also did the same as him, calmly watching him despite the pain she felt.

— You... I don't know who you are, but... You seem to be worse off than I am. — It looks like it's already dead inside. she replied without thinking twice as she kind of felt it intuitively.

Apparently he was going to answer something, however at her words he seemed to have been caught off guard and some difference in his expression which seemed to be a soft laugh as if mocking himself he continued.

— So do I look that bad?... Thank you... I didn't even know. — He replied.

Soon the pain she felt slowly disappeared as if it was never there, she didn't understand what had happened and so it was just the two of them left without any intervention in that space, while she gave herself the ability to pay more attention to his pale face the same showed a kind expression.

— If we keep this up, neither of us will make it out alive. So I'm going to ask you, even though I've never done this before... Would you make a Contract with me? — He asked with a warm expression.

— Contract? she asked, doubting her words.

Raising his hand, the man kind of asked her for his hand, even with fear she accepted the gesture and gave him her hand, there was nothing to lose with that, and as he had said... She was dying and even without her pain she knew that.

— I already got your blood out of here…so I won't have to bite you. — He added as he held her hand tightly.

— Blood...? Are you a vampire?! — Relatively scared, she replied as she tried to back away.

However he didn't make room for it and holding both her hands gently he advanced as she backed away.

— You don't have to accept it if you don't want to, the choice is yours. However, you will have to choose now if you are going to believe in me and trust me with your life regardless of whether you know me or not... And... To die here without even trying to cling a little more to life. — He replied, waiting for her.

As much as she wanted to deny the fact that she should trust a would-be vampire, everything about him beyond that seemed to reassure her for some reason. Was someone playing with her? Giving up your life at the mercy of someone who would probably only get you into trouble? She felt kind of helpless that she couldn't do anything against the fact that she was dying, but that was what there was, it was the only choice left and maybe the only one that would help her at the moment.

— I accept… I have nothing more to lose with this than the rest of my own life, which must already be over. — Noell replied seriously.

— To be more precise, the Blood Contract is already done from the moment your blood gets here, but it won't save your life. So…. — Taking her hands and intertwining his fingers with hers then he continued. — I'm going to do something that I don't even know how it came to me.

— By the Law of Dragons! We cry out for the Dragonheart Ritual. — He said in a loud voice that echoed all over the place.

In the empty space around the two of them, reality began to distort into a circle. A golden light in strange shapes impossible to understand, almost like a language, these strange words moved randomly making high pitched sounds and each word seemed alive and interested in the two people inside the circle they had formed.

Ba-dump… Ba-dump… Ba-dump…

This again, she could hear those beats again and now that she could pay attention they seemed to be coming from him, more precisely from his heart. Wasn't he the one calling her this whole time? But he didn't seem to know that and he was feeling the same… So why? What brought them together here?

A golden circle appeared out of nowhere and enveloped them in its light like a whirlpool, he bent down kneeling and for some reason her body moved by itself following the movement, kneeling their foreheads touched and their eyes closed, so she began to hear something which sounded like a song and lyrics appeared in her mind.

— By the Dragonheart, here I give you my life and through this I will have yours with me. — The two said in unison. — No longer two hearts, just one. Your life is my life, your death is my death. United by just one heart, for a body and a soul. We will share the same present, until the future end that awaits us.

The golden lights enveloped them and slowly overlaid their bodies, each shape entered each of them through the skin and settled in them from the inside out, spreading throughout their entire existence, every skin of each one glowed in golden inscriptions that were 'dictating' something in their bodies both in this place and outside of it. At the same time their hearts began to beat more and more slowly until they stopped completely.

Ba-dump… Ba-dump…

— My name is Kamaell Des'Astrian Vallen! He just said in a sigh. — My True Name for Áz is… *****.

— My name is Noella Dellaria! — She said only in a sigh. — My True Name for Áz is… Neoll.

— And here we declare ourselves beings of one heart.

The two said finally in unison as their lips touched and their hearts resumed their beats, now even.

Ba-dump… Ba-dump… Ba-dump…