Realm of Monsters-Chapter 713: Broken Bond

Chapter 713: Broken Bond

After spending all afternoon with Blueberry, Stryg wandered over to the secret grove that was once Lunae’s and now was theirs. He found her next to a pool of crystal clear water, as he expected. But whereas she was usually reclining lazily on the grass, now she was crouched over the edge of the pond, staring into the water listlessly.

“Mom? Are you okay?” Stryg approached her and tugged gently at her arm. “Mom…?”

Lunae blinked slowly and looked up at him. The whites of her eyes were red from crying. Though Stryg couldn’t recall ever seeing her cry, the mere possibility seemed odd, if not outright impossible.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

Lunae’s lips curled into a weak smile. She brushed the back of her fingers over his cheek. “Do you remember the young woman from earlier today?”

“Of course. She killed… she killed my friend,” Stryg muttered, unable to even say the dragon’s name.

“Yes. Her name is Caligo and she is a dangerous god.”

“Is she going to come back?”

“Yes,” Lunae admitted. “She wants to hurt me. I think she may even want to kill me.”

“Why?”

“Because I hurt someone she loved.”

Stryg twisted his lips and stared at the ground. “Are you going to kill her?” he mumbled.

“I don’t know if I’m strong enough. But… if Caligo discovers that we share the Sigte bond, she’ll no doubt try and kill you to get to me.”

Stryg furrowed his brow. “I don’t understand.”

“The Sigte connects our lifeforces together. If I live, so do you. But if you die, so will I.”

Stryg’s eyes widened at the implication. “Then… I can hide, right?” His voice was frantic.

“Caligo is the god of secrets, shadows, and the deep earth. You cannot hide from here. Even if you could, Caligo will still attack me. And if she kills me, then you will die as well.”

Stryg grabbed her hand, his fingers barely managing to wrap around two of hers. “You and I will fight her together then. We’ll gather the tribes and we’ll fight her.”

“Caligo is a god of chaos and the void. The power she’d emit in battle would be like poison miasma in the air. Mortals would die just being near. No, the tribes cannot help.”

“I don’t know what all of that means, but that just means we need a new plan. We set up a trap for her. And then we strike.”

“Little One… There is no trap. I will not risk your life in battle.”

“That’s my choice to make! And I say if you fight, then I fight. If you die, then so do I. That’s what the Sigte bond is, right? Together, always.”

Lunae grinned wryly. “My brave, little warrior. I am proud of the goblin you have become and the one you will be.”

Stryg fidgeted abashedly, then shook his head. “Mom, focus. How do we stop Caligo?”

“I have been trying to think of a way to protect you. I have spent all day trying to find a solution. But I can only see one.”

“What is it?”

“I have to break the Sigte bond.”

Stryg took a step back. “What? I thought you said it was unbreakable.”

She gave him a bitter smile. “I lied. The bond can be broken, but it carries heavy repercussions. If I do this, then you will be safe. Caligo will have less of a reason to harm you, especially because of your father. And if something were to happen to me, you will not die either.”

“But Caligo can still kill me if she wants.”

“Yes, but at least this way, the risk to your life is lessened significantly.” Lunae sighed, “I should have put you in danger with the bond in the first place. I wanted you to live a long life like me… I just never thought I’d be hurting you by doing so.”

“I wanted the bond,” he whispered. “I didn’t want you to leave me. I didn’t want to be alone…”

“You will never be alone, Stryg. Bond or no. You are my son.” Lunae pulled him in and hugged him.

“You said there were re-reprecushions?”

Lunae closed her eyes in lament. “Repercussions. Yes.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means breaking the bond will take a toll on both of us, you more so than me because you are mortal.”

Stryg looked up at her. “What sort of toll?”

“You’ll probably forget all your memories about me. Maybe even more memories. I’m not sure.”

“What?” Stryg pulled away from her. “I don’t want it. Don’t break the bond.”

“I have, too, Little One. I cannot risk your life more than I already have.”

“But what about us? You're my mom!”

“I am still your mother, nor will I lose my memories.”

“But I will! Without you, I have no one!”

“That’s not true. You have the village.”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“The villagers hate me! They think I’m weird. The weird kid who always wanders into the forest alone.”

“You have First Mother Aurelia.”

“She hates me, too.”

“No, she doesn’t. She loves you, more than anyone.”

“Yeah, right,” Stryg scoffed. “She’s always harder on me than anyone else. The Sylvan Mothers have never liked me.”

“Aurelia is different. She is hard on you because she wants you to be better than her.”

“What does it matter? You’re my family! And if I don’t remember you… I’ll have no one.”

Lunae reached out and grabbed his hands. “As I said, you will always have me. We’ll make new memories together. I’m not abandoning you, Stryg.”

“...You mean it?”

Lunae smiled. “Of course. I’ve even got a gift for you when you come of age. You won’t believe what I found in a cave not too far from here. I can have you sent there for one of your trials. I’m sure you’ll love what you find. It is a legacy of your family, but I’m getting ahead of myself. I’ll tell you about all of that when you’re older.”

He shook his head and stomped his foot. “I don’t care about some stupid gift! I don’t want to lose all my memories of you!”

“Stryg. We’ve only had a few years together. You’ll make plenty of more memories soon enough. Time will pass by in the blink of an eye. You’ll see.”

“For you, maybe! You’re a goddess, a century to you is nothing. But for me, fifteen years is my whole life! How much will I forget exactly? Will I forget your face? Everything you’ve told me? What about everything you taught me? Will I just forget all of it?!”

“I’m sorry, Stryg.” Her throat grew tight, “I’m not sure. The Sigte was meant for titans alone. You will forget me, beyond that, I do not know. But I promise I’ll be there every step of the way.”

“I don’t want this. Please, don’t do this, Mom,” Stryg pleaded, eyes glistening.

Lunae broke into tears and placed her hand on his shoulders. “When I lost my brother, I thought I could never feel anything again. The world turned grey. I thought I deserved it. All the pain and suffering, it was mine to carry. I thought I would never be worthy of love again.”

She smiled bittersweetly, “Then you came along and you… you changed me. You saved me, Little One. So, I will do everything I can to save you.”

“Mom…” He looked up at her and wiped the tears from his eyes.

“I love you more than I thought I could love anyone. I will always love you, my son.” She placed her forehead on his and closed her eyes.

He stared at the Sigte scar on his palm. “Will it hurt?”

“Not for you.”

“And you?”

“I’ll be okay.”

“You’re lying.”

“I love you, Little One.” She channeled chaos into his mind and put him to sleep.

Stryg’s eyes fluttered for a moment. “I won’t forget you… no matter what… I… won’t…”

Lunae caught him as he fell over into her arms. Divine power flowed through her body and connected to his own meager energies. She located the sliver of her own divine essence within him and began to systematically take it apart like threads in a cloth. Each thread tore at her own mind in screaming agony. She ignored the tears flowing down her cheeks and continued without slowing down.

~~~

Young Stryg awoke in a clearing of grass, the crescent moon glowing softly in the night sky. He sat up and looked at his hand. It burned as if he had just touched hot iron, but there was nothing there, only a faint blemish on the blue palm.

The world felt lonely. Where once he could hear the melody of the forest, of a being who sang to him on the notes of life itself, now all he heard was silence. Her ancient voice was gone.

Song? 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Whose song?

Who was she?

What was he just thinking about?

He could not recall.

“Stryg?”

He jumped at the sound and scrambled to his feet. “Whose there?”

A towering figure emerged from the treeline. Hair as pale as bones, skin like burnished iron, and eyes of cold silver. “Hello.”

“Stay back!” He searched for something, anything he could use as a weapon, but the grove was clear of any such tools. Suddenly, he felt his dagger strapped on his thigh, and pulled it out. “Stay back or I’ll kill you!”

The giant woman winced. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Her body shifted until she was barely taller than him. A young girl with long, silken hair that trailed behind her. “I am a friend.”

“Friend…?” he furrowed his brow.

“I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s true. Things seem confusing right now, but I’ll explain everything—”

“Lunae—No.” Stryg dropped the dagger and held his head in his hands with a grimace. “Sigte! Why—?”

Lunae froze, her eyes growing wide. “That’s not possible. How do you remember—?”

“Sigte! Why did you— Argh!” he fell to his knees and screamed in agony.

“Stryg!” She rushed to his side. “It’s okay, I’m here. I’m here, Little One. I’m here,” she cooed softly, panic and desperation rising in her voice.

~~~

Aurelia sprinted through the trees in a blur, orange mana burning inside her. A frost wolf led her through the forest, running as fast as he could with reckless abandon.

At last, after what seemed an eternity, though it couldn’t have been more than a few minutes, the duo arrived at a clearing of pristine beauty. A ring of trees surrounded the grove. Flowerbeds covered most of the grass. A clear, reflective pool sat at the center of it all. On a large boulder, lay her son. Next to him sat a small woman in the shape of Lunae.

“My lady, you sent for me? What has happened?” Aurelia asked, out of breath.

Lunae didn’t bother looking up at her priestess. The goddess’ eyes never left the boy’s sleeping face. “I broke the Sigte bond between our son and me,” she said quietly.

“What? W-Why?” Aurelia asked in disbelief.

“He was in danger. I was putting him in danger,” she corrected herself. “I thought… I thought I could make new memories with him. But somehow he still remembers me, bits and pieces. When he looks at me, he sees parts of his past, all jumbled and broken. It causes him terrible pain. I think I fractured his mind. I did this…”

Aurelia cautiously walked over and placed a hand on her son’s forehead. He was breathing softly. She sighed in relief and began to channel purple and white spells of healing over his body. “Stryg is a unique hybrid. You could not have possibly known how he would react. If you did this, I’m certain it was to protect him, not hurt him.”

“And yet I did, just the same. I thought I could make things right, but I can’t. If he sees me, it will only hurt him,” Lunae whispered.

Though purple magic had little effect on Stryg, Aurelia could still sense his mind. It was injured, but it wasn’t broken. “He just needs time to heal. He is a strong lad. His mind will recover. I know he will.”

“His mind will heal, but not from me, not from this. I can feel it. Even if his mind does somehow reconcile what was lost, if I stay by his side, I will only reopen those wounds.”

“What are you saying, my lady?”

“You will be fully in charge of his well-being from now on. Keep him safe. I will watch from a distance.”

“My lady, with all due respect, is this wise?”

“You should be happy. You get to have your son all to yourself.”

“Our son. You are his mother, same as I,” Aurelia corrected. “And I am not happy with this arrangement. He needs you.”

“I don’t deserve to be his mother.” Lunae turned her back to them, pulled her knees to her chest, and wrapped her arms around her legs. “Take him and go. I have a battle I must prepare for.”

“My lady, if you just broke the Sigte bond, then you are in no shape to fight. Let me help you.”

“You cannot help me in this fight. My enemy is a god.”

“Even more reason to let me help.”

“Please, just take Stryg and go.”

Aurelia balled her fists, yet in the end bowed her head. “As you wish.”

The memory faded away. Stryg was left standing alone in the darkness.