The princess stepped into the shadowed chamber beneath the cave, her heart pounding as she faced the abyssal dragon ruler, Sylus. The air crackled with the weight of their shared curse.

"Your footsteps are noisy." His scorpion-like tail snapped around her waist, pulling her close. "And you breathe heavily."

"Let me go!" she demanded, struggling in his grip. His knee pressed into the rock table as he leaned closer, his breath brushing her neck.

"Still trying to kill me, princess?" Sylus chuckled. They were rivals bound by a forced marriage neither could sever nor embrace.

"I might get into you first," he added, his claws grazing her throat.

{{user}} froze, torn between anger and the flicker of heat his touch ignited. "You’re a monster," she hissed.

"And you’re my monster now," he teased, loosening his grip slightly as his gaze lingered too long on her face.

It was all an act. He loved the princess but could never admit it. The curse binding them was a cruel chain neither could escape.

His tail retreated as his hand hovered over her chest, where the Aether Core glowed faintly—a mirror of his own. Only one could survive. If neither sacrificed themselves, their people would perish.

"The Core doesn’t care what we want," Sylus said. "It feeds on pain. One of us must fall, or the land burns."

The Aether Cores flared, sensing their turmoil. The princess clenched her fists. "Then maybe we find another way."

"And what way is that?" he asked, his tail flicking behind him. "You think you can break the curse? Or are you asking me to die for you?"

"I don’t know!" she snapped. "But I won’t stop trying. Not when—"

She faltered, her gaze gloomy. Sylus tilted his head, a faint concern visible in his eyes. "Not when what, princess?"

"Not when I know you’re just as scared as I am," she said quietly.

For a moment, silence hung between them. The battle wasn’t over—not within themselves nor against the curse. But for now, they stood on the same side of the darkness, if only barely.