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Riven pinched the bridge of his nose with his claws as he stared at the empty space before him and resisted the urge to curse.
The room wasn’t supposed to be empty.
It was also supposed to be guarded and there were no guards in sight.
As always, it seemed that the rumors starting to come out of Nevarah were slightly off—the Immortals weren’t waking.
They were already awake.
At least, some of them were.
Riven still had several more locations on his list to check on, to determine whether it was all of them or whether they still had some time to prepare for the inevitable—the dreaded Night of a Thousand Years, when fabrine and all manners of creatures made from Dark and Black Magic would descend upon Nevarah and attempt to devour the entire realm and all of its inhabitants.
If they succeeded, they wouldn’t stop with Nevarah. They would move on to the next realm and then the next, getting stronger with each realm that fell under their hordes.
It was a … unique time to be alive, much to Riven’s everlasting chagrin.
Roughly a year ago, the prophecies had started—prophecies about the likely outcomes of the battles that would take place during the Night of a Thousand Years, those that would come to Nevarah to help them fight off the hordes of fabrine, and those that would try to take advantage of the chaos and claim the realm for their own. The prophecies had come from all of their sources as well—every single Seer Clan within each elemental Court, as well as the Oracles in Nevarah and even Oracles from other realms.
And now Riven was tasked with verifying the rumors and finding and sending back to Nevarah as many magical artifacts that would assist them in the coming battles.
Or, more specifically, to locate the Immortals and their weapons, since most of the prophecies seemed to indicate that those particular guardians would be their best chance at ensuring the universe would survive this Night of a Thousand Years and last until the next one.
He sincerely hoped that he wasn’t alive to see a second one of these. The current one had become a never-ending headache, especially because he was starting to get the sense that he and the other Mages assigned to investigate and follow up on the Seers’ recommendations were falling behind on their preparations.
Riven felt the magic before he saw the incoming portal. Violet eyes widened a fraction when he took in the details that signified what type of portal this was and who could possibly be summoning him.
It was a portal made up of a pure Soul Magic, a kind of portal he had witnessed only a few times before—and each time, they had been meant for someone other than him.
A soulscream summons.
Reflexively, Riven threw out a spell—one that froze the portal for a few minutes, giving him time to assess the situation.
It shouldn’t have been possible for a soulscream summons to reach him here. He had blocks in place specifically designed to prevent something of the sort happening to him—blocks. Plural.
Riven was intrigued.
The timing was absolutely horrible—but if he was honest with himself, there would never be a good time for this sort of thing. There were a fair reasons why he was still unbonded and one of the main reasons was that courting a Submissive had always seemed like a hassle and he’d yet to encounter someone who seemed worth the hassle after a first impression. His responsibilities and his desire to learn and master new types of magic had always taken priority.
His blocks should have ensured that any summons by a soulscream would have been converted to a soul-cry and a connection opened that way.
But for a soulscream summons to break through all of his blocks and to go this far to reach him?
It spoke to more than the Submissive’s desperation and magic. It also spoke to their determination and stubbornness.
Riven was unable to help himself.
Taking advantage of the extra minutes granted to him thanks to his spell, he reached through the fledgling connection to test the capabilities of the newly forming Circle.
Just because the Submissive would be able to handle his magic didn’t necessarily mean that others in the Circle would be able to.
The feedback he received was—impressive, for lack of a better word.
And now Riven was even more intrigued.
He was tempted, more tempted than he imagined he would be, in the few times he imagined something like this happening.
But the fact remained that the timing wasn’t ideal.
Reluctantly, he stepped out of the path of the portal created by the soulscream summons. When he released his spell, it would hit the ground where he had been standing, with nothing to transport. It would dissipate and he could go back to his responsibilities.
He would follow the open soul-bond in a few weeks, when things in his life had hopefully calmed down a bit and he could devote some time to the necessary courting requirements—and apologies, for not coming when called.
His hand twitched and the spell unraveled.
To his utter shock, the portal changed direction and was once again aiming straight for him.
That … wasn’t supposed to happen.
He’d certainly never heard of something like that happening before.
What in Arielle’s name…?
He was even more intrigued now.
His Submissive would certainly be a special one, it seemed.