Panic and anxiety consumed Cresil as he ran back to the waterfall as quickly as he could. "Dásos!" He screamed as he hit the bank of the plunge pool. "Get out here!" His voice echoed off the walls, fading to leave nothing but silence.

  "Damnit," he cursed, summoning his aura. "Forgive me, Kesh," he prayed before clawing at the nearest tree. The enormous pine rotted, crashing to the ground with a deafening boom. Still, no response. Another tree came down. Then another.

  Half a dozen in total before the thunderous crack of lightning nearly burst his eardrums and the ancient Primordial of earth and forest held him by the throat, eyes glowing with an ardent fury and fervid pain. "Explain yourself, Impure!" Dásos roared.

  Despite trembling in fear, Cresil returned the glare, "Kesh ran off, alone." The next thing he knew, he was bent over, heaving and wretching, dizzy from teleportation.

  ***

  Keshiema ran, letting her feet lead the way, trying and failing to clear her thoughts. She wanted to leave, to escape the never-ending onslaught of failures. The only place she could think to go was back to Dásos.

  'But what will he think?' her inner voice taunted her. 'Will he understand, or just believe you're falling apart because of another man?' Although the situation was a lot more complicated, the possibility remained that that could be exactly what he saw. The thought stopped her in her tracks.

  "No," she argued, "Day trusts me, and knows he's in my heart. He won't abandon me." She pulled herself together enough to avoid spiraling further. Looking around, she found herself in an unfamiliar section of Eden, but surrounded by an all-too-familiar scent. Nightshade. A new fear gripped her pounding heart.

  "Keshiema, is that you?" Eurynome called as he stepped out from behind the trees. She hesitated, trying to calm her heart, hiding her frozen hands behind her back, barely maintaining her colors. "Kesh... Is everything alright?" he asked, walking closer.

  "I, I'm alright," she shook her head. "I just took a wrong turn, I think."

  His pupils constricted as he stared at her. "You smell different," the statement was full of accusations and indignation.

  "Um, yeah," she stepped back, trying to summon her aura to run. The fear and dread had her powers failing once again. She reached for her kodachi, but she could hardly move her frozen hands.

  "You're afraid of me?" Eurynome growled, furious with her. "I've never hurt you!" He lunged forward, grabbing her wrist as she turned to run. Silver eyes stared back at him, shimmering under the scattered moonlight. Tearing the baldrick from her waist, he tossed her swords aside.

  "You're hurting me!" she screamed, the ice on her wrist shattered as his grip tightened and fear broke the last connection to her magic. With her own aura dispersed, she felt the icy chill of Eurynome's ever-present power.

  And then she noticed it, his gloves were gone. The leather blazer he usually wore was also missing. Too little remained between her and an icy touch that burned like a thousand suns. When the color drained from her face, the last shred of Eurynome's sanity snapped.

  Had he been of sound mind, he might have taken a moment to contemplate the consequences. As it were, Eurynome’s hand sprang forward, clutching Keshiema’s throat. If not for her Primordial blood, she would have been dead instantly. Fortunately, contact with a Reaper only caused her immense, excruciating pain. That blood, however, did nothing to help as he strangled her.

  Kicking and thrashing, she clawed at his arms, drawing blood, but not causing enough damage to fend him off. He threw her to the ground, pinning down her wrists in one hand, squeezing her throat with the other. His mouth watered like a starving beast. "One bite couldn't hurt, right?" He reasoned, his eyes wild and ravenous. "You'll heal quickly enough."

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  She struggled, trying desperately to loosen his grip, to summon her soulfire, her ice magic, anything to help her break free. "Get off me!" She wheezed, her windpipe nearly crushed, her skin on fire from his touch.

  Dark circles crept in, slowly encroaching upon her sight. Lightheaded and barely breathing, she reached out with her mind in search of anyone who could help. The world felt empty, and she wondered if it was because no one was around, or if her magic was completely broken.

  A bright, orange glow lit the clearing, bringing with it an intense heat. "Kesh!" Pyro shouted as Eurynome disappeared into the thick forest. Her ears were ringing as she sat up, gasping for air between bloody coughs. "It's ok, take your time, breathe," he rubbed her back, soothing her with warm aura.

  Her breathing slowed, but every breath still felt like sucking in shards of shattered glass. "Who the fuck was that, Keshiema?" Pyro shouted. Instead of answering, she shrank back in fear. "Shit, sorry." He lowered his voice, careful to watch his tone. "Who was it?" Her throat too torn to speak, she shook her head.

  A flash of lightning and thunderous boom knocked Pyro back, when he gained his senses, Dásos held Keshiema to his chest. Holding her at arms length he examined her from head to toe. As soon as his eyes landed on her neck all he saw was red.

  There was a storm in his eyes that chilled her to the bone. Keshiema grabbed Dásos by the waist, burying her face into his chest, eyes overflowing with tears. "I love you, Kesh," he whispered and in a flash of green light all that was left were a few oak leaves falling over a single blue and white dahlia dusted in glowing sand and encased in a glass orb.

  ***

  Eurynome fled. He barely remembered what he had done. When he smelled Dásos's scent so intertwined with Keshiema's it broke something inside of him, filling him with a carnal rage. He lost all control over himself. He knew she was afraid, even before her colors turned silver. He knew he had his hand around her neck, and that she was struggling against him. He knew he was close to killing her. When Pyro stuck him with that fireball he finally snapped back.

  As soon as he regained himself, he ran. Knowing what was coming for him, Eurynome raced toward the exit, praying to Fate he could leave Eden in one piece. Seeing the small clearing sparked a small glimmer of hope. Breathless, he pushed forward. 'Thank the stars,' he thought, slipping through the portal into Elysium.

  But his hope was quickly dashed by a crack of lightning, and something grabbing him by the waist, pulling him back into Eden. Thick vines pinned Eurynome to ground. Hyperventilating, he tried to look around, but a root slipped over his head, forcing it back.

  "You were warned, Reaper!" Dásos shouted with the layered, power-filled voice of an enraged Primordial. "You're going to pay dearly for your transgression."

  "You can't kill me!" Eurynome growled, feigning confidence.

  A sharp claw ran across Eurynome's cheek, followed by maniacal laughter. "Can't I?"

  True fear flashed in Eurynome's eyes. "You'll be banished!" One of the tendrils pulled his arms in opposite directions, threatening to tear them from his torso. Screaming in agony, Eurynome begged Dásos to stop, "Please! Have mercy!"

  The vines stopped tugging, and moved his face to meet Dásos's glowing green eyes. "Mercy?" The Primordial whispered. "You left your filthy handprint on her neck!" Fresh shoots wrapped around Eurynome's throat, almost cutting off his air. "Marred her wrists!" The creepers twisted and tightened around the Reaper's arms. "You nearly killed her!" He grabbed Eurynome's chin, forcing eye contact, "And you want mercy?!"

  "The curse! You'd leave her alone?" He prayed for Dásos to see reason.

  The plants released Eurynome's head and neck, but Dásos still held his face with an overbearing grip. "I already told you, "curse be damned."" He moved his hand to the demon's throat and squeezed. "I want you to experience exactly what Keshiema felt," he hissed. "Only, lucky for you, you never trusted me," he tightened his grip. "Never thought of me as a friend."

  Eurynome's vision blurred and darkened as he writhed, desperately trying to pull free of the vines. Stars danced across his narrowing field of view. His body tried to cough, but he was pinned to tightly by the murderous flora.

  Shortly after Eurynome stopped struggling, and his eyes rolled back, time froze around the enraged Primordial, who was still squeezing the Reaper's throat. "That's enough, Dásos, he's dead." Fate said, moving Dásos's hand away.

  "Will she be alright without me?" Dásos asked, realizing the full weight of his choice.

  Shaking his head, Fate sighed, "You know I can't tell you."

  Nodding, Dásos accepted Fate's answer. "Will it hurt?"

  Fate set a hand on Dásos's shoulder, a great despair filling his heart, "In more ways than you can even imagine." And in the blink of an eye, the last full Primordial vanished from the living realms.