Merin wasn't the sole magnet that drew Red in. His heart throbbed and ached with anticipation as he ventured into the vast expanse of the Ela desert.

The enigmatic black structure that Red discovered was more than just a sight. It beckoned to him, its dark allure almost overpowering. He could have evaded Merin's attack and revealed his presence, but the black marble seemed to thirst for his blood. Simultaneously a voice, barely audible, whispered in his ears about incomprehensible outcomes.

Red's gaze was drawn downwards as an unseen powerful force seized his body. His every muscle tensed with the expected pressure.

Despite the gravity of the situation, a faint smile tugged at the corners of Red's lips. This was Merin's power, a force that could shatter bones and rupture organs, yet Red remained unfazed. He was intrigued, almost daring, to see how close Merin's attacks could push him to the edge of mortality.

His many woes with Mordecai tested his mettle against countless monsters. Red learned how to toe the line with death and how to walk away each time.

But how could these experiences compare to a being whose blood had primordial divinity?

Merin's telekinesis was powerful enough to crush a mortal man from the inside out.

Red was no longer mortal.

The Inni blood in Red granted him drops of divine blood from their God. But his maternal line was low in the chain of power. His maternal grandma was one of many priestesses who catered to their God. His bond with Merin forged with the mutual blood exchange fostered the divinity within him. His limits were exceeded thanks to that, allowing him to become more.

Red coughed up blood as he collapsed. He welcomed the dark floor and Merin as she flew over to him. In all the time he knew her, he hadn't seen her fly. It was mentioned, and he saw her attempt before she fell that one time.

Memories and nostalgia stole what was left of his breath as he met the bright blues of Merin. She made a lot of noise as she apologized and reached for him.

Red coughed up a chuckle and closed his eyes. The blood pooled under him was slipping into the porous cracks of the black marble. With a mere tug at it with his hand, his blood slipped back into him.

Vitality empowered him as it oiled the damage and smoothed away his wounds. Red could hear Merin still babbling, but he ignored her as he took stock of his blood.

Something was different about it now. The blood that reentered Red's body was twisting his inside painlessly. And it differed from what had already pulsed around his heart.

A pair of cool hands grabbed him, and Red opened his eyes to see Merin hard at work attempting to heal him. He grew distracted from his previous thoughts at the sight of her glowing skin.

It had been a long time since they saw each other, and both had changed. Red's new ability to perceive magic through one's blood meant he could now see Merin's divinity with his bare eyes.

Merin's silver hair shone like a halo made of burning white light. Her pale translucent skin barely held the vines of silver light threaded across every inch of her. The glow swallowed every shadow around her. Under her breasts lay a heart that no longer beats. Instead, the gilded core burned with a tantalizing fire.

Red caressed her bosom and watched as lights refracted from his touch. His bloody hand stained the light for a few seconds before it was erased.

He didn't like that.

The blood that Red fed Merin was barely present. As her body accepted its divine origins, whatever was deemed unneeded was cleansed for her ascension. Their forged bond was still going strong, but the foundation of it was shaky.

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Idily, Red caught Merin's hand that reached out to smack him. His punishment for ignoring her chatter, undoubtedly. He brought her fingers to his lips and nibbled on them lightly. It didn't take much to puncture her pale flesh.

"Have you gone deaf?" She said. Her lips were twitching as she fought amusement.

"Have you gone blind?" He countered after he let her fingers escape.

"It's not my fault you snuck in like a thief." She said, sucking on the fingers he bit.

The minuscule drops he managed to grace her fingers with were swallowed but gone in seconds as her light erased them.

"Merin," Red said. He infused his need into his voice, and she shut her mouth. The luster shining off her skin grew brighter, as did the color in her cheeks.

"I'm not clean!" She said as she scrambled to stand and back up a few steps.

"Neither am I," Red said as he followed step for step.

"I didn't have time to finish my bath. Red...wait!"

He pounced and captured her with ease. Before she could plead some more, he covered her mouth with his own. Regardless of what her mouth said, her body was far more honest with him. Merin stilled under him as their lips reexplored each other. Her skin was cool and pliant as she made his favorite noises.

Red pulled away to meet her sinless blue eyes. Through her clear orbs, he could see his reflection in them. His red eye glowed, as did the remaining blood on the side of his face. Unlike her blood, his was twisted with murky shadows. Hers glowed purifying lights, but his created darkness that was always starving.

Red cupped Merin's face as he savored her heavy-lidded eyes and flushed cheeks. His fingers left traces of red-black shadows, and he nibbled on her ear as his hands roamed some more.

Red was no longer controlling his hunger as he nibbled, nicked, and marked every mouthful he could grab.

"No more!" Merin said as she lay on top of him. Her shallow breath shook her frame.

Red played with the lights in her hair as he said nothing. His blood was inside of her and would grow once more. The red-black smudges he decorated across her body wouldn't disappear anytime soon.

His newfound possession wasn't satisfied, and he grabbed her wrist where puncture holes were slowly closing. Red sucked on the wound, closing it with his blood and saliva.

She muttered some words in another language, and Red chuckled.

She stilled and said, "You know what I said?"

"I've been gone longer than you realize," Red said. "I've learned a lot from your uncles."

Merin scrambled off him, her bright eyes wide with excitement. "Tell me everything."

"You first," Red said as he gestured to the vast room they were in. "This wasn't here before."

Merin nibbled on her lips, and Red's eyes followed the movement. When she saw that, she stopped and moved back a few more feet.

"Wait! I'll tell you, stop advancing on me!" Merin said.

Red ignored her to grab her by the waist and lift her up. He wanted her again, and the budding scent rolling off her body meant she did too.

"I can't keep up with your stamina..." She said.

When he ignored that, she said, "I have to show you something! I found the body of Elan's God!"

Red stilled, and his voice was gruff as he said, "Show me."

Her triumphant smile at successfully distracting him was wiped clean with a somber nod.

It took a little while for the two to get dressed and head to the center of the temple. Red looked around the temple as Merin caught him up on all her mischief.

The ornate grandeur was strangely mirroring what Red had long come to realize about Gods. They all seemed to be drawn to shiny things like birds. But, Red corrected in his head, so far, most of the divine beings he encountered were distinctly bird-like. Merin was walking ahead of him, dancing as she took steps. Her light brightened the black marble but didn't overpower the darkness he infused into her.

"Now that you're here, something can be done about it," Merin said as a door swung open before either could approach. "I didn't want to touch it, but we can't leave him like this."

Red said nothing as he stepped into the room. Merin ducked behind him and tentatively held onto the back of his shirt. The audacious woman was uncharacteristically showing real fear.

As his eyes scanned the room, he could see why.

A man lay sprawled against the trunk of a sable-colored tree. Calling him a man might not be appropriate because he was torn into countless shards of coal. His violet eyes were gems that wiggled and moved as Red came closer.

Elan's God was dead, and yet his remains looked as if they might reassemble and come back to life. Red's presence seems to bring about micro changes in the fallen God that Merin overlooked.

Could he bring his God back to life?

Red glanced down at Merin, who was biting her lips anxiously. So far, every divine being Red has encountered sparkled like gemstones. Their unusual physical properties might be what grants them magic beyond a mortal's scope.

"How does one kill a God?" Merin said barely above a whisper. "Shouldn't it be impossible? I tried to end my life countless times when I was just an ordinary immortal..."

Red forced his eyes to look back at the broken, shattered body of his God.

He didn't want to admit it, but he was as clueless as her. The two of them were ascending as their divinity grew. And yet, right now, they were unmatched and unkillable.

So how the fuck did Elan's God die?