As the orgasm subsided and the high mellowed out, Topan glanced down at the obscene picture before him.

Dishevelled and stained with blood and cum, Fuxiao gazed up at him with lustful eyes.

“What—?!”

Topan stumbled back.

“What the fuck did I—did we—”

“Ah, you’re back to your senses?” Fuxiao wiped his face with his sleeves.

“What the hell happened?! Did I—did I assault you?” Dread shadowed his face and he buried his head in his palms, “What the hell…how did I…”

“Topan.”

He threw his black cloak around Fuxiao’s naked body, trying to stop the bleeding from the many bite wounds.

“I may have lost touch after so many years but still…”

“Topan!”

The voice finally snapped Topan to attention.

Fuxiao held Topan’s trembling hands.

“You didn’t assault me. In fact, I was the one who intoxicated you.”

“What are you saying? Obviously I was the one who…”

“It’s my blood.” Fuxiao brought up his wrist. The scratch he sustained was barely a red mark now. “You lost your senses the moment you drank my blood.”

Disbelief flashed across Topan’s eyes.

“I didn’t…I remember clearly everything I did to you. I laid my hands on you and did such vulgar things to you. Although I was out of my mind, I know, my Bloodline knows, that I did all of it of my own accord!”

Guilt and disgust washed over him.

“I may be a prisoner, a monster whose hands are drenched in blood, but I was a knight with a code of honor! I fought for the Kingdom of Lekasi, I was one of the royal knights serving King Aranjaya directly! How could I do such crude things to someone—”

Fuxiao grabbed Topan’s face and forced their eyes to meet. “Are you disregarding your instincts? You said Bloodlines don’t lie and both of us know deep within that this was what we wanted. You want to devour me and I want you to mark me.”

While Topan was chained to his principles, Fuxiao was glad that he only needed to follow his natural instincts. No useless thoughts, no complicated memories. If he listened closely to what his Bloodline desired, he would survive and live another day.

“Don’t look away from me,” Fuxiao pulled Topan into a hug, “Don’t look away from our instincts.”

“You…” Topan muttered, “You want me to mark you?”

Fuxiao nodded, “I want you by my side. I want to be by your side. Isn’t it best that you mark me as yours?”

“But you and I are strangers.”

Fuxiao pulled back. The dark gemstones on his face glimmered in the shadows. White energy radiated around him and the white threads crept out of his back. “What does that matter if our Bloodlines accepted each other?”

As though answering an absolute command, Topan’s Tiger Bloodline awakened and his black energy rippled in the air, weaving with Fuxiao’s. The mixed bundle threaded Fuxiao’s skin, stitching up the open wounds and melding into the flesh, fixing his body like new.

“See?” Fuxiao said, “Nothing to worry about.”

Topan’s brows remained furrowed, distraught and frustrated, “It’s still my fault. I hurt you. I shouldn’t have.”

“You wanted my blood.” Fuxiao prodded Topan’s chest with a finger, “Look, your wounds have also healed after drinking my blood.”

Fuxiao was right. Topan scanned his own body. Old scars remained but day-old wounds had disappeared. In fact, he felt energized. Strong. Ready to take on the world. His hunger was sated, his Bloodline calm. He was awake. He was alive.

“If you stay by my side, I’ll let you drink my blood anytime. I’ll let you devour me.” Fuxiao continued, “Because in this unknown wasteland with no memories, being with you is the safest thing my Bloodline is telling me I can do. You can have my blood, as long as you never leave my side.”

Topan studied Fuxiao with watchful eyes. His chest tightened. “Alright. It’s a promise.”

He wasn’t sure if it was guilt or a sense of responsibility for his mistake, but he couldn’t shake off the uneasiness brewing inside him.

***

Once the sun was up, the two men traversed the vast desert with only the clothes on their back. The sandstorm beat against them. Worried that Fuxiao would be blown away, Topan held onto his wrist and pushed forward, ignoring the sand and rocks cutting his skin.

In the midst of the roaring storm, the ground rumbled and three large hudoqs emerged from the thick veil of hot blizzard. Arms as thick and long as tree trunks, black tendrils dangled from the hudoqs’ wooden masks. The monsters let out a cacophony of screeches.

“Stay back!” Topan stood in front of Fuxiao and drew his sword. “We’ve got ourselves some chimpanzees.”

“Can you defeat them?” Fuxiao called out.

“Worry about yourself.” Topan launched forward and aimed for the hudoqs’ limbs. The monster’s hand clashed with his steel sword, neither budging an inch. With a burst of dark energy, Topan’s Bloodline roared alive and black waves shrouded his sword and arms, increasing the force of his attack. The sudden expulsion blasted the chimpanzee hudoq back.

Unlike the previous day where he was pushing himself into Bloodrush simply to overpower the hudoqs, this time, he was completely clear-headed, brimming with power. He could see every movement of the hudoq’s blubbering body. He could slice the limbs with one swing.

There was no denying that it was all because of Fuxiao’s blood.

What exactly was Fuxiao’s Bloodline?

The chimpanzee hudoq jumped at him but Topan sidestepped it and slammed the hilt of his sword onto the hudoq’s mask. A crack formed on the wooden surface. With another solid punch, he destroyed the mask to expose the skull underneath. Topan had never touched a hudoq’s skull before. No one had. The idea of it was too absurd and far-fetched, yet here he was, grabbing the monster by its weak spot and crushing it with his bare hands.

To hurt a hudoq, one must at least be in a state of Bloodrush to utilize the full extent of their Bloodline’s power. Normal weapons couldn’t nick the hudoq’s body.

Topan stared at the bone fragments on his hands as the chimpanzee hudoq melted into a pool of black matter, eating away the ground. He snapped his attention to the other two monsters.

When faced with a dangerous predator, animals would run or hide.

But hudoqs were monsters that defied nature by itself. No one knew where they came from, how they existed. And so, even though it was obvious that they were no match against Topan, the hudoqs still charged at him with pounding fists.

A rush of black energy burst around Topan. Excitement. Anticipation. Fervor. Topan’s lips stretched into a wide grin, revealing his fangs. His heart thundered. Blood pumped through his veins like drum beats of a war. Inside him was a hurricane. An incapacitating storm that destroyed everything in its path.

Topan threw down his sword. Black waves encapsulated his large claws and he dropped onto all fours. Orange stripes emerged from the shadows of his dark hair. He let out a mighty roar and clashed with the hudoqs; a shockwave blasted the sandstorm clear.

With high agility and nimble feet, Topan darted behind the monster and slashed them. Attacks to the hudoqs’ body meant nothing as they didn’t bleed or feel pain, but it was simply to satisfy the bloodlust and killing urges of the predator deep inside Topan.

He attacked and attacked, roaring with glee. Red and black splattered onto his grinning face, and he had never felt so pleased and fulfilled.

He could fight.

He could win.

With this level of power, he could protect everyone he cherished and there would be no more killing.

After a long time of play, Topan finally smashed the hudoqs’ skulls. Black matter sputtered out in globs. He released a satisfied sigh, massaging the back of his neck like he had just completed a training session.

“You really killed them so easily,” Fuxiao stepped out of his hiding spot behind a rock.

Topan glanced over his shoulder, “I told you I could.” He kept his gaze on Fuxiao for a while before saying, “You…really. What are you?”

Fuxiao made eye contact. “What do you mean?”

“What kind of Bloodline are you?” Topan said, “I’ve never heard of a Bloodline that can empower someone like this. Even as far as healing wounds.”

A breeze accompanied the short silence.

“Does it matter?” Fuxiao asked. Under the bright midday sun, his pink hair appeared to glow a bright blond. His dark eyes sparkled. The ghost of his Bloodline markings danced as a shadow on his face.

“I guess not,” Topan muttered, “We’ve already made a promise.”

Fuxiao remained expressionless and he nodded, “Good. There’s no need to complicate things between us. I’ll give you what you want. And in exchange, we will be together.

“I’m a knight of honor.” Topan said, “You have my word.”

Another warm breeze carried dust and sand as they continued their journey. Soon enough, they reached a rundown village.

Broken houses lay empty in a picture of desolation. What once was a waterwheel was now a pile of dried wood sitting in the shadows of a stream. Gates left broken. Stables and barns devoid of life. Farms had become patches of dried land. It only took them ten minutes to walk through the entire village.

Not a single sign of life existed.