Tala eased him onto his back on the bed and opened up the robe to start the ceremony. Warmth glided Wren's bare chest as Tala trailed his hand to cradle Wren's neck in his palm. Their eyes connected, both shining with tears, but Tala's had yet to fall as he spoke.

"Once we are bound, you will exude my energy over your own, dark magic, Wren Song. No mages will view you without knowledge of what you've married into. Are you committed to leaving them behind?"

"Any who mean anything will not care about such trivial things," Wren said and Talamayas smiled, though it wavered.

"This part is painful, though not so much as what comes after. It is bearable at first, but when I bind you to me it grows so immense you will scream. I will be here, but the process or forcing your body to accept my energy rewrites you, and even if you accept it, you will suffer."

"I understand. Stay by my side, and I will climb over any obstacle, be it drowning in the pain that comes with our joining."

"Very well. Turn your head if you're ready," Talamayas said.

Wren complied, straining his eyes to the far side of his vision to see a spell form on Tala's fingertips. The heat sent a tremor though Wren, but he did as he was instructed. It had taken time, but Wren trusted Tala not to hurt him more than what was needed.

"Just use this for now." Tala twisted a towel and set it between Wren's teeth. "This seal will mark you as mine for all to see, in the place I will draw your life into me when I hunger. It is a promise to accept no one else's fangs at your throat and a display of our devotion to one another."

Tala touched Wren's neck with a finger, and Wren whined into the towel as he bit down. The pain was so intense that Talamayas had to hold his head in place as he traced the shape of the brand. It wasn't like any burn or ink that could be cut away or removed. The bonding seal was carved into his flesh and soul with Talamayas' magic, and it would persist until his death and after.

It just hurt like hell.

There wasn't much worse than having his skin burned off and this took the cake. It felt like Talamayas was melting himself into his flesh, burning it away and replacing it with a mark that stabbed into his very core. And there were so many points, small triangles of red that matched the tattoos on Tala's shoulder–a simplified sun to match the emblem of his people. There were eight spikes in all, and the last mark he did in the center, a long circle, drew tears to Wren's eyes as it spun under Tala's fingers to complete the design.

By the time Talamayas was done, Wren was covered in sweat from head to toe, and he could barely catch his breath as Talamayas kissed his forehead. Tala helped him up to his elbows to see himself in a small mirror, and Wren smiled at the red sun that took up the left side of his neck, circling just around where Talamayas' bite marks had been the first time he's fed from him.

"You won't want to touch it for a few days. It takes the magic a bit to settle," Tala said. It should have been comforting when Tala pulled him up into his lap, but Wren knew what was coming. "It's okay." Tala stroked his cheek when Wren trembled. "I know it's not pleasant, and I don't want to hurt you, but it is much like how I felt coming into this world. This blood bond feels the same as a vampire when they are sired and forced to submit to their new master's magic. You have accepted mine already, so your body won't reject it. It is only pain."

"I'm ready, Tala. I need it," Wren said into his chest, gripping his bare arm so hard that he was sure his nails pierced the top layers of skin. "I know you have forgiven me, that you were gracious enough to, but I haven't forgiven myself. I need the pain to wash me clean, to suffer for what I did before I can call myself yours."

"Wren, you've suffered enough," Tala said with a shallow sigh, pulling his face up to press his lips to his forehead again. "We've both suffered enough..."

"I know, Talamayas. That is why, though I am scared, I want this to be painful. I need the divide to separate me from what I was in the past, to birth me anew in agony that will finally give me the strength to forgive myself. I want to wake up as a Sol in spirit just as much as name. With this change, I will be able to forgive myself and accept the love of your people without shame."

"All right. Then I will say goodbye to Wren Song, the man who lived in hate and pain, and breathe into you a new life as Wren Sol, where I will never allow you to suffer such."

"Thank you, Talamayas... for everything," Wren whispered into his shoulder.

Tala tilted his chin back then, and Wren's lips trembled as Tala parted them with just his thumb. Bringing his wrist up to his mouth, Tala ran a fang over it, tightened his fist, and pulled it back to drip several drops of blood into Wren's mouth. The world spun as he absorbed Talamayas' power, and Wren swam in a sweet bliss as Talamayas laid him down on the bed. Consuming vampire blood gave the person a high if they accepted it, empowered them for a short duration and extended life, but it wore off without this ceremony.

Talamayas touched Wren's chest over his heart, and Wren took a breath to prepare himself as Tala scrawled the spell into his flesh. It was nothing but a harmless drawing until Talamayas lowered his mouth. Staring up at the ceiling, Wren was unable to see Talamayas' fangs extend, but he felt them pierce the magic circle and slide as far as the position would allow into his flesh. It injected magic straight into Wren's heart, to change it into a vessel that would accept his power.

As Talamayas said, it was as if he were siring him as a vampire, but only in essence instead of form. Magic crept out from the point where Talamayas' fangs made contact, and Wren trembled as the pain spread. It squeezed his heart at first, stabbing it with thousands of needles, and then it lit it a flame.

Wren screamed, he knew he did, though his body convulsed so hard that he wasn't sure he was fully cognizant. With each beat of his heart, fire burned through him, crawling down through his chest, stretching to his fingers and toes and circling back into his heart to renew the power and agony. The worst was when it hit his head. Wren felt like the room was shaking, the world split before his eyes, and there were two Talamayas' holding his face and leaning over him.

Tala said something, but Wren didn't hear. All he wanted was to get the feel of his hands off his face, to rip out his heart and die in peace, but when he moved his hands, they were constrained in manacles that he didn't remember. That didn't stop him from pulling at the cold metal around his wrists and snarling at the air around him as if he could fight it by gnashing his teeth and flaring his eyes.

He must look a monster.

Control had left his body, and Wren seized in agony, rage, and sadness. They all wound up in him, exposing his baser emotions and smothering each one in turn until they were rewritten with his new mate's binding.

It went on for a while, and at some point, something cool dripped on Wren's face. He hadn't been aware of much as he spiraled, but the pitter patter on his cheek brought him out of it long enough to see tears drip from Talamayas' eyes. It changed something in Wren, and his seizing lessened as he accepted more and more of Talamayas.

The man had cried for him before, but never because of hurting him.

They'd come so far together from the days when he'd tortured his people in front of him and then seared his flesh off with a smile. This hurt Talamayas, perhaps more than it hurt him, and that single emotion allowed Wren to let go of the last of his old self that he'd been hanging onto. What part, he was unsure, but he was ready to live with this man, until the end of his days, as his soul bound, as his mate, and as one of his people.

As he relaxed onto the bed, his eyes drooped. Cool lips pressed against his, and he couldn't even move to reciprocate. It hurt like pins and needles stabbing into them, but Wren was happy to feel them knowing it was Tala's touch. Everything was going to hurt for a while, according to Talamayas, and Wren didn't want to spend a moment away from him if he could. The closer they were, the better, even if had to suffer.

"I love you, Wren Sol," Talamayas whispered into the side of his face, his hands hovering just out of touch so that Wren could feel his energy but it didn't hurt as his kiss had. The man knew he was in pain and had needed to kiss him, but Tala would be careful not to hurt him any more than necessary.

Wren wanted to speak back, to tell him he loved him more than anything in this world, but the darkness dragged him under into the realm of his nightmares. It had been decades since he'd dreamed of anything peaceful, so he wasn't expectant as he drifted off.

I love you Talamayas Sol. Wren thought as his nightmares claimed him.

Word Count: 1711