LOGIN“You speak of danger as if it were something you have already faced,” Estrela said to the man with black hair and a thick black beard, her voice devoid of mockery. “And perhaps you have. But hiding someone who is running from something far worse is not protection. It is a death sentence.” Brain stepped forward his hand resting lightly on the hilt of his blade. “You threaten us?” the man shouts his dark eyes narrowed. “He left before the sun rose.
“Resilience is enough. We are still here Luz. We are still fighting for more,” Amelia said quickly. “Admit it, the possibility of a future with me is enough.” His hand tightened over hers. The metal of his gauntlet pressed into her skin, but the gesture was not cold– it was anchoring. “The possibility,” he repeated. He said it like he was testing the weight of a weapon, gauging its strength. A low, bitter laugh escaped him– a sound that started in his chest and died before it could reach his lips. It was not a laugh of amusement, but of disbelief. Of a man who had forgotten what it felt like to believe in something other than survival. “You are relentless,” he said, and there was a trace of something old and warm in his voice– the ghost of a smile that had not touched his face in years.Luz leaned down, his forehead pressing against Amelia’s one more, the ash silver strand of his hair falling like a curta
Estrela thought back to the past. Recalling Orgullo’s rage toward the old Gods and their followers”“You have a choice,” Estrela said to the village, her voice devoid of emotion, felt and terrifyingly calm. “One of you will speak. One of you will tell me exactly where Escuro went.” She reached for her blade, the steel singing as it cleared the scabbard by only a few inches. The sound was small in the vastness of the village, yet it carried like thunder. “And the rest of you will watch what happens when a village chooses to protect a fugitive.” The black-haired men’s jaw worked silently, his face draining of colour. The woman who had placed her hand on the man’s shoulder pulled back as if she has been burned. Her fingers trembled and she retreated toward a nearby hut, her eyes wide with a terror that was no longer directed at the stranger, but at the woman standing before them. “We have noth
“You kept watch last night,” Amelia complained lightly. “Least I can do it keep you company for a while.” Luz stopped. He did not turn around immediately, but his shoulders dropped just a fraction– the only sign that her words had landed. “Keeping watch is not a suggestion, Amelia. It is what I do,” he said, his voice flat. He did not move away. He stood there at the edge of the treeline, the wind tugging at his ash silver hair, looking every bit, the commander standing guard over a perimeter. He waited. three seconds. Five. “Fine,” he said, finally running to face her. The crimson in his eyes was steady now, the amber retreating into a small, stubborn spark at the centre. “But stay within earshot. It I call, you come. Do not argue. And you will not spend the entire night out here.”It was an order, phrased as a command, but the way Luz said it– without the usual bite– made it clear he was not actua
“You speak of danger as if it were something you have already faced,” Estrela said to the man with black hair and a thick black beard, her voice devoid of mockery. “And perhaps you have. But hiding someone who is running from something far worse is not protection. It is a death sentence.” Brain stepped forward his hand resting lightly on the hilt of his blade. “You threaten us?” the man shouts his dark eyes narrowed. “He left before the sun rose. Now leave us in peace.” The man’s outburst shattered the tense silence of the village, his voice echoing off the low walls of the huts. The villagers flinched, some stepping back toward their doorways, others lowering their heads. Estrela’s expression remained unchanged, but her eyes sharpened. The information was a crack in his wall– a confirmation he had just handed them on a silver platter. “He left before sunrise,” she repeated calmly, let
Brain and Estrela approached the village on horseback, the steady rhythm of hooves breaking the otherwise quiet afternoon. The settlement looked strangely still form a distance its weathered round huts scattered across the dusty ground, with only a handful of villagers visible between them. As they drew closer, Brain slowed his horse, his deep brown eyes moving carefully over the unfamiliar faces. The village occupies a gentle sloping green valley surrounded by enormous, rugged mountains. Beyond the village, a broad blue lake stretches toward the right side, reflecting the bright sky which is filled with large, soft white and grey clouds. the small, rounded stone cottages are constructed from irregular pale grey- and cream-coloured stones, with steeply pitched, conical thatched roofs made from layers of dark straw and reeds. Several cottages have visible chimneys, with thin trails of white smoke rising into the cool mountain air. Narrow dirt paths wind bet
“It is absolutely heavenly,” Amelia said sweetly as Luz shifted his grip, his fingers working along the like of her spine. A faint, almost imperceptible twitch at the corner of his mouth– not quite a smile, but the ghost of one. It vanished as quickly as if appeared. “Do not get used to it,” he said, thought his thumbs continued their steady work, pressing into the tension of her shoulders with renewed focus. “I am not your servant.” The wind picked up, carrying the scent of pine and damp earth through the village. Luz’s gaze drifted toward the hut where Estrela sat, then back to Amelia. The darkness below his skin was quiet now, subdued by the simple, rhythmic motion of his hands. It was a strange sort of peace– one he had not felt in years.“You are remarkable calm for someone riding with a traitor,” Luz remarked, his voice dropping to a near whisper. He did not look at Amelia as he said it, his crimson eyes
Luz’s grip on Amelia’s red hair tightened slightly, both painfully but demanding obedience. The black vein on his neck pulsed furiously as the Darkness within him sensed the victory– this human soul willingly surrendering herself. “You will sleep in my quarters and eat at my table. Every Corrompi
“That is not you fate,” Luz declared firmly, his voice carrying the authority of someone used to giving orders that were obeyed without question. “You are not some chattel to be bartered away to the highest bidder.” He closed the distance between them again in two long strides, his armoured form
“Found a way?” his voice rose sharply, echoing in the black tent. “There was no way! You think I wanted to abandon you? To watch you grown up without me while I became this… this monster?” he gestured wildly at his corrupted form, at the dark marks creeping up his neck and the crimson sigils puls
“What in the bloody hell are you doing here?” Luz’s voice emerged rougher than intended, betraying both anger and something deeper he couldn’t quite name. His grip tightened on the hilt until his knuckles turned white against the black veins crawling up his fingers. “Luz?” Amelia asked softly, he







