She moved.
It was subtle at first—a pawing of the ground, a slight lowering of her head. The defiance in her glowing eyes wavered, not gone but softened, replaced by something deeper. Slowly, deliberately, Aether took a step forward.
The sound of her hoof meeting the stable floor was almost deafening in the stillness. My breath caught for a moment, the weight of that step more profound than any charge or strike I’d faced in the arena. It wasn’t just a step. It was a choice.
Aether paused, her glowing eyes fixed on me with an intensity that made the air hum. The tension between us shifted, transforming from a battle of wills into something else entirely—a silent conversation, an unspoken understanding.
“There it is,” I murmured, my voice barely audible but carrying the weight of certainty. “The first step.”
Her mane rippled like liquid shadows, and the faint hum of mana around her seemed to resonate in time with the flames in my hand. Aether’s gaze dipped briefly to the fire before returning to mine, her posture more curious now, less guarded.
I held my ground, my hand still extended, the [Flame of Equinox] steady and unwavering. “It’s not easy, is it?” I said, my tone quiet but steady. “Breaking free from the chains you’ve lived with for so long. Trusting something—or someone—enough to take that step. But you did it.”
The faintest breath of air escaped her nostrils, a sound that might have been a snort but felt more like a sigh. Her powerful frame relaxed slightly, her movements no longer as rigid, as though some unseen weight had lifted from her shoulders.
“Freedom isn’t about running from the past,” I continued, my voice carrying a quiet reverence. “It’s about facing it. It’s about choosing to carry the pain without letting it define you. That’s what makes you strong—not the armor you wear, but the courage to take it off.”
Aether took another step, the faint glow in her eyes shifting, softening. Her mane seemed to flow more gently now, less like living shadows and more like a breeze caught in moonlight. She was close enough now that I could feel the hum of her mana blending with the warmth of the flames in my hand.
I didn’t move, didn’t reach out to her. This had to be her choice. It always had to be her choice.
Aether’s gaze lingered on the flames, and for a moment, the world felt impossibly still. Then, with a slow, deliberate motion, she lowered her head, the tip of her nose brushing the edge of the fire. The flames didn’t recoil or burn; instead, they seemed to embrace her, their light mingling with her mana in a quiet, harmonious glow.
I exhaled softly, the tension in my chest loosening as a faint smile tugged at the corner of my lips.
“Heh…..Now, you can’t escape.”
*******
Valeria watched from a distance, her arms crossed, her brow furrowed as the bizarre scene unfolded before her. Aether’s mane rippled like shadows in an unseen breeze, her movements uncharacteristically slow and deliberate as she stepped closer to Lucavion. It was as though the horse wasn’t just walking but deciding—with every fiber of her being—how to respond to the man before her.
Lucavion stood there, his posture calm yet unwavering. From where Valeria stood, she couldn’t hear a word of what he was saying. The hum of mana in the air had grown stronger, and she could see the faint glow of flames coiled in his hand, flickering softly against the stable’s dim light.
Her lips pressed into a thin line, unease settling in her chest. ‘What in the world is he doing?’ she thought, her sharp eyes narrowing as she focused on the strange interplay between man and beast. Aether, the horse no one could tame, was moving as though mesmerized. Her steps, her stance—it was all so… deliberate, so unlike the wild defiance she had displayed mere moments ago.
‘Is this really the same person who stood here earlier, smirking and making jokes about authority?’ Valeria wondered, her grip tightening on her arms. ‘The same person who proposed we wage war on the Cloud Heavens Sect, as if the lives that would be lost were just a price to pay for justice? How does someone go from recklessness to… this?’
Her gaze lingered on Lucavion’s expression, illuminated faintly by the flames. His usual smirk was gone, replaced by a calm intensity she hadn’t seen before. It wasn’t the sharp, calculating look he wore when playing politics or the infuriatingly smug grin that accompanied his banter. This was different. There was a weight to his stance, a quiet understanding that seemed entirely out of place for someone like him.
Aether moved again, lowering her head toward the fire. The shimmering flames didn’t flare or recoil; they seemed to welcome her, mingling softly with the faint aura of mana that surrounded the horse. Valeria’s breath hitched. The sight was almost surreal, like something out of a story.
‘What is he saying to her?’ she wondered. ‘What’s making that impossible horse move like that?’
And yet, even as she asked herself these questions, a deeper, more troubling thought crept into her mind. ‘Was I wrong about him?’
She hated the thought. Lucavion was reckless, arrogant, and infuriatingly smug. He infuriated her constantly with his taunts, his provocations, his refusal to take anything seriously. But now, as she watched him interact with Aether, she saw a side of him that didn’t fit any of the pieces she had assembled.
‘Is he really like this? Or is this just another act?’ Valeria bit her lip, her thoughts spinning. ‘No one changes this fast. No one goes from proposing a witch hunt to… whatever this is. So which one is the real Lucavion? The man with the fiery rhetoric or the one coaxing an untamable creature into lowering her defenses?’
Her eyes flicked back to Aether, who stood now with her head lowered, her glowing blue eyes fixed on the flames in Lucavion’s hand. The tension in her powerful frame seemed to have melted, replaced by something gentler, something raw and vulnerable.
Valeria’s chest tightened at the sight. She didn’t know what to make of it. All she knew was that, for the first time, she was seeing something in Lucavion that didn’t align with the chaos and recklessness she had come to expect.
‘No….it is not the first time….’
Valeria’s thoughts flickered back, unbidden, to the memory of the foxkin siblings. Their soft, trembling voices, their guarded expressions—they had been on the edge of despair when Lucavion stepped in. She remembered how he’d crouched down to their level, his usual smirk replaced by a calm gentleness that caught even her off guard.
He hadn’t taunted them or pushed them with his usual audacious humor. Instead, he’d spoken with a quiet sincerity, as though he truly understood their fear, their pain. His words had been measured, deliberate, carrying a weight that belied the careless persona he so often wore. “You’re safe now. No one will harm you while I’m here.”
unseen weight had been lifted. Lucavion hadn’t just protected them physically; he’d given them something more intangible—a sense of hope.
‘Right…’ Valeria thought, her brow furrowing as she watched him now, standing before Aether with that same calm intensity. ‘I’ve seen this before, haven’t I? That… other side of him. The one he doesn’t show unless he thinks no one’s paying attention.’
Her perception of Lucavion had always been a shifting, chaotic thing. One moment, he was a reckless rogue with a penchant for pushing boundaries; the next, he was a sharp strategist, weaving through conversations and conflicts with a precision that left her reeling. And then, there were these rare moments—when he seemed stripped of all the artifice and bravado, leaving something raw, something startlingly innocent in its place.
‘It’s no wonder I can’t figure him out,’ she admitted to herself, her lips pressing into a thin line. ‘He doesn’t let anyone see the full picture. He’s always shifting, always wearing a mask. But… this side of him feels real. Maybe more real than the rest.’
Her train of thought was interrupted by the Marquis’s voice, cutting through the tension in the stable.
“He really did it…” the Marquis murmured, his tone quiet but heavy with disbelief. His sharp eyes were fixed on Lucavion and Aether, his usually composed demeanor slipping for just a moment as he shook his head in quiet amazement.
Valeria blinked, turning to him. The Marquis wasn’t a man easily surprised, yet the astonishment in his voice was undeniable. It was clear—he hadn’t expected this outcome any more than she had.
‘How does he keep doing this?’ she wondered, her gaze shifting back to Lucavion. ‘How does he achieve these impossible things?’
There was no denying it. Lucavion had a way of cutting through layers of resistance—whether with people or, apparently, with creatures like Aether. He didn’t overpower or dominate; he found cracks in the walls others built and gently, insistently, widened them until they gave way.
The sight before her—a horse no one could tame now standing calm, her nose brushing the flame in Lucavion’s hand—was proof enough of that.
‘It’s like he understands something the rest of us can’t see… or won’t admit,’ Valeria thought, a strange mix of frustration and admiration twisting in her chest. ‘He acts like the world is his to command, yet there are moments like this—moments where he seems to be the only one willing to meet it on its own terms.’
The Marquis exhaled quietly beside her, his expression softening into something almost reverent. “To be honest,” he said, more to himself than anyone else, “I didn’t think he would succeed. Aether’s spirit is too wild, too scarred. And yet…” He trailed off, shaking his head again, as though the words to explain what he was seeing eluded him.
Valeria stayed silent, her eyes locked on Lucavion. ‘Neither did I,’ she thought, her chest tightening further. ‘But somehow… he did.’
And as Aether took another step toward him, the glowing flames reflected in her ethereal blue eyes, Valeria felt her understanding of Lucavion shift once more. Continue your journey with empire