Chapter 7: Ashes in the Forest
The woods were ancient.
Trees rose like the ribs of a long-dead titan, their blackened bark twisted by forgotten magic. The path underfoot was barely a whisper — overgrown, choked by roots, and silent save for the distant howling of unseen creatures.
Selene walked close behind Lucian.
The further they traveled from the Citadel, the heavier the air grew — as if the forest itself feared what lay ahead.
Lucian showed no fear. No hesitation. Only cold, unyielding purpose.
Selene watched him, her thoughts swirling. How could someone so calm, so untouchable, have once been betrayed so deeply?
She wanted to ask.
But fate had other plans.
They were nearly through the dense heart of the forest when it happened.
The mist thickened without warning, curling like a living thing. The trees shifted subtly until the path was gone.
Selene stiffened.
Lucian halted. His head tilted slightly.
"Come out," he said softly.
The mist stirred.
Seven figures emerged, clad in crimson and silver armor etched with cursed runes. Their faces were hidden behind masks, but their hesitation was palpable — they feared him.
One of them, taller than the rest, stepped forward with false bravado.
"Sleeping King," he said, voice shaking slightly. "We come only for the girl. Step aside, and we will not trouble you."
Lucian said nothing.
The leader pressed on, licking dry lips. "You have no quarrel with us. She is… dangerous. Better she is contained."
Selene clutched her cloak tighter around herself.
The figures began to move, spreading out to surround them, careful not to provoke Lucian.
But it was already too late.
Lucian raised his hand — a small, simple motion.
The ground buckled.
A crushing weight filled the air, and one of the seven collapsed instantly, body turning to ash before he even hit the ground.
The leader flinched, stepping back. "Wait! Wait!" he cried. "You don't deserve what they did to you!"
He dropped to his knees, hands outstretched in a pleading gesture.
"You trusted them, didn't you? The witches. The monsters. The sirens. They feared you, Lucian! Betrayed you! They sealed you away because they knew they could never defeat you!"
Lucian's expression remained blank.
The leader's voice grew more desperate. "We... we are not your enemy! We were ordered! Forced! If it were up to me, I would have worshipped you!"
Another of the seven tried to flee — only to be crushed mid-leap, pulverized into dust by an unseen force.
The mist darkened with blood and fear.
"Please!" the leader sobbed. "Think of what they took from you! We—"
Lucian moved.
It was not a gesture.
It was a sentence.
The leader's body folded in on itself, vanishing into nothingness.
The remaining enemies panicked, unleashing wild blasts of magic in every direction.
None of it touched Lucian.
He advanced like a storm, his aura unraveling the air around him. With each step, another enemy fell — one crushed, another disintegrated, another swallowed by the earth itself.
Selene watched, frozen.
He wasn't fighting.
He was delivering judgment.
Within moments, only silence remained.
Ash drifted through the mist.
Lucian stood amidst it, untouched, unshaken, a god crowned in ruin.
Selene swallowed hard, her heart pounding.
Lucian turned slightly, his golden eyes meeting hers.
"The Tower," he said quietly. "The Witches. The Sirens. The Monsters. They called me friend. Brother. Lover."
His fists clenched at his sides.
"And when they realized I could surpass them... they turned."
He began walking again, boots crunching through the remains of his enemies.
"They sealed me," he said, voice flat. "Because they were cowards."
Selene followed, wordless, her mind spinning with everything she had just seen — and everything she was beginning to understand.
Far ahead, through the shifting trees, the broken outlines of the Empire's border forts rose against the mist.
Selene's kingdom lay just beyond.
But the true journey — the true danger — was only beginning.
For the Great Witch Tower would not forgive their defiance.
And old enemies long buried were stirring once more.
The hunt had begun anew.
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