Through Miles of Clouded Hell
Part 5
* hi! Ok so i am working on getting this on AO3
Thank you all for your support and patience!!
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The king and his captain were deep into the mountains just west of the capital city when they decided to rest for the night. They had been riding since dawn and the moon was now well in the sky. Jurian tended to the horses while Lucien cleared the ground of debris and laid out their bedrolls. It was too dangerous to light a fire so far away from safety, so Lucien pressed his hands to the dirt and sent warmth flowing through.
“I can’t remember the last time you used your magic.” Jurian had settled their steeds, and now had his gaze focused on Lucien from where he was leaning against a near by tree that had long since died.
“Well, I figure we can’t risk a fire, it may spook the horses, and we’d have to worry about the light attracting danger, and the smoke, and a fire pit, and-“
“Lucien.” Jurian cut him off.
“You can talk to me. I know how hard it’s been for you.” Lucien didn’t meet his captain’s gaze, instead preparing himself to sleep for the few hours of moonlight that were left. “There’s nothing to talk about. It’s simple.” Lucien sat back on his knees.
“When i was a babe, my fire burned hotter than even Eris’s. My ancestors stole fire from the heavens, set the very oceans alight, and battled gods. Now, this curse has corroded my magic to where I can barely warm the earth I sleep on. I almost wish it had taken my body as it did my brothers.”
A long silence stretched between them. Jurian wordlessly went to his bedroll and dragged it right next to Lucien’s, before plopping down next to him.
“Lu, your magic doesn’t make you who you are. It never did. And losing it, having it stolen from you, isn’t a reflection of your worthiness. Sometimes bad things happen, And that’s just that. Not all suffering is noble, just as not all suffering is punishment. Your magic isn’t gone, just sleeping.”
Jurian swung his arm around Lucien.
“Besides, maybe your ancestors were pretty cool,” he touched his forehead to his kings.
“But they’re dead, aren’t they? And you’re here. Alive. It seems to me you’re doing pretty well for yourself in comparison.” Lucien closed his eyes before pulling away.
“You dumb brute, how do you always know what to say?” He meant it as a joke, to lighten the mood, but his voice came out thick. Jurian tugged gently on a strand of Ruby hair that had fallen from its braid.
“Because I’m older, smarter, and prettier than you, you know this Lucien. Now get some sleep, we’re crossing into the Ivory Forest tomorrow. Ill take first watch.”
And so the king hunkered down in his bedroll as the captain sat back against the tree and scanned for danger.
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Elain LifeBringer was awake. Not completely, but suddenly she was someplace else, unaware, and then she was here. Her mind reached for the mother, her ever present comfort.
Soon my child.
The king will awaken to save the forsaken.
The LifeBringer rises, will shed her disguises.
A choice will be made, to kill or to save.
The king and the goddess will rise from the grave.
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