Everyone turned to Lucian.
Place went silent. His slowly gaze swept the room. No one said a word. If he feared for Halcyon, they needed to understand the truth... not just about her condition, but about him.
And the curse... it was no small matter. It made him worried.
The curse inside Halcyon wasn't just painful now he knew… It's fatal. A normal human, blessed with longevity, might live up to a hundred years. A magic-wielder like them could push two centuries. But the curse drained that time.
It targeted the essence of her life energy, accelerating cellular decay, weakening her mind ans body.
Specifically, humans were fragile by nature… susceptible to aging, disease, organ failure, suffocation. All things that could cut their lives short. Magic couldn't cure death. It only pressed pause.
I know I won't die easily… being immortal means I'll outlive humans by centuries. But living like one… not drinking blood… it's made me weak. Even my healing's slowed. My body's covered in cuts.
All these years. Lucian been alive he learned that vampires stop aging once they reach adulthood about fifty years, which he wasn't close to yet. Still, he is immune to all conventional illnesses, diseases, viruses, and infections.
Although, he never once celebrated his birthday, after his awakenings. Even through the powers he wielded, he felt the sting of vulnerability.
"I used up the last blood and energy in my body... to save Sunny." His voice low and weary.
Asher stepped forward, frowning. The man before him looked drained, a shadow of the formidable teacher he once knew.
"What do you mean? Shouldn't drinking blood restore your strength?"
Halcyon clutched Asher's hand. "Asher, your master refuses to drink blood now. He said something changes in him if he does… and it's not something he wants to risk."
"He said it becomes harder to control the hunger… the urges. It's like the more he drinks, the less human he feels."
"That doesn't make sense…" Asher muttered, confused.
It's well-known that a vampire's sustenance comes from blood… human or vampire. Since they can't draw any nourishment from normal food, they've developed a dark culinary art of blood-based dishes. Yet, according to legend, there are some among them for whom even the richest human blood brings no satisfaction.
He once saw Lucian drink blood… and the sight haunted him for weeks.
Did abandoning blood truly make Lucian more human… or had it only made him weaker, less capable of protecting those he cared about?
"I need to go," Lucian said, his voice sounded resolute. "I have to regain some strength. You two will search for the relic on your own."
Halcyon's eyes widened as she sat up, fingers tightening in her bedsheets. "What?! But… what about the Crimson Sanctum? I'm sure there already coming. When they arrive, they wont care about the people and destroy this place."
"What… Are they here?" Asher asked, a faint smile forming.
Lucian turned and pulled clothing from his wardrobe. "Don't worry. I'll return before they make their move. Asher's had enough time alone to handle a platoon. Once I receive my power, I'll be ready."
Minutes later, he approached Halcyon. He eyes were red, ready to cry…
Lucian gently brushed her cheek. "Noct… Please stay safe. After all… this is my fault."
"You walk away now, but I know better. No matter how far you go... something of you always lingers. And when the time is right, you'll find your way back. You always do." She softly seriously.
Lucian rubbed her heard. "Some people pass through your life like a breeze... easy to forget. Interupt us, even when everything else fades. I don't think I ever stood a chance of leaving you behind, not really."
They both never openly spoke to each other like that in year nor in those words, so it hit hard for both... That she cried more.
She often cries when she's overwhelmed, but never in front of strangers… As Halcyon released Lucian moved toward the door. He heard Asher's voice called after him.
"Be careful, Teacher."
Lucian paused, glancing back one last time. He saw Halcyon's eyes shimmering again.
"I will. Just take care of Sunny."
Asher nodded deeply, placing his hand on her shoulder. "…Hmm."
Together, Halcyon and Asher watched Lucian disappear through the door. Her chest felt hollow, like something essential had left her body. She finally meet back, after all this time apart… he was leaving again.
Nuct… just make it back. If you don't go through with this… there won't be a world where we're still together.
Not easily showed, but it had to hurt more the curse on her body or than the ache of watching Lucian walk away again.
Lucian wandered through the Ebonhaven, stopping in an old craftsman's shop.
He needed a coffin.
Years, had passed since he last used one. Sleeping in beds had become his new normal. But where he was going, he'd need it again. It even will take a couple days.
And, ordinary coffins often had sigils… symbols of protection, identity, and secrecy.
…
Days later…
A Bright sunlight filtered through trees, onto dusty roads... A creaky cart rolled down the road, its wheels groaning beneath the weight of crates and goods inside.
Hidden beneath burlap and sacks of grain laid a coffin… scratched, plain. Inside, Lucian rested… neither asleep nor awake.
His brows arched, as his senses awoke him, to the sound of voices carried by the breeze…
Outside controlling the brown and black horse's attached to the cart. A old grey beard man.
He said in a gruff voice. "Brian. You hear what happened near East Gate?" Brushed his beard. "Another attack. That's the third one this week."
A young amber skin, black hair man, replied. "Yeah…" Brian shook his head.. "Real bloody mess. Tore through the patrol like it was butter. Jackie swore he saw one… glowing eyes, teeth like blades. Not natural beast."
Lucian's eyes snapped opened, his brows furrowed.
Werewolves? I don't remember them being here the last time I came.
"They're callin em the Moongrave Pack now," The old man said. "Used to keep to the forest outskirts. But now… they're bold. Real bold."
"Uncle Keith. What changed?" Brian asked. "Why now?"
"Dunno. Some say a new alpha leads them. Others… something worse. Something not even a wolf."
Lucian remained still. He ear perked up.
Moongrave Pack… That name didn't exist in his time. The name meant nothing to him.
The city had been plagued by shadows when he left. But this… this was new. He wasn't fully known as their current alpha remains unnamed...
If the Moongrave Pack didn't exist five years ago, what dark force had awakened in Lucian's absence?
A while later…
The cart creaked, until they neared a towering burgundy logged walls around a city. Before it had, multiple merchants, travelers, and vagrants before the gates. Guards stood watch atop the timber walls… their sharp eyes caught everything.
Brian adjusted the reins of the horses, his muscles tense beneath his coarse shirt, as he glanced at the coffin. "…Hey, did you ever check what was in that?"
"Nah. No name. Wasn't addressed to anyone. Just a dusty seal. Even gave me the chills, just looking at it"
Brian once tried to open a sealed coffin. He got violently ill for three days.
"Yeah. Weird. Could be a noble's dead uncle… or something worse." Brian shivered then looked away.
"…Let's leave it outside, the walls. Let the dayguard handle it."
"Agreed. I ain't getting cursed or eaten."
Lucian smirked faintly. He felt there were a bit coward, there also cautious one, after all the experienced from years of delivery.
Legends is that sealed coffin without inscription is either cursed or outlawed… left untouched out of superstition.
Once the cart rumbled away, his finger flexed, he pushed open the lid. Sunlight spilled over his body when ir should burn… it didn't.
Most vampires without exception had weakness against daylight. But Lucian… Lucian was different. One of the rare few with resistance.
He climbed out, stretched, then approached the city gate. A crowd surged forward... dust rising from footsteps. Ragged men, hollow-eyed women, and wide-eyed children shuffled in, their faces filled with exhaustion and fear. A merchant dragged a broken cart behind him, muttering prayers. A little girl clutched a headless doll, her mother's grip tight around her wrist.
Soldiers stood stiff at the entrance, eyes sharp behind scratched helmets. Cloaked figures moved through the crowd.
Paying ten gold coins, Lucian remembered it used to be five. He didn't care. He paid without flinching.
The economy tanked so badly that gate taxed tripled over three years.
Inside, he looked around to see it was different than he remembered, a ghost of its former self.
Cherry City… once known for its beauty, tourism, and vibrant life… was now cracked and weary. Buildings stood half-rotten, storefronts abandoned, either from not able to afford or ran out. Decay had crept in like a slow sickness.
Lucian gazed toward the hill in the distance.
"I return to Cherry Hill… the place I swore never to see again unless absolutely necessary…"
"Or unless I went there… with Cassie."
A smiled almost formed, it snapped into frown. "It's been five years. Maybe it's time I paid her a visit."
Once had a recurring dream of Cassie by a lake… he hasn't dreamed since leaving.
What would Cassie see in him now… a savior, or a walking corpse that once held promise?