2026-01-15 19:30:30Ashen tore through the night sky.
Wind screamed past his ears, cloak snapping violently behind him as the city shrank below. Fires still burned where he’d left them, small angry stars scattered across stone and slate.
He didn’t look back.
He couldn’t.
The pull inside him grew stronger with every heartbeat.
Lumi was waking.
Too soon.
Ashen bared his teeth and pushed harder, fire flaring beneath his feet as he cut through the darkness like a falling star.
The estate rose ahead.
Tall.
Silent.
Too close for comfort.
“Move,” he growled, more to himself than the world.
He angled sharply, diving.
The window came up fast.
Ashen smashed through it in a burst of glass and cold air and hit the floor hard, rolling once before slamming into the side of the bed.
He lay there for a second, chest heaving.
Then forced himself upright.
No time.
He climbed onto the bed and lay flat, staring at the ceiling as dawn’s first light began to creep through the broken window.
A controlled breath in.
Another out.
He loosened his grip.
Relinquished control.
The world lurched.
Ashen fell back into the dark.
—
Lumi woke with a groan.
His body ached.
Everywhere.
He rolled onto his side and immediately hissed, clutching his stomach.
“Ow,” he muttered. “Why does my stomach hurt?”
[Because you’re fragile.]
Lumi froze.
“…Ashen?”
[Good morning, weak human.]
Lumi sat up slowly, blinking.
The window was broken.
Glass littered the floor.
His bed was crooked.
“What happened?” he asked cautiously.
[Nothing.]
Lumi narrowed his eyes.
“Nothing?”
[Absolutely nothing.]
“You said that very fast.”
[And without being asked. A sign of innocence.]
“That’s not how that works.”
[It should.]
Lumi swung his legs off the bed, wincing as pain flared again. He pressed a hand to his stomach.
“You did something,” he said.
[No.]
“You’re doing the thing where you pretend not to know what I’m talking about.”
[Am I? Fascinating.]
Lumi crossed his arms.
“Ashen.”
A pause.
[You look tired.]
“What did you do?”
[Nothing. I’ve just been here inside your head all night.]
Lumi’s jaw tightened as he looked around.
“You went out last night.”
[Allegedly.]
“You’re terrible at lying.”
[Correction. I am excellent at lying. You are annoyingly perceptive.]
Lumi stared at the broken window and then at the estate. Smoke rose into the sky from the buildings.
“…Were you the one who caused these fires?”
[Those could have been anyone.]
“Ashen.”
[Fine.]
The word came too easily.
Lumi turned sharply.
“Fine?”
[I may have taken your body for a short recreational outing.]
“Recreational—”
[Very short.]
“You attacked people.”
[They attacked me so I did the same. He didn’t even bleed much. Disappointing.]
“You injured someone?!”
[They were hunters.]
“So?”
[So they had it coming.]
“Which hunter exactly did you injure?” Lumi asked with an exasperated sigh.
[I fought two. One had lazy eyes, a glowing mark on his forearm and he used two daggers]
“Corvin,” Lumi said.
[And the other one looked a bit like him. Just taller and stronger. That Corvin guy was weak like hell. He couldn’t even land a hit.]
“Corvin is not weak.”
The words burst out of him before he could stop them.
Ashen went quiet.
[Corvin?]
“Yes,” Lumi snapped. “He took on a demon alone and won.”
[Then that must have been one hell of a weak demon.]
Lumi stared at the wall, breathing hard.
“That’s not funny.”
[Demons on this world are soft. You hunters need to face a few demons like me to become stronger.]
“You’re saying that like it excuses what you did.”
[It explains it.]
“It doesn’t.”
[Agree to disagree.]
Lumi dragged a hand through his hair.
“I’m not doing this,” he said. “I still have punishment. And I’m late.”
[You’re above punishment.]
“I’m not.”
[You are bound to me. You don’t have to serve punishments.]
“I’m still a servant.”
Ashen scoffed.
[I am the son of a king.]
Lumi paused at the door. “Happy for you but this is a servant’s body that you’re in so we’re both servants now.”
[So I’m bound to a servant.]
He opened it.
[Can my existence get any worse?]
Lumi stepped into the hallway.
“It’s about to,” he replied flatly. “Because I’m spending the next three hours cleaning an endless supply of books.”
[Just burn the books. You don’t have to clean books if there are no books to clean after all.]
“Do you have solutions to problems that don't involve fire?”
[They could involve lava too.]
Lumi wanted to reply but cut himself off when he saw other servants approaching.
They smiled.
Waved.
When they were behind him, their voices dropped.
“…he’s talking to himself now?”
“I always knew he was crazy.”
”That must be why he was sent away.”
“Poor thing’s lost it…”
Lumi sighed.
[Want me to burn them next?]
“No!” he hissed.
[Just checking.]
They walked in silence for a few steps.
[So. Your father sent you away too?]
Lumi’s chest tightened.
“Yes.”
[That’s sad.]
Lumi didn’t reply.
[I’m sure what he did deserves fire. Allow me to burn him next.]
“You’re not strong enough to beat my father.”
The words slipped out.
Ashen exploded.
[Not strong enough?]
Heat flared.
[I could tear through ten hunters and walk away.]
Lumi ignored him and pushed open the library doors.
Dust.
Shelves.
Endless rows of books.
He grabbed a cloth and started cleaning.
Ashen complained.
About the books.
About the dust.
About the lighting.
About the concept of punishment.
After a while, Lumi’s arms burned.
He stopped.
Decided to take a short walk down the hallways as he relaxed his arms.
The air was cool outside.
He rounded the corner—
And froze.
Hunters approached.
Scott limped at the front.
Others passed without a glance.
Scott didn’t look at him as he limped past.
Neither did Corvin.
But as Corvin drew level—
His gaze dropped downwards.
Just for a second.
To Lumi’s trousers.
Torn.
His eyes sharpened but he didn’t stop walking, the patriarch had sent for them.
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74
Lumi stopped at the final stair.For a moment, he thought he was mistaken.His father stood within the outer ring of the formation, coat immaculate as ever, hands clasped behind his back as if he were observing a board meeting rather than standing at the edge of something deeply forbidden.Opposite him stood the Blackwell patriarch, sleeves rolled to the wrist, fingers marked in ink and blood.The air above the circle rippled.Not opening.Not yet.But thinning.“Dad?”His voice sounded too loud in the underground chamber.Both men turned.The Blackwell patriarch’s expression did not shift. No panic. No guilt.Only calculation.“You were not invited,” he said mildly.Lumi’s gaze snapped to his father. “What is this?”The Calder patriarch regarded him the way one might regard an unexpected complication in an otherwise elegant equation.“We are correcting a flaw,” he said.“In what?”“In the structure of power.”The runes brightened as if punctuating the statement. Lumi stared closely a
73
“What? Your father? As in also a demon?” Lumi blinked. [What? You think I was given birth to by a raccoon? Of course a demon gave birth to me.]“What do you want me to do? Last time I tried meddling with demon magic, I ended up binding one to myself,” Lumi reminded.[You must go beneath the arena.]Before Lumi could respond, Scott’s staff sliced through the air toward Lumi’s shoulder. Lumi twisted aside, boots skidding across stone.“You’ve picked a brilliant time for instructions,” Lumi muttered under his breath as he ducked another strike.[Listen to me.]Scott pressed forward.A thrust.A spin.A sweep aimed at Lumi’s legs.Lumi vaulted over it, flipping cleanly before landing in a crouch.[Whatever they are doing below us must be stopped. They’re toying with what they don’t understand. If my father crosses over the same way I did—]Scott lunged again.“There’s no time for riddles,” Lumi snapped internally, blocking a downward strike that jarred his arms. “Explain so I’ll know wha
72
The engine cut.Silence settled around the car like a held breath.Calder estate rose ahead of them—stone pale against the afternoon sky, banners snapping in disciplined rows, sigils glowing faintly along the outer walls.Aidan was the first to step out.“Bit dramatic, isn’t it?” he muttered, shutting the door with a soft thud. “They couldn’t wait an extra hour?”Nevan rounded the bonnet, adjusting the cuffs of his coat. “It’s the Calders. They don’t wait. Very impatient family.”Cleodora stepped out last.She smoothed her sleeve.Said nothing.The gravel crunched beneath their boots as they approached the gates. Guards gave them curt nods and allowed them through without delay.Inside, the estate felt… alive.Too alive.The air vibrated faintly with gathered power.Nevan frowned. “Why does it feel like we’re late to something?”A horn sounded.Deep.Resonant.The sound rolled across the grounds and into their bones.They exchanged a look.Then quickened their pace.---They entered t
71
The morning air was sharp with frost when the two patriarchs stepped out onto the upper terrace overlooking the Calder arena grounds.Below them, banners snapped in the wind.Servants moved in careful lines, adjusting sigils etched into stone, polishing railings, preparing for the spectacle.The Concord Trials.Tradition dressed as honour.Power disguised as sport.The Calder patriarch adjusted the cuffs of his coat, gaze sweeping the estate with quiet satisfaction. Beside him, the Blackwell patriarch stood with his hands clasped neatly behind his back, expression composed, unreadable.Footsteps approached.Measured.Respectful.A young aide stopped several paces away and bowed deeply.“My lords.”Neither man looked at him immediately.Only when the Calder patriarch gave a small nod did the aide straighten enough to speak.“There has been… an unexpected development.”The Blackwell patriarch’s eyes shifted.“Speak.”“Scott Blackwell has just arrived at the entrance.”Silence followed.
70
Lumi had been walking the corridors for nearly half an hour when he felt it.A shift.Not loud.Not dramatic.Just a ripple in the air near the main entrance, like a new presence stepping across an invisible line.He turned instinctively.Through the tall arched windows lining the corridor, he could see the front courtyard below. Cars parked outside in a neat row. Hunters in formal attire moved in measured clusters, their crests pinned to lapels, their sigils faintly shimmering in anticipation of the trials.And there—At the gates.A familiar silhouette.Dark coat.Still posture.Shadows pooling faintly at his heels.Scott Blackwell.Lumi stilled.For a brief second, he simply watched.The Blackwell patriarch was nowhere in sight.No entourage.No formal procession.Just Scott, standing at the entrance as if he had arrived alone by accident.Was he their only representative or did they send him ahead to check out the competition first?Lumi descended the staircase without quite reali
69
Lumi woke to the sound of movement.Not voices, not shouting—just the low, constant shuffle of a house being rearranged. Fabric dragged across stone. Footsteps pacing and repacing. Metal clinking faintly, then stopping, then starting again.For a moment, he stayed where he was.The ceiling above him was unfamiliar in a way that still unsettled him. Calder ceilings were high, arched, ribbed with dark beams that looked more like cathedral bones than architecture. Even the light that filtered through the curtains felt heavier here, weighted with age and expectation.He swung his legs out of bed and dressed carefully.The clothes laid out for him were formal. Dark. Trimmed with the Calder sigil in thread so fine it was almost easy to miss. He hesitated before fastening the last clasp, fingers lingering there as if the fabric might bite back.When he stepped into the corridor, the estate was already awake.Servants moved briskly, arms full. Banners were being carried down from storage, the
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