Morning fell upon the capital with a pale, almost sickly light.
While Lusian walked streets wrapped in whispers of fear, far from him two heroines fought a different kind of war—silent and cruel.
Light and strength.The favored daughters of the Light.
Once celebrated by all…Now watched.
The Temple of the Dawn rose like a white beacon, immaculate. A fortress of faith that hid blades behind sweet incense. Light pierced through stained glass like spearpoints, judging everything it touched.
Emily drew a deep breath before crossing the threshold.Kara entered behind her, hand resting on her spear, as if even the purity of the air might turn against them.
Priests, nuns, and devout nobles lined the sides, their eyes filled with reverence… and suspicion.
High Priestess Elyra stepped forward with a gentle smile. Her movements glided over the marble, pristine, untouchable.
"Blessed daughters of the Dawn," she said, her tone maternal, though a hidden edge lay beneath it. "The goddesses have granted you a vision… and a duty."
Emily felt a faint tremor run down her spine.Kara frowned.
"An omen walks the earth," Elyra continued. "A shadow close to you."
A pause. A silence the faithful filled with fear.
"Lusian?" Emily whispered, as if the name itself burned her lips.
The murmur turned into invisible blades.
"Duke Douglas," the priestess corrected, as though his identity were already sealed. "Where he appears, nature twists. Beasts mutate. The dead multiply."
A young priest, fervor blazing in his eyes, stepped forward.
"You have seen it yourselves. Wherever he walks, something breaks. It is no coincidence. It is destiny."
Kara clenched her teeth.
"Lusian has saved more lives than you can count," she growled. "If there have been tragedies, he was the one who held them back."
That drew a wave of outraged hisses.Emily kept her gaze fixed on the ground.
She had seen what he became when anger took him—how he wielded his sword against his enemies without hesitation.That unstoppable force.That shadow in his eyes.
The temple had sensed it within her heart.
Elyra stepped closer, extending a hand as if offering comfort.
"My child… can you not feel it?" Her voice was honey… and poison. "The Light rejects him. He does not belong to this world."
Emily swallowed hard.She feared the way Lusian cut down his enemies… without mercy.And what might happen if one day he lost control.
The faithful fell to their knees.
"Purify the world.""Protect the kingdom.""The Light has chosen you."
Prayers.Or chains.
Elyra raised her voice, illuminated by a ray of light that made her seem almost divine.
"If you do not act, no one will be able to stop the calamity."
Emily felt as though the ground vanished beneath her feet.
Kara gripped her arm.A firm gesture.Human.
"Don't let them fill your head with pretty words," the warrior murmured.
The priestess only smiled—sharper than any blade.
When they stepped out of the temple, the crowd erupted into applause. Flowers scattered at their feet. Devoted smiles. Manufactured hope.
Emily felt sick.Kara spat on the ground.
Duty called them.Faith pressed upon them.The whole world pointed at them…
But their hearts screamed a deeper truth:
It was not the goddesses who demanded blood.It was men.Fear.Manipulation.
Soon, they would have to choose.
Save the man they loved, who had bled beside them…Or abandon him and let the world sacrifice him to prevent a possible evil.
And Emily knew, as the weight of an invisible blade closed around her throat…
That whatever choice she made, it would brand her a traitor.