Chapter 7: The Emperor's Return
1377 Words
The first light of dawn spread across the ruins of Ashford Village.
Smoke drifted into the pale sky, carrying the bitter scent of burnt wood and loss. The cheerful homes that had once echoed with laughter were now nothing more than blackened skeletons.
Elara knelt beside Grandma Mira's body, unable to move.
Everything felt unreal.
Just yesterday, she had been a simple village healer.
Now her home was gone.
Her grandmother was dead.
And strangers from the shadows wanted her alive for reasons she couldn't understand.
The moonstone pendant rested against her chest, its faint silver glow hidden beneath her dress.
Rowan gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Elara..."
She looked up with red, swollen eyes.
"We should bury her."
A tear slid down her cheek.
"I never even got to say goodbye."
"You did," Rowan said softly. "She heard every word."
Elara lowered her head.
Together, the surviving villagers gathered in the small cemetery behind the village.
No grand ceremony.
No priest.
Only grief.
As Grandma Mira's body was lowered into the earth, Elara placed a handful of white wildflowers on the fresh grave.
"I promise," she whispered.
"I'll protect the pendant."
"And I'll find the truth."
The morning breeze carried her words away.
---
Hundreds of miles away, a black stallion raced through the Imperial Highway like a storm.
Its rider wore a dark traveling cloak, but no disguise could hide the commanding aura surrounding him.
Cassian.
His silver eyes were fixed on the distant horizon.
Suddenly—
A sharp pain exploded through the mate mark on his wrist.
He pulled the horse to a halt.
The silver mark blazed with light.
His wolf growled violently inside him.
She's in danger.
Cassian's heart clenched.
Elara.
Without another thought, he turned his horse.
"Faster!"
The stallion surged forward with impossible speed.
Behind him, nearly fifty Imperial Knights followed.
Commander Magnus rode beside him.
"Your Majesty!"
Cassian didn't slow.
"They've found her."
Magnus frowned.
"The assassins?"
"They attacked."
"We're still hours away."
Cassian's eyes flashed silver.
"Then we'll ride faster."
The knights exchanged worried glances.
No ordinary horse could survive the pace the Emperor demanded.
But none dared question him.
---
Meanwhile...
On the outskirts of Ashford Village...
The surviving attackers regrouped in the forest.
Their leader held a crimson communication crystal.
"The pendant has awakened."
A cold voice echoed from the crystal.
"And the girl?"
"Alive."
"Unacceptable."
"We were forced to retreat."
Silence followed.
Then—
"Reinforcements are on their way."
"Do not allow the Emperor's mate to escape."
The leader frowned.
"So... it truly is her?"
"The prophecy has begun."
The crystal went dark.
Within minutes, dozens of additional masked warriors emerged from the trees.
Far more than before.
Their leader drew his sword.
"This time..."
"We leave with the girl."
---
Back in the village...
The funeral had barely ended when Rowan stiffened.
He turned toward the forest.
"Do you hear that?"
Elara listened.
At first...
Nothing.
Then—
Crunch.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Heavy footsteps.
Not one person.
Many.
Too many.
Villagers looked around nervously.
"They're back..."
A child began crying.
The tree line suddenly exploded with movement.
More than fifty masked warriors poured from the forest, surrounding the ruined village.
Their leader stepped forward.
"You've wasted enough of our time."
He pointed directly at Elara.
"Surrender."
"And no one else dies."
Rowan immediately moved in front of her.
"You'll have to kill me first."
The leader smiled beneath his mask.
"Gladly."
He raised his sword.
"Attack!"
The warriors charged.
Steel clashed.
Rowan fought with everything he had.
He ducked beneath one blade and struck another attacker across the chest.
But there were too many.
A sword sliced across his shoulder.
Another struck his leg.
He staggered.
Still...
He refused to fall.
"Run!" he shouted at Elara.
"I'll hold them!"
"No!" she cried.
A masked warrior rushed toward her.
She grabbed a fallen spear and barely blocked his strike.
The force knocked her to the ground.
Another attacker seized her arm.
"It's over."
The pendant beneath her clothes began glowing.
But before it could react—
A deafening wolf's howl echoed across the valley.
AWWOOOOOO!
Everyone froze.
The sound carried unimaginable power.
The horses panicked.
Even the masked warriors instinctively stepped back.
"What was that?" one whispered.
The ground began to tremble.
Hoofbeats thundered through the forest.
Then...
A black stallion burst from the trees.
Upon its back rode a man cloaked in black.
His silver eyes burned like moonlight.
Cassian.
He leaped from the saddle before it had fully stopped.
His sword flashed.
SHING!
The warrior holding Elara lost his weapon before he even realized what had happened.
Another charged.
Cassian moved like lightning.
One strike.
The attacker collapsed.
A third.
A fourth.
A fifth.
Within seconds, five warriors lay unconscious around him.
The remaining attackers stared in horror.
"Impossible..."
"One man..."
Cassian stepped in front of Elara.
His voice was cold enough to freeze the air.
"No one touches her."
The leader growled.
"Kill him!"
Twenty warriors attacked together.
Cassian didn't retreat.
Silver energy exploded from his body.
The air itself seemed to howl.
His sword became a blur.
Every movement was precise.
Every strike ended another battle.
The villagers watched in stunned silence.
It wasn't a fight.
It was a m******e.
Within moments, the attackers lay scattered across the ruined village.
The surviving warriors dropped their weapons.
Fear filled their eyes.
One man slowly fell to his knees.
His hands trembled as he lowered his head.
"Forgive us..."
"...Your Majesty."
The words echoed across the silent battlefield.
Every villager gasped.
Elara's eyes widened.
She slowly turned to the man who had called himself only Cassian.
The mysterious stranger she had rescued...
The man who carried himself like a king...
The man who had called her his mate...
Was the Emperor of the Lunar Empire.
Cassian closed his eyes briefly.
The secret he had desperately tried to protect...
Had finally been revealed.
- Writer
