Ashes and Oaths

Chapter 66: Love is a Weapon

Luz’s armoured hands clenched into firsts at his sides, the hidden white ribbon his his wrist feeling like a brand against his skin. “I could enter. But once inside, I would be vulnerable. My strength comes from darkness.” he admitted reluctantly, his amber eye flickering with vulnerability. “Take the girl with you,” Mestre Escuro said. “She seems to bring out the best in you.” Luz’s amber gaze snapped back to Meste Escuro, his expression shifting from contemplation to sharp disbelief. The suggestion of bringing Amelia along– of exposing her to the dangers of this mission– sent a jolt of protective instinct through him. “Take her?” he repeated sharply, his voice losing its measured command. “Are you insane? That island sounds dangerous.”

Luz’s black gauntleted hand clenched into fists at his sides. The hidden white ribbon on his wrist felt like a physical weight against his skin as images of Amelia’s face flashed through his mind– innocent, vulnerable, the very opposite of the dark paths he was being forced down. “You want me to drag a civilian into a battle against Santo’s knights and whatever traps that temple holds?” there was a moment of silence before Mestre Escuro said, “Yes. The more you deny your feeling for her, the stronger that darkness grows. Taking her with you will increase the purity within you. And you might have some fun for once.” Luz’s amber eyes flashed with a mix of frustration and reluctant consideration.

The idea of bringing Amelia into danger was repugnant, but the suggestion that her presence might actually help Luz fight the darkness withing him was unsettlingly appealing. “You think this is some king of magical cure?” he asked sharply, his voice carrying the edge of someone who had spent years fighting against emotional vulnerability. “That just being near her will somehow purify me?” his black gauntleted hands flexed against the hilt of his sword, fingers brushing against the frayed white ribbon hidden beneath. he weighed the risks– both to Amelia and to his own carefully constructed façade. “She is not a weapon,” he said firmly, though his tone lacked its usual conviction.

“Love is a weapon,” Mestre Escuro said knowingly. Lady Escuridade came forward and handed Mestre Escuro a vile of red liquid. “I will sweeten the deal. You bring me Estrela Astuta and pour this into the fountain in the centre of the ruins, and I will rid you of that darkness I forced upon you.” He offered Luz the vile. Luz’s amber eyes locked onto the vial in his hand, his expression shifting from defiance to sharp calculation. The promise of freedom from the darkness within him– the thing that had consumed him for years– was a temptation he had allowed himself to entertain. “Ride me of this darkness?” he repeated, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. “You are offering me a cure, but at what cost? What is in that vial?”

Luz’s black gauntleted hand reached out hesitantly, hingers brushing against the hidden white ribbon in his wrist as if seeking guidance from the past. “Does it matter?” Lady Escuridade asked. “You could be free. Run off with Amelia… build a house, start a family…” Luz’s amber gaze darted between Meste Escuro and Lady Escuridade, the weight of their words settling heavily upon him. The mention of freedom– of a life beyond war and corruption– sent a jolt through his system, stirring memories he had long buried. “Freedom,” he repeated quietly, the word feeling foreign on his tongue. “A house. A family.” His black gauntleted hand unconsciously mover to touch the hidden white ribbon on his wrist, as if grounding himself in the reality of such impossible dreams.

“You are offering me everything I lost,” Luz said sharply, his voice cracking slightly with emotion as he imagined Amelia’s face– not as the village girl he once knew, but as the woman who had stared him down even when everyone else had fled. “If you do this, you will be offering us the same. We could all build a life for ourselves without being hunted and enslaved. Without being hated…” Mestre said and Luz’s amber eyes widened slightly. The implication of a world where neither side was hunted or hated– that both Corrompido and Santo knights could coexist without bloodshed– was a concept so foreign it bordered on surreal. “All of us?” he asked sharply his voice carrying a note of disbelief. “You are talking about dismantling everything– the Santo’s order, your own army– just to let us live in peace?”

“This is not about vengeance anymore,” Luz continued, pacing along the shattered marble floor. “Vengeance was how it started,” Mestre Escuro said and pulled Lady Escuridade closer. “Until I met her…” his simple, possessive gesture of pulling Lady Escuridade closed by her waist, carried a weight that made Luz’s crimson eyes narrow. He watched the powerful witch lean into Mestre Escuro’s touch, her own gaze steady and knowing as she looked at him. “Until you me her,” he repeated, his voice dropping to a dangerous murmur. “So, this whole war– this destruction, these deaths– it all started with your thirst for vengeance and ended with a pretty face?” Mestre Escuro grinded hi teeth at Luz’s words but kept quiet as he continued.

“And what about me?” Luz voice was low, dangerous. “I walked across a battlefield and let some parasitic spirit bond with my soul to save thousands. I have spent six years burning villages and shattering armies while the man who made that bargain sits here with his pretty witch and offers me freedom.” His amber eyes burned with a mixture of bitterness and desperation, a flicker of crimson growing brighter in his eyes as emotions threatened to shatter his carefully constructed mask. The black gauntlet on his right hand clenched so tightly that the metal groaned. “You want me to believe this is not just another trap?” he continued, taking a step forward. “That you will actually let me walk away with Amelia and start over? Corrompido do not give up their toys that easily.”