The Devouring Knight

Lumberling woke in the middle of the night with Vaenyra sleeping peacefully in his arms. It was her turn tonight.

At this point, he was starting to wonder if she and Aurelya had secretly made an agreement, taking turns visiting his room on different nights.

’Well, I certainly don’t mind if they both come.’

He chuckled quietly as Vaenyra moved closer, resting comfortably against him.

A moment later, Lumberling turned his gaze toward the window. Something had caught his attention outside. He looked down at Vaenyra and gently whispered near her ear, "I’m going out for a while. I’ll be back soon."

Vaenyra slowly opened her emerald eyes. Still half asleep, she looked at him for a moment before murmuring, "Come back quickly."

Lumberling smiled and kissed her cheek. "I will."

He carefully got out of bed and straightened his clothes before opening the window. With a light jump, he landed quietly on the ground below, then leaped toward the roof without making much noise.

Under the pale moonlight, he soon noticed a familiar figure sitting on the roof a short distance away.

A beautiful woman with long green hair sat quietly, her emerald eyes gazing up above.

"Thessalia," Lumberling called as he walked over and sat beside her. "What are you doing up here?"

Thessalia glanced at him from the corner of her eyes, a faint smirk appearing on her lips. "Hearing you make love."

Lumberling wasn’t embarrassed in the slightest. Instead, he smiled and leaned back comfortably. "Then I suppose you got a free show. I wouldn’t mind you watching us."

Lumberling chuckled. He slowly wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. Thessalia did not resist. She simply kept looking away, though the tips of her pointed ears had already turned slightly red.

For a while, neither of them said anything. They simply stayed there, quietly enjoying each other’s warmth as the night breeze passed over the rooftops.

The city was peaceful beneath them, with only the soft sound of the wind filling the silence.

"The moon is beautiful tonight, isn’t it?" Thessalia suddenly whispered.

Lumberling glanced at her, a small smile forming on his face. "What’s this? Do you have something you want to say?"

Thessalia looked at him with her clear green eyes. "Is it strange?"

"Strange?" He shook his head with a chuckle. "No. It’s cute."

Thessalia let out a small sigh, but a smile slowly appeared on her face. "I thought you would like it."

"I do."

She stared at him for a moment before suddenly wrapping her arms around his neck, their eyes meeting in the quiet of the night

"So..." she whispered, her voice carrying a hint of teasing. "Aren’t you going to kiss me?"

Lumberling raised an eyebrow before a smile appeared on his face. His other hand moved to her waist, gently pulling her closer until their bodies touched. He then lifted her chin with one hand, giving her a quiet look.

Thessalia slowly closed her eyes.

Lumberling leaned closer, and for the first time, their lips met.

Her lips were soft and gentle, carrying a faint sweetness that he could taste as they kissed, while her natural fragrance filled his senses, reminding him of fresh flowers.

After a moment, they slowly separated.

Lumberling looked at her beautiful face, now touched by a faint blush under the pale moonlight. Thessalia opened her eyes and met his gaze, her usual calm expression nowhere to be seen.

Before he could say anything, she leaned forward again.

This time, Thessalia was the one who closed the distance between them, no longer trying to hide how much she wanted to stay by his side beneath the quiet night sky.

.....

A few days later, Lumberling and his lovers were in one of the private training rooms, going through their usual training.

The room was quiet until a dark shadow suddenly moved across the floor and rushed toward them.

Vaenyra’s eyes narrowed. A sword made of wind instantly formed in her hand as she swung it toward the approaching shadow.

"Stop! Stop! It’s me!" The shadow suddenly stopped, and Skitz appeared with both hands raised.

Vaenyra froze, and everyone turned toward him.

"My Lord, help me!"

The wind sword in Vaenyra’s hand disappeared as she looked at Skitz with a cold expression.

Skitz let out a long breath of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead. ’Scary... How did she detect me so easily?’

He quickly shook off the thought and reached into his clothes, pulling out a sealed letter. "My Lord, I have a letter for you."

"From whom?"

"Lucian Arden."

Lumberling’s expression became serious when he heard the name. He took the letter from Skitz and broke the seal, quickly reading through its contents.

"So?" Skitz asked. "What does it say?"

Lumberling lowered the letter slightly. "It’s completely different from what we expected."

"What do you mean?" Liraeth asked.

"They’re asking for our assistance instead."

"What?" Aurelya’s eyes widened. "Why would they ask us for help?"

"They’re gathering an alliance. The Church and House Arden are bringing their forces together to deal with Hroldir the Dreadwake and his ten Chosen."

Liraeth’s expression turned serious, while Thessalia crossed her arms and frowned.

Aurelya quickly asked, "What about the Emperor? Is he joining them?"

"It says here that the Empire’s sword, the Iron Legions, will join House Arden’s forces. They will be leading the charge together."

What?" Aurelya immediately shook her head. "No. Absolutely not."

She stepped closer to Lumberling and pointed at the letter. "Don’t join them. Don’t even send a reply yet. We should start planning our escape now."

Lumberling raised an eyebrow. "Escape? Why do you say that? We may not know the full strength of the Iron Legions or House Arden, but I doubt they can be defeated easily. And with the Church joining them, their side should be even stronger."

"You don’t understand, Lumberling," Aurelya insisted.

Before she could say more, Vaenyra raised a hand. "Let me explain what Aurelya means."

She looked at Lumberling with a serious expression.

"Hroldir is far stronger than you think. Even someone who has reached Knight Five may not be enough to stop him. Unless the Emperor or someone at his level steps in, I don’t think the others have much of a chance."

Lumberling and Skitz frowned.

"Is it really that bad?" Liraeth asked.

Thessalia nodded. "Hroldir isn’t called the King of the Northern Sea for nothing. He is one of the Four Kings of the Sea, but his strength is far beyond what most people expect."

She paused for a moment before continuing. "We have seen him fight our Archmage before. He was able to fight him head-on without being pushed back. Pirates have always been the enemies of mages, so we’ve had plenty of chances to learn just how dangerous he is."

Skitz clicked his tongue. "Then what the hell is the Emperor doing? Why doesn’t he just step in and deal with him? Is he afraid or something?"

Lumberling remained silent as he looked down at the letter in his hand.

’Are they really going to lose?’ His eyes narrowed slightly. ’But they have Lucian, the fated hero, on their side. Should I start trusting this luck thing too?’

Skitz looked at him. "My Lord, what should we do?"

Lumberling folded the letter and slowly looked at everyone around him. "We’ll join the battle."

"Huh? Didn’t you hear what we just said?" Aurelya asked, staring at him in disbelief.

"I did. We won’t fight Hroldir directly. We’ll target his forces instead. If we get the chance, we might even deal with one of his Ten Chosen."

"The risk is too high," Thessalia shook her head. "We won’t know where Hroldir is during the battle. What if we suddenly run into him?"

"No risk, no reward," Lumberling replied with a small smile. "Besides, you all know we grow stronger much faster when we’re fighting. And I’m not planning to throw our lives away either, so trust me. We won’t encounter Hroldir."

Vaenyra tilted her head slightly. "How can you be so sure?"

"Because we’ll be joining Lucian’s forces."

Aurelya frowned. "And how does that change anything?"

"It changes everything."

Lumberling looked at her calmly. "If meeting Hroldir means certain death, then we’ll simply make sure we don’t meet him. We’ll stay with Lucian’s forces and fight alongside them."

Aurelya stared at him for a moment before shaking her head. "That’s what you said before. How does joining Lucian solve the problem?"

"Do you believe in luck?"

The question made everyone pause, but Liraeth immediately looked at Lumberling.

"As an oracle, I have a skill that allows me to see a person’s luck. I believe you have the same skill as well," He said, looking at her.

"I do," Liraeth replied with a small nod.

"Lucian is someone blessed with an absurd amount of luck, to the point that it’s almost impossible to kill him," Lumberling explained, trying to find a way to describe the concept of plot armor to them.

"What? That’s ridiculous."

"It’s not," Liraeth said quietly turning toward Aurelya, her expression serious.

"Luck is part of a person’s fate. It can affect the path someone takes and even change what happens to them in the future. As an Oracle, I’ve come to understand that much."

She then glanced at Lumberling before looking at the other three elves. "And the three of you have far more luck than most people. Especially you, Vaenyra."