A Heart without a Home

Lucian turned as two more foes stepped into view. His eyes darted to the other Wavebreakers, but none met his gaze, their leader taking precedence over him.

"Why did I even think they’d help me…" He ripped the arrow from his leg, furious anger dulling the pain. Ivo, Jaquim, even Amon, they’d all left him to fend for himself.
"I shouldn't be surprised," he muttered, centering on his own battle.

One gnoll pulled back the string of its bow while the other rushed him, forcing his attention away from the marksman. Barely dodging the shot, Lucian had only one chance at surviving this coordinated attack. He focused on the resonance he’d heard from Jaquim’s spell, listening to the crackle of fire that was building instead of the howl closing in. He unleashed it only when the gnoll was close enough to see the hatred burning in its eyes.

"Bravura."

A flaming orb appeared out of thin air and slammed into the beast, flinging it back towards its companion. The bowman rolled out of the way, scrambling for the arrows it dropped in the process. His panic ended with a sharp hiss, as two wind blades sheared both their heads clean off.

"Cal!"

Lucian whipped around. Ivo’s crossbow lay splintered next to the dead gnoll at his feet. While Jaquim was fumbling a new crystal onto his staff, the last gnoll had Calviro pinned, mauling and snapping at his throat.

Lucian had the shot. He raised his hand and... stalled.

"Why should I save them? Ambushes, the delays, their refusal to help. Maybe this is the lesson they need."

His arm was heavy. The laughter of Wavebreakers echoed in his head, taunting the "cursed child" who wandered unarmed into the Wildlands. Who was spat back out again and again, even the monsters smart enough to avoid him. The light leaving his eyes with every memory he recalled and every memory in turn solidifying his decision. "Serves them right..."

"I won’t risk my kid brother losing more family because of a rash decision."
Calviro’s voice cut through the haze.

Reminding him who he was, Lucian’s hand snapped back up.

"Cla—"

A sword whistled out of the treeline and struck between the gnoll’s ribs. Calviro, bloodied but unbroken, tore it free and drove it home with a final blow.

~✦~

Lucian collapsed, eyes flicking from Calviro’s bleeding wounds to his own shaking hands. No matter how many monsters he felled, no matter how many late-night patrols he took. He wasn’t a hero. Not someone to look up to. Just an egotistical teen who wants others to trust him while not trustworthy himself.
"Good job, Lucian," Jaquim said with a genuine smile.
"You took two of them on your own! Now I see how you’ve survived so long."

His words stung. Lucian got up and smirked to play it off, understanding that nobody saw him falter with saving Calviro.

"Jaquim will come with us," Lucian announced. "You're too wounded and Ivo's weapon is broken. If that's all, we're leaving," he shouted to Calviro, who was thanking Amon for the timely rescue.

"You won't," he answered, calm yet stern. "These gnolls were armed to the teeth. Either we stumbled into them, or they hunted to silence us. The signs are clear. A flood is coming, and Cacela must prepare."

Lucian clenched his fist, eyes pinned to the ground. Still conflicted about his feelings, he dropped the topic, just wanting to get out of here.
"Fine, wouldn't have expected anything else either way." He jerked his head towards the forest, looking at Amon. "Come, let's go."

"Amon will also stay."

Lucian’s eyes shot back as he saw the four standing united.

"Amon told me he was here to fulfill his duty to the Castellan and to see your skills in action. We will keep your secret as promised, but he's done his part here and is of better use to us alive than dead with you."
Calviro checked with Amon, who gave Lucian a frigid stare that burned through him.

"He saw..." Lucian thought to himself.

"If that’s all, we will be going now. You can do whatever you want."
Nodding at Ivo, who'd gathered the usable equipment off the corpses in the meantime, they set off.

Lucian was boiling in rage as each one passed him in silence. What now? He looked at his injured leg and the black spot his blood had painted into his chausses.

"Lucian." Calviro looked awkward, fidgeting with a loose strap.
"Look, things have been rough between us. But you're a capable ally. I see that now." Still avoiding eye contact, he continued.
"I can't speak for all of us, but when the flood arrives, I'd much rather have you inside than outside the walls of Cacela."

He took a deep breath and with conviction locked eyes.
"Come with us Lucian. You might not see Cacela as your home, but you are already a part of Cacela. Whether you like it or not."

There was a brick in his throat. Barion, Flynn, Amon and now Calviro, they all saw something in him. Something good that he denied himself to see.
At a loss for words, he took a step toward them... then stopped.

Memories of his mother came flooding back. His guilt of abandoning her when he was the only thing that kept her going. If Lilly was still out there, still alive and waiting...

"Not again," he whispered.

Lucian took a deep breath and squared up. "We come from different worlds. You think you understand, but you will never comprehend what home means to someone like me."

Without another word, Lucian turned and walked deeper into the Wildlands.

Saddened, Calviro’s party watched him vanish. "Come back alive, you freak! My bet is on you returning!"

Tears rolled down his face, but Lucian couldn't help but crack a crooked smile at that.
"I hope you don't regret that," he muttered to himself, feeling his leg growing heavier with every step.