The decision did not take long.
Riri stood before Lucien with the elders and Rurik at her side. There was no hesitation in their posture anymore.
"Savior. We will go with you," she said.
No dramatic speeches followed.
The Lithrens understood their reality too well to pretend otherwise.
They were weak. Not in spirit, but in circumstance.
A people enslaved for over a millennium did not reach that fate by coincidence. They had survived because they endured, not because they could resist. And endurance alone would not protect them when Celestial overseers and Eternal Realm harvesters returned.
There was no second option.
Lucien met their gazes and smiled faintly.
"Then from this moment onward," he said, "you are under my protection."
The words carried weight.
"I will not keep you weak," Lucien continued. "I will not shelter you forever like fragile cargo. I will help you grow. I will give you the means to stand."
His eyes sharpened.
