LightReader

Chapter 3 - I Will Bring You Back

He had succeeded, but not entirely. Lucian had brought his wife back, yet Lumi possessed neither soul nor memory.

Still, he refused to stray from his purpose.

He had made himself a promise that night.

"No matter what happens," he had said, "I will bring you back."

The house was silent.

The fireplace had nearly died out, only the faint hiss of a fading ember breaking the stillness. Lucian sat in the dark for a while.

His thoughts collided inside his mind, restless and heavy. He was tired but stubborn.

Then an old memory surfaced a spell he had once read about in forbidden books.

A protection spell.

The ritual could hide its user from anyone who sought them, veiling their presence for twenty-four hours.

But its price was not small. The runes of concealment were burned directly into the bones of the chest.

Lucian didn't hesitate for even a heartbeat. He had to find that book.

He stood, walking toward the shelf. His fingers brushed across the dusty spines, one after another, as he tried to recall the exact volume.

Thick, gray leather cover. Burnt edges. The faint scent of smoke clinging to it. Yes, that one.

"Lumi," he whispered, his voice steady but cold. "I need to find a gray-bound book, not black. There's a serpent mark on the cover."

Lumi's head tilted slightly.

Then, with mechanical precision, she began to move along the shelves. Her pale fingers traced the spines of the books one by one.

Moments later, both of them reached for the same volume. They opened the dusty cover together.

Lucian's eyes gleamed faintly.

"This is it," he murmured.

He already knew what he had to do. Reaching for his wand, he stepped to the center table of the room.

He arranged the ingredients in neat order: bone dust, melted wax, a few drops of his own blood, and a single strand of Lumi's silver hair.

Everything was ready He drew a deep breath.

His lips began to move.

"Veyr'ash nalor, enthrae voss; lun'keth vel tharion, seirum kall'vesh."

The words left his mouth like shards of glass. The air shifted, growing dense and heavy. The walls quivered, and the floor trembled beneath his knees.

Then a sharp pain pierced through his chest. He gasped and fell to the floor.

A radiant glow spread beneath his skin.

Light pulsed from his ribs, carving luminous marks into the bones. The runes burned red for a moment, twisting and coiling as though alive.

The same light enveloped Lumi. Runes bloomed across her pale chest, etching themselves into the lifeless flesh.

But she did not move, did not flinch. She felt no pain. The light faded slowly, sinking under her skin.

Lucian clenched his jaw, pressing a hand against his chest until the pain began to ease. When it did, a faint glow appeared before his eyes, words forming out of thin air.

[Spell Activated]

Veil of Shadows / Protection Ward (Dual Link)

Duration: 24h

Effect: Conceals presence from active tracking and scrying spells.

Linked Entities: Lucian Blackvein / Lumi Blackvein

Status: Active

Warning: Severe fatigue detected; prolonged use may cause exhaustion.

Lucian raised his head.

Outside the window, the mark of the Dark Council began to dissolve. The black serpent insignia bled across the glass like spilled ink, fading until nothing remained.

The spell had worked. For now, at least, they were safe.

Lucian exhaled slowly, his chest still aching.

He was one step ahead, but the emptiness within him only grew. Lumi's soul was still lost.

"I need to bring her memories back," he whispered.

"Her soul, her mind… everything."

But from whom could he seek help?

Who else knew spells like this?

The Council of Light would never forgive him, and the Dark Council was hunting him. That left only one answer: knowledge.

He sank into the old leather chair beside the cold hearth. Reaching forward, he took the journal from the table.

The leather cover was cool beneath his fingers. He held it tightly for a moment before opening it again.

Lumi's blank eyes followed him from across the room.

"Bring me a glass of whiskey," Lucian said quietly.

Lumi obeyed without a sound. Her movements were smooth, devoid of hesitation or life.

Moments later she returned, placing the glass in front of him. Lucian paused, staring at it for a second longer than he should have.

A ghost of a memory tugged at his heart.

For an instant, it almost felt like the old days. When Lumi would smile at him while handing him his drink.

But those days were gone. What stood before him now was not his wife. It was only a shell that moved because he told it to.

He lifted the glass and took a long sip. The burn of the whiskey spread down his throat, sharp and bitter.

It steadied him.

The hum inside his mind softened just enough for him to think again.

Lucian opened the journal once more and began to study. The pages were dense with glyphs and sketches of ritual circles.

Notes written in Lumi's hand were scattered between paragraphs, faint but legible. All pieces of a greater design he could not yet see.

Then he found it.

A page titled "Necrothesis." 

The letters were strange, curved, and written in a language he did not recognize. Beneath them, a line of symbols stretched across the page. Surrounded by countless exclamation marks.

Lucian frowned, eyes narrowing.

He had to understand this language. The answers were here.

"Lumi," he said calmly, "bring me the translation books. And the older spell codices as well."

She turned without a word and returned moments later with an armful of volumes. Lucian spread them out across the table.

He pulled a small notebook closer and began comparing letters one by one.

Time passed unnoticed. Hours blurred together in the dim, flickering light.

His eyes strained, lines of text swimming before him. Every symbol felt like a key, every phrase a locked door.

Fatigue crawled through his body, but he ignored it. He had a goal, and it was the only thing that mattered.

At the end of that path waited Lumi's soul.

The fire had gone out long ago. Wind battered the windows, howling through the cracks in the walls.

Still, Lucian kept working, whispering half-formed translations to himself as he wrote.

At last, the darkness outside began to change. The black sky softened into gray, then white.

Nine suns rose over the horizon of Obol, each one blazing a different hue.

Gold, crimson, violet, and blue light mingled across the sky, flooding the world with blinding brilliance.

Lucian shielded his eyes. Even within the house, the glare was overwhelming. The air shimmered faintly, the spell's power waning.

The runes on his chest glowed weakly, flickering like dying embers.

"Ten hours," he muttered.

"Only ten hours left."

But at least the work was done. The translation was complete.

Lucian reopened the journal and glanced at Lumi. She stood silently in the same spot, her expression empty, yet her eyes fixed on him.

For a fleeting second, it seemed as if something moved behind that emptiness, a faint spark trying to awaken.

Lucian began to read the translated line aloud. His voice trembled as the words left his lips.

"Resurrection only restores the body.

The Dark Council Academy."

Silence fell.

Only the wind's hollow whisper filled the room.

Lucian's thoughts froze. So that was it. This spell… this art of necromancy…

It belonged to the Dark Council.

The very enemy that had taken Lumi from him was the same power that allowed him to bring her back.

He closed his eyes and drew a long breath. The truth weighed on him like lead.

He understood now. He could not master these spells without their knowledge.

Perhaps to return Lumi's soul, he would have to walk the same path as those he once despised.

Now the choice stood before him: To approach the darkness or to keep running from it.

Lucian didn't move. The nine suns of Obol burned through the window, casting lines of fire across his face.

The runes on his chest pulsed faintly, like a dying heartbeat.

He whispered to himself, almost inaudibly:

"Whatever it takes…"

And with that, silence filled the room again.

More Chapters