POV - Emil
Desde una edad temprana, supimos que continuaríamos con el legado de nuestras familias.
Yo, Emil, hijo del patriarca de la familia fundadora que gobierna Sephros occidental; y Remin, descendiente directo de los líderes del este. Nuestra amistad no fue algo que surgiera naturalmente... más bien, fue inevitable.
Desde la ceremonia fallida de Luahn, ambos comenzamos a ver las cosas con más claridad. O eso creíamos.
Lo odié desde que me derrotó... pero no solo por la derrota. Lo odié porque, al ser mestizo, sin el respaldo del linaje, lograba que la gente lo mirara. Incluso si era por miedo, incluso si era con dudas... lo miraban.
Remin lo odiaba por otra razón. Por Emilia.
Años atrás, nos conocíamos solo por protocolo. Una palabra educada aquí, una conversación forzada allá. Pero ahora hablábamos a menudo, en privado, en los entrenamientos, en reuniones en la sala de reuniones de los antiguos herederos. Unidos por la misma molestia.
"¿Crees que lo dejarán unirse a las expediciones de élite?", preguntó Remin una vez mientras afilábamos nuestras espadas de entrenamiento.
"No deberían. Cualquier otro en su lugar ya estaría fuera. Pero claro... la tiene de su lado".
"Y a Grisel también. Si no tenemos cuidado, todos los pilares del clan acabarán volviéndose a su favor".
Chasqueé la lengua. Era frustrante. Lo sabíamos. Pero más que frustrante... era peligroso.
"Nuestros padres piensan lo mismo", murmuré, bajando la voz. "Si seguimos sin hacer nada, ese mestizo acabará cambiándolo todo".
Remin me miró, su expresión tan dura como siempre.
"La única incógnita... es la familia del Norte".
Sí. La familia liderada por la matriarca Feyra fue la tercera casa fundadora y la más reservada de todas. Fieles a las antiguas tradiciones, pero siempre calculadores, nunca se precipitaron en nada.
"¿Has oído algo?", pregunté.
Remin negó con la cabeza brevemente.
Nada. Ni una palabra. Ni un gesto de aprobación ni de condena.
Pero eso es precisamente lo que me molesta. —¿Crees
que están de su lado? —pregunté en voz baja, tenso.
Remin se cruzó de brazos—.
Si no lo estuvieran, lo habrían demostrado. Su silencio... es una respuesta.
Era cierto. En el Consejo, no habían votado para restringir a Luahn, pero tampoco lo habían defendido. Y, sin embargo, cuando lo miraban, no había desdén. Había interés, cautela y curiosidad.
—Es como si estuvieran esperando a ver en qué se convierte antes de decidir si eliminarlo... o protegerlo. —Remin bajó la vista al suelo—.
Y eso me pone más nervioso que cualquier mirada de desprecio.
Guardamos silencio. En el pasillo que conducía al patio de entrenamiento, se oían los pasos de algunos cadetes.
Muchos ya hablaban del poder de Luahn. De su hielo, de su agilidad con la espada, de cómo ya era capaz de competir e incluso de usar su segundo elemento gracias a Emilia y a su instructor designado. Y lo peor de todo... hablaban con admiración.
"No lo permitiré". Remin rompió el silencio, con la voz cargada de furia contenida. "No dejaré que ese bastardo mancille el honor de nuestras casas".
Me volví hacia él. Por primera vez... su odio parecía más personal que político.
"No lo hará", dije con firmeza. "Pero no basta con observar. Debemos actuar. Convencer a los demás. Convencer a los indecisos. Si la familia del Norte no está con nosotros, los rodearemos".
Remin asintió.
"Reúne a los jóvenes de tu ala. Yo haré lo mismo con la mía. Hazles saber que el futuro del clan depende de la pureza de sus líderes... no de híbridos con delirios de grandeza".
Asentí, apretando los puños con fuerza.
Por mucho que lo admiraran, Luahn no era uno de nosotros.
Podría ser fuerte.
Podría ser valiente.
Pero nunca tendría el legado.
Ni siquiera alguien que lo respaldara como los del Norte... aunque, a veces, temía que si alguno de ellos se atreviera a adoptarlo como símbolo del "cambio"... eso podría inclinar la balanza del poder.
Y eso no podíamos permitirlo.
Por mucho que entrenara.
Por mucho que lo admiraran.
No íbamos a dejar que ganara.
*
POV - Luahn
Another month passed.
And for the first time since that accident with Emil... I began to notice that things were slowly changing.
Not suddenly or dramatically.
But like ice that begins to crack with the arrival of spring... the cracks in indifference were opening up.
My training with elemental energy had paid off. After weeks of refining each breath, repeating forms, shaping the cold so as not to be carried away by it... I could now control fire at will.
Not as much as my ice element, of course. But at least it didn't take more effort than necessary.
Instructor Garrok was clear when he mentioned it during one of his evaluations.
"Stable control. Precision in closed areas. Good judgment for retreat. He has progressed steadily... and has been a good listener."
He looked up at the council and said,
"I have no doubt: Luahn is fit to continue in the program without restrictions."
Simple words.
But I felt them like a balm amid the silent judgment of so many.
At the academy, some classmates began to greet me more often. Others, who had previously looked *
POV - Luahn
Another month passed.
And for the first time since that accident with Emil... I began to notice that things were slowly changing.
Not suddenly or dramatically.
But like ice that begins to crack with the arrival of spring... the cracks in indifference were opening up. down, now held eye contact for a few seconds longer.
Nothing direct.
Nothing we could call "friendship."
But they were gestures. And for me, that was enough in our interactions.
One day, after a class on combat on multiple terrains, one of the boys approached me as we washed the sweat off in the training pit.
"Hey... Luahn."
I looked at him cautiously. He was the son of a family without a title, but he was very studious.
"How did you do that turn with the ice in the wet zone? The teacher said it was difficult to control without freezing your own feet."
It took me a second to answer. Not because I didn't know how... but because I never thought anyone would ask me something like that.
"Ah... the trick is to keep the flow in your abdomen. Don't expand it all the way. Just let it flow... like you're breathing."
"Oh... that makes sense. Thanks."
"Sure."
It was nothing more than that.
Even some members of the council, who had previously avoided talking directly to me, began to make neutral observations about my progress. They kept an eye on me, yes, but the surveillance was not as hostile as before.
And Emilia... well, she was the happiest of all.
Every time something happened, no matter how small, she looked at me with a smile she couldn't hide.
Not with surprise, nor with forced pride. But with pure, even contagious joy.
"Did you see that?" she whispered to me one day after class.
"What?"
"They didn't look at you like you were a bomb about to explode. They looked at you like a colleague. They're recognizing you, Luahn."
"...Maybe."
"Don't say 'maybe'! Of course it is! You're shining, silly!"
She nudged me with her shoulder, and I could barely manage a smile.
She... had always been there.
Even though I didn't always understand why.
Sometimes I thought about my first days at the academy. How they avoided sitting near me. The whispers. The doubts. The unasked questions.
I remembered everything.
And although the resentment for those silences didn't go away completely, I didn't want to carry it with me forever.
Not when I had people who were always by my side.
My mother, Emilia and her family, Grisel, even Garrok, who supported me as an instructor this past month.
Maybe... that was what mattered.
One afternoon, while training alone in one of the courtyards, I felt a presence behind me. I turned around.
It was Ardek again. This time accompanied by a couple of other cadets.
"Luahn... are you going to practice lateral defense control?"
I nodded.
"Can we watch? Maybe... practice too?"
I didn't say yes. I just took a step into the center of the circle and made room for them.
They understood.
And they joined in.
That night, I told Mom everything over dinner.
Olivia listened to me with a mixture of calm and quiet pride. Only at the end, when I finished talking, did she stroke my hair and whisper:
"I knew this moment would come... You just had to keep being you."
And I nodded.
Because finally... that "me" that was difficult for many to accept now had space to exist.
Even if it was only the beginning.
*
That day, the sky was clear.
The heat from training still clung to my body as the last of my teammates left the field one by one. I stayed behind, practicing some moves with the wooden sword we used in control combat. My shoulders ached, but I didn't care.
I just wanted to... keep moving forward.
That's when I heard the footsteps. Heavy, steady, familiar.
"Your rhythm is more fluid than it was a few weeks ago," said Garrok, stopping a few feet away from me.
"It's still not perfect," I replied as I wiped the sweat from my wrist.
"Perfection doesn't exist. Only the desire to achieve it. And you... you have that desire."
I turned toward him, bowing my head slightly in respect. It was hard for me to imagine someone like Garrok, so stoic and serene, talking about desires.
But then, as if reading my thoughts, he sat down on one of the stone benches at the edge of the field, let out a slight sigh... and spoke.
"You know, in my family... no one was a warrior."
It took me by surprise.
"No one?"
"No one," he repeated, with a quiet smile.
"My mother was a weaver. My father, a farmer. My younger sister studied medicine. I... was destined to be a merchant, like my grandfather. I was good with numbers and maps. What I was never... was strong."
He was silent for a few seconds, looking at his own hands. Hands that were now rough, hard, covered in small scars. But once, as he said, they had held nothing but books and records.
"Then why did you take up the sword?" I asked, sincerely.
"Because I almost lost my wife, the one I loved most... because I didn't have the strength to protect her."
My lips tightened.
Garrok rested both elbows on his knees. His voice lowered.
"It was during the last war. When the Demon King's armies launched a surprise attack on the Duchy of Relfort. I was thirteen. I was accompanying my father to close a deal with a blacksmith in the capital. She... my fiancée at the time, had come with me. We were just kids, of course. But when the chaos began... when we saw the demonic plagues breaking through the walls... I realized how useless I was, unable to protect her."
He swallowed. The memory still seemed fresh, even though years had passed.
"I saw a knight die in front of me. And next to him, a child was screaming. I saw houses burning. I saw dark magic blow up entire streets. I felt fear. Real, paralyzing fear... of not being able to do anything."
I didn't say anything. I just listened. I absorbed every word.
"It wasn't me who saved her. It was an adventurer. A stranger pulled her out of the rubble. I just... I just ran to her."
"...But you survived."
"Yes. Thanks to others. Not thanks to me."
Garrok looked up at the sky, squinting.
"From that day on, I knew I had to change. Not out of pride or revenge. Out of love. Out of responsibility. Because... I swore I would never feel so helpless again."
There was silence between us.
And then I spoke.
"...I've wondered that too."
"What?"
"Why I wield the sword."
I walked slowly toward the center of the training ground, the sword still in my hand. I looked at my fingers. The marks on my knuckles. The small blisters.
"Sometimes I think it's just to protect Mom. Emilia. Grisel. Everyone who accepted me, even if it was in silence. Because... I know what it's like to have no one. I know what it's like to grow up under suspicious glances."
"That's reason enough," Garrok replied.
But I shook my head gently.
"It's not just that. I feel... there's something else. Something inside me... screaming that I must protect. That it's something very important I must do... but I can't remember what it is."
I didn't say it, but I thought it.
It was as if something... from another life... weighed on me, something that had clearly happened in my life as William.
And although I didn't have a clear face or a name I could say out loud, I felt that emptiness. Like a distant memory that hadn't yet awakened. As if before... I had lost someone.
And I didn't intend to fail again.
"Do you think it comes from before?" Garrok asked, looking at me.
I nodded, with an expression that asked for no further questions.
"You don't need to remember everything to know who you are."
I looked at him.
"You are Luahn. Son of Olivia. Warrior of the wolf clan. But also something else. What you choose to protect today... is what will define you."
"...Thank you, master," I said, lowering my gaze slightly.
"Tell me one thing, Luahn."
"Yes?"
"When you fight with your sword... what do you hope to achieve?"
I thought of Emilia, my mother, and the others, of my broken memories, of that white flame that arose within me when Emil attacked me. Of the ice that I molded as if it were a second skin. Of the words I never managed to say to my father... in either of my two lives.
"I just want... everyone to be able to smile without fear. For no one to feel the way I felt for years. For no one to be left alone."
I raised my sword and looked at it.
"If I can use this to prevent that... then I need no further reasons."
Garrok stood up. His expression was solemn.
"Then... you have understood the essential."
He looked at me with something akin to pride.
"And for that reason, I will continue to teach you."
I smiled.
Because at that moment I knew that, even though I didn't have all the answers yet...
...I already knew which direction to take.
*
POV - Emilia
I couldn't stop clenching my fists.
The scene of the fight still danced in my mind like a stubborn flame. Luahn, with his steady temperament, with that determined and silent gaze he had made his own, had faced Emil without hesitation... and defeated him.
Again.
But that wasn't what made me boil. It wasn't the victory.
It was what happened next.
Remin, with his venomous tongue and words laden with contempt, had lashed out at Luahn again with more viciousness than ever, speaking as if all the years of effort, control, and dedication meant nothing. As if Luahn were an untamed beast that would eventually devour them all.
And I... could do nothing but grit my teeth.
"Arrogant idiot..." I muttered to myself as I walked alongside Liifa and Selena toward the rest area.
"Are you still angry?" Liifa asked with a concerned smile.
"What do you think?" I replied dryly.
"But Luahn is fine, isn't he? At least he doesn't seem affected."
"That's the point," I said, with a mixture of frustration and pride.
"The point?" Selena asked.
"That he's moving forward as if he doesn't care, as if he's not carrying the weight of all those stares on him. As if he didn't hear what they said."
I paused for a moment.
"Sometimes I think he doesn't realize how strong he really is."
Liifa sighed.
"He does realize it. He just doesn't say it."
"Like you, right?" Selena added with a mischievous smile.
I rolled my eyes.
"Now is not the time for that..."
But I couldn't help smiling a little, just a little.
Later that day, as we were resting on the terrace of the training building, my friends were discussing the list of activities for the following week.
"I heard that some cadets are going to have a practical outing to the forest outside," Selena commented as she stretched.
"An excursion?" I asked with mild interest.
"It's not for everyone. Just a small group of the younger years. They're going to collect medicinal herbs and learn how to find their way around real terrain."
"So it's more of an adaptation and observation test," said Liifa, nodding.
"Exactly. And the best part..." said Selena, lowering her voice a little and leaning in as if it were a secret, "is that Luahn is going with them."
I stopped short.
"...Really?"
"Yes. One of the instructors, the tall one with dark hair and a scar on his neck, I don't remember his name, spoke highly of him to the council. He said he had improved his energy control and that his combat decisions were remarkable for his age."
"Besides..." added Liifa, trying not to laugh,
"...since several classmates volunteered to go with him, it would be strange to leave him out again. There's no excuse anymore."
I sat down slowly, processing what I had heard.
After so long. After so many absurd prohibitions, so many restrictions disguised as "precautions."
He was going out again as one of the group.
"...It's about time," I muttered, letting out a proud smile.
"And you? Are you happy?" Liifa asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Very."
"Even if it upsets certain people?"
I shrugged with a grimace.
"Oh, yes... I'm sure the 'venerable families of the west and east' aren't amused."
"And does that matter to you?" Selena asked, biting her lip to keep from laughing.
"Matter to me?" I said with a light laugh. "I love it!"
I leaned back and crossed my arms behind my head.
"Let them wallow in their rage. Let them see that they can't extinguish a light that keeps growing. Because Luahn is proving with his actions what they fear: that change has already begun. That he's not going to disappear just because they want him to. That they can't ignore him anymore."
My friends laughed with me. Not in mockery, but in relief.
In shared pride.
"Besides..." I said playfully,
"That little trip will be like his first step. You'll see what he can do when you let him be who he really is."
And as we talked, as the sun gently set over the terrace, I realized something.
I was no longer alone in defending him.
Little by little, without the council noticing, people were beginning to open their eyes.
Luahn was not a threat, he was a symbol.
One that neither disguised hatred nor inherited prejudice could stop.
And I...
I would be by his side.
From the beginning... to the end.