Nerluce sighed. He didn't know what he was doing here.

It was early enough that the sun had yet to rise but late enough that the sky began to lighten. Nerluce was meant to leave any moment now. He and twelve disciples of the clan - all of which were around his age - would depart together, riding for the Temple of Ethera, who had accepted them to train as Seraphs.

Nerluce should be preparing for the journey. It would be long and taxing. He'd never spent that long on horseback before. Instead, he was here, getting himself worked up for sentimentality's sake.

Mother's garden was heavily perfumed by flowers. Of all the gardens, hers was the only one that prioritized scent over aesthetic beauty. The sweet scent was made even more so in the crisp morning air. Frost spirits floated easily about, lax and lazy in the cold. It was far too cold for anyone but the spirits to linger in it for long. Even the ugly flightless birds that Mother kept were making noise and stirring about.

Mother wore fine robes. A thick winter cloak was wrapped around her shoulders. It was such a bright crimson red that it made Nerluce's eyes ache. Her boots were just as fine as the articles of fabric and made every step she took the sound of nobility.

Yet her eyes were vacant and her hair had to be brushed for her.

Nerluce and Mother walked side by side through the garden. Nerluce was wearing riding robes, a riding cloak - the same eye-aching red - and riding boots. Nerluce didn't know if Mother saw any of this. She seemed to know him. Or at least be vaguely familiar with him as she didn't break down upon departure from her caretaker. Instead, she hummed and walked beside Nerluce happily, pointing every so often at one of the birds or spirits.

"I'm going to leave for a while, Mother," Nerluce said to her.

She didn't say anything back. She rarely did. Instead, she bent down and picked a flower. She stayed crouched as she pulled the leaves from its stem one by one.

"I'm going to leave," Nerluce tried again. And again Mother gave no response she'd heard him or understood what those words meant. Nerluce had known it would be like this, yet he still felt his heart sinking. She wouldn't notice he was gone. She would likely forget of his existence entirely while he was away.

Imagine that. Forgetting you even had a son.

For some reason, though, Nerluce felt compelled to continue talking. "I don't know for how long. Ethera accepted us to train but they said that if we aren't qualified we'd be turned away just like anyone else." And since Nerluce was hopeless at both Magick and academics, he doubted that he would last very long at all. But there was still a chance... "It might be a few years before I see you again."

At last, Mother turned to look at him. Her eyes were just as dark as his - darker still in the hours before the sun rose. She looked at him and in that single gesture, Nerluce felt his eyes start to water. His lower lip trembled. He commanded himself not to cry. He didn't want to cry just because his mother looked at him for the first time in what felt like years.

Sensing his distress, however, Mother stood up and did something even rarer. She pulled him in for a hug. Nerluce latched onto her, desperately clinging as she patted his head and murmured nonsense to him. She was clearly trying to comfort him, perhaps the same form of comfort that she herself received when she started crying. So Nerluce let her comfort him as he choked back sobs and wetted the front of Mother's robes.

But, as all things must, the moment came to an end as one of the disciples entered the garden to fetch Nerluce.

He cleared his throat and Nerluce forced himself to stop hugging Mother. He wiped his eyes and looked at the disciple, who dipped his head in respect to Nerluce and his mother. "Young Lord Hebikoti, it is time to depart," he said.

"Ye-yes," Nerluce said.

And... without saying another word to Mother, Nerluce left the garden. Mother's caretaker bowed before him and went to fetch the woman who had bent back over, pulled the leaves from another flower's stem in the center of the garden. Nerluce didn't look back again. If he did he knew that he would start crying. And if Nerluce began to cry then he would be seen as weak and incompetent - more so than he already was - and he really couldn't afford that.

So he silenced his sniffles and hardened his heart as he and the disciple went to the front courtyard where twelve horses stood docile as their masters packed the needed supplies onto their backs. It was too much trouble to bring a supply wagon, only serving to put a target on their backs. The road was as safe as any road could be these days but it was still better to not test their luck.

Nerluce looked at the twelve horses and his face fell slightly. He turned to the disciple and asked, "Where is this one's mount?"

"There. They have just brought him," the disciple said.

But of course, Nerluce had to have misheard him because what he pointed to, what was being led out of the stables by two pale-faced stablehands, was a Greater Stallion. Greater Horses were, as their name suggested, similar to horses but much, much greater in all regards. Greater Horses could live up to three centuries and in that time grow to the size of small trees. They were also much more clever than regular horses, making them much more desirable and therefore Greater Horses were much, much more expensive.

But what really gave Nerluce pause was not the fact that he was being presented with a Greater Stallion. It was the fact that this Greater Stallion was Eden.

Eden was not Nerluice's Greater Horse nor was he Lord Father's. Eden belonged to Coam. Eden was the utterly massive white Greater Stallion that she had ridden into war and used to conquer countless battlefields. Eden was Coam's pride and joy. She and Eden had been born on the same day and had grown up together. Eden was Coam's Greater Stallion to the most fundamental level of his being.

"Young Lady Hebikoti had us prepare him for Young Lord Hebikoti," the disciple said. "She said she wished the young lord to take him. According to the young lady, Eden has kept her safe through many treacherous times and he will do the same for the young lord."

"I-" Nerluce started before he realized that he had no idea what he was going to say so he cleared his throat. "Very well," he said instead. "Mounting this beast is going to be like climbing a mountain."

The disciple offered him a good-natured smile at his joke and hurried off to make any last-minute preparations, leaving Nerluce alone with Eden. He approached the Greater Stallion cautiously, sticking his hand out to let him get used to his scent. Nerluce had met Eden before. Ridden him once, though his arms had been wrapped tightly around Coam. This would be the first time he'd ridden Eden alone, though.

Did Coam intend to make him look like a fool? Eden was extremely violent and stubborn. Nerluce had never heard of him letting anyone other than Coam touch him, much less ride him. Why else would she give an unruly Greater Stallion to her useless brother if it wasn't an attempt at humiliation?

Regardless, Eden seemed docile enough right now. He let Nerluce approach. He sniffed Nerluce's hand then snorted. Nerluce ran that same hand along the Greater Stallion's neck. He dug around in the saddlebag and was delighted to find that someone had packed him several plump apples. Nerluce removed one of these apples and offered it up to Eden.

As a Greater Stallion, he'd been on a strict diet his entire life. Eden had probably never gotten treats before. It certainly seemed the case as he sniffed the apple, then tentatively took it in his mouth before it vanished between Eden's strong teeth. A regular horse could take off a finger. Eden could probably take off an arm.

Coam was trying to embarrass Nerluce but what she didn't know was that Nerluce was actually not awful at horsemanship.

Nerluce mounted Eden, only struggling to do so due to the sheer size of the Greater Stallion. He had only been half-joking when he said it would be like climbing a mountain. He still managed to get himself into the saddle which was much more than many others had been able to accomplish. Nerluce didn't know if it was the apple or how Nerluce resembled Coam but Eden seemed calmer than he ever had when being cared for by handlers.

Just as the sun broke the horizon, Lord Father appeared on the terrace, high above. He looked positively regal like that. Inspiring and powerful and... well Nerluce understood why the public loved him so. Lord Father was best viewed from afar.

"Ride with swiftness and make our clan proud!" Lord Father said.

The disciples of the clan cheered and Nerluce snapped his reigns. Though he had no right to the position of leader other than the blood in his veins he was put in charge and the disciples would follow him, turn to him. Nerluce just hoped that when they did, he would be able to lead them in the right direction.

___

It was a two-week ride from Hebikoti Castle to Ethera.

They took well-trodden roads and stayed in several of the keeps and castles belonging to prominent families who had heard that the son of Lord Hebikoti or the younger brother of General Hebikoti was passing through and wished to offer their aid. It was quite a luxurious journey, all things considered, neither taxing on the disciples nor their horses.

The entire way there, Nerluce rode Eden. The entire way there, Eden was as docile as a rabbit except for that one time the son of some merchant tried to get on the Greater Stallion's back and had been promptly thrown into the dirt. The disciples had all thought this extremely amusing while Nerluce had to apologize and then accept apologies.

But at long last, they were almost at Ethera.

The roads had turned into a mountain path. It was well-trodden but inherently more dangerous. One wrong step and they would be sent plummeting to their deaths.

It had rained earlier that day and the scent of pine was all that anyone could take in. The ground was muddy and the rocks slick. To make matters worse a dense fog had set in, making it difficult to see the path much less where it led. Nerluce bit the inside of his cheek. He'd been designated to the back, where it was safer. However, Eden did not seem to agree. He was the only Greater Horse among their ranks and as such he was agitated at being behind the regular horses.

"It's okay," Nerluce said to him. "We'll be there soon."

And as if Nerluce was a Seer, the fog partially parted, giving them a view of their destination, the Temple of Ethera. It was one of the oldest structures in all of Ecekasuri. People had been coming here to worship the gods and the First King for as long as there had been people to do so and as such the buildings had a sense of timelessness to them.

They were painted in greens and whites and golds. There were many towers with hip roofs and several shorter buildings with Xie Shan roofs. They sat nestled in the mountains, glowing warm against the fog. In the distance, Nerluce saw a small waterfall that had to lead to a pool of some kind. Excitement bubbled in his chest. He wanted to explore this place, to properly enjoy it, not sit and study and train.

Yet he was here to sit and study and train.

So Nerluce swallowed his excitement and the fog hid Ethera from view once more. It took them another hour to reach the gates and by the time they got there, the fog had mostly dispersed. The Seraphs and disciples of the temple paid their entrance no mind, but the people who had come to worship turned and looked at them - or perhaps Nerluce who came on a Greater Stallion built for war. They quickly dispersed as Nerluce dismounted.

He continued to chew on the inside of his cheek as he saw the look of terror in people's eyes. Their red cloaks, the Greater Stallion, Nerluce's head of white hair... it was obvious to everyone who they were but their intentions were... less so. Was this Coam's true reason behind giving Eden to Nerluce? Had she wanted him to be feared and resented once he arrived? Nerluce tasted iron on his tongue. He forced himself to stop chewing.

From the doors of the main building, a woman emerged. Instantly Nerluce's attention was drawn to her. She didn't look like any other woman - or person - Nerluce had ever seen. Her robes were exceedingly extravagant but also extremely revealing as her breasts were almost completely visible in an odd and erotic display. Her hair was long and wavy but split in the middle so that the left half of her head had black hair and the right was a pale blond - almost as white as Nerluce's hair. And her eyes...

Well her eyes were white, devoid of pupils. Was she... was this woman blind?"

The woman smiled as she approached them. "Welcome," she said. "You are the disciples that the Hebikoti Clan sent?"

There was a beat of silence before Nerluce realized that he - as head of the group - was the one who needed to respond.

"Y-Yes," Nerluce said, quickly.

The woman's white eyes turned to him. So she wasn't blind. Or if she was she could see through other, more Magickal means. Her smile widened slightly. "We are honored to have you here with us. I am Honami." She bowed slightly before them.

Nerluce didn't know the name but the others did and bowed before the woman in return. Nerluce, uncertain, bowed as well.

As they rose, the woman's eyes were pinched in the corners, making her look... almost amused. "I am the one in charge of training new Seraphs. We've gotten so many new disciples as of late. It seems that the birth of my daughter has filled this place with new life." She laughed.

Then it clicked for Nerluce.

This woman, Honami Sasaquī, wasn't just a high-ranking member of Ethera's ensemble, but the High Priestess. She was a Seer, arguably the most powerful Magickian in all of Ecekasuri, and the mother of the Chosen Light. Nerluce didn't know what frightened him most.