[Third Person Pov]
'Although I'm spouting such arrogant words, I can't hold on for long… he's still a Titan.'
The thought cut through Lucian's mind like a cold blade. His milky-white eyes shifted instinctively toward Artemis even though he could no longer see. He felt her presence clearly—sprawled on the broken ground, weakened to the point of collapse, her mortal form soaked in golden ichor that shimmered faintly against the snow.
The battle with Atlas had left her battered beyond recognition—clothes ruined, limbs heavy, divine strength guttered to embers. She could barely lift her head, let alone muster another strike.
"Atlas," Lucian called, voice strained yet steady as he poured every remaining shred of will into the suppression that kept the Titan bound to this weaker shape. "Let's bargain."
Atlas's expression twisted with pure disdain. "What?" he spat. "What could you possibly have to offer—"
"My life for hers."
Lucian's head turned slightly toward Artemis once more. Though blinded, he could feel the exact shape of her presence, the ragged edges of her exhausted divinity.
"Wha—No!" Artemis shoved herself upright with a ragged cry. Her red-auburn hair hung in tangled curtains over her face, half-hiding the stubborn set of her jaw and the fury blazing in her eyes. Golden blood streaked her cheeks and collarbones. "Lucian, I forbid you from going through with whatever it is you're planning!"
He ignored her completely. The decision had already been made.
"You've wanted revenge against me," Lucian continued, "and so has your master. It took me a while to see it, but all of this was planned for me, wasn't it? This entire battle… involving Artemis, the dream… it was a trap designed to catch me. So let her go. I'll comply willingly."
Atlas threw his head back and laughed—loud, mocking, almost delighted. One hand covered his face as the sound rolled across the ruined battlefield.
"Hahahaha! If you had made that offer at the very beginning, perhaps I would have considered it. But you lost that chance long ago! Now I won't be satisfied until I make both of you understand the full consequences of your actions."
Lucian's expression darkened. A low, dangerous glower settled over his bloodied features.
"Think about this carefully," he warned, voice carrying a quiet threat.
"I don't need to think!" Atlas snarled, leaning forward with murderous intent. "I won't stop until both of you are under my heel, pleading for mercy—only to be denied its glory!!"
"Fine," Lucian said softly. "Then you leave me with no other choice."
His shadows surged. At his silent command the soldiers of darkness erupted from the ground in a black tide—rank upon rank of spectral warriors, blades already drawn. They charged the Titan without hesitation.
"Hold him off for as long as you can!!" Lucian roared. His willpower layered into the command, empowering the constructs beyond their normal limits.
They crashed into Atlas like a living storm. Steel rang against divine flesh. The Titan bellowed in fury, swatting them aside, crushing them underfoot, yet for every one that fell two more pressed forward.
"When will you learn that your pitiful tricks won't work against me?!" Atlas bellowed, smashing through the first wave with casual brutality while fending off the rest.
The true problem revealed itself almost immediately. After each shadow soldier was destroyed, it failed to regenerate. Lucian's energy reserves were nearly dry. He had already burned through the majority of the power stored in his ring during the seven straight days of battle against the Titan. There was simply nothing left to fuel continuous recreation.
"Sebastián!" Lucian called.
The war horse answered the summons instantly.
In the middle of the chaotic, spontaneous battlefield, Sebastián erupted from the ground directly beneath Artemis. The massive stallion scooped her onto his broad back with practiced ease and charged straight toward Lucian at a full gallop.
Lucian's hand found the reins. He planted one foot in the stirrup and swung his other leg over the saddle in a single fluid motion. The moment he was mounted, Sebastián plunged into the dense forest that was blanked by snow, shadow soldiers throwing themselves into Atlas's path to buy every possible second of escape.
Artemis panted against Lucian's chest, every breath sharp with pain. Her body ached from countless injuries, and she was far too drained to heal herself properly. Lucian was in no better condition.
She tilted her head back, resting fully against him, and let out a shaky, exhausted laugh.
"This is insane…" she murmured, relief and disbelief tangled together in her voice. Despite everything—despite the blood, the pain, and the Titan still roaring behind them—she was happy. They were both going to escape.
"I think this is far enough…" Lucian pulled gently on the reins. Sebastián slowed from a hard gallop to a reluctant trot, then finally to a complete stop beneath the canopy of silver-leafed trees.
Artemis's face drained of color. Horror bloomed across her features. "What? What are you doing?! Why are you stopping? He's going to catch up if we don't keep moving—"
"He's going to catch up regardless," Lucian answered quietly. His intuition spoke with absolute certainty. "I can already feel my shadow soldiers dwindling by the second."
He shifted his weight, preparing to dismount. Artemis's hands shot out and seized the front of his shirt in a desperate grip, stopping him cold.
"You can't! He really will kill you! Let me be the one to hold him off—I'm the one who's immortal here!"
Lucian covered her trembling hands with one of his gauntleted ones. His voice was soft, but unyielding. "That may be true… but I don't think I would ever be able to forgive myself if I let you do it."
The words, meant as comfort, only filled Artemis with rage. Tears clouded her vision and spilled over. "Now is not the time to be chivalrous!! If you go through with this I will never forgive you!!"
Though Lucian could not see her face, he felt the heat of her tears. He reached up with surprising gentleness and brushed them away from her cheeks with his thumb.
"So be it," he murmured. "Hate me for it. I will gladly accept your hatred. I would rather live with that than with the knowledge that I was coward enough to let you take my place."
Sebastián crouched low, making it easier for Lucian to slide down from the saddle. Once on the ground, Lucian reached into his shadow space and withdrew a dark cloak, which he draped over his shoulders against the cold. He looked back up at her—or rather, toward the place where he knew she sat.
"You and I both know I'm not doing this just to be chivalrous…"
He paused, searching for the right words.
"Artemis… to me, you are an untamable forest—wild and beautiful, filled with countless wonders waiting to be discovered. And every forest, no matter how vast or wild, has a guardian whose sole duty is to protect it."
With careful fingers he reached up, drew the hood of her cloak over her head, then cupped her face in both hands. He leaned in and pressed a soft, lingering kiss against her forehead.
"So allow me to be your guardian. Not because you are a woman, and not because I believe you incapable of protecting yourself. I know better than anyone that you need no one to shield you. I simply wish to ensure that no one ever comes to destroy what makes your forest so beautiful. I choose to protect you because, to me, it is a duty worth choosing."
Artemis opened her mouth to refute him, to argue, to beg—but the words caught in her throat. It had tightened so completely that even swallowing became difficult.
Lucian didn't give her the chance to find her voice.
"There isn't any time," he said solemnly. "He's coming…"
Sebastián rose back to his full height. Lucian stepped forward, took the stallion's face in both hands, and ran a gloved palm gently down the length of his snout.
"Keep her safe for me, will you?"
Sebastián gave a worried, almost pleading neigh. Lucian patted him in quiet reassurance.
"Don't worry about me, big fella. Just do as you're told. I'll make it out somehow. I always do." He leaned closer and whispered, "Now go."
The war horse reared onto his hind legs with a loud, reluctant cry, front hooves kicking at the air. Artemis was forced to seize the reins tightly as Sebastián came down and exploded into a full gallop. Flames jetted from his nostrils and sparked beneath his pounding hooves as he carried her deeper into the forest.
Lucian watched them go for only a moment. Then he turned, raised Alexander's sword in a reverse grip, and settled into a combat stance. The distance between him and the fleeing pair grew with every heartbeat.
Atlas dropped from the sky like a falling star.
He landed in front of Lucian with earth-shaking force. A thick plume of snow billowed outward from the impact, swirling around the Titan's mortal form.
Atlas paused. He took in the scene before him: the demigod standing alone in a ready stance, milky-white eyes staring at nothing, blood covering most of his face, every exhale turning to visible mist in the freezing air.
The Titan's gaze flicked toward the distant figure of Artemis disappearing between the trees.
Lucian grinned through the blood and summoned his spear from the ring into his free hand. His voice rang out in a deliberate, mocking taunt.
"Come on, crybaby. You got any more tears to shed for Daddy?"
Veins bulged across Atlas's face and neck. Indescribable rage flooded his expression.
"I'm going to murder you," he snarled, "and I'm going to enjoy every single second of it!!"
Far ahead, Artemis flinched as the sounds of battle reignited behind her. She could feel the violent vibrations traveling through the earth. Snow shook loose from the branches overhead and drifted down around her.
Every instinct screamed at her to turn back, to join Lucian and fight at his side once more. But doing so would render his sacrifice meaningless.
Her body trembled violently as she clung to the reins—not from the cold, but from the storm inside her chest. Hot tears poured down her face and struck Sebastián's neck, instantly turning to steam against his heated hide. Small, choked sobs escaped her throat. It felt as though her heart might burst from the sheer force of what she was leaving behind.
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