Lumière's Arc

Chapter 1 of 5

Lumière pressed his back to the manor's cold wall and listened to the hunter knock on doors down the lane. He was nineteen, tall, with pale skin and pink hair that marked him wherever he went. His staff hummed against his palm, the orb at its top swirling with tiny stars. For a year he had dreamed of gathering others like himself, outcasts with strange gifts, in a place where they could learn without hiding. Tonight one wrong sound would end that dream before it began. The knocking came closer. "Strange lights in Haunt Hollow," a rough voice called. "Someone's been making them. I mean to find who." Lumière slipped inside and climbed to the attic. There the protection spell held strongest. On the wall hung a crystal plaque shaped like three moons, its surface throwing pale rainbow light across the floor. Below it stood the ritual table, crowded with candles, bottles, and a pentagram burned into the wood. He had trained here alone every night. Now the light he made had drawn a hunter to his door. He heard boots on the front steps. The spell hid the manor from most eyes, but the plaque glowed too bright. Its shine leaked through the attic window. If the hunter looked up, he would see it. Lumière had a choice. He could snuff every candle and pray the dark saved him. Or he could use the plaque against the man who hunted him. He chose the second. He set both hands on the ritual table and drew the candle flames into the orb. The stars inside spun faster. He aimed the staff at the plaque and pushed the gathered light through it. The three moons blazed, then scattered the glow outward in a wide, harmless flare. To anyone below, the whole sky above the manor lit up at once. The hunter shouted and stumbled back into the lane. "There! The lights!" But he pointed at the clouds, not the house. He ran toward the far hills, chasing a glow that was already fading. Lumière sank against the table, shaking. He had turned his own gift into a decoy and sent the hunter away from the manor. The dream survived one more night. But the flare had been seen for miles. By morning the whole hollow would talk of a sky full of light. More hunters would come. And Lumière understood now that hiding alone would never be enough. If he wanted a coven, he needed to find the others soon, before the next knock came. He looked at the moon plaque, still faintly glowing, and made his decision. Tomorrow he would leave the manor and start his search.