Lucian stood among the ruins, breathing heavily. His dragon scales slowly receded, revealing his normal skin once more. The massive Demon Bear lay slumped on the ground, no longer aggressive. Weak, broken whimpers echoed in Lucian’s ear.
"...Help... ..."
The voice was faint, filled with pain and regret.
Lucian stared at the fallen bear for a long mont. The Witch’s words echoed again in his head: "Help bring back soone to their sanity..."
He made his decision.
He reached into his satchel and pulled out one of the Mana Crystals he had received earlier. Holding it tightly in one hand, he approached the bear. Mor’du let out a low, warning growl as he got closer.
"Stay still," Lucian commanded.
When the bear tried to move, Lucian summoned electricity in his free hand and zapped its shoulder. Mor’du flinched but stopped struggling.
Lucian placed his other hand on the bear’s massive head and exhaled slowly.
’Lessen Curse.’
The bright glow of the magic core dimd at once. Pure, refined mana flowed from the crystal, surging into Lucian first, making him grunt with effort as his own body acted as the channel, the bridge to carry that energy onward. It was a simple principle: the human body served as the perfect dium to direct raw mana and weave it into a spell.
Normally, this required deep knowledge, complex incantations, and perfect control... but because this was an innate skill, carved directly into his very being, he needed no chant, no ritual. Only will.
Dark, thick smoke began to seep out from every crack in the beast’s fur, rising higher and higher until it swirled together above them forming the hollow, terrifying shape of a grinning skull. A cold, mocking laugh echoed through the clearing, seeming to shake the very air itself, but Lucian did not waver. He kept the energy flowing, pushing back against the darkness until, little by little, the smoke thinned... and finally vanished completely, dissolving into nothingness.
Where the great demon bear had lain, there was now sothing entirely different.
Resting upon the grass was a tall, broad‑shouldered man with shaggy brown hair and a thick, wild beard. He wore nothing, revealing a powerful body covered from neck to waist in intricate, ancient tattoos that seed to hold their own faint history. Slowly, his eyelids lifted, revealing eyes that burned with an unnatural, glowing golden‑yellow light.
He sat up with effort, still heavy‑limbed and dazed, but as his gaze fell upon his own hands, he froze. Shock washed over his face. He touched his arms, his chest, then ran trembling fingers over his face, over and over again, as if afraid it was only a dream.
When the truth finally settled in his mind, that he was flesh and blood, human once more. He threw his head back and laughed.
It was a loud, raw sound, bursting from his chest in pure, overwhelming relief.
"I’m back!! I’m a human again!" he shouted, his voice deep and carrying a thick, rugged accent. He scrambled to his feet, nearly stumbling, before his eyes landed upon Lucian. mories flooded back, the battle, the stranger who had not killed him but had instead reached out to save him.
He rushed forward and pulled Lucian into a crushing, grateful bear hug. "Thank you... Thank you for helping , lad!"
"Yeah... no problem," Lucian wheezed, patting the man’s back awkwardly. "But you really should get dressed."
_____
An hour later, the two sat by a quiet stream deep in the woods.
They were cooking fresh fish, plenty of them, caught easily by Mordu, whose hunger after centuries of twisted existence seed endless.
He was now wearing a sturdy brown kilt, the only spare clothing Lucian carried in his satchel that happened to fit his large fra. It was simple, but it covered him well enough.
Suddenly, a familiar roar echoed from above.
Mordu stood up in an instant, tense and alert, his hand instinctively reaching for a weapon he no longer carried.
"Relax," Lucian said calmly, flipping another fish on the fire. "It’s soone I know."
Nyx descended gracefully from the sky with the three bear cubs clinging to his back. The Night Fury landed nearby and Lucian stood up and gave Nyx a few affectionate pats on the neck before handing him a raw fish, which the dragon happily ate.
The triplets climbed down and stared at the roasted fish with hungry eyes. Lucian smiled and handed each of them one.
Mor’du sat back down, staring at the cubs with a frown.
"Why are you with... cubs?" he asked.
Lucian looked at the three bear brothers, then back at Mor’du.
"They are just like you," he said quietly. "Once human, until a curse turned them into bears."
"What?!
Lucian then told him everything he knew from the movie and the situation right now, the story of Princess rida, her desperate wish to change her fate, how magic had twisted it, the struggle between mother and daughter that had turned lives upside down and how the triplets got caught in the magic as well.
Mor’du listened in silence, his glowing yellow eyes growing darker with understanding. When Lucian finished, the big man clenched his fists.
"If what you say is true... then we have to help her. No one should suffer what I have suffered, trapped in another form, forgotten and alone."
"We will," he agreed. "But not right now. They need ti... ti to understand each other, to heal, and to find their own way. If we rush in now, we might only make things worse. Let them walk their path first. When the ti cos, we will be there."
Mor’du stared into the fire for a long mont, then nodded slowly.
"Aye... I understand that better than most."
The forr Demon Bear looked at the three cubs happily eating their fish, then at Lucian.
"You’re a strange one, lad. Risking yourself to help an old monster like ."
Lucian smirked as he turned another fish over the flas.
"Let’s just say... I have my reasons."
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