Earth magic’s core emotions are determination and grief. While this combination may seem startling to those who do not possess earth magic, earth demons belief it makes sense. “It’s determination, like, rock-solid conviction in what you want to do,” one demon explained. “And grief is totally the opposite, you know? Leaves you shaken to pieces like an earthquake.” While this demon was quite sure in his assertions, scholars who have researched the matter have not concluded anything quite so… solid.

“Let go of me!” Luca snapped, trying to pull back.

One of the guards, a human, held his horn far too tight, pushing him down. “Not until you talk. What are you doing following us? What happened to your wings?”

On his knees now, gravel of the road digging in through the thin cloth of his pants, Luca frowned up at the man in confusion. “What?”

“You’re a dragon, aren’t you? What happened to your wings? It's illegal to shift them away.”

Luca scoffed. Idiocy on full display. How had this man gotten into the Lightguard? “Don’t you know anything? Only female dragons can have red horns. Do I look like a woman to you?”

Another guard chuckled and punched the first one lightly. “He’s got you there, Tris. He’s definitely got to be a demon.”

‘Tris’ scowled. “Then what’s a demon doing skulking around like some felivir scavenger?

“I wasn’t skulking, I was just…”

“Following us?” the captain asked. She was a demon, of course, nearly all Lightguard captains were. “Why?”

Luca pressed his lips together and focused on his breath. In, slowly, then out, just as slowly. Letting his power flare out would do more harm than good. Any magic could be harmful when uncontrolled, but fire was the worst. Controlled, it could be a tool or a weapon. Uncontrolled, it was just dangerous.

“Alright, cuff him,” the captain ordered. “Bella, you can take him back to the capital.”

Bella, a pretty demon who looked like she might be of earth, saluted, pulled out a pair of magic-suppressing cuffs, and moved toward Luca.

Luca panicked. Outrage at the idea of being cuffed like some– some criminal sparked at him.

“Wait!” Sparks leapt from his skin. Tris yelped in surprise and jerked Luca’s head down. Luca gritted his teeth, struggling to regain control. His hands shook. Breathe. Breathe. “Don’t– please don’t.”

He’d never had his magic bound before. Only criminals and exceptionally unruly children needed their magic bound. Luca had never been unruly.

The cuffs didn’t close around his wrists. He looked up, breaths still shaky, to see the captain scrutinizing him.

“What’s your name?” she said finally.

“L-Luca.” Dammit, why couldn’t he stop shaking!

She frowned, and asked skeptically, “Luca Fiorecato?”

A bolt of tense, hot fear shot through Luca and he clenched his fists until his nails bit into his palms. “N-no. Lasair.” He looked down, keeping his face hidden, then up. Would she recognize Flavius in the shape of his horns? His face? Side by side the two of them were unmistakably brothers, but maybe she didn’t know Flavius well enough to recognize the features they shared.

The captain frowned. “Know anything about where Luca Fiorecato might be?”

Luca shook his head. His heartbeat sounded too loud for her not to hear.

“Pity. Lord Fiorecato’s offering a reward to anyone who can help get his brother back home.”

“I could help,” Luca offered as inspiration struck. “If you let me travel with you I’ll help you look for him.”

“That’s not our mission, and you’d just get in the way.”

Bella stepped over to the captain and whispered something to her. 

The captain raised her eyebrows, nodding along, and finally said, “On the other hand, an extra pair of eyes could come in handy. Go on, Bella.”

Next thing Luca knew, the cuffs closed around his wrists. His magic retreated, leaving him cold, colder than he could remember ever being before. “Wh–”

“You come with us, you come cuffed. There’s something not right about you.”

Luca’s breath wouldn’t come. The cuffs bound his hands together behind his back, leaving him almost nothing to do except dig his nails into his palms. Where was his flame? The fire in his blood?

It would come back when the cuffs were removed. All the research said that. Everything Luca had read corroborated that. The vincium-alloy cuffs placed a barrier between a person and their magic that lasted only as long as the cuff was on. Vincium didn’t cause longer-lasting effects, even in necromancers who had their magic bound their whole lives. They’d been used for centuries. They were safe.

But he couldn’t feel his fire.

Luca let himself be pulled to his feet and followed after the guards in a daze.

It turned out the cuffs didn’t need to be linked. When they stopped, Bella unhooked the chain from between the cuffs, leaving Luca with his magic bound but his hands free.

“Go take a bath,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “You need it.”

“Bath?” Luca looked around. “We’re in the forest.”

Bella waved off into the woods. “There’s a river that way. I’ll go with you, if you like.” She smiled at Luca, gaze flicking over his body.

“No thanks!” He stepped back hurriedly. “It wouldn’t, er, wouldn’t be proper.”

Bella shrugged. “Go with Tris or one of the other men, then. Try not to drown.”

Heat rose to Luca’s face as he did so, though whether it was embarrassment or something else he couldn’t say.

Among demons, it was tradition to return the dead to their element whenever possible. Fire demons were burned. Water demons were cast out to sea. Seasonal demons, like Flavius, were linked to elements as well, albeit to a much lesser degree, and would be returned like elemental demons.

Floating in the river, Luca wondered if Aurora had been allowed the chance to return. Surely, surely Flavius would have given her that, at least. Surely the Emperor would have allowed that.

But Luca didn’t know anymore. Everything he had been sure of only weeks ago had crumbled to ash the moment he returned to a house where his sister no longer lived.

Sighing, he let himself sink below the surface and blew bubbles in the water. As they floated to the surface and popped, he imagined them carrying messages to Rory.

I love you.

I’m sorry.

It was his fault she’d died. If he hadn’t insisted on telling Flavius, hadn’t trusted him and the Emperor, Rory would still be alive. They’d both be home, laughing, talking about his students and her teachers. She'd complain if Flavius worked late and they had to wait for him to return before they ate, but if Luca suggested not waiting she'd throw a whorl of a breeze at him.

With a start, Luca realized he was crying silently. He'd floated back to the surface when he needed air, face barely above the water.

A hand touched his horn. “You alright?”

Luca's breath caught and he surged upright, keeping his face away from the others. He willed his voice not to shake. “Fine.”

“Are you sure?” the guard asked. “Because–”

“I said I'm fine.” Luca took in a slow breath of air. It smelled mostly of water and earth, and faintly of rotting plants. Pulling a hollow smile to his lips, he turned, and immediately closed his eyes.

“Are you sure?” the guard asked again.

“Perfectly,” Luca said, strained. “It’s just that you’re not wearing anything.”

The guard sighed audibly. “Why would I– why are you wearing clothes?”

“They were dirty.” Although that was only one of the reasons, the other being that Luca absolutely, definitely did not want to be naked around the guards.

Unfortunately, that meant he had to live in wet clothes for the rest of the evening, until the captain took pity on him and let Tris take the cuffs off for a few minutes so Luca could dry himself. Then they went back on.