Determined to take control of their fates, Arjen and Arien escape Derolina Castle at the age of sixteen after their cruel mother dies. They adopt new names and find a home in the city of Aramore, while the Emperor of Yuriana searches for his missing...
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Kazeya walked through golden shafts of sunlight that lit the forest floor. The fresh scent of damp earth and greenery surrounded him. Birds trilled in the trees, playing on the branches high above him. Somewhere nearby a stream gurgled, and beyond the trees his sharp hearing caught the voices of the palace guards as they patrolled half a kilometer away.
When he saw a faint pink glow pulsing within a dense copse of trees, he stopped. He approached slowly, quietly, his careful footsteps true to his nature as a panther. He pushed aside the branches to look down at a lone figure sitting with his back against a tree. Vines and other plants had twined around the person, wriggling and creeping along his limbs. The man slept soundly.
Jason.
Kazeya gave a small sigh. His master, the crown prince, had commanded him to take Niwe's role and search for the red wolf since Niwe had gone to accompany the second prince to Aramore. It hadn't taken long to find Jason. His powers had weakened enough that his attempts to hide his trail had become nothing.
Kazeya knelt and touched Jason's forehead, and he awoke, his red eyes blinking slowly. Jason seemed a bit disoriented at first, but when he looked at Kazeya, his brow furrowed. His lips moved with silent words.
Kazeya reached into a pocket of his coat and pulled out a small pill. Jason watched him with a weary gaze, and just as his eyelids began to flutter back to sleep, Kazeya moved swiftly. He grabbed Jason's jaw and forced his fingers between his teeth, and shoved the pill down his throat. Jason struggled weakly, tearing his arms away from the vines and pushing at Kazeya's hands that clamped his mouth shut. He swallowed.
Jason fell back. His arms dropped to his sides. A pink aura enveloped him and he returned to his beast form, albeit in a smaller size. The vines advanced again, curling around his legs and draping over his body to give him nourishment—or whatever it was the twins lacked.
Kazeya pitied him. There was a good chance the red wolf would die. Jason had survived for many years up to this point, but now he hung on by a thread. How could he continue like this? From what Kazeya knew about the history of the Yuriana family, there were a few cases of weak guardians, but it hadn't happened in a long while, and none of them had ever died because of it.
The pill was infused with healing magic from Prince Alec and ought to grant Jason a little more time.
Kazeya had only caught the end of the commotion at Adylia Palace a few days ago, but he had felt the energy of another guardian who wasn't Kirra or Niwe. He had followed it, but the intensity of the energy had fluctuated, sometimes disappearing entirely. He kept searching until finally, today, he found Jason. Kazeya would need to inform Lloyd before going to the emperor, even though Adylia Palace was only a short distance away.
Jason groaned as he stirred. The magic in the pill was spreading through his body. For now, he would remain immobile to save his strength. But Kazeya had one question on his mind: what was Jason doing so close to Adylia Palace when he had made such an effort to stay hidden?
