Kael awoke, breathing in the chilly morning air in the forest. He found himself sitting on a large branch with his back leaned on the trunk. But as he looked around, he couldn’t spot Luna. He tried to remember what happened last night, but it only brought him pain. Luna did not seem to enjoy talking about their feelings, or only his feelings. She had just shut him off while Kael was already expressing what he felt for her. The topic must’ve made her uncomfortable.Kael stood from his branch and searched around and below him. Countless branches surrounded him, with no movement or sound, and looking down, he only found snow that blanketed the ground. And so he climbed down. His boots crunched against the snow as he landed, before he made his way to look for Luna. Walking further, he thought he smelled the stench of a corpse ahead, so he continued.Kael found Luna standing behind a big tree. He was about to speak, but then Luna touched his lips with her finger and shook her head. At that

Galloping down the street, Tristan’s sharp gaze focused far ahead. His grip on the reins tightened as he spotted the group’s arrival in the gatehouse. Seeing Bow had darkened his face. After what the man had done to him, he could not let this opportunity to pass. Revenge was all he wanted.The hot wind of noon had brushed against his face, with his silver hair flailing. All the memories from that ship had returned; from the moment Bow had him chained into an anchor before pushing him to drown at the sea. Why the hell would he do that? It’s what Tristan was dying to know, now that Bow had arrived. He recalled the man mentioning that he had worked together with Tristan’s father as dragon hunters. And now that he found out his father was the leader of the dragon hunters, Bow must’ve worked under him.Tristan had not forgotten about Lewis also, who had been kidnapped by those hunters. Seriously, why did they have to do these? After all of what they’d been through … Tristan had never expec

“Idiot …”A familiar voice called Arth as he stood amidst the orange plains of the Desoland. He looked around but found no one. The voice repeated the same word … which made Arth recognize who it was from.He turned around and then found himself suddenly at the peak of the red mountains. The Blood Tower had stood in his view. “Janshai?” he said, remembering this place. It was where he and Janshai went after they had gotten trapped in the Desoland. “Are you there?”“I’m up here,” Janshai’s voice came from the skies.Arth looked up and found only dark clouds. He summoned his dragon wings and flew up along the tower’s height. His chest pounded faster from his excitement.As he reached the top of the Blood Tower, Janshai stood in the middle of the carved circle on the stone floor where a red-light cylindrical barrier had trapped him.Arth’s eyes widened and rushed towards the man. “Janshai!”“No …” Janshai said. “Don’t go anywhere near me, you idiot.”Arth stopped abruptly, furrowing his e

The last wolf had been a big trouble for Kael, as his exhausted arm could no longer keep up with the strength of the enormous beast. But Luna was there to back him up. They took down all the beasts, and it was mostly Kael who had done all the fighting. He couldn’t let Luna exert much of her energy since she still had some injuries … and her alar needed more time restoring. But after their encounter with the wolves, Kael thought he couldn’t handle any more corrupted beasts.They made their way through the forest silently. The white trunks they had passed showed marks of corruption, telling them that the deeper they went, the threat awaiting them had gotten closer. Kael took a deep breath as he walked. He had to relax his arm as it had worked so hard from the previous battle, and it was the only arm he had.Luna turned to him, who seemed to take notice of his expression. “Do you want me to relieve its pain a bit?”Kael shook his head. “I don’t want you wasting your alar only for this.”

“Thanks, Greg,” Tristan said as he received his pay.The old man waved his hand as he stared at the dead boar on the wide table. “You’ve given me a little one today.”Tristan scratched his head. “Yeah. I’ve been off my mind while hunting lately.”“Distracted?”“Just thinking about a lot of stuff,” Tristan said, jiggling the three silver coins in his hand.“Well, you give me little and I’ll pay you little … that’s business, lad.”“Right. I gotta go. It’s Seraphine’s naming day today.”Greg waved his hand again.Tristan stepped out of the butchery and looked up towards the orange skies. The sun was setting, and he had to buy dinner … plenty of ingredients. They’re having a little feast. But he must also not forget Sera’s favorite fruit cake.The streets had grown darker along with the skies as he strolled towards the market. His eyes kept on looking back every minute, as something was off today. They had not shown up to ask him again about their offer, which they had kept on doing these