“I need to know what happened that day.”

  With her hands placed on her hips, Aria was staring at Kaen.

  For the first time in a while, they had found themselves alone since the group collectively agreed to go south. Kaen had spoken of a strange man who called himself “Eight.” Crystal had made the connection that this was the same person who gave her Draco’s book about a decade ago, but they could not surmise anything more besides the fact that he was an Ice Elemental considering his hair color.

  Therefore, it was unlikely that he was directly related to Sorn.

  However, in his part of the explanation, Kaen had omitted the fact that Aria had died. She had lived through that somber moment, accepting her end as she felt her own life fade away from her. The next thing she knew, she was in a strange cave. Many stories were told in that room, and frankly, she didn’t know what to believe. She trusted Crystal, and her sister of course— but that was about it.

  She had deduced that since Kaen was the one who brought her here, he was the most likely to know what happened to her after she had died. The way Kaen averted his eyes from her piercing gaze further confirmed her suspicion, so she decided to take that as a reason to press him more.

  Scrunching her feet on the layer of snow, she let the dead Rabball she had just hunted swing loosely from her hand as she leaned in towards Kaen, his blue eyes reflecting the light of the bright morning sun.

  “Kaen. Tell me whatever you didn’t say earlier. I need to know.”

  She took a step towards him, but this time, Kaen didn’t flinch as he crossed his arms and met her gaze. Aria had always been shorter than most, standing at around 1.5 meters, but Kaen was only a few centimeters taller than her. Of course, he was also about two years younger than her as well. Nevertheless, standing at the same eye level as someone else for once made him strangely easier to talk to.

  “After you died… you just came back as a strange ice bird. Eight said you had the Phoenix anima. Then, he got you out of that weird bird thing and you were unconscious. After that, I just brought you here.”

  Aria continued to peer into the boy’s neutral face. “And there’s nothing you’re hiding from me, right?”

  Kaen shook his head.

  Aria frowned. His explanation felt unsatisfying, but then again, that was just talking to Kaen in general.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  “Ohhhh, what are you kids doing alone together? I hope it’s not something devious!”

  Toren was approaching them. He had clearly been using his time more efficiently than they had, as he had caught four Rabballs. Out of their strange makeshift group, Toren had been in the highest spirits out of them all. Though Aria suspected that his attitude was a way for him to forget his worries about his family’s condition.

  She wished she could say the same about her own family——

  “Who are you calling kids?” Aria frowned. “You’re barely older than us.”

  Toren flamboyantly turned his head towards her, as he tossed his Rabbals onto the ground, making a pile of four critters in the snow. “Indeed your tone lacks any respect for your elders. I am twenty, and you are what, sixteen?”

  “Seventeen,” Aria corrected.

  “And you are fifteen!” Toren exclaimed, turning his gaze towards Kaen.

  “I turned sixteen yesterday,” Kaen replied without enthusiasm. Aria hadn’t been aware of such an occurrence. Generally, someone in a place as important as Kaen would get some rumors spread about him when their birthday was approaching. Being a year older meant being a year closer to replacing Varian as head of the Spears. However, it was apparent that no one truly cared for the “Spear’s Disappointment”

  “Well anyways, it doesn’t matter. You see, when I was your age, I was a far more immature and stupider person than I am today. You two will grow up and realize how stupid the two of you were as well! Therefore, you both are children to me.”

  Aria knit her eyebrows. She wasn’t comfortable with this conversation at all. She didn’t care much for the topic, but Toren’s closeness was what truly worried her. They had for many years upheld an unspoken agreement to ignore each other. But ever since waking up in the cave, he had been talking to her as if there was no bad blood between them.

  Unwilling to continue this conversation for another second, Aria grabbed the Rabballs from the ground and she began the trek back towards the hideout.

  “Hmmm, I wonder if that is her passive method of continuing her disrespect towards me,” Toren mused.

  “I don’t think she appreciated being called a child.” Kaen replied.

  “Would a stone get mad if I called it a stone?” Toren asked. Kaen said nothing in return, because he had never in his life heard such a stupid question.

  Toren took the silence as a sign to feel validated. “Exactly.” he scoffed.

  They began to follow Aria’s footsteps, and Toren gave Kaen a sideways look.

  “You claimed earlier that your desire to venture south is something the man called Eight told you to do. By following that instruction, you would find the secrets you are looking for. Keilan and Crystal are obviously hoping to find their lost brother. Sorn and the Turtle twins are Crystal’s lapdogs. Oden and I both have no place in the Fortress for the time being. However, you are different. Nothing is stopping you from heading back. So allow me to question what your true purpose is. What exactly are these ‘secrets’ you so desperately want to uncover?”

  Kaen continued to look ahead, not meeting Toren’s gaze as he walked.

  “I need to learn more about my mother,” he said after a few moments of silence.

  “Varian’s wife, was it Fiore, the “Blooming Bond”? She died of illness, didn’t she?”

  “Fiore isn’t my mother,” Kaen replied, a definitive edge lacing his voice.

  They had made it to their hideout. It had been three days since departing southward, and so far, the environment hadn’t changed much at all. The group had always been successful in finding some type of spacious cave where they could camp for the night in, and Rabballs were abundant.

  “What makes you say that?” Toren asked as Aria’s figure disappeared into the hideout’s entrance.

  “I don’t know. That’s why I’m going south— to figure it out,” Kaen said.