Young people ran at full speed across countless roots.
Fire and smoke painted the fragmented skies of the Fracture.
Soon, the group moved away from the flames and entered something resembling a devastated field.
Dead red roses scattered in various states.
Arachnid creatures spread throughout the area.
And, of course, countless bodies of youths no older than sixteen.
Over the past few hours, many of these young people had fought for their survival, and now, this particular group was approaching an improvised camp between the roots and a vast cave.
Of course, this was the camp where Kair was.
He watched as the group of lions arrived and Cassian went to meet them.
Taking advantage of those moments, he began to notice something.
To his right, the wolves gathered among themselves.
Only one or two other canine and a few felines here and there were mixed among them.
The lions were almost all gathered in the same area, while the serpents seemed unwilling to even stay together among themselves.
Yet at the same time, they did not mix with any of the other Lineages.
Everyone is in the same boat, but they still rely on the Lineages of their own kind…
And here I am.
Alone.
Over the past few hours, several groups had arrived at the camp, nearly doubling the number of people there.
All of them carried the same empty, dark look of those who had seen too much.
Rumors had already spread that other camps had been established in different regions, but this was one of the largest.
And that only made Kair even more worried by the damn question.
How many will make it to the camp and be safe?
No…
Will this camp really be safe with so many people here?
The more Kair thought about it, the more he reached conclusions he did not want to accept.
His thoughts were interrupted by an arm wrapping around his neck and Rovan’s familiar voice reaching his ear.
“What goes on inside that little head with no hair or ears?
Could it be something as empty as your surname?” The voice carried a comical tone that made some of the wolves hold back their laughter while others burst out laughing.
“And even without a single trace of wolf lineage, he endured a poison that could have brought down several of you and still came out alive.” The voice was gentle, but carried a hint of strangeness and admiration.
Cassian’s words reached Rovan’s sensitive ears.
“Grrr…” A low growl of protest was all Cassian received before Rovan walked away.
Kair did not have time to say anything.
When he looked beside the root where he was sitting, he noticed a piece of meat.
Most likely from the wolves’ supplies.
It had been left there.
Did he leave this for me?
Kair devoured it before anyone could notice it was missing.
Cassian never took his eyes off him, but his mind did not seem to be there.
Kair did not need to be a genius to know why.
Looking down the narrow path between the roots, he saw that the fragmented sky had been replaced by a black cloud.
Whatever Princess Elyra was doing, along with Rael, it had been enough to obscure the little light that remained in the sky.
I have a bad feeling about this…
Perhaps because they were lost in their thoughts, or simply because of the sense of safety the camp provided, many of the young people had lowered their guard.
— Far from Kair’s camp.
A young wolf with bluish fur and a fluffy tail instead of ears bowed before the young man with black-and-white ears.
“Young Lord!
We tried to speak with the Princess, but she ignored all of us.
Now, we’re moving the Lineages connected to water to try to reduce the flames in the roots.
But…” The young wolf wagged her tail, a look of concern appearing on her face before she continued.
“But the fire has already spread too far and cannot be extinguished, only contained.” Rael finished what the young wolf had been afraid to say.
“Yes, Young Lord…” Her fluffy blue tail lowered as if she were ashamed of her incompetence.
Rael let out a heavy sigh.
He knew that if his father had ordered them to contain the roses rather than destroy them, there were more than enough reasons for it.
He had their best interests in mind.
His father was one of the Empire’s greatest generals and must have had his reasons.
Rael had grown up knowing how to obey orders, but also how to understand them.
And this was one of those classic cases where you acted first and questioned later.
The winds carrying the smell of burning stirred his hair, which followed the same patterns as his ears.
Something is wrong with this test.
I read the family’s records.
I prepared during my spare time, even though I had very little of it.
Not once were the roses trapped by webs, but at the same time, no one had ever burned this many of them…
Rael did not like this absence of precedent.
Now, after so many hours of the test, hundreds of wolves worked under his command.
Several camps had been established to house the wounded and incapacitated.
The cold sensation, even amid the heat coming from the fire, was so real that he raised a hand to his chest and pressed against it deeply.
Nearby, there were still other wolves and members of various Lineages.
They noticed the strange behavior of their Young Lord, but before they could ask…
“Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…” Like a low growl mixed with the snore of someone who had been asleep for a very long time, the sound echoed throughout the region surrounding Rael.
Every wolf’s fur stood on end.
They were naturally sensitive to scents and to the presence of an apex predator.
Far away.
Amid the flames, a young princess stared at the screen floating before her with a mixture of curiosity and happiness.
But it was all in vain when a shadow began to stretch from behind her.
Something that carried the feeling of being ancient, vast, and powerful.
Her red, slit-pupiled eyes, perfectly matching her crimson hair, slowly turned toward her back, and a deep fear seized the young serpent.
Staring back at her.
Hundreds of eyes of different colors, all showing clear signs of intelligence and something deeper.
Madness.
Pure, vast madness dominated those hundreds of eyes.
At that moment, the princess who had always stood at the top of the hierarchy, who made everyone fear her wherever she went, and who hated the elders, would learn that even in rare cases…
It was wise to obey the orders of her elders.