It was early in the morning by the time Arden and Edin arrived home. The former had used her magic to park their cars while she carried his body to his room, and after entering his bedchamber and laying him on his bed, Arden hovered her hands over his body and began healing him with her light magic. She had already cast a spell to check what kind of injuries he sustained; to her relief, they were mostly physical.

Her arms felt a slight push against her steady stream of light. A hex. It was minor enough for her to remove it without having to resort to potions or any stronger spells, and so her mind muttered another wordless incantation. She let her hands fall to her sides once she had cast all the necessary spells.

Arden paced towards a chair not far from his bedside and took a seat there. Her gaze watched over Edin's body. A minute or two passed. A faint white glow began to radiate from his being, and his head twitched.

He would be alright.

Arden reclined in her seat and continued to monitor him. Meanwhile, her mind rewound to the events that led up to the rescue.

***

A freezing breeze brushed her cheeks as Arden raced across the grassless land. Light flowed down her arms and wrapped around her blades, her hands gripping the hilts firmly.

Ahead of her, shadow beasts coalesced into a rising tsunami. Darkness rolled across the land in a menacing wave.

Her lips tightened in a defiant expression. She pressed on, ignoring the cold pricking her skin. Her dark hair and uniform vanished under the shade.

The wave rose.

It crashed.

She cut through it.

SLICE!

Blinding light flooded the field in a flash. When it had faded, so did the shadows.

Arden cocked her head sideways. A remnant of black was scuttering away on her far left side.

She aimed one blade at it and thrust, sending a stream of white that burned up the beast upon touch.

Her eye scanned the rest of the field. She could no longer spot any beasts fleeing the scene, and the rest of her senses affirmed the shadows' disappearance; the air was no longer as frosty as it was.

Arden shifted her gaze to face the town she had just saved. A cadet was running up to her, panting. "Senior Arden, thank you so much!" he said. "We were almost—we couldn't—y-you saved us."

She acknowledged the gratitude with a short nod. "Any injured?" she inquired.

"We have one bitten by a shadow beast."

She bit her lip. "Take me to him."

The cadet nodded and began pacing in the town's direction. Arden followed and caught up with him, and as they walked side by side, she could perceive a makeshift sickbay.

Arden asked, "So there's only one injured?"

"Six," he replied, "but the other five have minor injuries."

"As in, bruises? Cuts?"

"Mostly bruises, one broke his arm."

"A broken arm isn't minor," Arden said. "Any casualties?"

"None, madam."

She breathed a sigh of relief. Arden hastened her strides, prompting the cadet to speed up, and they reached the sickbay a short while later. A couple of guardians were patching up their fellow men with bandages and other items found in first aid kits.

Arden glanced at the cadet. "Where are the healers?"

"Uh, we have none," he answered.

Arden sighed. "I'm glad I came then."

She strode towards the bed nearest her. On it lay a sentry, the skin of her left arm cold and black. She must be the one who got bitten by a shadow beast. To Arden's relief, the dark magic from the bite had not gone past the sentry's shoulder.

Arden hovered her hands over the sentry's arm, and a stream of light enveloped her from head to toe. The cadet she spoke to earlier only watched.

"I apologize for the late arrival, by the way," she said to him. "Afesta was also attacked by shadow beasts, so I went there first."

"Please don't apologize, Senior Arden," the cadet replied. "You came very quickly. We owe you a great debt."

"No you don't. I was simply doing my duty."

The cadet kept silent, unsure of how to respond.

The roar of an engine car sounded from afar. Arden turned her head. A black sedan had pulled up in front of the sickbay, and a familiar face emerged from the vehicle.

Arden smiled. "If you were here for backup, it's been taken care of."

"I was, but for the other side of town." Norman pointed in the opposite direction. "There was another army coming in from the East."

"Glad that's taken care of." Arden gestured with her head. "Mind helping me out with the others? They've no other healer here."

"Sure I can."

Arden turned her attention back to the guardian she was healing. Norman approached one of the beds and got to work. He continued to converse with his fellow senior as they healed, asking, "How many backup calls did you answer?"

"Including this one? Fifteen," she replied. "I hope this'll be the last one."

Norman nodded in agreement. "Been answering calls since 10:00 p.m., I hope this doesn't last all night."

"Tell me about it." She covered her mouth with one hand as she yawned. "So, you were on the other side of town?"

"Yeah. We just finished healing all the guardians there, then I came here." Norman returned his hands to his sides, having healed a female cadet. "You're good to go."

"Thank you, Senior Norman."

Norman patted her shoulder before moving on to the next person. Silence filled the air as the two seniors focused on taking care of their injured subordinates. By the time Norman had treated the remaining four guardians, Arden was still removing the dark magic from the bitten sentry.

Norman glanced Arden's way. "Shadow beast?"

"Unfortunately. I'm almost done, though."

Norman gave a small nod. He pulled his phone out and browsed it. His eyes then widened in shock. "Arden, you gotta hear this."

She tilted her head to look at him. "What is it?"

"There's a report from Beor," he began, squinting at his phone. "They had like three backup calls earlier."

Her heart skipped a beat. "And I didn't answer them."

"No no no, they've taken care of it. One guy swooped in and destroyed the shadow army all by himself."

"Riven left his station to answer backup?"

"Nope. It was Edin who defeated the army."

Arden's hands hung frozen above the injured sentry—not that she was moving in the first place, but her arms had visibly stiffened. Her lips remained closed despite the urge to open in amazement. "Edin?"

"Yeah, your student. Extraordinary, isn't he?"

She did not respond, returning focus to the guardian she was treating. Her hands stopped glowing after a few seconds, and she kept them at her side. "You're fully healed."

"Thank you so much, Senior Arden."

Arden responded with a nod. She then faced Norman and said, "He didn't tell me that he was going to Beor or staying out this late."

"Well his old partner—Rowan, if you remember—was there too," Norman said, his eyes not leaving the screen. "I assume they were hanging out before this. I knew he was special, but to take down an entire army all alone... you know how powerful you have to be."

"Is he still there?"

"He just left."

Arden paused for a moment.

"What? Thinking of going after him?"

"Perhaps."

"I don't think you need to, he's probably on the way home."

"It's not that I'm mostly worried about," Arden said. "Using that much power can be especially draining if you've never done it before. He could pass out while driving."

"Oh," Norman uttered, his face cold with realization, "you're right."

"I have trackers on all my cars, I should be able to find him."

"I hope you do. Good night."

The two gave each other a brief salute. Arden turned her head to the side and waved, calling her car to her, and got in once it arrived. Her magic helped to fasten her seatbelt as she fiddled with the controls. Target: Radien Equine, License G 101.

A beam of light flashed from the headlamps and morphed into a portal. The car launched, and she disappeared in a flash.

It did not take a minute for her to reach the highway leading out of Beor, hundreds of kilometers away from the post she last visited. The road she was driving on was empty—the nearest discernible car was a civilian SUV she spotted in her rear mirror. She furrowed her brows. Edin's car had to be nearby; there was no way her tracker could be mistaken.

Her eye scanned the area ahead of her more carefully. She could make out an outline of a moving vehicle several meters in front of her, what little moonlight the sky had reflecting off its sleek surface. Arden squinted at its license plate: G 101.

He was indeed in front of her—the car was just not on the road with its headlights turned off.

Alarm bells rang in her head, and she decided to follow him without a second thought. Arden fiddled with the car's controls and entered stealth mode. A thin layer of magic shrouded her vehicle, making it undetectable. She steered it off the road. Though ground and gravel crackled loudly under the wheels, she was not worried in the least—the stealth shield would mask every sound and make sure no track was left behind.

Her body leaned forward as she caught up to Edin's car, slowing only when the distance between them had decreased to the length of two cars. A chill made the hairs on her skin stand on end, and her breath hitched; he was following a shadow beast. Hypotheses bounced off the walls of her head as she attempted to figure out Edin's motives—why would he pursue it by himself? Did he intend to follow the creature to its home, where more of them likely lurked, and slay them in their own home? Was he more intent on meeting its maker? Was he actually aligned with the sorcerer behind the shadows? She shook her head at the last thought. No, he could not be.

Arden looked further ahead of her, catching sight of a thick forest. If the beast had not noticed Edin stalking it by now, it surely would once his car rolled through the woods and snapped a dozen twigs.

Arden parted her lips and whispered, her words wrapping his car in a protective layer of magic. To the untrained eye, it appeared that spell had done nothing—the car was just as visible as it was before.

A few seconds later, the car poked its nose into the woods, its wheels rolling over twigs and dead leaves.

The shadow beast continued its course, unbothered.

Edin and Arden continued their pursual, the two of them decelerating as they entered the woodland. Arden used her magic to see further ahead and detected a clearing in the forest not too far from where they were. She furrowed her brows—was that where the sorcerer had been lurking the whole time? Less than a day's drive from one of Sorien's liveliest settlements? It was not too surprising; her enemy was known to switch between a hundred lairs often, usually by magical means. Then again, the Guild's scouts had scanned and cleared that area before. Perhaps he had found a way around the anti-portal traps that they had laid in each lair they came across.

Edin eventually reached the clearing in the woodland. Arden halted her car at the edge, its nose just peeking from between trees, as she waited for Edin to finish parking. Her eye wandered to the cavern entrance nearby. Even with her body still inside the vehicle, she strongly sensed the air of dark magic diffusing within the cavity. Her stare latched onto Edin as soon as he got out of his sedan and followed him till he disappeared into the cave.

Arden urged her car out of hiding, coming to a full stop a short distance from Edin's sedan. She got out of her vehicle and immediately shivered. One tingling sensation down her spine told her that it was no ordinary chilly wind.

Arden summoned a sword into her right hand. She then set one foot ahead of the other and descended into darkness.

Arden mirrored Edin's every move as she trailed behind him. From the way he hesitated forward, she knew he was not aligned with her adversary—otherwise, he would be looking back often to see if he was being followed, rather than tiptoe ahead to not make his presence known. He must be there for slaughter then. Arden tilted her head. Sure, he did possess the power to wipe out thousands upon thousands of beasts on his own, but he was nowhere near strong enough to take on a dark magician by himself. The nerve of this man! And just when she thought he was humble. Perhaps that battle earlier inflated his ego. She could not blame him; after all, not just anybody could do what he did that night.

Before long, the two had descended to the hall where the sorcerer rested. Edin hid behind a rock; Arden waited in the shadows, observing the dark magician sitting on the stone throne. While it was tempting to strike the sorcerer while his mind was elsewhere, she knew it would not be wise—his reflexes were astonishingly fast, plus he could command stone, the very material surrounding them. Arden glanced at Edin. His contemplative gaze told her he was formulating a plan; what it was, she could not decipher.

Edin sidled to the side and fired a bolt of lightning at the ceiling, breaking off the stalactites.

Arden held back a facepalm.

The sorcerer held up the stones with his magic, as she expected, and tossed the stones to the side. She held her breath as the man's gaze caught sight of Edin, sure that he had invoked the magician's wrath.

Instead, the sorcerer widened his eyes in recognition.

Arden let out a soundless gasp. He was not even mad! Even as Edin continued to battle the sorcerer, she could not move after seeing the look in the latter's eyes. Her nemesis knew Edin, he knew—

The sound of Edin's body slamming against stone snapped her awake. Arden shot a look at the sorcerer. Raw, dark magic rose from his hands as he neared Edin.

Arden leaped and thrust her sword.

SLICE!

A beam of light magic shot out of her blade and knocked the sorcerer back by several meters. She unsummoned her sword and bolted to Edin's body. Her arms slid under his back.

As she lifted him off the ground, his head rolled to meet her gaze. "Arden..."

Then he became still.

Arden turned her back and ran, carrying him in her arms.

***

Arden turned her head to look at Edin, and for the first time, unease filled her gut as she looked at his face. He looked exactly like the sorcerer, from the sharp eyes and small nose to the plump lips and overall facial structure. Swap out the blond locks and blue eyes for white hair and red irises, and she would not be able to tell them apart. She knew he resembled a certain man closely, but—

Arden shook her head.

A moment later, Edin's pale visage regained a slight pink in the cheeks, and his bluish lips were back to being a dark pink. His eyelids moved first, then his arms.

Edin awoke, turning his head to take in his surroundings. He spotted Arden a second later.

Arden breathed a sigh of relief. "My goodness, Edin."

"W-what happened?" he asked, rubbing his eyes. He used his other arm to prop himself upright. "How long have I been out?"

"Fifteen minutes. You're lucky I was following you; you could've died!"

"S-sorry."

She breathed a sigh. "Anyway, Norman told me that you were in Beor earlier," she said. When he did not respond, she continued, "He also told me that you defeated the shadow beasts all by yourself."

Edin touched the back of his neck. "Uh, yeah, I guess I did."

"Yes. Before you say anything, that's not what I'm concerned about. It's what you did after that which concerns me."

He uttered not a word.

She hardened her stare. "What were you thinking?"

"I-I heard Rowan and his partner talking about how shadow beasts can only be created by sorcerers," he started. "I thought, maybe if I chased one, then it would lead me to the sorcerer and I could stop him."

Arden resisted the desire to facepalm. "Do you know how powerful he is?"

He hesitated, "Very?"

"More powerful than most gifteds combined."

Edin bit his lip.

Arden exhaled as she reclined further into her seat. "His name is Damon, and he started his reign of terror three years ago when he committed a surprise attack that wiped out most of the senior guardians at that time. He's been wreaking havoc all over Idelhen ever since."

"That's Damon?" Edin asked. "I didn't know he looked—"

"Not everybody knows," she interrupted him. "You see, nobody has his records or knows anything about his past, so there aren't really photos of him floating around. He's also the kind of enemy who's mostly behind the scenes; he prefers to let beasts do the dirty work for him. That's why there are so many beast attacks nowadays.

"And anyway," she said just as he opened his mouth, "it's past midnight and we're both tired. Your car's in the garage; if you need to get things from there, you can do that tomorrow. Now rest."

He nodded. Arden stood up from her seat, bade him good night, and left the room. The identical faces, their obscure pasts, their sheer power—all of it dwelled in her head. A question gnawed in her brain as she made her way to her bedchamber.

Were Edin and Damon connected?

As Arden's footsteps faded into silence, Edin flopped back into bed. He let out a groan. Arden was right—what was he thinking earlier, chasing shadow beasts and challenging the man who created them? Arden was already incredibly busy trying to protect the realm, and his antics had only added to her burden. Had he gone straight home—

An object vibrated in his pants. A text. Edin fished his phone out of his pocket, opened it, and read: yo edin, got a present for arden yet?

Edin paused. A lightbulb lit above his head, then he replied: I have an idea.