Ethan II was the most terrified he'd ever been in his life. He'd been on the upper levels of the castle-- watching the smoke from a nearby fire drift into the sky-- when some thing came through the darkness, heading straight for him.

It wasn't long before the warning horns sounded and he was whisked inside. Shouts filled the air as guards and staff alike began running through the halls. At the earliest opportunity, one of the many secret passageways were opened and Ethan was ushered through it. He'd never experienced anything like this before; Hathorian had never been under attack during his lifetime.

As they traveled down halls and made a plethora of turns, Ethan quickly lost track of where they were in the castle. Finally, they emerged from the tight corridors and into a room very few knew about, a room that'd been prepared for a situation very similar to what was happening now.

The room was only large enough to contain the four stagecoaches within and their steeds. The dark horses jostled around in anticipation, the coachmen trying their best to keep them under control.

Ethan's father was standing at the back of the stagecoaches with the rest of his family.

"Ethan!" his mother shouted, her voice filled to the brim with relief. Marcus and Angelina were held tight in Rema's arms; she wasn't going to allow any of her children to leave her sight.

"Good," King Ethan said. Gesturing to the carriage on the right, he said, "Once all of you climb in, some of our best men shall be leading you to a safe location until the threat in neutralized."

"You're not coming with us?" Ethan asked his father.

"I'm the King, I can't run away from my responsibilities."

"Then I'm staying too." Ethan stepped forward from his family, trying to conceal how he puffed out his chest. 

"No, you'll go with your mother and your siblings; it's up to you to protect them if anything should ever go wrong."

"But-"

"Silence! You're wasting time." The King hardly ever rose his voice and the shock was enough to make Ethan back down. "I love you all; you'll be hearing from me shortly." Giving his children farewell kisses on the cheek, he made it clear that it was time for them to leave.

The King helped his family into the carriage before giving the signal for the aggregation to move. He was gone before the doors to the outside could even open, walking back through the hidden passageways. 

His destination: the throne room; he had a throne to protect.

Hernon was still at a lost for words. What were you supposed to say after something like this? He understood what Darion was going through, so he also understood that Darion most likely wanted to be left alone at the time; but with the castle under attack and the only person strong enough to defeat it being Darion, Hernon knew them giving up just wasn't an option. The only problem was that he had absolutely no idea how to bring Darion back to reality.

Thankfully, the horns solved that problem for him.

Darion stopped muttering as the alarm was raised, signaling that the castle was actively under attack. The sound was unwelcoming in how familiar it was, but the rhythm was different; it was faster with a shorter amount of time dedicated to each blow of the horn. 

Darion's reaction appeared slow as he lifted his head out from in between his legs. He looked towards the castle, his eyes red and wet. The moment the long shuddering breath escaped through Darion's nostrils, Hernon knew he was planning to do something drastic. Hernon almost didn't notice the wind picking up, but once he did, he was scrambling to his feet. Darion tried to fly off, but Hernon jumped at him, grabbing on to his legs with enough momentum to push him out of the wind, sending them both back to the ground.

Darion was on his feet with Aslander pointed at Hernon before the other man could even look up. "Stay out of my way," Darion said, his voice tense as he tried to control himself. "Don't make me hurt you; you know I don't want to."

Hernon didn't say anything before sweeping Darion's legs from beneath him. Moving quick, Hernon kicked the sword away and pulled Darion into a headlock. "I know you aren't focused because if you were, I sure as hell wouldn't have been able to do this." Darion tried to struggle against the hold but soon gave up. "You haven't given a single thought to what you're about to do and I highly doubt that you have the preservation of your life in interest at the moment."

"Why should I care about staying alive?" Darion said, his words coming out in a harsh manner. "Why do I deserve to keep breathing and living out my life when she's lost hers thanks to me?"

"You're not responsible for her death and we both know that. The people who actually are responsible are in the castle right now and if we don't act soon, all will be lost." Darion seemed to be considering what Hernon was saying; he didn't struggle and the small lines of flame running across his body dimmed. "I know what you're going through right now, and I know it's hard--"

"You don't know anything about what I'm going through!" Darion shouted, cutting Hernon off. He returned to struggling; Hernon almost lost his hold on Darion, but his grip remained strong. The flames traveling across Darion's body grew brighter and hotter than they were before, now hot enough to actually hurt the other man.

Hernon knew he had to think quick or else Darion would break free and fly off into is death. He came to the conclusion that magic was his only hope and that his one lesson was going to have to be enough. Hernon recalled what Darion had said to him about how love was his connection to the magic that was already surrounding him.

"I want you to think of love; what it means to you, when you've experienced it in your life, and I want you to hold on to these thoughts." 

Hernon closed his eyes and let love flow through him, but instead of thinking of heat as he'd done the first time, he thought of the cold. After a few seconds, the heat became more tolerable and Darion became easier to hold.

"How are you doing this?" Darion asked, shuddering in Hernon's arms.

Hernon opened his eyes to see his arms covered in a light layer of frost. There were no longer any flames racing across Darion's body, and when the man breathed, a cloud escaped his mouth.

It seemed as if Hernon had found his specialty in magic.

"I'm utilizing everything you've taught me," Hernon said. He spoke low and tried to conceal just how surprised he was. "There's something I want to tell you; something I think you need to hear."

The snow crunched lightly underneath his feet as more lazily drifted down around him. His bow was in his hand and his quiver was filled to its maximum capacity with arrows. Hernon came to a stop at the edge of the forest, staring into the endless rows of trees.

The forest was one of legend; it was deemed the "Magic Forest" by people near and far, yet Hernon always referred to it by its actual name the "Eniglandic Forest." The forest was said to be filled with magical creatures that never left its boundaries, something Hernon knew to be true. The Eniglandic Forest was a magic hot spot-- there was so much magic anyone could feel it just by getting close; a light tingle that came from under the skin-- and the creatures within Eniglandic were ingrained with this magic; morphing and evolving in ways no man understood.

Hernon took a deep breath and took a step in. He'd been tasked with going out and hunting down the night's dinner. He kept alert for movement and any signs of a predator, one arrow always nocked.

Not long after entering the forest, a buzz came from behind him. He looked back to see a small vibrant green bird flapping its little wings as fast as it could. The bird flew in place for a few seconds before lighting up and disappearing in a swirl of color. The bird reappeared on the other side of his head and flew off into the trees. Hernon smiled at the bird and kept moving forward.

It took him two steps to realize that something was following him.

Quick as lightning, Hernon whirled around, raising his bow and aiming, ready to strike down whatever was behind him.

"Don't shoot!"

Hernon groaned and lowered his bow. It wasn't a dangerous magic-infused animal behind him, but something much worse: his little brother in a forest full of dangerous magic-infused animals-- weilding nothing but a dagger. Eric was only a year younger than him, but he was too young to be in such a dangerous place; Hernon knew even he himself wasn't old enough to be in the forest alone, but his dad had injured himself earlier that week and was still healing.

"Eric, you've got to be kidding me," Hernon said through gritted teeth. He shoved the arrow in his hand back into his quiver, taking away any chance of him stabbing his brother. "Why are you here?"

"I wanted to come hunting with my big brother, why else?" Eric didn't seem to be scared of his brother's rage or the fact that anything could be in this forest and all he had with him was a dagger. "There's no harm in that."

"No harm?" Hernon shouted before taking a breath and lowering his voice. "No harm? Are you serious? You aren't supposed to be here! It's far too dangerous!"

"You're here, aren't you?"

"No, I don't need that from you right now." Hernon looked around. There was a lake on side of them that glittered in the sun as small lazy waves rolled over its surface in the light breeze. Hernon knew where they were and could get them out of the forest in about ten minutes. "I'm going to take you home."

"Oh, come on--"

"Shut it! Not another word from you, understood?" Eric nodded. "It shouldn't take us very long, but I'm going to need you to listen to every word I say and follow every instruction I give without hesitation, okay?" Eric nodded. "Good."

The boy's eyes widened.

Hernon had thought his sibling was about to start crying until a flock of the vibrant green birds flew past them, teleporting around and screeching. Hernon knew the birds weren't the reason for all of the color draining from Eric's face. He slowly turned around to see what was behind him.

A creature resembling a boar stood a good ways away from them, staring them down with eyes that were pure black. It didn't appear so due to the distance between them, but Hernon knew that animal was probably as tall as a man. Usually, he would've noticed the signs of a boar much earlier and would've climbed up one of the infinite trees for protection, but this time he'd been too busy scolding his little brother.

"Don't make any sudden movements, he will give chase and he will catch you," Hernon whispered. He began slowly backing up, hoping that Eric was doing the same. He could just barely remember something about these creatures that he knew was very important. It wasn't the name-- he never bothered to remember names-- it was something else. The ground seemed to shudder and that's when Hernon finally remembered:

They hunt in pairs.

"Move!" Hernon shouted. He turned to see another one of the boars charging at them from the side. He lunged for Eric, tackling him several feet across the ground and out of the boar's path. The creature couldn't stop it trajectory, one of its giant tusks taking a chunk out of a tree as it passed by. The boar finally slid to a stop right by the water. It turned to face them and the brothers finally got a good look at the thing.

Its coat was black with shiny golden lines going down its back. A giant tusk jutted out from each side of the mouth which dripped saliva out onto the ground. Its giant ears twitched as it took in the prey lying helplessly on the ground in front of him.

The water erupted as a scaled creature just as large as the boar emerged from the water. The creature went straight for the boar which barely had any time to turn around and defend itself. The two creatures engaged in a fight, scratching and swinging at each other with the deadly weapons Eniglandic provided to them.

Hernon's eyes returned to the first boar that'd originally distracted them; it was now charging directly for them, nothing but death in its eyes. A hiss escaped the creature from the water as the boar landed another hit with its tusk. 

Hernon knew they didn't have much time.

"We're leaving, now!" Hernon pulled Eric up by the arm and dragged him in the direction of the nearest forest edge. He knew they weren't going to make it all the way to the edge without having to fight one of these things, but he had no idea how he was going to handle the situation.

Sweat was already dripping down into his eye and he could see Eric already faltering with his steps. He looked behind him and concluded with a grave feeling that they had about a minute before the boar caught up to them, though the second boar was no where in sight. Hopefully, the creature from the water had killed it.

"Eric!" Hernon shouted. "When I tell you to dive to the right, I need you to trust me and dive, okay?"

Eric didn't even try to talk; he simply nodded in response.

The boar was finally closing in, the grunts of the creature growing too loud for comfort. Hernon looked behind him again, essentially running blind as he judged when to signal his brother. The boar tensed its neck, ready to swing out.

"Dive!"

Both boys jumped from in front of the boar and dove into the snow, just being missed by a tusk. The boar jammed its feet into the ground, but couldn't stop from sliding into a tree. A crack sliced through the air as part of the trunk splintered, snow from the covered branches shaking lose and drifting down. Hernon motioned Eric to move away and went off in the opposite direction. He nocked an arrow and sent it flying. The boar suddenly jerked into motion, causing the arrow to sink into its leg instead of its head as intended.

The arrow caused the boar to roar, but didn't even come close to stopping it. Its eyes fixated on Hernon and it charged. Hernon shot another arrow, but the boar smacked it out of the air with its tusk. Hernon had just bent to run when Eric emerged from behind a tree, jumping onto the boar and sinking his dagger into its back. The boar veered from Hernon, roaring in pain. The boar rammed the side of its body into a tree, sending the boy on its back flying off, but he'd been prepared and rolled to his feet moments after hitting the ground. Eric sprinted over to Hernon as the boar rampaged through its pain.

"How'd I do?" Eric asked, his voice shaking from fear.

"Fantastic, now I need you to climb one of these trees and stay there no matter what happens." Eric looked as if he wanted to protest, but Hernon grabbed his arm and cut him off. "Everything's going to be okay, but I need you to get out of harm's way. Okay?"

Eric nodded. He ran to the tree closest to him as Hernon turned back to face the beast. Eric grabbed some rocks from the base of the tree before beginning his climb.

Hernon knew he wasn't going to get many more chances to take this beast down, so he decided to take his time. He nocked an arrow and ran behind a tree, peeking out to locate the boar; it was finally calming down from Eric's attack and was swiveling its head back and forth trying to locate him. Hernon took a deep breath and stepped from behind the tree, aiming right between the boars eyes as it spotted him. The boar charged and Hernon let his arrow fly.

It went too high.

The boar didn't deter when the arrow planted itself in the animal's back. Hernon tried to get behind a tree, but the boar was able to change its course. The tusk sliced through the tree like butter, the force of the impact sending chunks of tree trunk and Hernon flying through the air. Arrows spilled from his quiver as it was thrown from his back, his bow landing in the snow just out of reach.

Hernon groaned as he flipped himself over onto his back, immediately wishing that he hadn't. The boar was walking up to him and he had nothing to defend himself with. The roar the boar released was victorious; it knew it had finally bested the human. Hernon looked around in a final effort to preserve his life. There was an arrow not a foot from him, but the boar was already upon him.

Hernon made peace with his fate and stopped struggling, waiting for the end to come. Yet it never did. Instead, a rock hit the boar in the back of the head, causing it to turn its head around. 

"You're not going to kill my brother!" Eric shouted, throwing yet another rock.

Hernon reached out and grabbed the arrow. "Hey!" Hernon yelled. The boar looked back at the boy beneath him only to have an arrow lodged between his eyes. The boar jerked, but its tantrum was short lived. It collapsed to the ground; dead.

Shouts of celebration came from the tree as Eric hooted into the sky. Hernon allowed himself to smile as he rose from the ground and retrieved his bow.

The ground shuddered.

It all happened too fast. Too fast for Hernon to comprehend and too fast for him to do anything. The second boar-- wounds sticking out through its now red hide-- came charging through the trees. Eric tried to find something better to hold on to, but he couldn't. The boar rammed into the tree Eric had been in and he fell, reaching out for something to save him the entire way down.

Hernon screamed his brother's name, the snow around him rippling out and into the air. The boar turned his way, starting its deadly charge. Hernon snatched an arrow from the ground and sent it flying within what felt like a second.

He didn't shoot too high this time.

Hernon completely disregarded the fallen boar, only caring for one person at the moment. He had hope; the snow had to have cushioned his fall, right? Even if it hadn't, people fall from trees all the time and end up just fine.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he finally spotted his brother. After that, all he could remember was the red snow.

Although he couldn't see his face, Darion could tell that Hernon was crying. He no longer wanted to struggle, to break free and fly straight into danger without a second thought; he wanted to stay here with who he felt was the only man who understood what he was going through. Hernon finally released Darion, allowing the other man to get up, clearly prepared to stop him if he had to.

"You can't handle this the way I did, Darion," Hernon said as they both rose from the ground. "You can't just give up; nothing good comes from it."

"Give up?" Darion asked. There'd been no mention of Hernon quitting on anything; he'd fought valiantly until the end.

"After I watched Eric die, I carried him out of the forest and back home. I was barely able to tell my parents what had happened and for days after, I secluded myself. I wasn't able to face my parents and the house felt so empty without Eric. Then one day I simply decided to leave.

"I packed my things and left in the dead of night, heading anywhere that didn't resemble my home; its how I ended up so close to castle, right in the middle of this bustling town. I lived on the street and stole whatever I needed to survive. Not long after, I found a place to live and discovered the Fab community. The rest, I'm sure you can piece together."

Darion listened intently, his arms crossed over his chest. "You didn't give up, you were in grief--"

"No, Darion, I did give up." His tone came out harsh, but Darion knew the anger wasn't directed at him. "I gave up on my parents, I just left them to take care of themselves; I even gave up on my brother in a way. I wasn't there when they buried him, Darion; I haven't even fully come to terms with the fact that he's gone. I spent my entire life since that moment ignoring the fact that my brother is dead.

"I don't want you to do that, Darion. If you go in there and get yourself killed because you don't think you deserve to live, you're essentially giving up and you're leaving everyone who cares about you behind."

Darion stood in silence, his mind racing at a million thoughts per second. Hernon watched him carefully, the sound of the horns slowly returning to him and making the wait for Darion's response much more excruciating.

Without warning, Darion turned around and began walking back towards his house. "What are you doing?" Hernon asked, following him.

"We're going to only have one shot at this," Darion said, ignoring the question. "There's a potion I keep in the house. It has the ability to sever somebody's connection with magic, but only for a short time." He extended his arms and the flames slowly consuming the house flew out through its windows, extinguishing from the lack of fuel.

"Why would you keep that lying around the house?" Hernon asked, following Darion inside.

"She..." Darion hesitated. "Diana sometimes used it on the nights I had nightmares. If they were bad enough, my body would have a magical response." Darion carefully stepped through the room, ash and scorch marks surrounding him completely; he would miss this house, but not as much as he would miss who had lived within. He opened the supply closet, taking almost no time to find the anti-magic potion and hand it to Hernon.

Hernon raised the small bottle up to the light coming from a gap in the ceiling. The liquid was dark red and more sluggish than any of the other potions he'd seen Darion create. "So I'm supposed to get Ala to drink this?" Hernon asked.

"Luckily, the potion only has to come in contact with the magician." Darion's voice was muffled; Hernon hadn't even noticed the man had left. He emerged from the bedroom with a bed sheet tangled up in his arms. "Though you should know that the more potion you use, the longer the effects will last."

"Got it," Hernon said, slipping the bottle into his pocket. Hernon eyed the sheets in Darion's hands, slightly confused.

"I'm not going to leave Diana's body exposed for the crows." Darion walked past Hernon and back outside. Hernon quickly cursed his stupidity before following.

Darion wrapped the body tight, allowing no chance for the sheet to come lose. Once he was done, he rose to his feet, only allowing a few moments of silence to pass before turning away from his wife. He'd never imagined that he'd be the spouse left behind and widowed.

He would avenge her, and after, he'd give her the send off she deserved.

Darion wrapped his arms around Hernon's waist and pulled him close. "Close your eyes." Hernon held on as they shot into the sky once more. Within seconds, there was solid ground underneath his feet. They'd landed on the border wall protecting the castle, not far from the passage they'd used to break in what felt like a lifetime ago.

Darion looked out from the castle in the direction he knew the guards would've taken the royal family. He spotted the aggregation not far from the castle, riding away in a diamond formation.

"Darion, look!" Hernon pointed up to the tallest point of the castle. Atop it perched a man with black veins snaking across his pale body: Raum. As if sensing the two eyes on him, Raum turned towards the men, snickering. With a screech, Raum leaped in their direction, his body growing as he descended.

Hernon cursed, nocking an arrow as the other man conjured a ball of flames. As soon as the giant crow rose into view, Hernon released his arrow. The demon curved his flight to the side, the arrow sailing past him; and before Hernon could grab another arrow, Darion was pulling him to the ground. Raum went soaring over their heads, his claws snapping at them as he passed. Darion was up on his feet and hurtling flames in an instant. Raum screeched, faltering in midair as the flames scorched his body.

The demon flew away-- at no surprise to Darion-- for killing the royal family was his main priority; not the two men trying to fight him.

"The plan's simple," Darion said, eyeing Raum as he flew off. "I'll take care of Raum while you get to the throne room and protect the king."

Hernon's eyes widened. "How the hell am I supposed to take on the magic assassin all by myself while also protecting the king?"

"Just hold her off until I can get to you." The confidence in Darion's voice fueled Hernon; he knew that if anyone could carry through with saving the kingdom, it was them.

"Come back to me, Darion."

The tone of sadness within those words caused Darion to pause, allowing his mind to finally comprehend everything. "I already lost someone I loved today, I'm not going to give up another." 

Hernon smiled as Darion shot into the sky, giving chase to the crow. Giving his weapons one last check, Hernon entered the castle. He only had one shot at this, and he didn't intend to waste it.