Meenu looked up and though she was in a forest filled with tall trees and thick leaves… she could still see the wall of Lumyryn.

     It was still a great distance away, but Meenu could still see the massive wall.

     The large wall was made of huge bricks and Meenu could barely understand how men could make such a thing. Of course, she had to remind herself that it wasn’t men who made it. They were Lumynos.

     They were capable of a lot more then the average human.

     It was shortly after she made her way out of the forest on her horse that she found a small village that sat right at the border of Raffyre and Lumyryn. She commanded Knight to stay near the edge of the woods as she went into the village to get some food and water.

     She rode her horse in and wasn’t too surprised by the stares.

     She wasn’t wearing her mask, though she knew she should have been, so it hung loosely on her belt, which was hidden under the cloak she wore.

     The hood of her cloak wasn’t on either, as Meenu found it annoying. Her curls were too many and too thick to be able to put a hood on comfortably, even when it was all tied back.

     When she reached a market, which was only a minute after she left the forest, she jumped off her horse, she didn’t worry about tying him. He was a well-mannered horse who wasn’t afraid of anything. He did get along with Knight, after all.

     She kept a smile on her face as she bought a couple things from a few people… but the longer she spent there, the more whispers she heard, and the more upset she got.

     The whispers weren’t about her, but it seemed like the topic of Seliaryn’s disappearance and Roviaryn’s treason were still a big deal here in this small village.

     “Treachery must run in their blood.” A young blonde man said to another man right when Meenu walked by. “It’s no wonder now that Seliaryn killed Dukaryn. He gets it from his cocky father.”

     Meenu stopped walking and looked over at the three men who were talking so cruelly about her friend.

     “I hope he rots.” The second man said, “wherever he is, we can’t have traitors like that alive. You can’t trust them.”

     “You can say that again,” the third, who looked the oldest, said, “and did you hear? They’re keeping his mother alive! She’s probably as bad as–”

     “How dare you!” Meenu hissed angrily as she approached the three men.

     The three men were shocked by the interruption. All three of them were young men who looked like knights in training. They carried swords with them and a small amount of armor.

     But to Meenu, the just looked like ignorant fools.

     “Lady Maryryna is the kindest Lumynos that ever existed. Everyone knows that!” Meenu argued. “And Seliaryn is not a traitor!”

     “Who the hell are you, girl?” The blonde said.

     Meenu was happy they didn’t know who she was. But she kept arguing. “Seliaryn is one of the very few noble men that exist in these lands. He isn’t a traitor.”

     “Are you stupid?” the angry blonde continued, “he swore an oath to protect the king and then he kills him!”

     “His father did the same thing too.” The oldest man said.

     “If you ask me, he deserves everything bad that happens to him, including the death of his parents.” The second added.

     “How could you even say that?” Meenu asked, balling her free hand up into a fist, “that’s just cruel! Everyone knows Seliaryn is a good man! In the short time he was king, he did a lot to help people!”

     “Of the capital.” The oldest man muttered, “he did nothing for us.”

     “A traitor is a traitor.” The blonde said.

     “If what King Avaryn says is true then it’s a good thing that Seliaryn went mad. No one wants a king who won his place through treachery anyways.” The second said.

     Meenu bit her lip and glared.

     And she opened her mouth to continue arguing but the three men gasped and took a couple steps back in panic.

     Meenu blinked, and then she suddenly felt a hand squeeze her shoulder.

     When she turned around, she was surprised to see both Light and Heart behind her, Light being the one with a hand on her shoulder, both of them wearing their masks.

     It was obvious that these men knew that these people were the Warriors of Avaryn. That was what the masked warriors were called now.

     So a panic rose in them as they could feel the annoyed gaze of Light even though he wore a mask.

     “My friend.” Light said, “there is no point arguing with men who know how to do nothing but gossip and put people down. Men like that simply use their words to try and convince themselves and others that they are better and more moral than everyone else.”

     The men started to glare as Heart chuckled.

     “They are simply jealous.” Light finished.

     Meenu started to smile as she looked back at the now embarrassed and furious men.

     But before they could argue with the warriors, Light took Meenu’s hand and pulled her away from them.

     “What are you doing here?” Meenu asked as they returned to her horse.

     “Avaryn asked us to come with you,” Light said, “to protect you if you need protecting.”

     “Don’t be mad,” Heart added, “he also wanted you to have some company on a tough journey like this.”

     Meenu wasn’t mad.

     In fact, she was the opposite.

     She was happy and relieved.

     Part of her couldn’t believe that Avaryn would simply let her go on her own. Though that was what she wanted, she wondered if Avaryn didn’t care for her enough to force her to stay.

     But now she felt relieved.

     It made her happy to know that he was worried about her.

     Which, of course she had to admit, should have been obvious.

     Besides, she really liked both Light and Heart.

     “We are wondering, Meenu,” Light started as they all approached Knight who sat patiently at the edge of the woods, “what your plan is?”

     Meenu felt herself blush, “I have no plan, to be honest.”

     “We thought so.” Heart said, probably grinning.

     She smiled. “I was just thinking of going to his home. I know I’m probably wrong but I wanted to check to see if he was there… and if he isn’t, hopefully I could get some clues as to where he is now.”

     Heart started to laugh as he removed his mask. “On our way here, Light said,” Heart started to mimic Light’s deep voice, “I hope Meenu isn’t stupid enough to believe that she can get through the walls of Lumyryn on her own.”

     Meenu started to laugh, feeling herself blush as Light, who had also removed his mask, rolled his eyes. “Did you really think you could get through on your own?” Light asked, looking at her.

     Light was a very, very handsome young man. His features were chiseled and he had a lot of stubble on his face, clearly from the lack of time to shave. His eyes were small but they were a gorgeous shade of green that almost looked emerald.

     His hair was brown and somewhat short and windswept.

     Overall, Light had this look to him that made him seem very wise for his age. And he was. He was very wise.

     Heart was almost the opposite of Light in terms of looking wise. He was a very handsome boy, though you really couldn’t call him handsome. Since, though he was the same age as Meenu, he looked extremely cute.

     He too had green eyes, which made Meenu often wonder if he and Light were brothers. They acted like brothers sometimes… especially when they had their small arguments.

     But according to Avaryn, they were not related, not at all.

     Heart also had black hair that was a little long. Long enough for it to fall over his eyes a bit and force him to blow his fringes out of his face or push them aside with his hands. He acted like his hair annoyed him a lot, but he never did anything about it.

     But, from the short time Meenu spent with them, one thing was for certain: they were both very strong.

     They were remarkable fighters and even better friends.

     She was glad that Avaryn picked these two to accompany her.

     “Well?” Heart pushed, “did you think you’d be able to get through on your own?”

     Meenu bit her lip, embarrassed.

     She had.

     Light sighed before he started walking towards the Wall of Lumyryn. “Lumyryn is obviously filled with extremely talented and strong Lumynos men and women,” Light started, “no matter what, if we are to go into there, we will be seen. It’s just a matter of who sees us and whether they find us to be troublesome or not.”

     “But we’re King Avaryn’s companions,” Heart said, catching up to his partner, “don’t you think they won’t worry too much about us?”

     Meenu followed behind the two holding onto the reins of her horse, Knight by her side.

     “That’s what I’m hoping for.” Light said, “but we don’t even know if they trust Blood.”

     Heart rolled his eyes, slowed down and took the reigns of Meenu’s horse from her, trying to be a helpful gentleman. “These Lumynos and their trust issues.”

     “I know right?” Meenu said as after she thanked heart with a smile.

     “Why do these people even need such a big wall anyways?” Heart asked.

     Meenu looked at Light for an answer, she was curious about that too. The Lumynos Clan was such a powerful clan that it seemed silly for them to have such a thick wall to protect them.

     If anything, it was the rest of the world who needed a wall of protection from the Lumynos.

     “The wall is as ancient as the clan,” Heart said, still walking in front of the two other warriors. “I heard that during the time that Lumyryn lived, not many knew how to wield the power of their red eyes, so they were as weak as any other human. On top of being weak, they were also hunted down by many ignorant humans who found their red eyes to be a sign of danger and evil. So as a way of protection, the Lumynos built this wall.”

     “But that doesn’t make sense.” Heart said, “if they were equal in strength to us then how could they build such a wall?” He tilted his head back to try and see the top of the still very distant wall. “I’ve never seen anything like it…”

     “They had help. From the Destynians, I believe.” Light clarified.

     “Really?” Meenu asked.

     Light nodded, “The rise of the Lumynos could be accredited to the Destynians. They were good friends at the beginning of the Lumynos history. They could relate, after all. Both groups were rejected from society simply because of how they looked.” Light looked deep in thought, “I still don’t know or understand the reason behind why their friendship isn’t as strong anymore.”

     Meenu thought back to Dukaryn’s plan to invade and take over Destyn. Greed. She thought.

     Well, at least, Dukaryn’s greed.

     “You know a lot about the Lumynos, don’t you, Light?” Meenu asked.

     Light looked at her with a small smile. “Actually, I know very little,” he said, “aside from random tidbits of things I have heard or read.”

     Meenu was surprised.

     He sure made it sound like he knew a lot.

     They walked and walked and walked and rested only for the night. Then when they woke up, they continued to walk. And when they were finally close enough to see the base of the wall, Light turned to Meenu. “Neither your horse or Knight can come in.”

     Meenu knew that that would be the case.

     “You have to tell your wolf to wait here and stay quiet, do you understand?”

     Meenu nodded. She then turned to Knight and held a finger over her lip. “Stay, okay? And you have to be silent till we return.”

     Knight lowered his head sadly like he always did when Meenu had to part ways with him. But he obeyed his mistress.

     Meenu smiled, kissed his snout and scratched his chin before getting back up and looking over at Light. “I’m ready.”

     “Put on your mask.”

     She nodded as she put her mask on.

     Then, before she knew it she found herself in the arms of Light.

     “What–”

     “We have to be fast.” Light said.

     And moments after he closed his mouth and stopped speaking, the three of them ­­were within the walls of Lumyryn.

     Heart chuckled as he stroked his chin with his thumb and pointer.

     Meenu looked at him.

     “They’re watching us,” he said, “they already know we’re here.”