| 𝒮𝑜𝓊𝓉𝒽 |

Leon was stood out the front of an old stone door, he knocked three times and waited patiently for someone to respond. Left and right were both the same, a tunnel that connected throughout the mountain, the exact scale of the tunnel system in the camp was unknown, to the low ranking Guardians at least. The sound of scrapping came from the door as he slid open, the other side revealed Alex.
"My boy, come in, come in." His happy attitude seemed to be at an all time high, Leon didn't hesitate to enter. Inside was a large room with carving scatted all along the stone walls, many different sets of gold armor were displayed next to his desk, each of these had a different design and a different purpose for when he was in battle. The desk itself was like Leon expected, gold, tiny little wings were carved throughout the desks design. The seat that was meant for guests was the polar opposite of Alex's, badly aged and almost in a state of decay. As he sat down on the seat it creaked and stretched, for a second he thought it was about to fall apart.
"So Leon what can I do for you." He asked.
"During breakfast I overheard some Guardians talking about a mission of some sorts, apparently they are being sent to the City of Laas." His voice had an annoyed tone to it.
"And?" Alex was completely oblivious to what Leon was trying to put across.
"Why wasn't I informed, they are part of my squad surely I should of been told about this sooner?" His eye brows raised and he sat up straight, waiting for a response.
"Ah yes well I'm afraid you just aren't ready." Alex looked down towards the papers on his desk and started writing, it seemed like he had forgotten Leon was there, or at least no longer cared.
"With all due respect sir if I'm not ready that why is Sam going, she's been in this camp the same amount of time as me." With every new sentence his voice became more stressed. Alex sighed and responded, head still down and focused on the papers.
"Because when I got back one of your squad members told me about Sam kicking your ass, if you can't handle a fellow Guardian how can you handle whats out there." He licked the tip of his finger and gently flipped one of the papers. Leon's face now started to turn a shade of red.
"But they just said the mission was to get supplies, why is it such a big deal that I go with them for that."
"No means no" Alex's tone hadn't changed through out the conversation, his mind was already locked in.
"But sir..."
"Say sir one more time and I'll feed you to the fucking ents. When I say no boy it means no. Leave my sight before I remove yours." His face fell pale, his hands too. After he thought over what Alex just told him he thought it best to leave, not questioning him anymore. In a rush he came through the door he came and walked out, not even a glance back towards Alex. He thought over the situation as he walked back down the hallway and none of it made sense to him. Why on earth would he not be allowed to go on this mission, sure Sam beat him in a fight but that didn't mean much on a supply run. As he was lost in his own thoughts a man bumped into him and kept walking. Out of instinct he turned around to yell at the guy but he calmed down once he saw who it was. Strangely Octavian was there, he wore a fancy trench coat and had a new haircut.
"Hey Octavian" He rushed over and tapped him on the back.
"Ahh I thought it was you." He turned with great speed and hugged him, after a few seconds he pulled away and grinned.
"How are things here in the camp?"
"Eh, have my good days and have my bad ones."
"Understandable." He nods for a little before they both fell silent, they were never really much talkers especially to each other.
"So how's the family." Leon broke the ice which was a relief for both of them.
"Not so good, not long after you left my father was killed. Amelia's fine shes just been helping me look after our kingdom." Leon's face shifted, his smile now turned into a stone cold look.
"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that."
"Don't worry its fine, shit happens. I'm just here to pick up a few items from Alex." Both of them quickly changed the conversation, it got to awkward between them.
"Ok well good luck with that." He chuckled to himself. Octavian nodded awkwardly then turned away from him, starting to walk the other direction.
"Wait one more thing. If you see my mother and sister again tell them I said hi, haven't been able to contact them ever since I left." His tone was worried one.
"Will do" Octavian remained a straight face before turning away once more and walking off. Leons face remained a mess after hearing the news of Jay while Octavians switched the moment he turned away, his sinister grin was completely out of view from Leon. Further down the direction Octavian went was Az, he stood there in silence, seemly to overlook their whole conversation, his intentions were unclear however.

| 𝐸𝒶𝓈𝓉 |

A loud knock woke Tara from her deep sleep, her eyes slowly adjusted to the morning glow. For a second she had forgotten where she was, out of instinct she thought she was back in the castle. Once she realized that this room wasn't her own she started to panic, slowly fear built up and her mind raced with many thoughts. With a stutter in her voice she responded to the knocking.
"Who is it?" Moments later the door slowly opened, on the other side was Mary.
"It's just me Tara" Her warm smile and her kind voice brought Tara back to her senses.
"Oh hey, morning." She sat up in bed still covered in the blanket. Mary shut the door and walked inside, a few steps later and she was sitting on the end of the bed. Tara began to think over what happened the day before, the knights in red haunted her thoughts.
"What happened yesterday, it's all a blur to me." Mary sighed when she asked this, it was something she knew had to be said.
"The kingdom got taken over from the inside, the new knights came to take you but luckily four or five of the queens guards were able to escort you out of the castle. Sadly the other guards were killed, my husband who served your mother was able to bring you here. As long as you're with us you'll be safe." She smiles warmly, trying her best to see positive.
"My mother, what about my mother." Tara's voice cracked, she was desperate and afraid.
"I...I... I'm sorry Tara, she didn't make it during the take over." Her voice trembled as she spoke, the feeling of dread took over as she stared at the broken child. Tears poured from Tara's face as she collapsed onto the bed, the scream that followed broke Mary's heart. Tara lifted her face and stared at Mary, her eyes had darkened for the sheer amount of tears and her lips trembled.
"I...I" Words didn't form properly but she tried her best, emotions took the best of her.
"I want to see my brothers!" She screamed and fell forward into Mary's arms. Mary held the broken child in arms but nothing could stop the pain, she tried patting her back and holding her tighter but it wasn't enough. The fact that she could never see her mother again left her in a state of loneliness, along with the fact that her two brothers were so far away from home. Mary knew she needed to protect Tara with her life from now on, this fourteen year old had lost almost everything at such a young age, she needs all the help that she can get.

| 𝒩𝑜𝓇𝓉𝒽 |

Francis sat alone at the living room table. Elliot had left just under an hour ago, the elder wolves had some urgent news for him, Francis however wasn't allowed to know, not at the moment anyway. The fire sizzled and cracked, the red glow warmed the side of his body. The plate under him had cooked deer, this one in particular was one of the deers roaming Trident Falls.

One thing that he couldn't get off his mind was what he saw in the castle. It's aura broke him down into a mindless follower, he was afraid but amazed at the same time. It spoke in an unknown tongue but it still managed to direct its message. The more he thought of the creature the more it faded from his memory, everything about the whole experience seemed to be dream like. The weird thing was when he made it back his uncle on that day his uncle seemed to be worried, not over where he had been but on why he was gone for so long. It turned out that he had been missing for almost three hours, he swore he only talked with the creature for not even five minutes. Something strange was at a play in Trident Falls, it just wasn't clear. The sound of the wooden door sliding open drew him out his thoughts. Stood in the doorway was Elliot, his skin was a sickly pale and his eyes were a glassy red. Two lanky figures stood behind Elliot, their appearance was covered by heavy layers of clothing, Francis could tell from the Wolf markings on their cloaks that they were most likely the elders. Elliot stumbled towards the fire place, his attention didn't turn to Francis once, something serious clouded his mind of all other thoughts. The two figures quickly followed him inside, after they removed their hoods it was easy for Francis to tell who they were. Echo and Silver, the two elder brothers who led the kingdom, their rule over the land was said to had started over a hundred years ago, Francis found it hard to believe that part of the tale. The two of them were fixed on Francis, the look the gave him was one of fear.
"Francis this is Echo and Silver." He sounded out of breath, his eyes were still glued to the fire. Francis was nervous around the two but did the best he could to hide it in his words.
"My lords." He fell onto one knee and looked down into the ground.
Echo shook his head and pointed to a chair.
"Please sit down, Silver and I have some news regarding Evanora." His aged voice mumbled. His ears flickered in confusion, Francis hadn't heard any news from back home in months, now that there was some why would the elders need to tell him.
"Of course." He quickly shot back up to his feet and sat on the chair, Elliot remained near the fire, he was normally silent but never this silent. Silver and Echo stepped forth and looked down at Francis, their cold emotionless stares sent a small shiver through his back. Silver spoke in a voice opposite his brother, loud and booming.
"We have received a letter from one of our sources in Evanora, Word has it that the king of Blood, Octavian, took the kingdom from the inside with the help of his sister Amelia. They were successful." Hearing both of those names froze him, he remembered the two vampire siblings from the countless birthdays and meet ups.
"What about my family?" His voice remained calm. The two elders glanced over at one another for a second then back towards Francis. Echo continued from where Silver left off.
"Your brother Leon had joined the Guardians prior to the takeover, he's safe as far as we know. Your sisters whereabouts are unknown at this stage. Your mother was... She was executed." His eyes quickly became to Elliot's, red and glassy. Shedding a few tears was all he could do, he was always one to show little emotion on the outside, on the inside he was destroyed. The first thoughts that ran through his head was of his mother, the great moments they shared together but slowly his thoughts drifted elsewhere, now all that was on his mind was revenge.
"What are we going to do about it..." His voice cracked and roughened.
Silver spoke up once more.
"Nothing as of now, but soon enough we can plan our attack."
"Why the fuck are we waiting." The two elders were shocked by his sudden mood shift, they thought he would be more sad then angry.
"The King of Blood now has control of the West and the East, they even have allied themselves with the South. This new order they are working towards seems to have won over the people."
"That doesn't matter, us wolfs have taken on vampires and angels countless times over the years, this shouldn't be any different." Both elders expressions changed to ones of disappointment, as they are about to response Elliot joins in on the conversation.
"Francis is right, it doesn't matter who the fuck the Vampires are allied with we will tear them apart. I thought the two of you would of been the first wanting revenge, your Queen is dead, my sister... is dead." He marched over to the two Elders, his figure towered over the two and he looked down at them with anger in his eyes.
"Trust me the two of us are just as angry as you are, we just think its best to wait and build our troops up, us Werewolves haven't been in battles for countless years." Silver pleaded with him, trying his best not to piss off Elliot anymore.
"Fine. We will wait." Elliot turned to Francis for the first time during the whole conversation, he could tell that his uncle was just as angry as he was, they both were very similar in that regard. The two Elders both nodded and turned back towards Francis.
"We are truly sorry about your mother, when the time comes we will get revenge for what the Vampires have done." Francis stayed silent, he only nodded in response.
Silver turned towards Elliot and placed his hand on his shoulder.
"We will give you two a moment." The two of them turned to each other and nodded then left the house. Elliot stood just in front of the door, he stared at Francis for a few minutes, no words were shared.
"I'm sorry Francis." His voice showed true emotion, emotion Elliot rarely showed in front of him.
"Don't be uncle Elliot, nothing we could of done anyway." Elliot walked over and gently sat down on a chair opposite to Francis.
"If you want to vent your feelings or just talk I'm here for you." He cracked and smile and waited for a response. Francis couldn't believe the kindness his uncle was showing, never in his life had he seen his uncle act this way.
"There is something I do want to talk about, but its not about my mum... It's about..." His speech slowly died down as he remembered the creature in the castle, it haunted his thoughts even when he was no where near the ruins.
"Whatever it is Francis you can tell me." His normally rough voice came across as kind and friendly this time round. He sighed and rubbed his eyes, he was now ready to tell him everything he's seen.
"Each time we've visited Trident Falls I've seen something, at first it was just a strange deer but over the past few weeks its become a lot more real. I can feel it watching over me now, it waits for me on its stone throne." Elliot's ears peaked up, this information really intrigued him but at the same time creeped him out.
"What is it, A person of some sorts?" He tried his best to understand what Francis was saying but deep down he was lost.
"Not a person... I.... I don't know what It is." He slowly began to cry, his breathing became more fast pace.
"I can feel it watching us now." Elliot leaned over the table and grabbed his hands, Elliot's grip was ice cold but reassuring.
"Listen to me, whatever it is you saw it isn't here now. If you would like I could talk to the Elders about this... Thing?" Francis snapped from his state of panic, he nodded in response and cracked a small smile. Elliot let go of his hands and got up onto his feet, in moments he was gone, left the room in search of Silver and Echo. Francis sat in silent, the sound of the fire was no more, all wind from outside seemed to have stopped. The more he tried to think of his mother the more other thoughts took over, they were of what he saw in the castle, the mist... The creature.