Nathan

Nathan awoke in a strange place. A place overrun by golden light. The headache seemed to have disappeared, but he felt exhausted. As if every bit of energy had been stolen from him. Just about every part of his body ached, flashes of pain sweeping through him as he groaned.

A purplish-fog entered his vision as he turned, and for some reason, its presence felt assuring.

Where was this?

Was he dead?

"What an imbecile." The sudden voice made him turn, staring at a golden tiger that was staring at him as it licked its claws.

"What is going on? Why am I here?" Nathan asked, looking around to see if he could make any sense of what was going on. The tiger and the fog were the only two things other than golden light. Even the floor he was apparently sitting on was golden, same as his surroundings. Nathan could not even make out any walls or obstacles around him.

"Oh, so you aren't even going to answer me? After you touched me with your filthy wings?" the tiger replied, glaring at him as it walked towards him.

What? This was because the tiger was offended by him touching it with his wings? This was why it had attacked him? Even though he was used to being hated just for existing, this was still an overly exaggerated reaction.

"I apologize for that." Nathan said, knowing that there was nothing he could do. There was power here he could call upon, but he could also see that this tiger was far more powerful than him.

Even here, in his own mind, where he should be at his most powerful, he was too weak to defend himself.

"An apology won't do. A filthy thing like you shouldn't exist. The Solerian family has gone too soft, letting a mongrel like you live. And worse, Druids have gone ahead and given you their protection." the voice turned into a growl as it finished its sentence.

What did it mean the Druids had given him protection? Was it simply talking about the Countess? But how did it know that? Was the tiger reading his mind?

"Tell me, how is it that you went so far to betray your family? Was letting you live not enough?"

What? What was it talking about? What betrayal did he do now?

The tiger stepped forward, a paw striking towards him. Nathan tried to move out of the way, but some force kept him there. Perhaps he should have fought. Perhaps mana would even answer him. But he didn't. The paw was too powerful. This tiger was too powerful. There was no point in resisting anymore. And what reason did he have to fight back anyway?

And then something very strange happened. The fog split apart, letting another person into this strange space. The Countess. How was she here? What was this space? Was it his mind? Or his core?

The tiger turned towards her, growling at her.

"So you're here." it said, turning towards her. "A lot younger than I expected. Tell me, what do you want."

The tiger's demanding tone seemed to echo across the space, and Nathan felt himself cowed by its rage. The Countess would probably step back too. There was no reason to face such a beast for him.

"How about you stop attacking my friend." The Countess said, much to his surprise. Nathan looked at her, observing her expression. The Countess always had mana about her, a spinning collection of five colors that hovered about her.

But right now, that collection was suspiciously absent. There could only be one reason. There wasn't any mana for the Countess to call upon. This was his mind, after all, and she wasn’t a mind mage. And yet she was still fighting for him… A warm feeling spread through his chest, a single tear fell from his eyes.

"A friend?" the tiger began laughing, its laughs sounding more like growls as it walked towards her.

"The druids have gotten soft. Making friends with filthy Fae instead of staying loyal to the treaty of the three. Tell me, how did you sneak this idiot into the ancestral cave? Or have you destroyed that too?" the tiger was growling, as if presuming that she had insulted it somehow. Nathan moved, sitting up as he looked at the tiger walking towards the Countess, this intention clear.

"I am not the one at fault here." Althea said. "Nathan entered the cave with permission from the head of Law, he has every right to be here."

The tiger roared. "What nonsense! There is no Fae in this world that can gain the recognition of the Solerian family. Not after what they did. I care not what tricks you used to conceive him, but I will kill every one of you dirty Fae lovers."

The tiger’s paw rose, moving to strike the Countess as she stiffened. Nathan saw her stiffen, her eyes freezing unnaturally, a tell-tale sign of magic.

"No!" the words spilled from his lips before he could even control himself. Mana responded to him faster than ever before. Black light shot from his fingertips, fading against the golden background as it found itself suppressed.

But Nathan did not give up, he couldn't. Calling on every bit of will he had left, he shot at the tiger. Even if he had to sacrifice himself here, the Countess could not be allowed to die. A lady like her, who cared even for hybrids like him, was rare to come by, and she would do far more good than he ever could. The world needed her, but it could do without him.

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"How disobedient." the tiger said as the black mana struggled to reach it. Even as Nathan focused his attack, the mana seemed to encounter a barrier it simply could not pierce.

The tiger's paw moved, striking towards him instead of the Countess. Nathan pushed ahead. This was his chance. The tiger was distracted.

"Run, Countess!" he yelled, running towards the tiger instead of escaping. The tiger yelped in surprise, and then let out a roar. A roar of anger, anger that he, a ‘dirty fae’ would dare to oppose him.

Nathan felt his vision shake and a spinning feeling take his head, almost forcing him to give up. But he couldn't. There was no way he could give up now. Yes, he would die. The tiger was too powerful. But the Countess…would live. That was what mattered.

Nathan felt his thoughts fade, his vision blurring further as he fainted. The last thing he saw was a flash of golden light, as if a river pouring into the space, that flared the entire space gold.

Then he found himself pulled out, like the current had thrown him out of the space, awake once more. For a second he opened his eyes, catching the scene before he fell to exhaustion.

There was just one thing he noticed. The Emperor's hands stretched towards him, and his father's mana still spread towards the entrance of the cave, clearly just having teleported the princes away.

Even now, the Emperor cared more for him than his own father.

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Althea

Althea watched in horror as the tiger's paw slashed towards Nathan. The tiger seemed to flash through space, appearing before the boy as it slammed his head down. The black mana flickered as the paw neared, unable to protect its master.

Was she seeing him die before her eyes? Dying while telling her to run? Why…

Even though she called him friend, she hadn't actually spent much time with him. In fact, she barely knew him. And yet he was ready to sacrifice himself for her sake. To give her a chance to escape. A chance she couldn’t even take. Even now she felt the fog warning, her power failing as the reason for her being here died.

A sob broke through her as she felt anger course through her. What was this? Why was he dying? Why was she still unable to move? The only thing she had heard was excuses and prejudice. The tiger did not have a single decent reason to kill him. And yet, just because he had power-

Just as the paw was about to land on Nathan's body, golden light broke through. Like a golden river breaking through walls, it swept the tiger away. Mana, bright, golden and grand, it occupied every part of her vision as she found herself waking up back in Diery.

The mana had thrown her out gently. In fact, she was pretty sure that her mana had been replenished. Had the Emperor finally acted? Was this some kind of elaborate test? The kind where they tested a person’s character?

Althea opened her eyes to see the Empress hovering over her, under Pulsie's branches. The plant was too big to call a plant anymore. A tree sized plant, really.

"Can you take me to the ancestral cave, your majesty?" Althea asked before the Empress could speak, keeping her voice hard. "I ask you this not as your niece, but as the head of the Druid clan and the Countess r Diery. I have reason to believe that one of my own has been harmed, and I wish to inquire about it."

The Empress paused. "The ancestral cave is a-"

"I think Nathan is my…seventh cousin, was it?" Althea interrupted. "That means I do have a little royal blood running through me. "

"Eleventh, but yes. I am not sure if the cave will accept you. After all, you are the head of Druid." the Empress said. "Perhaps it would be-"

The Empress suddenly paused, tilting her ears as if listening to someone speaking from far away. And then she disappeared. Althea had an idea why she did that. As expected, a few seconds later, she returned with a comatose Nathan in the Emperor's arms.

The Emperor's arms, not the Marshal's. Althea knew what had happened even without asking.

"Please, place him here." Althea gestured to the place she had just emptied. "Pulsie should be able to help him."

Nathan floated into the bed as the Emperor turned to her.

"There was an incident-"

"I am well aware." Althea said. "I must ask, what was that tiger? What was someone that hated Fae so much that it was willing to kill doing in the ancestral cave? And why is it that it took you so long to react, Emperor of Soleria?"

The Emperor looked towards her, his expression turning serious.

"A Druid has a special ability where we can come to the aid of those close to us. As long as one person feels enough emotion to bridge the distance, the spell shall work." Althea said "And since Nathan here felt enough emotion to protect me at the cost of his life, there was plenty of emotion left over."

Althea hadn't mentioned the emotion just for fun. This accomplished two things. To tell the Emperor that she valued Nathan as a vassal that would protect her at the cost of his own life. And second, to tell him that she was a Druid. A Druid that had found one of her own threatened.

To remind him that he was in the Druid glade, the ancient seat of her family's power. That he was in the presence of the Druid familiar, at the meeting point of the entire county's mana. At the very center of many, many, defensive formations.

"Countess, this is an internal matter-" the Marshal began.

"Prince Keron Solerian, the tiger I faced, attempted to take the life of not just me, but also one of my vassal's that I consider vital to the county." Althea felt her voice echo for some reason, her tone matching her anger. The fact that she was more angry about the danger Nathan had faced than his own father frustrated her.

"This is a clear violation of the Treaty of Three, and if I may say so, a very disappointing event." she continued. "I hope the words the tiger uttered during this do not represent that of the royal family, for I will have to reconsider much if that is so."

"Countess Diery." The marshal exclaimed. "Are you really going to ignore what we have done-"

"Keron." the Emperor interrupted. "Feel it."

"What?"

"Mana. Feel the mana. Feel your core."

Althea sensed at the two, trying to see what they were talking about. The reason for their shock was clear very quickly. The Emperor's cultivation had dropped by two stages. The Marshal's had dropped significantly less, remaining at the same stage, but he wasn't at the peak of Adept anymore. There seemed to be a weakness to his aura that Althea could just barely make out.

"The Treaty of Three agrees with you." the Emperor said, letting out a sigh. "I hope you will tell me what exactly this tiger uttered that has offended you so, and allow us to make amends for this fault. That is the only way the treaty will allow me to restore my cultivation. The only other way would be to destroy the treaty entirely."

Althea calmed her anger. As much as she wanted to vent at the pair of brothers, the royal family had done much for her. Getting so angry at them would do more harm than good.

"Of course, I would be happy to share. But I am not the one you have to make amends to. That is for someone else."