Arslan closed his eyes and opened them again. "No. Not again." His voice filled with anxiety and terror was high-pitched. When he heard his voice, his breathing fastened. His breathing was so loud and fast that he couldn't hear what was around him. As his chest rose and fell at a rapid pace, he looked at his hands. Even without looking at them, he could feel the weight of the metal shackles weighing him down. He looked, and his fears were realized. Heavy shackles bound him in this tiny cage. The shackles were so tight that, even though his arms resembled twigs with how malnourished he was, they dug into his arms, leaving red marks. A weird noise came out of his mouth without his control.

"This is not real. This is just a dream."

Arslan curled into a ball. His body rocked even though he wanted to stay still. The cage he was in barely left room for any movement. He hit his body as he rocked. He covered his head with his hands. The cage smelled bad. Even Arslan's inexperienced self could guess that this cage was used for wild animals before. He looked up when a shadow was cast upon his cage.

"Brother! Don't leave me here! I promise I will listen to you! Please!"

He leaped in his cage. He grabbed the bars. His bindings cut his body, drawing blood. Despite his cries, the shadow didn't answer him. He didn't even look back. He just left. Another weird voice escaped from Arslan's lips as a heavy feeling spread over his body. It was almost like someone put a huge weight on his chest and limbs.

"NO!"

Arslan jumped awake. He was in his bed. He was in his room. He was safe. His right arm was stretched out as if to grab his brother. When he realized he was awake, he slowly lowered his hand. He sat down and covered his face with his hands. Even with years gone, scars left by his shackles could be seen.

"I am safe. It passed a long time ago."

His breathing settled after several minutes of sitting down. He stood up and left the room he was staying at. He went into the room Ursara and Blaria were staying at. They were sleeping. Blaria was sideways, and Ursara's arms and legs were fully extended. Arslan shook his head at their weird sleeping positions and left. He stopped in front of Amaterasu's room. He hesitated. Their current hideout didn't have doors, so her room was covered with a curtain. He closed his eyes and focused his mana to increase his other senses. Her breathing was slow, and no other noise was present. Arslan slowly pulled the curtain to the side. He tiptoed toward her. A part of her blanket was on the ground.

"She must have thrown it off with her tail."

Arslan thought to himself. Amaterasu's tail was thick, unlike his. He looked back at his tail. While it was slightly longer than hers, it wasn't very thick. So it was possible for her to throw whatever covered her while she turned around in her sleep. He covered her and left the room but not without giving her a loving look. His face, which had an annoyed or angry look nearly all the time, softened, even though just for a moment. He left as quietly as he entered. He left the hideout. It was still dark outside. It wasn't that big of a problem for him. Beastkin had good night vision.

"She is stronger than you."

Human's, no Poyraz's voice rang in his ear.

"You are weak. A disgrace to lion beastkin."

And his brothers. He wanted to scream. Roar. Punch things. Let out all of his frustration.

"I can't."

Poyraz was right. Stealth wasn't for him. Or clever planning. The only thing he was good at was fighting, and he was even called bad at it. He pulled his swords from their sheath. Giving up wasn't an option. He swung his swords. If he was weak, then he would just train and get stronger.

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

"1, 2, 3!"

Börü Whitefang taught him personally. He knew that he wasn't on his level. Börü Whitefang was a legend. Out of the three leaders that led beastkin in this generation, only he survived the battle against the Silverfox family.

"1, 3, 1!"

That was the very reason Arslan followed what he taught him religiously. He could get stronger if he trained in the drills he taught him.

"More! More!"

He fell to his knees while gasping for air. How long has it been since he started? He didn't know. He didn't care.

"I can't rest. This is not enough."

He said to himself.

"I think that's more than enough."

Arslan jumped into the air.

"Ama. Since when are you awake?"

He turned around to face him. His sweat dripped from his face to the ground.

"Since someone entered my room without knocking first."

Arslan's eyes opened with surprise. He turned his head to the side.

"I am sorry."

Hearing his usually loud and confident voice coming out this quiet, Ama smiled.

"You had a nightmare?"

Arslan frowned when he heard Ama's question.

"That face tells me the answer is yes."

Ama slowly approached Arslan. Arslan shook his head.

"I am covered with sweat."

Ama snapped his fingers, and a fireball appeared.

"Do you want me to dry you?"

"I am still hurting from the last time you threw a fireball at me."

Arslan's voice died out as he noticed Ama's face. The last time she threw a fireball at him was when she lost control. He knew that Ama was still feeling bad about it.

"I didn't mean like that. I am sorry."

"I know. It is my fault for not being able to control myself."

Ama looked at the sky. The sun was starting to light up the world.

"Hey, look on the bright side. You at least can go in Primal Evocation. Unlike me."

Arslan tried to cheer her up.

"What's good about the power you can't control? I wish Morrigan was here. She can control it perfectly. She could have given me some tips."

Arslan looked at Ama with a difficult expression on his face. All of them grew up together and were close, but he knew that he couldn't fill the void Morrigan left.

"Maybe we can search for her when this ends. That dumbass can help us too."

Ama's ears perked up when she heard that.

"Oh, I didn't know you trust Poyraz that much?"

Arslan realized that he made a mistake by saying that.

"I don't."

"You reaaaaly don't trust him?"

Ama stretched out her words to further mess with him. Arslan wanted to protest but seeing her smiling, he just sighed.

"I am... I am thinking I overreacted to him when I went to retrieve him last time. I was just so on edge."

Ama looked shocked by the tone shift.

"I don't think he cared about that much."

"He is hard to read. I don't guess what he is thinking at all."

"Me neither."

Now it was Arslan's turn to be shocked.

"Why did you trust him then?"

Ama took a deep breath.

"I don't know. Maybe because of Morrigan? Or maybe because of my instincts? He is different. It's almost like... He isn't from this world?"

Ama noticed the face Arslan was making. She laughed.

"It is weird, right?"

She stopped smiling when she realized that Arslan didn't laugh with her.

"I thought something similar to that before. His existence is weird. He can't use mana, but he has no problem resisting it. His base strength and speed are better than all beastkin I know, myself included. He can see in the dark like us too. And the armor he can call out is... I don't know."

Silence took over them for some time. After awkwardly looking at each other, Ama broke the silence.

"Maybe that's why we trust him. He is different. We want to make a difference. Maybe trusting someone different can make it happen?"

Ama laughed.

"Come on, let's go inside. It is my turn to cook now. What Leader Börü always used to say: 'Train good, eat good, rest good!'"

Arslan laughed.

"Yeah. Every time. With that tone."

They walked together to the hideout. Just before they entered, Ama stopped. Her ears perked. She closed her eyes. Her ears perked up. She closed her eyes. After a deep breath, she spoke:

"They are sending reinforcements. They are already on the move. 10 elite men. They will be here in 2 to 3 days."

"Yes."

Arslan said with great enthusiasm. He slammed his right fist to his left palm.

"This means we are finally destroying this place, right?"

"Hopefully so. Unless she comes back earlier than what we predicted."

Heat rose up from Ama. Arslan put his hand on Ama's shoulder. His eyes were filled with understanding.

"I know. Don't worry, I won't lose control this time."

"I hope so. After all that anticipation, I don't want to miss out on this battle."