Alaric snapped back to the present moments later. Beads of sweat gleamed on his brow while his stomach churned in repulsion to the memory he’d just witnessed.

He staggered back, leaning on Darla for support, “You okay?” the girl asked.

Alaric nodded, “Yeah, thanks.”

He then regarded his free hand. His skin had turned darker and light fur had sprouted from his hand. His eyes shone amber with slit-like pupils.

As his mind came back to the present, these transformations faded away, returning him to the way he was before.

Alaric noticed everyone around him. The Tower Slayers had arrived, along with Garin. While the three weren’t looking their best, they were alright. Garin mouthed, ‘Are you done?’ to which Alaric shook his head.

The three slayers were acting tame for now but Alaric could already guess they had procedure for situations like this. Darth had a lot in store for him. Before all that happened, however, Alaric wanted to know a few things.

Fortunately, Garin was understanding enough to allow him this opportunity. Now that Alaric looked at the dishevelled man, he noticed several differences between him and his past self.

His body was a lot more built than it had been in the memory. His expression was more sinister, his dark-skinned face littered with pins and piercings that made him so unrecognizable from the innocent novice he used to be… all because he chose to walk the path he was currently on.

Did he still even care for his guardian like he used to? While it was true that he had a weird way of showing it, Alaric had indeed detected the pure intentions behind him trying to make enough money to get himself and his guardian off the streets and into a better life.

How things had gone this wrong, however, was completely beyond his comprehension.

“You suppressed your guardian,” Alaric whispered with suppressed anger.

“Dark magic,” Garin sighed, “South Valeria is home to most Dark Mages.”

The large puma, Sabre, as Alaric had heard from its memories, was in constant pain, much like Darth had been back then. Darth’s pain, however, had been caused by his constant disagreements with his guardian.

The pain Sabre was being subjected to, however, would never go away regardless of what the guardian did. It didn’t matter how well he performed what was asked of him.

It was only now that Alia and Alaric had stepped in and suppressed their bond that the Saber was experiencing relief. Waves of gratitude flowed into Alaric’s mind, as well as waves of great sadness.

Darth was still the guardian’s master. That would never change.

Now that Alaric had the time, he managed to notice some more details of the guardian’s appearance. There were scars matting its fur in several places. Its majestic wings had missing feathers, its muscles had degenerated greatly and there was a general lack of the vibrance he’d witnessed in the memory manifesting most in the faded thin fur.

“So what if I did suppress him? I only got him to obey me more. Kill him, Black!” Darth yelled out.

Garin and the two guards tensed, aether flowing as they got ready for a fight that never came. Sabre didn’t move… Only silence awaited the sick command.

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

“I said…” The man’s voice left him as the puma fell to the ground, unconscious… or rather, asleep, “Black?”

Among the things this guardian had not had in a long time was a peaceful sleep.

Alaric didn’t miss the look of worry on the mercenary’s face, “You almost look like you care for your guardian.”

“You know nothing about me,” Darth yelled out, straining against the arrow that still had him pinned to the tree. When he tried to force it out of his shoulder, the steel rod burrowed deeper into his shoulder, drawing a painful grunt from him.

Darla stared at him more intently, magic pulsing from her bow as she kept the arrow firmly planted in the tree.

Alaric swayed slightly, confusion filling his mind. How was he supposed to approach this? He wanted to punish this man but no number of punishments satisfied him. Alia was as much a part of him as his heart was.

To taint their bond with dark magic was unspeakable. Silently, he whispered, “You don’t deserve your guardian.”

The forest got colder at the boy’s words. Like a switch in his mind, he felt something click before the black puma vanished from existence.

Darth gasped… “My… My guardian.”

Alaric’s knees gave out, his consciousness slipping for a moment. At that moment, however, hell broke loose.

Darla switched her attention to catching him as he fell. Finn was by his side a moment in an instant.

Away from them, Darth shot off the arrow pinning him to the tree, disregarding the damage that was done to his shoulder and shot for the dizzy boy with intense murderous intent.

His black scythe curved through the air and clanged loudly as it struck a black shield and bounced off. Alia had intervened faster than the man could follow.

As he reeled back, the guardian stepped forward and struck his gut with her fist slamming his body into the ground with a punch that shook the forest with the force of an earthquake.

All this happened in the time it took for Alaric to blink slowly.

Alia checked the man’s body, then sighed, “He’s still alive. He must have a really high Temper Rank.”

Garin approached the guardian, “We realised that when we fought him. Splitting his body creates clones with lower Temper Ranks but as a whole, he’s on another level, probably Steel Rank. The Tower can take it from here especially considering he attacked a potential ally.”

Alia nodded and returned to her master, “Alaric get some rest—” the guardian shook her head, “Who am I kidding? Darla, make sure he gets enough rest. I must retreat so he can let go of the barrier. Garin, I leave these children under your protection.”

“You can leave them to me,” Garin nodded.

Silently, Alia retreated into her master’s shadow and as she did, the rippling barrier shattered and vanished from existence. Darla and Finn helped Alaric settle down as he’d lost most of his strength.

Aiden and his friends joined them as well. No one said a word as they watched the slayers get to work restraining the criminal. A long spell Alaric couldn’t quite place was used to block his aether pathways and another to limit his strength.

His scythe, which had remained physical even after he was knocked out, was confiscated and the man was hauled back to where the other criminals had been rounded up.

Gunther, one of the Tower guards assigned to Alaric was to stay behind to handle transporting the criminals while the other, LionHeart, was to accompany Garin and the kids back to their homes.

“You’re guardian awakened,” Alaric told Darla, finally breaking the silence. The bow of light on her hand had vanished when she caught him but the small flying butler still existed.

Darla’s guardian was a handsome pixie-sized man who hovered through the air, his wings flapping noiselessly as he stayed by his master’s side.

“Meet Apollo,” Darla said calmly.

Apollo gave a dignified bow, “It’s an honour to meet you, Prince Alaric. I am Darla’s guardian and my name is Apollo of Concept.”

“I’m no prince. Just Alaric,” Alaric narrowed his eyes at the guardian.

“Oh… but I would never refer to someone like you by their name,” Apollo's composure seemed genuinely shaken.

“Suit yourself,” Alaric sighed, then turned to Darla. The girl had just awakened her guardian without the help of an Awakening Orb. As far as Alaric knew, the condition for that was extreme despair, “I’m sorry for scaring you.”

Darla’s usually inexpressive face was suddenly tinged with teary eyes that never seemed to let down the tears held within them, “You better be. I thought you were gone.”

Alaric pulled her into a warm embrace.

If there was ever something he was serious about. It was this. On the day Jared died, Alaric had felt so much despair that something inside him broke… and awoke Alia from her slumber.

He could imagine the same thing had happened to Darla and for that, he was truly sorry for what he’d put her through.

Garin returned shortly after to the children who were under LionHeart’s protection, “There is nothing more for us to do here. Let’s go home.”