The sudden rush of wind caught Alaric off-guard. Partly because he’d sensed something amiss the moment the massive lion bunched its legs in preparation for takeoff, and partly because he would never, in his wildest dreams, have thought a guardian was able to listen to anyone other than its master.

Just when he thought all he had going for him was absorbing the abilities of guardians, speaking to them and seeing into their memories, something else was thrown into the mix.

It had taken Alaric everything to keep himself from reaching for the guardian’s abilities… and adding them to his slowly growing corpus of powers. And, he’d succeeded in keeping himself tame.

Considering how many things had happened in this one day, Alaric’s panic was justified.

“Wait! LionHeart! Where are you going without Lionheart?” the boy screamed at the top of his lungs when he’d caught his breath.

The flying lion angled his wings and shot straight up before a deep voice echoed into his mind, [[You gave the order to fly.]]

“I didn’t give YOU that order,” Alaric replied.

[[Then you should have been more specific,]] the creature retorted before banking its wings to return to the manor.

By then, the elder’s manor was a dot on the ground, cementing the true scale of this creature’s flight ability into Alaric’s mind.

“I’m not your master though,” the boy grumbled…

The giant lion’s muscles stiffened at his words, then relaxed as it descended. It didn’t say anything else… but Alaric could already feel a headache forming from the silent tension between them.

Massaging his temples, he inwardly asked his own guardian, [What just happened?]

[You ordered him to fly… and he flew. It’s not that hard to figure out.] Alia replied.

[Thanks for stating the obvious. I’m asking why it happened] Alaric replied.

[You should have been more specific] his guardian replied with a huff.

Alaric gritted his teeth and turned his attention away from the guardian. ‘Why does she have to be so difficult all the time?’ he huffed.

He knew Alia was aware of the intentions behind his questions and yet she played the long game, refusing to give him a straight answer like she always did.

Lionheart’s guardian had just reached the ground when the knight dressed in white came rushing over. The boy’s heart sank when he noticed the expression on the man’s face.

Rage… LionHeart was angry. It only got worse when the man started yelling, sending shivers down the boy’s spine, “Alaric, get down from there. You stay away from my guardian, you hear me?”

Alaric jumped off the lion and backed away in fear. The sound of LionHeart’s voice still echoed in his mind. ‘What did I do?’

LionHeart, ignoring the frightened boy, turned to his guardian and started checking him up and down. “What did he do to you? You’re irritated. Did that weirdo make you do something you don’t like doing?”

The lion locked eyes with Alaric apologetically, adding more to the boy’s confusion. The green-eyed boy remained silent for a bit before turning away and walking towards the town. He didn’t care how long it would take him to get there. He just wanted to be anywhere but here.

A lot of what had just happened lay beyond his understanding… He did know one thing though. He’d done nothing wrong and to be yelled at for not even knowing what the problem was didn’t sit right with him.

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When he looked up to the sky, he noticed the moon was still a few hours from reaching its zenith which allowed him the time to walk to the town and join the festivities.

Where would he find his friends? How would he find his way around town? Those were all problems for later… ‘I could just perform an area search with Thomper’s powers,’ he thought to himself.

A quick image of vines sprouting from the ground and ripping all the wooden houses from their foundations flashed through his mind.

‘Ugh, that won’t work.’

“Hey, where do you think you’re going?” a familiar voice came following him.

“To the festival,” Alaric answered in an irritated tone.

“It’ll be faster if we fly,” Lionheart added.

“You seem to think I’m some guardian thief so you and your guardian can stay away from me,” Alaric yelled, enraged, then kept walking.

[Alaric…]

[No, you… you stay quiet. I don’t want to hear anything from you. I’ve heard enough] Alaric yelled at Alia, his mental voice cracking. It was one thing to yell at LionHeart… but another to yell at Alia.

Silence greeted him, followed by guilt…

No, why was he feeling guilty for something that clearly wasn’t his fault? So what if he could talk to guardians? Guardians weren’t known for talking to humans who weren’t their masters… and that made him an anomaly among humans.

But it seemed that wasn’t enough, he had to go and have the power to command them as well. When was he awarded the power to command guardians?

[Isn’t this what you wanted? The power to protect your friends] Alia asked.

The boy took in a deep breath… then another… and another… This one came with a single tear which he wiped quickly from his face.

Did he ask for this? The irony of that statement was quite twisted. Did having the power to protect his friends and family mean he would be hated and feared? Did it mean he would be looked at like some plague that was not to be touched?

Alia listened to the boy’s thoughts and answered her calling as his guardian.

[People are afraid of what they don’t understand. Imagine someone came and took Old Thomper away from Marla. You’ve seen how much she cares for him] Alia tried.

Alaric furrowed his eyebrows.

Something felt wrong with this analogy… and yet, it made all the sense in the world. Marla and Thomper were inseparable. Only when Alaric was asked to take the old guardian out to the fields to help the farmers boost their yields did he ever see the two more than ten meters apart?

Other than that, they were always with each other. Many times, the orphans found Sister Marla sleeping within the old tree’s branches.

This also made sense with the sudden disappearance of the mercenary’s guardian back in the woods. Back then, Darth had lost all sense of self-preservation and lashed out, nearly tearing his arm off just because his guardian had vanished.

Still, Alaric refused to listen to LionHeart’s request and kept on walking. He needed the time to cool off anyway. The man kept his distance after that but continued to watch over the boy.

Alaric made his way to the village. The first houses he found on the outskirts were empty yet decorated with a few ribbons and balloons.

Further in, the air grew a lot more lively. Children ran around, playing and laughing as they toured one stall to the next.

A few times, Alaric saw parents, or at least, caretakers, chasing after the children.

Fragrant scents filled the air along with the sound of burbling oil and the smell of many foods Alaric had never seen or tasted before. He touched the silver band on his wrist, tempted to pull out a gold coin and spoil himself rotten.

“Is that him?” a voice out of the many finally reached Alaric’s sensitive ears. It was one he didn’t know… but the pit of his stomach turned in a way that said the voice was talking about him.

“Dressed like a noble, protected by a guard and without a clue where he is. Yeah, that’s him,” another voice replied.

“No one said he was easy on the eyes,” a female voice cooed.

Alaric turned just in time to see a trio standing by a few stalls. One of them had her hands on a ladle skilfully turning the contents within a large saucepan enhancing the sizzling sound coming from within it.

A man was standing by what seemed to be a restaurant stall, looking out to the street. Alaric could tell they were humble citizens from how they fidgeted the moment he saw them.

Two of them quickly took their eyes off him and returned their attention to whatever it was they were doing. The last one, however, a man dressed in a neat green apron smiled warmly and approached him.

His confident approach made the other two gawk with open mouths at his boldness.

“You must be Lord Alaric. Might I interest you in a meal? My brother makes a mean stew and I’m sure Rita’s fried chicken will knock your socks off. For you, it’s all free of charge, of course,” the man spoke with a large smile.

‘Free…’ Alaric’s mind buzzed.

What Alaric didn’t realise was that the smile on this man’s face was one of a trader who had just struck gold. Similar glints of excitement could be seen in the eyes of the other vendors… They’d just hit the jackpot and all the other vendors that witnessed this sneered with the grim realisation of the losses they’d just made.