Wearg returned his focus to the others and smiled at them. “Wyrmir’s home is much closer to the Sanctuary than where we now stand. I recommend we head out immediately so we’ll meet him there.”

  “I will see my friend before we leave.” The firm command came from a surprising location. Arian stepped forward and lifted her chin. “Take me to her at once.”

  The wolf king lifted an eyebrow but his good humor didn’t fail him. “That’s a bold demand, Princess Arian, but one I’m willing to give to you and you alone.”

  Yushir felt Dadan stiffen beside him.

  “I won’t allow it,” Pangberan spoke up as he frowned down at his daughter. “You should go with an escort.”

  Wearg crossed his arms over his chest and scoffed. “And who would that be? Your strong son? Your old general and young guard? Or perhaps two of the most powerful immortals from heaven? Or do you wish to go yourself, King Pangberan?”

  “I’m only thinking of her safety,” Pangberan snapped back as he eyed his foe with narrowed eyes. “Once a liar always a liar.”

  The wolf king’s smile twitched downward but he inclined his head. “Fair enough, but I still won’t allow anyone else. You’ll just have to make do with a trade. One of my men for your daughter.”

  Pangberan scoffed. “She’s worth more than all the men you have here.”

  “But there appears to be a short member among them,” Yushir spoke up as he leaned to one side to peer into the crowd of wolf guards. “That boy there. Why is he here?”

  The young lad, the sole survivor of the attacked village, had been led behind the wolf king and into the crowd. The boy didn’t react to his being noticed but his handler drew the lad behind him.

  Wearg’s face paled and he whipped his head about. The young lad had been led out by his subject and now shrank beneath the blazing fury in his king’s eyes.

  The wolf royal’s panicked actions didn’t go unnoticed by the bear king. Pangberan nodded in the direction of the boy. “We’ll take him as our hostage.”

  Wearg’s eyebrows crashed down and he dropped his arms to his sides. “He won’t be part of any negotiation.”

  “Then he’s just the person we want,” Pangberan mused as he set a hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “None of your men are as pure as Arian, but the boy has a chance to be of equal value.”

  The wolf king’s cheeks reddened but he slightly bowed his head. “Very well.” He turned his head slightly to one side. “Bring the boy.” The pale-faced wolf nodded and squeezed the child’s hand, though the boy didn’t react.

  Pangberan leaned down and grasped one of Arian’s hands. She looked up and found his worried eyes studying her face. “Are you sure about this?”

  She smiled and nodded. “I know I’ll be safe wherever my friend is.”

  Her father didn’t look at all convinced himself, but he reluctantly released her hand. She strode forward as the child was brought to the forefront of the wolf clan. The boy was led by his handler toward the bear group and Arian couldn’t help but glance at them as they passed one another. He had the same vacant expression in his eyes that dipped into the deep well of pity in her heart.

  Yushir was the one to greet the boy while Wearg himself welcomed Arian with open arms. Pangberan stiffened as the wolf leader draped his arm over his daughter’s shoulders.

  “A very warm welcome to you, Princess Arian!” Wearg greeted her as he led her away from the group. “Now I shall bring you to your friend and then we shall head out to the Sanctuary.” He paused and turned his head far enough so one sharp eye fell on Yushir. “I hope you will treat that boy as well as I’ll treat your daughter, fleabag.”

  “As good as that and better before they’re traded again,” Pangberan shot back.

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  Wearg bowed his head to the other royal before Arian and he disappeared into the brush. The other wolves reluctantly followed, slinking back into the tall clumps of grass like ghosts.

  Dian pursed his lips before he spun around to face his father. “You shouldn’t have let her go!”

  Pangberan’s focus remained on where Arian had vanished as he sighed. “Could any of us have stopped her?”

  Dian’s face fell and his shoulders drooped. Jin stepped to the forefront of the trio and turned to face the pair where he bowed low at the waist. “Please allow me to follow them, Your Majesty. I can’t let her out of my sight.”

  “That’s their territory,” Pangberan reminded him as he swept his eyes over the far plain. “Even our army at its greatest could never breach the border, nor they ours. This is where stalemates and rash decisions happen. You’ll remain with us as we travel to the Sanctuary.”

  “If I recall correctly, the Sanctuary is an open cave to the north where past kings of the clans have settled their differences in single or group combat,” Yushir spoke up from where he stood beside the young lad.

  The bear royal pursed his lips as he turned his focus to the east. “It is. The river once ran through those heavy rocks and carved out the area over many millions of years, and our ancestors thought so highly of its perseverance that both clans ordained it sacred ground. Wars have been decided there many times.”

  “Or averted,” Yushir commented as he looked down at his silent charge. The boy stared ahead and blinked only enough to keep his eyes from watering. The prince knelt in front of the lad and studied his blank expression. He passed his hand in front of the lad’s face but there was no reaction. “There must have been a reason this lad was among them.”

  “Wearg wasn’t too happy to see him there,” Jin spoke up.

  “Then we might count ourselves lucky that the keeper was careless in letting him in our sight,” Yushir commented as he grasped the boy’s hands in his hand and turned them over to examine the palms. “He doesn’t appear to have any physical injuries, but there is something unusual about his aura.”

  Dian frowned as he looked over the lad. “I don’t see it.”

  “That is just the trouble. A lad such as this should have a rather tempestuous aura. Even a shifter has enough magic or he would not be able to transform.” Yushir grasped the boy’s shoulders in his hand and leaned back. “But this boy has nothing. His magic is as empty as his expression.” The prince lifted his gaze to Dadan who stood a few paces off. “What do you make of the boy? Eastwei? Eastwei!”

  His last yell finally caught Dadan’s attention and he reluctantly turned his gaze to the lad. The ancient god gave the boy a cursory look but the longer he examined the more his eyes narrowed. Eastwei knelt beside the lad and studied his face.

  “Do you see something?” Yushir questioned him.

  Dadan’s voice was low and tense. “A shadow.”

  The prince raised an eyebrow. “A shadow? What does that mean?”

  Dadan lifted one upraised palm and a small flame burst out of his hand. The fire flickered to and fro as he lifted the flame close to the boy’s face.

  “What are you doing?” Jin shouted as he moved to stop the god.

  Pangberan raised one arm and blocked his path. The bear king watched the proceedings with a curious eye. “Hold your tongue and your feet.”

  Dadan didn’t appear to have noticed the objection as he raised the flame to within a hair’s breadth from the boy’s eyes. The fire reflected off the unblinking brown orbs and seemed to illuminate the depths.

  Pangberan tensed and took a step forward. “What was that in the boy’s eyes? Something moved against the flame.”

  The boy blinked and when his eyes opened they were completely black. Dadan jerked to one side as some of the shadows leaped out of the boy’s eyes and at his head. The darkness landed a few yards behind him and wriggled on the ground before it formed itself into a tendril.

  Jin and Dian jumped at it and skewered the creature with their blades. Meanwhile, Eastwei’s fire burned hotter and brighter, and the darkness that consumed the boy’s eyes squirmed atop his pupils. The thing could no longer take the heat and the rest of it abandoned ship, jumping out of the boy in a shape as slim as a piece of paper. The wind caught the creature and sent it flying through the air.

  The boy’s eyes rolled back and his legs buckled. Yushir caught the lad in the crook of one arm and flung his hand up at the escaping thing. A ball of water shot out of his palm and knocked the thing from the sky.

  The shadow landed with a heavy splash on the ground and Lujun pinned that portion. The old general knelt on one knee beside the squirming thing and examined his captive. “In all my years I’ve never seen anything like this.”

  Eastwei stood and strode over to the portion pinned by the two men. He stretched out his hand and an intense fireball erupted from his outward palm. The fire shot out and crashed into the shadows. The tendril wriggled and a faint screech came from it before the thing crumbled to ashes. Eastwei swung his arm and pointed his fiery palm at the other part, and it was likewise dispatched.

  Leaving the men with plenty of questions.