“Since we have a new classmate joining us today,” Isgalis said, glancing at Teo, “we’re going to do a quick review of some basic self-defense lessons.”

  The steps of the village’s small amphitheater were packed with apprentices eager for instruction. Self-defense on Ardoras was something no one took lightly. Once they left Vin for Luria, they would all face terrible dangers. It was common knowledge that beyond the Blue Mountains, the land was ravaged by shadows born in Galath. Attending lessons and listening carefully to the Guardian could mean the difference between life and death.

  “Lesson number one,” she said, raising her voice. “Never make a decision based on fear. Your enemies will try to frighten you; they’ll look for your weak spots and hit them hard. They’ll try to make you desperate, make you believe you have no options, that nothing you do will matter. Ignore them! Fear is a tool of control your enemies wield from within you.”

  “Lesson number two. The only wrong decision is the one you don’t make. Never give control of your destiny to luck or others. Let success and failure always be in your hands, because even when you make mistakes, you’ll know your life is your own.”

  “Lesson number three. Don’t try to hit harder than your opponent. Use their attacks against them. The greatest weakness of humans and Ardorians is pride. Anyone dominated by pride is destined to lose. How can we anticipate an enemy’s next move if we can’t see beyond ourselves? To achieve victory, discard your pride and let your opponent’s vanity work against them.”

  Just then, Lauretta Wizakowski, the village cook, ran in.

  “She’s gone!” the sixty-five-year-old woman shouted, agitated. “The girl from the Sun Stone has disappeared!”

  An ominous shadow of the past fell over the amphitheater, like a heavy gray cloud, as it was only a few weeks shy of the one-year anniversary of Egmont’s disappearance. A wave of consternation filled the space, and the first whispers of intrigue and suspicion began.

  “Please, everyone, stay calm!” Isgalis said, raising her voice. “Go to your rooms in an orderly fashion and stay there. I don’t want anyone leaving their cabins without my permission!”

  Prefects Igor Dobry, twenty-seven, Agrippina Rhodes, thirty-five, and Jonas Erwin, forty-two, led the children to their rooms. Except for little Teo Sacks and his friend Baruch Plotkin, who managed to slip into the crowd.

  Isgalis paced around the Sun Stone, lost in thought. She knew exactly which three apprentices were absent from lessons that day: Tiziano Vietto, Jayden Gifford, and Roderic Khrol. The Guardian had an eidetic memory and could recall detailed images, never forgetting a face that attended her classes... or was absent.

  The snap of a dry branch alerted her, and she instinctively reached for the sai at her waist.

  “Isgalis, is that you?” Tiziano said weakly. “What happened? Where’s Milena?”

  The boy emerged from the forest beyond the village.

  “Oh, Tiziano!” she said, her voice tight. “I’m glad you’re okay!”

  “Where’s Milena, Isgalis?” he insisted.

  “She’s disappeared. We don’t know what happened.”

  “Oh no! This is a huge mistake! How could we have been so wrong?” he said, remorsefully.

  “What do you mean, Tiziano?”

  “I always suspected Roderic was behind Egmont’s disappearance. How else could he have gained his abilities? We both know there are only two ways to become a regenerator... and one of them is currently impossible. We were afraid he’d attack again, so we decided to protect Milena.”

  “‘We’ decided? Who’s ‘we’?”

  “Teo, Baruch, and me. We set up guard shifts to protect her. But we got careless... I got careless!”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “It was Jayden, Isgalis! She betrayed us! She used the ‘Golden Dream’ to bewitch me and dragged me into the forest to avoid attention.”

  “The Golden Dream? Are you sure?” the Guardian asked, incredulous.

  “Absolutely! She came to me, saying I should attend the self-defense class. I told her I wouldn’t leave Milena’s side, and when she tried to force me, I resisted. That’s when the golden glow in her eyes put me into a deep sleep. And now, she and Milena are gone!”

  “They’re not the only ones missing,” Isgalis said. “Roderic isn’t in the village either.”

  “I knew it!” Tiziano exclaimed angrily. “They must have planned this together. Damn traitors!”

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “We have to go after them!” Teo said, stepping out of the shadows. “They can’t be far.”

  “What are you two doing here?!” Isgalis exclaimed, upset. “I told you…”

  “I know what you said, Isgalis,” Teo interrupted. “But if there’s something we can do, we can’t stand by. I came to Ardoras for a reason; you know that. If I pretend nothing happened now, how can I achieve a bigger goal later? I just ask that you trust me, like Sir Phleas and your father did.”

  Tiziano and Baruch exchanged confused looks, not understanding what Teo was talking about.

  “Okay, you’re coming with me,” Isgalis said after a few moments of silence. “I just hope I’m not making a mistake taking you, because if something happens to you, I’d never forgive myself.”

  “Lesson number one,” Baruch said in the Guardian’s voice: “Never make a decision based on fear.”

  Isgalis smiled.

  “Alright, let’s go,” she said, her spirit renewed. “We don’t have time to waste.”

  Fabras Forest was beautiful during the day, but terrifying at night. Strange creatures, mostly unknown to the villagers, lurked in the shadows. One was the goldrig, a silver-eyed canid whose hysterical laughter, like a hyena’s, could hypnotize unsuspecting travelers, drawing them in to be devoured.

  Tiziano led the search party, illuminating the path with a light-infused rock. A faint, shaky moan made them stop.

  “Do you hear that?” Teo asked.

  The others nodded.

  “Up there!” Baruch exclaimed.

  It was Jayden. She was floating face up in the air, completely still.

  “Watch out! She’s going to attack us!” Tiziano shouted.

  “No,” Isgalis replied. “She won’t harm us. She’s suspended.”

  “That’s obvious, Isgalis,” Tiziano said sarcastically.

  “Don’t be silly!” Baruch reprimanded him. “‘Suspension’ is a spell that makes someone lose control of their body and levitate. But their thoughts aren’t interrupted; they’re aware of everything around them.”

  Ignoring the children, the Guardian approached Jayden and, raising her arms, drew symbols in the air that left trails of fire.

  “Dovra Ithema!” she said in a strange language.

  Jayden gently descended to the ground. Isgalis caught her and waited for her to regain consciousness.

  “Everything in my head was happening so fast!” Jayden said, coming to. “I couldn’t move, I couldn’t speak! My memories and thoughts were jumbled, like they were shaken by a gust of wind!”

  “Calm down, Jayden!” Isgalis said. “You’re safe now. It was all the doing of the Suspension spell, which is a very powerful one.”

  “It was Roderic!” Jayden exclaimed. “I heard him talking to Marc before the self-defense class. He told him he was taking Milena and that he had to swear not to tell anyone. That it was essential, they were running out of time.”

  She swallowed.

  “We all know there’s only one way to become a regenerator now!” she continued. “When I saw what he did in the Totemic Games, I didn’t want to believe it, but then I knew he betrayed Egmont. That’s why I ran to the Sun Stone to protect Milena. I’m sorry for bewitching Tiziano, but I knew if he stayed, Roderic might hurt him. He’s the traitor! And now he’s taken the girl!”

  “The dark forces Roderic has allied with must be very powerful if he could cast Suspension,” Baruch concluded.

  “We have to move!” Teo exclaimed. “Something tells me Roderic is close. I can feel his presence nearby.”

  At first, it was a murmur, then the sound grew clearer. Isgalis recognized it immediately; the hysterical laughter was unmistakable.

  “Goldrigs!” she whispered. “Don’t listen to their laughter! Cover your ears and focus on happy memories.”

  “What are you talking about, Isgalis?” Tiziano asked, confused. “What are goldrigs?”

  “Please, trust me and don’t ask questions! Just do it!”

  Tiziano dropped the light-infused stone, which went out as soon as it left his hands, plunging them into darkness. Like him, everyone obeyed the Guardian, covering their ears and focusing on happy memories.

  Baruch tried, but he couldn’t manage it. The macabre laughter brought back only the slow agony of his mother, the horrible pain and suffering she endured in her final months.

  Behind them, the constant flow of a stream could be heard. The hysterical laughter grew closer, filling the air, echoing from all directions. Suddenly, Baruch gasped, his breath catching in a spasm, and began to laugh. At first, it was almost inaudible, then it grew so loud that it thundered through the forest. Though, in truth, it wasn’t his laughter, but a replication of the goldrigs’.

  His companions tried to resist, but they fell to their knees. From that moment on, they were no longer themselves. When they rose, they moved like automatons, their eyes blank. They were all enslaved by the forest creatures’ hypnosis. All except one.

  “Where are you going?!” Teo shouted. “We need to go the other way!”

  His companions didn’t listen. They walked with apathy, guided by another’s will.

  “Isgalis, please listen to me! What’s wrong with you all?!” he shouted, scared. “Where are you going?”

  Isgalis, oblivious to Teo’s pleas, continued her mechanical march, like the others.

  It wasn’t hard for Teo to understand that his companions’ compulsive and erratic behavior was forced by the goldrigs’ macabre laughter. Why hadn’t it affected him? Why hadn’t he suffered the same fate? These were questions that, for the moment, remained unanswered.

  In an instant, the stench of putrefaction reached him, and he saw that they were surrounded by the frightening, starving silver-eyed canids. The creatures, five in total, formed a circle around the group. Teo tried to stay calm, desperately searching for a course of action.

  Without wasting any more time, the goldrigs lunged at their victims, slamming into them with their full weight. Their claws and teeth were as sharp as daggers. None of the hypnotized children fought back. They remained indifferent, ready to have their skin torn apart.

  Faced with this overwhelming scene, Teo lost his temper, and a halo of red light enveloped him. He raised a hand and curled his fingers, as if squeezing an invisible object. The goldrigs screamed in agony, writhing on the ground, seized by convulsions that seemed like they would tear them apart.

  The beasts were nearly finished, when a woman emerged from the forest, passing before the boy’s eyes. The mere sight of her immobilized him, and he levitated into the air.

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