Lujun stood and studied the slight singe to the tip of his blade. “What was that thing?”

  “A part of the creature that attacked a village I once came across,” Eastwei informed him.

  Yushir pursed his lips. “Could your vicious foe have attacked this boy and left a part of itself inside him? And that perhaps Wearg intended to use Lady Fei somehow to free the child as she may have freed the souls on the Tianfeld?”

  “It is likely.”

  “Wait, you know the creature that attacked the villages?” Dian spoke up as his eyes flickered between the pair. “And you didn’t tell us this? Or tell Wearg about it?”

  “We can’t be sure it’s the same attacker, nor do we understand what Eastwei discovered,” Yushir countered as he gave the young lad a sharp look. “Our revealing that information would have brought up more questions than we could answer and merely riled anyone who learned about the encounter, as can be plainly seen in this instance.”

  “Then you can’t be sure that whatever attacked the boy, the wolf village, and the village Lord Eastwei discovered are the same?” Pangberan clarified.

  “That’s correct,” the prince confirmed. Yushir’s young charge shuddered and a soft moan escaped his lips. The prince frowned and set a hand on the boy’s forehead. “The child is slightly feverish. We need to contact Wearg and stop this duel so he can be properly treated.”

  Pangberan’s shoulders sagged a little and he shook his head. “Once a challenge has been made it cannot be unmade, and with the judge called it must be done immediately.”

  The prince frowned up at his host. “But the boy may be gravely ill. He needed attention.”

  “Then I’ll finish the fight as quickly as I can so he can

  “What if we took him to Banhar?” Jin suggested.

  Dian scoffed. “And don’t have anyone to trade with after the duel? Besides, they’d notice even before then.”

  Jin shot his old friend a sharp look. “It’s better than delivering a sick kid back to them!”

  “That’s enough of your bickering,” Lujun spoke up as he sauntered over to Pangberan. “They both have good points. Returning the boy in this condition would worsen the situation no matter who won.”

  A soft chirp interrupted the dire tension. Jin’s meilita popped out from underneath his collar and zipped around his head.

  Jin furrowed his brow. “What is it?”

  The meilita darted over to the boy and settled on the lad’s shoulder. The soft blue glow from the creature’s body flowed over the boy and the wolf cub stopped shivering. Yushir set his hand on the boy’s forehead again and pursed his lips.

  His eyes widened a moment later and he looked up at his eagerly waiting companions. “His temperature has lessened.” The little meilita flapped its wings and a soft humming sound came from it. Yushir smiled at the tiny creature. “You have my thanks.”

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Dian frowned at Jin and stabbed a finger at the tiny creature. “Why didn’t you tell it to do that in the first place?”

  Jin blinked at him and shrugged. “I didn’t know it could do it.”

  Pangberan strode past the pair and over to the lad. He knelt beside the prince and the boy, but his whole attention was fixed on Yushir. “Do you have any other secrets you wish to share with me, Prince Yushir?”

  The prince pursed his lips and spoke in a low whisper. “You have my sincerest apologies, King Pangberan. We intended to tell everyone of our findings, what few there are, at the gathering of the clans so none could claim a bias.” He dropped his worried gaze to the lad in his arms. “The situation, and my friend’s ill-timed words, have unfortunately hastened that announcement for you. I would request that you keep what we told you to yourself, at least for the time being.”

  Pangberan’s sharp eyes flickered over the young lad and the prince. Yushir was tense as the king stood and turned to his subjects and son. “You will say nothing of the matter of the shadows to anyone until I command you to do otherwise. Is that understood?”

  Lujun bowed his head but the two young cubs both took a step toward him.

  “How could we not tell our people about this?” Dian objected.

  “What if this thing infects someone else because we didn’t speak up?” Jin countered.

  Pangberan raised a hand and the two were silenced. His yellow eyes glowed even in the bright light of the mid-afternoon. “I have given you this command. As my son and as my vassal, I expect you to obey me without question.”

  The pair both pursed their lips but bowed their heads. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

  The little meilita zipped off the wolf boy’s shoulder and fluttered around the pair, leaving little bits of sparkling dust behind it. Jin lifted a finger and the butterfly creature landed on his digit. The tiny creature flapped its wings and spread more of its sparkling joy in front of its owner’s face.

  Jin squinted but a faint smile slipped onto his lips. “You’re offering your services in case the shadow comes back. Is that it?”

  The meilita flapped harder and more glistening dust flew from its body.

  “Then you lads have nothing to worry about,” Yushir spoke up with a twinkle in his eyes. “The meilita and you will protect the realm against whatever shadows slink their way over the borders seeking chaos.” He paused and lifted his gaze to the sun overhead. “And speaking of borders, we had best be on our way to the Sanctuary. I believe it abuts the border between your realms?”

  “Sanctuary stands where the Little Cai River cuts into the Kofu Mountains before those hills reach Banhar,” Pangberan confirmed as he nodded at the north. “We need only follow the Tianfeld to the edge of the river and over the bridge into Sanctuary.”

  Yushir eyed the young lad with a worried eye. “And how far is that?”

  “An hour’s walk.”

  Yushir sighed, but scooped the lad in his arms and tried to stand. He teetered to one side and crashed to the ground, landing on his butt.

  The prince sheepishly smiled at the quizzical faces of his companions. “My apologies. It has been quite some time since I have had to lift a child.”

  A shadow fell over Yushir and he looked up to find Eastwei standing over him. His old friend knelt and offered his arms. “I will take him.”

  Yushir lifted an eyebrow. “Are you sure? Children can be quite the handful in all senses of the word.”

  Eastwei’s reply was to scoop the unconscious child into his arms and stand. The tall fire god didn’t even flinch.

  Yushir climbed to his feet and dusted himself off. “Well then, if no one has any more troubles, let us be off.”