Simon had only been on the road for a couple of weeks now, but it had felt like a lifetime. Currently sitting in an inn at a small village just south of Elarith Vale, he listened to the rumours from merchants as they travelled through.

  What he heard just got worse as every new rumour came through town, and boy were there a lot of rumours. Fate’s Chosen, the dragon whisperer—that’s what they called him now. A boy travelling with a shadow cat, and making friends with dragons.

  As Simon sat in the inn, hugging his ale, he overheard the latest rumour—one that rocked him to his core.

  “Did you hear? The King has been arresting corrupt nobles?” the first voice said.

  “Yeah, I heard the lord in Dunhearth was arrested,” another responded.

  “No joke? What for?” the first man said.

  “Tax evasion and enslavement, they say,” the response came.

  Simon’s hands shook. This couldn’t be happening.

  How could everything have gone wrong so fast?

  If this boy was Fate’s Chosen as the rumours portrayed, was there really any reason to keep running? Could he leave the continent? Perhaps try his luck in the Far East—he knew humans were not overly welcome there, but it didn’t mean they didn’t exist. It was just harder to survive, but what sort of existence is it to just be running all the time?

  But maybe he was overthinking it. He was just a subordinate, just following orders. They wouldn’t be looking for him, would they?

  Since retiring from adventuring and choosing to step out of the spotlight and let future heroes step forth, Morlin had taken to documenting history, and trying to witness and take accurate accounts of all the substantial events unfolding in the world.

  His attention had been drawn to the west, in the Kingdom of Ashivar, when the first rumour came to him—murmurs of a boy who was travelling with a shadow cat. The claims only became more outlandish after that.

  He was too late to catch the event unfold in Boltron, where Nemorax broke out of his self-imposed prison in Mount Divinus after he had his ties with the Storm God severed.

  This turn of events didn’t surprise Morlin. Of all the gods, Zevar was by far one of the more emotional, and when he heard that Nemorax had struck his temple, there was only one way that was going to go down.

  But for Nemorax to follow that up by destroying the temple altogether, before seeking out the guardians of the dark forest for a perceived insult and their involvement in these events, it got very interesting.

  The current kingdom didn’t even have records of Sylverith, so for her to come out of hiding, defeat Nemorax, and then consort with a child was a monumental event.

  How could he not try to meet this child? But how…

  The next event was from his stay in Dunhearth. Morlin had been there observing at the time, hoping to catch Trevor at the inn for a casual conversation. However, this was not to be, as Alira came from the north to visit—another monumental event for the kingdom.

  This was topped by something that Morlin suspected went overlooked by everyone, including Trevor: getting the attention of Oris herself, and receiving a blessing that Morlin suspected Trevor didn’t even know about or understand yet.

  Plans were made as Morlin set up his bookshop to appear on the path of the adventure team. The shop was a magical construct that would only be noticed by Trevor and his team if they were with him. It was a collection of his personal books, but losing a couple for this interaction would be a worthy trade.

  And despite being passed the first time, he was successful. Trevor entered the store with two of his party and his very unique elemental, seeking some interesting books, and he had to wonder what Trevor was trying to learn. The kingdom book and sauces made sense—he was heading to the capital and was clearly unprepared, and he was a cooking class.

  But books on mythical beasts? Was he hoping to speak to more? How curious.

  As Morlin closed his shop, he watched as Trevor walked away with his new books.

  This was one of the more interesting developments in the last century, and one that he’d be keeping a close eye on: a chef, with very powerful friends.

  It was curious, though. He felt the shadow cat watching the entire time he was in the store. They were not bonded companions, but there was a link there—a lingering connection that Morlin couldn’t put his finger on.

  How strange. This would be something worth looking into more.

  They had been in Dunhearth when the phoenix arrived, as Lukas’s leader made them all rush to the source, saying we might need to fight. He didn’t want to fight. There had been too many close calls already, and he was still recovering from the last battle, which had left a giant cut on his leg.

  He’d been given a salve to heal it, but it worked slowly, and the free services at the medical pavilion were nice, but everything took time.

  As he stood in the crowd watching the inn that the phoenix had apparently gone inside of, it struck him—this was the inn that started all the problems. He hoped it would burn down. It wouldn’t solve the problems, sure, but it would make him feel better.

  But as he stood there in the crowd, he saw a face—one that haunted him—come out of the inn, and it was speaking to the royal guard captain.

  Trevor?

  Then the beast that came up behind him, even from this distance, made him collapse onto his bad leg.

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  It all happened suddenly, but Trevor walked back inside the inn, along with the captain, as the royal guards rushed forward to make a perimeter as instructed. Lukas, getting back to his feet, just stood there staring at the inn door.

  What had happened? He could have sworn that was Trevor he just saw, but that creature, and the phoenix?

  None of this made any sense.

  They continued to stand there and watch as more and more adventurers arrived, when finally the door opened and out walked a lady?

  The words… everyone heard them clear as day. “Goodbye, young Trevor—see you soon.”

  It was Trevor.

  How?

  The world exploded into light as the lady erupted into the flames, launching high into the air before the form of a giant phoenix flew away, leaving the crowd stunned.

  Had he made a mistake that day by shunning Trevor?

  It wasn’t long before the crowd was dispersed by the royal guard, told to head back to their residences. Lukas was lost in his own thoughts as he followed the group.

  The next morning he needed to confirm things, so he left the inn they were staying at, telling his leader he was going to get some healing, but instead he went and observed the inn from last night.

  He couldn’t get too close as it still had guards around its perimeter keeping people back, but he watched as Trevor left the inn with several others.

  Then his gut really dropped when he saw George and Darren exit the inn with the barmaid. Why was George here with Trevor? And Darren—he’d never been a part of their group growing up—why was he here as well? Had Trevor collected everyone from their orphanage except for him?

  Lukas couldn’t watch anymore and decided to leave. Had he messed up that badly? Or was Trevor just out to get him?

  His mind settled on that last thought as he made his way back.

  Lukas resolved to try harder than ever. If they wanted to ignore him, then he’d show them all!

  Nicholas sat at his desk, reading several messages that had come in today. Right now was a time for change. House Havenel was currently under investigation and on house arrest, the Boltrons were on thin ice due to actions they took, and House Falcone was all but finished, with only some lesser members left to pick up the pieces.

  There was apparently a new player in the game, one that he had only heard rumours of until recently—this Trevor—and a golden opportunity was presented to him, to all the houses. He went looking for staff; his house alone sent five individuals.

  But as he read the notes now, they all failed the tests, all except Tony. This posed a little bit of an issue, but not one he couldn’t overcome.

  What bothered him the most was why Tony. It would be safe to assume they knew he was associated with House Fairmont, and certainly not the normal class for housework. Nicholas had only sent Tony so he could gather information about the tests from his own son.

  And so far, there was no note from Tony himself. So they picked him, likely fully knowing who he was. So, did they do it intentionally to feed him misinformation?

  Was this why they had ignored his message for an audience so far?

  Frustration bubbled up as Nicholas scrunched up the page he was holding.

  Which other houses managed to get their own people in?

  There was a faint knock at the door.

  “Enter,” Nicholas called.

  “Sir, we have received a message from House Ashmoon, and your son Tony,” the butler said, holding two scrolls.

  “House Ashmoon?” Nicholas asked, confused, taking both scrolls in hand and dismissing the butler.

  There was no House Ashmoon. What sort of joke was this, he wondered as he unrolled the parchment.

  To House Fairmont,

  I have received your invitation and will accept a private tea at a mutually agreeable time. As a matter of security while I remain in the capital, I will be accompanied by a second. I trust this will not pose an inconvenience.

  I look forward to the opportunity for civil discussion.

  Trevor Ashmoon

  He read the note three times, just to make sure he was reading it correctly. Ashmoon—Trevor’s surname? Reports said he was an orphan. Well, besides the point, they had agreed to the audience under the proviso that Trevor would be accompanied by someone. It didn’t mention who.

  It wasn’t ideal, but he could work with this.

  As he turned to the second note:

  Father,

  As instructed, I have accepted placement at the manor and entered service under Trevor.

  I am bound by oath as part of the arrangement. As such, I am unable to discuss details of the household, its operations, or Trevor himself beyond confirming that the position has been secured.

  Should circumstances change in a way that permits communication, I will advise you.

  Tony Fairmont

  An oath?! This foolish boy—what had he done!

  Nicholas threw the note away, going back to the note from Trevor, accepting the agreement.

  Sometimes, you just need to do things yourself.

  They had left town. It was purely precautionary. After they felt that pressure and he was informed it was the companion of the greenhorn he hazed, it made sense to leave. If only he knew…

  Nothing prepared Raymond and the party for the attack. They didn’t even know how they were alive. Everything happened so fast. It took two health potions just to get him from a critical state, and the cat didn’t even use a claw. What absurd power was that!

  It had been too much. The party grew paranoid after that. They were sure the cat would return to finish the job, and who was he to say otherwise? It could easily have killed him. He didn’t even know what he had done to deserve it.

  When he told the guild, they blamed him. He only wanted to rough up the greenhorn. It’s what they did—everyone did it! It happened to him, and he did it to countless others. How was he to know that this particular kid was different? Someone should have warned him.

  He couldn’t sleep without lights anymore. The party had fallen apart after the attack. No one wanted to be killed as collateral damage, and no matter who he told, they wanted nothing to do with it.

  He couldn’t live his life in fear. He couldn’t be a pariah.

  If no one would listen to him and help him solve the problem, then he’d do it on his own. He’d find that boy and apologise, make it up to him. At the very least, it would give him something to do, and since no one would give him any information on where he was, he’d follow the rumours.

  Packing his bags, he wasn’t going to wait until morning before he set off. He couldn’t sleep anyway…

  Well, that was until he saw how dark it was outside. Shadows lurked in every direction.

  Tomorrow morning then.

  This was Crisplet’s third cycle, and he had learnt a lot.

  After speaking with Aunty Lira, he was told how he could grow up to be one of the most powerful elementals if he continued on the unique path, but why would he leave the path? He got to cook and build and kill vicious creatures.

  His friend Lily tried to tell him that there were lots of dangerous people and some dangerous creatures in the world, and he’d need to be the strongest elemental fast to protect his best friend, Trevor.

  Even the wind that took his chicken told him to keep his human friend safe!

  Aunty Lira also said that at level forty an elemental would undergo a change. That’s where she went down the path to become the phoenix, but he wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He didn’t want to be a bird. He wanted to be Crisplet.

  The only sad part was Lily said the feather was a start, but it was not enough. It would only save him once, and people were too dangerous for one to be enough, so she’d need to keep searching for a way to make Trevor last longer. She really was the best.

  Oh, and today was a really fun day because he got a new name!

  Crisplet Ashmoon.

  Lily didn’t have a fun name like he did. He checked, although she said she could, if she wanted to. He wasn’t so sure. Crisplet, after all, was special. She was only a cat—the dragon Sylvy said that!