“Practitioners were not the only beings locked away, Mel.” Drayon expined. “If the girls were chanting, they could have just been praying.”

  “That’s why I need you to go downstairs before everyone wakes.” Mel countered. “Or are you afraid of your siblings?”

  Drayon clenched his jaw. “I know my brothers and sisters, Mel. If they somehow escaped the White Woods, I would know.”

  “How?”

  “My siblings are not as nice as I. They would have ravaged a city out of spite by now, leaving a trail of blood behind them.”

  And if his siblings were near, he could smell them.

  Mel let out a groan.

  “The girls were most likely praying.” Drayon repeated, before standing.

  Mel did the same and grabbed Drayon by the shoulders. “Were you telling the truth?

  “About?”

  “How did you escape the White Woods?”

  Drayon gently removed Mel’s hands from his shoulders. “I told you.”

  “Right.” Mel mumbled, before moving towards the window.

  Drayon watched his friend’s movements with curious eyes.

  He wasn’t lying, not entirely. One day, the glowing barrier did indeed descend and the white door revealed itself.

  “I’ll go downstairs.” He conceded after a brief moment of silence.

  Mel quickly turned around. “Yes?”

  “But first, I want to wager.”

  Mel stepped forward. “Wager?”

  Drayon’s eyes darted towards a box sitting on the wardrobe before nding back on Mel. “Gem of the Sea.”

  Mel’s eyes lit up. “Are you serious? Light?”

  Drayon nodded.

  “Fine.” Mel accepted quickly, before straightening his spine. “Practitioner Drayon, the first to practice and wield the magic of the Gods. If you are right, you can have the gem.”

  Drayon’s face broke into a huge grin, revealing sharp teeth.

  “But if I am correct and your siblings are here…”

  “You’re not.” Drayon ughed.

  “But if I am correct, you will owe me.” Mel responded.

  “Fine.” Drayon responded, then csped his hands together. “Now, where are those praying girls?”

  Mel rolled his eyes before waking towards the door.

  As soon as his hand touched the door knob, the Grand Bell rang.

  The grand bell was a guardian bell that stood in a rge tower, near the gate. It was only rung under emergencies.

  Mel and Drayon’s eyes both widened.

  Screams downstairs immediately followed.

  Mel swung the door open and raced down the stairs with Drayon following.

  “What's wrong?” Mel shouted, hands clinging on the railing.

  At the bottom of the stairs, three servants stood, visibly frightened. Their pale faces were flushed.

  “The skies.” The redhead one said. “It even caused the Prophexians to scatter.”

  Drayon and Mel looked at each other.

  “What’s in the skies?” Drayon choked. He already knew.

  The front door suddenly swung open.

  A woman wearing a ruffled, beige dress came huffing in.

  “She requests you.” The woman exhaled, hands pnted on her knees.

  The woman, René, was the guardian of the Grand Bell. Her tiny physique often fooled many, but the woman was trained in the Grand Army. One of the best.

  Long ago, she was one of the king’s favorites…until she made a mistake and was assigned to watch the Grand Bell as punishment.

  “Me?” Mel asked. “Who?”

  René shook her head, then raised a finger. “Drayon.”

  Drayon cleared his throat and side stepped his friend.

  “Wait!” Mel shouted.

  Drayon kept walking. “I can smell her.”

  “Who?” Mel shouted, then followed him out the door.

  The two were immediately greeted with the sight of Awea.

  She was alone.

  “Brother.” Awea said, face hardened.

  Awea had assumed the body of a fairly young woman with brunette hair, no longer the child she presented herself to be with Petaya.

  “Awea.” Drayon gasped, then took a step forward.

  Awea raised a hand. “Don’t.”

  Drayon frowned. “What’s wrong?”

  “We mourned you.” She spat. “Yet, here you are.”

  “I can expin.”

  Awea shook her head. “Yerin would not hunt for days. Butina cries out for you in her sleep. You did not come back for us, abandoned us like our Mother.”

  “How did you get out?” Drayon asked softly.

  Awea smirked. “I think we both know how exactly I got out.”

  Behind Drayon, Mel cleared his throat loudly.

  “The boy wants to make his presence known.” Awea grumbled, followed by an eye roll. “Come!”

  Mel took a couple of steps forward. “I am Prince Mel, Son of King Stefan, the King…”

  “I know who you are.” Awea interrupted.

  “How?”

  “I have been told things.”

  “What kind of things?”

  Awea bit her lower lip with her sharp teeth, drawing blood.

  Mel’s body tensed.

  “Do you know what I am? Who am I?” Awea asked slowly. “Who my brother truly is?”

  “The Prince knows about us, Awea.” Drayon answered. “About me.”

  Mel took another step forward before Drayon pced a hand on his back.

  Mel turned to his friend, whose eyes were pleading for him to stand back.

  “Mel, this is my sister Awea.” Drayon began, hands shaking. “Awea can not only detect lies from the tip of your tongue but also your ears.”

  “When one lies, the tip of your ears turn green.” She expined. “But I am not here to expin who I am.”

  “Why are you here?” Mel asked.

  “Just wanted to stop and greet my brother….” She responded. “before I head home.”

  “Sonusa?” Drayon asked.

  “Where else?” Awea responded. “My mother’s throne sits unattended.”

  “You can’t.” Mel countered. “This world is not the world you knew, Aweeya.”

  “Ahh-way-ya.” Awea enunciated. “And I am aware.”

  “Sonusa belongs to my father.”

  Awea suddenly grew three feet taller, causing the ground to shake. “Sonusa and the Highnds belong to Arra and her children.”

  Mel stumbled backwards as Awea’s wings emerged from behind her and released a huge gust of wind.

  “Stay out of my way or deal with Dracea.” She warned. “My brother never liked this city.”

  “Dracea?” Drayon and Mel said at the same time.

  “Brother is free?” Drayon asked.

  Awea slowly nodded. “And he’s angry.”

  “Where is he?”

  “Paying his debt.” She answered coldly.

  “You cannot go to Sonusa.” Mel interrupted again, voice shaky. “Sonusa is a possession of King Stefan.”

  “You’ve said that.” She responded, eyes shimmering green. “Yet, you mingle with its true king.”

  “True king?”

  Awea waved her right hand in the air. “The Descendant.”

  Mel frowned. “The Descendant?”

  “The One Who Bleeds Green. Arra’s Chosen.”

  “The Incarnate?”

  Awea snapped her fingers. “That's it.”

  “How do you know about the Incarnates? How long have you been out?” Mel asked.

  Awea turned her gaze towards her brother. “Did you not know it was here?”

  Drayon shook his head slowly.

  “Why do you think it has been here?” Mel asked.

  “I can smell my mother on you….on both of you. Yet, Drayon…”

  Awea took a long look at her brother.

  “The boy is clever, I can see.” She continued.

  “The Incarnate of Arra was banished from the Meadows.” Mel expined. “If he returned, my father would have known.”

  “How?”

  “A Nirean spell.”

  “A Nirean spell?” Awea repeated. “That cursing whore. What kind of spell?”

  “A binding.”

  Awea waved him off. “That does not matter.”

  “Bindings can only be broken by the power of Nirea.”

  Awea’s face broke into a huge grin. “Arra is the Goddess of Truth. Weaver of Truths and Huntress of Lies.

  Mel stared at her, still confused.

  “Mother is the Maester of Reality, boy.” She huffed. “If the boy has tapped into Arra’s deepest core, he can will almost anything to be true.”

  “Impossible.” Drayon said. “The Incarnates are not like the Gods. They have limitations and Arra would have never let a mere mortal have access to such power.”

  “You also didn’t believe Mother would lock us away yet we spent eons imprisoned with beings beneath us.” Awea retorted quickly. “I can smell Arra on both of you. Either Arra has returned or you’re both being fooled by someone close to you.”

  “Or someone else has broken it.” Someone behind Awea said.

  Azeri.