Prince Tolder rolled his eyes. “The Hummingbird. Such an unoriginal name, to name me after the Brandeen family crest.”

He dared to step closer to Teal. It was a calculated step. Just a hair’s breath away from Teal’s reach. He was so close Teal could feel the air escaping the man’s mouth. If only he could lean forward and sink his teeth into Prince Tolder’s flesh.

“I should thank you,” Prince Tolder said with a smirk.

“Thank me?” Teal asked, confused.

“Yes, for delivering my scroll to the Empress, especially after Brelan was murdered by those annoying Talekan Assassins of the New Path.”

Teal tried to process Prince Tolder’s words, but the man was talking about things Teal did not understand clearly. Although, Teal did remember seeing his scroll on the Empress’ table.

“Did Brelan know it was from you?”

Prince Tolder laughed. “Of course not.”

“Is the Empress working against the Emperor?” Teal asked wanting to clarify this once and for all for his peace of mind.

“No,” Prince Tolder spat, venomously. “She betrayed the Brandeen family! She has always been more loyal to that despicable man.”

Teal growled. “Don’t you dare insult the Emperor! I will make it my life’s work to ensure whoever was responsible for his death, dies a very slow painful death.”

“Says the man chained to a wall,” Prince Yernal snorted.

Teal glared and with a suddenly surge of angry energy, he lurched so heavily that the hooks holding his chains in the wall creaked, threatening to be weakened. The guards in the room shifted nervously.

"In fact,” Prince Tolder continued, “You, my friend, are going to help us take the throne in the Keglar Kingdom by inflicting fear and death onto anyone who dares to try to stop Prince Yernal."

It took a moment for those words to sink in. Teal slowly shook his head. "Why would I do anything for you?" he asked.

"You'll do anything I ask and whatever Prince Yernal’s asks, Teal," Prince Tolder intoned. "Because once you have helped him become King of the Keglar Kingdom, I will tell you where you can find the Lombock. You want to know that, don't you?"

Teal scoffed. "And why would I believe that you know where they are?"

Prince Yernal shared a knowing glance with Prince Tolder. "Unlike the Talbecan Empire,” Prince Yernal explained, “the Keglar Kingdom did not destroy all of its materials on the Lombock race. I have maps that show their exact location."

Teal remained quiet. His brain whirling with the news. The Emperor was dead and now he could possibly find the Lombock? Of course, he would want to know where his fellow Lombock were residing.

He shook his head again, clearing his thoughts. There was no way he would hurt anyone to get that information. "I'm sorry," Teal said. "I won’t attack anyone just because you ask me to. I'm not going to help you."

"Aah yes, the Presence that resides within," Prince Yernal crooned, winking at Prince Tolder. "I see that it has not come forth at present. Good job we have you bound in these chains." He laughed again to Prince Tolder in a tone that clearly tried to indicate that he was not afraid of Teal. "This is where Prince Tolder really comes into it," he suddenly declared.

"It's time for pay back," Prince Tolder continued. "Prince Yernal has been very accommodating and has helped me to gain some revenge," he explained cryptically, "now it's my turn to return the favor."

"Prince Tolder," Prince Yernal stated proudly, "has been experimenting with an elixir that actually originated from the Talbecan Empire. Apparently, the Emperor's own mother was involved in the creation of this elixir."

"Elixir?" Teal asked. “The Emperor’s mother? The Empress Dowager?”

"Using the information kept in the Keglar Kingdom’s great vaults of knowledge,” Prince Tolder continued, “we found the records of a priest who worked with the Emperor Dowager. They experimented years ago to eliminate the control the tiger has over a Lombock without breaking the original spell; a counter spell if you'd like. It will render the tiger useless and unable to place any control over you. I have used my specialty knowledge and have made the complex elixir devised by this priest."

Prince Yernal dared to edge closer to Teal as well and whispered conspiratorially, "Wouldn't you like to know what it really feels like to be a Lombock? To be completely free of the control of the tiger?"

Teal stared in utter disbelief at the two dangerous men before him. Was this even possible? Would he even want to experience existing without the tiger's presence within him? And then, in shock, Teal knew he had always been scared of the possibilities of his true self. Would he still be the same or would he become a horrible heartless killer?

Prince Tolder turned and motioned to one of the soldiers standing behind him. The soldier stepped forward and it was only then that Teal saw the tray in his hands. A tall long-necked bottle with glowing green contents swirling inside it sat on the tray, and in that moment, for the first time ever in his life, Teal felt fear from the Presence inside of him.

"I want everyone to see the true Lombock," Prince Tolder stated, his eyes narrowed and cold.

"And I want everyone to see that I have a true Lombock under my control,” Prince Yernal added. “Do whatever I say and I will let you go to find the Lombock after I am King."

"No!" Teal stated strongly. "I am not going to do that for you."

"You might as well take the elixir,” Prince Tolder told him. “No one is left to rescue you. The Emperor is gone. Jale is missing and the Empress is locked away in the palace. The other concubines are in hiding from what we've heard. It’s only you that’s left."

Teal's mind spun out of control. He still couldn't believe that the Emperor was dead, but Jale was missing as well?! It was impossible to comprehend that so much had befallen onto the Empire in such a short amount of time.

"Hold him," Prince Tolder suddenly ordered to the room, moving away from Teal. Prince Yernal didn't need to be told either. He took a step back as the soldiers moved forward. Chained to the wall, Teal could only wriggle in fury.

"No!" he screamed. "I won't take it!!!”

The soldiers approached, the two with their clubs at the ready. One swung back and brought their club down hard on the side of Teal's chest. Teal screamed out in agony as the spikes of the metal dug into his body, blood springing from the holes in his skin. Two other soldiers took it as their opportunity, and they raced forward. They placed all of the body weight onto Teal's body to hold him still against the wall. Another two took a hold of Teal's head to hold it still as well.

Teal shook his head furiously trying to bite them only to have another swing of the club come pounding down against his legs. Teal screamed out again, and in that moment, the soldier who had been holding the elixir, stepped forward and poured it into his mouth. A hand clamped over Teal's mouth and the other pinched his nose.

In his agony filled scream and gasp for air, the elixir poured down Teal's throat. He fought against them again, twisting and thrashing as best he could. He bit a finger off and heard a soldier cry out, and blood filled Teal's mouth.

Another blow reached his side, and more spikes of metal pierced his skin. Teal cried out again only to have more of the elixir poured down his throat. Tears came to his eyes as more of the liquid reached his stomach. In all, six men held him against the wall to get the elixir into his body.

When it was all gone, they stepped back. The soldier who had lost his finger hurried out of the room, holding his hand to his body.

Teal's body heaved, and he glared at the men now backing out of the room.

"I hope you are able to control him when he is no longer under the tiger's control," Prince Tolder hissed.

"I'll keep him chained up," Prince Yernal answered. He nodded at the club in one of the soldiers' hands. "I've got enough to deter him from getting too rough with me."

"I hope so," Prince Tolder stated.

The men left the room, and Teal's body dropped, the chains and metal around his body were the only things keeping him up.

"Leave him where he is for a while," Prince Yernal ordered to someone standing outside of Teal's cell. "Let's remind him we're in charge."

With that, the large wooden door to Teal's cell was slammed shut, and the sound of metal clanging into position reached his ears, although it suddenly sounded distant. He also heard, what he guessed, was a large wooden slab being placed down against the door as an extra barrier and security.

Teal tried to steady his breathing. His body where the club had struck, was aching, throbbing with pain. He could feel blood trickling down the side of his chest and down his legs. His arms ached from the position they were in, holding his body hanging in the same position, his toes merely grazing the surface of the stone floor.

He sunk in and out of consciousness. The aftertaste of the elixir still lingered on his tongue and the roof of his mouth. It wasn't unpleasant, but it was a cold horrible reminder that something had been put into his body. And now, all he could do was wait for some imminent change if it worked. The Presence within swirled in panic, and Teal tried to sooth it. He was, for the moment, still under its control.

Evening approached and a rarity for the Keglar Kingdom, the clouds eased to allow the two moons to shine in the sky. The clear night brought a change in the temperature too, and Teal could now see his breath in front of his mouth each time he breathed. His eyes fell onto one of the moons, and he longed for those warm nights lying in Jale's bed. He longed for the man's love, for his touch, for his kind words. He longed for the Emperor and his fellow concubines as well. They felt so far away. All of it felt so far away. His own self felt so far away.

Teal glared at the door to his cell. No matter what, he would get revenge for this kidnapping and for the elixir he had been forced to drink. He would find out who had killed the Emperor. He would find Jale, and he would free the Empress.

The coldness wrapped around Teal and with his breath so visible in the night, it appeared to ripple in the space before him. Teal shook his head, trying to clear his vision. There was a sudden sense of emptiness, a change, a sense of loss, of something disappearing within him. Teal reached out in his mind, seeking and searching, b ut the guidance and control that had always been in his life was fading away.

His eyes flickered back out to the stars. The fear he felt over that loss disappeared, for there in the background of his mind, gradually crawling closer and closer to the surface, was a different strength and power. Teal closed his eyes, letting his body adjust to the new sensation of control running through his veins.

He opened his eyes slowly and gasped at the way the world presented to him. The clarity and sense of freedom flowing through his body. There was something else curling up deep within his body, within his stomach. It was a hunger, a starvation that could not be ignored. It made him shake from the force of it.

In the early hours of morning, the door to Teal's cell was opened. He lifted his head slowly at the sound of a scuffle and commotion.

"No, no, let me go!" a man cried out. "I'm innocent!"

Teal watched as the man was pushed further back into the cell, and the door was slammed shut and locked once again. Middle aged with a large beer belly, his clothes dirty and torn, he spun in a circle taking in his new surroundings. He froze when he spied Teal. A scream of horror escaped the man’s lungs. He ran back towards the door and pounded his hands on its surface.

"Let me out! Help!" He cried uncontrollably at the door. "I'll pay my debts. I will! Let me out!"

A creaking sound suddenly filled the cell, and Teal's arms relaxed as the chains holding them in place loosened. They continued to move, and Teal was once again able to place his feet on the floor, and then, take a step forward. His eyes did not stray from the man. The hunger within was palpable, overwhelming, controlling everything else.

The man turned his head and whimpered at the sight of Teal edging closer.

"No, no, please," the man now tried to beg with Teal. "It wasn't my fault. I was robbed. I will pay Prince Yernal. I will."

Teal stopped before the man, his face calm and controlled.

"I'm hungry," he said and closed the distance between them.