Sweat trickled down Kael’s brow causing his wound to sting. He rubbed his brow, but that only made things worse. The thin layer of dried blood that formed was ripped clean, exposing the wound, making it bleed again. He grimaced at the slight burning sensation on his forehead, but that was soon overshadowed by his right leg.

It was numb yet it pained. It was weird. He barely had control over it, but whenever the leg touched the ground again the sensation would be amplified. The pain would shoot and spread like a fire.

He tried to shift his attention to the scenery and keep his mind occupied with something other than pain but it was for naught.

Kael lost his balance and fell. His arms shivered uncontrollably. His breathing was ragged and vision blurry.

So cold. He repeated in his mind.

##

Damn it. Nar thought as Kael fell.

He rushed forward to check his condition. It was bad. He was delirious and burning up.

Why didn’t he say anything? He complained to himself, but he knew Kael. He was stubborn and would not admit weakness.

During the long walk, he had wondered if he should have told Kael to wait and rush ahead for help. Kael wouldn’t have let him do it though. He would bring up the promise he made.

You should have still done it. He told himself. His life is on the line.

Nar regretted his decision, but it was too late for that. Kael was in dire need of help. He needed to find a place with herbs and try to help him.

He rummaged through his bag taking out his map. Quickly he found where they were. Hopefully, they were near the center spring.

He looked at his things and beast then at Kael. He tossed Kael on his back and made his way to the spring.

It was not a long walk, in just ten minutes he found himself atop a small incline.

The spring was located at the bottom of the crater. According to what Elder Dean said, it was made by the sect founder after he tamed the phoenix and even had a formation set by him.

Nar had also read that the place calming and brought peace. It even helped a few elders make breakthroughs. Nar could see why.

It was beautiful.

Rocks and herbs—of varying sizes and colors—surrounded the area, bringing it to life. The water itself seemed to glow. In a strange way, everything seemed so perfect as if it was created by nature itself. Nar forgot himself for a moment and took in the scene. Energy flowed inside him. Slowly traveling through his body until it reached the place where the itch happened.

At that moment, he saw a vision. A lone tall man—his skin white as snow, eyes like fire—and a bird on his shoulder. The bird itself was majestic, unlike anything Nar had seen. Its feathers glowed with color.

T-this…Nar thought, shocked. It was the first time in his visions that he saw color.

The bird grew brighter and the mans eyes lit up with red and looked at him. He smiled and walked to him and placed his hand on his head. The man spoke words Nar couldn’t understand then a large influx of energy flowed into him. The man’s image along with the bird then vanished.

What was that. Nar thought. That man and the bird…what did they do?

Kael moved, breaking his thought and reminding him what he was here to do. Placing Kael down he began his search for herbs distracting his mind of what had just occurred.

His itch helped him greatly, guiding him to the location of the exact herb he needed. It felt different, enhanced even. He couldn’t help, but think of the vision and what the man did. For now, he assumed that the man somehow made the strange power stronger. He thanked the heavens for it. If it didn’t happen, he would have spent longer trying to find the herbs. Having gathered the herbs, he realized that he had left all his tools with his bag. He left the herbs next to Kael and ran back to his things.

##

The smell of crushed herbs woke Kael. Opening his eyes he saw Nar working.

“N-nar…” he said, struggling.

“you are awake. This is good means the wound isn’t as bad as I thought. We can use the her-“

“W-water…” Kael said. He tried swallowing—his tongue rubbed the roof of his mouth—but failed.

In a second, Nar had a bottle to his chapped lips. Gulping the water, he felt in heaven. The sweet flavor was the best he’d ever had. The coolness spread down his throat, easing his pain.

“You better?” Nar asked, concerned.

“Thanks. Where are we?” Kael asked, finally noticing the change in scenery.

“At the center spring. I carried you while you were unconscious.”

“w-wait how long was I out?”

“About thirty minutes or so.” Nar said, going back to his rhythmic crushing.

Damn. He thought. That means we only have less than an hour before the mission is over.

Noticing the water, Kael was astonished. It was glowing and was so clear—even more than the sect’s drinking water—that it seemed transparent. He moved forward, his leg not bothering him much. Squinting his eyes, he noticed a large shining symbol in the center of the spring.

"This place has a formation?" he asked Nar.

"Yeah," Nar said. "Didn't you pay attention to Elder Dean? He told us before we entered that if we lost our water we could come here as a formation purifies the pond."

Dean said that? He thought. Maybe I should have listened to him.

Kael took a seat near the edge. Slowly he undid the bandage on his leg revealing the monstrous wound. Blood no longer spilled out but the wound was gruesome. Sure to leave a scar. He scooped water with his right hand and sprayed it over the wound. Kael watched the trail of red flow in the water. It spiraled towards the center, disappearing into the shining symbol. Surprised he dipped the blood-soaked cloth staring intently as the seeping blood traveled once again towards the symbol—disappearing. His mind worked trying to figure out how it made that happen.

Nar approached him carrying a bowl with a disgusting green mush.

“You shouldn’t have moved around.” He said. “Well, at least you cleaned the wound for me.”

He then applied the herb onto his wound. It stung at first then the pain was gone.

When did he learn about herbs? He wondered.

Grabbing the cloth, Nar then proceeded to tie it around him.

“Are those Versilk threads? Just how di-“

His vision trailed to the net. It was torn at some places, but still managed to hold the beast.

“Norman is going to kill you…”

“don’t worry about. At worse I will just have to become his apprentice.”

“Thanks.” He said.

He still felt bad, however, that he placed Nar in this situation all for his stupid actions. All for the rabbit. He felt around his robe, but did not find his journal or rabbit.

“Nar, my journal. It’s gone.” Kael said, standing in a frenzy.

“Calm down I placed it in my bag along with the rabbit.”

He walked towards the bag and opened it taking his journal and placing it against his chest. It calmed him. He always kept it with him. It made him feel his father was still next to him; telling him stories; smiling at him; holding him.

After a while he placed opened it to a blank page and drew the symbol in the center of the spring. Finishing his drawing he placed it within his robe—over his heart—where it belonged.

Kael took the rabbit, its tiny figure still slept peacefully, and put it inside his robe.

A sudden movement scared him. The foxes where waking up.

Nar approached and pet the waking foxes.

“Are you sure you want to keep that rabbit instead of the fox?” Nar asked.

“Yeah.” He said without hesitation. “let my fox loose.”

Sighing Nar did as he was told and set him on the ground—keeping the black feathered fox inside.

It slowly got up and shied away as soon as it noticed them. The other fox squirmed alive. Nar tried calming it but it snarled, bit him and tried to escape the net. He let out a sigh as he tied the net to a tree and sat next to Kael.

“Doesn’t seem to like you much. Huh?”

“He’s just scared at the moment.” Nar said confidently. “He will come around once I tame him. How’s your leg feeling?”

“Much better, thanks.” Kael said, smiling.

But then it hit him.

How would they explain his wrapped leg? He looked around noticing the mud at the edge of the spring. He was already covered in mud from when he fell after entering the forest, so he could probably disguise it. He grabbed a handful of mud and spread it over his legs making it impossible to distinguish the Versilk wrapped cloth. Now all that was left was getting rid of his limp.

Kael stood, practicing his gait. Pacing back and forth adjusting the limp making it less noticeable. To the side Nar watched bellowing out commands fixing mistakes that eluded Kael. With his help, he finally managed to fake a normal walk. The pain, however, still struck when placing weight on the damaged leg, but it was manageable.

Kael thanked Nar for his help. Joyful that he had followed behind when they entered.

Without him, I wouldn't have been able to get the rabbit. I would have probably ended up not capturing anything. Worse yet, end up stung to death by bugs. Kael shuddered, but laughed at the thought.

"We should get going." Nar said, worried. "The three-hour limit is almost up."

Nar turned and stared with a blank look. Lost in thought.

“Kael, did you heard someone talk right now?” Nar asked, still with a strange look on his face.

“Yeah, I was the one who talked. Let’s get going. Time is almost up.” Kael said once again.

“So only I can hear him…” Nar mumbled.

“Come on, Nar.” Kael said, pulling him away from the spring.

Fortunately, they still made it out in time. Most of the kids were laughing and boasting about the beasts they had captured. Kael spotted Brin and Levy approaching.

"Well, it was about time you got out." He said, mockery in his voice. "I was beginning to worry that you ran away."

"From the looks of it, he was wasting his time bathing in mud." Levy added.

Kael felt his cheeks turn red. It really did seem that way. He fought the urge to blur out that he had stepped into the yellow section.

Stop. He told himself. Don't listen to them. You'll get in bigger trouble if you say that. Dean would hear.

He eyed Dean. He was staring at the kids and nodding with a satisfied expression as he noted the beasts they capture. He still hadn’t noticed the wound on his leg. A good start. He had to keep it that way until it healed.

"Check out my beast. Kael." Brin said, removing the cover of the huge box Levy carried. A cage. Within was a wolf cub.

Shock filled Kael's eyes. It was the same as the gray wolf that almost killed him.

Just how did he get it? He thought.

The pup was violent. It clawed and bit at the cage doing its species justice. Gray wolves were known for their dominating and violent behavior since birth. Cubs would often fight to the death until one remained. It was part of their ritual. The strong survived and the weak perished. Surprisingly, their numbers didn’t suffer.

In fact, more and more of them littered the continent. So much in fact, that sects would often send disciples on missions to reduce their population for the safety of the people.

The fact that Brin had actually found and captured one was astonishing. The scar filled cub was probably the only one in the entire forest.

"Where is your beast?" Brin asked.

Hesitating Kael took out the rabbit from his robes. Brin burst out laughing.

"That little rabbit is your beast. It makes sense. Someone scared to enter the forest wouldn't try to tame a good beast."

"Just wait and see until my rabbit beats your wolf." Kael said, confidently.

"Like that will ever happen." Levy said. “A rabbit beating a wolf. That would be a miracle.”

"We will see about that." Kael insisted.

“Sometimes I wonder if you are really the son of genius.” Brin said, sighing.

Kael tightened his fist preparing a punch, but before he could throw it, Dean spoke.

“The mission is over. We will now head to the Material Palace.”

The kids cheered and followed.

Did Dean notice I was going to punch him? Kael asked himself, noticing Dean glare at him. Of course he did.

Dean always seemed to know when he did something bad. He glanced at his right leg. He hoped that he wouldn’t notice.

Brin’s bragging voice snaked into his ear. Kael turned focusing on him as he continued to show off his beast to the crowd. Anger still sparking inside him for what he said.

One day, Kael vowed, tightening his fists, I’m going to give him a good punch to the face.