The moon shines high above, casting his light on the white buildings and colorful flags in Mid. Far into the distance, the wall rises to enclose the city. The gates are shut as most normal people are in bed. Sleeping.

Probably as I should be. But I am the farthest thing from normal. After the past few months–or was it mere weeks?–of hopping from one task to another trying to save my family and ensure the prince wasn’t assassinated… it was nice to look out over my city and enjoy some peace to just be. With my family safe and Risia at peace for the time being, I could enjoy the beautiful view from the library. I watched over Risia and her thousands and thousands of inhabitants as they went home with their families.

They don’t realize how close they came to war. How close they came to having a complete overturn in leadership as doppelgangers slowly replaced key officials and prepared to assassinate the royals.

And the people from another world will come back to try and take our world… It's only a matter of when. But I’ll fight that to my last breath.

I climb down from the library. I told Ran I was going back down alone. Climbing up the side of the upside down needle-like building is hard enough on the back of a wolf the size of a pony. You don’t want to risk going down. Did I mention she also has claws and the climbing ability of a cat? Yep. But that doesn’t make clinging to her fur any easier when you’re hanging upside down from the bottom of a balcony two stories up.

Ran perks when I drop the last few feet down the side of the building. I could’ve gone inside and asked for an escort through the tunnels the fairies use, but I couldn’t face them again.

The fairies hiding in the library are an obnoxious bunch–or, at least, their king and many of his subjects are. The king tripped me when I was trying to return his daughter’s Spark, the thing that grants them magic. The queen and Natasha are pretty nice.

And I also didn’t wish to interrupt their celebration. When I left, Natasha was tearfully making things of thin air, from dancing dragons to budding trees in spring of such intricate beauty you could see the veins on the leaves and cute little bugs climbing on the bark if one looked close enough. I only ever used Rose for creating weapons and it was just a few nights ago I used her to kill dozens of men and creatures. Long story short, Rose is the Spark, AKA Natasha’s magical little head voice that about drove me insane when I realized she was actually a living entity living inside me because Natasha sacrificed the magical piece of her soul to escape a Forced Bond.

But that is in the past.

Now, seeing Natasha use her Gift for creation and beauty instead of war… it made me realize just how right it was to return Rose to her fairy. Rose belongs in a place where peace and beauty are created… not war. Natasha and Rose are a kind-hearted, empathetic pair made for spreading wonder to the world. Nothing like their hard-hearted father… or even me.

I am made for war. To protect. I realize that now. It’s how my mind works; how I see the worlds and people. I watch for hidden knives in folk walking in the marketplace. Reading murderous intent in the eyes of men and creatures has become somewhat commonplace. I know how to kill or incapacitate a man in a hundred different ways.

The years I’ve been the Guardian of Risia as her silent vigilante has fashioned me into sharpened steel. And now I don’t wish to be anything else.

Something in me breaks as I know deep inside this is likely the last time I will be Risia’s Guardian for quite some time. It’s too dangerous with so many seeking Ran… and me. Wolfsbane, the man who’s been a draconian thorn in my side, is still out there. He knows I am both Aria and the Sir Ri who competes in the tournament to become Prince Protector. I just pray he hasn’t yet connected the dots that I am also the Guardian.

Hence the reason all the convoluted mess I’ve made of my life needs to become a bit less convoluted. Focusing on the tournament and getting my family settled should be my priorities, even as my heart protests.

Ran licks my cheek, startling me from my absent-minded stare, and I glare at her as I flick monster-sized saliva back at her.

"Ran, you know that's disgusting. I've had my fair share of being covered in other thing's bodily fluids... I'm done."

I would think bathing in the blood and gore of our enemies would make a bit of my mouth juice easier to bear, Ran replies through our mental bond.

I gag.

She sighs, flicking an ear and licking her huge white paw. Or not. Rider, you really shouldn’t–

Her voice fades, and I look up from dusting off my deep burgundy cloak to find her ears perked and her tongue hanging frozen where it was about to meet her paw.

I give her a moment, knowing she's listening to something as her ears flick back and forth and her nose twitches, searching for scents in the air she might've missed. Her lips pull back, exposing her huge saber teeth and pearly whites.

"What is it, beaut?" I ask softly, not wanting to startle her.

Trouble, she says.

I grin when she bows before me, allowing me to hop on her back. "Then let's make sure their trouble meets our trouble." For one last time, I think.

Ran groans in my mind. That sounded much better in your head, I hope.

I wince. Kinda.

Ran jumps, grabbing the side of a jutting window and pushing herself up to the one-story roof. She races across the rooftops, flinging pieces of roof behind us as her strangely smooth lope takes us up and across the buildings of Mid until I can hear the cries of pain and the thump of fists against flesh.

My smile grows sinister. It's time to do what I was born to do.

Fight.