THE fire from the cave's torches flickered as Chloe stood protectively in front of the prison where Theo Jōn and Drake Lornn were bound with chains against the wall. Tara and Kieran had their shoulders tensed, their grip on their weapons were far tight than usual."Relax," Chloe said whispered to them. She focused her eyes through the dark, following the direction of the clapping noise. A man was walking in the narrow entrance to the deeper part of the cave. Chloe narrowed her golden eyes when she recognized him."Impressive!" a voice echoed across the place. "I wasn't sure if you would survive this, but it's a relief to know that the Blood Star could fight this good!""Sean Olaire, leader of the Olaire Tribe," Chloe emotionlessly said.The figure emerged from the dark, the fire only made Sean Olaire's sinister presence became even more evil. He was grinning at her, focusing only at her. "Hello, Chloe Rein. We met again.""You're the one who released th

THE moment Chloe and Blaise arrived at their residence shared by the group of friends and entered the house, a blur of silver threw itself against Chloe hurling them to the ground. Chloe grunted, shifting on her place with her two elbows leaning on the ground. "Jus, I can't breathe," she rasped. Jucel sat up, her face scrunched up in a cute frown. "I was worried about you!" Chloe frowned at her. "I was worried about you, too! Look at you. Getting all beat up because of that Hwā. Are you really a Saranian warrior?" she taunted with a raised eyebrow. Jucel blinked at her. The rest of the group were chuckling and sighing. All of their worries were wiped out, thanks to the two girls' antics. Lucian went to them and offered his two hands. "Come on now," Lucian gently said. Chloe and Jucel looked at each other before they smiled, taking one hand each and let Lucian pull them up. They were then taken aback when Lucian proceeded to engulf them in a hu

THE BLIZZARD whipped snow and ice across the mountain pass, threatening to send the two figures skidding off the side of the cliff. If their shoes hadn't been equipped with spikes and if they hadn't been used to such tough travel, they would've certainly been dead by that point.The winter weather was being awfully wicked.Zephrain dug his boots into the ground to get a firmer stance, one hand clinging to a bit of rock on the mountainside. This storm had come from nowhere. Nothing in the sky that morning had warned either him or Angelica that a blizzard was on the move, so they had thought it would be safe to go hunting and gathering on the mountainside.The two of them, along with the other members of the special squad, were on a mission in the northern land of Deirdre. Their comrades were left behind in a village near where they were right now.Bits of ice sliced at any bit of skin that was exposed, making him wish he had a full mask and not just his hood a

AFTER all those days of simply laying in bed and recovering, Vivien was finally allowed to get up and move around Zephrain's quarters. She was under strict orders from Celine to stay inside if at all possible, since the days were bitterly cold up in the mountains. No one wanted her to get sick again.Snow was perched on Vivien's shoulder as she stepped out from the little room she had been sharing with Angelica, cautious in this strange house. It was different from any houses in Demetrius Kingdom, although the Cold Mountain was still within the territory. The house, particularly the huge quarters of Zephrain and his friends, was a large circular structure made entirely from thick wooden beams that held in the warmth, and the rooms were all arranged a central space.It was also seemingly full of people.The circular space in middle of the house was overflowing with circus members sitting around, working, chatting. There was a table where people were sewing and stitc

ZEPHRAIN was still hovering near the doorway when he heard Celine and Angelica telling Vivien to rest. He moved the cloth from the door to look at Vivien and saw her trying to stand. She looked overly exhausted, even if her mask was still on her face, and was going down. Before he could think about her other situation - that she was wearing one cloth down to her underwear - he was already moving past the door and hurried towards her. Before she toppled over or any of the girls could move, he was already in front of Vivien.He caught her by the waist, keeping her upright and holding her close to him. She was trying to look at him but he could see past the holes of her mask that her eyes were closing. "You did a good job, Viv," he told her. "Thank you."She then closed her eyes completely and lost her consciousness. Zephrain shifted Vivien and hooked his other arm under the bend of her knees and carried her in bridal style. He turned to Celine, Angelica and Marjien. "She h