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"Port starboard side!" a loud voice echoed down into the kitchen. "All hands on deck! Prepare for port!"

In the kitchen, it was quiet because I was alone preparing the later afternoon meal for the Commander Mika. The voice rallied the sailors though and quickly a stampede of paw steps echoed from the deck above. I quickly became distracted from filleting another fish.

My ears were perked up as I tried to hear what the loud voice was saying now but it was muffled by the busy activity. I hadn't heard so much activity since the ship had departed from Sirmiq Harbor.

A pair of paw steps grew closer, turning my attention to the entrance of the kitchen. In came Nervelli, and even though it was more difficult to tell with otters, I could see his excitement.

"Snowy!" he exclaimed, with a large smile. "We made it to Kietan!"

Kietan? Midnight is there! Finally we made it? Nervelli's excitement was contagious as I quickly felt it spread to every end of my limbs. My body reacted on its own by jumping up to my hindpaws and quickly sheathing the dagger.

Nervelli ran out, and I eagerly pursued him and followed him up the dark stairs up into the bright sunlight. First thing I noticed is that the humidity that I felt in the kitchen only got worse now that we were out in the open.

Otter sailors were all over the deck. Several were up on the sails themselves, rolling and securing them with rope. It amazed me how brave the otters were to go that far above the deck.

I didn't get a long chance to admire them. Nervelli pulled on my paw suddenly, and I nearly tripped over my own hindpaws.

"Come on," he urged, pulling me toward the edge of the deck. We weaved around the sailors while they worked until we came up against the railing. Nervelli placed his paws at my sides and hoisted me up so that I could easily see over the edge. Stepping in close, he pressed himself against me so that I was secured with my hindpaws off the ground.

I have looked out over the ocean before, but now I could see that the horizon was not flat. I could see the horizon move up and down as if it was a mountain rising from the ocean. It was difficult to see exactly it was because their seemed to be blue haze covering the details.

"It's too humid to see the city yet but that is the forest of Kietan," Nervelli said. I was pressed between the railing and his body so that I could see over the railing but the otter still had no trouble looking over my ears.

Summers in Sirmiq certainly had a lot of moisture in the air but those humid days were nothing compared to the humidity I experienced now. It was not long before I was panting, trying to cool myself. Not only was the body heat of Nervelli getting too warm, but also it seemed almost impossible for me to cool down which only exasperated my panting.

"Here," he muttered. He picked me up by my sides again and moved me to hang me over the edge of the railing. Looking down I saw nothing but the ocean. If Nervelli let me go at that moment, nothing would stop me from falling into the ocean. I did not know how to swim and it was way too far for me to make it toward the land that we saw.

My body tensed up in that instant, but Nervelli quickly sat me back on my tail on the edge of the railing. He wrapped an arm around me to secure me, and I instinctively gripped onto the edge of the rope ladder I had been sat next to.

"Much better," Nervelli said with a smile. "I do not remember being in Kietan before. You're staying here with your friend but I only have a couple days to see the city. My mother is going to stay on the ship most of the time but she'll take me out to get some food at least, and then I'll be able to see the city of the wolves. I have been told that the city once was a great city like Lontra, but pirates have ruined their trade. Well, we're here to fix that."

Nervelli talked for some length, expressing his excitement of visiting the city but my mind quickly became distracted at the mention of my friend. Midnight was there, on that land somewhere. I had not seen him for almost half a year, and that was close to a quarter of my life that I remembered.

Before I had met the wolf, my life seemed to be nothing but pain and sorrow. I couldn't really remember it. Day after day, my only task was to find food, to survive. One day that all changed when Midnight shown me a sliver of kindness. My life changed, my life was not so bleak and I had someone to help me survive. We certainly fought to survive too; we fought other orphans, we eluded the guards, we fought against an assassin that was determined to kill us both and we even fought to survive the suffocating blanket of ash that came from Mount Ignis.

"Snowy!" I heard Midnight's voice again.

I could feel the pain lance up from the cut on my back as I remembered the assassin's blade cutting through fur and flesh. Ash covered the sky, and it seemed as if even darker clouds were coming to cover over my life.

Waiting for my life to end, I watched as Midnight did something I never expected before. He stopped! I still did not understand why he did not continue fleeing from the assassin. He was no match for the reptilian.

Midnight risked his life in a vain attempt to save mine. I had been mostly a burden to him, and yet he still tried to save me.

In turn, I felt worried for his safety when his arm was badly cut. I remember even feeling the urge to protect him, but the pain from my own wound clouded my mind.

The assassin would have killed us both if Alec had not made it back in time.

I had nothing but respect for Midnight. Not only the kindness he shared with me after I was beaten by the cart owner, but how fiercely he fought that lynx who attempted to steal from me so that we could both eat. He could have likely shared with the lynx rather than myself, finding how useless I am at defending myself but instead he fought.

I remember hearing his puppy growls, that would have frightened me normally but even then I had found them comforting. He was fight for both of us, he was protecting me as much as he was fighting for the food.

I admired the wolf.

"There's the city!" Nervelli shouted, bringing me out of my memory.

I focused my eyes on the horizon again after being brought out of my daze. I did in fact see the outlines of a city coming out of the blue haze of the humidity. Midnight is in that city.

Out of my daze now, I could see down past my dangling hindpaws that the wake the ship was stirring up was now not as prominent. We had slowed down significantly as we approached the city. The otter sailors were still working hard bringing us into the port, slowing us down enough that we could safely dock.

I remember seeing a few ships coming in for the docks at Sirmiq harbor; it was always an exciting time to see what the ship had brought. A lot of orphans would watch ships come in, if the guards didn't chase them off. This time, I was on one of those ships that were coming in.

"Let's go back down to the kitchen now," Nervelli suggested. I didn't really want to but it wouldn't seem I had a choice since his arm that was wrapped around me pulled me off the ledge and he set me back down on my hindpaws on the deck.

Following the otter back down to the kitchen, I understood that Nervelli wanted to make sure that I left nothing behind. Not that it was difficult because I didn't own a lot, but Nervelli insisted that I had everything I needed.

I started to feel a little saddened that I would be leaving the kitchen. It had been my home for several weeks, and it was one of the few times that I did not suffer for food. I always had it available. Even if I did not have great meals like what we served the crew, I was able to snack on a lot of the scraps.

Not only that, Nervelli and Nori had taught me a lot about cooking. I would be leaving with skills that I didn't have before, and I felt that I was obligated to owe them some sort of thanks.

Nervelli had been especially kind to me. All the others had been kind, unlike most adults in my life but Nervelli had made sure I learned what I was taught, and that I was not uncomfortable during the voyage.

Maybe he didn't want me losing my stomach contents in the kitchen, but after a week, the ship's movement started to get to me. I wasn't all that willing to listen, but Nervelli taught me how to cook a meal that would ease my pain. It smelled very similar to the meal that the swift fox had, Sage Velox back in Sirmiq.

I was always busy, preparing the food to be cooked but I did have a few times where I was able to go out on the deck and view the ocean, view the stars, view the bright moons. It gave me a sense of peace when there wasn't so much activity on the deck. It was just the ocean and me, with no worries about reptilian assassins coming out of nowhere. No worries about where to find my next meal.

Never would I have thought that I like being out on the ocean. At least it was preferable to the streets of Sirmiq or the refugee camps of Arktiline. I had even started to view this ship as my home; much like Nirvelli had expressed before.

Nori came down to the kitchen long after we had, and she had us tidy things up in the kitchen and assist prepare a large meal for the commander.

The meal was finished, and it was the most food I've seen us use but Nervelli informed that it was because we would be switching out our food supply anyway.

We continued to pack most of the remaining food for the next hour. I could hear the activity above deck getting louder, and even the calls of birds again. It seemed that we were very close to docking now, and sure enough within a few minutes the ship came to a complete stop.

With a bag slung over my shoulder, my dagger sheathed at my belt, and my coin purse tied at my hips as well, Nervelli escorted me back to the deck.

"There is someone on the deck that will take you to where your friend is," Nervelli informed me as he walked me toward the plank that connected with the dock. "I don't know who it is but just keep your eyes open and ears up."

Stopping right before we stepped paw off the ship, Nervelli knelt down to my eye level and stared directly at me. Tilting my head slightly, I was curious on what he was doing.

"You don't talk a lot Snowy but I can see that you are driven," the otter told me with a friendly tone. "You travelled a long way to reunite with your friend so don't ever lose what motivates you. If anyone tells you can't do something, prove them wrong!" He smirked at the last comment, and I couldn't help but feel encouraged by his words. "Hopefully we will meet again. I will be commander of this vessel by then!"

I smiled at the otter. "Thank you," I expressed. I had learned the meanings of the words not long ago but for the first time I said them genuinely. "Thank you for everything, Nirvelli."

The otter grinned at me. "All right, now go on."

Turning me back toward the plank, Nirvelli gave me a gentle pat on the back and urged me to continue on. I walked down the plank and stepped on to the strange dock.

The dock was not at all familiar to me. The dock was busy with a lot of workers, many of them wolves and other species I didn't recognize but looked familiar to caribou. I was completely lost already; I could not recognize anything about the docks or the city. In Sirmiq, I could at least look up at the city keep to get a general idea of where I was, if I ever got lost, but I was completely clueless here.

I looked back at Lutra Dusk questioningly but Nirvelli had already retreated within the decks. Not only was I lost, but I felt that I was leaving the a home I had come to know.

"You must be the snowflake!" a nearby voice claimed. I turned my attention to a young vixen that had approached me. She was definitely older than I was, and looked to even be a bit older than Midnight; though not by much. "You don't look like a snowflake but you do have some white fur growing out of your tail, and I doubt there would be anyone else as young as you coming off that ship. Especially someone who is not an otter on the Lutra Dusk."

"My name is Snowflake," I corrected the vixen. She had an auburn fur color covering most of her body, with black paws and hindpaws. White covered her underbelly and the end of her tail; all pretty standard for a red fox but I had not seen very many of them in Sirmiq.

"It's about time," she exasperated. "I have been here all day waiting for you. Come on, let's go. We're already late enough."

I didn't question the vixen. I just followed her as she led me off the docks. The city was strange to me, the streets were not like Simriq but there were some similarities. Marketplaces, bakeries, merchant stalls, guards - they were all here.

I had thought that this city would be a little livelier like it is in Sirmiq during the warm weather, but it seemed as cold as the winter. No one seemed all that happy but they still talked with a lot of gossip.

"Stort Dyr take the Enes!" screamed a frustrated patron while we were walking by a bathhouse. I have only seen one before in Sirmiq, but this city seemed to have a lot of them, and patrons were bathing in a tub next to the main building while they gossiped.

"I'm only telling you what I've heard from the travellers," another patron explained. "Enes are sending their own ambassador to test Lord Leakhos."

"Test what? Combat? The Enes do not have any logic!"

Passing the bathhouse of frustrated patrons, I quickly learned that the Enes and Lord Leakhos was a choice center of gossip in this town. That made me unsettled, since I have learned that the Enes is the name given to the reptilian race. They have attempted to kill me twice, and I feared that maybe they would try again if they were in this city.

"Keep up," urged the vixen, as I fell back because I was trying to concentrate on the gossip.

"Arktiline and Sirmiq expect an attack," I heard a sailor gossip near a tavern. Two familiar names easily caught my ear. "Enes are claiming that one of their merchants were murdered, and justice is not being delivered."

"That's what you heard from the Enes, so you know you can't trust them. Lord Leakhos and High Lord Mika don't believe a word of it. That's why his son was there, supplying Sirmiq with weapons."

"Enes are too radical."

Gossip spread quickly around this city of frustrated citizens; talk of threats and attacks was prominent. It caused me some concern but I knew that once I was reunited with Midnight, then we would be fine.

Remembering that I was finally going to see Midnight again made me ignore the gossip and I stepped up my pace to follow the vixen.

"Finally you decide to follow me," she said, frustrated. "We need to reach the keep before sundown."

Why are we going to the keep? I thought. Through the buildings, I occasionally glanced at a large castle, one even larger than the keep in Simriq. It was true, we were heading straight for it.

"You keep stealing food, then I'll bring you to the keep myself, straight to the dungeons!" I remember hearing a guard saying to another orphan. "You wouldn't like to be thrown in a cell. It's a dark hole where there is no food, no water and you'll be lucky if you can take three steps in one direction!"

The sound of a dungeon did not sound pleasing to me. I figured long ago that as an orphan that'd be the only way I'd see the inside of that great large house on the hill.

Closer we drew to the keep, the more I became worried that my fate involved starving to death in the dungeon. The vixen didn't not share my concern. She was confident in her strides no matter how close to the castle we got.

I was surprised how large the castle really was the closer we got to it. It could easily overlook the entire city. The vixen headed straight for one of the gates, where two guards armed with spears were standing post.

"Hold up," one of them said stopping in front of us. This one was a large bear. Like others he was built of muscle. "No beggars, be gone."

I knew it, I am destined for the dungeons.

"You know how I am," the vixen said sharply. I was surprised by her tone, she wasn't afraid to talk to the guards like that. I would not even dare speak to an older orphan like that. "My father is head of the guard, now let me through."

"It's Candika," the other guard, similar appearance to a deer with small antlers on his head, informed the first.

"Oh right," said the first guard, but he gave me a scorning glance. "You know the rules, your friends are not allowed in the keep."

"He's not my friend!" she shouted. "Lord Leakhos asked me personally to bring this snowflake here. Now let me through, or my father will here of this!"

"We were informed to not let the stowaway in the keep," the guard said, uncertain. "Orders from Master Sophron."

"My orders come from Lord Leakhos, so you can let us through or you can answer to him!" Candika said fiercely.

The guards hesitantly stepped aside but not after giving a disdained look. I felt a burn on the nape my neck that I hadn't felt since the streets of Sirmiq. I hated it.

"Thank you!" Candika said sarcastically. "Now where is Lord Leakhos?"

"Soprhon has him studying in the library," answered the bear, grinding his teeth only slightly. I knew Candika heard it too; her ears were as large as mine. "If you are wrong, then your father will most certainly hear that you're sneaking in your friends."

"Bite me," she said defiantly leading me into the keep.

Following her, I kept my ears and eyes down. I did not like that I was causing such a disturbance. Not only that but this place was huge. I never desired to be inside a keep, all I wanted to find Midnight but now she was taken me to see some Lord.

The last Lord I met was Lord Naali. He was not mean but he didn't have any interests in me, and I don't know why that would change now. I am still an orphan, it wouldn't matter that I learned how to cook since there were a lot that knew how to cook. In Sirmiq, I stole from plenty of them. I seriously doubt that Kietan, this strange city, would be lacking of cooks. So why would this Lord want to meet me?

Certainly it is must be questions about the assassin that attacked me. I answered myself. As if I can add anything else to what is already going around the city in rumors.

This place was too big. It would be as impossible to escape, as it is to enter the keep. I started to regret following the vixen through the gateway. I could find Midnight on my own.

Glancing up occasionally, I saw that inside the keep was far busier than I would have imagined. It looked almost as busy as the docks with workers moving crates of various items, and there was even a blacksmith pounding away at metal.

It was almost like a small city within the keep; I had never expected that. However, just like the city I received not so kind stares. I turned to keep my eyes to the ground, following the vixen's tail to wherever she was leading me.

We I saw that the dirt gave way to a stone floor, I realized that the vixen had entered a building. I stopped at the entrance.

I did not belong inside, I never had. I learned that through beatings at an early age. I only entered once again after that, with Midnight when we bought some clothes. It was the first time I bought anything I was realized that I could not even count. There was nothing for me inside, I could not go in again.

"What are you doing, snowflake?" Candika asked, irritated when she noticed that I had stopped following her. "I don't have time for this. Get in here now or I'll have the guards take you in."

My ears flattened. Her attitude was not exclusive toward the adults.

I thought about taking a step forward but my body denied taking that step. I don't belong. I tried to force myself forward, but that knowledge blocked my movements.

Suddenly I was forcefully pushed inside. I stumbled and tripped in to the entrance, falling roughly on my paws and knees.

"There, now was that so hard?" the vixen asked. She stepped pass me, and continued going deeper into the building. "Now come on!"

I glanced quickly back out the entrance. I had a great desire to flee, run back out of this keep. I knew I did not belong here and even though I had not yet experienced it like I had at the clothing store, I knew it was coming. I hated that feeling, that... shame.

"Hurry up!" I heard her voice echo from down the hall. I knew I should follow her. Maybe I should trust her, just this once. I quickly made up my mind and pushed myself up and hurried to catch up with the vixen. "About time!" She said once she glanced over her shoulder at me.

My eyes were slow to adjust to the sudden darkness of the corridors. There were a few windows, but they did little to light up the corridor; especially with the sun on its final hour for the day. The trip through the corridors was not long however.

Candika pushed open a door, and led me into a smoky room where only two others were. I noticed the large antlers, bigger than any I have seen before. An adult sat at a table with a candle lighting him. The other was sitting on the other side of the adult so I could hardly see him; but that short black tail was instantly recognized.

"Lord Leakhos, I brought you your snowflake from the north," Candika announced loudly as she stopped and gestured for me to continue forward.

Two orange eyes surrounded by black fur peered from behind the adult. Those large ears perked up and twitched at the vixen's voice.

"Snowy?!" I heard his voice again, a voice that I had dearly missed. The black wolf stepped away from the table, and I could finally see him clearly.

"Midnight," I muttered. It was him, with a big grin across his muzzle. He looked taller than before, but it was without a doubt Midnight.

"You made it!" Midnight exclaimed running straight at me. He giggled and nearly pounced at me, grabbing me in a tight hug.

I could not deny that I enjoyed the contact, but I was incredibly worried that we were both in this castle. Not to mention the old adult with big antlers did not seem nearly as excited to see me there.

"Oh, you smell like fish!" Midnight said and backed away but he still had a large grin.

I didn't even realize it but I was grinning quite largely too. Excitedly, I decided to explain. "I was filleting fish this morning on the ship. Nirvelli taught me to cook so I now we can make money doing that! The otters are really nice, you know. Have you met any? I was on Lutra Dusk, and the commander was Miku or something like that! Do you know who they are?" I was so excited I didn't even realize I was talking so much.

"Wow," Midnight said with a little laugh. Before he could say another word, we were interrupted.

"Lord Leakhos," the old adult said. "I thought we had discussed that your orphan friend would not feel comfortable here."

My excitement instantly vanished and my ears fell. I knew it was coming; I knew that shame would burn my neck again. That old adult does not want me here. Why couldn't Midnight... Wait.

Midnight's expression also soured, but his lips curled and his teeth were bare. His eyes narrowed, as he turned back toward the old adult. "Snowy can stay! If you do not like it then you can go, Sophora!"

Surprised, my eyes went wide. Midnight just spoke to an adult, and threatened him! We would have never done that in Sirmiq. And was he just called "Lord Leakhos"?

"As you will, my Lord," the elder elk said but expressing his discontent.

"Candika, can you bring some fresh honey meat and fruit to my room?" Midnight asked of the vixen. He sounds like an adult! "I'm going to my chambers, Sophora. Snowy is tired from travelling, and you can continue teaching me tomorrow."

"Yes my Lord," both the vixen and old elk spoke. However, the elk had more to say.

"We can prepare a room for your friend then," Sophora said as he slowly stood up. "It would not be proper for you two to share a room. The realm does not need to have rumors spread that you might not produce a heir."

Midnight growled. "Snowy is my brother, he is the only family I have left. I will not hear another word from you, Sophora!"

I was completely lost on what was going on. Why was this elk trying to deny me from being with my only friend? Who was he anyway? And why was Midnight talking to him like that? We'd get beat if we spoke like that in Sirmiq.

"Come on Snowy," Midnight said to me, his tone completely changing. "Let me show you my room."

"You have a room here?" I could not help but ask. Our only home was a rooftop; we never thought to live in a house. And yet Midnight lived inside a castle? "Is that why they're calling you Lord Leakhos?"

Midnight giggled a bit at that. "That is my name, my real name. Conri Leakhos. Sophoron has been teaching me about my family. I was really young when my parents died in a shipwreck near Sirmiq, so I'm the only one left to be Lord Leakhos."

The black wolf continued to talk but I was overwhelmed by all of it. First, we were inside a castle. It was a wild fantasy to live in a home after we had learned a bit about trapping with Alec. We knew the possibility of getting a home was very limited, and it was not even in our wildest dreams that we would be able to live in a castle. Midnight was here, he has his own room and is Lord over this castle.

Midnight is a Lord too! Does he even know how to be a Lord? When Mount Ignis erupted, Lord Naali looked stress and he has been Lord all his life. What would Midnight do in a situation like that? Would he even know what to do? What does being Lord even mean?

I had thought I reunited with Midnight, but instead I met Lord Leakhos. What does that mean for me?

The black wolf had led me up several flights of stairs until we reached a large door and led me through. Inside was a room far grander than the one that the Velox fox stayed in at the inn. It was much larger in every aspect, and the ground was not wood but was covered with a soft linen material.

"This is my room," Midnight exclaimed as he approached the bed. "This was where my mother and father slept. I had a little trouble sleeping on it before but now it's really nice. This is a floor chandelier, or something. It can hold like a hundred candles and it's made of gold. Don't even know why it needs to be made of gold. Come here Snowy, I want to show you my closet."

Midnight continued to tour me around his room but why does he need all this stuff? Weren't we doing just fine on the rooftop? The more he showed me around the more I wish we could return to that rooftop and forget all this.

The bathroom was bigger than what our rooftop was, and even the tub would have been large enough to cover most of it. During the tour, the vixen even came in and set down a food of plate. That has only happened once in my life with the Velox fox and he paid for it but it didn't seem we had to pay for it this time.

Midnight showed me his clothes, his trinkets, his money, his wealth, his power...

"Midnight, stop," I begged after I had enough.

The black wolf stopped and turned toward me, he was still smiling but that started to fade after he saw my expression. I was so overwhelmed. I didn't want all these things, I didn't even like to have these things.

"Are you okay Snowy?" he asked, his expression showing a bit of concern.

I was huddling myself tightly. I didn't want to be entrusted with these things. I could hardly take care of myself, and all of this would be reasons that would get me beaten by older orphans and even adults if they saw me with it. They'd steal it from me immediately.

"I..." I started. I couldn't explain why I was feeling overwhelmed. I don't know if Midnight would understand. He was always more adventurous than me, and I have always been reserved. "I'm tired."

"Let's go to bed then," Midnight suggested. He gestured toward the bed, reserving any excitement he originally felt. I was hesitant, and Midnight immediately sensed it. He held out a paw for me, and I slowly accepted it. "It's safe here Snowy. We do not need to worry about the reptilians here anymore, and we do not need to worry about find food anymore."

Midnight climbed onto the bed and helped me up onto it as well. As usual, he undressed before he lied down, but this time he could actually lie under real blankets. I followed suit and undressed but it was too hot to lie under the covers. Even with the sun now down, the temperature didn't seem to go any lower.

"I learned a lot since I came here Snowy," Midnight admitted, staring at me while I sat on top of the blankets. "One of those things that I have learned is what family is. We both may have never met our parents, but I know that you are my brother. You saved my life, and we have protected each other through last winter. I consider you part of my pack, as Sophoron would put it. I always have, since that first night we met each other."

"I thought we'd be able to live like we did before," I admitted, glancing shyly at Midnight. He pushed himself to lean against the headboard of the bed. "We never had any of this, and I don't want it."

We were speaking like adults. Maybe the trip on Lutra Dusk had affected me more than I thought because normally I would have just run away. Or maybe Midnight was here, and I could leave him so I was forced to mature and stay and talk to him.

"We can't go back to living on the street," Midnight declared. "If we're on the streets then another reptilian might try to kill me. I am Lord Leakhos, and that is why the assassin came after me the first time."

"They tried to kill me again, after you left," I muttered, not making eye contact.

I could hear Midnight growl from that. "What? Why? What happened?"

Memories of that night came back, along with the nauseating sense of smell of blood. "Something killed them two of them. The others go away. I don't know why they still came after me." The confusion, the pain all came back to me causing for my fur to bristle. I could hold back small growls and sobs as I remembered the anger directed at me from those reptilians.

I noticed Midnight glance at his own arm, where he had tasted the blade of an assassin. "I wanted you to come here Snowy, because I was afraid and alone with all these adults that I don't know. I trust you more than I will ever trust them."

Silence passed between us for a moment before I felt Midnight's paw on my arm, passing over the arm ring I wore.

"Is that the one I gave you? It's so clean." Midnight said, amazed by the ring.

"It's the only thing I was able to keep that you gave me," I admitted.

"Come on, Snowy," Midnight said, climbing out from under the covers. "I want to show you something but we have to be quiet." He hopped down from the bed, and headed toward the door.

Curious, I followed him out of the room wearing nothing but the ring and our scars. I was a bit surprised that Midnight was sneaking around, and avoiding the adults like we had done before. He was the Lord after all, but I didn't mind and played along with him. Out of the keep and onto the wall surrounding the castle, we did not stop even as we climbed down part of the wall and were officially no longer inside the castle.

Once we were a safe distance from the castle, Midnight risked whispering to me.

"That place is too much for me too," Midnight admitted. "I like to get out but Sophoron won't let me. Maybe this will make you feel better because it always makes me feel better."

We walked away from the city in the darkness, only illuminated by the half moons. My eyes adjusted well in this darkness and I had no problem seeing. The forest was dense and it didn't take long for the city lights to vanish from my view.

"Where we going?" I asked, following Midnight still. He was a little more difficult to see due to his solid black fur.

"Shh," he shushed me. "It's not too far." Even with the wolf being suspicious, I knew I could completely trust him. Several more minutes passed before he stopped.

All around me I could hear the forest, crickets singing their songs, the wind brushing the young leaves of the season, sound of distant animal calls. Here, there was no ash blanket suffocating us, no assassin hunting us; I never thought that the forest would be so serene.

Midnight lowered to the ground and I instantly noticed a rustling of nearby foliage. It quickly grew closer, and it quickly frightened me but Midnight did not seem moved by the noise.

I nearly fell back when several wild animals came out from the bushes and attacked Midnight. His laughter came with the attack, which made me realize that they were playing with him. There were four of them, all small animals no larger than the animals that Alec and both of us tried to catch before.

These animals had long tails, large triangular ears, and were covered in fur. They almost reminded me of myself, or the vixen but they were obviously wild animals and had different markings than either of us did. They look sophisticated somehow, as if they had perfected life on four legs as everyone else had perfected life on two.

They quickly took notice of me, and cautious investigated me, sniffing at my ankles. I figured it best to not move while they investigated me but I gave Midnight a few question glances.

"I came out here not long after I arrived," Midnight began to explain. "I was lost the first time, and that's when I found these four. They were born earlier this year, and they have been growing fast."

One playfully jumped up at me, and I fell backwards while the other three swarmed me. I was surprised at first but as they jumped on top of me and licked at my nose and ears, I couldn't help but to giggle. I tried to fend them off, but they thought it was a game and continued with more persistence. After a minute, they went on and played with each other.

"I watched them for a while and they reminded me of Sirmiq, the good times," admitted Midnight. I glanced at his glowing orange eyes, and could see that he was smiling while watching the animals play. "They don't have any worries; they play, they fight, they survive. It is not like when we were living in the streets of Sirmiq. They're happy out here, and I cannot help but to wish I could be like them."

I smiled at Midnight and glanced back at the animals. They gave off an incredible sense of peace; I could not explain it. They yipped, and barked and jumped over each other as if there was nothing to be worried about. There were no dirty streets contaminating them; their life seemed to be so much simpler than the life I had lived.

"I wish I could run away, live in the forest and play whenever I wanted to," Midnight admitted. "I don't want all that stuff in the castle, but I feel like I cannot leave. I don't have any control, even as Lord Leakhos. You are my family Snowy, and you are the only peace I have had in my life."

Midnight darted at the animals again, and played with them while they jumped and crawled over him. I joined in, and for several hours that night we played with these elegant animals until we all grew tired. It was easily one of the most peaceful and fun nights of my life.

The feeling I had in the castle had completely faded away; Midnight was still the same. Nothing has changed, other than he now has a job and we live in a castle.