Nox¹Literally nox (night). Nox is the name of the Clan (family name), also the name of a Province. ZaiWin uses it because he is the Governor of Nox ZaiWin²Literally zai (blade) + win (chaos). woke up just before sunrise, like he always did. The fact that he had gotten a room all to himself, which hadn’t happen in a long time, should have meant that he’d finally be able to get a good night’s sleep. Nothing couldn't have been further from the truth, though.

He had tossed and turned in bed until late in the night, unable to relax, even though he had taken all the usual precautions to make sure that he’d be completely safe inside that bedroom. As a result, he had only been able to close his eyes for brief moments, before his usual wake-up time had arrived.

With a sigh, he sat cross-legged on his messy bed, and closed his eyes, focusing on his daily exercise, circling his inner energy through his daitai³Literally dai (light) + tai (mark), or holy Markings, considered Heavenly Blessings. They’re the source of power. one at the time, making sure they remained unsoiled and true to their nature. And yet, even though that was an exercise that he’d performed countless times, he still found it hard to concentrate, an annoying tingly sensation on the tips of his fingers constantly distracting him.

A knock on the door left a sigh of defeat on his lips, and he quickly undid the wards he’d put in place to make sure he wasn't surprised by any unwanted visitors, like it had happened back in Weiin⁴Literally wei (crystal / precious stone) + suffix in (center), meaning the center of the Province of Wei, in other words, Wei’s Capital. All Capitals of all Provinces are named as such..

“Yes!”

As to be expected, ZenTar⁵Literally zen (silent) + tar (wind). appeared at the door, peering inside to make sure it was safe, before he actually entered.

“Damn! I was about to ask if you slept well, but looking at that sour face I already know the answer.”

Ignoring him, ZaiWin closed his eyes again and checked on the brat, as it had become a habit of his. He should be safe in his bedroom as well, he knew. He had set wards to protect him too, and MenTar⁶Literally men (lake) + tar (wind) had watched his door the entire night.

“Is MenTar still outside?” he asked, opening his eyes again, and ZenTar nodded.

“He’s another one that looks like shit,” he declared with a mischievous smile and ZaiWin took a deep breath.

For a moment something hadn’t felt quite right, but that was probably because he was feeling too tired, he concluded. There was no doubt that the brat was still in his bedroom. And since MenTar hadn’t left his door, and none of the wards had been disturbed, everything should be all right.

“He’ll have plenty of time to get all the rest he needs, once the brat wakes up.”

“And you? Have you decided what you want to do?”

ZaiWin scooted towards the edge of the bed and stood up, walking to the window, looking outside to watch the sun rise over the small houses.

“I have. I’ll give it a few more days,” he sighed. “Give VinWei⁷Literally vin (hard) + wei (crystal) a few more days.”

ZenTar took a deep breath and sat down on his bed, crossing one leg over the other.

“I’ve just received another message from LaoTar⁸Literally lao (strong) + tar (wind). They’re being escorted to Wenin⁹Literally wen (sun) + suffix in (center), meaning the center of the Province of Wen, in other words, Wen’s Capital. Since Wen is the Capital Province of the Empire of Wen, Wenin is the most important city, where the Imperial Family lives. All Capitals of all Provinces are named as such. by the Imperial Guard. And he has already been summoned to present his report before the El’Dur¹⁰Literally el (supreme) + dur (ruler). Name given to the Emperor as soon as they reach the Palace. Even if an detachment of men were to leave the Palace today, it would still take them at least one month to get here on horse back. So for now we probably don’t need to worry about a large military intervention. Even if they send messages to other Provinces, Tei¹¹Literally tei (metal). Where Tei is the name of the Clan, also the name of a Province.’s is the closest army they can mobilize, and it would still take them at least two weeks to reach us. Sur¹²Literally sur (plain). Where Sur is the name of the Clan, also the name of a Province. has been without a Governor for a long time now, so they no longer have an organized armed force. All we have to do is make sure to stay alert against any possible assassination attempts, like what happened in Weiin,” ZenTar quickly and coldly calculated and ZaiWin nodded.

“Maybe we should look for a smaller, quieter village. It would be easier to keep its inhabitants under surveillance, and less probable that they’d get news from the Capital so soon,” he suggested and a brief, sharp pain on his temple made him wince.

Without a second thought, he immediately searched for Snow’s presence, but the damn brat was still in his bedroom, probably asleep. It annoyed him to know that the brat slept just fine the entire night, while he had spent it turning from left to right, his head filled with all kinds of possible solutions and their outcomes, trying to find the best way to get them both out of that mess.

Massaging the bridge of his nose, he sighed again.

“Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. Just sleep deprived. My head is starting to ache,” he mumbled and ZenTar sprang to his feet.

“I’ll get you something to eat, and then you can get some rest. In the meanwhile, I’ll keep an eye on things and, like you suggested, ask around about any smaller villages where we could stay. We can discuss this again, once you’ve managed to get some sleep,” he decided, not even granting him the opportunity to contest, and turned to walk to the door.

He was halfway there when a loud thudding noise startled him, making him spin around to see what had happened. His eyes widened in alarm the instant he saw ZaiWin kneeling on the floor with a shocked expression on his face, as if his legs had just suddenly and unexpectedly given way beneath him.

“Nox?! Nox!! What happened?” ZenTar immediately rushed to his side, holding his listless arm, trying to help him back to his feet.

At his shout of alarm the door immediately opened, and MenTar stepped inside, looking as alarmed as him, ready to do battle if needed be. But at the sight of Nox ZaiWin still on the floor with a perplexed expression on his face, he just stood there, unable to decide what think, much less what to do.

“Nox! Hey! Look at me!” ZenTar demanded, kneeling before him, giving up on trying to help him back to his feet.

Wide-eyed, ZaiWin looked as shocked as if someone had just stabbed him in the back and he hadn’t see it coming.

“What happened?”

Slowly raising his head he looked up at ZenTar, the air catching in his throat before he was able to speak.

“He’s gone …” ZenTar frowned, unable to understand the meaning of those whispered words, and ZaiWin simply sat back on his heels, as if uttering those words had depleted his body of every bit of strength he might have had left.

“What do you mean, he’s gone? Are you talking about Snow?” ZenTar demanded and immediately looked up at his brother. “Go check on him! Move!!”

MenTar blinked, nodded, and rushed out of the room.

“It’s gone …”

“What’s gone? Talk to me!” ZenTar insisted, squeezing his hot, sweaty hand, fearing he might just slip away between his fingers, like it had happened in the past.

He’d seen that expression on his face, before. The overwhelming shock. The refusal to believe what could not be denied. The deep pain from an unrecoverable loss. He’d spent one year and half pulling him out of that dark abyss.

“Nox!!”

The hard squeeze he gave him seemed to finally reach him and those lost, hopeless blue eyes finally turned his way.

“The link … is gone … He’s gone …” ZaiWin whispered again and frowned, as if he were focusing as hard as he could, searching for something.

“How can that be? You’re probably mistaken. He probably just ran away again. Managed to get far enough, making it hard for you to feel him.”

ZaiWin shook his head, closing his eyes for a moment, listening to himself. There was nothing left. He was just as he had been a couple of months ago. Silent, dark, empty ... Empty. He had never realized how empty he’d been. He also couldn’t tell exactly what had filled that emptiness up till now. He only knew that it was gone.

“Okay, let’s calm down a bit and think this through,” ZenTar nervously tried to quickly put things into perspective. “Let’s say you’re right. The link is gone. You’re still clearly alive. Which probably means that nothing bad happened to the kid, right?” he guessed in a hopeful tone, but his words just echoed like a distant sound in ZaiWin’s mind.

Alive or dead, suddenly he didn’t care about any of that. All he knew was that he was gone.

The sounds of running footsteps echoed down the corridor and then someone else was there, breathing heavily.

“I searched the entire floor. No sign of him. I’ll look downstairs, and then outside,” MenTar declared in one single breath and ZenTar nodded.

“Check under the bridge. He used to live there.”

MenTar nodded and ran out the door again.

With a sigh, ZenTar looked back at ZaiWin. He was out of it again, his blue gaze completely empty, his mind quickly recoiling deeper into the darkness, slowly drowning in his own dark thoughts.

“That’s why I asked you if you were sure …” he breathed and slapped both hands against ZaiWin’s cheeks, forcing him to look up at him.

“Why the gloomy face? Aren’t you free at last? Isn’t this what we’ve been trying to achieve all this time? I understand you're probably worried about him. But, like I said, he’s most likely safe! Didn’t you say you felt like shit whenever he got hurt? Right now you look just fine to me! So he’s probably okay as well! Snap out of it, you stupid brat!” he spat all in one breathe, forcing his voice to sound angry, even commanding, but the blue eyes staring back at him remained as still as lifeless pools, no reaction at all, and ZenTar was sure he hadn’t even heard half of what he’d just said.

“Nox? Do you want him back?” he asked in a gentler tone and ZaiWin’s eyes immediately widened, as if someone had just shown him a light at the end of a very dark tunnel. Blinking he finally nodded, a small, almost imperceptible gesture.

“Use your words!” ZenTar demanded with a frown, the same way he had demanded time and time again when he had been only a child, and ZaiWin opened his mouth to speak, but his lips simply quivered, his throat unable to produce sound.

“You understand it as well, right? If the link is really gone like you say, you understand, right?”

ZaiWin lowered his gaze and nodded again.

“Speak!” ZenTar demanded, purposely squeezing his ears as retaliation and ZaiWin nodded.

“I understand …”

Good, ZenTar thought with a sigh of relief. At least he’d been able to get him to speak again. As long as he remained silent ZenTar could never tell if he was really listening to him. Before, ZaiWin had spent countless days without uttering a single word, his mind completely shut down, refusing to acknowledge, much less interact, with the world around him.

“You understand and you still want him back?”

ZaiWin pursed his lips and shook his head.

“Is that a yes or a no? Hey! I asked you a simple question!” ZenTar insisted, making him raise his head again, but ZaiWin still refused to look him in the eye. “Don’t you dare shut yourself inside that head of yours just because you can’t bear the weight! Didn’t I tell you this before? If it’s too heavy for you to bear just throw something away and be done with it! And I’m right here, am I not? No matter what you decide to carry, I’ll always carry it with you! What are you afraid of?”

“Even … even if my answer is yes … everything is already gone …” ZaiWin replied in a shaky voice and ZenTar pulled his head against his chest, holding him there for a moment, the same way he’d done countless times when we was younger.

Back then, ZenTar had simply been unable to face that apathetic, uncrying expression, on the face of such a young child, when he knew he had every reason to be crying his eyes out. And yet, even though the child he had held had clearly grown-up, that part of him hadn’t changed at all.

“How did I ever manage to raise such an idiot brat?” he sighed, hardening his heart again, before he grabbed ZaiWin’s ponytail, pulling his head back up, which ZaiWin simply allowed him to do without uttering a single a protest.

“Now, I may have raised an idiot, but I most certainly did not raise a wimp! So let’s make things clear! Do you, or do you not, want him back? Just a yes or no will suffice!” he added, seeing him frown, ready to argue, and ZaiWin pursed his lips again. “Answer me, damn it! Or do I have to beat it out of you?”

His frown deepening into a scowl, ZaiWin finally looked up at him.

“Yes.”

The unwavering decision in those blue eyes left a smile of relief on ZenTar’s face. That was more like it, he thought, releasing his hair.

“What are you waiting for? Go and find him!”

“He’s … gone …” ZaiWin replied, that hopeless expression taking over his face again, and ZenTar quickly slapped both his cheeks one more time, stopping him from lowering his head.

“And since when has that been an issue? Remember the time when you went to find that girl? The one who had been taken by the slave traders? You had no idea of where she was. You didn’t even knew her. And you still managed to find her and bring her back!”

“But I knew she was in Nox …”

“And now you know he is somewhere in the Continent. What’s the difference? Besides, you know him! He’s no stranger, like that girl. Even if you can’t feel him within you anymore, I’m sure you can still trace his energetic footprint. He is rather peculiar, after all. So stop mopping around and go find him! Isn’t this something you want? Something you chose? Then what are you waiting for? Do you want to regret the fact that you didn’t even try to get him back for the rest of your life?”

ZaiWin shook his head. He wasn’t sure that he’d be able to do find him, but ZenTar was right. If he didn’t at least try, as time went by, the emptiness that had remained inside him would only end up filled with more darkness.

“Here. Take this,” ZenTar was telling him and, when ZaiWin realized what he was doing, ZenTar had already taken off the silver chain he always wore around his neck, hidden inside his clothes, the small crystal hanging from it shimmering at the touch of the pale daylight coming from outside.

“No. I can’t,” he quickly replied, holding ZenTar’s hand back, but ZenTar quickly pushed it away, slipping the chain over his head.

“Good to see you’ve recovered enough sense to be able to worry about other people,” he pointed out with a critical tone and tucked the crystal inside ZaiWin’s clothes, covering it with a protective hand, pressing it against ZaiWin’s chest. “You move too fast. This is the only way I can track you down. I’ll meet you as soon as I can.”

“But Zen …”

“Stop arguing! If you’re aware of how important it is make sure you keep it safe! And stop wasting time! Go!” he ordered, lightly shoving him back, but ZaiWin simply knelt there, sitting on his heels, looking up at him. “What?”

“If … I do this …”

“Haven’t we’ve been through that already? You told me you understand. I understand it as well. And I’m standing here, telling you to go! What else do you need?”

The blue eyes looking at him softened and an almost child-like smile touched his lips, making ZenTar’s heart stop for a brief instant, images of that same exact smile on a young woman’s face overlapping with his.

“Thank you.”

A strong blast of wind forced him to close his eyes and, when he was finally able to open them again, Nox ZaiWin was nowhere to be seen.

Silvareiel

Well, dear ZaiWin, this was bound to happen. ? Let's see if you're in time to recover what's really precious to you.?