Inutiltos was a child back then, around 5 or 6 years old. At that time, at least, his name wasn’t Inutiltos until he changed completely. He, back then, was known as Lucas—meaning bright and shining. He was a very happy child back then. He had magic that was unbelievable; a power so great that excelled normal wizards his age, or above. Though he never used his magic much; he was afraid that it would corrupt him, take control of him, and he didn’t want that to happen. Every time he would do something that was related to using magic, he felt someone, or something, whispering in his mind. After a few times playing around with his magic, he was scared to ever use it again; afraid that this creepy person whispering into his mind was a bad person trying to control him.

Though looking at the bright side of his past, Lucas, or Inutiltos, would always have fun with his parents; they’d take him around town and buy him anything that he wanted. His mom would always read him bedtime stories whenever he went to bed; his dad, whenever he had time, would always play games with him. However, out of everything, Lucas loved school the best. The school was the only time where he could meet his childhood best friend, Sperobris. They’d play together, go running around the streets (though they always caused chaos where they left), and go to school together. Nothing could separate their friendship, no matter how hard the wave of hardship was on them.

It was just a normal day, as usual, he went to school. After that, he hung out with Sperobris. Like usual, they’d walk around the Lunar city, chatting while buying some snacks.

Sperobris looked up at the blue sky as he walked along the busy sidewalk. “Where should we go today, Lucas?”

Lucas hummed as he was sucking on his cherry-flavored lollipop. “Hm… I don’t know actually. Where do you wanna go?” he asked, turning around to face his friend.

Sperobris thought about it for a moment. “Aha! I got an idea!” he exclaimed, his brown eyes glittering happily. “We should go visit the Lunar Forest! It’d be an adventure!”

Lucas widened his eyes. “We aren’t supposed to go there! Everyone says that once you go in, you can never come out! No matter how many marks you leave to keep you on track, it still vanishes for some reason!” he said nervously.

Sperobris rolled his eyes. “Oh please, it’s probably just a myth! There’s nothing to be scared of!”

“If you say so…”

“Come on, let’s go!” his friend squealed, weaving past the crowd of wizards. He turned back to see Lucas standing in the middle of the sidewalk dumbfounded. “What are you waiting for? Come on Lucas! It's not like we’re doing anything bad.”

The blonde-haired boy sighed. “Coming!” he called after him and ran over. The two besties ran through the streets; their black cloaks streaming behind them. Wizards were standing outside their shops, screaming some random things to get other wizards to buy their wands or cloaks. The two young children soon made it to the entrance of the Lunar Forest, panting.

“Well,” Lucas said panting, “here we are.” They both looked up at the tall trees that stood before them. The leaves were glittering as the sun’s rays reflected from the leaves. They could hear the small little chirps of birds communicating with each other. A gentle breeze came rushing by.  

Sperobris turned to Lucas and asked, “Well, you wanna go in?”

Lucas bobbed his head up and down. “Yup. I wanna see what’s in that forest!”

“Well, let’s go.”

The two, brave boys walked inside the forest. As Lucas stared at the nature around them, he was amazed. The trees were so tall they covered the only source of light, though the tree’s leaves were the light of the forest; they shone bright enough so that they could see their surroundings. The grass was beneath them crunched as they took each step.

Half an hour passed. They saw and heard nothing. Sperobris sighed, his hand ruffling his brown hair. “My parents told me that there would many different creatures here. Well apparently, I suppose those are only just myths and legends. There’s nothing here.”

Lucas frowned. “There has to be. Then why would this forest be here if there were nothing living here?”

“I don’t know,” his friend shrugged. He looked around. “But… where are we? How are we going to go back?”

“I don’t know…” Lucas said, feeling tense. “Maybe we should just walk back from where we came from.”

“But where? How did we end up here?” his friend asked, shakingly. Sperobris suddenly just broke down and started crying. “I wanna go home… Why did we come here? Why did I make this idea?” he wailed, sitting on the soft, green ground.

Lucas didn’t reply. He just stood there, trying to reassure himself that everything would be okay. But a thought suddenly popped up: What if we’re trapped here forever? “Ah~!” Lucas yelled frustrated. He clenched his fists. “Someone, anyone, help us! I don’t know where we are, I don’t know what we were even doing here, and I DON’T KNOW WHY I CAME HERE THE FIRST PLACE!” Lucas started to tear up as he sat on the grass. As he sobbed, he felt something on his shoulders, digging its nails into him.

“Exactly,” a voice chirped out beside him. “What are you doing here anyway? No one came this forest for hundreds of years. And this part of the forest? Maybe at least nine hundred years.”

Lucas widened his eyes as soon as he heard a voice. He lifted his head and turned around. His blue eyes opened in wonder as he stared at a beautiful, red creature perched on his shoulders.

The phoenix cocked his head to one side, examining Lucas and his shocked expression, and sighed. “I wonder why wizards are always so easily shocked. Jeez, I’m just a phoenix okay? It’s just so weird, so stupid. At least they don’t understand what I’m talking about when I say bad things about them,” the bird muttered to himself, stretching his right wing and started combing it with its beak.

The young boy’s jaw dropped open, staring at the talking bird. How is this possible? Am I just hearing things? “D-Did you j-just t-talk?” Lucas stuttered.

“Excuse me, Lucas? The only people here are you and me. And I didn’t talk. I was crying, okay?” Sperobris said sniffling, rolling his eyes. Though just at that moment, his eyes landed on the red bird on Lucas’s shoulder. “Wait a second, is that a phoenix?”

Lucas wiped away a tear that stained his red cheeks. “Yes, and I thought I heard it just talk.”

His friend just stared at him. “There is no way,” the brown-haired boy said sternly, “that a phoenix can talk to a wizard. Yes, it communicates with other animals and blah blah, but there’s no way you can talk to an animal.”

“Exactly,” their feathered company besides Lucas said, agreeing. “There’s no way you can know what I’m saying. It’s impossible! No wizard has even found a way to communicate with us. And I suppose that’s the best for both sides because it would be so awkward talking with a human. They don’t even know what’s like to always be chased away just because I was there trying to find a place to sleep or eat.”

Lucas blinked his eyes. “I heard what you were saying, Mr. Bird. And I’m sorry that you and your companions always had to be chased away by our kind. We don’t mean to; it’s just that most wizards don’t like animals all over the city since it gets disturbing,” the boy said softly.

The bird beside him tensed. “You heard what I just said? How is this possible?”

Lucas shrugged his shoulders. “I don't know. I just somehow understood what you said.”

“Erm…” a voice interrupted them. Lucas turned around to face his friend who had a confused expression. “I’m still here, you know. So you were… talking to that bird?”

The blond-haired boy stared at the ground. “I suppose so…”

Sperobris brown-eyes lightened up. “Can you ask the bird to lead us out of this forest maze?” his friend asked; hope was filled in his words.

Lucas chuckled. “You know, Sperobris, this phoenix can understand you. It’s just that we don’t understand him, well besides me.”

“Erm. I’m not ‘this phoenix’. You can call me Shula. And I would be happy to lead you back home!” Shula said happily, flapping his wings. “Come on! Follow me!” He cried out, his cry ringing throughout the whole forest.

Lucas and Sperobris smiled at each other and they ran to catch up with Shula. Along the way, they laughed and chatted about many happy things. However, as they almost made it out of the Lunar Woods, Lucas suddenly felt a strong grip around his head.

“Agh! What the heck?” Lucas yelled as he crouched down onto the green grass, holding his head.

Sperobris turned around frowning, running up to Lucas. “What happened? Is something wrong?”

“I don’t know,” Lucas said, groaning. “It felt like someone was trying to cont-” He stopped speaking abruptly as he felt the pressure around his head grow harder. Lucas closed his eyes, hoping that the pain would go away. Slowly, the noise around his faded away, and everything went black.

The next thing Lucas knew, he saw a dead body in front of him; the boy’s eyes were wide open with shock, his mouth gaping at Lucas. “Oh my gosh, SPEROBRIS!” Lucas cried, hugging the lifeless body.

“L-Lucas…” a stuttering voice said, “you killed him…” Lucas looked up and saw Shula sitting on a tree, staring at him.

Lucas’s eyes widened; a big, fat tear came rolling down his tanned cheeks. “That’s not possible… I just blacked out… Didn’t I?” Lucas whispered as he held his best friend’s body closer to him.

The phoenix lowered his head. “Well… You closed your eyes, and when you opened them a few seconds later, they were red. It was as if there was a monster living in you. And when you spoke… Your voice suddenly sounded so raspy. And then, you pointed your finger at your friend, and then you killed him. You killed him with… that spell… The spell that was forbidden thousands of years ago after that monster…” Shula muttered as he looked away from Lucas.

“B-but how? I don’t know any spells about killing!” the young boy wailed as he sat there crying.

Shula gulped. “You probably were being controlled by someone or something… You were different from what you know.”

And that day changed Lucas’s life. After what happened, Sperobris’s family were devastated; people started to hate Lucas for what he did, or what they thought he did. Though the major change was in Lucas. All of a sudden, he couldn’t use his magic anymore. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t.

When Mr. and Mrs. Okun grew furious at Lucas, believing that their child was useless and he was only a  worthless piece of trash; he couldn’t use his magic anymore, and he had murdered someone. And so that’s how Lucas, now Inutiltos, got his name—meaning useless. At least, that’s what his parents felt. Every day when Inutiltos had to go to school, he got bullied by everyone.
“Hey, useless! How do you feel about being the worst wizard in your family? Or actually, the worst in the WHOLE kingdom?”
“Hey, Inutiltos! Have you ever wished that you were never born?”
And that’s how Inutiltos life was all his life at school. Being the shy, timid boy he was, he'd only run away and try to hide from the cruel world. And don’t mention when he was at home. Mr. and Mrs. Okun always nagged him or was just ragging at him for no reason. To help "improve" on his magical abilities, they'd make him read towers of books about some random wizarding subjects that Inutiltos had no interests about. Inutiltos sighed. Oh how he wished life was just like in the past, if he hadn't killed his best friend. He quickly wiped away his tears and started to go on with his homework until night. 

One day, Inutiltos was at the boring wizarding academy, like normal. However, he felt that something was off. Since he sat near the window, he'd always stare at the happy animals that were playing outside; the teenage boy liked to feel the small breeze as it ruffled his golden hair. He never really paid any special attention in class. Though today, the wind didn’t dance around the sky like normal. The whole world was silent like an empty room; not a single animal appeared for the whole school day. As soon as school ended, he rushed to the Lunar Forest to see what has caused this silence. After all, he thought, only my animal friends can tell me what has happened.
As Inutiltos walked into the oddly dim forest, he could hardly see anything. The leaves didn't glow anymore, causing the forest to look as dark as a cloudy night. The forest was so silent that the only thing Inutiltos could hear was his own breath.
Inutiltos wandered around the creepy forest; his breath hitched as he suddenly heard a soft chorus of cries from a group of birds deeper in the woods. Cautiously, he followed the sound. The boy grew closer and closer, and closer…until he saw a flash of red appear in front of him. “AH! WHO’S TH-” Inutiltos screamed in horror until he found himself looking at his best friend the phoenix Shula. Inutiltos chuckled nervously. “Oops, didn’t see you there Shula. I thought you were someone who was about to kill me.”

Shula squawked, offended. “You can’t even recognize your own friend, Inutiltos?”

“Ah, sorry, sorry,” Inutiltos apologized, then cocked his head. “Though will you tell me what’s causing all this, uh” he waved his hand around the dark forest trying to find the right word.

“Silence?” Shula said, finished his sentence. “I don’t know exactly. Actually, we all don’t know what happened. My account of what happened: a loud boom, a super bright light coming from some random place, and then I saw him, the guardian...”

“The Guardian?” The young boy echoed, scratching his neck.  

“Yeah…”

“Who?”

“Um… The white stag…” As those words left the phoenix's mouth, Inutiltos widened his blue eyes.

“H-How? H-He’s one o-of the m-most p-powerful animal here! How can he be almost d-dead?” Inutiltos stuttered.

Shula shrugged. “Well, a random stranger came in the forest and bang! I don’t know for sure what happened, but I heard something and there was the white stag.”

“Take me to him. I need to help him.” With a slight nod, Shula flew down the forest, Inutiltos following in the back. He soon spotted a white, whimpering creature in the middle of a clearing, animals of all different kinds surrounding the white stag.

Carefully, he moved towards the whimpering creature. Before he was the forest’s guardian: the white stag. He was laying down in the middle, his beautiful golden antlers on top of his head. On the dark, green grass, scarlet-colored blood spilled all over the place. The stag’s chest heaved up and down; every breath seemed painful.
Quickly, Inutiltos took out from his backpack some bandages and started to wrap it around the wound of the white, weak stag. The white creature opened one of his eyes, his golden eye staring up at the young boy with brown hair.
“There you go,” Inutiltos said as he finished bandaging. “I’ll come to visit you every day until you get better. You should rest. I’ll ask the other animals to take care of you.”
“Thank you… Your kindness will be repaid.” the white stag whispered as he slowly closed his eyes.
Inutiltos turned around to face the crowding animals and instructed them saying, “Take care of the stag. I’ll come back tomorrow to check on him.” And with that, he departed.
And so day after day, Inutiltos brought food and water to the white stag (and also to his other friends of course). As the weeks flew by, the weak creature’s health grew better. And the best part? Inutiltos and the stag soon became close friends; Inutiltos’ best friend forever. Inutiltos would take care of the stag, while the white stag would help Inutiltos face his difficulties and helped him through his difficult life in school at home. The kind creature would give him advice on how to continue to live in life even if everything is hard for him. After all, the white stag always helped people, if it wanted to at least, when they are in difficult times, giving him hope.
Ever since his encounters with his new best friend, Inutiltos’s life completely changed. The stag would give him advice on how to create better relationships with others, how to communicate with people, and most importantly, how to be more confident in his own special abilities. And Inutiltos listened, soon creating a better relationship with his parents and classmates. His parents started to stop yelling as much, while his classmates wouldn’t bully him as much anymore.
“Where there’s life, there’s always hope,” the white stag told Inutiltos one day as he settled himself down on the comfy green grass.
“But it seems hopeless… My parents hate me. The people in my school bully me,” the brown-haired boy said, his blue, sad eyes gazing at the golden eyes of the stag.
“Do not doubt. Sometimes life may be harsh towards you, but it doesn’t mean that there’s no hope for you. I promise you, one day you will be a famous man in this wizarding land. I can see it.”
Inutiltos sighed. “How’s that possible? I can’t even use magic anymore. The only thing I’m good at is talking with animals, like you and I right now. And bonding with them, too. There’s nothing special about me.”
The white stag turned to face the boy sitting beside him, his gold antlers glittering. He chuckled. “Sometimes one small thing in life that happens will change how you view yourself and your actions. And I tell you the truth, you have changed. A lot, actually, ever since I first met you.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever believe that… Well, maybe I do a bit; my relationships with other people got a bit better. Though I still don’t have many friends at school. At least my parents aren’t screaming at me all the time.” the boy said, getting up. “I’ll see you tomorrow and we can talk more about life. And also, when are you ever going to tell me how you suddenly appear injured in this forest?” Inutiltos asked quietly, glancing around if anyone heard them.

“When the time is right, I’ll tell you. It’s best for you to know later on.”

Inutiltos shrugged. “Sure… Well, I gotta go now; see you tomorrow!” He waved at his friend who was sitting on the grass. The stag just smiled lightly as he watched the boy disappear in the foliage of green.

As Inutiltos walked towards the exit of the forest, he couldn’t shake off the feeling that he was being watched. He stopped and turned around, peering through the trees. No one. Inutiltos shook his head and quickly headed home, an uneasy feeling growing inside him.

Rays of dim light slowly woke Inutiltos up. As the young boy slowly blinked his eyes open, he winced at the sudden pain in his head. Ow, what happened? I just fell asleep, didn’t I? He thought, his eyes widening as he felt something wet and sticky on his hand. Inutiltos’ breath quickened as he slowly lifted up his trembling hands. Red, oozing liquid covered all over his arm. Oh no, no, no… What did I do? The boy thought in terror, his face paler than a vampire as the blood drained away from his face. He heard someone behind him, its breathing hitched. The person he killed was whimpering in pain. Who did… I kill? Inutiltos thought terrified, as a realization came upon him. It was almost exactly like what happened when he killed his friend Sperobris.

Shaking so harshly, Inutiltos slowly turned around to the only face a blood-covered stag, its white coat painted in red. Tears flooded in his eyes as he saw what was happening: the white stag, his one, and only friend was almost dying. The lush, green grass was soaked with blood. The sky and trees darkened as if it was mourning for the dying guardian of the forest.

“Holy, no… Please...” Inutiltos whispered as he turned around. He crawled up to his friend and put his head down on its shoulders, wet tears staining his tanned face.

The white stag weakly turned up to look at Inutiltos. His golden eyes flashed with a wince of pain. “Inutiltos… stay strong. You are powerful Inutiltos, one of the most powerful wizards I know of.”

Inutiltos just stared at him. “Stop saying nonsense. I have no magical abilities,” Inutiltos whimpered.

“Listen, Inutiltos,” the stag rasped. “I don’t have much time to live. You have the strongest and rarest magic in wizard history. It’s because of your fear that prevents you from unleashing it—the fear of killing someone you love. You need to overcome that Inutiltos. Though you killed your friend Sperobris, it wasn’t your fault. Inutiltos, you were being controlled. Controlled by a man who was the one that hurt me.”

“As a guardian, my presence is in this world, but I am not physically in it. I help forests all across the wizarding world to live, no matter the cost. I have a lot of abilities many wizards want, so tremendous that wizards would even find a way to steal it. The only way to earn my power was to kill me. Many wizards far and wide tried numerous ways to find a way to murder me. None of them were close to succeeding; only one. His name was Ebony. A very powerful wizard he was and would be remembered for ages if he had not chosen this path. Just like you, Inutiltos, he also had the ability to communicate with animals. Ever since his parents died, wizards all around him treated him so poorly that he would even be physically abused.”

“As time passed, he heard of the legend of the white stag. Once he learned that you would be able to gain my power through murder, he decided to kill me. Ebony only wanted to gain it to punish the whole world for what it has done to him. I knew that one day, he would come and fight, then kill me. I was prepared to face him, though that very day decided to he turned up was the most unexpected. Ebony appeared to me using the Spell of Mist, allowing him to be present in a spirit form, just as I was, to face me. I never expected it, to be frank. Very smart was he, for no wizard ever tried that before. All they tried was to attack me internally, which obviously did not work.”

“We fought for many hours, magic against magic. It was until he used the ancient spell of death—the agony of destruction—that made me fall upon to this world. That was how you found me, and the sound of the boom, as your friend Shula has described it. It was supposed to be a painful and slow death, but luckily you came along to help. Most wizards wouldn’t be able to heal me, but you were special. Wizards who have these healing power only come once every 10,000 years, Inutiltos. Only once…” the white stag said panting. “Inutiltos, I can’t stay with you anymore. I must leave you. Just understand that no matter what you do, trust in yourself. Don’t let fear take control over you…” the guardian whispered as he slowly closed his eyes, his breathing gradually slowing down, coming to a stop.

“No! My friend! Don’t leave me!” Inutiltos wailed as he saw the dead body beside him. “I don’t know what to do without you! I don’t have any powers or anyone who cares about me! I don’t have any friends! I don’t wanna live in this world alone!”

“Oh, but you will…” a voice whispered darkly, deep inside the woods. The soft crunches of the dead leaves echoed across the whole forest as a wizard, covered in all black, appeared from the darkness. His gloved hands slowly made its way up to the black mask, pulling it off. A smile was plastered on his face, his white teeth glinting in the dim forest light. His face was sickly pale; the wizard’s black eyes were as dark as coal. His dark gaze slowly landed upon Inutiltos, who was shaking in fear besides his friend.

“Ebony…” Inutiltos whispered in hatred, immediately recognizing the evil man.

Cackling, he said, “Yes, that is totally right, my dear friend. What that guardian told you was all true. But you missed out some parts of the story.” Ebony slowly walked closer to the younger child and knelt onto the grass. The two wizards’ heads were only inches apart now. Inutiltos could feel the cold breath of the other wizard, shivers going down his spine. “You do know I was watching the whole entertaining part where you killed Sperobris, right? Actually, to do it myself?” Ebony whispered softly, chuckling.

“W-what do you mean?” Inutiltos spat, stepping back from the enemy. “What do you mean by doing it yourself?” His hands were trembling as it slowly curled into a fist.

The older wizard laughed as he faced the sky covered in trees, his sound ringing throughout the forest. As Ebony slowly calmed himself down, he smiled widely. “You do know that during the time you blacked out, I managed to control you and do it myself,” he explained, shrugging. “I mean, I knew you were a pretty powerful wizard, especially this young. Since I wanted to somehow kill the white stag, I needed someone who was even more powerfull than me to do it. I knew I couldn’t do it, so I decided to use you. And so I did. And it worked! That was when my amazing plan started. I would manage a way to make the guardian fall onto this world, and find a way to control you and allow you to kill your best friend, yourself.”

Tears started flowing out like a waterfall as he collapsed onto the ground, his hands shaking as he wept. The young boy felt as if an invisible boulder was placed on his shoulders. Everything seemed to go wrong for Inutiltos; the whole world seemed to collapse right in front of him. He, Inutiltos thought angrily, he was the one who controlled me into killing my best friends? As the thought turned and tossed around Inutiltos’s mind, his boiling anger only grew and grew. The fear he had before suddenly disappeared as he stood up, his burning blue eyes bore into the black eyes of the other.

“WHY? WHY DID YOU DO THIS? HOW COULD YOU!” Inutiltos roared in anger as he stretched out his hand and pointed at the wizard dressed in black. Immediately, an invisible force swept Ebony away off his feet, making him crash into a tree nearby. The boy’s eyes widened as he realized what he did—he used magic. He used magic after so many years. How… Was my friend really right? Was it only because of my fear that held me back from using it? Inutiltos thought, shocked at himself. He was lost in his thoughts until he heard a groan.

“Ah… I see you’ve finally been able to use your power. Perfect! All I need to do is just control you so that I will be able to use your power, and the white stag’s, to do whatever I wish. It’s officially time to gain my revenge after so many years,” he growled softly as he slowly stood up. Quickly he pointed his hand towards Inutiltos, sending an invisible force of the strong wind. Inutiltos blocked it with his own powers, then struck lightning to Ebony. With a snap of his fingers, a shield appeared, protecting the evil wizard from it.

Just like that, for hours, two fought. To Inutiltos, it was the most tiring thing he has ever done since the day he was born. The energy within him started to drain out of him, making himself weaker each time he dodged or attacked the older wizard.

“Seems like you’re tired. Surrender, Inutiltos, and life would be better for you. Just allow me to control you for a while, and I promise I will allow you to go back to your normal self. I just need to finish what I needed to do,” Ebony offered as he smiled widely.

“Never. You’ve destroyed my life. You made me kill both of my best friends just for your benefit. You made me live in fear for almost all my life because of that. You don’t deserve any of my powers!” Inutiltos screamed at him, tears burning in his eyes. Then a thought came up to him. It’s not only mine power, he thought, I also now gained the guardian’s powers… Inutiltos widened his eyes as he suddenly thought of an idea. Closing his eyes and stretching his arms towards his enemy, he searched for any sense of his dead friend’s power. He made himself try to grab any source of power he had. All of a sudden, he felt as if a golden, warm light inside his whole body. Inutiltos forced himself to grab it. Though as soon as he did, he felt himself lose consciousness, slowly, ever so slowly…  

***

Ebony watched as the boy closed his eyes. What is going on in his mind? he thought. He knew that the boy was up to something. Then, the realization came to him as he saw the young, powerful wizard suddenly glowing, a golden aura surrounded the boy.

“Oh, no… NO… NO!” he screamed in horror as he felt a sudden heat come rushing toward him, burning his whole body. “NO! I cannot die! I cannot die! I need my revenge! NO!” he wailed as Ebony felt his soul slowly leaving his body.

Inutiltos was in a mysterious place. He knew he wasn’t in reality. After all, if he was, he would at least see what had happened with Ebony and his fate. He didn’t even know if combining his and the guardian’s power even worked. Panic suddenly came flooding into his brain. “What happens if it didn’t work? Had I failed?” Inutiltos whispered in worry.

“You didn’t fail, my friend. You had succeeded. I knew you could do it,” a soft voice came from behind him.

The boy’s eyes widened as he recognized this voice. “A-aren’t y-you…” he trailed off as he swung around to only be met by a pair of golden eyes.

“It’s me, Inutiltos. Your friend, the white stag,” the guardian said, smiling. His white fur was glittering, the golden horns sparkling. The guardian only smiled wider as he saw Inutiltos come running to him and hugging him. After a few minutes of the boy sniffling, he stepped back.

“Where am I?”

“You’re dead, Inutiltos. By wasting so much energy inside your body, your body couldn’t handle it anymore. You’re not exactly in the wizard heaven, as where most wizards would go. Though you will stay with me.”

“What?”

The stag chuckled. “You’re a guardian with me, now.” Inutiltos only gaped at him. “I know what you’re thinking—I’m supposed to be dead by now. But I’m a guardian. I live forever. However, my powers do fade away each times someone kills me, and by the time I have barely any powers, I will die. Though no one has ever killed me until Ebony controlled you and made you kill me. And the other thing you’re wondering is probably how you are a guardian. You see, as I am a guardian of all the nature and wildlife in the world, I have a lot of power. Guardians are allowed to make other wizards or beings powerful beings, like us. However, we hardly choose any since there is normally anyone who we believe is able to handle this. But you, you are different. I chose you to become a guardian, along with me, to rule and take care of all the wildlife in this world.”

Inutiltos widened his blue eyes, he felt excitement throughout his body as it came to him—he was a guardian. He would rule all the wildlife in the wizarding world along with his best friend. “Oh my gosh! Thank you so much!” Inutiltos cried out in excitement as he hugged his friend again, tightly.

“No need to thank me, young one. Now come along, I have a lot to teach you about your new powers,” the white stag said, slowly striding away, soon entering another world filled with green trees, flowers, and many different animals. With a big smile plastered on Inutiltos’s face, he quickly ran and entered into this magical realm.