18. Kitaro

After leaving Kisano and dropping Fersen off, Kizoshi followed Kitaro to his room. "Have you given my suggestion any further thought?"

"You mean working on training to maintain a bigger dragon form?" Kitaro asked, although they both knew what she was referring to.

"Indeed."

Kitaro glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "You understand how disconcerting it is when you give me concrete, actionable advice, yes?"

She laughed behind her hand. "And here I thought I was doing a nice thing. Contrary to your claims, it seems you prefer it when I am more cryptic."

"It would help if you would tell me why I should work on form training. Perhaps your hint would not feel so ominous."

"What are you so concerned about?"

Kitaro resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "When your mother is the War Power, where else would my mind go but to the battlefield?"

"Come now," she tutted. "There are more reasons to train your inner dragon than for warfare."

"Such as?" He wished for once she would give him a straight answer.

But today would not be the day to change that. "Remember, everything happens at the right time and place."

"Would you be so kind as to give me a valid reason for why you are being so insistent?"

They paused outside of his room. She kissed his cheek before giving him a hug. "Do not be so worried, dear brother. I promise you will thank me later."

"You know, just once in my life, I would like to have a conversation with you where I come out with more answers than questions." Kitaro acted somewhat annoyed, but he adored his older sister, despite all her baffling riddles.

She flashed her beautiful smile. "What would be the fun in that?" She walked away but called out over her shoulder, "Do not forget that the clearing above the Fate's Gate Temple is lovely on the night of a full moon this time of year. It also has plenty of wide, open spaces for you to practice being as big as you can. Perhaps you will enjoy training there instead of indulging in the Day of Remembrance Festival."

Kitaro had always found the holiday too morbid to celebrate, so her suggestion was a welcomed distraction. It was a more specific clue than she normally left him with. He watched her retreating form, shaking his head at how she always seemed to be an enigma wrapped up in a mystery. But she had been kind enough to give him a location, and one thing Kitaro had learned over his many long years was never to disobey his older sister's hints, especially when it was so rare for her to give him concrete instructions.

He headed into his room to change before heading out to train in the forest on the edge of the capital, Tiora.

* * *

After hours of training, Kitaro succeeded in making his dragon form bigger than ever before. He had maintained it for longer than he had expected, but doing so was a huge drain on his energy. Since it was a nice night, he shrank to a smaller size that was easier to maintain. He rested under the cover of the trees in the clearing above the Fate's Gate Temple. He was far enough away from the city center that the sounds of the festival didn't reach the clearing.

Off to the side, a thin stone staircase led the way down the steep hill to the Fate's Gate Temple, but Kitaro was too superstitious to use them. At the bottom of them was the massive namesake, Fate's Gate, an old relic that hummed with ancient and powerful magic. It was said that anyone who walked through the gate would have their fate changed—but whether it was for the better was entirely up to the Fate Power.

The temple of mages who guarded the gate worshipped both Sophina and the Knowledge Power, Liros. Kitaro had never taken much interest in the mostly human mages, but then again, he had never paid much attention to humans in general. His father hated them with a fiery passion but had to tolerate their presence on his lands as their ruler.

Kitaro had little experience with the short-lived creatures. His world at the castle was isolated, and he lacked any real friends beyond Kizoshi and Kisano. But he hoped Fersen would soon become a friend as well. His uncle's new mate was exactly the kind of person Kitaro had hoped Jaega would someday end up with if fate was so kind as to let him.

Kitaro was pulled from his thoughts when there was a sudden crackle of energy. The smell of ancient magic intensified before a burst of it pulsated out from the direction of the gate. At the center was a new and most delectable scent. Kitaro wasn't sure what was coming up the staircase, but he couldn't wait to find out. Perhaps it was the reason his sister had suggested he lay in wait for whoever was about to arrive.

* * *

Want to see more of Jaega and Fersen?

* * *

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