The Northern Forest was more than just a cluster of trees: it was a "No Man's Land."
Here, the laws of the Red and White Lion Kingdoms meant nothing. Only the law of the claw and the tooth remained. Kira had been running for two days, fueled by nothing but raw terror and the fading memory of his mother's voice. His clothes were now little more than rags, and his feet were bloodied from the jagged rocks and biting thorns.
Every snap of a twig made his heart leap. He was a "Hollow," a boy without a mark, wandering into a place where even the strongest warriors feared to tread.
Just as the sun began to dip below the canopy, casting long, skeletal shadows across the forest floor, a high-pitched scream pierced the silence. It wasn't the cry of a bird or the howl of a wolf. It was human.
Kira ignored the ache in his legs and pushed through a thicket of stinging nettles. He found the source in a small clearing. A young girl, perhaps six years old, was backed against a massive, ancient cedar tree. Her eyes were wide with a terror Kira knew all too well.
Prowling toward her was a nightmare made of fur and muscle. A tiger, nearly twice the size of any normal beast, circled her. Its fur was scarred, and its eyes burned with a hungry, unnatural intelligence. The girl was sobbing, her small hands trembling as she clutched a tattered doll to her chest.
Kira froze. He had no Mark to give him strength. He had no sword to pierce the beast's hide. But as he watched the tiger crouch, ready to pounce on the helpless girl, something inside him snapped. He couldn't let another person be purged from this world. He wouldn't watch another death.
"Hey! Over here!" Kira screamed. He grabbed a heavy, jagged branch from the ground and lunged at the beast with a desperate, horizontal swing.
Run!
Get out of here
The tiger hissed, turning its massive head with lightning speed. It swiped a paw—a casual movement for a beast of its size—and its claws raked across Kira's back. The force sent him flying. He hit the dirt hard, the world spinning into a blur of grey and green. The pain was a white-hot brand searing his spine.
As Kira lay there, his blood dripping onto the ancient forest floor, something impossible happened. The forest itself seemed to hold its breath.
The girl, seeing Kira fall in her defense, let out a scream that didn't sound like a child's cry at all. It was a roar deep, resonant, and ancient. On her shoulder, a brilliant light began to burn through her tunic. It wasn't the dull grey of a Buffalo Mark or the common green of a Snake.
It was the Mark of the Lioness. A legendary seal that hadn't been seen in either kingdom for over a hundred years.
The tiger, sensing a shift in the air, tried to leap away, but it was too late. With a burst of speed that blurred reality, the girl moved. She wasn't just running; she was a golden flash of pure energy. Before the beast could even snarl, she snatched Kira off the ground.
Kira felt a surge of warmth as she lifted him. He looked up through fading vision and saw her eyes. They weren't brown anymore. They were glowing with a predatory, golden light that seemed to pierce the very darkness of the forest.
In seconds, the clearing was a mile behind them. She carried him with impossible strength into a hidden cave tucked behind a veil of frozen ivy. As she set him down gently, the golden glow of her Mark illuminated the stone walls, casting long shadows that looked like dancing lions. Kira stared at her, his breath coming in ragged gasps. The girl from the enemy kingdom wasn't just a survivor.
she was a legend.