"Dustan! Where are we going?" my daemon asked. She was currently in the form of a puppy. Her tail wagged back and forth with every stride she took.
"Hush Alianora, I want to surprise Gavin!" I scoffed, looking behind me to make sure my twin brother wasn't anywhere near. I motioned for my daemon to keep low and crawled on the ground until I reached a small hole in the hall. I struggled to get inside it, soon I would be too large to fit inside.
"How did we ever come across this." Alianora mumbled.
"Don't you remember? We were little. Gavin and me were only five. We had snuck out of the grounds and you and Luka we're telling us that we should go back. Gavin wasn't watching where he was going and he tripped. He fell against this wall and fell through. We found this cool place and it has been our hideout everyday since." I smiled.
"I remember now." Alianora laughed.
"Ali, go and watch for Gavin." I motioned for her to watch the entrance. She nodded, bounding over happily with her tail wagging.
"Dustan! He's coming!" she hissed. I hid behind one of the pillars, peeking only to see when my brother would appear.
"Dustan? Are you hear? Dustan I have something to tell you!" Gavin called.
"Are you sure you saw him turn in here?" I heard his daemon, Luka ask.
"I'm sure of it." he frowned, feeling around for the lights.
"Boo!" I smiled, jumping out at him. Gavin didn't even flinch.
"You are going to have to do more than that to scare me." he laughed.
"I'll get you next time." I grinned. I looked over to the mirror that was propped up against the wall, my brother and I looked exactly alike. We both had short, black hair. We had the same green eyes and we were the same height. People sometimes had trouble telling us apart. It was fun to pretend to be the other.
"That's what you said last time." Gavin laughed, ruffling my hair.
"I did not! Did I Ali?" I asked, turning to Alianora. She had changed into her weasel form and was now sitting on my shoulder.
"I don't remember you saying anything like that Dustan." she said.
"Of course Ali agrees with you, she's your daemon!" Gavin scoffed.
"Well Luka will always choose your side!" I retorted.
"I never said he wouldn't." Gavin said, grinning.
"What are you grinning about?" I couldn't help but ask.
"Dustan, it's funny when you get angry." he laughed.
"I'm not angry!" I scoffed.
"You were. I know it." Gavin said, punching me gently in the arm.
"How could you know? You don't know anything." I scoffed.
"I know that the Gobblers are getting closer to here." Gavin said in a low whisper as if one of them would jump out at us.
"How do you know that?" I asked.
"Well, some gyptian kids were taken not too far from here. It won't be long until they start taking kids from here too. They go after the gyptian and the servant kids mostly, but sometimes they just take any kid they find." Gavin told me.
"Well, them Gobblers won't be getting me. If they try to get me than Ali and me will make them wish they were never born!" I scoffed.
"And how do you expect to do that if they grab Ali from behind and hurt her? You'll be hurt too then there won't be anything you could do. That's how Riley reckons they do it. They torture your daemon until you can't fight back." Gavin explained.
"I won't let them hurt Ali." I told him.
"You won't have a choice, they'll grab her before you can stop them." Gavin insisted. I could feel Ali shudder in fear. I stroked her back gently to reassure her.
"Don't listen to him, Ali. I'll never let them get you, I promise." I said, hugging her. I could feel her heart beat against my own.
"But Gavin is right, what could you do if they got me?" Alianora mumbled.
"What about you? You couldn't do anything if they got Luka." I hissed.
"Well, I wouldn't be stupid enough to let them get Luka. He would be with me." Gavin insisted.
"Of course he would be with you. He's your daemon, that's kind of how it works." I scoffed.
"I meant on my shoulder, like he is now." Gavin retorted. Luka was in his mouse form, cowering on his shoulder.
"Well Ali will be on my shoulder too." I told him as she took her place.
"Whatever. Lord Darrius will be wondering where we are. We better get going." Gavin said, turning for the exit. I'll be right there!" I called over and walked to the back of the room.
"Dustan, what are we doing now?" Ali asked.
"I have to get the book. I left here last time by mistake. Ali, I can't leave it here. It's all Gavin and me have left of them." I insisted, lifting up all the books. I sighed when I found the one I was looking for. It was a leather book with a golden inscription on the front. I flipped through the pages, smiling. I loved flipping through the pages and looking at the photographs of when Gavin and me were young. The main reason for my interest in the book was because it held photographs of our parents. Our parents had died when Tartars attacked them on their trip. They were heading north, that's al we were ever told. No one liked to speak about them, so Gavin and me knew close to nothing about them. I barely even remembered them. I traced their faces with my finger on one of the photographs. They were holding Gavin and me in their arms. Luka and Alianora were in their mouse forms, we held them in our hands. Their daemons were at their side, my mother's a daemon was a wolf and my father's daemon was a tiger.
"Ali, do you remember them?" I asked.
"Remember who, Dustan?" she asked.
"My parents." I told her.
"No. I remember just as much about them as you do." she sighed.
"What about their daemons? Do you remember them?" I asked.
"No. The only thing I remember about their daemons is that they were scary, Luka and me never liked them because they scared us." Ali replied. I nodded.
"Dustan, we really should be going." Ali insisted.
"Alright." I sighed. I tusked the book under my arm and reached my hand out to her. She climbed up my arm and rested on my shoulder as I left our hideout.
"Dustan!" I smiled when I saw my friend, Riley. Her daemon, Rafender was in his dog form. He trotted over happily when he saw Alianora. She leaped from my shoulder and changed into a cat, I laughed when the two began chasing each other playfully.
"How are you doing, Riley?" I ask.
"I'm fine and you?" she smiles.
"I'm fine." I told her.
"What's that you got there?" she asked, pointing to the book. I gripped the book tighter, as if she was going to take it away from me.
"Come on Dustan, you've known me your whole life. You can trust me with whatever is in that book." Riley insisted.
"You're right. It's filled of photo's of my parents, that's all." I told her.
"I understand how important it must be to then." Riley said. I nodded.
"I really must be getting back, Lord Darrius will soon begin to wonder where I am if he hasn't already. I'll see you later than, Riley. Good bye!" I called over my shoulder. Ali said goodbye to Rafender before following me.
"Do you reckon he'll be angry with me?" I whispered to Alianora.
"I'd think so. We were gone an awful long time." Ali whispered back.
"I suppose we must face the punishment." I sighed, opening the front door.
"Alright, just remember that if you get hit I hurt too." Ali hissed.
"Master Dustan! Lord Darrius has been worried about he. He told me to send you to him as soon as you returned." One of the servants said, bowing her head. I nodded and began walking down the hall.
"Uh oh. You're going to get hit for sure." Ali shuddered. I stopped outside his door. I could hear him talking to someone else inside.
"Gavin, you are now old enough to take your father's place. It was my job to take over only until you were old enough to do so yourself. And now that time has come." I heard Lord Darrius say.
"What is he talking about?" Ali frowned. I pressed my ear against the door, straining to hear more of their conversation.
"Are you sure I am ready?" Gavin asked.
"Of course I'm sure." he told him.
"But what about Dustan?" Gavin asked.
"What about Dustan? He is still a child. He runs wild through the streets with the servants children and the gyptian children. He isn't close to becoming a mature adult like you have come to be." Lord Darrius scoffed. The words felt like someone had jabbed a spear through my body. I'm not mature enough? Gavin and me are the same age!