The End of Innocence: Book 3 of the Kinstone series

(At a hidden location)

Regulus strolls through the corridors, flanked by Diana and Selene. Two days…it’s been two days since he failed once more to collect a simple, sniveling child and with her aid, the Xur’canah, his ultimate target. He clenched his jaw, biting back the throbbing pain in his right wrist, having nearly been ripped off by the girl’s wolf.

The beast’s fangs had dug deeply into his flesh, managing to succeed in crushing several of his bones. Not to mention when the wolf tossed him away, it also shredded several muscles within his arm. These two factors hampered his ability to effectively combat the child’s mother, and with the sudden arrival of her knights, further complicated matters for him.

Aria…a simple yet incredibly beautiful name, whose owner is equally as such. While he despises the girl for her innate ability to slip away from death’s grasp, he held a small modicum of respect for her.

She had proven herself in combat on multiple occasions, and with this latest attempt, had managed to fight her way out of yet another hopeless situation, while still incredibly injured. That girl will become a true force of nature if she is to mature into a young woman.

But now with her having been rescued yet again, he is forced to rethink his plans, garner more allies. Again the girl complicates his goals, and with it, he grows more and more frustrated with her.

“You should have let me kill her Regulus,” chides Diana. He glances over his shoulder momentarily, not really taking the Aria’s former mother seriously. “Are you deaf? I said I could have killed that brat if you hadn’t stopped me.”

Again, he ignores her. He wasn’t in the mood for listening to the whining of a child. While the girl was once an adult, now she had been transformed into a teenager, which unfortunately brought along its own set of problems, such as a renewed tone of entitlement. Unlike Diana, he had learned Aria hadn’t fallen into quite the same trap. But children are still children after all.

The girl, having grown more and more frustrated with his repeated ignoring of her, reaches out and grabs the him by his injured wrist, “I said, are you deaf?”

He winces in pain, growling as he drags the girl forward, and snatching hold of her wrist. “I heard you, you little brat,” staring into her mismatched eyes, “and to answer your question, no, you could not have been able to kill her, Diana.”

She glares into his eyes, yanking her hand away from him, “That’s not my name you bastard.”

He leans in close to her, “That is the name that I have given you, for you can no longer lay claim to your old life.” He stood up, flexing his wrist, hearing it pop, “That girl…do you have any idea why you were unable to defeat her?”

She looks to him, “Yes…her pet dragon arrived to save her life, along with that man who showed up.”

Regulus shakes his head, peering down at her, “No, my dear. When that girl, as you described, merged with her wolf, not only did she gained a massive power increase, she grew her ninth tail.”

The girl tilts her head, “So? What does having nine tails have to with anything?”

He growls, “You honestly know nothing of the world do you?”

“I never got into anime, so explain to me,” she snaps back.

He groans angrily, “When kitsune grow their ninth and final tail, they truly become a force to be reckoned with. Legends tell of their power rivaling those of the gods. That girl, while still extremely young and truthfully not quite at that stage, obtained a far greater level of power.”

“Simply put,” he concludes, “she easily overpowered you. You merely were lucky the child wasn’t at full strength the night you fought her, otherwise we wouldn’t be standing here having this little conversation. There is also the fact that she has had far more training and combat experience than you.”

She sneers at him, “It sounds as though you like that girl.”

He growls, slamming his fist into the wall just above her shoulder, leaving a small crater, “You will be silent, child.” Her eyes grow wide, body frozen in fear.

He pulls back his hand from the wall, watching as pieces of debris fell to the floor. There were times where he asked himself why he had brought this girl back to life. He never liked children, often finding them more of a nuisance rather than an asset.

But here he is, with a resurrected and transformed girl. He didn’t think of her as his own, merely a tool or weapon to be used in order further his goals. He instead left the rearing of the girl to his partner and companion, who did treat her as a daughter.

Selene gently pulls the girl towards her, wrapping her porcelain-white arms around the child, holding her in a motherly embrace. She leans into her “daughter’s” ear, “You will have yet another chance at the girl, my dear, but now we must wait. For things truly about to begin.”

The girl looks up at her, having somewhat formed a bond with the wight, “Fine…I’ll wait.”

Regulus smiles, looking at the pair and then turns, gazing out onto a large open room with men and women scurrying about, communicating with allies and other assets, some gathering weapons and formulating plans.

“Yes,” he says confidently, “things are truly set to begin.”