Chapter 1 - For The Ones You Love

I ran to my brother's room, the sound of my scampering paws echoing throughout the halls. I held a bowl of soup, which burned my paws. It was still hot, thank goodness, but boy did it hurt.. I slammed through the door into my brother's room, where I saw the weak, sickly Aetyr lying there in the bed. "Here, Tophius. Here's your soup." With every word, I panted- I mean, I just ran across the maze that is my home. And the servants are too afraid to give the soup to him. I placed the soup on his nightstand, which was completely clear. He weakly turned to look at me with a look of disdain. He always looked like that, ever since he tried saving that other Black Mane. His magic is too powerful, so he ended up hurting himself and the other Aetyr. Ever since, he has never been able to get out of bed. And even if he could, the other people wouldn't let him live normally. Even the servants won't go near him. Unfortunately, that resulted in him hating everyone, and everyone hating him back. I don't hate him, though. I don't think he hates me either- maybe. I dunno. I can never tell anymore. 

I smiled at him- I couldn't do anything else, because he doesn't like being talked to. He turned back over. "Go away.." he mumbled to me. I walked out. He always eats the food he gets, it's always empty when I come back. 

I decided to go on a walk, but Dad said I couldn't go alone, so I went with my personal butler and bodyguard, Patroklos. He's super cool. One time, we were attacked by some traffickers, but Patroklos beat them in a flash. He's rather powerful for a White Mane. One day, the rumor spreaders were out and about- but today was different. "Hm..? Haekos, is something wrong?" Patroklos asked. I guess he could sense that something about my demeanor was different. I shook my head. "Nah, I'm fine. Just thinking about my brother." It was true. Along with the growing desire to listen in on the gossip, I wanted to help my brother. I just want him to be able to walk with me again. Maybe.... A cure. Yes, surely there's a cure to his sickness- 

"Did you hear? A magicless albino Aetyr went to the assessment ceremony! And PASSED!" That simple yet shocking statement rang through my ears. And then, I had the best idea ever. Probably the stupidest one too. "Patroklos?" I said, looking at him. "We have an adventure of our own to go on." Patroklos looked confused. I looked at him earnestly and I said, "We're going to find a cure to Tophius's disease."