Tiger's Blood
Chapter 3 -Ethan

I hear the branches snapping under my feet. The leaves rustle as I walk by the trees. I’m on my way back to where dad and Jett are. They have already started to look for me so I might as well go back home. About a month ago, I told them that I was going out “hunting.” By hunting, I mean go out and replace other Bloods to kill. It’s the family tradition, apparently. My dad and brother want me to be a part of this war of Lions versus the world.

Honestly, I want no part of it. It’s strange, but my whole family are Lion Bloods all the way back to my great-great grandfather and beyond. I am a Lion Blood as well, but I don’t want what most Lion Bloods want. I don’t want to own the world and I don’t want to kill innocent Bloods. I want to make peace like my mother tried to do years ago. My dad didn’t like and agree with her decisions and killed her. He claimed it was an accident and everyone believed him, except me.

I never liked my father’s decisions as King. He has always made poor choices. He killed all of the Tiger Bloods left existing when I was young. Well, now I know that’s not true. Kira somehow hid that she was a Tiger Blood for four years from the Lions. She is beautiful for a creature, so dangerous and vicious. I wouldn’t have even guessed that she was a Tiger Blood. She seems very intelligent. Somehow she sensed that I was a Lion Blood. She looks nothing like how I envisioned a Tiger Blood..

She has messy brown curls that fall to her shoulders, and her dark green eyes look like a beautiful summer meadow. She is short and scrawny, yet she is so aggressive and powerful. I wouldn’t want to hurt a special girl like her. My main worry is that another Lion will replace her and take her back to my dad as a prize. That shouldn’t happen though. Kira is stronger than the Lions, I can feel it.

I look around some more for food to hunt. My stomach growls in anger. It wasn’t long until I finally found a dead carcass of a deer that someone left here. I take out my only knife I have left with me and I skin the deer. After my meal, I feel recharged. I get back up and I continue walking north west. My father and brother are a few miles from the edge of Eastern Bitotem. We used to live somewhere else, but I can’t really remember it. I was too little, maybe three or four. My dad told me it was destroyed in a fire, then we immediately came here to Eastern Bitotem. After our old home was destroyed, my father built the Lion’s Kingdom on Eastern Bitotem...I mean…under it.

Dad wanted to keep the Kingdom hidden so there would not be as many intruders coming into the Kingdom. He had construction workers work on the Kingdom below ground, but it still has the light come in through the skylights. The Kingdom is amazingly built. It has tall brick buildings all compacted together by bridges so people can travel easier. The Kingdom is surrounded by a gigantic wall of bricks with only an entrance door in the front of it. It is so well protected by the wall that there is no need for guards. If I was King, I would still place guards outside the wall just in case of intruders.

There are multiple security cameras built into the wall that cannot be easily seen. There are cameras on every knight that dad sends out too. Luckily, I damaged the cameras when I attacked those three guards. I know where the cameras are located. I don’t want my father to know what I’m doing, especially now there’s a Tiger Blood still alive. Outside the wall, there is a massive river that brings water in and out of the Kingdom. There are two small towers outside the Kingdom with guards to make sure no enemies are coming. Grasslands and dirt cover most of the outside. There are only three secret ways to get in and out of the Kingdom unseen, and one of them leads to my bedroom up in the King’s castle.

There are many buildings and castles throughout the Kingdom. It looks like you are in a whole new world when you live there, it’s amazing really. The main town area in the center of the Kingdom is where all the poor Lion Bloods live, including some spared Bloods, which are Bloods other than Lions who my father decided not to kill, but instead, kept as servants. They help work in the Kingdom and they mainly serve the Lion Bloods. They live in these dark, muddy caves on the bottom of the Kingdom.

My best friend Chase lives in the Kingdom with the others; he works in the blacksmith castle. Chase is an Eagle Blood. My father decided not to execute him because he admired Chase’s crafty skills, so he kept him as the main blacksmith. I can’t wait to get back and see my old friend again. Last time I saw him, he created this new invention. It is a large wooden post with a rope attached to the end of it. My dad liked it so much that he paid Chase 300 gold coins for it. I’m not sure what my dad uses it for, but I just hope it’s for good.

I scavenge around the land looking for a sign of the bush where the hidden entrance is located. I look around and breathe in the air softly. I hear nothing but the sound of my own heart beating in my chest. It must be around here somewhere. I know I’m close; I can sense it. I look up into the blue sky and study the thick, fluffy clouds. The clouds collide together and the sky gets gloomy within minutes. Great, it’s going to storm.

I look around the forest and search for the biggest tree here. Soon enough, I replace a perfect tree and I climb up the trunk. The dark, brown branches leave small cuts and a sticky substance on my hands as I climb up. I finally get to a sturdy branch and wipe my hands clean on my jeans. I rest my head uncomfortably upon a thick and heavy branch and fall asleep quicker than I thought.

The next morning came by quickly. I open my eyes and let out a big yawn. I shake my head and smooth out my thick, brown hair. I stretch my arms and crack my knuckles. I pick a leaf off my shirt and I stand up slowly. I grab onto a branch and balance my body and look below me. The storm last night left only little puddles of mud on the surface. I climb down one branch, then jump and land in a large puddle. The mud splashes on my shirt and jeans and I groan. Now I really want to replace the Kingdom so I can shower and change my clothes.

I whistle lightly as the branches dance along with the light wind shaking off green and brown leaves. I watch the wind settle down and all the trees fell silent. I close my eyes and take a deep breath of the autumn air. The smell of the nature surrounding me filled me with delight. I decided that today would be a good day to travel.

As I walk through the rainy forest, a strange noise caught my attention. Voices laugh and chuckle in the distance. I look around until I spot five men walking along the trail away from the direction of the Kingdom. “Where would the kid go? He’s only seventeen,” says the first guy. “I don’t know. He said to the King that he was going out hunting, but he’s been gone for quite some time,” says the dark haired male who is shorter than the first man. I quickly climb back up the tree I slept in and watch the men walk below me.

“Well he’s the King’s son guys, and that’s why we have to replace him. If we don’t bring Ethan back to King Andrew soon then we are all next in line to be hanged,” The larger one remarks. I recognized the symbol on their armor, they’re knights of the Lions guard. Two of the guards have crossbows in their arms while the other three have swords. Snapping and cracking fill my ears as I notice the branch I was on was slowly breaking. Without warning, the branch snaps off and I fall hard on the ground. I groan in pain as I quickly stand up. The Lions turn around and look me in the eye. “Hey, that’s him! It’s Prince Ethan guys get him!” One of the guys yells.

I quickly take my knife and throw it in the neck of the first guy. His body flops to the ground as the others spring toward me. I mutate and barrel straight at them. They move out of my way as I run the opposite direction I was heading in. I hear them yell and scream as one of them starts shooting arrows at me. One hit me in the paw, but I just shook it off. My dark brown mane flows around as their voices become distant. I slow my pace when I realize that they stopped chasing me. Great they are going back to the Kingdom to tell my dad that they spotted me. Now he’s going to send even more guards out. I watch as I mutate and my paws became hands and feet and my claws became fingernails.

I rub my palm as a small trickle of blood ran down my hand. I look at my bandaged hand and I instantly think of Kira. After they tell my father they saw me, they will double the guards at night. They might replace Kira, surely she is still around here. I look back once more to make sure they stopped following me and I sigh loudly. I then start running back towards Kira to warn her about the Lions that will soon be coming.