Casaio tried to mindlink with Dominick again, but the connection failed, just as it had all day. His search had been relentless, and now night had fallen, shadows thickening across the land.
The phone in his pocket buzzed. He answered instantly.
"Gabriel, I’m still looking for Nick," Casaio said breathlessly. "I’ve checked every place he could possibly be, but he’s nowhere. It’s like he vanished."
"I’ve found him," Gabriel’s voice ca through.
Casaio straightened. "Where? I’ll teleport."
"In the Cursed Forest," Gabriel replied. "et at the entrance."
The line went dead. In the next second, Casaio appeared beside him.
"Why the hell would he go in there?" Casaio demanded. "Who told you this? Are you sure?"
Gabriel’s eyes stayed fixed on the dark treeline. "People saw him walk straight in," he said grimly. "And no one who goes past that line ever cos back the sa or never..."
"I’ll go inside," Casaio said, already stepping forward toward the looming darkness of the forest.
Gabriel’s hand shot out, gripping his arm. "Stay where you are!" he barked at his brother’s indecisiveness. Honestly, his both brothers were the sa. They knew nothing in tough tis what they should exactly do. "We need to think first. I’ve already asked Karn to speak with so of the elders, they might know how to deal with this."
"You should’ve asked Dad," Casaio said quickly.
"I did," Gabriel replied firmly. "But he doesn’t know either. He’s already consulting the council mbers as we speak."
Casaio exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair with dread expression. "By the ti they find an answer, it’ll be too late," he muttered in desperation.
"Yes, but we can’t fall into danger ourselves. That’s why we have to wait," Gabriel answered.
"Your Highnesses, I am the beta of Prince Dominick. It’s my responsibility to keep him safe. Allow to go in. I urge you," Evan said this ti. He had made the sa request earlier too, but Gabriel didn’t approve of it.
"Just stay calm," Gabriel said again. He had Carlos contact, but that fellow was already dealing with sothing heavy, so he didn’t wish to bother him.
"How long do we have to wait?" Evan asked. "It has been hours since Prince Dominick is inside," he reasoned.
"If anyone will go in, then that’s . I am the one, who created this chaos," Casaio pronounced.
"Both of you should leave," Gabriel said sternly. "Can’t you two understand a simple thing?" He gritted his teeth when Gabriel’s phone buzzed.
He took out his phone from the pocket of his coat and saw Alie’s na flashing on the screen.
"Yes, A?" he answered.
"I talked to Carlos," Alie said on the other end, her voice steady but laced with concern. "Actually, he called earlier to ask about Noah, and us. I took the chance to ask if he knew anything about the cursed forest."
Gabriel’s grip on the phone tightened. "And what did he say?"
"He ntioned sothing called ’the Lantern of mory’," she replied. "According to him, it’s a small enchanted lantern that can reveal hidden paths and repel spirit-lures."
Gabriel frowned. "And how does it work?"
"You have to write the bearer’s true na on a parchnt and tuck it beneath a candle made from stearin and rosemary. Then, light the candle and whisper your first mory into the fla. The lantern’s light makes illusions visible and keeps hunger spirits at bay. But..." she paused, "there’s a cost. When the fla dies, the bearer forgets the mory they gave away."
Gabriel exhaled slowly. "Alright. I’ll see you later, A. Thanks."
He ended the call and turned to Casaio and Evan.
"I’ll bring all the things we need," Casaio said firmly before Gabriel could speak. "And I’ll be the one to whisper the mory into the fla."
Gabriel’s eyes darkened with worry. "Are you sure about this, Casaio?"
"Yes," Casaio replied without hesitation.
Gabriel’s brows furrowed. "The price could be huge, Casaio. The warmth, the bond you once shared with Nick, it’ll vanish from your mory. It could change everything. Let do it instead. In Nick’s eyes, I was never the good brother anyway, so it wouldn’t matter if I forgot."
Casaio’s gaze hardened with a quiet storm behind his eyes. "No, Gabriel. This is the price I must pay. It all began because of ," he said firmly, and in the next second, he disappeared from their sight.
"I could’ve done it too," Evan murmured.
"Let him," Gabriel said, eyes fixed on the forest’s edge. "It has to be him."
They waited in silence until Casaio reappeared, not long after, carrying everything they needed: a small lantern, a rolled parchnt, and a candle scented faintly with rosemary. Without a word, he knelt on the ground, set the items in place, and lit the candle.
He drew a slow breath, then whispered his first mory into the fla about the day Dominick was born.
He had been barely two years old, too young to understand much, yet that mont had stayed with him. The warmth of his mother’s arms, the faint cry of the newborn in her lap, the spark of joy in his father’s eyes. Casaio had reached out a tiny hand to touch the baby’s cheek, and even then, sothing within him had stirred, a vow unspoken but true: ’I’ll protect my younger brother, no matter what.’
As he whispered, the fla flickered, a golden shimr passing through the lantern. He carried it up along with the parchnt in his hand which bore his na already and walked inside the cursed forest.
"Cas, if you both return before the fla extinguishes, then everything will stay the sa. So, return quickly." Gabriel shouted.
He and Evan watched him go, the fog suddenly appearing taking away the sight of the prince. Casaio was nowhere to be seen as he was already on the path, which led him directly to Dominick.
’I hope you find him soon, Cas. Nick and you share a bond that isn’t easy to explain in re so words,’ Gabriel thought.
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