Thump thump! Thump thump! Castor's heart beat heavily in his chest. He felt is slowly grow heavy as it sank deep into his soul as if it were a stone thrown into a bottomless abyss. He refused to believe the sight that laid before him; he stood there continuing to wish it was all apart of his horrible nightmare but hot summer air that surrounded him reminded him of reality. The cave showed no signs of Kumiko. She was not laying in the corner where she was the night before nor was she anywhere in sight. Thump thump! Thump thump!

Serenity was standing outside of the entrance, calling out as loud as she could, "Kumiko! Kumiko!" But she received no answer. She paced uneasily while wildly looking around. Among the brush and trees, she saw nothing pointing her in the direction of Kumiko.

Castor stood beside her after searching the cave, "Do you see her?"

"No..." Serenity looked down as a tear came to her eye. The tiny droplet rolled with the curve of cheek until it splattered against the soil.

He sighed as he took a deep whiff of the air. However, he was unable to pick her scent up easily due to the numerous pollens and summer smells, "Come. Let's get Mother and Freya. I cannot pick her scent and we'll need more sets of eyes to find her."

Serenity nodded as she slowly followed behind Castor. His mother and sister did not live far from the cave and they did not stray far from it since Sumati's age had caught up with her. They passed the meadow as they traveled. Serenity watched as other does and their fawns played in the sun, standing on their hind legs as their fawns darted between their legs laughing. Her heart cracked at the sight as guilt over powered her. This is my fault...She thought to herself as she watched the fawns jump around near their mothers' feet. All Kumiko wanted was to play like any fawn would yet I kept her at home. If only I had been brave enough to face the world after seeing Silvanus again, she may not have ran off.

Castor gazed back at Serenity. He too suffered from Kumiko's disappearance and now he grew worried of Serenity. Her face had grown long and her eyes had lost their brightness as she cried. He felt as if he had already lost everything but he knew he had to stay strong for Serenity needed his support.

He lead her through a thicker part of the forest. The trees stood taller and closer; their branches stretching high above the ground towards the sun as if they were trying to gasp it and pull it down to the earth. The soil beneath their feet was dark and rich as hundreds upon hundreds of leaves die over the years. Thick, dark green ivy vines took hold of everything the forest had. It crawled for miles upon the ground and around every tree trunk.

Very few deer traveled this part of the woods. The ivy would tangle in their legs as they ran and the trees made it difficult to dart around. Due to this, there wasn't a beaten down path to follow. Luckily, Castor had been here many times before. His mother had moved here sometime ago.

Off in the distance, another slender doe grazed upon some ruby red berries. Her light brown coat stuck out against the green. She pulled her freckled face from the berry bush and smiled at the sight of Serenity and Castor. "Hello there!" she cried out as she trotted over to them. Her smile faded as she grew closer to them, "What is wrong?"

Serenity threw herself towards the doe, burring her head in the doe's neck, "Oh, Freya! Kumiko is gone!" There she began to cry heavily, her tears fell to the ground.

Freya looked at Castor with wide eyes, "Brother...Is it true?"

Castor looked away to avoid her gaze, "Yes, dear sister, she disappeared this morning. We have come to ask you and Mother for help finding her."

Freya gently nuzzled Serenity, trying to comfort the heart-broken mother, as she spoke coldly to Castor, "Mother won't be happy about this. She suffers so much already from when Father left. I do not know how well she will handle Kumiko missing."

"I'm aware of that," Castor bravely stepped past Freya. "Please, Freya, comfort Serenity and until I get back. I'm going to speak to Mother."

She looked over her shoulder as she watched him walk away, "She is in her sun spot warming herself."

Castor nodded to show that he had heard her as he continued onward. Stepping carefully over the vines of ivy, he slowly weaved his way around the trees. Freya and Serenity were nearly out of sight when he saw his mother. She laid in a sunny patch amongst the ivy.

Her fur resembled Freya's but it has long lost is shine. It had now turned full and continued spots of gray from her age. Wrinkles hung around her closed eyes and her fragile stubby antlers stood upon her head, cracked from wear and tear.

"Come closer, my son," she said in a weak, raspy voice. She was a wise doe and did not need to open her eyes to recognize the sound of Castor's hooves or his scent for her eye sight had decayed over time, leaving her nearly blind. "What brings you to me? Where is elegant steps of Serenity and the playful giggles of Kumiko?"

Castor pulled his ears back in fear, "Mother...I have come for help."

Sumati opened her eyes, revealing dilated pupipls that had lost their once beautiful blue color and were now a milky white, "I scene trouble in your voice."

"Kumiko...She ran away."

"My granddaughter..." Sumati gave a weak sigh, "She has vanished?"

Castor nodded, "Yes. I came seeking help."

"I sensed danger before you arrived, Castor. The trees and the wind...They whispered amongst each other. They sent out warnings to each other and I have spent my day trying to decode their language. I feared for my family and now I see why. I have heard of Silvanus' return and of his meeting with Kumiko. I beg that he had not taken it upon himself to harm such a sweet fawn."

"What shall I do, Mother?" Castor looked at Sumati with hope and trust twinkling in his eyes.

Sumati slowly got to her feet. She gazed up towards the sun, barely making out the tree top outlines as she awaited guidance, "Take Freya and go. Kumiko is safe. I do not smell blood in the air yet but I do smell rain. I feel the electricity in the air. A horrible storm is coming and the raven shall take flight soon."

"A raven!?" Castor gasped as visions of Hafsa from his nightmare returned to his heard. "Hafsa..." he whispered to himself.

She snapped her head towards his direction. Her blank stare seemed to see direction into his soul, "What name did you speak?"

"Hafsa," he replied.

Sumati's lower lip trembled, "Hafsa, the Soul Collector? Why do you speak of the legend of the Divine's messenger?"

"I had a nightmare," he shifted his weight. "In this nightmare, I saw three deer and a raven in a dark field."

"The Judge, Tartarus, and Nirvana...They appeared before you in a dream?" her voice now shook.

"Yes."

She collapsed to the ground as she let out a horrible scream, "Why! Oh why forsaken our family, Divine!?"

"Mother!" Castor leaped towards her side. There he laid beside her, lifting her head off the ground with his. "Mother! What does that dream mean? Tell me!"

"Tis not a dream...Tis not a nightmare...Tis a reading of the future," her breaths grew short and sharp. "The Divine only appear when one is about to face one's darkest hour. Tell me, Castor, what did they say?"

Castor took a second to think, "I don't remember it all. All I remember is them talking about the hourglass' sand running low and that blood would be shed soon."

Sumati closed her eyes once again as she leaned heavily against her sturdy son, "What have we done to deserve such a curse? First my beloved was taken from me and now my granddaughter or worse...Castor, there is not much time. Kumiko is safe for now but much longer. Evil lurks in the shadows and shadows are formed when the sun is shallowed. You must find her!"

"What about you, Mother? I cannot leave you here in this condition alone. I'll have Freya or Serenity stay with you." Castor stood slowly to ensure that he did not harm Sumati.

She laid on the ground, yelling at Castor, "There is no time and I shall be alright. The Divine appeared to you, not me. Now go, my son! Take your wife and sister and find your daughter!"

With her words, Castor turned and dashed off towards Serenity and Freya. If time was as short as Sumati had said, then he feared that they may already be too late.

"Constant!" Maia shouted on top of her lungs as she stood on rocks overlooking the forest. She searched the among the trees and bushes for his light tan-spotted pelt. "Constant! Where are you?" Tears flooded her eyes as she tried to cope with him disappearing once again. "Constant, come home now!"

Silvanus watched her from below. He shook his head in disgust, "He is probably with that filthy fawn."

Maia looked down at him confused, "You mean Kumiko? Castor and Serenity's fawn?"

"How dare you call that weakling by a name!?" he snorted while stomping the ground, grinding his teeth after he spoke.

"She happens to be a very friendly fawn," Maia argued back. "She may tend to get Constant into trouble but he likes her. I think he has developed his first love."

"Love is nothing but a distraction. It prevents one from doing their rightful duties!"

Maia gasped, "That is not true! Because if it was, then why you would have chosen me?"

He chuckled evilly, "Foolish doe, I did not chose you. You have made yourself believe that I did. The only reason why I moved in with you and that fawn of yours was because I am new to this area. I had no place to stay and you were lost without a husband. So you allowed any stag you could find to be with you. You are nothing but a lost soul trapped in a body. You have no value and are worthless to me." He turned away from her and started to walk away.

She stood stunned by his comments. Her eyes burned more as more tears came as visions from when he saw Serenity replayed in her head, "But then why did you look at Serenity the way you did?!" she called out to him.

He stopped and spoke without looking at her, "She was the daughter of herd leader. I would have gained power from having her as my mate. That would have been worth it." Glancing back, rage filled his eyes, "But she let love get in her away. She threw away both of our chances at power for that stray stag, then had a fawn with him. She is worthless now, just like you."

Silvanus continued onward, leaving Maia alone upon her lookout point. He took his time wandering the forest as he began to think. He figured that it would not be hard to trick Maia into letting him live with her a bit longer until he found another doe willing to open her home to him. Although his thoughts were clouded and interrupted with anger. He could not stop thinking about Serenity's life with Castor.

"You hate them, don't you?" a voice echoed from no where.

Silvanus stopped in his tracks. He looked around and saw no one near him, "Who is there? I demand you show yourself!"

A figure seemed to grow from the shadows. A deer with a black pelt now stood before him. Wading candles cluttered the stag's antlers. His red eyes were fixed on Silvanus who had now lowered his head, putting his large antlers between himself and the unknown stag.

"You want to make them pay, don't you? I sense it within you, stag, much anger and hate. You crave vengeance," the black stag whispered to him with an evil grin upon his lips.

Silvanus listened carefully now. He raised his head and tilted it, "I do not know who you are...Or why you say the things you say..."

"Do not be a fool, Silvanus, you know who I am. You know what I speak of. You cannot stand the thought of Castor taking what should have been yours and you want him to know that he cannot cross you."

Thunder rolled in the distance as the forest slowly grew darker. Silvanus looked up to the sky to watch as dark clouds blocked out the sun. He looked at the stag once again, "You know much about the pain I carry. Tell me, dark stag, what shall I do?"

The black stag tilted his head towards some low branches. He let a leaf catch fire from one of the candles. The tiny leaf crumbled as the flame engulfed it, "See how it burns? Imagine that but on a larger scale..."

He looked over to his left and stared. Silvanus followed his gaze and saw a fire pit sitting in the middle of a human camp fire. The flames danced in the wind, tempting Silvanus. He and the stag locked eyes as the stag spoke one last time, "You know what you can do."