Hiro's discovery of the ancient order of tamers weighed heavily on his mind as the days passed. The village had returned to its usual quiet routine, but beneath the surface, Hiro knew that something darker was at play. Whoever had sent the assassins was still out there, watching and waiting.
The mention of a lost order, one that had once wielded the same power he now possessed, was a revelation. He could feel it in his bones: the tamers of old were connected to him. Perhaps they had faced the same opposition from the gods that he did now. But if they had vanished from history, then what had become of them?
"Do you think the gods erased them?" Lina asked one evening as they sat by a fire at the edge of the forest, the flames flickering against the backdrop of the trees.
Hiro gazed into the fire, his wolf resting beside him, and his mind lost in thought. "It wouldn't surprise me," he said. "The gods fear anything they can't control. That's why they came after me before. They see taming as a threat because it's a power they don't understand. And if this ancient order had mastered it…"
Lina nodded, her expression serious. She had grown stronger in the past weeks, her bond with the stag deepening with each lesson. She had even begun to tame a second creature, a hawk that now perched on her shoulder, its sharp eyes scanning the horizon.
"What happened to them, then?" she asked quietly. "Why did the tamers disappear?"
Hiro shook his head. "I don't know. But I'm going to find out."