The coliseum stood frozen.<\/p>\n
No cheers.<\/p>\n
No shouting.<\/p>\n
Only silence.<\/p>\n
Dust drifted through golden sunlight as thousands stared into the arena below.<\/p>\n
The giant iron bull remained perfectly still.<\/p>\n
Steam no longer burst violently from its nostrils.<\/p>\n
Its glowing yellow eye flickered softly now.<\/p>\n
Watching the boy.<\/p>\n
Waiting.<\/p>\n
The little boy stood inches away.<\/p>\n
Small hand slowly rising.<\/p>\n
Unshaken.<\/p>\n
Fearless.<\/p>\n
Far above\u2014<\/p>\n
the queen gripped the stone railing hard enough to hurt.<\/p>\n
Her breathing uneven.<\/p>\n
Eyes wide with disbelief.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Her voice barely came out.<\/p>\n
The king turned sharply toward her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
But she couldn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n
Because she remembered.<\/p>\n
Twenty years ago\u2014<\/p>\n
before the prince vanished\u2014<\/p>\n
there had only been one creature he trusted.<\/p>\n
One creature that followed him everywhere.<\/p>\n
The royal guardian.<\/p>\n
Forged from iron.<\/p>\n
Built for war.<\/p>\n
Yet somehow\u2014<\/p>\n
gentle with only one child.<\/p>\n
The same iron bull standing below.<\/p>\n
The same creature everyone believed had gone mad after the prince disappeared.<\/p>\n
The queen looked down again.<\/p>\n
Heart breaking.<\/p>\n
Because the boy moved exactly the same way.<\/p>\n
The same quiet calm.<\/p>\n
The same soft eyes.<\/p>\n
Impossible.<\/p>\n
The little boy stepped closer.<\/p>\n
Slowly pressed one tiny hand against cold iron.<\/p>\n
The crowd gasped.<\/p>\n
The bull lowered its giant head.<\/p>\n
Careful.<\/p>\n
Gentle.<\/p>\n
Like it feared hurting him.<\/p>\n
Then suddenly\u2014<\/p>\n
a sound echoed across the arena.<\/p>\n
A deep mechanical rumble.<\/p>\n
The iron beast slowly bent one knee.<\/p>\n
Then the other.<\/p>\n
Kneeling.<\/p>\n
Before the boy.<\/p>\n
The entire coliseum erupted into shocked whispers.<\/p>\n
Soldiers lowered shields.<\/p>\n
People stood from their seats.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is happening?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat thing kills everything!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
An old general near the royal platform stepped backward.<\/p>\n
Face pale.<\/p>\n
He had served the kingdom long enough to remember.<\/p>\n
Only one person in history\u2014<\/p>\n
one bloodline\u2014<\/p>\n
could command the guardian.<\/p>\n
The queen\u2019s hand trembled violently.<\/p>\n
Tears filling her eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy son\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
The boy looked up slowly.<\/p>\n
Confused.<\/p>\n
Like he didn\u2019t understand why everyone suddenly looked terrified.<\/p>\n
Then\u2014<\/p>\n
the iron bull made a sound no one had heard in twenty years.<\/p>\n
Not a roar.<\/p>\n
Not rage.<\/p>\n
A low metallic hum.<\/p>\n
Soft.<\/p>\n
Protective.<\/p>\n
Like recognition.<\/p>\n
The boy smiled faintly.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou missed me too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Suddenly\u2014<\/p>\n
a voice thundered across the arena.<\/p>\n
\u201cKill the child!\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence shattered instantly.<\/p>\n
The crowd turned.<\/p>\n
Standing near the emperor\u2019s throne\u2014<\/p>\n
a royal advisor stepped forward.<\/p>\n
Cold eyes.<\/p>\n
Panicked expression.<\/p>\n
Too panicked.<\/p>\n
Soldiers hesitated.<\/p>\n
Confused.<\/p>\n
The queen turned sharply.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you doing?!\u201d<\/p>\n
The advisor\u2019s voice cracked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t understand!\u201d<\/p>\n
He pointed violently toward the boy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf he remembers everything\u2014we\u2019re all dead!\u201d<\/p>\n
The king slowly stood.<\/p>\n
Face darkening.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you talking about?\u201d<\/p>\n
But the advisor had already drawn a hidden dagger.<\/p>\n
Eyes desperate now.<\/p>\n
Because twenty years ago\u2014<\/p>\n
someone inside the palace betrayed the royal family.<\/p>\n
And the missing prince\u2026<\/p>\n
was never supposed to survive.<\/p>\n
The iron bull suddenly stood.<\/p>\n
Its glowing eyes turning bright red.<\/p>\n
Locked.<\/p>\n
On him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The coliseum stood frozen. No cheers. No shouting. Only silence. Dust drifted through golden sunlight as thousands stared into the arena below. The giant iron bull remained perfectly still. Steam no longer burst violently from its nostrils. Its glowing yellow eye flickered softly now. Watching the boy. Waiting. The little boy stood inches away. Small […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3460\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}