Lucy Caldwell suffered a disaster in her childhood - her house was burnt, which turned fatal for her parents. She grew up in a children's house with other orphans. She could never forget the fire incident and was sure her parents were murdered, so she wished to investigate the case when she grew old enough. Lucy, like all the other children, frequents a Spirit School, where children are taught to control their inner spiritual energy. When they reach 15 years of age, they befriend spirits that reside in the vast Spirit Forest in East Land and receive the Bond Item - an object from the spirits which permits to summon them whenever in need. Each person is able to form a bond with a single spirit. However, there are certain spirits that never approach humans, are known as man-eaters and have marked severe borders on their territory, eating anyone who trespasses on them. Such is the clan of the tailed foxes - the Huli. Lucy has already reached 15 years, so she goes to the Spirit Forest with her classmates to befriend a spirit and bond with them. However, while sitting around a bonfire and listening to her classmates' scary stories, she remembers the dreadful day of how her house caught fire in past, and, worked-up, runs off into the depths of the forest to cry off her anguish. But as elders often say, dense forests are definitely not a place for little children to run around, for the danger lies in every corner, as Lucy soon comes to realise...

The Guardian Spirit (The Guardians of Nine Heavens, Book 2)

In the evergreen Spirit Forest of ancient times, there was a field full of holes dug into the ground. In these big holes was located the Kingdom of Bunny Spirits, or, as they more referred to themselves, the Usagi Kingdom. In this kingdom, there lived both high-class and lower-class rabbit spirits. One of the most powerful high-class clans was the De Lapin, the royal clan of the Usagi. Another strong clan was the Kaninchen. 


There were times when the Usagi Kingdom prospered, but as with every kingdom, it also had its time of downfall – it happened when the clan of tailless foxes, the Fox, attacked. The king of the Usagi, Guillaume De Lapin, bade farewell to his beloved family – his wife Queen Matilda, and a young princess of around a hundred years, Lutecia: 


“I am going. I need to protect my people.” 


“Please, do not die!” Matilda sniffed, with her nose twitching. 


“Papa!” Lutecia, still a child, was crying. 


“Aww, do not grieve, my little ones!” Guillaume hugged them both, with no less sorrow. “I shall return. I promise.” 


He kissed his wife on the lips, his child on the head, and left the palace together with his rabbit troops, followed also by his main advisor, Feuer von Kaninchen. 


Months passed. Few troops returned and announced their loss of the fight, but the far graver news was to follow – the king had died in battle. Poor Queen Matilda cried and sobbed for days, and fell ill from so much worry and sadness. Little Lutecia wept together with her mother. They mourned the king in the whole kingdom. 


But the kingdom needed a new king, for the ill queen was unable to take the lead. So, she soon married the first man after the king – Feuer von Kaninchen, the late king’s grand vizier. Little Lutecia never liked this gloomy redhead old man who always claimed that her father the king never had time for ‘senseless’ games with the princess and kept him forever busy. Now, when her father had died and this man was to take his post, she grew displeased. The far more unpleasant fact was that this once old widower’s only daughter, Gretchen, who was a little older than Lutecia and thus always tried to bully her whenever she had a chance, got to become her very own elder sister. She would have even more chances to play on her nerves now! Her worries grew because of her mother’s illness too – Queen Matilda’s condition was getting worse and worse each day. 


Once, the ill queen, who was stuck to her bed, called for her little daughter. When Lutecia entered and closed the door behind her, the kind bunny queen gave her a faint smile: 


Lutecia walked up to her mother and sat on the edge of her bed. 


“Lulu, darling, my days are drawing near.” 


“Huh? No!” the child grabbed her hand, “You can’t, mommy! You can’t leave me!” Tears filled her eyes. 


“I... I am sorry, dear...” Tears streamed down the queen’s cheeks too, “It is the law of nature – mothers leave before children.” 


“Just remember, my dear – both your father and I will join the core of nature, and watch you from there. You shall be alright, you’ll see. Just remember...” she coughed, and then uttered with a grave tone: “Beware foxes, Lulu, and you’ll be fine.” 


Lutecia heard her mother wheeze and then felt the woman’s hand grow heavier. She gasped and looked at Matilda – she had closed her eyes and seemed to be going pale. 


“No! Mommy! Mommy!” she began shaking her, but the woman didn’t reopen her eyes, for she was no more. 


The orphaned princess’ sobs and whimpers sounded throughout the chamber. From then on, the final words of her mother got deeply stuck in her heart and mind: 


“Beware foxes, and you’ll be fine.”


Chapter 25: The Orphaned Princess