El had a bad feeling. She suddenly lost connection to Terra Solitudinis. A lecture about second language acquisition was entertaining; especially the part about early childhood bilingualism, but this bad feeling wouldn’t let the witch enjoy the subject. She pretended to feel sick and left. When the redhead stepped out of the portal, her heart started to beat wildly.

The glade in front of her house was covered in blood, pieces of flesh, and dead bodies of disgusting creatures. El hurried up to the house. She entered the hall. Some noise from the top of the stairs attracted her attention. The woman raised her eyes and saw Nick, Sam, and Ada sitting close to each other on the floor upstairs. The kids were scared to death.

- Are you okay? Is anybody injured? –asked the necromancer.

The kids nodded negatively.

- What has happened here? – El asked again.

- HE – almost silently replied Nick and pointed to the side of the dining room.

The black-haired man was sitting on the table with his legs elegantly crossed. He was observing the position of the pieces on the chessboard. As the witch went in, he removed a long strand of black wavy hair from his face and raised his eyes to El.

- So, you decided to sacrifice your bishop, pixy? – Deas grabbed the black queen with his long sharp nails and kicked the white bishop away from the board with it.

- Yes. And now you endangered your queen, D. – the witch said kindly.

- You have some parasites in here… - continued The Monster above all monsters emotionlessly.

- Thanks for dealing with them.

- Well, three are still hiding from me upstairs.

- Oh, those are the legitimate parasites.

Deas finally showed some emotions. He was clearly surprised.

- So…How much did you scare them? – El asked carefully.

- Did I? – the man’s face turned completely emotionless again.

The redhead rubbed her forehead and returned to the hall. The kids were still sitting upstairs, tensely looking down. All three were too scared to move, too scared to breathe even.

- Okay, my friends, you can go down now. Everything is fine, even if it doesn’t seem so. – the witch said calmly.

- But… – started Ada.

- HE is absolutely – El looked outside from the open door – almost harmless.

- How? – asked the little witch back.

- Long story. God, why all my stories are so long... – the necromancer sighed – Now come down, don’t make me go upstairs.

The woman returned to the dining room and bent over the table. The black queen was in a trap. Every move of that piece would lead to its death. El moved her white knight.

- Check – El stated.

- Don’t hurry way too much; I still have plenty of ways out. – Deas replied.

The kids carefully looked inside the room. All three still hesitated to enter. The black-haired man moved his eyes to them.

- So how do you call them? Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner? – he asked.

- Athos, Porthos, and Aramis was better… - mumbled Sam.

- He is just joking – explained El rolling her eyes – his sense of humour is as bad as his medieval sense of style.

The man seemed to be slightly insulted by this comment.

- D, go clean my yard please! – commanded the witch – and I will make some tea.

The kids carefully entered the room only after The Monster above all monsters left the house. The boys were still shocked, Ada, however, seemed to be more furious than scared.

- How could you? HE is a monster! – she almost screamed at El.

- It’s very comfortable to forget, that he’s saved your lives shortly before, right? – the older witch gave the girl a reproachful glance.

- That doesn’t matter! – continued Ada.

- Oh really? That’s hypocritical, don’t you think?

The boys could see from the window how Deas heaped the ugly bodies of monsters. The young man carried around those giant, heavy piles of flesh as if they weighed not more than a feather. His face still didn’t show any emotions.

- The fact that HE hasn’t killed us yet doesn’t change anything! He has already killed enough! – the little girl was still raging.

- My friend – El lowered her face to Ada and looked her straight in the eyes – we all aren’t saint. But I must tell you, the sinners, that surround you now, are much more harmless than those you have at home.

- What do you mean? – Ada wasn’t just angry now, she felt deeply insulted.

- Do you know anything about the history of Terra Terrorem before it had become Terrorem? – the redhead replied.

The little witch remained silent. She was born ages after Deas had come to power at that dimension. So much time had passed since that day. Most people had already forgotten that there was a time when Terra Terrorem used to be called Terra Copia.

D set the dead bodies on fire outside. All four turned their heads to the window to see that huge flame.

- Where do you know this man from? – asked Nick.

- I came to him myself seven years ago. I needed a teacher of necromancer magic. – El replied thoughtfully.

- Isn’t he evil, though? – Sam looked at his nanny rather surprised.

- Relatively, my friend. Everything in this world is relative. You will understand this as you grow up. Between good and bad there is a whole spectrum of all possible shades.

- HE is not between! HE is dangerous! – Ada kept insisting – Do you seriously believe HE won’t harm you?

-Well. I believed him once years ago and he has never betrayed my trust ever since.

-Yet! –huffed the small girl.

- I can take this risk. – stated El.

- Why is he here? – asked Nick.

- I need his help. I want to find out, who actually created those monsters.

-Who? HE did! – screamed Ada again.

- I beg your pardon; do you mean those abominations of dark magic? – Deas suddenly entered the room.

- Right, D. We know: you would have done better. – laughed El.

- I have done better! I never create senseless pain only for pain!

The tea was ready meanwhile. The tall man put some porcelain cups on the table and set them down. It was obvious; he knew this place quite well. In fact, he took part in building this place.

The kids didn’t dare to come closer to the table. Nevertheless, the twins had heard about Deas Dalias much less than Ada and were significantly less scared.

- So, you believe: it wasn’t him, who has attacked Terras recently? – Sam gazed at the redhead.

D gave him a cold glance.

-They are not very smart, right?

- I believe still smarter than the council. – El shrugged.

- That can’t be true! I want to go home! – protested Ada.

The boys weren’t that much scared anymore, but in solidarity with their friend, they preferred to leave.

- I do hope you three are smarter than the council, don’t make me regret training you. – the witch said seriously before opening portals for the kids.

After the trio, left D and El remained silent for few moments. The witch chuckled. She remembered the first time she met Deas. He caught her stealing books from the library of his castle at Terra Terrorem. The Monster above all monsters swung a heavy metal chain and it wrapped itself around El’s arm. She grabbed the chain with another hand and used “Fulgur Percusserit” spell. D didn’t expect to get such a powerful electric shock. She was so proud of herself back then.

- And still…You saved them. You saved her, knowing who she is. – said the redhead and took her place at the table.

Deas clenched his hand. When he opened it, a small golden coin appeared on his palm. The man looked at the coin closely.

- D, are you getting sentimental? – smiled El.

- No, pixy. Never. – he said clenching his hand again – By the way, Checkmate for you.