Arion, the winged horse, is galloping like the wind while crossing the Glade of Ahilar. On his back - it was a 22 years old Fenrir, who is struggling with all his force to keep his balance, having no reins to hold in his hands and control that mad horse.

„You are playing dirty, Arion,” Fenrir hissed through his teeth, but he right away has been thrown off the horse’s back, which stood up on the hind legs and forced the young man to roll a few meters on the ground, in the same direction where they were heading at that moment. Soon after, Arion took his human shape, stopped in place, with his arms crossed over his chest and yawning.

Staying on all four, Fenrir snarled at Arion who changed his position, with his hands at his back at that moment and staring at the young man. Yet, the sweet yawn on his face was still visible. But what was really impressive to the protector of Life on Earth was that he didn’t change at all in all those years: the same bright green seen mirrored in his eyes, the same white and long hair, and the same soft skin. Not the same happened to the boy-wolf who turned to be a real man – handsome, tall, manful, with olive skin and dark eyes. His long hair, up to shoulders and tied back had still traces of curls in it, curls that Fenrir tried to hide all the time because what he hated the most, being a teenager, was to feel Samaya and Bestla’s hands playing with his hair and teasing him, for they really loved to make fun of his curled hair, calling him a pretty poodle and they not only teased him, but they also managed to tangle that hair so bad that it was taking forever to him to comb it and to turn it back to its normal shape.

„And you still didn’t learn anything, Fenrir. 13 years of practice, but I still can easily throw you off my back.”

„It has been because I’ve been inattentive. That’s all,” the young man stuttered and stood up, staring at his teacher. „And you… you could have mercy on me. Eventually, I’m only a wolf and I love to stay on all four and not ride on someone’s back.”

„And this sounded as if addressed to me. Hmmm, a tease maybe?!” and, in Arion’s hands, two swords appeared.

„Huh, and you are still a delicate soul, Soan. You never want to face a man with your empty hands.”

„Why bother when I can use magic? You are also free to use it. Any time.”

„Ah, I hate when you rub salt in my bloody wounds, Arion. You know very well that I can’t use magic, even if I tried. That’s why you are always using this against me.”

While talking, the two men started to walk in circles, lurking for the perfect opportunity for the other one to make a mistake and take advantage of the rival thus, but none of them was that stupid to allow the other one to go before him.

„Do you still consider it unfair that others use magic against you while you can’t do that?”

„Yeah, it’s exactly what I was thinking of.”

„Well, if you prefer to be this way,” and a sword had been thrown toward Fenrir, who thought that it was an attack and jumped to the side, and the sword passed by him and stabbed on the ground.

Arion slapped his forehead and shook his head reproachfully: „and you still call yourself Dike’s heir. What a shame!” but when he raised his glance and looked in front, he barely managed to avoid the tip of the sword that passed a few millimeters only by his nose and this made him bent on his back, allowing the sword pass over him, hitting the void.

And a sound of drums had been heard when the blade of Fenrir’s sword hit the glass walls of the transparent box that surrounded him so suddenly, and glass shivers had been thrown toward them both. To avoid being hurt, Fenrir rotated on his heels, at 45 degrees. Even so, a broken glass cut his shoulder and a few blood drops fell on the blade, coloring it dark red.

But it wasn’t all that happened: when Fenrir turned to the right, those shivers had been thrown over Arion, who didn’t bother at all to move aside or to protect himself, actually – only the skirts of his coat slowly shook and, stretching his hand a little bit in front, palm facing those broken pieces of glass that were coming toward him, Arion managed to form a small hurricane from them.

„Use your brain!” he gave the order to Fenrir and the young man obeyed: he closed his eyes and entered a parallel world, a void one, surrounded by stuffy air, full of smoke and fire.

But Fenrir didn’t reach that world like a human, but in his black wolf shape whose eyes were definitely burning at that moment and the light of the flames that were coming out of his eyes at that moment made the shade of his fur seem darker than usual. However, the most impressive fact was that his fur didn’t catch fire, but it looked like being made from flames, and, with each breath of the wolf, the flames increased and increased.

And, while shaking his head to chase away the dizziness, a sudden curtain of flames appeared in front of the wolf as if it was preparing to fight against the flames created by Fenrir and, soon, from those flames, Hestia’s body could be seen, cunningly smiling at the wolf: „are you trying to use my power against me, young wolf? Do you think that you have enough courage to take power from me and to use it for your own plans?”

„Why not?” the wolf said, also cunningly smiling. „If I have this in my power, why not use it?! But you are still stubborn to share the power of the fire with me. Why? Are you afraid to be dethroned?”

A loud peel of laughter had been heard around like a strange melody and fire tongues, like waves, headed from Hestia’s palms toward the wolf: „devour him!” she demanded her flames in a shout and those flames turned into wolves’heads in flames and attacked Fenrir.

It was really impressive to watch those two fire beasts fighting, but that fight wasn’t for sure fed by hatred or by rivalry. It was only a kind of game of two friends that finally decided to teach some good manners the other.

Even so, even if that was only a game, a wolf’s head made from flames managed to bite Fenrir’s shoulder, forcing him to withdraw a few steps back… this however made the wolf angry… his fur slowly raised as if being needles, his nails sharpened and scratched the ground, throwing a lot of flaming ashes all over and, then, he threw himself over Hestia, catching her into the trap of his hug, eventually.

Taken by surprise, Hestia tried to release herself from his hug, but the wolf wasn’t that stupid to let her go, for the touch of his body with hers was feeding him with energy and he suddenly started to change: from wolf to human and back and so many times and he even felt dizzy because of the speed of that changing. Then, when he took enough power from the titanide of fire, he remained in the body of the young man and suddenly kissed her, but that kiss wasn’t for sure one born from love, for the touch of their lips allowed the exchange of energy take place under the form of flames that exited Hestia’s mouth and entering the man’s body through his nostrils and mouth and, so soon, on his back, two big black wings appeared, being only tattooed on his back and not in their normal form.

At first, after Fenrir’s lips touched hers, Hestia tried to release herself. But soon, as if moved by a strange inner warmth, she calmed down and touched the man’s head with her fire hand, without hurting him and, passionately kissing him, she closed her eyes.

Her movement instead made Fenrir take a step back… he was definitely confused… for he was sure that Hestia wasn’t interested in any man, no matter his nature. Yet, something changed in her at that moment and he felt the burden of her passion entering deep under his skin.

Hestia finally opened her eyes and looked at him… again cunningly smiling: „now you are ready,” she said, winking and, so soon, she vanished.

„What was that?” Fenrir wondered, but he has been forced to jump to the side, feeling something approaching him… it was Arion’s sword, which led that tornado, made from broken glass, toward Fenrir.

To protect himself, Fenrir answered with fire against Arion’s attack, melting those small pieces of broken glass and heating the Arion’s sword’s handle till was unbearable to touch. Namely, the heat of the metal made Arion throw the sword, for no matter how powerful he wasn’t, he was still vulnerable in front of the fire.

„Now you are definitely ready,” Arion whispered and his voice made Fenrir turn to the real world.

Opening his eyes, Fenrir saw that he was still wearing his clothes, even if his palms were red because of the flames that he touched while touching Hestia’s body.

„This… can’t be real,” Fenrir stuttered, still staring at his red palms.

„Why do you think so? This is exactly what I waited from you right from the beginning: to finally get to use the power of fire, and when you kissed Hestia, you got that power… eventually… after thousands of years.”

„And … couldn’t you tell me this right from the beginning?” Fenrir growled, but Arion happily smiled.

„You had to discover this by yourself. And… why to make your life easier?”

„You know, I hate the fact that my father chose you as my master. Samaya at least has a nice teacher. Me instead… I have you… the worst of all: a horse.”

„Why are you complaining now? You at least can ride,” and Arion laughed with all his heart. Fenrir instead disliked his joke. That’s why he turned his back on Arion and wanted to go. „And… where are you going now?”

„As far from you as possible,” Fenrir murmured and he was definitely upset, even if he didn’t know the real reason for that anger, for Arion didn’t do anything intentionally to make him angry. But even so, he felt that his teacher betrayed him for not revealing to him how he could get that power and he also hated the fact that his first kiss had been with the titanide of fire and not with…

„I heard that Sephir’s crew will pass by here today,” and Arion started to slowly whistle, waiting for his pupil’s answer.

„Are you reading mind recently?” Fenrir teased him, snarling.

„No, of course not. I only… said this, for saying something. If you don’t want to see her, we can…”

„You… old fox,” Fenrir growled again. Then, he turned back, passed in a hurry by Arion, heading toward the river where he knew that Sephir will spend much of her free time there, as she was generally doing all the time she was coming home, for Sephir, as her younger sister Zeal, loved to wash her body in the river, and this gave Fenrir the perfect chance to see her again and to cool the arson of his soul, arson fed by his longing while dreaming of her in silence, while loving her with all his heart, but watching her only from far away.

***

Sephir is the eldest of Boor’s three daughters. She has in her power the control of the wind that moves the heavy rains in the sky and this is tightly related to her character… she’s impulsive, swift to anger, and hates when someone spies on her. And what she loves the most is to bathe her body in the river’s water, at dusk, with the sun of the dusk sweetly kissing her soft skin.

She’s not that tall, with a perfect curbed body, which could simply and forever drive a man crazy, being him a human or a spirit. Even so, none of them could ever conquer her heart, for Sephir hated to be closed inside of a house or to be tied by someone. She preferred freedom and she could fight for having it for a whole eternity. That’s why she always preferred to chase her beaus away than to allow them to approach her.

Even so, she was happy, and if Sephir was happy her blue eyes had a dark shade. But if someone managed to drive her crazy…they became dark brown at first, turning to abyssal black later, and if this happened, it meant that the one who made her angry was really in trouble and the best solution to stay alive was to leg it.

Actually, the first time when Fenrir saw her, he was barely a teenager. And he went then to the river to wash his body that afternoon. But when he was at the edge of the forest, he heard laughs and he thought that Samaya and Bestla were playing in the water. That’s why he decided to scare them. But instead of two 15 years old teenager, he saw a splendid woman, washing her soft, dark olive skin in those waters, poorly illuminated by the dusk’s light and he simply fell for her.

And, seeing her, Fenrir stopped, not knowing what to do. But soon after, the natural instinct of the teenager spurred him to hide behind the trunk of a tree and to keep looking at her, being convinced that she had no idea that she was seen by someone. However, he took that decision only after he saw her completely naked, from behind, and her black long hair stuck on her wet skin, was giving her a special charm that afternoon.

Sephir at first didn’t see him. But things changed when Fenrir, too charmed by her beauty, tried to get closer to her and, being inattentive, he stepped onto a dried branch, and the sound made by the broken branch under the boy’s feet simply drove Sephir crazy.

Still in the water, with her back at him, Sephir looked at him and the wind started to blow harsher than before, gathering purple clouds in a single place in the sky.

„Is there a storm coming?” Fenrir wondered, looking at the sky. But when he looked again at Sephir, he saw two black like pitch eyes, focused on his face, a few centimeters only from him and looking as if she was a mad Pitbull ready to break him into pieces.

„Who are you?” Sephir hissed through her teeth, but the boy was too surprised to see her in front of him to can say something. Even so, even with the death breathing in his nose, he understood that it wasn’t a good idea to stay there. So, he started to crawl back. But with each of his movements back, Sephir was advancing toward him, still with her furious glance on him. „You won’t talk, it seems to me. Well, you don’t give me any other choice than to…”

And, for the first time, Fenrir spotted the hatred sparkling in her black eyes, and the cold drops of rain intensified their rhythm so much that the boy felt the fear sneaking under his skin and, stumbling over an aerial root of a tree, he has been practically forced to lay on his elbows, but even so, he kept crawling back.

„Again, playing dirty, sister,” he heard then Bestla’s voice behind Sephir.

And, hearing her little sister poking again her nose in someone else’s business, Sephir snarled, for what she hated more than being spied on was someone to intervene in her decisions. So, she practically turned from a jerk toward her sister and pierced her with her eyes like lit embers, as if Bestla had been a prey which Sephir wasn’t ready to leave to go.

Bestla instead didn’t scare at all – not even when a thick thunderlight split the sky into two, for she knew that that thunderlight was a force controlled by Sephir’s anger. And, that thunderlight suddenly fell on the crown of a huge tree, splitting it into two perfect parts.

„Did someone ever tell you that you are a real headache, Bestla?” and Sephir headed toward her.

Samaya, who till then had stood hidden behind Bestla, suddenly jerked and approached Fenrir, who stared at them like thunderstruck, spurring him to go away: „come one! Stand up! Let's go from here!” and she started to pull him by his arm, trying to make him react and go away. And, when she finally managed to make her brother stand up, they rushed to hide behind another tree, for both twins knew well the differences between the three sisters and that it wasn’t ever a good idea to intervene when they were arguing.

„Yeah, all the time, and who’s repeating me this every time we are seeing each other, it’s you, Sephir,” Bestla said in mockery, crossing her arms over her chest and staring in a provocative way at Sephir.

„You crossed the line allowed by my kindness, Bestla. A line that actually you shouldn’t have ever crossed,” Sephir mumbled, furious and that wind started to harshly blow.

But Sephir's anger was something that was spurring Bestla to play: that’s why she blew warm air from her mouth, making the gusts of that mad wind calm down, and even the trees whispered with pleasure, for that warm breeze was something they liked.

Sephir instead wasn’t ready to give up. So, she squeezed her fists, making the wind blow even harsher. Seconds later instead, after Bestla sweetly yawned, the wind calmed down again.

And that kind of „fight” between sisters could last for long if someone wasn’t bringing it to an end, and the one who was generally the arbitrator between the two sisters, was Zeal, the second sister, who suddenly appeared between those two, that day too, slowly floating in the air, sitting crossed-leg on a big lotus flower and, reproachfully shaking her head, she scolded them for awakening from her sweet sleep: „again fighting! What this time?”

„None of your business, Zeal,” Sephir murmured upset. „This is an insult brought to me and they must pay for this.”

The part with „they must pay,” as usual, was something that Zeal let pass by her ears. Instead, she heard that „insult,” and she understood that it must be something „seasoned” for Sephir was wearing only a light cloak on her and, what can be more interested than a story with a love perfume, that was as always born next to her elder sister. „Don’t tell me, have things become hot?”

Sephir pierced her with her furious glance. „Hot? What the hell are you talking about?”

„That another man dared to spy on you while you were washing your body in the river. And… I am right, I can see it in your eyes that are black because of anger… but, I don’t understand why are you so upset – with such a lethal body you have, which can simply kill someone by watching it only, you should be happy with the admires you have,” and Zeal was really envious that time, for Sephir managed strike even a teenager's attention while Zeal’s chubby body wasn’t their favorite. At least this was what she was thinking.

Unlike her sisters, blessed with curb, but skinny bodies, Zeal was chubby enough, with long blonde and curled hair, and her blue as the clear sky eyes could simply drive someone crazy by only watching them. Actually, that clear blue was a perfect reflection of her power, for she was the product of Boor’s union with Zayleea, the titanide of the limitless sky, and this gave Zeal the power of controlling the warm currents of air and to also calm nature down after Sephir’s madness was gone.

„You and your stupid jokes, Zeal,” murmured Sephir upset and she intended to turn to the river to finish her bath. But she had been forced to stop when 7 white lotus flowers surrounded her, catching her like in a trap, and Sephir couldn’t take any other step in front: those „chains” were the product of Zeal’s power, for she simply adored to play with Sephir like this, who actually hated those lotus flowers for taking power from her and it was also making her heart pulsate each time she was a captive of their trap, as if she was longing for someone, even if she didn’t know who she was missing. „Release me, Zeal! Right now!” shouted Sephir. „You know that I hate such tricks. Don’t make me even more furious than I am.”

Zeal only shrugged and, in a second, she completely denuded Sephir’s body. „Ups,” she murmured, at all bothered by Sephir’s killing glance. After that, she clapped twice and vanished as quickly as she appeared.

„Well, sister, I think you’ll be busy for a while. So, as I don’t consider it funny just to stay and watch you, I’ll better withdraw,” Bestla whispered in mockery. Then, she turned her back on her elder sister and headed toward the river.

Samaya, who was still with Fenrir behind that trunk, covered the boy’s eyes with her palm, for he was staring at Sephir’s naked body like an idiot. Then, Samaya used the power she discovered that day and she surrounded the place where they were with tall green bushes. After that, she took her palm off Fenrir’s eyes, but seeing him still staring like a perfect idiot in front, she slapped the back of his head, to punish him.

„Aaa,” murmured the boy, touching his head, for he felt well Samaya’s slap. „Why did you slap me?”

„And you… why did you spy on Sephir?” and what was seen in Samaya’s glance at that moment wasn’t for sure love for her brother.

„Well…,” Fenrir scratched the back of his head, trying to bluff it out, pretending not to remember why. But he right away crawled back, intending to „escape,” knowing very well that those tricks weren’t something that could work with Samaya. And it was so, for she right away grabbed him by the arm and squeezed it hard, trying to make him understand that if he moves a single millimeter more, then… his life was definitely over.

„The last warning, Fenrir: stay away from her, or I swear that I pore your eyes out,” Samaya threatened him and pierced him with her furious glance. And she did this for she knew really well what the boy felt for Sephir and because she couldn’t allow him to come there every time Sephir was around, because that place was their favorite place to bathe in the river and, with him there, it wasn’t anymore a safe place for them.

***

A silken dress slightly fell down, covering Sephir’s body and hiding her nakedness, and that slight touch calmed her down, and, looking to her left, she saw Gaea by her, kindly smiling at her.

„You shouldn't get angry for such small things, Sephir. This is a natural law for a woman’s body to be admired by a man.”

„By a man, not by a kid,” Sephir murmured upset.

„A kid that will be a man someday, and you also don’t know where the wind blows from and what it can bring to you,” and Gaea made that trap of lotus flowers vanish, entering her palm, and when she turned her palm, facing the ground, a small brook came out of it, and, on the brook’s water, Sephir could see those 7 lotus flowers.

Sephir deeply looked then into Gaea’s kind eyes, and this gave some comfort to the young woman, making her feel protected and a kind of warm current sneaked inside of her body and took soon over her heart. „And I still think that you’re wrong, Mother Earth, for I have a stone heart and you know this. You know very well that no man had been never able to break the savage horse of my heart, all these years.”

„Stone instead can be hardened by fire and later broken, just as the savage horses can be domesticated if a good master is there. And that boy seems to have them both: knack and fire in his blood.”

„Fire?” whispered Sephir, covering her body and leaving her black wet hair fall on her back. „Well, we’ll see what can that fire do… if it hardens the stone or the stone extinguishes it in the end.” After this, Sephir hugged herself and vanished, leaving only a slight gust of wind and a few cold raindrops behind her.

Gaea only smiled when she was alone already, staring toward the place where Sephir vanished. But her smile was gone so soon and her glance focused on a bush, seen not that far from her, and, wherefrom, a strange blink of someone’s eyes was also seen… someone else spied on Sephir that day, and those eyes weren’t for sure innocent eyes, but full of devilish desire. Gaea instead knew one more thing that others didn’t know: that someone directed Fenrir’s footsteps to the Rivershore that day and that that person was Mother Earth.