The beauty of the places that surround Tenebre’s forest is full of mysteries and it can be observed not only into the black waters, which flow slowly and quickly down the valley, washing till a shining white the sharp edges of the stones, but also in the secular trees, which are on guard at the entrances and the exits from the forest, but even their fairy-like being, which always inspires calmness and trust, can transform its shape in seconds, becoming wild and scary.

But this change never scared the People of Siar, who chose precisely this forest as their hidden den, because of the fear sent by the changing trees, which kept the “intruders” always far away from their homes, but what they never knew or they never wanted to know was the fact that they were those who closed themselves in this green dungeon, guarded by the evil of which they always have tried to run away and to hide.

However, people of Siar never saw nothing weird around, because the eye of their mind was blind, covered by a white peel, similar to the peel that covers Yātrīkar’s eyes, because the offshoot of Curse, even if he was relieved of the suffering of searching forever for new victims for the army of evil, as the devilish virgins, they also had on their shoulders the burden of past times and of harden times that were about to come and it could be seen in the alluring blow of wind, that was playing with the hair of the trees, trembling their leaves, in the chaotically flow of Maranam River, in the terrifying breath of the woods, that was felt by everyone who was living or passing through the woods, like blades that cut your flesh till the bones and if the night was catching your footsteps wandering on those places, was even worse, because you could hear and see the ghosts of dead souls, but it was only a product of your imagination, because the woods had in their being a kind of bond with one’s soul, sending to each of them a strange message, when it was revealing their hidden fears of which they were trying to run away, awakening the bad thoughts in their head and making the poor man, caught in trouble, shudder, because it was the only way in which nature was protecting itself.

And this wasn’t because an evil soul was ruling over the forest, but because the woods saw in this world a threat, an evil being, which was lurking on it, trying to subdue the forest, but the woods never wanted to be submissive: the trees, the moss, the wild animals and everything around it was full of magic and freedom and it couldn’t accept to be destroyed or kneeled by the humans or by the evil thoughts sent on Earth from Māṉsṭar Kēlaksi and though, the heart of woods, hardened till the point that it couldn't distinguish anymore between good and bad people, made it lose so many chances to see what nature loves the most: the birth and the union of people, what were symbols of nature – fertility and continuity.

But the time was passing and the rumors multiplied, and the Lady and Master of that forest became Tenebre, but not only because she wanted it, but because the forest accepted her as being its Queen, because it saw in her its salvation, even if she was evil and this gave to the woods a little bit of hope for a better future, while Tenebre could be free and dance on those lands, as if it was hers, since the beginning of the world.

Thus, Tenebre took control of everything: she toughened the breath of wind, the look of the trees, because eyes could appear out of nowhere on their bark at any time, sending around a kind of wave of concern and this way, step by step, the forest was waking up to life: the beasts, till then silent, showed up from nowhere in front of the traveler, hungry and thirsty of blood and the one who became their victim couldn’t escape anymore and that path he took through the forest, was the last one on which he stepped in life.

That’s why the Forest of Tenebre was considered the most dangerous and wild of all the forests of the world, because the man's footsteps weren't seen around, for many centuries, and because of this, the paths were covered by bushes, grown in disorder, while sharp stones could be seen everywhere and their edge was sometimes deadly, because it was hidden from human’s sight, under dead leaves, bushes, and moss, and it could transform quickly into a trap.

And there were two kinds of traps in those places. The first one was created because of the gnarled corner of the stones, of which the traveler could easily trip on and, going to the ram, slipping on the stones, as if it would have been sharp blades of knives, he was reaching, in the end, a final destination and when he was trying to stand up, lamenting his damn fate, he could saw himself surrounded by the second trap and this one was a real danger, because when he was looking carefully around, he could see the Vanamar wolves, showing their fangs, because they had been called here not because of the yell, but because of the scent of blood.

Once, those beasts were the beloved children of forests, because they were never killing for pleasure, but because they were saving the nature of its weak ring when they were killing sick animals, but after they had been enchanted by Yātrīkar, they had completely transformed into predators, who could easily smell the scent of blood from miles away and the one hurt couldn’t escape anymore, even if he would have climbed on a very tall tree, because Vanamar were unique wolves: their eyes, covered by a white peel, as the one seen on Yātrīkar’s eyes, could see everywhere, even in the night, right through the thickets of the forest, because they had in their power the ability to see their victim hidden behind the thick greenery and the one climbed on the branch was kept in place, frozen of fear and lacking power, and this way he was a sure victim as if he was served on fine porcelain, as the cookies are served.

Thus, the fangs of the beasts were grinning in delight, sometimes showing to their victim, dried stains of blood on them and it was freezing the prey’s heart and he was just waiting for his end, there, in the height of the tree, because Vanamar were special: they could enjoy their meal wherever, even standing upside down in the trees, like the bats.

But their most impressive characteristic, known in time only by Siar People, was the fact that Vanamar never roamed the surroundings alone. In groups of at least three or four individuals, the wolves were roaming the forest looking for a prey, but they were never hunting because of hunger, but only because of the smell of blood, because they were moved by an inner wild instinct, as old as the world because it was formed in the animals’ souls at the beginnings when they were trying to know this earth and to use to live on it and they didn’t know what hunger means.

However, they started to distinguish their instincts, after the fall of the first victim from a height and the fresh smell of blood first brought closer the hyenas, but they had been chased away by the wolves and the wolves by the lions and so on, till from the poor dead man wasn’t left any dust of bones on earth.

“I feel the stinky smell of Vanamar wolves,” Yellen slowly whispered, while their group was advancing on a narrow path, full of dangers and stones, hidden all over, but her whisper didn't receive an answer, because Samaya, who walked only one step behind her, was too focused to lurk the thickets, feeling deep inside her the danger, which was approaching them, because with each step they were taking in front, she could see here and there, between two tree trunks or exiting from the bushes, blinking in the darkness, the eyes of the beasts.

“Here I must agree with you,” finally said Bestla, who listened to Yellen’s words and made her way through the others till she got behind Samaya, who was in front of the group with Yellen, leading the procession. “Samaya, look on the left,” whispered Bestla into the girl’s ear and Samaya turned her head left and she could see, at a crossroad of bushes, a pack of 5 Vanamar.

“The wolves!” Samaya whispered feverishly.

“You shouldn’t be scared of them,” said Bestla, taking out of her quiver of arrows, a kind of small and sharp blade, similar in form with the edge of the arrow, but in size with a piece of darts and playing with it between her fingers, she got prepared for the attack. “In the long run, you are a wolf too, and they are nothing more than wolves. As their future queen, you should know how to make them submissive.”

“Those aren’t normal wolves,” whispered again Yellen and, stopping in place, she waited till Bestla arrived next to her and she forced the girl to look the same direction as Samaya did so Bestla could see the sharp and scary fangs of Vanamar, who were standing in place, along the path and waiting for something, but the girls didn’t know what they were waiting for.

“They are probably hundreds,” said Bestla, when many more wolves approached those 5 Vanamar and she prepared the little arrow to throw it against the Vanamar, but Island’s hand grabbed her little, white hand into his, and forced her to watch him. “Grandpa!”

“Don’t do such things, Bestla, especially in a place you don’t know at all and where you don’t know what to expect from it.”

“But, grandpa, this little arrow is like a boomerang - if it hits the first victim, it continues to spin until the last victim won’t be killed and thus, we will be saved.”

“No,” nodded Island and his white hair slowly moved into the gusts of the wind. “Here, your magic is useless, because Yātrīkar is controlled by a mystical power of Tenebre and as you know, this forest bows only in front of her, while we are the intruders.”

“Then, what should we do, Master Island?” one of the men of Siar told Island, and that man was known as Mago, even if he had no magic flowing in his veins.

“Let’s go into an open place. There Vanamar is weak because they aren’t protected anymore by the dark thick of the forest.”

“But,” continued Mago and his voice had a kind of tremble of fear in it. “The closest field is on the opposite side. There is another one if we move South, but we need almost two days on foot to get there and even if we won’t stop to drink or to rest at all, we don’t know if we make it and to get to a shelter until Vanamar will decide to attack us.”

“They won't attack. Tenebre is waiting for something, but I still don’t know what. Probably between us is somebody who can bring her some benefits and because of this she’s lurking on you” and saying this, Island watch carefully at each face there present, while the People of Siar was wondering about what he is doing and why he is watching at them, but in the end, their human faces didn’t tell him anything.

But things changed when Island looked into Yellen’s eyes and then, his mind whispered in silence the same words Dike said, the first time when he saw the girl: “a blind Yātrīkar here?” but Island kept silent and watched toward Samaya, who was the only one who read his thoughts, but the girl didn’t stay still. She grabbed Yellen’s arm and forced the girl to follow her toward a little stream seen in the distance.

“What are you doing? Where are you taking me?” Yellen tried to resist, but seeing the firmness used by Samaya to drag her behind her, she understood that she should follow her in silence, submissive, descending in a hurry the stairs built in zig-zag, narrow and small, which made the crossing even more difficult than before, because of the wild surroundings.

“Follow them!” Island ordered Bestla and she just nodded slowly and followed the two girls, who were already far away from the group. “We continue on our way,” Island said Mago, who immediately gave the order and his people started to walk into an Indian line, walking at slow, but a sure step, because Vanamar were already closer and closer to them and their breath, stinky and harsh, wasn’t something pleasant to feel behind.

***

Arriving next to the stream of the forest, with green waters, colored by the fallen leaves in a great amount over its surface, Samaya stopped and, watching around, she saw nothing strange, so she turned toward Yellen, looking deeply into her eyes.

“How much do you know about yourself?”

“About me?” asked the young girl, looking confused into Samaya’s eyes. “I think that Nathaniel already told you my story. Besides the fact that I’m not a true daughter of Siar People, as their blood doesn't flow in my veins, I know nothing more and I can’t tell you anything new.”

“But more can tell us your eyes and the seeds of truth, hidden deep into your soul and mind” heard the two girls Bestla’s voice behind them, and, turning slowly toward her, they saw her approaching them in a rush.

“Hidden truth? What is she talking about, Samaya? About what truth…”

“About your parents’ death. When Nathaniel and I were at the Waterfall of Fireflies, I could read in him your memories, and if using you as the source of reading, we can have more power to see everything. I have the feeling that you are hiding inside you, truths that can save us.”

“But I hide nothing,” Yellen tried to defend herself, but she saw in Samaya’s eyes a kind of rigor and she decided not to oppose her proposal anymore. “And, what do you expect to find in me anyway? I don’t think that you will find there more than I can say to you.”

“Our mind is like a hidden jar,” continued Bestla. “One can find inside him images and times lived before, even in another life. Truths which he is guarding inside, but he doesn’t know anything about this, as he can’t find them out by himself.”

“Don’t worry, Yellen. There’s nothing to hide there, but it can save your people or brother” and saying this, Samaya approached the girl and she put her palms on her shoulders, trying to calm her down.

“And … how do you want to do that?” Yellen slowly stuttered and, lowering her glance, she noticed the little fish that were living in the stream, how they were approaching her barefoot legs and their wet and cold lips touched her heels.

“We call this “reflection”,” said Bestla this time and, taking out from his waist a small piece of glass, as if it was a small mirror, with an octagonal form, she threw it toward Yellen.

Catching the piece of glass in her hand, Yellen could see, in amazement, that the little object actually wasn’t from glass, but a kind of molding wood, a little bit “worked” by Bestla’s magic, making it seem as if it was made from glass.

“And this is?”

“Jar!” simply answered Samaya. “It’s the object I saw in my soul when I experimented with the “Reflection” for the first time, with Bestla, when I was 13. He can absorb someone’s thoughts and then reflect it on that mirror wall.”

Looking back, Yellen saw how a huge wall, formed by the green water of the stream, was rising in the air, surrounding them, as if they were at that moment inside of a kind of strange sphere and when the circle was complete, the cubic object of her hand started slowly to illuminate the surroundings.

“It’s starting,” Bestla whispered to Samaya, when both saw how Yellen was staring at the light, that was exiting the wooden cube, and looking as if she had been frozen.

“Yes, it’s started, but I’m still afraid of what we can see there,” whispered Samaya, slowly touching her palm with the tip of her fingers and feeling the cold sweat that was formed like drops on her skin.

“I don’t think that it can be worse than your memories,” tried to joke Bestla, but her joke received a reproachful glance from Samaya and she decided that it was the right moment to keep silent.

But after about a minute and a half of waiting, the girls were completely taken by surprise to see how Yellen’s silhouette slowly started to rise from the ground and the girl transformed into a young Virgin, similar to Yātrīkar and with Bestla at the same time, but her physical characteristics were unique, making her so beautiful.

“How can it be?” Bestla whispered, completely spellbound of what she was seeing in front of her eyes.

“Yellen is a Yātrīkar,” whispered Samaya and stretching her hands in front of her body, palms facing up, she let a sweet breeze of blue air exit from her palms and spinning in a circle, it formed above Samaya’s palms a light sphere, which touched by Bestla’s hand, took a solid form.

Finishing to make the sphere, behind Yellen, on the giant screen, made from green water, Bestla and Samaya saw Yellen’s past: actually, Yellen had been in the past a Spirit of the Woods, who tried to defeat Yātrīkar’s attack on a humans' village, but her power was too little to kneel the evil and she had been killed by the deadly bite of a Vanamar, who sneaked behind her, while she was too focused on the Yātrīkar’s leader, with whom she was fighting, and when her soul exited her body, like a red thread, it at first was wandering around, scared, and looking for a place to hide from the evil and to escape. Then, the wandering soul saw, in the distance, a married couple with a baby in his mother’s arms, trying to escape, and the spirit ran toward there and entered the baby’s body.

However, Yātrīkar wasn’t ready to give up. They followed the couple, with the intention to kill the girl because at that baby girl's neck was hanging a kind of magical loupe, formed from the body of the dead spirit, but when the Yātrīkar had been defeated in the woods, Gaea was who took that loupe from the girl’s neck.

“But … why did grandpa call her Yātrīkar?” whispered Bestla, still confused because of what she saw.

“Because the Spirit that lives in Yellen and the leader of Yātrīkar have the same blood, flowing in their veins. They are both Tenebre’s daughters, but one chose to serve Good, while the other is bowing in front of the Evil, and because of this the hatred in their souls.”

“But, the loupe, which was taken from the girl’s neck, the one who had been swallowed by the Magical Instrument of Gaea, what is that?”

“The Devil’s eye,” slowly whispered Samaya, shaking and that tremble of her body was seen in the blue air too, which was slowly moved by something unseen, while still exiting her palms. “The spirit stole that loupe from Yātrīkar when she had been killed, and when Gaea took the loupe, she took the sight from Yellen”

“And this is the sight Yātrīkar is looking for, her eyes!”

“Yes, that’s right, but they won’t have it never,” whispered once again Samaya and her voice was shaking, because of the irritating nervousness, but she hadn’t time to finish her thoughts, when the green water wall, from behind Yellen, had fallen into thousands of small green pieces and later returned to their womb in the form of water. And who broke the wall was a Vanamar wolf, of big sizes, similar to a three months calf, and he jumped over Yellen because he saw that she was still charmed by the wooden cube and she couldn’t defend herself.

But the wolf couldn’t touch the girl, because moving through space and hugging Yellen, showed up Zeal and in a blink of an eye, the four girls were standing one next to the other, face to face with the wolf.

“Zeal,” whispered surprised Bestla. “How … you here?”

“Let’s say that I have followed this wolf for a long time already. Especially after he dared to enter, with his stinky body, in the waters I love to wash my body in the morning, mumbling it with his stench. Only because of this he deserves to die.”

“Tell that to him,” tried Samaya to provoke Zeal, but both girls noticed, after a few seconds of staring, that they were grinning at each other as if they were looking into the mirror.

“We’ll show the wolf’s fangs later,” yelled Bestla at the two girls, and, passing between them, she threw an arrow toward the wolf, but he grabbed it skillfully between his fangs and broke it right away.

“What did you say about fangs?” whispered Samaya, upset. “Better let me teach him what it means to…”

“Run!” they heard a yell, coming from the upper bank, from where was flowing down the stream and when they looked toward there, the four girls saw Mago, running off something and soon after they saw a pack of 10 Vanamar chasing the man.

“Damn it!” whispered Yellen upset, and she ran first toward that place. “They are never able to do something without someone’s help,” and she continued the reproachful series of thoughts toward the man.

Behind her, Bestla and Samaya stared at her with big eyes, but a “what are we waiting for? An invitation to the party?” coming from Zeal and especially when they felt the stinky breath of the wolf behind them, they started to climb the steep bank in such a hurry that someone could think that they were running on a perfectly made track field and not upward.

But when they were only two steps from the top, the wolf’s fangs grabbed Zeal’s coat and with a precise movement, he threw her down the bank, making her turn upside down and roll toward the stream again. However, he didn’t follow his prey. He was too focused to follow Samaya and Bestla, who had already jumped on the edge of the shore, and quietly they were waiting for him.

But, surprise-surprise, little wolf: something strange was forming behind him and the wolf stopped, sniffing the horizon. And soon after, behind Vanamar, a kind of thick, white fog had formed, exiting from Zeal’s body, while her eyes were throwing toward him fire arrows and she was slowly approaching the wolf.

“Crappy dog,” whispered Zeal madly. “You dared to stab your unwashed teeth in my clothes,” she finally yelled at him and the wolf slowly turned toward her, moving up and down the skin of her snot, showing his fangs.

Face to face, the two seemed to be two beasts completely and irreversibly mad, ready for attack. Zeal, feeling that the fight was about to start, changed completely her body: her hair was now an absolutely sparkling green shade, her skin white as the milk color, the eyes were black like the coal in the fire, while behind her, from the fog which was exiting her body, was formed a kind of oblate cobra neck, whose long and forked tongue was skillfully passing next to her, biting from the cold air, which was surrounding the wolf.

“Kitty, kitty, come to mammy!” she whispered this time alluringly and the wolf, obedient and showing his fangs, jumped over her, but the cobra’s forked tongue bitted deeply from his neck, while her long and thick tail wrapped around his body, squeezing more and more around the dying beast and it didn’t set him free, till the wolf hadn’t been torn in small pieces.

“Now it feels better,” was heard coming out of Zeal’s throat, who was proudly watching her dead enemy and when she raised her glance, she saw how the others and the rest of the Vanamar were spying each other, preparing for the attack.

“What will they do without me,” nodded Zeal reproachfully and, putting two fingers inside her mouth she loudly wheezed and her whistle sounded more like a snake hiss and from all over, exiting from the waters, from the trees’ hollows, from the ground and crawling toward her, the cobras were approaching and their brisk movement made Zeal smile and she whispered happily through her teeth: “now we are all” while her body was twisting upward.

***

Is still quiet around, but this is the calmness before the storm, because the pressure is felt in the beating of the hearts, and everyone’s breath, when slowly, when alert, is heard clearly, while their eyes are spying on each move of the enemy.

“It will be bad enough,” whispered Mago through his teeth, barely heard, and his right foot moved a little bit forward, taking a better attack position, while his eyes were moving from Vanamar, who was right in the middle of the formed circle, face to face with Zeal, toward the other fellows, who were forming the circle. Each of them had in their hands an octagonal wooden cube, and on each face of the cube were seen inlaid stars and only on the part which was facing the wolves was seen Chaos’eye and from that eye, a red, fire thread was exiting, which projected toward Zeal, made the green of her vestment be so brightly.

Zeal was already calm, only on the outside, because the anxiety inside her became more and more stormy with each breath of her, while her eyes were staring in the eyes of a Vanamar, much bigger in size than the others and the only one, whose eyes weren’t covered by the white peel and this meant only one thing: Tenebre was with them in the fight, on the side of the wolves.

Breaking the line, Island took a step in front and throwing the wooden cube upward he transformed it into a kind of ice breeze, whose drops fell on Island clothes, skin, and hair and he soon and slowly transformed into an ice dragon, the last who still existed on Earth, and after that amazing change, Island, the dragon, stepped in front of his niece, protecting her from a surprise attack and he told the wolf with coal eyes.

“What is your wish this time, Tenebre? Why are you here?

The question made the wolf nod and a kind of ironical grin showed on his face, a sign that the sent message had been received, but not enough appreciated by Tenebre and while the Vanamar wolf’s eyes were fixed on the ice dragon, the image passed through the wolf’s black retina, moved along a twisted corridor with weak lights of the torches stabbed on the walls and soon it reached the den of the Queen of Shadows.

Tenebre, who till that moment was sitting on her throne, beautifully carved out in the trunk of a secular tree, still alive, and whose thick roots were coming from the deep underground, now stood up and took a few steps toward the Palantir, the size of an ostrich egg, which was floating above of a red magma, right in the middle of the room and when Tenebre stretched her hand above the burning sphere, she managed to form a curtain of flames around Island and his people.

The cobras, who were quietly surrounding Zeal till that moment and following her as if enchanted, as if the sunflower was looking at the sky, thirsty to drink the solar light, suddenly started to agitate and their forked tongues bitted the air, but this awkward movement of them made Tenebre laugh and her laughter was heard all around the forest as a thunder.

“Do you still think that you can buy me with a barren promise, Island?” Tenebre told him and her words, were forming as real around the ice dragon a kind of airwave, but it didn’t scare him at all, being too familiarized with her hysterical manner of doing things and taking a step forward, Island forced the Vanamar wolf grin unsatisfied at him, a sign that the dragon passed the allowed limits and that grin of the wolf’s face was disliked by Island, who blew a frozen air above him, making the wolf froze for a few seconds.

“Fool!” yelled Tenebre furious. “How dare you touch my soldier? Do you want my hatred to reach you? Don’t force me to take from you the most precious thing you have, because I see that you brought with you two of your precious offshoots, and this makes me think boldly. You don’t know when around you can show up flames, swallowing them in their hungry of souls mouths.”

“You should give it a try, but fewer chances of win you will have” and Samaya’s voice made Tenebre move the eye of the Palantir on her, and, staring at the girl, she whispered with hatred. “A Rophion!” and a kind of hot magma was thrown above Samaya, but the girl, feeling the approaching danger, squeezed the cube in her hands and the eye of Chaos hungry swallowed the magma, while around the girl was formed a thick glass wall, similar to the material used for making a jug and for the first time, Jar, the spirit who lived inside of Samaya, revealed his shape to the world.

This splendid change of Samaya, amazed Island too, who turned his eyes toward the spirit and saw in his glance a spark of hate and he understood that Tenebre passed the allowed limits when she attacked the girl. But not the same thought Tenebre had, who laughed.

“Wow, Jar, are you there too?” Tenebre said in mockery and again her laughter echoed around as if she was a mad person who ran from a psychiatric hospital, while the Palantir under her palm was filling with even more strength, sending all around, behind the glass wall, red magma.

“Someone should take care of this madwoman of fire,” Jar whispered with hatred and, changing his body into a spiral shape, he entered the coal eyes of the wolf, blinding him in seconds and making him kneel, while all around Jar’s voice was still heard: “Take care of the others, Island. Vanamar’s weakness is in their eyes. Do whatever you can to fight with them, but if you want to defeat them you should take out their eyes.”

Island knew that the battle between Jar and Tenebre was useless, because none of them had enough power to defeat the other one, but at least it gave them a chance to destroy Vanamar or to escape from their trap, because without Tenebre’s powerful eye, Vanamar were vulnerable.

But Island was wrong in his thoughts. Right after Tenebre’s presence wasn’t felt there anymore, behind the wolves showed up Yātrīkar and in their hands, they saw swords and lances and Yātrīkar attacked them first.

Zeal’s cobras were the first wall of defense, who stopped Yātrīkar’s attack and their forked tongues were painfully biting from the flesh of the Demonic Virgins, spreading in their bodies venom and making them scream.

Then, Island decided that it was the right time to enter the fight and one glance of him made Bestla create around them another wall of mirrors, protecting the ice dragon from the hot heat of the flames.

The reflection of the flames in the mirror projected on the slippery scaly of the dragon, a kind of blades of fire, and the first Vanamar, who jumped on him, had been cut by those blades as if the wolf's body had been attacked by the metal fangs of a demonic machine.

This was the signal for the other wolves who attacked the others, forcing them to defend themselves with the swords, while they were squeezing their handles with both hands.

Bestla saw herself suddenly facing a Yātrīkar and the eyes of both women were deeply watching the soul of the other, trying to guess the hidden thoughts in the channels of the brain, but it was an impossible mission because Samaya taught well Bestla to hide her thoughts, forming other channels in her mind and send there the energy of her intelligence and no matter what evil Magic Yātrīkar was using on Bestla, trying to enter the girl’s body, it was sent back to her as if it was a reflection in the mirror.

“You forget with whom you are fighting, Yātrīkar. Nobody yet managed to kneel the Spirit of the Mirrors. You can only lose yourself inside it” and grabbing Yātrīkar’s cloth, Bestla forced the Black Virgin to follow her into a strange world, similar to one in which she brought Samaya the first day they met, but this one had no bright light and no life: only all around, small torches were illuminating the void, amplifying the wheezing breath of Yātrīkar, who was seeing herself reflecting in the mirrors, but even if something inside her was telling her to look elsewhere, she couldn’t take her glance from it and a kind of fear sneaked inside her soul, making her shudder, even if Yātrīkar wasn’t a being whoever felt something.

“Life forgives nobody, Yātrīkar!” Bestla’s voice was heard, floating around, but her face wasn’t seen anywhere and no matter how hard Yātrīkar didn’t try to see her, looking all over, she couldn’t understand where Bestla was, because the girl knew what big power was hidden inside of Yātrīkar and if she could use her devilish magic here, in this world of mirrors, then Bestla was lost forever because it could harden her and this way to kill her.

This is why the girl decided to hide here, while in her mind Samaya’s voice was echoing: “better run once and live than to follow the stupid proud of yours and die” and Samaya was right because Bestla’s power and her role in this world were more precious than her pride and she decided to swallow the anger and the desire to kill the enemy while looking into his eyes.

But it couldn’t last long, because Yātrīkar was already starting to control herself. Then, Bestla attacked - the blade of her sword hit Yātrīkar, when she showed up in front of her from behind a mirror, breaking it into pieces and its matchwood deeply entered into the body of Yātrīkar … kneeled, the young virgin felt in her chest the pain of the loss.

A sigh came out of her chest, while her livid hand was touching it and shaking, she saw in front of her, in one of the mirrors, the moment she changed into a Yātrīkar when 12 virgins drank the magical liquid given them by Moirae and this way they cursed their souls for eternity.

“Forgive me, mother!” her lips whispered and her body vanished like burning ashes, blown by the wind and when nothing was left from the enemy, Bestla returned to the real world, where the battle was still having a place and she was so amazed to see the same Yātrīkar she killed in the world of mirrors, fighting with Yellen.

“What the hell is this? Black Magic?” Bestla whispered with hatred and then she heard Island’s voice, talking to her from behind. “They can’t be killed. Not by us, Bestla. But will come the time when they will be defeated by their own hatred” and saying this, Island looked at Yellen, whose sword deeply entered in the body of a Vanamar, who tried to attack her from behind, but her precise movement made Yātrīkar move back and then they all heard a whistle, flowing around and this sound, like a call, made the Vanamar and Yātrīkar move back and then to run in the woods.

“Are they trying to escape with a run?” Zeal furiously grinned, trying to transform into a flying cobra, but she stopped in place when her forehead touched the ice chest of Island, who was still in the shape of the dragon.

“Let them go, Zeal. It isn’t yet the time. But it will come and then you will have the right to pour out your hatred over them because it’s such a long time already since you guard inside you the hot arson of anger.”

The iced wing of the dragon protectively covered Zeal’s body, who soon started to cry out loud and her tears brought back the white Island, who was hugging his niece tightly at his chest, trying to make her feel all the love he had for her.

“Let’s go, until they aren’t back,” said Mago slowly, and, turning his back to them, he entered the forest, followed by Yellen.

“Go with them, Bestla! We will catch your footsteps after the storm is gone,” said Island and, taking the sleeping Zeal in his arms and covered by small vertigo of ice and snow, he raised upward and they soon disappeared in the distance.

Bestla remained in place for a few more moments, watching them till they were gone. Then, she bent and took Samaya’s things from below and later she entered the forest, while behind her was seen only her white shadow.