Slowly advancing through the poppy flowers, whose small red heads were reaching her knees, Gaea seemed thoughtful as if a deep thought or maybe memory took over her and didn’t allow her to normally breathe again.

„Something happens?” asked Island approaching her from the left and, with his hands at his back and slowly stepping next to her, he decided to keep pace with her.

Gaea said nothing instead, preferring to walk in silence for a while, time her eyes, that were piercing the horizon, saw only the red heads of the poppies that were slowly rocking in the sweet embracement of the wind while behind them, far in the distance, a black like pitch sky made the dusk seem so dull, so livid.

„It still seems that night is approaching us,” she said eventually and her voice has been barely heard. After that, she stopped and gently touched, with both palms, the cute head of a poppy flower, whose petals were about to fall. But touched by Gaea’s hands and under her saint glance, the flower revived, and the black beads of its Anther Filament seemed suddenly so alive, so bright black as if they just got the color from the pitch sky above them.

„It seems so. That the night is about to swallow us from everywhere,” murmured Island and looked to his left, far in the distance, where the black clouds seemed to beath path as if they were dancers eager to enter a huge dance floor. „Yet, this night won’t bring peace in our souls and either soft pillows under our head to rest and sink into a sweet sleep of recovering.”

Gaea smiled and broke eventually the poppy flower which she had revived only a few instants ago. After that, while the flower was lying on her open palm, Gaea turned it into a speck of black dust that has been later blown by an unexpected gust of wind over the field.

„I thought that everything that surrounds you is dear and saint for you. But I see that your hands can also bring death, and not only life,” said Island and, even if his words could have been considered reproach, he eventually said those words only not to keep silent.

„Do you know why a mother often says to her children - I was who gave birth to you and I can also kill you, Island?”

„Because of sorrow?”

„No. Because of her huge love for them, for when a mother takes the life of her child, she tries thus to avoid him suffer and if he must leave this earth, at least to do it without pain.”

„And… isn’t this also a form of cruelty, Mother Earth?”

Gaea finally looked at Island: „what for some of us can be cruelty, it can be love for others. It depends on the angle you look at the story,” and she motioned with her head toward Dike, who stopped in the middle of the field and looked in the distance, in the opposite side where they were heading, even if there wasn’t anybody to be seen by him and only the field of poppy flowers was slowly rocking its multiple bodies. And there were only the four of them: Dike, Island, Gaea, and Lodur, for the rest of them, led by Boor, decided to round the forest because of the evil spirits that were living there and who could have destroyed their small army eventually.

Even so, even if they knew well who was living in that forest, the four titans decided to chance it just to see how many of those who were living in those places were still by the side of the Good and how many of them were already fighting by Maranam’s side.

„What’s wrong with him?” Island asked Gaea when he noticed the concern in Dike’s eyes.

„A father’s concern for his child and the fear of not seeing his death with his own eyes.”

„Death? Do you want to say that Samaya is in danger?”

„Not only Samaya. Fenrir is also in danger now, for the two hurt Ahi’s child, enraging her and thus they forced her to hate both of them: now more than ever, after she had passed by Maranam’s side. As Parca did actually,” and Gaea eventually passed by Island, keeping her course while the poppy flowers now bloomed, then turned to ashes when she passed by them, truly showing the world the feelings that existed in Mother Earth’s soul: hate and fear at the same time, for what will eventually happen with all of her children.

Island stared thunderstruck behind her, but said nothing else, even if he was damn curious to find out what Gaea meant with „even Parca was by the evil’s side.” As far as he knew, the titanide of Fate was equally created from good and evil and she couldn’t be only by someone’s side in that war.

However, what amazed him even more than Gaea’s words has been to see Dike staring behind him. But when Island also looked over there, the titan of ice saw nothing else than the big field and the poppy flowers, still alive, for not for nothing Gaea was called Mother Earth: she didn’t have a cruel heart to kill her creation with her own hands, even if she thought that destroying something could also be considered a form of creation. For her, to kill a kid, especially one born from your own womb, was an unforgivable crime and, even if the flowers died and revived in the same rhythm of her heart dance, Gaea kept yet alive the color of their soul.

***

„Dike?” Lodur asked in a whisper, stopped only a step behind his brother and carefully watching the slow movement of Dike’s head to the left and right as if he was following something by sight.

„An arrow of death!” murmured Dike, for he was staring at an arrow: the same first arrow shot by Mayar and which Samaya didn’t understand where it went eventually. And that arrow vanished actually due to Gaea, who took care to make the object that was meant to bring death for the she-wolf get eventually on that land. Thus, she tried to inform Dike about the danger that was lurking on his kids.

Suddenly, the titan stretched his hand, making that arrow „freeze” in the air. Then, he carefully looked at it but found nothing special in it. But when he narrowed his eyes and once again looked at it, he could eventually spot, on the small head of the arrow, on the sharp one, the head of Koṭumai while she was slowly walking through that chicory land over which the arrow flew toward Samaya.

„Maranam! Why am I not even surprised that he’s involved in this?!” Dike hissed through his teeth and made the arrow scatter over the field as if it was not made from metal but from dried sands, blown by the wind.

„I got now,” said Lodur calmly, „you found out about the attack over Samaya and that Ahi’s child changed the camps and she’s fighting now by Maranam’s side.” After that, Lodur passed by Dike, slowly walking on that country road that suddenly appeared in front of him. Yet, that road wasn’t dusty, but hard-packed, while it was guarded by the small beautiful guardians, called poppy flowers.

„Did you know about this?” Dike asked his brother, furiously while following him.

„I knew,” Lodur answered, extremely calm.

„But you didn’t tell me about this. Why?”

Lodur suddenly stopped, forcing Dike to stop too and, while watching his brother, Lodur saw Dike’s eyes like lit embers, a kind of fire reflected on the blue mirror of Lodur’s eyes, such a clear blue that even innocence could have mirrored its face on them.

„Because this isn’t something I can tell others as I can’t reveal someone’s fate, Dike and you know this very well.”

„We are talking about my daughter now. About Samaya, who’s actually your niece too. How could you keep silent about such things? Things that can endanger her life.”

„It’s because I trust her, Dike. I trust that she’ll make it eventually, in everything. That’s why I prefer to wait for her to realize alone what she has to do and thus to discover her own fate, something that she’ll tell us all eventually: not the other, but striking in someone’s fate we can make more evil than good. Think about this! I’m sure you’ll agree with me eventually,” and Lodur kept his way while a melody, that spun in his head for a while, started to get a form on his lips like a barely heard whistle.

Dike stood in the same place for minutes in a row, staring after his brother that was moving further and he considered that Lodur not only moved physically further from him, but also mentally if he got not tell him about the danger that was lurking on Samaya.

This is how Island and Gaea found him when they passed by him: thoughtful and staring at that small point like was seen Lodur at that moment, for he was way too far from them and the first one to enter that forest.

„Let’s go!” Island told Dike when he passed by, but neither the titan answered nor Gaea said something when she passed by him. She only touched Island’s arm, a hint that he should let Dike alone, for she was sure that what Dike needed at that moment was peace and time to carefully think about everything at that moment.

***

„Let’s be careful anyway,” Boor told his soldiers when they got in front of Succubi Forest, for even if they were about 1km away from the edge of the woods, in an open field, and even if someone had decided to attack them, they could have protected themselves, Boor was still afraid of a surprise attack, something that could have frightened his soldiers, and this was something unnecessary before the start of the war.

Looking to his right where Sephir was generally seen, Boor became alerted not seeing her and, frightened, soughed her. But… something was blurring his sight and he could see only the faces of his soldiers that looked hardened, emotionless, like ghosts, and this made him quickly breathe and a kind of painful sigh came out of his chest.

„Dad?” Boor finally heard Sephir’s voice and, scared, he looked to his right and could see her eventually a few hundred steps from him, watching the forest, hooded, and looking like a real Virgin that left the world of stories to live into the real world.

Seeing her, Boor first deeply breathed in, understanding that he got scared for nothing. Then he finally decided to approach his daughter when he felt that he calmed down.

„Something bothers you, dad?” Sephir asked without looking at him.

„Yes, but I can’t figure out what it can be. But… I feel it very well. Probably is because of the forest, for…”

„It’s for sure because of the forest. And… because of the Ghouls that are watching us. They are right over there!” she said, motioning him with her head to look in front.

Even if he wasn’t afraid of Evil Spirits, for he had to fight with a lot of them in his life, much scarier than the ghouls were, Boor eventually swallowed hard and, unwillingly, he grabbed the handle of his sword. But… no matter how much he didn’t try to see what Sephir saw, he couldn’t.

„You don’t see them, don’t you?” asked Sephir, seeing the query on her father’s face.

„Yeah, I see nothing and nobody, and I don’t understand why.”

„It’s because those who I see there are only lower and middle-level ghouls. The real strong ones are deep inside the forest. Except for one single High-Level Spirit, Tomai, who’s right in the center of that group.”

„And because of that Tomai I can’t see anything and he’s here to impede us to help the four titans in case of something,” murmured Boor feverishly.

„Right. And… dad, the ghouls felt already grandpa’s presence here and of the other three titans. It seems that they’ll greet them as it has to be,” said Sephir, ironically smiling, for she was so eager to twist a ghoul’s head after being once hurt by one of them. But… she knew that it wasn’t the right moment. That’s why she dropped her bundle. Then, she turned to the left and headed toward the horizon.

At Boor’s signal, the soldiers followed Sephir. Boor instead stood in the same place, staring at the forest where Sephir said that saw the ghouls. But he couldn’t see anybody there. That’s why he decided to use one of his tricks, something he used to do always when he had in front an invisible enemy.

First, he took three steps back, still holding the handle of his sword. Then, he stopped and slowly took the sword out of its scabbard and put it vertically in front of his eyes, about half a meter from his face. After that, he closed his eyes and waited for a few moments. Then, when he opened them again, a huge thunderlight cracked the sky’s vault, passed through the clouds, entered the sword, and then the light has been projected over the forest, bathing it into a strong shade of bright reddish.

Namely that strong sound of the thunderlight that cracked the sky made Sephir stop and the soldiers that were following her also stopped. But she has been the only one to look back. Thus, she could see, crossing between the trees, over them, through branches and leaves, red lines as if they were laser lines. And that light reflected by the rays made not only the trees seem colored in blood, but also the habitants of that forest - the ghouls. They were probably dozens, perfectly lined up between the trees, as if preparing for a fight while staring at Boor, and not at Sephir or the other soldiers.

Boor instead smiled when he finally could see them, for their dark grey color that had sometimes some shade of black made them look like the real creatures of hell, illuminated by the eternal flames.

However, that scary look of the ghouls didn’t frighten Boor. Per contra: he narrowed his eyes to watch him better. Thus, he could see that they were all bald, with a kind of ridgy peel of skin covering their head as if that skin has been put for a long time over a big fire. Also, they had about 1.85m in height, harsh glances, evil, a glance that was always looking to destroy something, and this made them be scary and bitter. Also, their red tongues could straighten in front very much if they wanted to catch the prey that was about 20-30 meters in front of them. Thus, using the power of the tongue, they could noiselessly attack the prey, just not to scare it.

But Boor hasn’t been the only one who saw their tongues: Sephir also see them because the ghouls suddenly threw them in front, trying to scare the intruders and let them know that they had been forbidden to enter their territory.

Nevertheless, their tongues didn’t catch up with God, Sephir, or the rest. And this happened not because of the distance, but because it wasn’t the right prey to attack at that moment. Yet, the movement of their tongues made Sephir curious and she narrowed her eyes to see better. Thus, she noticed that the top of the ghouls’tongue wasn’t forked like the cobras as she saw it when they attacked her a few dozen years ago, but this time the top of the ghouls’tongue was flattened as if someone took a big hammer and hit that top till it got that form.

„The Paddlers,” murmured Sephir unsatisfied, understanding that in that forest another group of ghouls was living at that moment and not those with whom she fought in the past and who had a forked tongue, also known as the fork-ghouls. „If they set their heart in destroying something, they’ll do it till nothing will be left behind, and poor soul the one who’ll eventually fell prey in their paws… he’ll be razed to the ground by being hit with that tongue, after being first mauled by their sharp nails.”

„Do you think we should do something, princess?” Āṇmai asked her after approaching Sephir when he spotted that she was staring at the forest that seemed empty.

„No, Āṇmai. Even if we intervene now, we have no chance to succeed: especially you because none of you see them. And this isn’t because you don’t want to see him, but because they are hiding for being sure that they’ll have eventually an easy prey.”

„Yet… I think it’ll be a good idea to know what they look like, in case they decide to show up. So, princess, please describe them and if they show up in front of us, they’ll fall prey to our sharp sword that will cut the top of their tongue, even if it’s wide like a shovel as you said. Thus, they won’t have the chance to attack us ever.”

„Trust me, Āṇmai, it’s better not to face them ever, for no matter how good soldiers or fighters you won’t be, you’ll have no chance against them fighting only with the sword. But… it’s known that sometimes our luck is blind and you don’t even know when it can be by your side. So: try to stay away from everything that’s bald, with a long tongue and wide at the top, sharp black nails instead of normals, and… the most important - never look into their eyes, for namely their look is what drives the victim crazy, and not the power of fighting.”

Both winced instead as if seeing a ghoul right in front of their nose when they heard Boor’s thunder voice right behind them: „we’ll camp here tonight! I don’t know why, but I don’t like that night that’s approaching. It’s better to stay on an open field where we can see something if necessary and not enter a forest during the night. It’s better to hit the road in the morning if everything is still calm.”

„What about grandpa and the others?”

„Don’t worry about them, Sephir. They’ll be just fine, for they are more than able to watch the other’s back. You’ll better pray for us to pass the night well and not to see those devils eventually.” After that, Boor left them, saying to the others to camp there, over the night.

Tomai, the leader of the ghouls and the one who till then only carefully watched Boor and Sephir, turned his back to the camp where the soldiers put the tents. And, being followed only by some of the ghouls while the others remained to protect the borders of the forest, the ghoul sunk even more in the forest. But his departure has been spotted only by Sephir, who slowly approached hers. Thus, after she stepped, Sephir stared for long behind the ghouls.

Yet, the fact that Sephir suddenly took the hood off, made Tomai stop and turn his head toward her, staring with hatred at her while, in front of his eyes, he saw a moment when Sephir was fighting with the ghouls and when she cut the head of one of them, their leader. Then, the image froze when the head stopped rolling on the ground and stared at Tomai with wide-open eyes. Thus, Tomai saw that the dead one was namely his brother, the one who looked exactly like him.

„We’ll meet each other again on the battlefield, princess of the winds, and whose head will fall then will be yours for sure,” Tomai thought. Yet, his thought has been heard by Sephir, who provocatively grinned and sent him a message back, telepathically.

„Any time you want, Tomai if your last wish is to die as your brother died: headless and with terrified eyes staring at Death’s face.” After this, Sephir put again the hood on her head and vanished in front of the ghoul. But it was just an illusion: she was still there, staring at him, but he couldn’t see her anymore while having the hood on. Also, who helped Sephir to hide from the ghoul’s sight has been Palar, which suddenly showed up above the camp, protecting its master with the cloak of its own power.

Still staring behind Tomai while he was advancing in the depths of the forest, Sephir squeezed her fists, allowing the wind to slowly move the tails of her cloak while in her head she had a single thought spinning around: another war with the ghouls.

***

Anaya poached a piece of cloth in the jar with cold water which she left next to her. Then she squeezed the cloth hard, allowing the cold drops of water fell back into the jar. After this, she put the wet material on Mayar’s forehead, which was covered by cold sweat beads.

„Oh, poor child,” the old lady murmured while wiping Mayar’s face, who was lying on a bed of herbs, pulled out of the ground by Anaya and brought there to make the wounded girl comfortably lie on something soft. Thus, due to Anaya’s care and the scented and healing herbs, Mayar now came back to his senses, then again lost her consciousness, even if the wound on her shoulder wasn’t bleeding anymore. Yet, that wound look bad and made her have a fever and shake like hell. That’s why the old fox was doing her best to make Mayar feel better.

„Eh, this world is so cruel and never keeps quiet. It always looks for trouble when this world is more than aware that the problems are something that always look for you and that you shouldn’t look for it instead,” Anaya mumbled. After this, she threw the wet cloth in the jar and turned to the left where she had some leaves of milfoil which she threw into a small wooden bowl. Then, Anaya also took the wooden part of the plant, broke it into pieces, and also threw it in the same bowl, something made from hardened clay, kept for long inside of a stove in flames. After that, she started to crumble the plant with a medium lumpy stone till she managed to turn it into a kind of soft green paste. Then, she took some of it with her fingers and put it on Mayar’s wound: first, she put the paste on the front part, then on the rear part, to cover it with a big burdock leaf which she tied later with a piece of cloth she took from her skirt.

Feeling the material touching the wound, Mayar moaned and moved in her sleep, gnashing her teeth, and this made Anaya shake her head, for she knew very well the pain Mayar felt at that moment, for it wasn’t the first time she took care of the girl after being hurt in fight or hunting.

„Bear it a little bit, child. Soon the pain will pass and you’ll feel no burning in the wound. I have the perfect medicine for it. Just wait for it a little bit,” the old woman murmured. After that, she took a knot of plants from the pile she had next to it, broke it into two, and threw it in the same bowl where she prepared the paste. Thus, after hitting the herbs with the same stone for a while, Anaya managed to obtain a green juice, which she put later into a kind of glass made from another burdock leaf, after rolling it and squeezing the lower part not to allow the juice spill on the ground. Then, she put that green glass at Mayar’s lips, saying to her: „drink it, child, and don’t spit anything even if it has a horrible taste. You must drink it all if you want to be fine later.” And Anaya said this not just for saying, but because she was trying to force Mayar to obey her, for the girl was standing against the idea of drinking that awful juice even if she was raving.

Eventually, when Mayar finished drinking all that green juice, the old lady helped her to lay back and slowly hit her chest with her palm to calm her down, whispering kind words. Thus, Mayar fell again asleep, hearing that sweet murmur of the old lady that always followed her while being only a child, but who could be by her side only while sleeping or raving, for when she fell prey to Parca’s and Maranam’s evil, the same spell made Mayar lonely. Yet, that evil was powerless in front of Anaya’s power when Mayar was asleep.

Then, at the moment Mayar stopped moaning and sunk into a deep sleep, Anaya vanished as if she had never been there. And this happened because the eye of the evil, that was living inside of Mayar at that moment, awoke and it was again taking the girl in its power.