The sky, painted by Maranam with pitch and smoke, looked at that moment as if it was at the crack of dawn. Yet, even if it was overcast and challenging to see something far away in the distance, not the same happened to Zeal, who was riding her black horse across the field, searching the area to be free of enemies.

Suddenly, when the horse stopped and then started to move in circles, snuffling through his big wet nostrils when he felt the unpleasant air around, Zeal grabbed tightly the bridle and slowly tapped on the animal’s neck, trying to calm him down.

Nevertheless, while her lips were slowly whispering „sssh” to calm him down, she slowly bent so that the warmth of her body calm the horse more. Then, her glance caught a movement to the right and she looked over there, toward that dark thicket of the forest where she felt something moving. She saw nothing in the end except the movement of the leaves and the branches of the bushes that were moved away from someone’s front.

As for the rest… nobody else was there: only Zeal, the horse, and the loneliness.

Yet, Argol’s shout from above made her raise her glance and stare up at him, at that sun hidden behind that celestial black, and she saw the white eagle slowly floating on its big wings. However, his shout wasn’t to make her know that he was still there but to warn her about something. That’s why Zeal pulled the bridle and forced the horse to turn toward the woods. Then, she once again pulled the bridle and the horse stopped. Yet, the animal looked scared and he was all the time kicking the ground with his right front hoof, shaking his head and snuffling, a hint that it was the right time to go away.

But Zeal was stubborn. Even more stubborn than her sisters, even though her glance was kind and she often fulfilled the role of mediator when they had a fight, something that made her seem the kindest person in the world.

„Not everything is as it seems,” she often said when someone tried to convince her that there wasn’t any person as kind as she was. And… she was right because the one who always keeps only kindness in his soul can’t lead the magic cobras and face the world. Thus, not to be brought to his knees in front of someone, every person in this world has to revolt against something one day. That’s why there can’t be only good people in the world, more when someone has such a great power flowing through his veins as Zeal had, a power that could have made her invincible if she had been able to fully use it. That’s why she was often struggling with her inner she just not to let her real character be noticed by others who could have been evil and considered her easy prey.

Also, at that moment, while she was spying on the forest and on the depths of the thickets that seemed to also lurk on her, Zeal tried not to allow others to see kindness in her heart. And this was because she felt something strange, something warning around her, something that has been felt in the whistle of the wind at first, like a whip touching her skin, but not in a harsh way because that wind was too quiet for her taste, a wind that didn’t move even the leaves on the trees, making them seem as if carved in stone or wood.

„Yet, this isn’t a lie,” she suddenly murmured, words that have been heard as if snarled, through her teeth and, pulling hard the bridle, she spurred the horse, which started to gallop toward the forest, shorting the distance between them and the first row of trees with each second passed, with each breath of fresh air deeply inhaled.

And namely the mad gallop of the black horse and the fact that they were approaching the forest more and more made nature start to agitate even more. That’s why the branches suddenly shook, the leaves deafeningly chinked, allowing strange whispers to be heard around as if that place was surrounded by hundreds of invisible ghosts.

Actually, it wasn’t an illusion: there were a lot of ghosts around there, created by the power of someone with a diabolical mind, ghosts that started to appear and disappear here and there, desperately stretching their livid hands toward Zeal and the horse, trying to grab her by the arms or by the clothes, to make her stop or leave that place.

But… there was no room for compromise there, and this Zeal knew very well, as she knew that the forest looked like hell at that moment: deceiving and damageful at the same time, and, if she had entered there alone, she wouldn’t have returned alive from there.

That’s why when only 50 meters were left between her and the forest when Argol shouted again from above as if giving her a signal, Zeal pulled the bridle and the horse turned to the right, galloping along that plain and climbing the mountain in a mad gallop, right beside the forest. Thus, while galloping up the mountain, she had time to glance toward the depths of the forest, feeling also the fear snaking into the veins of the animal under her, which was madly galloping, urging himself.

Yet… Zeal couldn’t see eventually who was hidden in the shadow of the forest. But she was sure that the Devilish Virgins were there because she felt their presence, she felt their black energy floating in the air, among the trees, bushes, or leaves, even if she never saw them before.

And… when the sky suddenly crackled, igniting the pitch that was covering the celestial vault, which actually started to „burn” later, colored by fire arrows thrown onto the ground from above, the horse stopped and started to move again in circles, neighing and snuffling while fighting with Zeal to throw her off his back. Thus, the animal forced her to fight with him to stay on his back while cold like ice water was pouring all over their bodies as if those thunderlights had broken the jar of rain or the barrier of a mountain river that started to rush down the valley, threatening to swallow everything in its way.

And that heavy rain that poured from above made that dark night take over the surrounding at full speed. Thus, soon, nothing around was clearly seen. Not even two steps in front, something that preoccupied Zeal because she could hear not even Argol’s shout from above.

„What’s going on?” Zeal wondered, frightened, understanding that maybe she went too far, being led by her curiosity, and maybe she should have turned back to the palace when she still had the chance. At that moment instead when nothing was seen around and when the horse was fighting with her, she felt that perhaps there was no turnback for her.

That’s why she shuddered, from top to toe, when she felt someone grabbing the halter of the horse after she had heard the noise of hooves approaching her while splashing with rain water all around that wet ground, and that person, that tightly grabbed the halter, forced the horse to stop moving. Yet, the animal kept snuffling, feeling that cold rain running down his back.

Then… the silence took over the surroundings: a short silence that lasted for seconds only. Yet, it seemed to Zeal that centuries have passed and not seconds, something that made her hold her breath and squeeze the bridle with her left hand while slowly moving the right hand to the girdle where she had a small knife for hunting which she had received from her grandfather, for such moments of sudden attack from the enemy’s part as she thought at that moment.

She breathed a sigh of relief, however, when she heard the voice of a man talking to her: „let’s go!” But, even if that voice seemed familiar to her, she still asked: „Eṉōl?”

„Yes, princess! It’s me!” The man replied in low voice, almost in a whisper. „The Queen Inlan Diar sent me here to bring you back to the palace. It’s dangerous to be here alone.”

„But… how did you find me?” Zeal asked in amazement. Yet… feeling some warmth coming from the hunting knife, she looked at her girdle and saw a reddish light coming from under her clothes. Then, when she took the weapon into her hand, she saw its blade suddenly turning to ice, and her great-grandmother's face reflected on it. And… even if she didn’t hear Inlan Diar’s voice, she could read the words whispered by her on her lips, in that reflection seen on the knife’s blade: „Come back home, Zeal! It’s the time! Follow Eṉōl and don’t even dare to enter the forest. Not now!”

That’s why, when Eṉōl pulled the halter, urging the horse to follow him, Zeal didn’t oppose. She only hid the knife back to her girdle. After that, she grabbed the bridle with both hands and allowed the commander to take her back to the palace.

Yet, while they were going away, Zeal turned her head and looked again at the forest. Only then did she see the face of the leader of the Yātrīkars, who was standing at the edge of the forest at that moment, and this happened when the sky had been pierced by other thunderlights.

Thus, in that short time of light, both Zeal and Kaṇkaḷ stared into each other’s eyes, each of them having hatred sparkling in their glances. Seconds later, Kaṇkaḷ turned her back on that place and moved toward her fighters that kept climbing the mountain while she stared at Zeal. But… Kaṇkaḷ didn’t go without saying something. She told Zeal telepathically: „don’t think that’s over, Boor’s child. Your power should belong to me. That’s why… look for me on the battlefield because… I’ll always hunt you there.”

Zeal didn’t scare hearing Kaṇkaḷ’s words. On the contrary, she also talked to her: „don’t worry, Virgin Yātrīkar… I’m not afraid of death. So, I won’t ever be afraid of you. And… of course, I'll make sure that you'll see my face before dying.”

After that, Zeal spurred the horse the moment Eṉōl released the halter and the two galloped away from the forest, toward the Palace of Ice.

***

„It was a long and cruel winter as nobody ever saw before,” Inlan Diar started her story, staring at the flames that were dancing inside the stove while Zeal was standing by the fire, covered with a thick blanket to dry her clothes because she got to the palace soaked. And, when her great-grandmother saw her, she right away held her hand and pulled her to the fire, which she had ordered her servants to ignite in the stove, feeling pain in her bones, a hint that heavy rain was about to start. „It was a winter that completely covered Accam Kuṉṟu, threatening to swallow everything in its bottomless entrails. And it had been then when the energy of this mountain like its Balance has been turned upside down, and the quiet life of the locals reached an end.”

„But why, grandma? Weren't they used to cold winters and icy north wind knocking on their window?”

„They were, Zeal. Our people were used to harsh winters. Yet, nobody was prepared to face a winter like that one. Not even I,” and Inlan Diar’s voice has been suddenly strangled by strong feelings as if a heavy burden was pressing her chest, chasing her calmness away and not allowing her to normally breathe.

That change in Inlan Diar’s mood let Zeal know that she had to keep silent, even if she had a lot of questions spinning in her head. And yes, Zeal kept quiet, waiting for the rest of the story. But… even so, she knew that that story had its dark side, as all of Island’s stories had - a kind of double-edged weapon, revealing truths that only sharp minds could understand, as it had happened to Anaya when she and Mayar listened to the story about Hubo, and she understood that it was a story about Baradar in fact.

„I remember everything as if it happened yesterday only,” Inlan Diar continued her story, making Zeal wince, after immersing in thoughts for a few seconds. „It was a dark night that day… just like this night,” the queen added, heading to the window and looking outside. And, also looking over there, Zeal compared that window with a blind eye, onto which the raindrops were knocking again and again. „It had been then when I heard footsteps by the door of my palace… the footsteps of a dark soul that was trying to destroy me,” and, suddenly, the Titanide shuddered from top to toe, closing her eyes.

And… soon, the memories rushed into her brain, moving quickly the Wheel of Time back and back to the time when she was only a child and evil decided to act up on Mount Accam Kuṉṟu, leaving it powerless and lacking innocence.

***

Sitting in a small armchair, on which a big white bear fur was put, the child Inlan Diar was slowly moving her small fingers on the strings of Meagar. And, while she was touching the strings, weird sounds, but still pleasant were heard around the room, something that made even the fire in the stove slowly dance.

And that sweet pleasure made the girl close her eyes, smile, and move her head from one shoulder to another as if a sweet melancholy has taken over her.

Suddenly she stopped her movement when she had the vision of a few men sneaking along the streets of the city, advancing onto narrow streets, hidden streets, and heading in great secret to the other part of the city, which was toward the top of the mount. But, no matter how hard she didn’t try to see those men’s faces, she couldn’t, and that tension made her squeeze both fists and close her eyes, forcing her memory to teleport her to the future, for she was sure that what she saw was a vision of something that was going to happen soon.

She quickly jumped to her feet, however, dropping the Meagar onto the floor, when she saw daggers in the hands of those men that kept sneaking onto the streets of the sleeping city, and, on one blade, she saw the blood that was dripping onto the white snow that was covering the ground at that moment.

Then, Inlan Diar turned her head to the window and looked through it at the outside world, even if the glass of that window was covered by a thick layer of ice and snow. And she looked over there when she heard the scream of the panther Accam Kuṉṟu, a terrible scream, of calling to war or maybe of warning, and this made her understand that her vision wasn’t about the future, but about the present.

That’s why she quickly put her Veppam cloak round her shoulders, a cloak that had been put on a chair next to an armchair by then, and, while she was tying the strings of her cloak to fix it on her shoulders, she ran toward the door.

Yet, she pulled back when the door flew open and a few men came into the room, all of them black-dressed and having black scarves on their faces, to protect their identity.

„Who are you?” The child asked, frightened while pulling away from them.

Nobody replied to her. Instead of it, they kept advancing toward her… more and more, forcing her to take back the same number of steps taken by them in front.

But they didn’t manage to catch her because right away one of them pounced on her, she covered her face with her arm to protect herself and the attacker fell to his knees when a knife stubbed into his back, being thrown from next to the door.

With the blood frozen in her veins and shaking like hell, for even if she was strong, Inlan Diar had never used her power against humans that didn’t have magical power, she looked at the injured man and saw him falling on the floor, face down. Yet, she spotted the insignia of her Kingdom on the dagger’s handle. And, when she looked at the door, she saw Cerāy, the commander of her troops, by the door, followed by 20 of his soldiers, well-armed.

Namely the fact that they came into the room made the attackers change the target, trying to watch their backs first. Thus, they had to face Cerāy’s anger first, who, seeing their princess, the one they simply adored, attacked, they madly fought, cutting left and right with their sharp swords.

Yet, Cerāy not only fought to defeat his enemies: while he was hitting left and right, he approached Inlan Diar, and when he was only one step from her, he told her: „let’s go, my lady! Here’s not safe for the moment!”

„But… what’s going on, Cerāy? Why have we been attacked?” She asked while they were heading toward the door.

„Tikil! The Monster of Dread attacked Caktiyiṉ Ātāram (the Holy Stream of Power)”

„My father!” murmured Inlan Diar, frightened, grabbing the skirts of her dress and running outside the palace.

Cerāy followed her right away and caught up with her while she was going down the stairs. The commander didn’t stop her, however, but kept following her because then, just like that night when Zeal saw the Devilish Virgins crossing the forest, it was dark all around, even if the ground was also covered by snow all around and it should have been visible like during the day.

And… it was a strange atmosphere all around the mountain that night, something that the child Inlan Diar felt deep inside, something she had never felt before. More… she started to feel the cold that made her shudder eventually because it was the first time in her life when she felt cold and also wanted to hide.

That’s why she stopped eventually, and this amazed Cerāy a lot, who stopped too and stared at her. Inlan Diar said nothing, but looked back, past him, toward the Palace of Ice, which was sunken into darkness at that moment, something that also never happened before.

Yet… Inlan Diar didn’t turn back, but moved away, toward the top of the mountain, where she knew that she could find the Spirit of the Mountain of Fear, the black panther Accam Kuṉṟu, the same Spirit that also ruled over snow and cold at that moment.

But, very soon, the child understood that the world has changed… that all around it was felt as if being in the desert, and this was because as further they advanced up the mountain as clearer they saw that no alive creature was seen there, even if the child was sure that wolves, bears and other creatures should have lived there. And… at that moment, she only heard the voice of the icy wind Crivatis and the night’s whisper… nothing more.

That night, they walked and walked up the mountain, as it seemed to them. But… at the crack of dawn when the sky was covered by purple clouds, filled to the brim with cold and snow, both Inlan Diar and Cerāy saw in amazement that they had walked on a parallel path with the ridge of the mountain and not toward its top, and this was really weird as if an unseen force had led their steps toward there, trying to confuse them and not allow them to get to the final destination.

Even so, none of them gave up. And, after they turned back on the same path they had walked by then, intending to find the right path toward the top of the mountain, the weather changed so suddenly and turned bad, and they had to face something unseen before: Crivatis began to pick up, being unbearable, the snow was falling steadily, covering everything with a thick white blanket, very soft, that made the walk difficult, being almost impossible to advance onto it.

Thus… the two travelers have been forced to fight for days if not weeks to move further. Yet… even if it seemed to them that they advanced a lot in front overnight, the next morning they understood that they were in the same place where they’d been the day before in fact.

„What’s happening, my lady?” Cerāy asked eventually, feeling that he was running on empty. Then, he let himself fall on his knees, bowing his head and taking some snow into his hands. „I feel that Life itself is trying to kneel us down. But I don’t understand why.”

„It’s not Life which is doing this to us, Cerāy,” the child said, sad. „I feel that’s my brother Tikil’s hand here. Only he’s able of something like this: to make everybody shudder in fear.”

„But… why? Why? We never did anything wrong. Yet, it's felt like he is trying to bury us under this heavy snow, punishing us for something we aren’t aware of. Why doesn’t Accam Kuṉṟu stop his madness?”

„Because father can’t stop him right now. He isn’t capable of this at this moment,” the child said sadly, staring at her hand.

Namely the movement of her eyes made the commander also look at her palm, which he saw bloodied. And… he also saw blood on her clothes, over her chest, to be white again only seconds later. That image made him jerk to his feet and, frightened, he approached her in a hurry: „you are hurt! How is this possible? How?”

Inlan Diar looked quietly into his eyes, smiling sadly while her bloody hand was touching her chest over her heart where the commander saw the blood stain: „it isn’t my blood, Cerāy. It’s not me who’s hurt!” She murmured and, right in front of his eyes, the child Inlan Diar became an adult woman, a beautiful young woman, with purple eyes, the color of the ice while her skin and hair were as white as the snow.

That change amazed Cerāy a lot, who suddenly pulled away from her. But he didn’t step back because he was scared, but because he never expected to witness that change, for he was serving Inlan Diar for more than 30 years already, who he knew only like a child as his father had known her and as his great-grandfather had also known her because his family has served the princess Inlan Diar for many centuries already. At that moment instead, it seemed to him that he had to serve the young woman Inlan Diar, and this meant that Fate was changing, after centuries of standing in place.

„What… what…?” Cerāy stuttered. „Why…? Why you…?” He said, still staring at that beautiful young woman, who had sad eyes at that moment.

„Because Accam Kuṉṟu passed away. Thus, Fate gave me the chance to protect these lands. Also, part of the power of this mount as part of the power of Accam Kuṉṟu has been given to be. And, since today, I feel as if Fate has coursed me…”

***

The unclear image, almost pale of the young Inlan Diar, the one who lived long ago and who transformed from a child to a beautiful woman, was still seen by the real Inlan Diar, the one who was looking out of the window at that moment.

Zeal’s voice made her react in the end and watch into the clear blue of her great-granddaughter’s eyes: „and… what happened next?”

„Many long years of wandering this mountain, Zeal! A lot of years of fighting with Tikil to restore the Balance of this place, for… once father dead, I mean here the death of the body of the black panther, the Balance was also destroyed. But… Fate helped me in the end because after 7 years I’ve been finally able to control my father’s power and I find the place where he died.”

„To find the place where he died?” asked Zeal even more amazed than before. And, when she stood up, the fur fell off her shoulders. Then, she approached her great-grandmother and also looked in the same direction that Inlan Diar looked at that moment… at the flames in the stove. „Grandma?”

Inlan Diar winced again and looked at her great-granddaughter: „the same place where you have seen him today… above Ṭārṭṭar.”

„There is where Tikil killed him?”

„No. There is the place where they’ve been exiled because, even if he was hurt, my father still had enough power flowing through his veins. That’s why taking advantage of that Tikil had been inattentive for a few seconds, he broke that mountain ridge into two, which he later moved above the gulf.”

„And… that Tikil, is he still there? Above the gulf? Or… did he fall into it already and broke his neck?” The girl tried to joke.

Such words didn’t impress Inlan Diar, however. She only slowly shook her head in denial and then approached her throne, feeling so powerfully the burden of the time on her shoulders.

„No, Zeal. Tikil isn’t there anymore and since long ago. He managed to escape thanks to others’help. But… even so, he’s closed now in the depths of this mountain by my power that joined your grandfather’s power and of Dike, and we decided this because he started to act up again and frighten the creatures of this place and the humans. Yet… I don’t know for how long he’ll still be a captive there. I only hope that he won’t be released that soon. But I doubt that it’ll be as I wish,” and then the Titanide looked toward the stream that kept flowing through the swans’beak. But… that water was red at that moment, a hint that a lot of blood will be spelled on those realms in that war, that death will be next to her people, and that she didn’t have enough power to protect them all.

Zeal also looked in the same direction. But she didn’t see the same image as Inlan Diar and also she didn’t notice that the stream had red water at that moment. Yet, her heart was madly beating in her chest as it happened each time the danger was lurking on them.

***

The heavy rain seemed not to stop soon. Per contra: it was felt as its power was intensifying and a strange rustle of falling waters, deafening in fact, was heard all over the forest.

Even so, even if the soil was damp and the water was still pouring in big quantities on earth, making the walk difficult in those places, and slippery in some areas, the Yātrīkars kept advancing and climbing, heading toward one of the most dangerous ridges of the mountain Accam Kuṉṟu, the ridges known as Kaṟkaḷ Pēy or the Rocks of the Devil, and this name wasn’t randomly given, but it was the result of many mysterious deaths and disappearances of those who dared to venture on that mount, but who met the devil in the end. And… if someone managed to safely leave those places and if others asked him what the devil looks like, he could only say that he is small, with horns and a long tail. But… what his eyes looked like, nobody ever had been able to tell others about this.

Yet… that simple description of the devil had been enough for people to round those rocks and from far away actually. Thus, not being walked by soles that stepped on it, nature acted up and painted that area in dark and frightening colors.

And… talking about nature’s colors, we don’t mean only black and grey. Per contra: there were a lot of colors there - green, red, yellow. Even the blue of the water was seen there, but it had a dark shade, something that gave the surroundings a terrifying view. Yet, sometimes even the terrible has its own beauty, more when that something is close to the water because, between those rocks, the water of Tenebre’s River was crossing, washing them to the white and also bathing the ground banks that were on both sides of the river. Thus, because of the river’s tormented water, there were a lot of landslides, fallen rocks, and trees, a kind of natural action of reshaping the area.

But, even though those areas were difficult to cross by the animals or people, the Yātrīkars kept going over there, toward the heart of the place named Kaṟkaḷ Pēy, the one considered as the Center of Hell by some of the earthly creatures.

Thus, arrived next a bluff, on which was seen a small path, a hint that someone else headed toward that place before, Kaṇkaḷ stopped, raised her right hand up, and gave the signal to the others to do the same. Her comrades listened to her right away. But they didn’t move further after this but waited in silence for a while: listening to the silence of the surroundings and trying to understand if a spy or an intruder was around. Yet, except for the noise of the tormented water, nothing else was seen or felt there. Thus, understanding that it was the time to act, Kaṇkaḷ uncovered her head, allowing her ears to freely listen to the sound of nature, and her fighters, 50 in number, did the same.

Seconds after, Kaṇkaḷ squeezed her both fists that were touching her chest, closed her eyes, and, in an instant, she vanished from where she was, to appear seconds later on the shore of the river. Then, one by one, the 50 Virgins appeared behind her, to follow her after this toward another part of that slope, crossing the river. And, to cross it, Kaṇkaḷ stepped first on that big trunk that was fallen over the river, forming a kind of bridge.

Yet, it was weird why Kaṇkaḷ chose to cross that river this way and not by using teleportation. Even so, none of her fighters questioned her about this, but followed her in silence, advancing at a slow but sure step onto that trunk.

At a moment instead, that trunk, being too soaked by the river’s water, but also because the Yātrīkars’shoes were also wet after stepping through the water gathered on the soil, the foot of one of them slipped and she fell into the river.

The rest of the Virgins Yātrīkar didn’t rush to help her. They only turned their heads and looked toward the place where their sister fell, seeing her taken away by the tormented water. But, even though she was in deadly danger, that Yātrīkar made no sound. She only kept fighting with the water, in a desperate attempt to save herself.

Then, watching that terrifying view, Kaṇkaḷ said calmly, in a voice that would have shuddered any normal human from top to toe after having heard her talking like that: „let’s go!” And the other Yātrīkars followed her right away.

Yet… the one fallen into the river didn’t die. At a moment, after half of the Yātrīkars crossed the river already, she managed to jerk up, exiting the water, flew through the air above the river, to land later onto that improvised bridge, right behind those Virgins who were still advancing onto the trunk. Even so, even if their sister was safe, none of them looked at her or said something. They just kept advancing in silence until they got on solid ground… well, as solid as it could be the soil after that amount of heavy rain that fell from the sky.

After that, the Yātrīkars took a narrow path that was climbing the mountain, passing through two big rocks. Eventually, they started to step on a path made of hard rocks, one next to the other, probably to be used when the soil is soaked and difficult to walk onto. But, even so, that path was slippery and the wet shoes of the Virgins were often slipping on it. Nevertheless, they managed to keep their balance and continue climbing.

But… even if that place seemed deserted, Kaṇkaḷ decided to play safe. Thus, while advancing, she glanced to the left and to the right, as if feeling that someone was lurking on them, someone who could be by their side or not. Yet, even if she expected to be attacked in the end, it didn’t happen, not even when they climbed half of that path, and this seemed weird to Kaṇkaḷ, who knew that it wasn’t normal to find nobody in those places surrounded by shadows.

However, the moment they got in front of the entrance to a grotto, that was widely opening on that brink, Kaṇkaḷ looked to the right, feeling that something was burning her backhead, and when she looked up, she saw a shadow above the opposite brink to the one that had the grotto which she decided to enter.

At first, she didn’t understand who that being could be. Yet, something deep inside her told her that someone was lurking on them and she wanted very much to know who that being was. That’s why she narrowed her eyes and tried to pierce the cloth of the heavy rain and of the night. Yet… when her eagle eyes got up on that brink, she could see only some footsteps left on the damp soil. But those weren’t the footsteps of a human, but of a big wild animal.

„Accam Kuṉṟu?” Kaṇkaḷ said to herself, understanding that those were the footprints of a panther. Yet… she has been forced to turn back to her sisters when she felt a strange gust of wind coming from inside the grotto, and this made her stare toward that dark entrance.

Eventually, she covered her head and moved toward the entrance, wherefrom strange whispers were heard, vague whispers as if it was a call to deeply enter the heart of the mount.

One by one, her companions followed her and when the last Yātrīkar also entered the grotto, up on that brink where she saw the footsteps, Accam Kuṉṟu reappeared - the black panther. But that image wasn’t real - it was an illusion created by Anaya, who, very soon, took the shape of the old lady. Later, she turned into the red fox, leaving that place and deep marks on that damp soil, marks that were meant to deceive Fate and others.