The sinuous paths of the grotto Kaṟkaḷ Pēy were considered extremely dangerous by those who ever ventured into the depths of this place and managed to see the light of the sun once again. However, most of the courageous never turned back to feel the smell of the wet soil bathed by the water of the River Tenebre, and their remains were considered „saints” because people, those who had been close to the dead ones, could only bow in front of that grotto, glorifying the name of the one who went on unknown paths without return. But where the bones of that unhappy person were nobody knew because, in time, people stopped coming to those places. Thus, nature became really savage being left on its own.

Also, it was well known that in the past nature and humans worshiped in front of the Sun Tī and of the Titan Tetapas, the one hidden in the heart of the earth, and this was because Tetapas got to be considered the Omnipotent Spirit that was protecting them from the anger of the Underworld, the one thrown over the world like hot magma, destroying everything in its way and killing each living soul met in its way.

Now instead, of more than 7 thousand years lived in the wild, nature forgot to thank the Sun or any other Titan for its existence, worshipping only in front of itself. Or at least this seemed at first because that color palette, which had both splendid and murky colors, was bathed by a strange light from everywhere, undoubtedly thanks to someone’s mercy, for nature had its own hidden power. Yet… it was also influenced by someone or something, and the power, that was controlling nature for more than 7 thousand years already, was the one of evil, or as humans got to name that place - „the Snake’s Lair.”

Who was that snake… nobody knew. They only named that place hidden in the heart of Kaṟkaḷ Pēy „the Snake’s Lair” because of the holes that entered and exited the wall of the mountain, in that part where the entrance of the grotto was too, inside of which the Yātrīkars had ventured, holes that perfectly seemed made by a snake.

But… not only those holes were to blame for that strange name. It also happened because of the nights with little celestial light when a loud hiss was heard everywhere, sometimes from far away, sometimes from very close, a hiss made by someone or something that was slipping on that steep and rocky wall… the body of a huge snake that was crawling its heavy bones up and down the wall, leaving deep traces on its surface, traces that have drawn an extraordinary painting on the face of Kaṟkaḷ Pēy, making it similar to a famous warrior, whose face was full of scars. Yet, this warrior’s scars were something that were very deep and could never heal.

And… carefully watching those sinuous traces seen on the steep wall, moving his eyes in a straight line, then to the left and to the right, moving his eyeball on a sinuous form, the viewer could see eventually the ground, the same on which he was standing, to see the line climbing again on that wall, leaving a deep and long trace which was undoubtedly the trace left by a snake, a thick one, that could have barely been surrounded by 4 men. And… that line always finished in front of the entrance in the grotto, the one that was leading the courageous one’s footsteps deep into the heart of Kaṟkaḷ Pēy…

***

Following the snake’s path, while carefully advancing because none of them had the minimum idea of what could have waited for them there, the Yātrīkars could see eventually lights appearing on the walls on both sides of them. And… even if those lights were clear, having a torch form, they weren’t real, but only projected on the walls by the hand of someone that was controlling the air and the power of that grotto, and this was felt as strange touches on the skin, even if the Devilish Virgins never felt them while being in the outside world.

Inside that grotto instead, they felt everything very clear as they had felt everything while they were still alive, and that strange undulation on their skin, like the crawling of a snake, made them all slowly shudder, to feel that shuddering deep inside their bones later and, unwillingly, each of them closed her eyes and stopped.

They stood like this for minutes in a row, period of time they heard a strange whistle of the wind in their ears while they kept feeling that slow movement on their skin, something that made them feel strange. Yet, it was still something pleasantly felt inside by the Yātrīkars.

Nevertheless… the moment they heard the ringing of bells and the rustle of running water all around them, Kaṇkaḷ opened her eyes and looked in front, with her black-like pitch eyes, having no white on the eyeball or the famous peel seen by humans or creatures when they met them in their way.

The other Yātrīkars instead kept their eyes closed and shuddering from time to time as if having a fever, leaving Kaṇkaḷ to face alone the strangeness of those places where she had brought them.

And the leader of the Yātrīkars didn’t complain about this. She kept watching from close the movement of the air around her, air that suddenly got a dark-gray color, somehow transparent at the same time, something that projected waves on the walls by using the dancing light of those imaginary torches. Yes… waves, but not sea waves, or river waves, or ocean waves, but… fog waves, making those torches appear and disappear on the walls.

And, each time the torches were covered by those fog waves, that increased in volume and covered the entire wall, that ringing of the bells has been also heard louder and louder, like the sound of something undulating on the skin.

„Cover your heads!” Kaṇkaḷ demanded, and her companions suddenly opened their eyes, eyes that had the same color as their leader's, and covered their heads, turning „invisible.” Yet, it was everything only an illusion because they kept standing in the same place, but the power of their malice hid them from someone that was as evil as they were or maybe worse.

And they did well hiding because, very soon, that hissing intensified, and a gust of wind, somehow stinky, touched their faces, making them wry their faces eventually.

Kaṇkaḷ didn’t wait after this but took a few steps in front till she got to a crossroad of six tunnels that were leading in six different directions. Thus, looking to the left and to the right, she could see that those weren’t normal tunnels, but circular, being carved by a snake’s body. Even so, she could have normally advanced through it if she had wanted this. But… something told Kaṇkaḷ that she could find hidden traps in those tunnels, unseen traps even by the eye of her mind, and that probably only one of those tunnels was sure. Which of them… she had no idea.

She decided eventually not just to wait but look for answers. That’s why she closed her eyes again and moved like the wind through those tunnels, looking for the source of fresh air, for she was sure that the lair of the one they came there to look for was found in an area with fresh air because even the evil, that loves to hide in stinky places, longs for a gust of fresh air from time to time.

Suddenly when she got to a place where the height of the tunnel decreased a lot so that one could advance only crawling and the walls of those tunnels became shiny as if being washed by water to make it look so, Kaṇkaḷ felt a strange vibration on her skin, and when she turned her head to see who was approaching her, she has been suddenly hit in the face and forced to return to the real world.

But, when she got next to her sisters again, she has been thrown against a wall, and after hearing all her bones crackling, the leader of the Yātrīkars rolled on that stone floor till she got to the feet of the other Virgins that were staring at her not understanding what the hell had just happened and what kind of devilish power defeated Kaṇkaḷ in the end.

Kaṇkaḷ instead, seeing one of them bending to help her, looked with hatred at her and hissed through her teeth: „nobody moves!” After that, she touched the floor with both palms and pushed her body up to stand. Thus, she heard her bones cracking again because her power managed to put them back in place after being broken or taken out of their place after the hit.

Then, already on her feet, Kaṇkaḷ moved her head to the left and to the right to chase the numbness away. After that, she snarled: „well, it seems that we are unwelcome guests here! Then… they’ll also see what we are capable of.” And, using an extraordinary power that made her seem transparent while running, she headed toward each of those six tunnels seen in front. But… right away she started to run into one of those tunnels, she was thrown again against the wall, making her gasp because each time she felt the „kiss” of the mountain on her skin, she felt it as if she was deeply cut by a sharp knife. And… she understood that she felt the pain even harsher namely because they were in that damn grotto.

„Damn… snake!” snarled Kaṇkaḷ the last time she has been thrown against the wall. And she even gnashed her teeth feeling the pain, a gnash that has been heard all around that place. But… not even the pain made her give up, just as that unpleasant sound of a snake's body touching the floor didn’t stop. That’s why Kaṇkaḷ closed her eyes and waited, in the lobby of that twilling world. And… this way, she could see again, all around her, those shiny walls, bathed by water, and someone’s reflection on them as if there was a big mirror all around her.

Seconds later after watching that reflection in silence, Kaṇkaḷ understood whose it was in fact… it was the reflection of a huge snake, that was slowly crawling on that floor. After that, she saw the scales on that skin… dark green scales. Later, that snake's body has been seen very clearly, moving both on the floor and on the walls.

Yet, she has been forced to turn back to her sisters when she heard whispers:

TAMIL:

„Vāḻkkai uṅkaḷukku talaivaliyait tarukiṟatu, illaiyā?”

EN:

„Life is unpredictable, isn’t it?” And those words surprised her a lot because they have been spoken by a woman and not by a man as she imagined.

TAMIL:

Nīṅkaḷ eṉakku patil collavillai, karuṅkaṇ kaṉṉi. Vāḻkkai uṅkaḷ vaḻiyil varukiṟatu, atai eppaṭi velvatu eṉṟu uṅkaḷukkut teriyavillai, illaiyā?

EN:

„You didn’t answer me, Virgin with black eyes. Life follows your footsteps and you don’t know how to defeat her, isn’t it?”

„Yes, it’s true. But… who are you?” Kaṇkaḷ dared to ask eventually, after seconds in a row of listening to those whispers that were saying the same thing over and over again, hissing the words.

TAMIL:

Nāṉ? Nāṉ yār?

EN:

„I? Who I am?” The voice of the snake asked again.

„Yes. Who are you? Because I know very well that this place doesn’t belong to you but to… others. To the one who I look for right now.”

Instead of a verbal answer, the snake’s laughter has been heard this time, loud laughter that surrounded the area in seconds, echoing around and making the skin of the Yātrīkars bristle. Then, so suddenly that the Virgins pulled back, they saw the head of that she-snake that was coming toward them on the path seen in front. And… while the snake slowly advanced, she said:

TAMIL:

Avarkaḷ eṉṉai pātāḷa ulakattiṉ itayattil uḷḷa pāmpu eṉṟu aḻaikkiṟārkaḷ. Maṟṟavarkaḷ eṉṉai apis eṉṟu aḻaikkiṟārkaḷ. Āṉāl ulakam muḻuvatum eṉṉai aṟiyum…

EN:

„They call me the snake that lives in the heart of the Underworld. Others call me by the name of Havoc while the rest of the world knows me as…”

„…Tetapas!” murmured Kaṇkaḷ feverishly, finally understanding how wrong the world has been in those 7 thousand years when they worshiped in front of the Titan of the earth without knowing that they were worshiping in fact in front of a… snake.

„And… you are again right,” said the she-snake, finally touching the ground with her head even if she proudly kept it raised up by then. „I’m the most loved Titan by humans. I’m the one in front of whom nature and humans worshiped for millennia, making offerings to me and asking for peace on earth and on water, to keep evil deep into this mountain and protecting immortality thus.”

„Yet… nobody knows how you look in fact. That’s why humans and nature worshiped in front of the Titan Tetapas, not knowing that you are just a Titanide,” Kaṇkaḷ added eventually in mockery.

„Are you sure?” hissed Tetapas the words.

„About…?”

„That I’m a „she” and not a… „he?”

„Voice always betrays us. The same happened to you because…,” but she kept silent when she heard Tetapas’s laughter again and she understood that it was the voice of a man, thick, strong, and this made her understand that she has been wrong in fact. But… why exactly Tetapas chose to hide his real nature? Or better to say… to hide it from whom?!

„Now you’re wrong,” said Tetapas this time with the voice of the woman and of the man at the same time. „I’m not hiding, just as I don’t hide anything from anyone. I just try to identify myself with Fate, to wear its cloak on my shoulders and… get eventually on the height of power.”

„Anyway… there’s a „why" for everything,” Kaṇkaḷ said cunningly, taking a few steps toward the snake, who stopped and waited for something. What he was waiting for… wasn’t clear. That’s why Kaṇkaḷ decided that it was time to find out some truths.

However, the snake didn’t fall for this: „why do always do something for something? Can’t we do something without waiting for a result?”

„This is illogical already,” replied Kaṇkaḷ confidently. „Everything in this world has been created for something, and their meaning is a logical result.”

„You instead… are different,” hissed the she-snake.

„We know this already because…”

„No… leader of Yātrīkars, I meant here your existence, which is useless in fact,” added Tetapas, the man.

„I wouldn't be that sure if I were you because… we know what we've been created for. Just…”

„… not everybody has to know this, right?” Tetapas asked in two voices.

„Right… because… it’s only our problem and we don’t have why to explain something to someone. Just as you don’t have the right to barre our path or deceive the eye of our minds. So… be kind and let us pass. Otherwise… we’ll take care to take out of your skin each of those dark green scales and you’ll hide again in the heart of this mount… with shame,” the Yātrīkar said with controlled anger in her voice. And, after suddenly shaking her arms, she made her nails grow a lot, nails that blackened later and became as sharp as a knife at the top.

Tetapas didn’t bother at all seeing this „act of preparing for the fight,” and that’s why he sweetly yawned. After that, he twined himself on six levels while he left the other part of the long tail and his neck free. Then while he talked, Tetapas crept through the rings of his own body and he raised his head up them later, making his neck seem as if having „collars of beads” around it.

„All right! Be as you wish! But… with one condition!”

„Condition?! Which one?” asked Kaṇkaḷ, staring at him in disbelief.

„Answer correctly my question. Thus you open the door and you can pass. But… if you answer wrongly, then… your head will be where your feet are.”

„A riddle then?”

„I rather call it a game,” murmured the she-snake, whose eyes started to move in small circles, trying to charm her prey.

The eyes of the Yātrīkar remained cold instead because it was necessary more than a simple spell of an old Titan like Tetapas to bring her to her knees. The same happened to the eyes of the other Yātrīkars.

„A tasteless game in my opinion,” Kaṇkaḷ hissed through her teeth, staring into his eyes, and the power of her mind made Tetapas feel the skull bones crackling, especially on the occipital area of his head. That’s why he decided to finish that „rolling in circles” of the eyes and go round and round, and his glance got a natural shine in the end. Then, he hissed long through his teeth while asking his question: „nobody ever understood it. Yet, everybody thinks that he knows her meaning in this world. Everybody is afraid of her even if she never hurt anybody. Even so, the whole world worships in front of her asking for mercy. Guess the riddle… what it is?”

These words started the Yātrīkars thinking, who suddenly started to murmur too, wondering what could mean what Tetapas said, and the noise of their voices has been clearly heard around, something that amazed the Titan a lot because even if he was sure that Kaṇkaḷ didn’t come there alone, he couldn’t see her companions. That’s why he used the trick with the mirrors and later the riddle - he wanted to check how many souls came into his kingdom and do calculations about how many servants „enriched” his collection.

But… surprise… when Kaṇkaḷ looked back, the other Virgins kept silent, and Tetapas heard in the end only one voice: the one of the leader of the Yātrīkars as if she was who had just murmured, even if he was sure that her lips didn’t even move. Yet… no matter how hard he didn’t try to remember where he got counting, for he started to count those voices in his mind, he couldn’t, and this was because of the power of the Yātrīkars, who have been even much cunning than he was.

Eventually, he winced when Kaṇkaḷ said: „I’ll answer your riddle with another one, and if you answer correctly my riddle then I’ll answer yours too.”

„You play dirty,” snarled Tetapas.

„Just like you actually. Don’t even think that I didn’t understand what you plan.”

Tetapas winced, carefully watching her. „Do I plan? I?”

„Yes, you! Your freedom because… even though I’d heard this a long time ago when my mother was still alive, about the curse thrown over you by Fate, I never thought that’s real. But… just as It happens with Ahilar, you won’t ever be able to leave this grotto if another soul doesn't accept to live here in your place. Or…”

„…or?” Tetapas hissed again through his teeth, unpleasantly surprised to find out that Kaṇkaḷ knew about his sins.

„Or if you gather the necessary amount of souls by closing them in the Jar of Fate’s fire, Koṭi, 666 souls to be more specific. So, here’s my question: how many souls did you manage to close inside Koṭi already or how many souls do you still have to close there in order for the sun to warm your rotten heart again?”

„Cobra!” snarled Tetapas furiously.

Kaṇkaḷ smiled instead: she won because Tetapas wouldn’t have ever revealed to another one how many souls did he still have to close to be finally free of Fate’s curse. And that curse has been thrown over him by Parca, many millennia ago when she closed him in the heart of that mount which she got to hate more than Life.

„I didn’t hear your answer, Tetapas,” said Kaṇkaḷ confidently.

However, Tetapas kept silent and carefully stared at her, trying to understand what devilish trick was that one, for he was sure that Kaṇkaḷ didn’t know the answer to his riddle, and her riddle was only to make him give up and let them pass. That’s why he started to gather venom, secretly, in his throat, intending to spit it later over the Yātrīkars and subdue them, for he needed 66 more souls to finally be free, and with all those souls that willingly came there, he was sure that even though he wouldn’t be completely free, at least he’d drastically decrease the number still left because humans rounded that place for millennia already and this was killing him inside.

He has been forced to swallow his own venom eventually, something that made him cough because… the idiom: the schemer falls into the pit which he digs for another was true in his case, and this happened when he saw Tikil’s black kitten, Morgan, which he actually hated very much because… that Morgan had great power over Tetapas, something that left him powerless inside, a power that he couldn’t get back later, and this was a real problem for him.

That’s why, the moment he spotted the shadow of the kitten reflected on the walls of those tunnels, a shadow seen as if being of a black panther, Tetapas jumped on his tail, tangling more, and this because he passed his own head through the rings of his body and, after landing back on earth, he turned head over heels. Later, he rushed toward a huge hole seen not that far from them, still dragging that tangled body over him. Yet, even if it seemed that he won’t pass through that hole, he did it, and this was a hint that it wasn’t the first time he had to run while being wrapped around his own body.

Tetapas’s run didn’t amaze Kaṇkaḷ. On the contrary: she didn't pay too much attention to this but she focused her glance on the walls, following the shadow of the „panther” approaching them. But… unlike Tetapas, Kaṇkaḷ wasn’t sure who was approaching them because that slow walk of a lazy feline seemed to her as being of Accam Kuṉṟu. Yet… something told her that it wasn’t as it seemed to be and that she should wait.

Yet, she took a step back the moment the black kitten appeared in front of them on the tunnel from her left, even if she had seen his reflection on the opposite tunnel by then as if he was approaching them from the right, and this was really strange. Nevertheless… she decided to trust her instinct and not the weirdness of that place because her instinct had never failed her. That’s why, the moment Morgan stopped in front of them, turning his head toward them and focused his glance on the Virgins, they all took a step in front.

After that, Morgan sweetly yawned and headed toward the tunnel from the middle, the same tunnel through which Tetapas had run away.

The Virgins Yātrīkar didn’t follow him right away but after minutes of staring in front, time while Kaṇkaḷ wondered what all that devilish thing meant. Eventually, when Morgan suddenly vanished, about 200 meters of walking through that tunnel, Kaṇkaḷ motioned to her companions and they also headed over there, disappearing like Morgan in the end.

***

Falling water: both slow and tormented at the same time, filled the heart of the grotto with a pleasant sound, something that could calm the heart of the one that entered that place and make him think that he came into Paradise and not into a devilish place as Kaṟkaḷ Pēy was.

Then, it was the beauty of that place: with diverse stone figurines, carved millennia ago by famous humans, those who at the beginning of the world had lived in grottos and worshiped in front of the Titans, who they had considered the masters of the world, and one of those Titans was Tetapas, whose statue was in the right part of the grotto, in the eastern part, there where the sun rises because he was often mistaken with Tī.

That’s why Tetapas’s statue, 6 meters tall, had, in one of the hands, the carved image of the sun while he was holding the bridles of invisible horses with the other hand, the perfect personification of the celestial chariot, the one that crossed the limitless Cosmos, bringing light on the earth.

Yet… something was different about that statue: the fact that it wasn’t representing Tī, the one who had appeared in front of Tikil the same day Alton died and has been reborn as Argol later. No… this one had sharp features on the face: the beard was barely covered by coarse hair which made that face seem even more rough carved in that stone. Yet, that rough carving outlined, even more, the abyss of the blind eyes because the Titan Tetapas has been imagined by humans as being blind because only this way they could explain the fact that he allowed natural disasters or crimes to happen. Nevertheless, even if they didn’t know a lot about the world, the humans carved that face to be pleasant to watch and also be admired by the heart of the young ladies, who got to believe that namely Tetapas’s virility brought children in this world, and, if a Virgin got to dream with Tetapas not long before getting married, it was considered a good sign… that she’s blessed as mother and as a woman.

However… the faith in Tetapas had its negative sides and the legends told that if a Virgin never got to dream with the Titan, she was considered pagan, stained inside by the malice of the world. That’s why such Virgins were generally chased out of the trib and forced to hide in that grotto, the same grotto where Tetapas’s statue was. Thus, having no other choice, they became priestesses for their entire life, not knowing at all the warmth of a man’s body or what love means, and this was because once a Virgin was one of the Titan’s priestesses, he was the only one who could touch her and bless her body and soul.

„But… everything has been just an illusion of Life, the one that’s stubborn to see fruits all over, even in barren soil, in icy water, and even in the empty and deceiving eyes of a woman,” the Yātrīkars heard the voice said by a man, whose face and body they didn’t see when they appeared in that place, brought there by the magic of the grotto.

Nevertheless, even though they didn’t see his face, they didn’t look everywhere to see him but kept looking at Morgan, which was slowly walking toward Tetapas’s statue. And the Yātrīkars were sure that the kitten had nothing to do with that cunning Titan, but with someone else… with an evil soul that has built his kingdom in the heart of someone else’s kingdom.

And it was so because right after Morgan finished climbing on the statue’s feet, passed the girdle, and jumped on the Titan’s arm, the voice of the man has been heard again: „yet, Life’s illusion has its own benefits as the one of having an army of women at your feet, fully enjoying not only their beauty but also their innocence, filling your body thus with infinite power that will last forever.”

Hearing the last part of the stranger’s speech, Kaṇkaḷ turned her head and looked at the statue, where she was sure that the voice had been heard from while the other Yātrīkars stood behind her, with their heads bent, looking to the ground and with the hood covering their faces, even if they weren’t invisible this time.

„Tikil?” asked Kaṇkaḷ eventually, taking a few steps toward the statue. Yet, she kept staring at Morgan, which lay down in someone’s arms, someone invisible that was also laying down, above the void as if having soft bedding under him, even if invisible too, that impeded him from falling. However, Kaṇkaḷ was sure that it was only because of his magic and that there wasn’t any invisible wall created by Fate.

And she wasn’t wrong thinking like that because after about 10 steps taken in front she saw, outlining under Morgan, whose purr was heard all over that grotto, the body of a man. Then, the voice of a woman started to sing but used no words. And, when the body of that Titan finished outlining, Kaṇkaḷ saw him laying down on a hammock, made from soft liana and bamboo twigs.

The fact that he suddenly appeared in front of her didn’t take Kaṇkaḷ by surprise because it seemed to her that she knew the reason why he called her there and that their meeting was beneficial for both of them.

„Yes, it’s me,” said Tikil eventually, still laying down and without watching her. „But… who are you… it’s something I don’t know,” and Kaṇkaḷ suddenly saw his eyes sparkling in front of her like lit embers for a few seconds. After that, the whole grotto has been seen by them.

Kaṇkaḷ didn’t scare even that time, but said: „my name is Kaṇkaḷ and I’m the leader of the Yātrīkars, the army that…”

„… that has stolen the bodies of the human Virgins, deceiving Bodhi and running away from the Gates of the Purgatorium.” After that, he stood up, staring at each of the Yātrīkars. Yet, he couldn’t see their faces because of the hoods that were covering their heads.

„I see that you know our story,” the leader of the Yātrīkars said in low voice, carefully watching each of the Titan’s movements.

„Let’s just say that’s something that reached my ears,” he said and jerked in the air. After that, he slowly descended while Morgan has been left to purr on that hammock on which Tikil had laid down by then.

The eyes of the Yātrīkar Virgin instead kept looking carefully at him while he descended slowly. Thus, she realized that this Titan was different from the one she saw in her dreams and who had fought with Titan Tī millennia ago. Yet… she managed to block the flow of her thoughts just not let Tikil know that she had doubts about his power once she found him closed in that grotto.

„I see that you aren’t surprised to find out that others… those closed in the depths of this mountain… know about your existence, Virgin Yātrīkar,” said Tikil sternly after his soles touched the soil and he took a few steps toward her.

Kaṇkaḷ smiled instead: „why should I be surprised about obvious things? The entire world knows about our existence. Or at least know this those who should know this.”

„Like?”

„The Siars and… Tenebre. Just like the rest of the Titans.”

„However, you didn’t go to other Titans but came here. To ask me a favor.”

„That’s right,” said Kaṇkaḷ cunningly. „And I came here because our ideals seem to be identical.”

„I don’t think so,” said Tikil, and, suddenly, he moved through the air back and sat down on one of the rocks found next to the waterfall seen to the right of Tetapas’s statue. „The one known as Ahi isn’t my enemy.”

„Yet… he could be someone to help you to destroy your enemies. Let’s not forget that the one who you hate the most, Inlan Diar… your beloved sister… is about to become allies with Ahi and with the red foxes, and if this happens then you won’t ever leave this place,” she said, walking back and forth in front of the Titan.

„Keep going!”

„But… if we get to defeat Ahi first and take his power and of the red foxes, then the falling of the Kingdom of Ice and of the People of Paṉi, which is lead by Inlan Diar, will be just a matter of… moments. Later, you’ll be absolutely free.”

„You forget one thing, Virgin Yātrīkar!” said Tikil, suddenly appearing in front of her and looking straight into her eyes.

Kaṇkaḷ instead kept a cold head and didn’t look elsewhere: „like?”

„That as long as I’m closed here, I can’t enjoy what you’d just said. That’s why… I don’t want to take the risk.”

„What if it’s possible to release you from here?”

Hearing this, Tikil’s eyes started to shine and this gave Kaṇkaḷ the opportunity to continue her thought:

„There’ve been 50 souls that took the place of a single one in the jail of icy monsters. Thus, the Balance of the World has been restored because… when Evil and Good have equal powers, any loser can be a winner in the end.

„Vīḻcci Paṉi Makkaḷ,” murmured Tikil deliriously, closing his eyes and laying on his back, without taking his soles off the ground. „The Falling of the People of Ice.”

„That’s right! For this, you just need to accept immortality!” Kaṇkaḷ tempted him, stretching her right hand in front, fist squeezed, hiding something from his eyes: something shiny, something fascinating, something that made Tikil stare at her fist while inside him the desire was boiling like the water in a cauldron… the desire to be released and touch… immortality. „Accept to win or to lose, Tikil! It’s up to you!” Kaṇkaḷ’s whispered voice has been heard in the end, so close to the Titan’s ear, seducing him.

***

And held Titan Tikil immortality in his hand, opening the fist of the Virgin Yātrīkar as if opening Pandora’s box… a fist that covered a shiny bottle, similar to the one from which Baradar had drunk the water taken from the Stream of Immortality. Eventually, Tikil did the same… he drank from that water, charmed by a woman’s eyes…