Walking at a slow step through the forest and heading more and more to the darkness, Baradar looked to his left at Shiver Sun’s head. Yet, even if he carefully looked at his companion, the log didn’t do the same. It looked as though Shiver Sun was ignoring the minikin, looking straight in front. He even painfully sighed at one moment when he felt an insufferable pressure in his chest.

Hearing that sigh, the minikin hurried to ask, „Something happens, Shiver Sun?”

The log didn’t answer. He only kept moving, in silence, slowly stepping with his wooden legs, even if he felt, just like the minikin felt, that he would have liked to turn back. Yet, there wasn’t any way back home… only to advance. That’s why he said to the minikin in the end, „Nothing happened, Baradar! Only this burden that presses my chest.”

„Burden? What kind of burden?” Asked Baradar, confused.

„A kind of longing?! Honestly, I can’t explain this. I just… feel that we should advance and advance. Eventually, we’ll figure out what’s the deal with the longing from my soul.”

Yet, it wasn’t a longing… what Shiver Sun felt. It was fear… for him, for the minikin, and for the entire world. A fear he didn’t want to talk to Baradar about because… in his eyes, the minikin was still a child and children must always be protected from evil. Nevertheless…

He winced eventually, hearing the minikin’s next question, „Still, Shiver Sun, where are we going anyway?”

Shiver Sun kept silent again. Only the swinging of his heavy steps felt so pleasantly as if he was trying to put Baradar to sleep only not to ask such questions or… he just tried to calm him down this way?! Not even Shiver Sun was sure about this. He only winced once again when the minikin called his name. Only then he said, „Where are we going?! East! Or maybe… West? I also don’t know. I’m not sure, honestly.” A random answer heard from the log, which made Baradar frown. Yet, what the log said was said with no mean intention even if it sounded so weird.

Such words managed to make the minikin attentive. Baradar even sweetly frowned at one moment, staring at Shiver Sun. Yet, seeing that the log kept silent, he suddenly started to feel the worm of curiosity inside him, which was intensely squirming, something that made him say eventually, „I think that’s not good.”

„What exactly?” The log asked, surprised. After that, Shiver Sun turned his head right, looking at the minikin.

„Not be sure of what you say or do,” said Baradar, irritated. „Actually, this isn’t good at all. Especially for someone like you, Shiver Sun because… only think about this: how can’t you be sure where we are heading now? More than that, how is this possible for you to be so indecisive? Lately, at least, I feel you are weird. Something that I don’t like at all, honestly.”

Shiver Sun burst into laughter. Then he cleared his voice, understanding that his reaction could have bothered the minikin. That’s why, he eventually asked, „Lately? What have I done lately that seems weird to you? More than that, what’s wrong with being indecisive? At least from time to time, this is something good for mankind.”

This question, innocent and cunning at the same time, made the minikin feel confused. The reason? Well, he wasn’t sure of this. What he was sure of was that he definitely hated indecisive people. More than that, he simply hated indecisive answers, like the one heard from the log’s mouth seconds ago.

And… the minikin hated something else than indecisive people or answers. Especially, he started to hate it in the last few days… that he felt weird, as though he wasn’t the previous Baradar anymore. More than that, he started to hate that itch he felt all the time on his left wrist, an itch that bothered him at that moment too because he started to scratch the skin again, in his desperate attempt to make that weird monster, felt on his skin, disappear.

Yet, it didn’t vanish: neither the itch nor the feeling from his soul. On the contrary, it felt even more intense than before. This made him feel irritated. Moreover, it bothered him when he heard Shiver Sun saying, „You know, Baradar, being indecisive can save you from problems sometimes.”

„I wouldn't bet on it,” the minikin replied harshly.

„Why?” Asked Shiver Sun, highly surprised.

„Because one should face the problems when they appear and not hide himself from them. The same happens to your enemies if you have them: you should look into their eyes, letting them know that you aren’t afraid of them. Then, after you’ve sent the message, walk proudly and not show fear to anyone and anything.”

„What if it’s not as you think?”

„What do you mean?” The minikin asked, even more surprised than before.

„I talk about problems and enemies because… well, one is to be courageous. At the same time, it’s to praise that one can defend himself and defeat his enemies, but… what if through all you do, you only manage to awaken a bigger and more fierce monster than the one you met before?”

„Then… I face him! If a more fierce monster appears. This means that the first one hadn’t been able to defeat me. Thus, he sent his ally after me, something that helps me grow up.”

„Ok, I got your point, but… what if the second enemy is something you can’t defeat? What happens then if he defeats you? Will you accept your defeat and give up?”

„Of course not,” responded Baradar in half a voice even if he was sure of his answer. „I won’t ever give up. Not even after death because… nothing can stay in your way if you are sure of your final aim.”

Then the minikin kept silent. He’d been silent for a long time because that word… death… made him feel a big pressure on his soul. He felt sadness, something that reminded him of the day when the People of Noear disappeared. And, when he remembered that day, he finally understood what Shiver Sun meant by saying, „a bigger enemy,” a thought that made him painfully sigh and say, „Maybe you are right.”

It has been the log’s turn to watch Baradar in amazement. „Am I right?” Shiver Sun asked. „About what?”

„That one is unable to defeat all his enemies. There are cunning enemies one cannot defeat because, no matter what you do, those enemies find a way to knock you down.”

„Do you mean the past events or the present time?”

„Both, Shiver Sun, because… I have the feeling that we face the same enemy. The one Queen Noea and the Noears faced seven thousand years ago. Yet… I don’t know who’s that enemy because… Oh, I’m not sure of anything anymore. And… I feel so small, so unprotected in such moments.”

„You shouldn’t, Baradar,” the log told him kindly, using the tone of a father. Because of this, Baradar looked at him with teary eyes. A glance that made Shiver Sun smile eventually and say, „Do you know why you shouldn’t feel powerless? Because you have me, minikin. You have good friends by your side, like Master Dike and the Rophions. And many others too.” After that, the log rested one of his wooden fingers on the minikin’s shoulder, letting him know that he was by his side in everything.

Suddenly, Shiver Sun frowned when he spotted Baradar scratching the skin of his left wrist again. Moreover, he felt irritated when he heard the minikin hissing through his teeth, „Damn unpleasant.” After that, squinting at the log, Baradar told him, „You are also weird lately. Insufferable I can say… with all your care.”

„Insufferable? Why am I insufferable?” Asked the log, frowning. Yet, after seconds of staring into the eyes of the minikin, he finally saw the continuous movement of Baradar’s fingers, who kept scratching the skin of his hand. A movement that stopped right away Baradar saw Shiver Sun’s glance focused on his fingers. And, feeling guilty for what he said before, Baradar looked elsewhere.

After that, Baradar kept silent for a long time. He felt weird because he definitely couldn’t understand why he reacted like this. He reacted childishly and weirdly even if he thought that he was unable of such behavior. Moreover, what was the deal with the irritation? What was the deal with the voice he heard from inside? He really couldn’t figure it out because Shiver Sun said nothing out of the ordinary to bother him so much. Yes, Shiver Sun only expressed his opinion, answering his questions. Yet, he disliked those answers very much even if he didn’t know why.

Eventually, understanding that he acted weird, he looked at Shiver Sun again, telling him in half a voice, „Don’t take it personally, Shiver Sun! I just… feel weird. You know this very well. Yet, even if I act weirdly, you are still my friend. One I love so much.” Baradar whispered all this, feeling how the worm of guilt was squirming inside him, something that he couldn’t understand at all… why he felt guilty. That’s why he kept looking at the ground, at that soil that was left behind by the wooden soles of the log that kept advancing.

„I also love you, old friend,” Shiver Sun said, in his mind. „Yet… I can only be here, with you, and nothing more because you’ve chosen your fate alone and you also should face it alone. Only this way, you’ll pay for your sins and find your peace again, that peace you need so much.” After that, Shiver Sun looked, only from the corner of his eyes, at Baradar’s right hand, which was continuously scratching the left wrist.

Thus, what Baradar couldn’t see, Shiver Sun saw: a thin golden chain with a small golden key hanging on it, a chain the minikin wore as a bracelet around his left wrist. At first, the chain and the key seemed painted on the skin. Yet, seconds later, they started to hang at the minikin’s skinny wrist like a bracelet. Then, right after the bracelet and the key could be clearly seen, the minikin sighed, feeling a cold blow of air touching his skin, something that comforted him so much.

Because of this, he closed his eyes, allowing that swinging of Shiver Sun’s body to calm him down. Seeing him with his eyes closed, Shiver Sun smiled, happy that the cold air he had blown over the minikin’s red skin comforted him. Yet, that smile was sad because he understood that the calmness from Baradar’s soul wouldn’t last for long and that sooner or later he would be forced to face that cruel destiny he ran out of all those seven thousand years, a destiny that finally caught up with him. A destiny that was closely related to that golden key, which chose Baradar because he was so stubborn and wouldn’t have given up on his mission, no matter the consequences.

***

The key from Baradar’s wrist was really strange. It had the basis in the form of a star, so similar to the star Irakkam, which Fenrir wore as a medallion, while the sharp top, the upper one, reminded others about the spears Īṭṭikaḷ, used by Island and Boor in battles. Then, on the upper part, Chaos’s all-seeing eye was seen right in the middle of the star with five sharp tops. At the same time, the long sharp top had the form, or maybe only engraved on it, a flame. At the same time, the underside of the key was completely smooth, reminding others of the soft touch of ice, sometimes cold, especially when it touched Baradar’s red skin, making him shudder from time to time.

Actually, namely in such moments, when Baradar shuddered because of the cold touch of the key, it got a blue color, so similar to the color of Bestla’s gelatin or of Ionas when enemies were around it. For the rest, both the key and the chain had a golden color, as Shiver Sun was seeing it generally. In fact, Shiver Sun never saw the key having a blue or red color, and this was so because only rarely it could get red. When exactly? It was a mystery even for Fate.

There was something weirder to that key than its color: the fact that Baradar hadn’t been aware of it ever. Yet, Shiver Sun not only knew about the existence of the key but was also seeing it all the time. Something that made him wonder why Fate brought him to Earth or which was his role in this world, for… he wasn’t sure if he was the guardian of the minikin’s curse or if there was something else hidden about his existence, a role he wasn’t aware of. Yet, even if he asked himself such questions all the time, he never received an answer to them.

Even so, Shiver Sun knew very well what he was seeing in the reflection on the eye engraved on the key: a world in flames, then… a world covered by ashes, a world surrounded by darkness in the end. A darkness that made even him shudder, especially when in the black sky of that world that was reflected in the eye a big tongue of flames was seen. It was the image seen by Shiver Sun at that moment too while he kept staring at the key. And, after shuddering a little, Shiver Sun wondered, „What does this mean? A vision? A memory maybe? I’m not sure of this. I'm only aware of the fact that this is something that I’m not meant to see, just as it isn't part of a memory I have. Then… whose Fate I continue to see reflected on the key?”

He winced eventually when he heard Baradar’s question, „Why are you so deep in thoughts, Shiver Sun?”

The log kept silent. Shiver Sun said nothing not because he didn’t know what to say, but because he felt confused. Especially, he was bothered and amazed to see Baradar acting impulsively and that the minikin also got to understand him so well lately. Why only lately? Because, in the rest, over seven thousand years since they knew each other, Baradar never realized when the log took thoughts or what was in his soul. Lately, however, especially in the last few hours since they started their journey to the Glade of Shadows, Baradar got not only to understand Shiver Sun but also felt irritated all the time. Just as he felt at that moment when he saw that Shiver Sun kept silent. That's why he suddenly asked, drily, „Why are you silent when I need answers?”

„Because…,” Shiver Sun stuttered, trying to choose the right words. Yet, understanding that he was unable to find a logical answer through all those that crossed his mind at that moment, moreover, when he realized that his silence was irritating Baradar even more, he said, „Because I have nothing to say. Only useless thoughts that cross my mind.”

„Thoughts? What kind of thoughts?” Baradar insisted on finding out about the log’s weird thoughts. He was definitely curious as he’d been once, the moment he climbed to the rich crown, in branches and leaves, of Hiamstar, listening to the strange but beautiful legend of Princess Curse and Titan Island.

The childish curiosity of Baradar made Shiver Sun stare at him for a while. Yet, seeing him so calm, like a child waiting for his grandfather to continue the fairytale, the log smiled again and said, „Thoughts about this world, Baradar. About its weirdness and especially about you.”

„About me?” Asked Baradar even more surprised than before. „But… what did I do so weirdly to deserve being part of your thoughts?” Shiver Sun smiled again.

„Why should one do something weird to deserve being part of someone’s thoughts? It’s because you are someone dear to him. That’s all: if you are loved by someone, you’re part of his thoughts.”

„Or maybe that person thinks about you because he’s your enemy,” said Baradar, chortling.

„Of course not,” replied the log confidently. „If that was true if I was your enemy and I had thought about you, I wouldn’t have mentioned this. Don’t you think so?”

The log’s question made the minikin take thoughts. After that, after a few seconds of thinking about what Shiver Sun said, Baradar murmured, „Well, maybe you’re right.”

„Not maybe, but I am for sure. Why? Because the enemies, especially the fierce ones, never tell anyone about what they think. This would let many know about their strategies and give others the chance to defeat them. Yet, keeping silent, they help themselves only.”

„What do you want to say is that the worst enemy is the silent one?”

„Absolutely, Baradar. Do you know why? Because the enemy that talks too much is like a dog that barks but never bites. Why doesn’t the dog bite? Well, because he doesn’t have time. He’s too busy complaining about his miserable life while barking. The same happens to the enemy that talks too much: he only has time for insults, threats, and promises. Thus, because he wastes his time speaking, he does nothing against the other one. It’s the opposite of the silent enemy, Baradar, because the silent one has a lot of time to think and plan his revenge up to the end. Just as it happened with Ian Gyar: he told Noea that he’ll take revenge. Yet, he didn’t act for a long time, something that made others think that his revenge was something that would never happen. That’s why, when it finally took place, it was a total disaster.”

Baradar sighed. The log was right talking about that event, for… he also thought about this a lot, as he thought about the reason why a great People like Noear fell, questions that remained unanswered in the end. He didn’t find that answer until Shiver Sun didn’t mention that Noears had fallen not because Ian Gyar had had a lot of time to plan his revenge, but because they ignored his words. Moreover, Ian Gyar had been dangerous because his enemies considered him useless after closing him in Mortor Forest. If they had thought about what he said, even for a second, they would have been able to plan the defense up to the end too. Maybe this way, even if they would have suffered significant losses in that war, that malefic bird, he heard about only, wouldn’t have killed them all eventually. Yet… it was too late for everything…

„I feel you mortified, Baradar. Something happens?” Shiver Sun asked, chasing those black thoughts from the minikin’s head away.

„Yes, I feel weird,” whispered Baradar. Then, when he felt itches on his skin again, he looked at his left wrist, which he saw red. Something that amazed Baradar a lot because he didn’t remember when he hurt it.

He winced eventually when Shiver Sun said, „It’s red because you hurt it, minikin. Just as it happened thousands of years ago when you let Fate deceive you.” Yet, even if Shiver Sun said this to help Baradar understand himself, Baradar felt even more confused than before. That’s why he widened his eyes, looking at the log, whom he asked with his glance, „What happens, Shiver Sun?” A question that had been answered right away by Shiver Sun, who said, „I meant that the passing of time and the change of your soul hurt you, minikin.”

„Change? What do you mean, Shiver Sun?” Yet, Baradar responded to this question too when he said, „You probably mean that we are not able to know ourselves anymore. Something that I hate.”

„Honestly, you aren’t the only one who hates changes, minikin. I also hate what happens to us. Yet, we can’t stay in place. We can only worship in front of Fate, walking side by side with it.”

„Yet…,” murmured Baradar, confused. He felt this way because of the seed of doubt that suddenly sprouted in his soul. „I feel that you miss old times. Am I right?” After that, feeling a strange sensation in his chest again, the minikin touched Shiver Sun’s wooden cheek.

That touch, like the touch of a child that tried to give some comfort to another kid that was crying, made the log sigh. After that, he said, „You don’t even know how much I miss those times, Baradar. I miss it a lot… everything that I’ve lived once. Just as nature misses those times.”

„Nature? Why? It lives only once.”

Shiver Sun laughed this time. After that, calm, he asked the minikin, „Are you sure about this?”

„About what?”

„That nature lives only once.”

„Yes. At least this is what I think because… nature dies when fall comes and revives in spring. A perfect circle that helps it to forget what it lived once, preparing for a new life this way. It’s because of this I think nature can’t miss something it simply doesn’t remember.”

He winced eventually when he heard Shiver Sun suddenly murmuring, „He changes!”

„Who?” Baradar asked him, confused.

Shiver Sun didn’t answer right away. He, with teary eyes, looked in the distance, talking to himself, „Baradar is changing. So fast and so weirdly that he forgot that nature is like a human. He forgets that nature has a soul and memories too. Is it because of it? Because of the key from his wrist?”

An answer Shiver Sun didn’t receive. There wasn’t anybody there to answer him. Actually, nobody knew that answer: neither nature nor Titans. Only Fate knew the answer to that question, but Fate kept silent. Because of this, because of Fate’s silence, the log seemed worried because… you see, it was strange for him that the Spirit of the Woods didn’t hear the cry of the trees anymore, that he was unable to listen to the whisper of the world and the murmur of time. At the same time, Baradar seemed not to be aware of the herbs’voice, that the sun wasn’t in the sky anymore, that the cheerful voice of the birds wasn’t heard in his beloved forest, and even that Shiver Sun wasn’t the old Shiver Sun anymore.

Yet… realizing that Baradar was only an old minikin with the soul of a child, one that had fleeting feelings, Shiver Sun sighed. Then, looking around, at the sad trees, at those weird trees that fell prey to the black magic of evil, he let tears fall down his wooden cheeks, thinking, „Yet, it’s so weird to see this world surrounded by darkness.”

These words made Shiver Sun understand once again that while Baradar was changing, nature forgot him too. Thus, by breaking the chains that tightened the minikin of it, nature gave him the chance to fight and break that curse that submitted him for seven millennia. At the same time, nature gave the minikin the chance to choose alone which path to walk on eventually: on the one that led to the eternal fire, next to a Samargo, or on the one to Aeon, accompanied by a child with an innocent heart.

***

It was already evening when Shiver Sun talked to the minikin, after a long period of silence. And, right after he found the courage, he asked the minikin, „Baradar, would you like to see Aeon?” A question that made the minikin stare at the log.

Eventually, when he finally could control his emotions, staring at Shiver Sun, Baradar asked, „To see Aeon? Why… should I see it? I mean why should I see a star made from light, which I’ve never seen before and I think I won’t ever see? Or… did you already forget about the curse I wear on my shoulders?”

„No, I didn’t forget about the curse, minikin, whose guardian I am actually. Nevertheless, I know that this one, as any other curse, will end eventually. That’s why I ask you this: if the curse is broken one day, would you like to see Aeon then?”

This time, Baradar took thoughts. He felt weird, hearing such questions coming from his old friend. Questions he never thought about and whose answers he didn’t know. Even so, he said, „Probably yes.”

„Why? What's the motive to see it?”

„Noea,” the minikin whispered. „She’s there. And, as I miss her so much, as I want to see my sweet queen at least once again in this life, I’d like to also see Aeon. Thus, I can tell her that I love her and that only thanks to her I could resist all these years of wandering and loneliness. At the same time… I’d like to see her just tell her that I’m sorry.”

The words whispered by the minikin made Shiver Sun sigh again. Then, with empty eyes, he looked at the minikin’s face, who was staring in the distance, thoughtful, even if he seemed not to think at anything at that moment. Yet, thinking so, Shiver Sun was wrong because, soon after this, he heard Baradar saying, „What about you, Shiver Sun? Would you also like to see Aeon?”

„I would like to see it, Baradar. I would really like to see it, but… I won’t ever have this chance.”

„Why? Is this because you’re the guardian of my curse?”

„No,” responded the log confidently. „It’s because only those born there can see Aeon. I was born here, on Earth, thanks to Mother Earth’s kindness. That’s why I won’t ever get there. Maybe… only in dreams.” After that, sadly smiling, the log looked at the minikin, in whose eyes he saw angel-children running and happily laughing while trying to catch butterflies, white butterflies seen above a field of flowers.

Shiver Sun right away came back to his senses when he noticed the darkness taking over the surroundings so quickly. Yet, not only he noticed the darkness acting up, but also Baradar, who, amazed, widened his eyes while slowly shaking inside. And, right away he’d been able to control his emotions, the minikin asked, „Where… where is the light? Where did it vanish, Shiver Sun? And… why exactly here?”

„Because here is the Glade of Shadows, minikin,” he heard Shiver Sun’s voice. He heard that voice so far away from him. Something that amazed Baradar a lot, who right away looked around, realizing that he wasn’t on the log’s shoulder anymore, but on his own feet, surrounded by a strange light and shadows.

„Hei… Shiver Sun, where are you? And… Why are we here?” The minikin asked, seeing that he was alone and that the log wasn’t seen anywhere.

„Because Fate decided so, Baradar. It decided for you to turn back there, where everything started fourteen years ago when the twins-shape met for the first time. Then… the Fate of this Earth split up… when it arrived at the same crossroad in front of which you are right now.”

„A crossroad? What kind of crossroad, Shiver Sun? I can’t understand. More than this, where did you go? I can’t see you. Why did you disappear now? Is it because of the shadows?”

„No, Baradar! I vanished because it was time. I finished my mission, just as this curse that tormented you for 7 millennia got to its end. Now… you start a new chapter in your life. Which way you’ll take… It's your decision. Meanwhile, I turn back to the place I belong.”

„Where… you belong? Where is this? I want to know and to come there too because we’ve always been together. We can’t split up because…”

„Now you are wrong, minikin. Why? Because our journey together got to an end. Our Fate changed and we have another destiny to fulfill now, one that’s not for two. Yet, as I feel so bound to you, I'll tell you this, Baradar: a crossroad is always there where one makes decisions. That’s why, if you have to choose, do it with your heart, minikin. Only this way, you won’t be deceived by Fate again, as it happened when you listened to what your mind said.”

After such words, the echo of Shiver Sun’s voice rolled to the horizon, as though a strange power pushed it toward there. A power that kept him away from the minikin, not allowing him to give him good pieces of advice or encourage Baradar to fight for his dreams. Even so, what seemed to be Fate against two friends, had no chance against them because the last words spoken by Shiver Sun to Baradar took root in the minikin’s heart, filling him with power for what was coming next. Just as that „Goodbye!” heard from far away that became a legend along with Shiver Sun, a legend told to nature by Baradar himself. A „Goodbye,” which made Baradar cry because he understood that he lost a good friend and that he was alone in that battle… times when he needed a friend the most.

Yet, the minikin was wrong. So wrong he was because… he wasn’t alone in that place. Nature was along with him there… a nature that wasn’t asleep. At the same time… evil wasn’t asleep because… soon… it started to hang around Baradar in the forms of voices, weird whispers, told in the ancient language of Mortor, the one bathed by the light of Shadows, a language which would have been understood by humans like this, „It’s time, minikin! It’s time to join our power, to be a single body and soul, performing miracles.”

These whispers made Baradar close his eyes eventually, just as he did each time he tried to talk to Rophion Forest. Thus, he could understand the message of those words spoken in a language he thought he had forgotten. Then, understanding that message, Baradar asked, „A single soul and body? What for?”

„For power!” Responded a high-pitched voice. An answer that made nature tremble, feeling sick pleasure in those words. And, soon after these words, currents of fire surrounded the minikin, currents that turned black in seconds only, becoming thick smoke that suddenly colored the key and the chain from Baradar’s left wrist red. Then, after that key got the color of the flames, the same fire had been seen in Baradar’s eyes, who started to feverishly murmur:

„They enjoy the party that should have been organized only for me and for my queen. They are the traitors… the intruders… They want to take what’s mine: this Palace and my queen. Why are they here? Why did they come? Especially the gnomes, who I hate the most! They must be killed! Exterminated because my master… ha-ha-ha, I’m the only master here… the one able to decide his own Fate…”

While whispering these words, Baradar entered that forest of shadows more and more. He advanced on that path with his head bowed, with heavy steps, scratching his skin to the blood. Wounds that colored that key in a vivid red that was only painted on the skin again…

***

„What is she planning?” Samaya asked, staring at Mayar. This one was still next to Yĕn, slowly but gently caressing the tarantula’s head, which was calm as though having a human soul. More than that, at that moment, Yĕn seemed to trust Mayar, who was not only a good friend but a good master too, one that rewarded her with caresses for fulfilling her mission.

Eventually, Samaya winced the moment she heard Bestla hissing through her teeth, „For me, she’s acting.” Then, staring at Bestla, Samaya saw her cooking her nose while staring at the fox. „What I can’t understand is… since when these two are such good friends.”

„Probably, since childhood. At least this is what Vintai said after seeing those images in the mirrors.”

„Yeah, I saw them too… those images. Yet… I’m not sure that’s the truth because… let’s not forget that, being a beast born in the Underworld, Yĕn can be treacherous. Just as it seems deceptive to me the fact that she’s on Earth and not with her mother Visam.”

The moment Boor stuck his head between them, Bestla frowned. After that, looking at both Mayar and Yĕn, Boor told the girls, „Well, you’re right asking such questions, but… for me, it’s not the right moment to ask them. Why? Because the important thing is to figure out what those two beasts over there are planning.”

„Nothing good, for sure!” Responded Bestla, drily, even if she also didn’t know why she reacted like this.

The change in Bestla’s mood made Samaya attentive, who right away looked at her friend. Then, seconds only of thinking about this, she told Bestla and Boor, „It’s because of the Glade. It has the power to change souls. At least, it can make one act like he never did.”

„If you speak about Bestla’s mood, I assure you that’s nothing new or influenced by the Glade,” said Boor jokingly. Yet, seeing his daughter’s scolding glance, he right away looked elsewhere.

Seconds later, they right away looked at the other edge of the forest when they heard Dike’s telepathic voice, „Samaya is actually right. This glade has the power to change or influence souls because… here, one’s dark power increases while the good one is losing strength.”

The moment they heard Baradar’s mumbling, who was heading toward the Glade, Dike kept silent and listened to the minikin’s nonsense words, „They are the traitors! Yes, the traitors! They crave what’s mine. Mine. It must be only mine. Immortality! They promised me immortality. Instead, they gave me only… only… oh, what did they give to me? I can’t remember and… my head, it cracks!” Baradar kept lamenting, touching his head with both palms and shaking it continuously.

Baradar’s weird behavior made Bestla and Samaya exchange glances. Then, understanding that it was necessary to do something to bring Baradar back to his senses, Samaya took a step in front. Yet, the moment she wanted to call the minikin’s name, someone covered her mouth and pulled her back to the bushes where she, Boor, and Bestla were hiding.

This sudden turn of events made Samaya swallow hard because she, at first, thought that Boor covered her mouth and pulled her back. Yet, seeing him to her left, she realized that someone else was there. And, even if she was afraid that a weird creature was about to swallow her when she looked up, she saw Lodur making her signs to be quiet. After that, he pointed with his head to his right where Gaea was.

The Titanide, however, even if watched by the four, didn’t look at any of them. She kept staring at Baradar, who was stopped a few steps from the wolf Dike. What made her look so carefully at the minikin was his hunchback posture and the fact that he was mumbling all the time while many ghosts surrounded him.

Those ghosts weren’t the ones seen in Coallar’s grotto. These ones had long black hair and wore large weird vestments of a dark gray color. At the same time, they had big purple dark circles and livid lips while their nails were almost black, a perfect contrast with their vivid red eyes.

Namely these ghosts, which suddenly surrounded the wolf Dike too, without seeing him, made Boor wince. After that, in a whisper, he said, „The Cilantels!” Yet, even if he thought that they couldn’t hear him, this happened because, right after that whisper, the Cilantels looked for the intruder. While doing this, they were strangely grinning, of an unpleasant surprise to understand that there was someone not by their side in that Glade.

Yet, even if the ghosts looked for Boor, they didn’t see him. This happened thanks to Gaea’s power, who surrounded them all with white fog, seen only by the ghosts. She hid them all not because she was afraid that the ghosts would attack them, but because she understood that it was better this way while they all knew well what power could have the Cilantels.

Former Priestesses of the Cold Depths, the Cilantels, or as they were also known in the past, the Āḻams, had the power to multiply at their will if they could submit a soul in which evil was living. Just as happened to Baradar at that moment, who got to hate everything that surrounded him, even himself, and this happened because two powers were fighting for supremacy inside him. Yet, because of the Āḻams, who couldn’t allow any of the two powers to be supreme because they would have lost control over Baradar, they got to influence him even more, hunching him that he almost touched the ground with his palms if he had stopped scratching his wrist. Thus, because of the pain felt in the wounds he made himself and because of the hatred he felt, the evil got more power inside him, allowing the Āḻams to multiply more and more with each step taken in front.

Seeing that „miracle,” Dike and the rest frowned because they really couldn’t understand how the Cilantels could possess Baradar’s soul so fast. Yet, no matter how hard they didn’t try to find a logical answer to that weird situation, they couldn’t. Because of this, they also started to feel angry.

Nevertheless, the Glade didn’t manage to control them or their mind. Because of this, the forces of evil sent all their control over Baradar. This was due to the Cilantels, who, coming there, weirdly grinned, thinking that very soon they’d be able to feed themselves with the power of those places. Yet… surprise-surprise because when they past Dike, who they didn’t see, the Āḻams suddenly gathered in a single place as though moved from behind by a whip of fire. This was something they didn’t expect. That’s why they looked around, confused, not understanding what was controlling them. Moreover, they started to agitate the moment they saw six rings surrounding them so tightly that they were threatening them with destruction. This made them struggle, using all their power to break those rings and run away. Something that finally happened and the Āḻams, not staying even a second there or trying to understand what was wrong with that place, simply ran away.

The Āḻams run made Mayar smile because she had been who, with the help of Yĕn, controlled the power of the glade and forced the Cilantels to run away. Then, turning toward Baradar, who was stopped a few meters from Yĕn only, Mayar carefully looked at him. She even cooked her nose when she saw him so hunched. Yet, understanding that she won, Mayar looked at Dike first, then at Samaya and the others, whom she told, „Come on, my dears, have some courage and show up! We are friends, right?!”

Mayar’s words and her previous behavior, that she wasn’t aware of anything, which had been a trick only, amazed Samaya and the rest a lot. Yet, spotting the cunning smile on the fox’s face, Samaya frowned and took a step in front, unhappy that their „camouflage” had been something useful for the fox in the end because if the Cilantels had seen them, Mayar would have had to use more power to protect them and destroy the ghosts, who interfered in her plans.

Eventually, when she heard Bestla hissing through her teeth, „Damn cobra!” Samaya winced. After that, she saw Bestla approaching her while mumbling without a stop, „I thought you were too busy calming your pet and you didn’t see us. Yet, I’ve been wrong instead.”

Mayar burst into laughter, „Next time I decide to use a trick, I’ll let you know about this first.”

„Not necessary,” Bestla harshly said. „And do you know why? Because there won’t be a tomorrow for you for sure.”

„You say so?!” Mayar tried to provoke her cousin to fight, understanding very well what Bestla’s irony meant. Yet, she looked at Samaya eventually, extremely curious, when the she-wolf asked her:

„What's this you're up to, Mayar? Moreover, what do you try to do by controlling Yĕn? To control the power of this glade or learn how the venom is made? Not that you aren’t poisonous already, I mean,” the she-wolf tried to provoke Mayar.

The fox laughed again but said nothing. She only carefully looked into Yĕn’s eyes, whose back she slowly tapped as though letting her know to be quiet. After that, staring into Samaya’s eyes, Mayar told her, „Why learn something I already know? More than that, why struggle for something I already have? This glade, I mean because I have had control over it since 14 years ago. Just like you, sister.”

It’s been Samaya’s turn to laugh, „Sisters… we? Don’t be stupid, Mayar! Or what, do you think that the simple fact that we look alike turns us into sisters?”

„No, I didn't mean that.”

„Then?”

„I was talking about Fate. It made us sisters. Or what, did you forget already that we are shape-twins, and this bonded our destinies?”

„As though this is something that can be forgotten,” growled Samaya in a hissing tone. „Let’s just say this is something I hate and I try not to remember.”

„Yet, you remember… once you are here,” replied Mayar confidently. After that, taking Ahi’s usual position of walking, with her hands at her back, she started to walk around Samaya. Yet, even if she seemed to look at the ground, Mayar was spying on Samaya from the corner of her eyes, watching each of the she-wolf's movements.

Nevertheless, she looked at the rest too when she spotted the movement of their hands touching the handles of the swords and preparing for attack. A movement that made Mayar happy and smile. However, she smiled because not only she was happy, but also because she realized that it was a risky movement to take the sword out of its scabbard in the Glade of Shadows, something that would have worked against them, considered a threat by the Glade. Yet, even if she knew that, that nature could rebel and she would have suffered because of this too, Mayar said nothing about this, thinking that they’d be taken by surprise this way.

Who surprised her eventually, not only her but others too, had been Baradar, who suddenly hissed through his teeth, „Blood! I need to taste it! Their blood! I want to see them down, at my feet because… ah, I hate the gnomes! I really hate them.”

The minikin's nonsense talk made Boor shout eventually, „Baradar, stop it!” Yet, even if he told this in a demanding tone, the only thing he got back was to see Baradar showing him his fangs, as though he was a mad dog.

„What’s wrong with him?” Bestla asked when she saw the blurred eyes of the minikin. „Has he lost his mind or what?”

„No,” responded Gaea sadly. „It’s because of the curse. The Curse of Tarther, the one that fell over the poor minikin seven thousand years ago. And, even if I thought that once Noea was dead the minikin was saved, I see that I was wrong. Actually, we’ve been all wrong because… this bird isn’t dead or submitted, and we have to face her again. Just as Baradar should pay for his sins.”

„To pay? For what exactly?” Bestla asked, shaking her head.

Who answered Bestla’s question had been Mayar, who said, smiling, „More than for sins, he has to pay for all those souls that died because of him. Do you know why? Because this old and stubborn minikin dreamt about immortality once. Am I right, Baradar?”

The fox’s question made Baradar show his fangs. Then, with blurred eyes, he stared at Mayar while approaching her at a slow but sure pace. However, the sudden movement of the minikin didn’t scare or preoccupy Mayar at all. On the contrary, she found it necessary because, the moment Baradar pounced on her and she noticed Samaya’s glance focused on the minikin, the fox suddenly turned toward the she-wolf.

Mayar’s action, which seemed an attack, made Samaya react. Yet, instead of taking the sword in her hand, the she-wolf stretched her arm in front, thinking to block the blow this way. Yet, this was what Mayar wanted: their palms touched each other just as it happened 14 years ago. Then, seconds later, when they looked at each other as though they were in a trance, the girls started to change their appearance so fast that it was dizzyingly for the others to look at them for a long time.

The girls’change made the trees moan, letting deafening sounds come out of their wooden throats. Even the wind started to blow from nowhere, sweeping everything around. Thus, not only nature suffered, but also the rest, who saw themselves forced to grab something not to be raised in the air by that sudden whirlwind.

Seeing that she was unable to fight alone against nature’s madness, Gaea shouted to Boor, „Do something and stop the wind until it’s not too late.”

Boor, who was with his eyes closed at that moment, touching Imagus with both palms, whispered suddenly, „This is not wind, Gaea!” Yet, even if he thought that he said those words only for him, Gaea heard him. That’s why she looked in amazement at Boor, not understanding what he meant.

Who answered the question from Gaea’s glance had been Dike, who said, „This is a wind created by the girls’power, Gaea. Something that none of us can’t control.”

„Not if acting alone,” said Lodur confidently. „If we try together…” He kept silent eventually when a whirl of air, of which dried branches and other things had stuck to, had been thrown against him, trying to force Lodur to fight with it and have no time for thinking or giving ideas to others about how to stop that madness. Yet, even if that whirl of air was strong and was madly fighting with the Titan, it had been unable to hurt Lodur because of a mirror created by Bestla.

The girl, who suddenly started to throw blue balls around, trying to create mirrors this way and somehow minimize the influence of the glade over her friend, shouted at the young she-wolf eventually, „Samaya, stop this! This isn’t you!” However, her shout, just as Dike’s attempt to separate Samaya and Mayar, had been useless. It even seemed that enraged the two girls even more because the wind intensified its blow, the air currents tightened more and more around them, forcing them to get closer to each other, trying to protect themselves thus.

However, nature had been suddenly forced to weaken its power when Baradar pounced on Yĕn. This happened when the tarantula approached him too much, and Baradar considered this an attack. Because of this, the minikin looked as if he completely lost his mind because right away he touched Yĕn’s fur with both hands, he started to bite her, deeply stubbing his sharp fangs into her, using a force that he had never been aware of.

Yet… not only Yĕn suffered from that sudden attack. Baradar was also bleeding, hit from everywhere by the tarantula’s legs. She even managed to stub her sharp fangs in his flesh once. Nevertheless, Baradar, who wasn’t logically thinking at that moment, didn’t give up. He, even if bleeding, kept attacking her, badly injuring her fur.

The madness of the two beasts seemed to be the end for everybody. Yet, the moment both Baradar and Yĕn stubbed their fangs into the other one’s throat, threatening the enemy with sucking even the last drop of energy, the inevitable happened: the key from Baradar’s left wrist started to illuminate into a golden shade, just as it happened to the hidden key seen on Yĕn’s belly soon. Thus, when the light of the two keys joined, their power had been striking and felt like an explosion that swept everything around, forcing the others to throw themselves to the ground, face down, to survive.

The only ones who continued to stand were Samaya and Mayar. They, staring at each other, were weirdly smiling, as though they were two devilish minds, who decided to join their powers to hurt nature and the other creatures around. A power that increased with each second passed, forcing the trees to moan even louder, touching the ground with their crowns while asking for mercy. A power that Dike disliked because he told his brother eventually:

„Help me to split them, Lodur!” He was lying on his belly at that moment, scratching the ground with his sharp nails because he was still a wolf while trying not to be raised in the air by that storm created by the girls’power.

„To split them? But how, Dike? We’ve tried, but…” Lodur shouted to be heard by his brother while holding Alabar with both hands, whose lower top was stabbed into the ground.

„First of all, let’s split Baradar and Yĕn,” Boor told the Titan. „If we split them, the light of the two keys will decrease and I think this will give us a chance to split the girls too because…” Boor kept silent eventually and threw himself to the ground again, protecting Bestla at the same time when they heard the crack of the earth.

It wasn’t an illusion or a trick of the two girls to keep them away from them. No. It happened because of the same ground, which the Titans wanted to protect at that moment. And, as though the earth itself got life, it cracked, filling the horizon with a deafening sound, one heard from deep underground that forced everybody to cover their ears with their palms, in their desperate attempt to avoid going deaf.

Thus, covering their ears with their palms and looking at the ground, nobody noticed the earth cracking around the girls as though it was a very thin layer of ice, which cracked because of someone’s weight. The girls, even if they were staring at that crack that surrounded them in just seconds, didn’t do anything to protect themselves. They only kept weirdly grinning, happy for an unknown reason as though the cracking of the earth, which threatened with swallowing them eventually, was exactly what they wanted.

Not the same happened to Dike, who couldn’t just wait and see how his beloved daughter would die, without doing anything to save her. Thus, the moment the girls, who kept staring at the crack around them, seemed not to see anything else, the wolf jumped above them, throwing them eventually toward Lodur and the rest, hoping that this way the Titans would have a chance to split them.

A chance that nature itself gave them eventually because, in contact with the ground, the girls had been thrown away from each other, separating their palms. Thus, magically, the rumble of the ground stopped, just as the trees stopped moaning. The same happened to the mad wind that stopped blowing, just as it happened fourteen years ago when the shape-twins lost consciousness after Dike split them.

Soon after this, as though nature wanted so badly to act up that day, the rumple started to be heard again even louder than before, from deep underground. The wind started to blow again, but slower in speed. Yet, it came this time not from everywhere, but straight from that deep hole made after the ground cracked, a hole that was bigger and bigger each second passed as though it wasn’t soil all over, but sand which flowed into an hourglass.

Thus, because of the speed of the subsidence, Dike lost his chance to run from that place in time. Even so, even if he kept sliding on that soil, dragged toward the depth of that hole, just in the place where the girls stood before, he decided not to give up. That’s why he started to stub his nails here and there, desperately trying to grab something hard while falling and stop his slip thus. Yet, his effort was in vain because no matter what he did, it didn’t help him but dragged him more and more toward death.

Dike was so close to death that day, sentenced by the world and its madness to vanish in a bottomless hole that had opened on earth because of the girls’madness. Nevertheless, he was lucky too because he saw, in the last possible moment, seconds after falling in that hole, a white arrow, like the symbol of innocence and purity, throwing itself in that hole with Dike. Who was that arrow, Dike didn’t see. At least he didn’t see it at first because he closed his eyes when he saw an avalanche of stones and soil falling over him, pieces of life broken from the edge of the hole. Yet, even if he didn’t see who the white arrow was, Dike felt it. Better to say, he heard it coming toward him like a pleasant sound of salvation. Then… he felt the hug, he felt two strong arms wrapping around his big black wolf body, to feel how they both jerked up so suddenly, pushed from behind by a strange power.

It was salvation, Dike felt it, but he didn’t open his eyes. He didn’t open them not because he was afraid but because he was aware that he could help his savior only this way because, if he had opened his eyes and seen what madness was around them, his survival instinct would have acted, starting to fight with everything and everybody thus, looking for salvation.

Dike opened his eyes when they finally touched hard soil with their soles. Yet, because they were still stuck to each other, they’d been forced to roll on the ground a few meters toward the forest after touching the soil. Thus, just after opening his eyes, Dike saw Vintai’s happy face because the boy threw himself into that open hole when he saw Dike doomed. Vintai did that not because he was courageous, but because he liked challenges, and that open hole, which threatened to swallow everything that day, was the most exciting challenge after the fight with Yĕn.

Yet, he right away stopped smiling and covered his ears with his palms when he heard a terrifying growl coming out of that black hole. After that, when that deafening sound decreased, they all looked at the hole when they heard a flap of wings coming out of there. A flap of wings that nobody ever heard before, but which seemed too familiar to everybody. Because of this, they kept staring at the hole until they saw a big black bird coming out of it.

Seeing the bird, Vintai murmured, terrified, „Oh, Sky, what creature is this?”

He winced eventually and looked at Gaea when she madly shouted, „It’s Tarther! Tarther has awakened! He will kill us all if he sees us around him! So… run!” After that, grabbing Lodur by the arm while Lodur grabbed Boor and Bestla, forcing them to run too, they headed at full speed toward the forest, trying to hide and stay away from the devilish bird.

Dike, however, along with Vintai, rushed to approach Samaya, whom they climbed on the wolf’s back. Then, as fast as they could, they ran after the others while behind them, right behind them, tongues of flames, spat by the big Tarther from his mouth, were scorching the ground, making it moan again.

Thus, too busy to save themselves, nobody noticed Yĕn approaching Baradar, who was lying, unconscious, not that far from that hole. Yet, even if there was big havoc all around, the minikin wasn’t hurt or touched by the fire of big Tarther, who seemed to do everything not to spit fire over there. Then, grabbing the minikin by the clothes with her paws, Yĕn threw him on her back. After that, she headed toward the place where she knew Mayar was, intending to take the girl with her too. Yet, getting there, Yĕn saw in amazement that the fox wasn’t there anymore.

Because of this, Yĕn started to look for Mayar all over, letting a strange sound come out of her throat, a sound that was so similar to the cry of a child that lost his favorite toy or was afraid. Yet, no matter where Yĕn looked for Mayar, she couldn’t find her. Nevertheless, it seemed she wasn’t ready to give up. Yet, she’d been forced eventually to run away when she heard the mad shout of the bird Tarther from the heights, the bird that awakened only to burn this world to the ground…

***

Grabbed by the arm, still unconscious, Mayar was dragged deeper and deeper into the forest, by someone whose face wasn’t seen because of the deep darkness. Someone who seemed to care about the girl or need her for something. It wasn’t clear why he or she saved Mayar. Yet, it was clear that that person saved the girl for something, a reason why the girl had to be still alive…