Relaxed, while she was lying on the soft pillows of Palar, Sephir was watching the sky. She was looking at a very beautiful sky that night, despite the fact that black clouds were rushing one after another on the celestial vault. And, as though the entire melancholy of the world took over her soul, Sephir smiled and whispered, „So beautiful and so quiet, as though it is the silence before the storm.”

Palar, who was dozing at that moment, hearing Sephir’s whisper, winced. Then, amazed, he widely opened his eyes, formed from two small purple clouds, which he fixed on the young woman, waiting for the continuation of her thought. An answer to all the questions that started to spin in his head, which hasn't been heard eventually because Sephir, too focused on the dark sky, didn’t see him watching her. Only in the end, when she finally felt something fixed on her, she looked at the cloud, asking him in amazement, „Something happens, Palar?”

„Yeah,” this one responded in an irritated tone. A response that amazed Sephir a lot. Moreover, she looked at him in amazement when she heard him saying, „Something happens because you shouldn't say such words, princess, like storm or battle. At least not here.”

„Why exactly?” The young woman asked, smiling. „Is there any storm announced on the horizon, which I don’t know about?”

„Well, there is no storm, of course. At least I don’t feel it. What I feel is the smell of burnt,” Palar added, nervous, sniffing the horizon. „I feel it coming from the forest. As though hell approaches us, one we’ll be unable to face eventually.”

„Come on, Palar, don’t exaggerate now. What I said were only words. Random words with no specific meaning. You, however… make such a big deal out of it, as always.” Yet, seeing the confusion in the cloud’s eyes, Sephir kept silent. Especially, when she noticed that he „turned his back on her,” preferring to look at the forest. A reaction of Palar that made her smile again and say, „And I still think you over exaggerate now and nothing happens there. Or maybe not.”

„I told you already, but you don’t believe this,” said Palar sadly. „Just as I said that I feel the smell of burnt. From somewhere. Or… maybe it’s just a hunch and this makes me think that somewhere something burns. Anyway, one or another, I feel that’s not something favorable for us. That’s why I say now to be careful, especially with what we say if we don’t want to bring misfortune next to us.”

After such words, Sephir felt that she definitely had nothing else to say. She even started to think that Palar didn’t joke and wasn’t in the mood for jokes because he was irritated after not being able to cross the Barrier of the Rophions and return to the sky, something that made him annoyed. Knowing this, Sephir understood that there wasn’t anything strange for him to have such hunches, which, in the majority of the cases, turned out to be true. Thus, when she remembered the cloud’s ability to predict things, Sephir closed her eyes and started to sniff the horizon.

She opened them right away and looked at Palar when she felt him looking at her again. She even saw him reproachfully shaking his head. After that, frowning, the cloud asked, „Did you learn this from your husband? Sniffing the horizon, I mean.”

At all bothered by the cloud’s teasing, Sephir smiled. After that, bending a little and looking straight into his eyes, she told him, „Of course not! It’s a bad habit I have from you, honestly because you’re pretty good at smelling things. Even better than the wolves.” Then, still smiling, even if she felt fear sneaking inside her, she asked him, „Actually, don’t you really smell anything right now?”

„Something like?” Palar asked in amazement, turning the purple of his eyes to dark purple.

„The air. It becomes difficult to breathe. Somehow heavy. As though somewhere definitely burns.”

„The one who exaggerates now is you, princess. Why? Because I said figuratively that somewhere burns. You, however, give too much importance to this meaning. And…” Palar suddenly kept silent when he also felt the smoke in the air. Something that made him look around, extremely confused. Yet, even if he carefully looked around, Palar couldn’t figure out where the smoke was from. That’s why he only mumbled in the end, „Or maybe you aren’t exaggerating now.”

Sephir said nothing after such words. She only jumped off Palar’s soft pillows and, taking a few steps by them, she carefully looked around, trying to figure out which was the source of that thick smoke that burnt her nostrils and made her feel that she lacked air. Yet, even if she tried hard, she couldn’t figure out anything. That’s why she climbed on the cloud’s shoulder, to whom she said, „Try to rise in the air as much as you can, Palar! We must see where this smoke comes from.”

Palar, who wasn’t in the mood to do that because of the Barrier’s power over him, something that definitely worked against his power, cooked his nose. Yet, understanding that what Sephir proposed was absolutely necessary, he sighed and rose in the air. Only about 10 meters above the ground, but enough for Sephir to see the horizon.

Meanwhile, Sephir, who was standing inside the cloud, kept looking around, clearly seeing the horizon, even if she looked at it through the cloud’s foggy body. Yet, it wasn’t something random or unusual for Sephir, who had the power to clean the sky and the horizon if necessary, without hurting nature, seeing this way everything that happened around her. However, even if she carefully looked around, she saw nothing strange. Only a few strange sparkles on the horizon, which seemed to be small thunderlights or maybe stars about to die, which were vividly blinking in their desperate attempt to cling up to life.

Suddenly, she winced the moment she heard thunder on the horizon. Also, she felt that Palar winced too. Then, when both looked in the same direction, toward that place where the sparkles were seen, they started to see that it was because of the thunder and thunder lights that were piercing the sky, something that made Palar say eventually, „Those lights aren’t natural, princess Sephir. I think that they are evil.”

„Do you mean that someone enraged the sky for something?” Sephir asked him in amazement.

„That’s right. Actually… I have the feeling that God Boor’s power is also involved there. Yet, I’m not sure of this, honestly.”

„My father controls such thunder lights? What for?”

„As I said, I don’t know. Yet, what you also know is that God Boor is capable of this. Actually, not only once you’ve also seen what he can do when he’s angry. Moreover, when someone tries to hurt those he loves.”

„Bestla,” Sephir suddenly shouted. „It’s possible that Bestla, Samaya, or maybe Master Dike could be in danger, and that’s why Father is angry, and the sky cracks.” A remark, which made Palar look at her thunderstruck, considering her idea weird. Yet, realizing that she might have been right in saying this, he closed his eyes and shook his head a little. Only after that, he said:

„If I think carefully about this, you might be right.”

Sephir seemed not to hear what he said, however. She only closed her eyes and focused the power of her mind while trying to connect with her father or with Bestla. Yet, no matter what she did, she couldn’t contact them. Because of this, she felt anger growing inside her, finally understanding that she couldn’t contact them because of the Forest. Why? She could only suspect that the Forest was doing this, trying to protect itself and others at least as it could.

Thus, seeing herself incapable of connecting with the ones she loved, Sephir sighed, feeling sad. Not for a very long time because, when a huge thunderlight cracked the sky again, somewhere at the horizon, far in the distance, she glanced again over there. Yet, there, she didn’t see the reality of that day, but a faraway event, from those times when she was little and Boor decided to teach his daughters how to stand against nature and protect themselves, using the power and anger of nature against their enemies at the same time.

Sephir remembered that that day Boor taught them to make the difference between the thunder and thunder lights controlled by him from the natural ones because they were really different. For example, when the sky cracked, controlled by nature’s madness, the line of the thunder lights was uneven and could fall wherever on the ground, cutting the secular trees into two or setting fire to the dried woods. Boor’s blazing light for example was straight and its color was more intense than that of the natural ones. At the same time, when Boor’s thunder lights fell on the ground, they didn’t hurt nature. They, in most cases, damaged the earth and people only if Boor was mad, as it happened with those that called him Mongrel, something that didn’t happen only once in his life, but many times. Thus, his girls had seen too how his hatred looked as if it was controlled by the power of his mad heart.

The same happened to the thunder. The natural ones for example were heard like a kind of uncontrolled rumble as though an empty barrel was rolling on a stone road. Boor’s thunder instead was a little bit more melodious and gave the feeling that somewhere on the horizon someone was hitting a carpet or something. Yet, if Boor was really angry and unable to control himself, then, because of his thunder, the sky was deafeningly cracking as though thousands of cannons would have shot at the same time over the enemy camp.

Namely, this difference gave Sephir the chance to understand finally that the madness seen on the horizon was caused by her father’s power. Moreover, she realized that what seemed at first to be the sparkles of dying stars were reflections of the thunder lights on Bestla’s mirrors, those which amplified the power of Boor’s blazing lights, sending them far in the distance. Seeing all this, Sephir asked Palar to descend to the ground again. Then, when she finally touched the soil with her soles, Sephir rushed toward the camp, as fast as she could. Yet, before leaving, she told Palar, „They are in danger. Father and the rest. That’s why we must do something before it’s not too late.”

***

„The Forest is burning! The Rophion Forest is in flames!” Sephir shouted while running toward the village. Alerted by her shout, the Rophions started to exit their houses, looked at her, scared, and amazed at the same time, not understanding what she was talking about. Yet, when they saw how scared Sephir was at that moment and when they felt the preoccupation from her voice, they got even more alarmed than before and started looking around, trying to figure out what was going on. Moreover, they did that when they spotted the sky cracking because of the madness of the blazing lights.

In fact, also because of the thunder and the blazing lights, which were making the horizon deafening crack, the Rophions started to ask the same questions as though in a single voice, „What’s going on? Why is nature against us again? Are we sinners and that’s why Father Chaos is punishing us this way? Hadn’t it been enough with what happened to Yamu’s youngest son? Should we face something worse right now?” Questions that nobody had time to answer, just as the Sky hadn’t an answer to them, too busy to show its anger to the entire world.

A fit of anger that seemed not to concern everybody. At least this seemed at first glance because Yamu, Fenrir, and Arion stood calm while looking into the distance. Only when they heard Sephir’s screams, they understood that she figured out who was to blame for the madness of the sky and they rushed toward her to meet her halfway toward the village. They did that, being aware that if she had gotten to the village, she could have preoccupied others even more than they were already, something that could have generated panic among the Rophions, a preoccupation they didn’t need at that moment.

Yet, when about 100 meters were left between them and Sephir when the sky deafeningly cracked right above the village of Rophions, a huge thunderlight had been thrown right to the center of the village. A thunderlight that didn’t reach its target eventually or hurt someone. It happened because of the Barrier, through which the thunderlight couldn’t pass. Yet, its deafening rumble forced everybody to squat or crouch, covering their ears with their palms, hardly pressing them not to go deaf in the end. Then, when the rumble of the thunder that followed the blazing light was already lost in the distance, everybody stood up. Looking around, they saw Kalimērā not that far from Sephir, standing, looking at the horizon.

The woman, even though everybody was so scared, looked pretty calm, wondering about what kind of hatred was headed toward that village. She seemed to have stood and looked in the distance even when the thunder cracked the sky, something that amazed Fenrir and Arion a lot, who exchanged glances eventually. Yet, when they heard Kalimērā saying in the end, „The Forest is definitely in flames,” they approached her in a hurry and looked right away in the same direction.

Once next to her, while looking for that fire she mentioned before, Arion asked, „It burns? Where exactly?”

„There, the Southern part of the forest,” the woman calmly said. Then, looking at Sephir, who seemed confused by the woman’s words, Kalimērā asked, „You also saw it, Princess Sephir, right?”

„Yes, I saw it, but…” murmured Sephir, confused, „…how do you know all this?”

„I saw it,” responded Kalimērā very calmly. „In my dream to be more precise,” an answer that amazed everybody, who, right after this, shuddered because… she seemed so calm while saying this.

Eventually, feeling a big pressure in her chest, Kalimērā sighed. Thus, she let everybody know that her calmness was only a mask. Then, touching her chest with her palm, she bent a little, closed her eyes, and deeply breathed in. In the end, when Sephir asked her, „A dream? What kind of dream?” Kalimērā straightened her back and, looking into Sephir’s eyes, she said:

„A dream I had last night. One where I saw Rophion Forest in flames.”

„Then, if you had this dream, why hadn’t you told us about this too?” Fenrir asked her, confused.

„Because… I wasn’t sure that it was the truth,” Kalimērā whispered without looking at any of them. „Yet, it seems that it has been more than a simple dream. A hunch of what was coming.”

She winced eventually too, even though she tried to seem calm when they heard Mai saying, „It’s burning because the big Tarther has awakened. The same Tarther that brought the glorious People of Noear to their end… he’ll bring our death too eventually.” Words that Mai said as though in a trance while her black eyes seemed blurred at that moment, rolling somehow in circles and weirdly blinking.

Yet, even if this was something the others never saw before and got alarmed, not the same happened to Yamu, who seemed to know why his wife looked as though she was in a trance. Thus, as he knew the truth because something like this happened each time she had a premonition, he approached Mai, talking to her in a sweet and calm voice, trying not to scare or alarm her, „What do you mean by saying this, Mai? How is this possible for that big Tarther to have awakened when he’s a legend only?”

„No, Big Tarther is not a legend,” said Mai, staring straight into Yamu’s eyes. „He’s more than real. Just as it happened 7 millennia ago when the People of Noear had been burnt down to one, and their kingdom turned to ashes. Now, the same Tarther is setting fire to this forest, throwing flames through his large nostrils, which are a source of eternal fire. His power is growing more and more thanks to the twins-shape, who has joined their power again, after fourteen years, as it has been foretold for centuries.” After that, painfully sighing, Mai lost consciousness in her husband’s arms.

Seeing her mother unconscious, Akita got scared. And, running toward her parents, she called her mother, preoccupied, „Mother, what’s wrong with you? Mother, wake up! What happens, Mom? Mom?”

Akita stopped eventually when Yamu looked at her and, in a scolding voice, he told his daughter, „Stop right there, Akita! You know very well that nobody should approach Mai while she’s controlled by the power of the Oracle Tīrkkatarici.”

„The Power of the Oracle?” The Rophions wondered in a single voice. „How is this possible? As far as we know…”

„Quiet!” Shouted Yamu. „We have no time to waste right now. What’s important right now it’s not to stay here. Thus, everybody should move toward the hide-out. Especially the old men, the women, and the children should hide in the Tunnels of Ārakkiḷ! You too: Akita, Kkuṟai! Ilēcāṉa! Actually, Kkuṟai! Ilēcāṉa, approach and take your mother with you because, even if Mai is still controlled by Tīrkkatarici, you are safe! You, Akita, stay away from your mother! Did you understand me?”

„Yes, Father!” The girl responded in a shaking voice.

„Then, once I made myself understood, I don’t understand why you are still there! All of you!” Yamu shouted at the others after his boys took Mai away from him. After that, seeing that the Rophions, who were still scared, started to move toward the Eastern Stone Vāyil, where the entrance to the tunnels was, tunnels that ended in a small grotto known by the Rophions as Iraṭcippiṉ Vāyi, Yamu headed toward Fenrir and the rest. They were still there, staring at the wolves as though none of them dared to leave that place. And, once next to them, Yamu told them, „Actually, I think that the ghouls and the rest that have come here with you, should also go there because none of us knows what exactly is approaching us.”

„I still think that part of us should stay and defend the camp,” said Arion.

„No, Arion,” Fenrir opposed his friend’s idea. „If the Forest burns, the village of Rophions is also in danger. Actually… I’m not sure if the Barrier resists because…”

„We’ll be there in case it falls,” the voice of the old Pāṇṭittiyam had been suddenly heard behind them, amazing Fenrir so much. And not only him but the rest too because they all turned and looked in amazement at Pāṇṭittiyam. The old man, however, smiled when he saw them all staring at him, „Yes, I know what you are thinking about right now… that we are old and decrepit… but: our power is still there, and, while we can use our power, we can fight, even if we’re old.”

„It’s not about old age, old Pāṇṭittiyam, it’s about respect,” said Yamu. „More than that, it’s about honor because we are still many Rophions who can fight. So…”

„Why expose the young people, who can continue our people and glory, Yamu, when the old men can also fight to protect our country?” The old man insisted. „Actually, I’m not the only one who thinks this way, it’s the whole Council. Thus, even if you oppose this idea, we’ve made our decision already: we’ll die here if necessary, but the village of Rophions won’t ever be destroyed. We won’t allow this people to fall as the Noears have fallen, those who’ve been our friends, but who we’ve been unable to protect eventually.”

The words of old Pāṇṭittiyam made Fenrir shudder. He wasn’t aware of why he felt so strange because he hadn't lived in those times when Noears had fallen. At the same time, he didn’t see what Samaya saw, reflected in the mirror of the witch Villō. Even so, he felt his heart madly beating in his chest and started to feel that he lacked air. Nevertheless, in the end, understanding that he couldn’t give up, he deeply breathed in, trying to calm down, and only after this, he said, „If you have decided so, we won’t oppose, old Pāṇṭittiyam. Yet, this doesn’t mean I agree with this decision.”

The old man smiled. „To go to war, one doesn’t need the acceptance of the young people, just as we don’t need permission to die. You know, if we hide now, we’ll live with the shame in our hearts that we've survived while young people have burned themselves in the fire of hell. Thus, if this is written so for all of us, we’ll die or we’ll survive together, staying at the border of our village, courageously defending it, paying the price we should pay!” After that, turning his back to Fenrir and the others, the old man headed toward the other members of the Council of Elders, who were waiting for him to tell them what had been eventually decided.

Fenrir looked behind him for a long time because he felt weird and didn’t know what to do. If Dike had been there, he would have known what to tell the old men to convince them to go to the tunnels while the young people would have stood at the borders of the village. He, instead… has been so weak inside and let them so easily stay by their side. It meant that he wasn’t worth being their leader. Or maybe…

„…or maybe it’s only an idea you have in your head, but which is not the correct one,” said Arion when he read his friend’s mind. Because of this, Fenrir frowned, staring at his good friend and mentor: he definitely hated that that one was poking his nose in his business again. Yet, even if he understood the hint, Arion only smiled, adding, „Even if my ideas and my words aren’t something you like, they are still the truth, Prince Fenrir. Do you know why?”

„Because one’s dignity and desire to protect his country has nothing to do with their leader’s dignity?”

„Yep, dude, this is so. That’s why, you should stop complaining and focus on the defense, because this is what we need right now.”

„Then, if it’s decided that the borders of the village will be protected, the ghouls will also stay,” said Kalimērā in a stern tone.

„Of course not,” said Yamu in a demanding voice. „And I say „no” not because I don’t trust them, but because the ghouls cannot face that devilish bird. The Rophions instead are more than able to face it.”

„If you never saw what a ghoul can do to protect his country and people, then you never should say such words about us. Moreover, to say that we are unable to protect a place that received us as home,” Izkina hissed through his teeth, approaching the others along with Zorrota. „Yet, even if we are able to fight for this kingdom, we have a condition in exchange: that our queen Kalimērā and the baby Piccai must go with you into the tunnels. Only when we know that they are fine, will we join you in this war.”

„No, Izkina,” said Kalimērā firmly. „How can a leader leave his soldiers behind? This means cowardice.”

„Of course not, my Queen,” replied Zorrota. „It means to be a mother. The mother of our future King. Thus, as we want our people never to die, the baby Piccai and you, my queen, should be safe! We’ll also be safe, we promise.”

„Yet, Zorrota, I consider this unfair because…,” Kalimērā tried to oppose the ghoul’s idea. Yet, she kept silent when Sephir said:

„I consider that Izkina and Zorrota are right: for a people to survive and live forever, it must have heirs. Yes, at least one offspring of their people should survive so their people do not die. Thus, for the ghouls to continue to exist from now on, you and your son must be safe, Kalimērā! And you’ll be safe for sure in the Rophions’hide-out.”

„You should also go, Sephir,” insisted Fenrir.

„I won’t,” she said confidently. „I’ll stay, Fenrir, and this isn’t to be discussed. Why? Because I’m the only one who can control the madness of the sky right now. Yes, there’s still Arion here. Yet, he won’t be able to control it alone. More than that, I’m able to defend myself and, next to you, I’ll be safer than in the tunnels of Ārakkiḷ.”

The safeness of Sephir’s voice and the confidence in her eyes convinced Fenrir to let her stay. Yet, he didn’t accept her to stay with him because he was weak in front of her, but because his wife was right: if they wanted to protect their village, they needed all those who were able to control the madness of the sky. More than that, Sephir was right in saying that by his side she was safer. And not only she but also he because, fighting with her side by side, he would have seen her any second, and convinced himself that she was fine. Not the same would have happened if she had entered the tunnels: both would have thought about the other one, all the time, and the worriedness from their souls would have been even more poisonous than the venom. Thus, understanding this, Fenrir sighed. By sighing, he let Sephir know he agreed for her to stay there. Then, when she touched his arm, Fenrir looked at her and smiled when she told him, „We’ll be just fine together. And this will be also right: fighting side by side, until the end, or dying together if necessary.”

Eventually, completely disarmed by her glance, Fenrir hugged her. He didn’t care about the smiles he saw sketched on the others’face when he held his wife, clumsy, to his chest. All that mattered to him was that she was there and he could feel calm, even if this was the calmness before the storm, one that could have been completed only by her.

***

Even if Yamu demanded everyone to head toward the Tunnels Ārakkiḷ immediately, two hours later the Rophions were still seen in the village. Part of them was gathering things, others helped the soldiers with strengthening the borders, while the rest helped at the stables. The reason? It was absolutely necessary to strengthen the hide-out for the animals too, which hid there after the birds Kākkai’s attack. Thus, if everything had been protected, the animals would have been safe too. And, if the fire had gotten to the stables, they wouldn’t have been touched by it eventually because the Rophions used their power to form a kind of Barrier there too.

Actually, namely toward the stables were heading Fenrir, Arion, and Nathaniel the moment they heard Kkuṟai’s yell, „The horses! Prince Fenrir, the horses come!” A yell that made everyone turn and stare at the boy. Thus, they saw him pointing to the horizon with his hand, from where, so soon after this, the deafening noise of hooves was heard. Yet, even if they thought that an army of animals was heading toward the stables, once they felt the fire approaching their hide-out, Fenrir and the rest saw, in the end, only five horses: two black as the pitch and three as white as the milk.

The black ones were Shinar and Tūfon. Among the white ones, the young men recognized only Vitiyiṉ (Gaea’s horse) and Sṉōḥpḷēk (Island’s horse.) The fifth one, however, was even whiter than the milk, a weird horse in fact, somehow unusual because of its shiny skin and its soft hair. Also, it seemed strange because his eyes were deep and black, which was really impressive. A horse that nobody ever saw before, just as they didn't see him accompanied by the four horses known by Fenrir and the rest. Yet, the four animals seemed to have known the fifth one for a long time because they didn’t seem scared or surprised to see that one following them. More than that, the fifth one seemed to be one of them more than a stranger.

Yet… the wonder didn’t stop there, once the five animals appeared there. What amazed them the most was to see that the horses crossed through the Barrier without being necessary for one of the Rophions to open a gate for them. Because of this, the Rophions stared at each other, thunderstruck, because they had never expected to see a soul capable of crossing through the Barrier without breaking it or being forced to use his power against it at first. An amazement that made Yamu suddenly stutter, extremely confused, „This… what is this?”

„Not what, but who!” Arion corrected him, still staring at the horses, which, once they crossed the Barrier, had done a big circle around the village, to stop not that far from them later and wait for what was coming, in silence. „And… I think the wonder is the fifth one. The unknown horse. Yet… I can’t really figure out what’s weird about him.”

Seconds later, Arion frowned and looked thunderstruck at Fenrir, when this one burst into laughter eventually, saying, „What’s weird to me is that a horse is unable to understand another one.”

„As though you are able to understand all the wolves, even if you are one of them,” Arion hissed through his teeth. Yet, seeing the Rophions squinting at him, something that hinted to him that his joke had been a damn bad one because the wolves took it too personally even if it was addressed to Fenrir, Arion looked elsewhere right away. Then, cleaning his voice, he murmured, „I was just saying. Don’t take it personally!”

He’d been even more surprised after this when he saw that the wolves smiled eventually. After that, calm, each of them returned to what he was doing because even if the appearance of the horses could be considered a magic and unexpected phenomenon, the danger was too close already and they couldn’t waste any minute in vain, a thought that made them rush to finish the work. Not everybody, anyway because the children, curious, tried to approach the animals. Yet, they right away pulled back when Tūfon nervously puffed through his nostrils, raising to his rear legs. Thus, the animal let everybody know that they weren’t there to play or be rare specimens at the circus, but because they had a very important mission there. One that Fenrir and the rest seemed not to understand.

Who understood that if her father’s horse was there, it was for a certain cause, had been Sephir. She, understanding this, approached Tūfon eventually and, caressing his mane and snout, started to whisper to him to calm him down, „They are only children, Tūfon, don’t take it personally! Yes, yes, I know you don’t like when others approach you too much. Yet, once we live next to them, we must accept them staying nearby!” Then, when she finally felt that the horse calmed a little, Sephir stuck her forehead to the horse’s snout, who also closed his eyes as she did, trying to send her his anxiety this way and make her understand that secret message he wanted to send to her.

Seeing Sephir with her forehead stuck to Tūfon’s snout as though she was meditating, the Rophions exchanged glances. It seemed weird to them, her position. That’s why, at one moment, one of the children asked, „What is she doing?” A murmur that had been repeated right away by the other children, something that made Fenrir stop and look around, seeing that the other Rophions also stopped their work and waited, so curious, to hear the message the horse tried to send to Sephir.

Yet, the moment they saw Yellen heading toward the fifth horse, the unknown one, the Rophions exchanged glances again, asking each other this way, „What will this child do this time?” A question that nobody knew the answer to. Not even Nathaniel, who stared at his sister for a while, trying to understand if she was in a trance, possessed, or she was simply doing this at her will. He even tried to grab her hand and stop her when she passed by him. Yet, he didn’t stop her eventually because of Yamu, who grabbed his hand in the end, shaking his head and letting him know not to interfere in what Yellen wanted to do.

Yamu did well in preventing Nathaniel from approaching Yellen because, this way, they all saw how the girl approached the unknown horse, whose snout she touched without turning him nervous or scare him. The horse seemed to have liked the girl’s approach. He even bent his head when Yellen stretched the second hand toward him, intending to caress his mane. Then, after seconds of caressing the animal’s neck, Yellen looked at the others and told them, „Her name is Tūyāmā.”

„Tūyāmā? The Ray of the Future?” Arion asked in amazement.

„Yes, this is the meaning of her name in the ancient language.”

„Yet… how do you know all this?” Fenrir asked her, amazed. „Don’t tell us that she’s who told you her name.”

Yellen smiled. „Even if you don’t believe this, it’s the truth. In fact, this is a magic horse, so different from the rest of the horses, and this is because she has lived more than any other horse we know. I think only Shinar has lived as much as she has. Even so, even if I feel that there is a strong bond between them, I can’t figure out what bonds them two,” the girl said. Then, she looked at Shinar, who lowered his snout, carefully smelling the grass as though he wasn’t aware that the others were talking about him.

Eventually, when Tūyāmā rubbed her forehead on the girl’s shoulder, Yellen looked at her again. She looked at the mare for a long time while Tūyāmā had her eyes closed, slowly moving her lips as though sending a secret message to the girl, just as Tūfon had tried to send one to Sephir. A message Yellen didn’t understand eventually, even if she felt something strange in the animal in front of her. Even so, feeling deep pain hidden in the mare’s soul, Yellen touched her forehead with a wide-open palm, slowly caressing it while whispering, „You aren’t alone anymore! Yes, you aren’t because so many trustful friends are around you, those who’ll always be by your side when you need them.”

By saying such words, Yellen was trying to calm Tūyāmā, to let her know that she didn’t have a reason to be afraid and that they were safe there. Yet, while caressing the animal’s forehead, she also felt a strange anxiety in her chest, one she couldn’t understand, just as she couldn’t understand why she started to feel it. Only in the end, when she mirrored her eyes in the kind glance of the animal, Yellen shuddered. She slowly shuddered eventually while pulling back. The reason? She started to see a world covered by flames in Tūyāmā’s glance - a saint land scorched from above by hungry flames, huge flames, thrown from big Tarther’s nostrils.

„It can’t be!” Murmured Yellen, seeing all this. „I can’t see this! Not in her eyes!” Yet, even if she was terrified and wanted to turn her back to the mare and run away, Yellen felt unable to do this. She even felt that something made her look at Tūyāmā for longer, straight into her eyes as though she was longing to see that havoc, dreaming to be part of it because, for an unknown reason, she felt that those images were part of her past, an unknown past, which she didn’t remember.

She would have remembered that past eventually if she had continued to look into the mare’s eyes. Thus… maybe she would have been lost forever, remembering those past times. Yet, she’d been saved, by the terror of the past and the fear of the present by Kkuṟai because the boy, when he felt her scared, approached her despite the warnings of the others to stay away from her. Thus, when he got by her side, the boy forced her to watch him and told her in a demanding voice, „Not everything you see in someone’s eyes is the truth, Yellen.”

„Yet… it’s so real!” She murmured, still shaking while looking straight into the boy’s eyes.

„And you are right, it’s real! What you’ve seen in her eyes, but it’s not our reality!”

„It’s not our reality? What do you mean, Kkuṟai? Do you mean that what I see in Tūyāmā’s eyes is part of her past?” The girl asked in amazement. She even intended to turn her head and look into the mare’s eyes again, trying to convince herself that she hadn’t had visions.

Kkuṟai, however, even if he also didn’t know why he should keep the girl away from that mare, moreover when he didn’t know what Yellen saw in the animal’s eyes, grabbed Yellen by the arm and held her tightly, forcing her not to look at Tūyāmā. After that, when Yellen looked into his eyes, he whispered to her, „Don’t look for truths that can knock you down eventually, child! At the same time, don’t force the present to turn to see the past. If you do this, then the world will turn upside down and you’ll be lost forever.”

„Bodhi?” Yellen asked in amazement when she heard the words whispered by Kkuṟai, strange words in her opinion because she was sure he didn’t have why to know such things. Moreover, she was sure that not Kkuṟai talked to her because of his eyes, which suddenly turned to a deep black at first, to have the color of the eyes of the little girl Bodhi in the end, who told Yellen after that:

„Yes, Yellen! It’s me!”

„But… How is this possible? I thought that you don’t have the power to control the magic wolves. Only… the other creatures.”

„And you are right. Half only because I can’t control the rest of the magic wolves. I can connect to this boy, however, because he has been to the Gates of Purgatorium. Actually, thanks to you, this bond has been created between us because you’ve sent him toward that holy place.”

Bodhi’s words made Yellen frown. Yet, she didn’t frown because she was upset or bothered by something, but because she didn’t remember that she did that. Only when she heard, like in a dream, the words she told Kkuṟai that day, she remembered. „Listen to my advice and go there, because only there you’ll find the real power and your meaning on earth,” she said then. Thus, she realized that she had big power, much bigger than she ever thought, a power she had never been totally aware of. Yet, it was controlling her from inside her, working for them thus as though it would have helped them all. Thus, when she remembered all this, Yellen closed her eyes and murmured, „This bond is not only between you two, Bodhi. It’s between us three in fact.”

„You are absolutely right, Yellen. Through you, I've been able to bring this boy back to life, and he can tell you about the future right now. Thus, we can consider, without being wrong, that we are soul mates. Even so, we won’t be bonded forever, Yellen. At the same time, we won’t ever be able to connect with the other one, ask for pieces of good advice, or help because, soon, Maranam and the army of evil will control everything and each of us.”

„Yet… I don’t understand why you have told me not to force the future to look back. More than that, I don’t really understand what bonds me to those images seen in Tūyāmā’s eyes, as though it has been part of my past.”

„Just… give time some space to breathe,” Bodhi responded. After that, she vanished, and Yellen saw Kkuṟai smiling while he kept holding her hand.

This didn’t calm her at all. On the contrary, she felt even more anxious than before because Bodhi kept silent about an answer that seemed extremely important to her. Yet… she also understood that it wasn’t the right moment for such truths and that it wasn’t also time to worry the others because this seemed to have been done by acting as she acted. Thus, she clearly saw the preoccupation in their eyes while they kept staring at her, trying to figure out what was the problem with her. Because of this, Yellen forced a smile eventually, sending them the message „I’m fine” through that smile, even if she was lying.

Eventually, feeling confident in herself again, Yellen turned and looked at Tūyāmā. Yet, she didn’t see that fire in the mare’s eyes again. Only a deep silence Yellen saw in Tūyāmā’s eyes… the silence before the storm…