“He is waiting to meet you. You must know that your expectations will not come true, your friends will become enemies, your enemies will become friends, death, and love await you, and meeting with darkness will give birth to new life,” — the words of the old prophetess, spoken in that abandoned forest village, stuck in my mind like a splinter. 

I played them repeatedly in my head, trying to understand the hidden meaning. What did she mean? And who is this “He”?

Brother? Nix, the Keeper of the Key? Or maybe the Prince? All of them were eager to meet me. But which of them is hiding behind this prophecy? And what about my expectations? Is it possible that our plan with Nix will fail? Have all the sacrifices and battles that we went through been in vain?

“Your friends will become enemies…” — I felt a threat in these words. Which of my faithful companions will betray me? Michel, Nikos, Basil? We had been through so much together that betrayal seemed unthinkable… or was it just something I didn't want to admit?

I didn't know how to interpret the prophecy. It was like a web, each knot of which led to dark, unknown corners of my future. The more I thought about it, the more entangled I became in my thoughts. And the more I thought, the stronger the feeling grew that the true meaning of these words was about to reveal itself, striking unexpectedly and mercilessly.

Several carefree days passed after we escaped from Forbant and the glorious victory over the forest bandits. My childhood friends, now accompanying me to Orkvalia as squires, became heroes for the residents of the village of Swifts. Liberators, they basked in the rays of glory, receiving respectful bows from the peasants and gentle glances from the girls, who gave the warmth of their lips and the tenderness of their hands. The days spent in the prison cells of Forbant were quickly erased from memory as if it were just a cruel joke.

We forgot how the damp walls of the cell smelled, how disgusting the taste of the prison soup was. The euphoria that had taken over my friends' heads seemed endless. They were sure that life here could be lived carefree because everyone had acquired their first magical abilities. There was no need to study, or work either — it was enough to appear armed and dangerous. And grateful peasants would always bring food and drink.

Life in this idyll might have lasted forever, if not for new events that changed our usual course of life and prompted us to reconsider our plans for the future.

One of those days when the sky was cloudless and the mood carefree, I set off early in the morning along a trampled path that led from the village into the forest. My friends were still asleep, but I wanted to practice with the sword alone so that no one would see me use my magic.

Around the village, there were juniper and gooseberry bushes, which bore fruit generously at this time of year. Their abundance freed the local women from the need to go into the forest to pick berries, from which they brewed a strong intoxicating drink.

Suddenly, two horsemen riding out of the forest into the open attracted my attention. They seemed suspicious to me, and I hurried to hide in the thick bushes. It is easier to attack from an ambush if the enemy rushes at you.

However, the horsemen rode slowly, riding not horses, but oxen, and their animated conversation did not seem threatening. The distance was considerable, and I could not make out their words, but their tense gestures betrayed an argument. As they approached, I recognized them as my old friend Pete and his daughter Ena.

They were heading towards the village of Swifts.

Later I learned that the father and daughter, frightened by the sorceress Elaine, hesitated to leave the forest for a long time. When the fear subsided, Pete decided that the best place to look for me was a village near the city. He knew that I could be hiding there. Ena, tired of endless wanderings, persuaded her father to forget about Elaine's threats and return home, but Pete stubbornly refused.

“We can't run away to Mitch's village. They will find us there too. Enemies and danger must be met head-on, not hidden from them! We must find Aryan. He will understand and help us,” insisted Pete.

Pete did not know what to do. He hid his confusion from Ena, knowing that cowardice would not be a solution. He had a tough task: Elaine demanded to know how Aryan's sword, the Righteous One, gained its destructive power. If Pete failed, Ena would suffer… and not only her.

Only I could tell him about the Righteous One's true abilities, and I had to make sure that I would reveal this information myself without pressure. At the same time, Pete had to be careful that no one—neither me nor my comrades—suspected him of spying.

Pete was sure that if they did not meet in the village of Swifts, they would have to return to Forbant and continue searching for Arian there. The main thing was not to let him leave Orqualia.

On the way to Swifts, Pete told Ena the truth about his six-year captivity. The story was often interrupted by tears — both his and his daughter's.

If someone had told Pete that he would one day cry like a girl deceived by a vile gentleman, he would have laughed in their face. But now, telling his daughter about what he had experienced, he did not notice the tears that were streaming down his cheeks. Convincing Ena of the rightness of his actions turned out to be much more difficult than he thought.

“If everything is as you say,” Ena began, trying to contain her emotions, “maybe we should return to Forbant right away, and not waste time searching through the villages?” She had long since forgiven her father for stealing Arian's sword and his cowardly escape during his arrest in the city.

— Swifts is the only village where Arian could have hidden after his escape. If I'm wrong…

— Pete! Ena! — I called out to them, coming out of hiding.

Ena screamed in surprise, frightening the ox, which immediately rushed forward. The girl almost ended up on the ground, but I managed to catch her at the last moment.

She flushed with embarrassment, instantly unclenched her arms around my neck, and stepped back, unable to withstand my gaze. I felt how much I missed her. She seemed even more beautiful to me than before, and I could hardly restrain myself. Her presence overshadowed everything around her, but Pete's stern gaze reminded me of his closeness. I wanted to hug Ena, press her to me, kiss her, but I knew that now was not the time. Ena turned away, and her eyes filled with tears again. Her inner turmoil was so obvious that I couldn’t help but stroke her shiny, wavy hair and say softly:

“Don’t cry. There’s no more danger. We’re together again, and we’ll go home soon.”

When Ena heard the word “danger,” her face instantly changed, and she began to sob. Her nose sniffled incessantly, and transparent tears rolled down her peachy-pink cheeks. I took these tears as a sign of feminine weakness. It seemed that she regretted that we had parted without saying goodbye, and now she was overcome with belated regret.

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Pete, stunned by our unexpected meeting, frowned. He watched Ena and I hugging as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. He thought that the search would take a long time and would probably be unsuccessful. But what struck him even more was the sword hanging on my belt. It was the spitting image of the Righteous One.

“Then what did I show Elaine?” flashed through his mind.

Another circumstance tormented his mind. He had managed to deceive his daughter, and found an excuse for her, but how could he now explain his actions to me, an unsuspecting friend?

“What should I do?” thought Pete. “Should I return Aryan's real sword? How will he react to a clumsy, hastily invented explanation?”

I hugged the crying Ena, gently stroking her back, trying to calm her down, but I had no idea what was going on in her father's soul. I had not yet mastered the magic that allowed me to capture the thoughts and feelings of others. From the outside, it seemed that his confused expression was simply a reaction to our unexpected meeting.

To defuse the tense atmosphere, I decided to be the first to break the silence and warmly greeted my old comrade:

“Pete! Finally, we meet again! I thought you were already home, in Mitch's village.”

His confusion quickly dissipated, and we hugged tightly, like brothers who had long lost each other. Heading towards the village, I felt Ena, still holding back her tears, walking next to me, leading a calm bull behind her. Her face was hidden under the hood, but I knew that her emotions had not yet calmed down.

There were a lot of questions on the tip of my tongue that I wanted to ask immediately, but I knew that perhaps their unexpected arrival was overshadowed by something I didn’t know about yet. Not wanting to upset the delicate balance in the mood of the newly met people, I began to tell about what had happened to me after our separation: how I was interrogated in the prince’s castle with the help of the Mirror of Truth, how I barely escaped the fate of being imprisoned, and then how I was treated by the city healer Nikorak and how wounded, I got to the village on the back of a dragon.

Pit stared at me, his eyes widened in surprise, and a slightly stupid grin appeared on his face as if he could not believe what he heard. Even though during our joint travels we had experienced many exciting events together, my story seemed far-fetched to him.

Ena reacted completely differently. She looked at me with an expression as if she was barely holding back her emotions: her eyes were burning with excitement, her eyebrows were raised high, and her mouth was slightly open as if she was about to utter words from complete astonishment. In the last few minutes, I managed to surprise my old friends twice.

As we approached the house where my childhood friends had settled, Pete suddenly tugged at my sleeve. I turned around and noticed how he quickly showed a sign with his fingers crossed — a warning of danger. “Move quietly!” — this silent message clearly said.

I still did not understand what exactly Pete considered dangerous until I heard the familiar voices of my friends. After they became heroes among the peasants, my “squires” lost their former interest in training and now spent most of their time stretched out on grass mattresses. Taking advantage of my absence, they seemed to be engaged in a discussion of my actions. “I still don't understand the story of the Key,” Michel's voice reached me:

“Who among you can say for sure whether Nix returned it to our master?” He paused for a moment, then added:

“They showed me a small pyramid and said it was the Key.”

“I didn't ask him, and he didn't tell me anything,” Nikos replied, his tone full of indifference. “Even if the Key was returned, I don't see the point in returning home empty-handed yet.”

“I don't want to either,” the blond Basil's voice was indignant. “After Arian dragged us into this world, I'm not surprised by anything anymore. Damn, we had gold! Why couldn't he have told us in advance where we were going, and what awaited us? And what now? We're stuck in some shithole with no normal booze, no women. Sour wine, and even the girls here… well, you know. And he pretends to be a gentleman! Where is he now?” I felt indignation boiling inside. Not wanting to hear such unflattering reviews about myself anymore, I decisively opened the door, making it clear that I was returning. The unspoken phrase stuck in the Woodcutter's mouth, and he, choking from surprise, began to cough. Embarrassed, he reached for the wine jug, trying to clear his suddenly dry throat.

“Remember the shit — here it is!” Nikos muttered, getting up from the table. Michel and Alex, as if by agreement, pulled a semblance of happy smiles on their faces, pretending that they had nothing to do with the discussion.

Pete and Ena, having heard the conversation, like me, were not surprised, but rather disappointed by such an attitude towards me. To defuse the tense atmosphere, I pretended that I had not heard anything, and calmly said that Pete left on my orders. So, as if that was what we had agreed on. At the moment of my explanation, Ena's eyes widened in surprise — she did not expect such a turn of events.

Luckily, the situation was saved by breakfast time. The travelers and “heroes” were hungry. On the table stood a large jug with a pleasant, not-too-sour wine. Under a clean cloth, the tempting aroma of freshly baked bread teased the sense of smell, and delicious oatmeal was steaming in clay pots.

The wine ran out faster than expected, and the squires suggested continuing the celebration of the meeting in the local tavern, assuring that the wine there was much better. Theodore even added: “There, the wine will not let you down!”

No one argued. A slight intoxication was spinning our heads, like a dance, forcing us to continue the fun, even though the day was just beginning to unfold. In the half-empty tavern, where we were not the only visitors, Pete, quickly leaning over his glasses, demanded a new portion of the intoxicating drink, trying to drown out his worries under a veil of wine. Ena, tired from the long journey, sat down on the edge of the table, dropped her head into her hands, and seemed to fall into a restless sleep, barely aware of what was happening around her. “Pete,” I stammered, trying to be heard over the surrounding noise. “When are you going to give me back my sword? I thank you for getting it out of the city before Captain Gregor of the Palace Guard could get his hands on my Righteous One.”