A black like pitch sky was stretching toward the horizon of Paṉi Makkal. There, furious clouds were seen, running one after the other, throwing spears of fire toward each other and making the sky crack because of the mad lightning thrown from above. Because of the same lightning and thunders, a strange rumble was heard above… the rumble of the celestial carts that were chasing those mad clouds that were entirely out of control, trying, at least as possible, to keep a tight rein of them. Yet, that chase only managed to enrage the sky more, which cracked in places the black cloth of its body.
Tikil was looking at that view at that moment, wondering if the madness of nature had something to do with Maranam’s presence on that mountain or was a simple phenomenon that he had never seen before. A natural phenomenon it couldn’t have been for sure, and this was undoubtedly due to the evil that was acting up in that place. An evil that Tikil clearly felt on his skin like itches, something so pleasant in the past but still something that made him shudder at that moment. Why did he feel all this? Because of those three Rings of Power that were limiting his movement.
The smaller of the rings had a red color, somehow influenced by the power of the fire and the lava from the depths of the mountain. The second one had a black color and was undoubtedly influenced by the power of the earth. The third one was dark blue on the edge and light blue inside, like the clear sky during the summer, controlled by the power of the sky and of the air for sure. „Air that feels so insufferable at this moment. Like that sky, hidden behind the black mask of evil. Thus, it’s capable of acting up at will just to blame others for its own madness after this.”
Argol’s shout, which he heard above him, made Tikil grin eventually. He definitely hated that eagle, which was moving in perfect circles above him, controlled by the power of the air and of the wind that was slowly blowing around him at that moment. A wind that Tikil never liked in fact.
Yet, even if he felt all this around him, something Tikil hated the most, he was wrong because not the air or the wind was controlling Argol, but the eagle controlled the power of the two natural phenomena. Thus, fully feeling their energy, Argol allowed them to spoil him. The eagle even felt the warm caress of the air deeply in his body, something that allowed him to connect his power to the wind’s power, on whose large wings he was carried at that moment, drawing perfect circles right above the enemy that he hated for an entire life and on whom he always dreamt to take revenge. A revenge he had at that moment, fully enjoying it in fact because Tikil fell prey to his own vanity eventually, getting in the trap of the Mountain, a trap he had been avoiding for millennia, but into which he fell alone in the end.
„I fell into the same trap you would fall into eventually, Argol,” Tikil hissed through his teeth, outraged. „Don’t think you are different from me, do you hear me?” He shouted again, staring at the eagle only from the corner of his eye.
Argol didn’t answer any of the questions. He only slowly flew, somehow lazy, on the wings of that slow wind of the evening, allowing the breeze of that place to spoil him thoroughly. At the same time, the eagle seemed not to rush that revenge he had been planning for a long while, a perfect revenge as he always wanted. Yet, that revenge was different from how Argol imagined that it would be because… Argol would have wanted Tikil thrown into the same chasm into which he lost his human body, being turned eventually into that bald eagle that flew in the heights.
Nevertheless, Fate and Life had other plans for him. At the same time, they had different plans for Tikil because… what the Titan had dreamt for an entire life - supremacy and the throne of the Mount of Fear - remained only an illusion for him, an impossible dream, in fact. Understanding this, Tikil gnashed his teeth because that bitter truth of the world was something he hated.
„Even so, it’s not the end,” Tikil almost shouted when it seemed that he hissed the words at first. „It’s not over if I’m still standing! At the same time, you won’t ever have the pleasure to see me falling off my pedestal, man Alton, just as you won’t ever have the pleasure to see me falling into that chasm, eagle Argol.”
„Do you really think this?” Tikil heard Argol’s voice from above him again. „That… what I wait for is to see you falling into that chasm?”
„Aaa, no?! Then… if it’s not that, what’s then? To be in my place?” Tikil asked in a mischievous tone.
„I just want to see that you paid for your sins, Tikil. I want to see this with my own eyes. I want justice for all those souls that died or suffered because of you.”
„Something damn difficult eventually because… let’s not forget that I have a huge power when you are only a poor eagle. A bird that won’t ever defeat me if fighting one to one. As I like to fight in fact.”
„What you want is to play games. I prefer to live this life as it is.”
„Games? Which ones? Those… hide-and-seek games?” Tikil asked, chortling.
„No, I leave such childish games for you. I prefer the revenge ones,” Argol said in a sure voice. After that, so suddenly, he pounced on Tikil, powerfully flapping his wings right above the Titan’s head, scratching the skin of his arms and face with his sharp claws while his crooked beak was knocking all the time on the top of Tikil’s head.
A powerful hit threw Argol away from Tikil. The poor eagle was practically lifeless, lying a few dozen meters from Tikil, in the same place where he fell after the hit. Argol was lying on his back, with his wings beside his body, with the claws squeezed, injuring the skin of his legs even more while his eyes were closed. Only the fact that his chest was slowly moving up and down betrayed the fact that he was still alive, something that enraged Tikil more because he would have liked his enemy to be dead.
„Not for long,” Tikil hissed through his teeth, clenching his fists. Yet, he made a wry face right away when he felt the pain caused by the burnt skin and the wounds he had on the top of his head, where Argol knocked him with his strong beak. On his left temple, a trail of blood was seen, hinting that Argol managed to injure him well. Yet, the wound wasn’t deep because Tikil was still standing on his feet, slowly heading toward Argol.
A deafening noise, heard from above, made Tikil stop. After that, Tikil carefully looked over there while slowly rotating on his heels. Yet, he saw nothing in the sky. Only those black and mad clouds were still seen above. Even so, Tikil felt soon a hot breeze kissing his skin. He felt it like hot magma, of a volcano that had just erupted, a volcano that had a single known name, „Tī!”
Nobody answered that question eventually even if Tikil was sure that Tī was somewhere around. After thousands and thousands of years of absence, the Ancient Titan of the Sun came to Earth again. „Looking for revenge, right?” Tikil roared, outraged, because he hated not to receive an answer to his questions. At the same time, Tikil hated to play that cat and mouse game too, a favorite game for Tī, who, each time he met Tikil, preferred to hide for a while to make sure Tikil would be driven crazy. „You won’t hide for long, Tī because, if you are here, sooner or later, you’ll show up your bitter face and you’ll accept your defeat as it has happened each time you fought with me! So, come on, show up at once, and let’s finish this madness because I don’t have time to waste in vain with you!”
Tī listened to that advice and showed up in front of Tikil. At first, only his presence was felt when he threw the mace toward Tikil. The mace hit the target right away: the top of Tikil’s head, burying him into the ground up to his armpits. After that, a deafening hissing was heard around while the Titan of the Sun Tī showed his face to his enemy, descending to earth like a fire arrow that pierced the blackened horizon, stopping only a few steps from the place Argol was lying.
Tikil, while the hissing of the arrow Tī was heard piercing the air, stood in the same place, dizzy. His ears were buzzing and his eyes were slowly rotating in his head. All around him was dizzyingly moving after this as though the whole burden of the world was pressing over the top of his head. Then, when he could control that dizziness a little, he looked in front, seeing Tī, who was struggling to take his long feet out of the ground because the speed of the falling from the sky forced him to sink into the ground up to his knees eventually. After that, when he could move around, Tī approached Argol, slowly moving his palm above the bird’s body.
Seeing that Tī was trying to revive the bird, Tikil chortled. „I see you look for Death at any cost today,” he told Tī. After that, when he felt the dizziness taking again over him, the Titan of Dread closed his eyes for a few moments. Yet, he didn’t keep his tongue behind his teeth, but said, „Or… are you trying to revive the dead ones this time?”
„No. I just try to defeat you,” said Tī, staring at Tikil from the corner of his eyes. „As it has always happened and you know that.”
Tikil cooked his nose, opening his eyes, only half. „As it has always happened?” He asked ironically. „It seems to me that old age doesn’t suit you, Tī! As far as I remember, the one who has always been defeated has been you.”
„Really?” Tī asked, smiling, standing up again while holding Argol to his chest. „Honestly, it’s not what I remember.”
„This is because you like to lie to yourself. Just as you lie to yourself when you hold a dead soul to your chest, thinking that he is still alive when you should have buried it and covered it with dust. Instead, you hold him in your arms and warm him like a snake, who can easily grab you by the throat eventually. If he still breathes, of course. Something I doubt: that the insufferable one is still breathing because… I took care for him to never feel the breeze of this mountain again.”
Tī shrugged. The Titan seemed too confident in himself and this made Tikil attentive. At the same time, Tikil found it strange that Tī was caressing the eagle’s feathers as he used to caress Morgan’s soft fur. „It can’t be!” Tikil suddenly growled. „Is that bastard still breathing?”
„Of course, he's breathing because… it seems that you’ve forgotten one thing, Tikil: a soul that I’ve saved once cannot die, not because of you. This happens because I gave him eternal life when I took Argol out of that chasm, leaving his human body to fall into that bottomless hole. The only ones who can take such a gift from him are Father Chaos and Life. You… never!”
„That’s why he seemed so confident in himself, right?” Tikil asked, showing his fangs. „Just as he was sure that he’d take revenge on me.”
Tī smiled. „You are such a fool, Tikil! You are dumber than the rocks!”
„No insults, Tī, or I will start to insult you too.”
„Be my guest! It won’t offend me if you tell the truth as I say it. Yet, as I’m sure you’ll never see that truth, I’ll tell you to you if you want, of course!”
„Enlighten me, Your Majesty!”
„The man Alton took revenge on you millennia ago, the moment I recovered my wings and he was reborn from that chasm. That day, taking me on his strong and big wings, out of that chasm, Alton managed to sink you into the same bottomless hole. This was his great revenge, one neither you nor he saw that day. Even so, I still have time to show you how much you’ve been wrong all this time.”
„I’ve been wrong? In what? That I lived my life?”
„No. That you became Maranam’s ally. This was the worst mistake you could have ever made. Yes, you’ve always been a fool and you have preferred evil instead of good. Even so, Accam Kuṉṟu had always forgiven you because he loved you. He had always asked for forgiveness in your place, protecting you. Now, once he gave up on his own son, I also have the chance to show you how revenge feels on your own skin,” Tī hissed through his teeth, throwing Argol in the air. After that, when Argol was floating on his wings again, Tī pounced on Tikil, knocking him down. Then, clenched in each other, they started to punch and kick the enemy, trying to defeat him at any cost.
***
Deeply hidden in the heart of the Mountain of Fear, Caktiyiṉ Ātāram was the symbol of perfection, toward which a soul always tends to get, at least once in his life, without knowing that so few of them would have ever had this chance. This belief wasn’t an exaggeration because it was true that only a few souls had ever seen the Holy Stream of Power. A Stream that had black water even though it was clear, a stream that had the role and the power to show the future of a person or of the entire world to those who should have seen them. This role was often fulfilled by Inlan Diar, who could see the future while looking at the water of the Stream Pārvai, the one that poured from the icy swans’beaks, which could be found in the Throne Hall.
At a similar water, Zeal was also looking at that moment. Yet, she didn’t see it clear, but muddy, like the water of the mountain stream in the rainy season. Yet, the difference between the Stream of Power and the rest of the streams consisted of the muddy water. In the case of the Stream of Power, it was black because of the harsh time the World and the Mount of Fear crossed and not because of the dust. „As though this world is cursed and doomed,” Zeal murmured, eyes bathed by tears.
„A view that makes your heart bleed, isn’t it?” Accam Kuṉṟu asked her in a whisper. He was to Zeal’s left at that moment, mirroring his face in the muddy water of the stream. Yet, Accam Kuṉṟu, unlike his great-great-granddaughter, didn’t see that water muddy, but clean. In that water, he saw happy moments taken from his past, moments when the sun had kissed his forehead and caressed his black hair. Yes, Accam Kuṉṟu had had black hair in his youth, up to his shoulder, and curled. At the same time, he looked like Island. Nevertheless, unlike his grandson, Accam Kuṉṟu had olive skin, dark eyes, a deep glance, and wasn’t as tall as Island was. His dark olive skin was part of his savage power, of the black panther, which he often turned into when he wanted to wander the mountain or protect it from evil.
Zeal didn’t answer his question. She didn't even look at him, and this made Accam Kuṉṟu curious. Thus, looking at the girl, he saw her immersed in thoughts, with her glance bathed by the warm drops named tears, those formed in the depths of her heart in pain while looking at the Fate of the World into the water of the Stream. That view, reflected in Zeal’s eyes too, turned Accam Kuṉṟu sad. Because of this, he told her eventually, „We should be strong if we want to survive, Zeal. At the same time, it’s time to sacrifice others.”
„To sacrifice?” She asked, confused. „What exactly?”
„Our soul, Zeal. More than that, we should give up on someone we loved for a lifetime.”
Zeal shuddered, hearing the panther talking like that. Yes, she disliked the tone of Accam Kuṉṟu’s voice, just as she disliked the savage sparkling seen in his eyes. This made her fear, even if she didn’t know why. She felt something that she hadn’t felt before while being next to Accam Kuṉṟu. Because of this, unwillingly, she took a step back, staring at the panther to whom she asked, „To sacrifice whom, Accam Kuṉṟu? Answer me!” She almost shouted, seeing that the panther kept silent.
Accam Kuṉṟu didn’t mind hearing the girl talking to him like that. At the same time, he didn’t feel offended, spotting her looking at him like an enemy. Accam Kuṉṟu expected this while they got to that place: that Zeal would look with fear at him and would try to defend herself because, for so many times in her short life, she was forced to protect herself. She was forced to do that while fighting against Ahi and Coallar, who always wanted to take her power from her. That’s why, it wasn’t something wrong for Zeal to think that Accam Kuṉṟu wanted the same thing from her, even if she knew that the same blood was flowing through their veins.
„I asked you whom we should sacrifice, Accam Kuṉṟu,” insisted Zeal in finding out an answer, somehow afraid. „If you keep silent, it means that the offering is me, right?” Accam Kuṉṟu smiled. „I’ve been right in thinking so,” she murmured, disgusted. „Because of this, my great-grandmother, Inlan Diar, looked with sadness at me at departure. She did that because she was aware that she sacrificed me for the rest of the world. I can’t believe she’d been able to do that,” she murmured, eyes bathed by tears.
She winced eventually the moment she looked in front again and saw, instead of the panther, a different Island, the same whom Accam Kuṉṟu saw in the water of the Stream. This Island had black hair, up to his shoulders, curled, and deep black eyes, which deeply looked into the green ones of the girl. „Who are you?” She asked, frightened. „Grandpa Island?” Accam Kuṉṟu shook his head. „Then? Who are you?”
„I’m who your heart tells you that I am and not your mind, Zeal,” Accam Kuṉṟu kindly replied.
Recognizing the voice of that man as being the one of the panther Accam Kuṉṟu, Zeal winced again. Then, scared, she looked around, trying to see the black panther that had accompanied her to that Stream. Not seeing her, Zeal frowned again because… too strange seemed all that to her. The young man in front of her seemed as odd as everything that happened to her lately, a man who seemed not to be older than 30 and who looked like Island, but she knew that it wasn’t him. That sudden change of the Accam Kuṉṟu confused Zeal a lot because she had never expected that she’d see one day Accam Kuṉṟu’s human body, the one who had been so similar to Island in his life… a face she loved so much, of her dear grandfather Island.
„I know what you are thinking about right now,” said Accam Kuṉṟu, taking a step toward her. Zeal took one behind. „That the whole world turned its back to you and that they are plotting against you.”
„I think that’s logical for me to feel all this,” the girl said, shuddering inside. „It’s not the first time I am betrayed.”
„Yet, it’s the first time you’ve been brought to the Stream of Power.”
„Yes, you are right: it’s the first time I’ve been brought here. A place where nobody ever told me that I could get to one day. Even so, I’m here now, and this can be for a single reason: I’m the offering in this war.” Accam Kuṉṟu smiled, lowering his glance. „I don’t understand what makes you smile.”
„You,” the man kindly replied. „Why? Because I never said anything about any offering.”
„Of course, you said. Not long ago. You said, I quote, „We should be strong if we want to survive, Zeal. At the same time, it’s time to sacrifice others.”
„Yes, I said that. Yet, I never said that you’d be the offering.”
„Then? Whom will you sacrifice if not me? Your own soul?” Accam Kuṉṟu said nothing. He only kept smiling, heading toward Zeal, who took a few steps back again. She even demanded the panther, „Stay where you are or I won’t respond! I know what you can do and I don’t think you want to feel my poisonous bite on your skin.”
„Then, take you that step toward me,” Accam Kuṉṟu told her, stretching his right arm toward Zeal. He had his palm wide open, waiting for Zeal to touch it.
Staring at the arm stretched toward her, Zeal frowned again. She did that because… her mind told her that it was a trap and the man in front of her just lured her while her heart told her to trust the man Accam Kuṉṟu. „Like a mirror that reflects two different images… you,” she murmured eventually, still staring at the wide-open palm.
„No, Zeal: you just see what you want to see. At the same time, you are the only one who can feel the truth inside me, and this is undoubtedly because of the Power of the Stream.”
„A power I don’t have while you have it.”
„You are wrong this time, Zeal because… you have that power. If you hadn’t had it, you would have met a lot of dangers in your way while heading over here. Yet, nothing of this happened because Caktiyiṉ Ātāram accepted you already as its new master.”
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Zeal looked at him, confused this time. „As his new Master? What the hell are you talking about?”
„I’m talking about power, Zeal. Better to call it… the Exchange of Powers, something that will happen soon. An exchange of Powers that will help you to open the Secret Gates of the Mount of Fear. This will save your people and the entire world.”
„Gates that are opened after a sacrifice and bringing an offering. Yes, the offering of an innocent soul.”
„Or maybe that soul has decided so, aware that’s the only way to survive, no matter the consequences? Don’t you think that it can only be possible?” Zeal stared at him, even more confused than before. „If you want to understand the real message of my words, you have to touch my palm, Zeal.”
„No,” Zeal shook her head. „Not before you tell me what you have in mind.”
„I can’t do that.”
„Why?”
„Because such things aren’t told in words, but through feelings. I talk about trust, Zeal. That trust is asked as a sacrifice by Caktiyiṉ Ātāram. Thus, the Holy Stream tries to create a bond between Power and its new Master.”
„I think that this bond can be felt from far away too.”
„No, sweetheart: Caktiyiṉ Ātāram asks for proof not through words but through deeds. And, as we need the power of the Stream for what we’ve planned, you have to trust me.”
„We need Caktiyiṉ Ātāram?” The man nodded. „What for?”
„To split this world into two, Zeal.”
„The Gates!”
„That’s right! To open the Gates of Mount of Fear, we need the Power of Caktiyiṉ Ātāram. Thus, by combining your power with the power of the Stream, we’ll make it. Why? Because you have the power of the earth, Zeal while this Stream has the Power of the Water. Because of this, you have always been lured by water and love to spend time beside lakes or rivers.”
„Then… why do you say that I also have the Power of the Earth?”
„Because you are also able to control the cobras.”
Zeal swallowed hard „The power of hiding in a snake’s hole in stormy times.”
„Yet, that’s a snake’s hole we need right now. A hole you can open and close at your will. Not alone, of course. Inlan Diar will help you with this because the Gates of this Mountain have been created to be controlled by the Power of Several creatures. Yet, for this to happen, someone must be here and control the process from the heart of Caktiyiṉ Ātāram.”
„Then, you should control that force. You have it, right?”
Accam Kuṉṟu smiled again, taking another step toward Zeal. The girl didn’t move from where she was at that time. „I wish I could do this, but I can’t. I lost this right the moment I lost my human body and I was closed inside the skin of the beast, killed by my child. This is the sin I wear inside, a sin I will pay for very soon.”
Deeply looking into the girl’s eyes, Accam Kuṉṟu gave Zeal the trust she needed. Thus, looking as if she didn’t realize what she was doing, even though she was aware of each movement she made, Zeal took a step in front and touched Accam Kuṉṟu’s right palm, which he still kept wide open. Then, deeply looking into each other’s eyes, both of them saw the pain hidden there: the pain of the young child who had lost her mother while, in Accam Kuṉṟu’s eyes, the regret was seen - the one he felt when he died stabbed by his own son in his heart.
***
„It’s starting, isn’t it?” Alena asked in half a voice. She was to Inlan Diar’s right at that moment, who looked up the mountain, toward the Top Mēl, where thick lightning cracked the sky. A mountaintop that Inlan Diar loved so much and wanted to protect from evil, but which became the place where her blood was punished for its sins eventually: Tikil.
„There's still time,” replied Inmar instead of the queen. She was to Inlan Diar’s left at that moment, looking in the same direction as the queen and Alena. „The three Rings of Power haven’t joined their power yet.”
„They won’t do it. Not until Zeal won’t control the Power of Caktiyiṉ Ātāram,” the queen said, sighing. „A power that requires a lot of sacrifices.”
„Sacrifices? Whose ones?” Asked Alena, somehow scared. „Don’t tell me that Zeal…”
Inlan Diar shook her head. „The new queen cannot be sacrificed,” she explained her words, staring into Alena’s eyes this time, eyes that were barely seen from under the large hood she had put on, just as Inmar had the hood on. Even so, the queen still saw that Alena slowly frowned because she couldn’t completely understand the queen’s words. „I mean… the control of all the powers that are on this mountain.”
„Do you also refer to the Power of Caktiyiṉ Ātāram?” Inmar asked.
„That’s right. I’m talking about the exchange of powers I would have liked to never happen.”
„Why? I thought that it was logical for one of your heirs to have that power.”
„And you are right, Inmar: it's Fate’s decision for an heir of Paṉi Makkal to control the power of the Holy Stream too. Nevertheless, I would have liked to be different because that power is a burden that’s so difficult to carry on your shoulders.”
Inmar smiled. She did that somehow weirdly and conspiratorially but without any mean thought. After that, she closed her eyes and stood like this for a while, sniffing the cold air of the morning and seeing, with the eyes of her mind, the anger of the sky, the one painted in red at the horizon because of the thunder lights and of the strange sparkles of light. Inmar also saw those mad clouds running one after the other, a view that made her shudder eventually and say, „That exchange of power is still necessary, Inlan Diar. It can reestablish the Balance on these lands.”
„Do you think it's still possible to do that?” The queen asked.
„I think yes,” replied Alena instead of Inmar. „I think so because I know that Zeal is different from us: yes, maybe she wears hatred inside, but she won’t ever allow this to control her.”
Inlan Diar looked at her, confused. „Hatred? For whom? For the Vanamars?”
„Not only for them!” Alena said, sadly smiling. „Zeal doesn’t hate only the Vanamars. She also hates Tetapas.”
„And you know that because…?”
„…I told her where exactly Zayleea spent her last moments on earth.”
Inlan Diar shuddered this time „Tetapas’s grotto,” she murmured, terrified.
„Did you know this?” Inmar asked. Inlan Diar nodded. „Why or when did you find this out?”
„I’ve always known this,” said Inlan Diar in a shaking voice. „I saw that moment. I saw four souls entering Tetapas’s grotto, but never coming back.”
„Something you never talked to anybody about. Why?” Alena asked.
„I didn’t want to hurt my great-granddaughter more or make my grandson’s heart bleed even worse than it bled already. It was better for them to think that Zayleea died because of the Vanamars than to know that the soul of the one they loved more than their life was closed in Koṭi forever, the Fire Jar of Fate, a place from where nobody escapes.”
Saying this, Inlan Diar’s eyes filled with tears. She felt the pain of losing her daughter-in-law again, the one she had appreciated for her kindness and sacrifices because the queen knew that Zayleea sacrificed herself trying to save the other three souls, even if she failed eventually. She would have liked to have been with Zayleea that day and impeded Tetapas from taking that power from her. Yet, she couldn’t do that because she found out what happened to Zayleea months after the Titanide of the Limitless Sky disappeared. Inlan Diar found out this by pure chance when she went to the northern area of Paṉi Makkal, following Argol. There, on the same rock on which Eṉōl and Strebasus had stood while lurking on Tetapas’s grotto, the queen looked toward the entrance to the snake’s den. She saw him there, on the external wall of Kaṟkaḷ Pēy, drawing that strange labyrinth. Seeing Tetapas outside of the grotto and not inside, Inlan Diar finally understood how he escaped the Trap of Fate. And, minutes later, she had the vision of Zayleea, Rueb’s wife, and two children entering that grotto, but never coming back.
„The pain I felt that day is something I can’t describe even today,” Inlan Diar murmured, sad, still eyes closed. „I felt that pain for losing Zayleea. Yet, it was a huge pain for others because Rueb of the Coal Burners lost his entire family. I remember that everybody thought that Vvokkam was also lost. And he definitely was lost because, soon after this, when he turned back and found out what happened to his mother and brothers, he worshiped in front of Fate and Tikil.”
„Something you would have wished to avoid, right?” Inlan Diar shook her head, hearing Inmar’s question. „Why? I thought you intended this that day: to save at least that boy if Zayleea didn't save his family.”
„You are actually right, Inmar. I wanted to save that child from perdition that day. That’s why I appeared in his way when I understood that he was looking for the grotto where Tikil was closed. He didn’t see me that day. Vokkam I mean. This happened because his mind was already darkened and evil was already controlling his soul. Because of this, passing by me, he didn’t even look at me. And, passing by me, he showed me another vision then: the vision of Vokkam staying by Tikil’s side at the borders of Paṉi Makkal, like the watching dogs of my worst enemy.”
„Maranam!”
„Yes, Alena! Tikil also worshiped in front of Maranam, selling his soul and stepping on his ego in exchange for his freedom. Foolishness in fact because… this will bring death closer to him.”
„There is still time until Tikil dies, Inlan Diar. Until this happens, until we see him falling and the Coal Burners with him, we have to wait for Fate’s decision and for Zeal to control the huge power of the Holy Stream, which will initiate the process of opening the secret Gates of this Mountain. If this happens, we’ll also see the symbol of Life and Death drawn above these lands, something I wish I would have never seen,” whispered Inmar.
***
Locked in a fierce melee battle, Tikil and Tī kept sharing punches and kicks, hurting each other and stealing power from their enemy. Even so, none of them seemed to be able to win that battle because they were in the trap of the Rings of Power. And, everybody who was trapped on the Mountaintop Mēl wasn’t meant to win because the enemies had equal powers there. Fate and Themis had taken that decision a long time ago. They decided this, trying to keep the Balance on the Holy Mountain, the place from where the entire world could be seen as if having it in your palm.
The fight between the two Titans started hours ago. Nevertheless, none of them seemed to be tired or wish to give up, even if it was clearly seen that they were barely standing on their feet. At the same time, none of the two enemies was eager to allow the other one to catch his breath because if this had happened, then it was a well-known thing by everybody that the fight between them wouldn’t have ever ended. Because of this, Tī kept squeezing Tikil’s arms, trying to hurt the Titan’s flesh the moment he felt that Tikil was about to use one of his tricks to release himself. If Tikil had managed to release himself, even for a short time, he would have been able to regain his power. Then, as he used to do each time he fought with the Titan of the Sun, he would have walked in circles for many hours, waiting for his body and soul to heal. Thus, he would have had a new chance to attack Tī and maybe defeat him because, unlike Tikil, Tī needed more time to heal when he was on earth, something he would have managed in seconds only if he had been in the Cosmos.
„Knowing this, you keep hanging on me, right?” Tikil growled eventually, staring into the tired eyes of Tī. „You are afraid that I’ll rip off your skin eventually.”
Tī grinned. „This is what you think? That I don’t give you the chance to breathe because I’m afraid of you?”
„Then, if it’s not that and you aren’t afraid, what about having a little rest before continuing this fight?”
„Smart move and wise thought, Tikil. Yet, I prefer not to do that.”
„Due to fear?”
„No. Because of justice: it won’t be fair to give you a chance to rest when you have never given one to your victims, don’t you also think so?”
„Are you speaking about Alton?”
„I speak about myself, actually, the one whom you have stolen the wings and chased away, in the sky, for millennia, to make sure you’ll act up at your will while I’m not able to come to earth.”
„Something that didn’t last long because you managed to return and chase me into the depths of this mountain. For many millennia actually. So… we’re even.”
„What about the rest of the world? The one you always hurt?”
„Let it solve its own problems. What do I have to do with this? Each of us ows only in front of himself. So… I have to do the same.”
„I consider this egoism.”
„Do you think so?”
„I’m actually sure of this because… only those who look for their own safety and comfort don’t see the pain in the eyes of others. This is egoism and malice, Tikil. Something you had allowed by now, but never after today.”
Saying this, the moment he heard a loud sound coming from the foot of the mountain, Tī pulled back, escaping from the trap of the Rings of Power this way. His sudden movement made Tikil attentive, who decided that it was time not to lose sight of Tī. Yet, he had to look elsewhere the moment he felt the ground under his feet shaking. „As though a huge volcano is about to erupt.”
„Maybe you are right, Tikil! Maybe the volcano of the Mount of Fear will erupt eventually, punishing the evil that lived for millennia on his back, acting up, on this mountain, at his will when this mount only wanted to protect those it loved.”
„A fake love, actually,” Tikil gnashed his teeth, still struggling to keep his balance while Tī slowly floated above the ground, a few centimeters above the snowy soil, managing to keep his balance. Seeing his enemy so relaxed, Tikil roared. He definitely hated to see that his enemy was capable of protecting himself when he was captive in that trap. Thus, looking with hatred at Tī, Tikil growled in the end, „Love that doesn’t exist because nobody in this world knows what love means.”
„You are so wrong, Tikil because even someone like you knows what love is.” Tikil frowned, moving aside not to be hit by the big rock that ripped loose from the higher ridge and which passed by him eventually. Tī didn’t move from his place. He only waited for Tikil to look at him again, and then he told him, „I speak about your love for Morgan, whom you protect with your own body. If this isn’t love, then… I don’t know what love means in your opinion.”
„A fake love!” Tikil shouted. „I only tried to show him that he dies without me.”
„It’s useless to lie to yourself, Tikil! Love isn’t something you can deny. Love is something to feel, and Morgan felt your love each time you caressed his fur. He’ll miss that love once you won’t be on this earth anymore. Or… should I bring him here and take him with you to hell?”
„You won’t dare do that,” the Titan of Dread growled. „Morgan is beyond our hatred, Tī. Don’t touch him or I swear I'll crack your neck once I’m out of this trap!”
Tī smiled. „Threats that come from your soul. Thus, you show that you love him because only those who love someone so much can threaten someone with death to protect others.”
„That’s nonsense! If I want Morgan away from this place, it’s because he belongs to me. I’m the only one who can punish him, not you.”
„If you like to lie to yourself, go ahead! I won’t oppose this. At the same time, I understand that it’s useless to say something else because… you’ll understand alone that there’s love in this world… the moment you leave this earth, seeing a single dear face in front of your eyes: the one that has two profound black eyes, dark fur, and pleasantly purrs when you caress his fur.”
Tī sighed after this, looking to his right where the noise of the mountain increased more and more. That noise was something heard not only by the two Titans but by everybody who lived on the mountain or nearby. Thus, simple people, the Siars, the People of Ice, and the rest, starting with the Coal Burners and ending with Maranam, looked in amazement around, trying to understand what kind of loud sound was heard and what kind of mortal danger was approaching all of them at that time.
Thus, with their glances focused on the top of the mountain, everybody saw three black Rings climbing from the mountain's foot to its top. The first three rings met another three in the middle of the mountain, where the Forests Tenebre and Kiago were, and the Kingdom Paṉi Makkal. Those Rings, totally controlled by the Power of Alena and Inmar, climbed along with the first Rings because the foxes came with Inlan Diar there for this: to help the queen control the Rings of Power from around her kingdom.
The queen was staying between the two foxes, who were with their back to her, controlling the power of the Six Rings of Power that stopped halfway up the mountain, as though they were waiting for something. At that moment, when she felt so vividly two energies dancing on her skin, the energy of the earth and of the fire, Inlan Diar gathered the entire power she had in her fists. That energy got the color of the ice in seconds only, sending it in front, toward a single target: something that seemed to be a Black Hole that was formed at that moment. Yet, it wasn’t a Black Hole. It was only the movement of the air, a quick movement in circles while the power of the queen, who seemed to throw icy spears toward that point, seemed to feed its power.
„Now, Inmar!” Alena suddenly shouted, turning toward Inlan Diar.
Like Inmar, who had red eyes at that moment, Alena also had them, eyes in which the fire was seen dancing. They had the same color of eyes as they had each time they planned to attack someone. Yet, none of them intended to hurt Inlan Diar or impede her opening the Gates of the Mount, but to send the power of their fire toward the same Hole of Air that was controlled by the queen. A circle of air that cracked soon after this, allowing them to see through it, outlined only two big Iron Gates.
When the two Iron Gates had been finally seen, Inmar and Alena joined their power, right above the gates. They did that not to open the gates, but to activate the third Ring of Fate as Vāḻkkai predicted once. That Ring was perfect, red on the external edge and black inside, a black color that seemed to leak on the drawings from the middle of the circle, heading toward its center where the image of the Holy Tree, of Yggdrasil, was seen: the only figurine that had the blue color of the ice.
„It can’t be,” murmured Inlan Diar when she saw the perfection of the Third Ring of Fate. „Did the red foxes have such a power?”
„That’s right, Inlan Diar,” said Inmar in a sure voice. „This is a power we have to hide, always, afraid not to be hunted eventually.”
„I… don’t understand. How is this possible? How is it possible that Ahi knew about this power and he didn’t try to control it? Something that would have turned him into an invincible Mago.”
„Ahi never wanted this,” replied Alena. „The Mago of the Black Stones never wanted to control the world, but to be accepted by others. He wanted Island to accept him as a brother and recognize that he was powerful. Yet, not knowing another way to show his love than through hatred, all that he always won was to have Island fighting against him. That’s why he’d always been alone, considered an enemy when all that he needed was a friend in fact.”
„This doesn’t justify his actions,” Inlan Diar shouted. „Neither does it explain why he has always tried to get rid of my granddaughters.”
„And you are right: this doesn’t justify what he has done. Yet, at the same time, that’s not the moment to talk about this. For the moment, we have to make sure that we get rid of the evil that’s captive on Mēl. Later, when the war is over, we’ll talk about this and how to heal old wounds, asking those who hurt us to pay for this.”
Saying this, Inmar headed her power toward the blue one controlled by Inlan Diar. The same Alena did. Thus, when their powers met, right in the center of the gates, a black arrow split from that wave of energy, piercing the blue center of the Ring of Fate. Thus, Yggdrasil’s hologram was seen all above the Mount of Fear, amplifying the power of the Nine Rings of Power that were controlling Tikil.
„Not this way,” Tikil roared the moment chains appeared at his ankles and wrists, cuffing him. „I can’t be defeated this way. Not now.”
„Yet, you’ll be,” replied Tī kindly, slowly bowing his head while the hologram of the Sun in flames was seen reflected on his right palm.
When the image of the sun was clearly seen above the Titan’s palm, Tī looked to his right. There, he saw Nikkari knelt next to Issaṉdrā. The nymph was unconscious, with her head on Nikkari’s lap while Nikkari was gathering energy around her at that moment, just as she promised Melia and the other nymphs that she would do to save Issaṉdrā.
„Be as it was predicted by the stars,” Tī whispered eventually. „Let it be as Fate wanted. Let’s join our forces today and open the Secret Gates of Power, those which don’t lead toward the heart of the mountain, but to another world.”
Saying this, Tī threw up the sun he had above his palm. And, soon after this, he vanished like sparkles of fire, just as Baradar vanished not that long ago in the lap of Rophion Forest. Not the same happened to the sun created above Tī’s palm: it didn’t vanish as the master that created it. This sun climbed up and up the mountain, stopping right above the place where Tikil was. The Titan of Dread was hardened at that moment, staring at the place where Tī vanished and where sparkles of fire were still seen, something that let him understand that „Starting today, there is only one Master of the Sun, Helyos, the one who will do everything to have the control of the world. Just as it seems that my life ends today too.”
Finally understanding that it was useless to fight against Fate, Tikil smiled. He closed his eyes and fully enjoyed the breeze that was too hot for that snowy mountain ridge. At that moment, Tikil not only stopped seeing what happened around him, but he also stopped hearing anything else than the pleasant hissing of the mountain wind, the one that had a melodious voice that day.
Isolating himself from the rest of the world, Tikil found peace inside him because… the apocalypse was all around him at that moment. Strange lights were also dancing around him, lights that were absorbed by Tī’s sun eventually, a Sun that stole power from Tikil too, the same power that the Titan of Dread had stolen from his father the day he stubbed his dagger into his heart.
„The biggest mistake I could have ever done,” Tikil whispered eventually, sadly smiling because he saw the same image Zeal had seen before: the image of Accam Kuṉṟu vanishing, just as Tī vanished - like sparkles of fire. Accam Kuṉṟu wasn’t sad because of the sacrifice he made. He was smiling while leaving the world behind him. Even so, his smile was sad because he loved this world a lot and he also loved the mountain, which he left without his protection in times of war. Yet, it was written that way: to sacrifice himself just as Tī had done, to make sure Earth had another chance to survive in the Great War.
Looking at that image, of her great-grandfather vanishing, Zeal said through tears, „We won’t ever forget you, Accam Kuṉṟu!”
„I’ll do the same, Zeal: I won’t forget you and this world. No matter where Fate leads my footsteps eventually.”
With such words, the history of the black panther Accam Kuṉṟu came to an end when the last sparkles of fire illuminated the black water of the Stream Caktiyiṉ Ātāram for the last time. Even so, the Holy Stream still kept inside its essence the power of its first Master: that kind panther, who had often shown his fangs when it was necessary to scare the world and make it fear only not to approach the Mount of Fear too much and make it suffer.
***
On Argol’s large wings, lying on the eagle’s back, Tikil looked at the sky. He looked at it with his eyes wide open because he hadn’t seen the blue sky for a very long time, a clear sky due to the power of his mind as Tikil had always loved to see it. Tikil wasn’t alone on the eagle’s back, but with Morgan, who was slowly purring on the Titan’s chest. It wasn’t clear if the image of Morgan was real or just a memory because… the kitten now appeared and then disappeared off Tikil’s chest. Even so, the Titan of Dread kept caressing its fur, kindly smiling because Tī had been eventually right when he told Tikil that he’d see with his own eyes what love meant and it would happen before death… vanishing in the depths of the abyss Ṭārṭṭar, where the man Alton died a long time ago and Argol was born from. In that abyss, Tikil paid for old sins and rewrote history because the revenge of the man Alton ended there, but the revenge of the world against Tikil hadn’t started yet…