A strange noise, similar to the one heard when the sky was about to cry, was suddenly heard in the distance, far behind Maranam. He, with his eyes closed and with his back to that horizon, allowed himself to connect to nature, at least as it was possible for him, due to the currents of black energy felt around him. Thus, he tried to understand what kind of danger was heading toward them at that moment or who was lurking on them. Yet, he couldn’t understand anything of this eventually because not for nothing others had told him before that even the air was his enemy on earth because not even the air would allow him to conquer that planet. Because of this, the entire nature was against him, making him feel strange itching on his skin.
Feeling this, Maranam opened his eyes. Then, turning only half toward that black horizon that was acting up behind him, he lurked at it, from the corner of his eyes at first. Seeing tongues of fire on that black sky, he frowned and completely turned toward it, to make it easier for him to look at the sky. The reason? The horizon started to bother him. It was better to say that he felt anxious looking at those tongues of fire seen in the sky, a fire that wasn’t controlled by him or by his allies, but by „An enemy that decided to blow down my neck!”
„Who are you talking about, Master Maranam?” Kurūcim asked, lazily walking beside him. Then, she stopped, to his left, also looking at that black sky that turned red so suddenly.
Maranam, without watching her, gnashed his teeth. „All of my enemies are against me today. I’m sure of this, just as I’m sure that the sky didn’t go crazy because it decided so. That sky is influenced by my enemy’s power, who tries to make me feel miserable, the one whom I wanted dead, but who is still around me.”
Kurūcim squinted at him because she hadn't understood too much of what he said. Only when the sky cracked in four parts, allowing a black bird to be seen at the horizon, a bird that seemed to have split from the sky’s cloth at that moment to head toward them after this, the panther understood what exactly Maranam tried to say, and this made her shudder. Because of this, she took a few steps back, shuddering like hell while a single name was spinning on the top of her tongue, „Iruḷ!”
„That’s right! It’s the crazy Titanide of the Night, who decided to confront us today. Yet, what she doesn’t know is that she signed her death sentence alone.”
Maranam’s hatred was limitless at that moment when he said those words. It was also seen in his eyes, which savagely sparkled after this while the powerful gnash of his teeth was heard around him, and he also squeezed his fists. His hatred was also felt when he suddenly took the sword out of its scabbard: brutally and incapable of controlling himself anymore, and this was so because Maranam was too eager to kill all his enemies and to be the only king of the world.
After taking the sword out of its scabbard, Maranam stubbed it into the ground, making the sky crack vertically at that time. What cracked the sky at that moment was a thick lightning, which had formed far behind Maranam. Then, that lightning headed like the wind toward the huge bird that kept advancing toward them, not moving a single millimeter from her way.
Once cracked vertically, the sky started to cry. Bitter tears were shed from above, tears that bathed the deserted earth and even its enemies. Yet, even if it was heavy rain at that moment, none of those involved in that battle moved from his place: neither Maranam with his army nor Iruḷ. The Titanide of the Night didn’t even wince on the back of the huge bird when the sky cracked because of the lightning, just as she didn’t look at the lightning when it passed by her eventually, cracking the sky in so many parts far behind her.
Unlike Iruḷ and Maranam, who seemed the only ones sure of their plan, Kurūcim was afraid to death at that moment. More than the madness of the sky, the panther feared the enemy seen at the horizon, the one who promised her once, „Death! This is what you’ll have eventually, Kurūcim, as a reward for your miserable betrayal.” A death Kurūcim always feared after this because if Iruḷ promised something, that thing happened for sure. „Just as she’s always been behind me all these millennia,” the panther murmured eventually, in a shaking voice, taking the body of the virgin while her terrified glance was focused on the blackened sky.
Hearing her talking like that, Maranam half turned toward her, squinting at her. Seeing his trustful servant shaking like hell, he stared confused at her. His bewilderment didn’t last long, only until he remembered the promise the Titanide of the Night made the two panthers a long time ago when they helped him to dethrone Tartos and close him in the underworld jail, the one hidden in the depths of the world. When he remembered that promise, Maranam frowned, hissing through his teeth then, „Something that won’t ever happen: your death! So, stop worrying so much and shaking like a stupid, Kurūcim! Focus on the important thing: our safety!”
„Yes, Master!” Stuttered Kurūcim, still looking at the horizon. Then, when she spotted Maranam’s glance focused on her, she bowed in front of him, turning her back to him eventually, and heading toward the others to check if they were in position.
After a few steps, Kurūcim stopped, the moment she heard the ground cracking behind her. Shaking, she turned and looked over there because it was something unexpected for her to see the earth cracking in that place. A crack that was invisible at first, but whose loud sound could be clearly heard around them, a sound that came from deep underground and which seemed to surround them from all over.
„As I promised that day that it would happen one day, Master Maranam!” Iruḷ’s voice was heard from above. This made Kurūcim look at the Titanide, squirting while trying to see her better.
Kurūcim didn’t shudder this time because she understood that if she wanted to be safe, she had to seem calm. Even so, even if she tried to lie to herself that it was better to seem calm, looking into the black-like pitch eyes of the Titanide Iruḷ, a determined glance that predicted death, Kurūcim understood that their fierce enemy was there for a reason. What kind of reason? They were about to find out. That’s why Kurūcim returned beside Maranam eventually, stopping to his right this time as though she was trying to let their enemies know they weren’t alone there.
The confident movement of the panther Kurūcim made Iruḷ attentive. Yet, she said nothing about this: she only fixed her glance on the panther, not losing any of her movements. At one moment, Iruḷ seemed to count each of the panther’s breaths of air and Iruḷ did this because she knew that Kurūcim was capable of betrayal because Tartos’s daughters betrayed their father eventually, choosing another yoke, worse than the one they lived in when Tartos was ruling over Tartar. Yet, none of the two daughters of Tartos seemed aware of this.
Iruḷ winced eventually when she heard Maranam saying, „A reign you’ll never reestablish.” Hearing him saying this, Iruḷ looked to her right, but she said nothing. She only listened to what Maranam said after that. „Just as you won’t escape from here, not in one piece,” said Maranam, cunningly smiling. „Not when you have come here alone, trusting only in your luck and nothing else.”
The Titanide also smiled: cunningly, provocatively, somehow secretly because she knew the secrets of the world better than Maranam. Secrets she intended to reveal to him: one by one. Yet, she also knew that it wasn’t time to do that. Not at that moment, but later. For the moment, she decided to let Maranam think that her plan was another one. Because of this, she afforded herself the luxury of smiling because she was sure that she was safe even if it seemed that she took a huge risk to come there.
The smile the Titanide sketched made Maranam attentive. Because of this, he fixed his glance on those black-like pitch eyes Iruḷ had. Yet, he saw nothing in them. He didn’t see anything, only at first. Soon after this, he saw something similar to a Black Hole that was barely getting a form. This made Maranam frown because that was something he hated: to see the place where it was supposed he appeared from. Then, when Iruḷ closed her eyes for a few moments, Maranam fixed his glance on her face: a beautiful one, as white as the milk, despite her black eyes and hair that got up to her waist. As black as Iruḷ’s hair, her vestments were. And, as Tīmai, the Titanide of the Night wore a Malar Flower in her hair, at her right temple.
What was different about the Malar Flower that Iruḷ wore was that it didn’t have a black aura around as it happened to Tīmai’s flower. In Iruḷ’s case, her flower emanated something that seemed to be blue currents of air, dark blue energy, which was sometimes purple - the symbol of the Titanide of the Night’s power. Iruḷ was the good part of the night in fact and Tartos’s sister, whom Iruḷ loved and respected a lot despite his volcanic temper.
Not only did Iruḷ love her brother so much. Tartos felt the same for his sister. Because of their love and respect, they never questioned the decision of the other one. Why? Because they had had a pact when they shared the world: Tartos took the underground and the control over the Black Magic while Iruḷ chose earth and the control over the night. Since they made that fraternal share of power, they never argued or tried to get more power.
Everything changed the moment Tartos allowed his daughters to deceive him and they closed him in that dungeon with Maranam’s help. From that moment, Iruḷ started to plan how to take her brother out of prison and re-establish Justice and Balance on Earth and in its depths. Yet, she had to leave this for later when the war between Maranam and the rest of the world was announced. Thus, as she simply hated Maranam and his allies for what happened to her brother, Iruḷ chose to be by Paṉi Makkaḷ’s side in that war. And, deciding so, she headed toward the Western Borders of Paṉi Makkaḷ where Maranam and his nieces, Kurūcim and Koṭumai, were.
Even if she came there, Iruḷ was aware that, before their victory, they had to wait a little. Yet, meanwhile, she decided to play Maranam’s game, to whom she said eventually, in a cunning voice, „Is this really what I want? I wouldn’t be that sure, Master because… what I wish for, is a huge secret… as black as the night.”
Maranam grinned. „Secrets are to be discovered, Iruḷ. Yours won’t be the exception.”
„Do you think so?! Well… let it be so if you want this! I… think differently, anyway.”
„The reason?” Kurūcim asked, making Iruḷ turn her head to her left, only a little as she was able to see her niece, to whom she said:
„It’s a secret, Kurūcim: even for you! Yet, you’ll find it out… when the time comes. Now… I would like to share another one with you. Another secret I mean because… you didn’t hear that melody of the earth for nothing. You know which one, right? The one you heard not a long time ago: the melody of the depths of the earth, where brother Tartos is closed because of your cruelty.”
Kurūcim shuddered again. „It can’t be,” she stuttered. „Did you manage to release Tartos?”
Iruḷ grinned. „I wish I had that power. Yet, to my bad luck, I couldn’t. My brother wasn’t released. However, it doesn’t mean I’m alone in this war.”
„Of course, you aren’t,” Maranam cut Iruḷ off. „As I know you, you are someone who always chooses dogs to watch her back.”
„And? What’s wrong with trusting dogs, Great Maranam? Nothing. Why? Because… dogs are faithful, unlike others… those who, even though they have the same blood as you, flowing through their veins, have chosen the betrayal, stabbing their father’s back only to have power. Something they never had in fact.”
„Now you are wrong,” the panther shouted. „The power is in our hands, actually. Master Maranam trusts us and respects us unlike our father, who has always treated us like dogs. Yes, he always threw us the remains from his abundant meals… only not to die because of hunger. For the rest… we have always craved for love, attention, and protection. Something he never gave us, unlike our master.”
Iruḷ seemed surprised for a few moments. Not because her niece would have revealed her a great secret, but because Kurūcim dared to tell her such nonsense words just to justify her betrayal. A dare that enraged the Titanide eventually, throwing a huge thunderlight toward Kurūcim, trying to make her fear.
Kurūcim didn’t move from her place at that time. The same Maranam did. Instead of running, they kept their glance focused on the Titanide, waiting for her next move because both of them knew that Iruḷ wouldn’t be satisfied with only throwing a single lightning that missed its target. Yet, to their great surprise, Iruḷ didn’t throw a second lightning. Instead of wasting power, she descended off her faithful bird Ravu, which in the ancient language meant Trust, when the bird touched the soil with her sharp claws. After that, when Iruḷ was on her feet already, Ravu rose to the heights, floating above them without fearing that she could be hurt.
That safety, seen at the bird Ravu, made Maranam attentive. What made him attentive? The fact that the bird never flew right above them, but stopped right after getting to the place where Iruḷ was. After getting there, Ravu slowly rotated in the air, changing directions and freely flowing above the field. „As though there is a mirror!” Maranam murmured, understanding this. Yet, how to see if what he thought was true or not, he didn’t know. Even so, Maranam knew that he had to do something and avoid falling into a trap. That’s why, when the rest expected this the least, Maranam grabbed the handle of his sword, squeezed it, and threw it later toward the Titanide of the Night.
Iruḷ didn’t move from her place even if she saw the sword coming toward her. She didn’t even blink while the sword had pierced the air, hissing barely heard. Iruḷ didn’t blink not even when the sharp top of the sword hit the invisible wall that was in front of her.
Hearing the noise made by the sword that touched the invisible wall, Maranam thought that there could be glass. If he was right, that one was an unusual glass because it allowed his sword to remain stubbed into it, right in front of the Titanide’s eyes. Even so, stubbed by the top of the sword, the huge mirror cracked only vertically, starting from the point the sword hit and climbing or descending after this. Yet, the mirror didn’t fall apart, not even when it was totally cracked vertically.
Seconds after that mirror cracked vertically, the soil behind Iruḷ also cracked. It made the same sound they had heard before. Then, through that crack, thick white steam started to be seen exiting.
Seeing that white steam, Maranam showed his fangs because this let him finally understand who was with Iruḷ on that field. „Nemirā!”
Maranam was actually right because it was Nemirā there: Tikil’s worst enemy. Nemirā headed the fire of her hatred toward them eventually once Tikil wasn’t among the living creatures anymore. With that white steam, Nemirā brought something else with her to that field - the famous Chasm of Nemirā or the Kal Kaṉiyaṉ. Not the real one - only a simulation of that chasm, but still one that was strong enough. This happened because Nemirā was strong and, for punishing her enemies, she was capable of even doing this - of creating a fake chasm.
„Something you had never expected, right, Maranam?” Nemirā asked in a slightly mocking tone the moment she was above the ground already. She was staying on her hips at that moment, to Iruḷ’s right. „That your enemies could ally and fight against you in this war.”
„Not that I hadn’t expected this, but… I would have liked you not to do that so soon,” Maranam replied, also in mockery. „Yet, once you are both here, you only make my work easier, I have to accept that. Why? Because you just saved me from looking for you separately to break your bones.”
Nemirā burst into loud laughter while Iruḷ just smiled. Seeing them so happy and strange at the same time, Kurūcim looked at Maranam, as though asking him by glance if their enemies had lost their minds if they had dared to declare war on them being only the two of them there. Seeing Maranam frowning while his eyes were focused on the white steam that was behind Nemirā, Kurūcim also looked over there again, finally understanding why the two Titanides seemed so confident in themselves: they weren’t alone there, but with the monsters Kappal, the monsters formed from steam and whose power was similar if not identical to the Veḷḷams. And not only those monsters Kurūcim saw but Thebe and the Napae too. To Thebe’s left, the panther saw Ida with her Oreads. The last nymphs came there to make sure that Maranam, the Virgins Uyarvu, or another of their allies wouldn’t escape from the Field Eḷiya Viti before the Big War. A war that knocked on the door of the world already, even if it apparently seemed not to be so.
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***
Vāḻkkai winced the moment Patavi appeared to her right. „You here?” Life asked, scared.
„Yes, my queen: I’m here because… it’s time!” Patavi replied in a calm voice.
The two of them were not that far from the place where Tenebre and Pakai kept Mayar captive. The girl, unconscious, was tied by the trunk of a tree, having her human body this time when she’d been a fox only a moment ago. This meant only one thing: while Mayar was unconscious, she was incapable of controlling her power, something that made her change her appearance often.
Vāḻkkai and Patavi weren’t alone with Mayar in that glade. Not that far from the girl, without seeing the two, were Tenebre and Pakai. They, sitting in the shadow of another tree, were calmly waiting for Mayar to turn back to her senses. Something that didn’t happen eventually because days passed, but Mayar continued unconscious.
Understanding that they were running a wild goose chase in that glade, Pakai felt irritated. After that, jumping on all of his four paws, the jackal showed his fangs, something that made Vāḻkkai and Patavi attentive. Tenebre instead, when the jackal growled, didn’t pay attention to him, but continued supporting her head with her palm, continuously gnashing her teeth. She didn’t pay attention to the jackal, not even when he started to walk back and forth in front of her. Only when Pakai roared like a mad soul, „Damn you, idiots!” Tenebre squinted, then yelled at him:
„What about keeping your mouth shut, huh?! Nobody needs to suffer because of your bad mood.”
Pakai showed her his fangs again. „What I don’t need is to stay here and waste my time when I can serve my master Maranam, who is at the borders of Paṉi Makkaḷ already while we are still here.”
„Aaa, this is your problem,” the Titanide replied, bored. „Your plan with Maranam! A useless one in my opinion.”
„You should pay more attention to our plan, Tenebre, because it’s not useless. It can give your son the freedom he needs.”
„I’ll take care of this myself. Why? Because I don’t trust an idiot who isn’t able to conquer not even the Kingdom of Ice with all his „trustful” friends.”
„Are you now questioning our Master’s war skills?” Pakai roared.
„Actually yeah, and… by the way, Pakai: I’m so surprised by your ability of deduction. Something I have never thought you were capable of, judging by your chicken brain.” Then, seeing that Pakai was about to catch fire because of her words that enraged him, Tenebre raised her right eyebrow too much, wondering if he was stupid or only pretending. After that, standing up, she looked at Pakai, confidently saying to him, „Instead of catching fire when there’s no need for this, you’ll do yourself a favor if you use your brain and help me with my plan.”
„What plan?” The jackal growled.
„The one that will help us to get the Palantir back?” She asked him in mockery. „The same plan that will help us to wake up the Sleeping Beauty over there.”
„Yeah, maybe it’s a genius plan, but still one that I don’t see how will help us to get that Palantir back. In case you have forgotten this, I remind you that the Palantir is in the Camp of the Magic Wolves, a place where we won’t ever get.”
Tenebre grinned. „We won’t get there, you are right. Yet, we don’t even have to be there because… others from inside that camp can help us with this.”
„If you talk about Ahi, forget it! Why? Because… he’s as useless as the Sleeping Beauty over there. Actually, he’s even worse than her because his power is split into three now.”
„Thanks to someone,” Tenebre hissed through her teeth, making Pakai squint at her. „Yet, I wasn’t talking about him, but about another „trustful ally,” whom we can use for our plan: the ghouls.”
„Do you think they’ll help us? Their new queen doesn’t seem too eager for power, in my opinion.”
„Her problem! Anyway, I don’t need her, but the one the Barefaced Laṟṟa charmed when they passed by his forest.”
Pakai seemed even more confused than before after hearing such words. After that, he asked in half a voice, „Did you speak to Laṟṟa?”
„Are you stupid?” Growled Tenebre. „How to talk to him if he’s dead?”
„Then? How did you know that Laṟṟa charmed one of the ghouls?”
„From her,” Tenebre hissed through her teeth, looking at Mayar. „I had a vision while staying next to her. A vision that I didn’t completely understand just as I’m not sure why I had it. Even so, I’m sure it will be something useful for us. That’s why, let’s go!”
„Where?” Pakai’s foolish question was heard after this.
„To catch idiots!” Yelled Tenebre. „Something you are perfect at, once you belong to the same class.”
Last part of her speech, Tenebre whispered only for her. Yet, Vāḻkkai and Patavi still heard it. Because of this, Patavi asked while looking behind Tenebre and the jackal, „Do you think that it’s a good idea to tell Master Dike about their visit?”
„No,” replied Vāḻkkai confidently. „We won’t tell him about this! On the contrary: we’ll help them to get their Palantir back.”
„The reason?”
„To make sure that our plan will work, Patavi, and our beloved home will finally have a chance to be rebuilt.” After that, suddenly vanishing from beside her, Vāḻkkai made Patavi frown because she definitely couldn’t understand her queen’s plan. Yet, once she hadn’t a reason to doubt Vāḻkkai’s plan, she could only follow her because she was sure that Life would need her to help Tenebre and Pakai get their Palantir back.
***
„Nemirā and Iruḷ attacked from the west, Great-grandma!” Zeal told Inlan Diar when she, Eṉōl, and Kirivas returned from the Northern Area of Paṉi Makkaḷ. „An attack that will keep Maranam busy for a while.”
„Yet, this doesn’t give us the confidence that we will win the war, sweetheart!” The queen responded in a shaking voice. „Why? Because… Maranam can have the strength to defeat them and attack Paṉi Makkaḷ after this.”
„I have a different opinion this time,” said Kirivas, making Inlan Diar carefully look at him. The same Zeal and the commander did. „I refer to the fact that there is a possibility for Maranam not to be as strong as we think and be defeated by Nemirā and Iruḷ eventually. What makes me think so? True facts: if he had been so powerful as we feared he was, he would have attacked us alone and not looked for allies.”
„Kirivas is right, my queen,” said Eṉōl confidently. „This is something all of us whisper about - that this war won’t be a quick one, but it’ll last for a long time. I also think that Maranam will prolong the battle only to be sure that we’ll be weak eventually - physically and emotionally, after taking a lot of friends from among us. I won’t mention here the material losses we’ll have in the end.”
„The material losses preoccupy me less, Eṉōl because this is something we can easily restore. Not the same happens to humans and living creatures: once they are lost, they are lost forever. This is what makes my heart bleed, in fact: that we don’t know how to protect others. Yes, maybe we did well sending them to the heart of the ground, thinking that they would be fine there. Yet, this doesn’t assure us that they’ll continue to be fine if Maranam wins the war. At least I’m not sure that we will be fine if the Barrier falls, all of us.”
„Then… I think it’ll be a good idea to help those that are still outside of the Barrier,” suggested Kirivas.
„How to help them?” Zeal inquired, distrustful.
„First of all, let’s show them that we are still with them, Princess. For this, I think it’ll be a good idea if we split our army into four, to make sure that all of our enemies are in front of our eyes.”
„Why split our army in four if only three areas are surrounded by our enemies?”
„You forget about the Northern Area, sweetheart!” Inlan Diar told her great-granddaughter. „Our enemy can attack us from there if we don’t guard it well.”
„I’ll take care of that zone, then.”
„No, commander,” Kirivas opposed Eṉōl’s idea. „Allow Kkāṟṟu guard that border. Not alone, but with Inmar’s foxes. Meanwhile, I, along with part of the winds, will take care of the Western Border, where Nemirā and Iruḷ keep Maranam and the Virgins Uyarvu in place while Karayel will guard the Eastern Border along with the small winds. You, commander, should take care of the South Border, where the Coal Burners are along with the Yātrīkars and Colte’s Vanamars. That area seems to me the weakest of our borders.”
„What makes you think that the Southern border is the vulnerable one, Kirivas? I consider that’s the western one, where Maranam is.”
„No, Eṉōl! Kirivas is right because, unlike Maranam, who wants control over the world, but who still doesn’t know how to get it, the Coal Burners and Vvokkam have a well-planned target, which they’ll try to get at any cost.”
„The falling of Paṉi Makkaḷ!”
„Yes, Zeal! If Paṉi Makkaḷ falls, Vvokkam is free because he’ll finally be released by the power of the promise he made to Tikil once, when Tikil helped him to control the magic power. For his freedom, Vvokkam will fiercely fight just to see all of us dead or submitted. He’ll do that because this means his freedom and this is a damn good reason for him to fight. Also… to have power, of course.”
„Then, my queen, I think we should ask someone to guard the Palace. Strebasus and part of the army will be here soon!”
„Meanwhile, I’ll take care that nobody will enter through the Secret Gates of the Mountain.” Everybody looked at Zeal, confused. „I mean the gates that can lead someone to the Stream of Power. I promised to great-grandfather Accam Kuṉṟu that nobody would ever get there. Our enemies, I mean, I intend to keep that promise at any cost.”
Zeal’s words made Inlan Diar’s heart bleed. The queen felt great pain after hearing again about the loss of her beloved father Accam Kuṉṟu. At the same time, Inlan Diar suffered because of Zeal too, who seemed to head at a quick step toward death. Yes, Inlan Diar feared the death she saw in her vision when Anaya visited the kingdom of Ice, a death she hoped to avoid somehow. Yet, as nobody ever ran from his destiny, the queen also knew that she was fighting against the impossible. Even so, Inlan Diar was determined to try to do at least something because Zeal was the entire Universe for her. Yes, she also loved Bestla and Sephir. Nevertheless, Inlan Diar felt a special love for Zeal, one she could never understand. Even so, she suspected that the connection between her and her great-granddaughter had something to do with Accam Kuṉṟu and the power of the Holy Stream. A suspicion she never talked about with anyone because she didn’t want to make anybody suffer because of her love for Zeal.
Eventually, with her eyes bathed by tears because she could only accept Fate’s decision at that moment, but not stand against it, Inlan Diar looked at her great-granddaughter and nodded, letting her know that she accepted that plan. After that, resting both palms on Zeal’s shoulders, she smiled. Inlan Diar sadly smiled at that moment, trying to hide the great pain she had in her chest. Then, sighing, she turned her back to the others and headed toward the Palace, crawling her legs, tired, like her soul was tired too, the one that longed for peace and love at that moment, peace that seemed to be something impossible to hold to her chest again as if it was a Magic Bird that nobody could ever touch.
„What’s wrong with her?” Wondered Zeal, looking behind her great-grandmother. „She looks as though she’s saying goodbye to someone. Or… does she do that because she knows something we don’t know?” Looking at Kirivas and Eṉōl, she saw them shrugging because they also didn’t know what was in Inlan Diar’s mind. This confused Zeal a little because she didn’t ask those questions out loud. Even so, she was sure that the commander and Kirivas could read her soul because they were somehow tied to each other in that war and this was definitely the plan of Fate: for none of them to be alone in those times of pain.
***
„It’s perfect!” Calmac hissed through his teeth, cleaning the shiny surface of the Palantir with his sleeve. Yes, the Palantir was definitely shining at that moment even if it wasn’t activated. It was a feature of the inner power of the Palantir, about which „I dreamt about,” Calmac murmured again. „I dreamt of it, but I never hoped that I would have it eventually.” After that, the ghoul held the Palantir to his chest, as if it was something precious.
Eventually, Calmac looked scared around when he heard a noise somewhere to his right. Yet, looking over there, he saw nobody. Yes, there was nobody at the eastern border of the kingdom of the Magic Wolves where he ran after he got the Palantir. He chose that place because bushes, thick secular trees, and different tall herbs through which he could lose his track in case of need surrounded it. Yet, even if he had been hiding there for a few days already, nobody looked for him, and neither had he been forced to hide in the end.
„Something strange,” he suddenly said, looking with a lost glance around. „Nobody looks for it, even if it’s something precious. Or… did nobody notice that it’s missing?”
Asking such questions, Calmac kept shaking his head, completely controlled by the power of the Palantir. It couldn’t be different because the Palantir was known for its power to drive others crazy, those who weren’t capable of controlling it. Thus, stealing power from those who thought they were „controlling” it, the Palantir amplified its power, taking advantage of the safety his new „master” gave him. Why was the Palantir safe? Because it made the new „master” think that it was something precious and something they had to kill for in the end if they wanted to keep it.
Calmac looked as crazy as the former „masters” of the Palantir. His eyes were slowly rotating in his head, savagely shining and looking deplorable because the poor ghoul hadn’t eaten anything for days already, and this weakened him a lot. Even so, Calmac didn’t feel hungry or cold because the captivity of the Palantir helped him not to feel this physical need. All that the ghoul felt was a mad desire, uncontrollable, to hide somewhere where nobody would have ever found him. Where exactly to hide? He didn’t know because, even if he wandered the Camp of the Rophions for days after they got there, he couldn’t find the perfect hideout for him. He looked for that place because he needed it to be safe to lure his victims there. If he had had such a place, Calmac would have been able not only to taste the sweet meat of a rabbit but also of a Rophion or Siar because he was sure that their meat was also tasty. Yet, even if Calmac dreamt of tasting human blood, he couldn’t do that eventually. The reason? Well… everybody kept an eye on him those days after he managed to lure Mago away from the Barrier the last time.
„As if they hadn’t anything better to do than to spy on me,” the ghoul hissed through his teeth eventually when he remembered his failure. „They kept spying on me as though I was someone incapable of taking care of himself. I can also take care of others… Yet, they don’t trust me because… ah, I’m furious only thinking about this because my… my… My precious gift is here. Yes, it’s a divine gift: all that I need to be happy!” Calmac finished his madness in a delirious speech while his hand kept caressing the shiny surface of the Palantir that didn’t allow the ghoul to forget about it for a long time.
Even if he was completely controlled by the Palantir’s magic, Calmac didn’t realize this. He didn’t see the sudden change of mood he had either or the fact that he was a servant when he thought he was the master. The ghoul preferred to ignore all this and fully enjoy the fake feeling he had while looking at the black shine of the Palantir, a feeling that made him think that he was the King of the World because… all the time, he saw a single throne in front of his eyes.
The throne Calmac saw all the time in front of his eyes wasn’t a common one. What the ghoul saw was a throne made from black water, somewhere in the depths of the ground. What kind of throne? He also didn’t know that. Even so, he felt that it was his throne and that he had to have it at any cost. At the same time, Calmac felt that he had to keep the Palantir only for him, forever if possible. Yet…
…suddenly… fear started to squirm him inside. The fear of the thought „They will take it from me,” as he surprised himself, often whispering. He murmured those words in a shaking voice, with his eyes bathed by tears, eyes that were injected with blood because of hunger, lack of sleep, and madness. „Something they won’t have in the end, never. They won’t have it because I won’t allow this to them, just as I won’t allow any of them to take the Throne of the World from me because… My precious!”
Eventually, as it always happened after he remembered about the Palantir, Calmac held it to his chest, touched it with his right cheek, and started to sing a lullaby for it because… the „Precious” was his baby at that moment. „Yes, HE’s my precious,” Calmac deliriously murmured after this.
In the end, Calmac winced when he heard a whisper in the distance. „Calmac, do you hear me?” A voice asked him. This made him look around, scared because that melodious voice, which he didn’t know, was something that made him nervous. Even so, the ghoul said nothing but listened to the voice to say something else. Thus, he heard, shortly after this, „I’m here, right in front of you. Don’t you see me?” The ghoul shook his head. Because of this, the voice sadly said, „What a shame because… I see you and I miss you so much.”
„Do you miss me?” Calmac whispered, confused. „Me?” After that, the surprise sparkled in his eyes.
„That’s right, I miss you because… this is what you have always wanted, right, Calmac? To be loved and someone to be by your side.”
„Maybe you are right, but… I don’t understand who you are.”
„I? The power!” The voice cunningly replied this time. „I’m the power hidden in this forest. I’m the power these villain magic wolves locked here, keeping me away from you. Yet, you are here, Calmac! You - the one who has the key to open the lock of the door that keeps me a captive here. If you open it, you allow me to be beside you, forever. Yet, for this, you have to come here!”
Calmac frowned this time, tightly holding the Palantir to his chest. „To come? Where?” He asked.
„Here,” the woman’s voice whispered this time. „You have to follow me if you want to see where the power of this forest is hidden! For this, follow the sweet melody of my voice, Calmac! If you do that… you’ll have the whole world to your feet…”
The cunningness of that voice softened Calmac’s heart. Thus, forgetting about safety, still holding the Palantir to his chest, the ghoul stood up and, going through the hole seen in the wall that was around the Rophion Camp, a hole that hadn’t ever been there, Calmac lost himself in the forest… forever…