„Listen to the music that plays in the mountains.

Listen to the voice that echoes through it.

It’s like a shadow that lurks in the surroundings,

And brings into this world Magic and Fear.

And she had been born from darkness and shadows.

Her name is Tenebre, and she is the Queen.

She is the one who brings Death and Sorrow.

She's Chaos's breath and she is his grin.

Tenebre’s the daughter, born from his hatred.

A diamond of fear thrown into this world.

A soul that was sunk deep in the waters,

And a queen that brought sorrow, and fear in this world."

***

  The whispers of the water, which quickly descended in the valley from those snowy edges of the Mount of Fear, were heard mantling around. But even if the water’s sound was like a spell: something mystical, meant to tell the legend of Tenebre’s birth to the world, it was also reminding everybody about the deaf screams of the ghosts that were also living in those places, known by the entire world as Tenebre’s Forest and the River of Maranam.

  That name, Maranam – means Death in the ancient language, invented by the priests that came to those lands in the past to show respect to the first Titanide born from an Animus, and not from an Anima: Tenebre, for she had only a father - Chaos, but no mother.

  Actually, Tenebre has been born from Chaos’s hatred, the destructive feeling he had in his chest when the battle with Eris finished.

  Then was when he threw that hatred into the Cosmos, in the form of a meteorite at first, but which has been sunken later into the water of the River of Maranam by Eris’s diamond of fear, when it finally could reach Earth.

  Thus, Eris found the perfect way to take revenge on her husband for imprisoning her. So, she ordered the diamond, which left Māṉsṭar Kēlaksi, to finally found that meteorite that was born from Chaos’s hatred, follow it on Earth, and drown it later in those waters of the River of Maranam, and stay hidden there, both diamond and meteorite, till she’ll have the perfect plan to get revenge.

  But her plan had been knocked on the head when the meteorite, after being sunken into the water, returned to its surface, for its power was beyond any other power that could try to dominate it, and when the first rays of the dusk blinked on its surface, the meteorite got a human form and, from the river water, an adult woman, alive, with black hair, dark olive skin and black like pitch eyes was born.

  And her birth made nature fear and, because of this, she has been named Tenebre, and the whispers of the wind and the tremble of the leaves carried on that name, which became a legend later: an unmanageable power, feared and respected even by the Death.

  Chaos, however, disliked the fact that had a daughter born from that water and he so suddenly started to hate even her. And he hated her not because of her dark skin and black hair, of which every living creature was so afraid, but because Tenebre reminded him about his darker side: cruel, implacable, that could also kill.

  But no matter how hard didn’t he try to „erase” Tenebre from the earth’s surface, he couldn’t, for Tenebre was fed by Eris with the power of Death, that power that was guarding the humans’soul in the shadows, lurking on them just to be there when it’ll be the right moment, and, for this, Tenebre started to call Eris her mother.

***

  Squatting right next to the water of the River of Maranam, Dike looked deeply into those black waters, but he couldn't see anything, except small waves, rolling in circles or moving away from him like ovoid waves, as if they were trying to send a message to the world.

  „She won’t talk,” Island told Dike, standing next to the Titan, to his right.

  Island instead was looking at the trees and not at the water, for the river’s slow shake was sending a kind of strange magic to him, something that he couldn’t explain, not even after 3 thousand years of living on this earth.

  „She will. Someday when these waters have a message to send to the world,” and Dike also stood up and looked at the same trees, watched by Island.

  Then, they kept silent for minutes in a row, and only the pleasant whistle of their breath was heard around. But that whistle was also heard in the distance. Yet, it wasn’t the noise made by someone’s breath, by the forests, or by the water. It was the soil’s breath, something that the other living creatures couldn’t ever hear. But it couldn’t remain hidden from Dike, who saw the birth of that world, who knew how the earth breathes in times of peace, in harsh times, and even in war times.

  „Why are you so obsessed with this water? There are already thirteen years since you started to come here every day just to listen to the water’s whisper, but it never talked to you. What do you exactly wait for to listen to from them?”

  „Tenebre’s voice, but she’s too silent and this is already something suspicious for me, for she always talked before, even when she hadn’t anything to say, even when she hadn’t any soul to drag and drown it into these waters. Now instead, she stopped talking, for thirteen years already, since we've come to live here. And, since then, I’ve stopped feeling her presence and I don’t think that she left this planet. This isn’t something proper to her.”

  „I also think that she’s here, for she loves too much this world to leave it, as she loves my father, even if she loves him in her own way.”

  „Coallar’s den. How didn’t I think about this before?! Let’s go there! I think she might be there for…”

  „No, she isn’t, for I have always had someone lurking in the surroundings of that old king Coallar’s den, but they didn’t see anything strange around. I’m more tempted to think that she’s with Ahi now, planning something evil, as always, and if it’s so, we’ll find out this very soon.”

  „Ahi? Your elder brother, the one you said that is the other Samaya’s father?”

  „Right, but her name isn’t Samaya, but Mayar, even if others tried to make her think so. Actually, I met her once. Thirteen years ago, when the red foxes established their village on this mount. But she doesn’t know anything about either of my brother’s plans or the fact that she is his child.”

  „The red foxes? Inmar is also here? Why didn’t you tell me about this? If the other Samaya is here, my daughter can be in danger.”

  „No, Dike. This river’s water is too quiet, even if it’s mount water and had to be rushing. This water instead slowly flows down the mount: and it’s too quiet for my taste. But better thus than our children to be in danger, even if I still feel this evil lurking on us. Yet, I don’t know for how long it’ll be silent here, for I feel that nature started to breathe weirdly around me, and this isn’t controlled by my power.”

  Saying this, Island turned his back on Dike and went away. He seemed calm when he left, but, deep inside him, his soul was boiling, for that weird sensation felt around was something unknown to him, whose source he also didn’t know, and this was awakening the madness inside him, for he started to fear for his family and especially for his granddaughters, for that evil, of which he was so frightened of, was after their power and for so long already.

***

  The entrance of Coallar’s den had nothing special to be honest: only a lot of small and middle rocks, built on top of each other, with no visible order at first, but which were forming a kind of vault eventually.

  But even so, even if the physical aspect of that entrance looked usual, it was something weird too there and this was due to the fact that no alive breathing was felt around: only dried blades of poisonous ivy were climbing on those rocks and which, slowly moved by a light gust of wind, were spreading a stuffy smell around.

  However, there was something else there, something that could really make you shudder, and from top to toe actually: the thick fog, of a white, foamy color, that was coming out of the grotto and was quickly spreading around, as if a giant had lived inside and only when he was breathing out, the fog was spat out of that stinky den, sent outside to lurk on the surroundings.

  Although that view was something scary to watch for a long time, this didn’t scare Samaya and Bestla, who were standing in front of the grotto when a powerful gust of wind dispersed the fog for a few moments and they could see the entrance in the grotto well. But they didn’t enter, as if waiting for something.

  „Are you sure that we can find here the answer to all your twisted dreams?” Bestla asked, crossing her arms over her chest, and her blue eyes powerfully shined in the blink of that semi-shadow seen around. „To be honest I don’t like this place and to be even more honest – I always thought that the stink that surrounds this forest came from here and, as long as I can see, I was absolutely right.”

  „I know,” whispered Samaya and a slight concern had been felt in her voice. „But this is exactly the place from my dreams, and I’m sure that must be a „what for” if those dreams summoned me here. It’s this place for sure and to finally find out the why of those dreams, let’s go inside.”

  „It’s not felt as if I’m that curious to measure nose with my great grandfather, but… I won’t stay behind. If something happens, we can simply vanish. Lucky us that you finally managed to learn how to teleport yourself and take me with you too.”

  „Why do I feel that it was a reproach and not a brag?” Samaya murmured, mirroring her face in those blue eyes.

  „Because it’s true?! But, don’t worry! I’m not that mean to be envious of the only best friend I have. Even if I tried, it had been a total mess. I can guarantee you that,” and she took the first step in front, intending to go in.

  She stopped, however, feeling something weird coming from inside and this made her close her eyes and feel that air current coming out of there, slowly moving her hair and the cloth of her garments. Then, a kind of roar increasing in intensity was heard coming too from inside of the grotto, as if it was the noise of hundreds of horses’hooves hitting the asphalt: a total and deafening noise.

  „Something happens there,” Samaya also whispered and closed her eyes, entering a new world, and a kind of glade, deep inside of the mount, totally surrounded by mirrors, appeared.

  And, in those mirrors, the view of that place was reflected, for even if around the place, where Samaya was standing at that moment, were only rocks and glass, the mirrors were reflecting alive nature instead.

  But there, in that forest reflected in the mirrors, no natural light was seen: only candles, lighted from nowhere as if they had sensors that were igniting them when someone was passing by and guiding that person’s footsteps thus.

  Then, when all those candles were lighted, whispers started to be heard. But the meaning of those whispers was something incomprehensible for the two girls, for even if Bestla appeared next to Samaya and looked at that weird place seen in the mirrors, she couldn’t understand where they were or what kind of whispers were heard by them.

  „Even if I taught you to project such worlds, it still seems weird to me to see how much shadow it can be here,” Bestla murmured.

  However, she kept silent when the cloth of her dress started to slowly shake as if being moved by a light gust of wind. Then hundreds or maybe thousands of dust particles had been lifted from below, surrounding the girls as if they were in the middle of a desert, where a dust storm just started. But that dust suddenly turned into smoke, and Samaya’s palms, facing the mirrors, sent that dust and fog inside of that projected world, and when the hooves’noise became unbearable to listen to, the girls finally saw a mad, wild boar heading toward them.

  This made Samaya suddenly withdraw and she fell, watching with frightened eyes at that wild boar that was heading straight toward her. Then, she started to crawl back, out of that wild animal’s way, but she felt that she was losing power with each step the wild boar was taking toward her, and, because of this, terror could be read in her eyes.

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  „Run!” Bestla suddenly shouted and grabbed her arm, forcing Samaya to stand up and follow her.

  Seconds later, the wild boar passed through that mirror, breaking it into pieces. But instead of remaining in that twilling world, the animal got into the real one and followed the two girls, that were crossing that forest as faster as they could, in a mad run.

  And it was understandable their run, for the wild boar was big enough, with long, sharp, and ivory fangs, that were powerfully shinning even in that weak light of the sun because that part of the forest was generally bathed in semi-shadow and only a few sunrays dared to cross through that thick vault, formed by the trees’branches.

  And it was something else scary in his person: the fact that it was running as if chased by the devil, having only one single purpose in his mind – to catch up with the two girls and trample them under his hooves.

  And, while running, its hooves left deep traces in that wet soil. Then, the hoofbeat was heard louder when they got on that winding and rock soil, that was descending the mount on zig-zag paths as if those trails have been put there just to confuse the wayfarers.

  Actually, the girls specifically chose that path, hoping to lose all traces of them, in case they couldn’t deceive the animal, but they also didn’t count on the fact that he could smell them and this was an important clue for the boar to find them and follow each of their footsteps.

  That’s why, when she finally understood that they fell into their own settled trap, Samaya started to look for a large place while running, hoping to can use her power, fed by the sunlight, and teleport herself and Bestla. But there weren’t such places, not even a faraway, sunny glade, and this was something really bad, for she still couldn’t use her power in places surrounded by darkness or shadow.

  „To the river! Head to the river!” Samaya heard Bestla’s shouts behind her. That’s why she turned her head and looked back, trying to see where was Bestla at that moment.

  Soon instead, she understood that it had been a damn bad idea, for, when to turn to the right, at the next crossroad of trails, because of the slippery soil, her foot slipped onto the rocks that looked as if being made from ice and which were seen like sharp knives because of their position on that ground, and they were really dangerous, if not deadly, because of the herbs that were seen all around, savagely grown. And, namely one of those rocks hidden made Samaya lose balance and fall, rolling onto those sharp stones down the cliff.

  And the falling hadn’t been slow actually because it was a damn steep slope, and those sharp edges of the stones were injuring her skin so badly.

  Samaya instead cared less about this, for she felt the devil’s breath, with the name – wild boar, so cold on her back, and that steep slope was a perfect one to be her grave if she had zoned out. Finally, her fall was about to be mitigated by the trunk of a tree, which she saw in the distance, and she understood that she was heading straight toward it.

  „Damn it!” Bestla shouted, who was still on her feet, running after Samaya, when she saw those blood stains left on the stones. And more, she became really scared when she saw Samaya heading toward that tree. That’s why she tried to help her by throwing different kinds of glass obstacles that Samaya could grab. But those objects melted in seconds and she couldn’t understand what was the problem or where was she wrong.

  And finally… Samaya hit that trunk and she felt the hit with all her body. Even so, she still had the power to stand up. Then, she heard the same thing as Bestla: a deafening noise of falling water.

  But she hadn’t enough time to think what could make that noise, for she felt the wild boar approaching her at a dizzy speed. That’s why, when he was only a few meters from her, she jumped to the side and his fangs deeply entered in that thick trunk.

  „Huh, it has been close!” Samaya murmured, staring thunderstruck at the wild boar, caught in the tree’s trap. Then, she heard:

  „Now, Samaya! Use the dagger!” Bestla told her while being stopped about 100 meters up the slope and using her power to surround that place with mirrors.

  And that place was a perfect one to surround with mirrors because the sunlight was powerfully burning in the sky. But it was a kind of illusion, for till that moment, till Bestla surrounded that place with mirrors, it was controlled by the shadows, even if that place was an open space.

  Even so, Bestla was grateful for that light that blinded the boar, which furiously growled and started to move in the same place like a demon caught in the trap of angels while trying to take its fangs out of that trunk, and the movement made the whole tree shake.

  Suddenly, however, the boar stopped, as if someone gave him an order, and its eyes started to roll in small circles while its nostrils loudly puffed. Then, its rear hooves started to kick the ground, throwing dust all over.

  „It isn’t that pleasant, is it?” Samaya asked him while taking the dagger from her girdle and taking a few steps toward the animal.

  Her movement made the boar extremely calm and this made Samaya wonder what he was planning. Soon instead, she chased that thought away, remembering that the animals don’t have intellect. Yet, her instinct told her to stop and wait, and she did well, for the trunk suddenly cracked, releasing the boar’s fangs.

  Then, he slowly turned toward her, curiously watching her while she was moving back. And Samaya decided that it’ll be a pretty good idea to hide that dagger though. But – remaining unprotected wasn't also a good idea. That’s why she formed an icy sword, whose handle she was squeezing hard.

  „Nice trick learned from the Snowy Princess,” she heard a man’s voice, but she couldn’t understand where it came from. She even dared to look around, but she also couldn’t see anybody.

  „It can’t be!” She suddenly murmured and grinned, staring at the boar’s red eyes, which were still rolling on their orbits.

  „Yes, it can be!” She heard the answer like an echo, and she finally understood that who was talking to her was the one controlling the boar.

  „Who are you?” Samaya asked, moving the sword from one hand to another as if playing with it.

  „Me? I don’t know! I’m too old to remember my name,” the voice said and she finally understood that it was a pretty strange voice actually.

  „Should I remember you who you are, Coallar?” Bestla said in mockery while being perched on one of those mirrors that were surrounding the place in the middle of which Samaya and the wild boar were. „I knew that you won’t stay still. But even so, I can’t understand who you are after this time: after me or after our pretty she-wolf.”

  „Smart as always, dear grandniece! And, as always, I couldn’t deceive you. Eh, it seems that I’m pretty old now. But… even so, you are right only half, for… even if you are younger than me, you have a shorter mind than I have – you forgot who came here, and I’m pretty sure of one thing: I never summoned you here.”

  „Who knows?! Maybe I’m not as wrong as you try to make us think, for Samaya’s dreams always seemed weird to me. Yet… I can understand why you used them instead of visiting her personally – as you can leave that stinky place, not to call it otherwise. And, for the same reason, you sent your pet to say „hello” to us instead of being here – in person.”

  Upon hearing that „pet” told him, the wild boar furiously glanced at Bestla, who made a comic face while staring at him, trying to make the boar angrier than before.

  „And, to be honest, your pet is as ill-mannered as his master, by the way: you both prefer not to normally greet the people, but to growl, or… worse, in your case… to hide like a rat. And… careful at the crossroads, old rat – you can meet the cat! Meow!”

  „I don’t think that’s a good idea provoking him,” Samaya telepathically snarled, for that channel was a sure one to talk, being used only by a few members of Samaya’s tribe and by Bestla and her family, who had been learned by Dike to use it. Or, at least this was what they thought – that they were the only ones using telepathy. But even so, Samaya preferred that, instead of living in fear that she’ll lose her voice again and that she won’t be able to communicate with the others as it happened in the past.

  „I’ve just tried to see what he’s capable of, but, as we saw already – he can’t do that much. So, don’t worry: he’s not here. Only his eyes and a voice that I feel around. But if we pore that pat’s eyes out of the orbits, that old rat Coallar will fall straight into hell,” and Bestla devilishly laughed.

  „Well, why don’t you try to do this then? To pore that mad devil’s eyes out, I mean. I heard that this is something you do perfectly,” Samaya teased her, having a peep at Bestla, but still keeping an eye on the wild boar, which seemed too quiet for her palate.

  „No, thanks! I better stay and watch from here: it’s safer,” and Bestla laughed again.

  „If you say so, but… remind me, please, later, to say thank you for this!”

  „Will be nice of you, but I don’t think that…,” suddenly Bestla kept silent, seeing the wild boar madly running toward Samaya and intending to stab his fangs in her.

  This made Samaya turn into a big, grey she-wolf, showing her fangs, and that’s why the boar stopped – because of the survival instinct. Samaya grinned, seeing this.

  „You aren’t that courageous now, seeing a mystical wolf, right?” She heard Bestla’s voice from above, who kept provoking Coallar thus.

  „Bestla, it isn’t the right moment for bad jokes,” the she-wolf hissed through her teeth. „Only if you fight with him.”

  „Did I tell you already that you are gorgeous like a she-wolf?”

  „Yeah, lots of times, but… I doubt you have been sincere in saying this, honestly.”

  „Why do you say that? You can be very sure of my sincerity because I’m the perfect personation of a…”

  „Just keep your mouth shut and watch if you don’t intend to fight with this beast, for…,” however, Samaya hadn’t time to finish her thought, for the wild boar attacked her.

  To save her back, Samaya jumped aside and the boar’s fangs stroke home one of the mirrors, and the rest of the mirrors started to shake as if they were playing cards touched by a strong gust of wind.

  „Why do I have the feeling that it won’t end well eventually?” The she-wolf mumbled.

  Bestla, who was still on the top of that mirror and fighting with that weird power to keep her balance, said: „because I told you not to come here, but you never listen.”

  „Then… you should have been more cogent and… less talkative, by the way, instead of playing with those mirrors and that gust of wind that…,” but only a growl was heard at the end of the sentence when she stubbed her fangs into the boar’s neck.

  The animal, feeling the she-wolf's fangs deeply entering his neck, stopped, and Samaya understood thus that it wasn’t the perfect time to wait for the boar to come to his senses. That’s why she stubbed the fangs deeper into his throat, trying to suck even the last drop of life from its body.

  That’s why the boar stood calm for a long time. But when he finally understood that staying in place meant sure death for him, he started to push her back, using Coallar’s power.

  Then, when Samaya felt that her legs started to slip on those slippery stones, she decided to release the boar’s throat. But it had been a bad decision, for the boar, furious and bloody, felt that stink of death floating around them and, from a prey, became raptor.

  Coallar instead wasn’t satisfied with that. So, he threw a big rock off the top of the mount, which rolled down on those steep slopes and, in contact with the mirrors, the rock blow them sky-high, forcing Bestla to hide inside of a floating, glass cube thus, for, falling along with those mirrors, would have meant sure death for her.

  On the ground instead, the boar and Samaya forgot about their rivalry when they felt that rock heading toward them, and split up, allowing the rock to fall into that deep gulf behind them. Yet, their peace didn’t last long, for Coallar intended to finish at once with them both. That’s why, they attacked each other again, controlled by the king of coal’s power.

  But, Coallar was mad and furious enough about his put-back and that he couldn’t succeed as easily as he would like. That’s why, so soon, not that far from that stack of broken glass, a Portal made from Coal appeared and king Coal himself crossed its threshold into the real world.

  Samaya, who was with her fangs stubbed into the boar’s neck again, stared at Coallar and shuddered, for she knew very well that she couldn't fight with two enemies at the same time.

  However, she breathed a sigh of relief, seeing Bestla using her power to help her. And it was really impressive to watch how Bestla turned that glass cube, that was protecting her, into a small hurricane and she descended on the ground between Samaya, the boar, and Coallar.

  „It had been a damn bad decision leaving that cage, great grandpa Coallar,” Bestla told him through her teeth while staring into his eyes, which looked like lit torches at that moment. „I’m not anymore that frightened child that uncle Ahi tried to kill, using my mother’s power. So, taking my power will be something you could only dream about. But, I’m also thankful to you for being here and allowing me to take my desired revenge on you.”

  „Well, if you want this, then – welcome into….”

  However, he couldn’t finish his thought when a rain of broken glass had been thrown by Bestla against him.

  He tried to break them with stones that had also been thrown against those shivers like heavy rain, but he couldn’t and this made him crazily roar and threw another avalanche of small black, coal stones toward her, without hurting her, for Arion descended so suddenly from the heights of the sky and protected Bestla with his white, huge wings. After that, when that madness stopped, on his wings, black stains could be seen, that were still smoking.

  This was something Coallar never expected, and he tried to kill both Bestla and Arion with a sword, but he dropped it and roared again when his coat of coal started to burn. Looking back, he saw Fenrir, handing the fire and, from whose palms, red flames were thrown toward him.

  Even if that was the first time using the fire, Fenrir didn’t look scared at all. Instead, he looked mad and he said: „when you attacked my sister, you, mad demon, you made the worse mistake ever, for I won’t ever allow you not to be punished for intending to hurt my family,” and he made those flames increase so much, forcing Coallar to give up and, to escape, he entered his Portal again, which vanished like a big explosion of smoke.

  The Portal instead didn’t bring Coallar to his den, but on another steep slope, off which the foamy and tormented water of the River Maranam was seen flowing down that gulf and Coallar suddenly jumped into those waters to extinguish his coat in fire, that was so badly hurting his skin.

  „Are you alright?” Bestla whispered, seeing Arion’s hurt skin, with black stains on it, when the horse was gone.

  „I’m fine,” he gently said. „And glad that you aren’t hurt.”

  „Hey, lover boy, let the love whispers for later. First, we must find Samaya.”

  „Samaya?! She was just over there,” murmured Bestla, but she became preoccupied when she looked toward the place where she left the she-wolf and the wild boar and she didn’t see any of them. But, hearing Samaya’s shout in her head, she told the two men: „she’s in the valley! Let’s go after her!”

  Fenrir headed right away toward there. But, when he passed by Arion, he spotted a trap of chains in Arion’s hands and looked confused at him while the two were running side by side.

  „I don’t know for who of them it’ll be necessary, but it's better to be ready,” said Arion, smiling.

***

  Samaya, in her human shape, was crawling back while the wild boar was slowly advancing toward her. But what was really scary was the fact that she hadn’t where to run or hide: she was too close to the gulf’s edge and she could even hear the water of Maranam River roaring down, tumultuous water that she was seeing from the corner of her eye while she kept the other eye on the boar, whose hissing breath was so well felt on her face.

  „You won’t give up, don’t you?! Well, neither I'll do! I can see this in your eyes that are madly rolling in their orbit, staring at my bloody wounds. Tasty, isn’t it?! But I assure you that you won’t ever have the pleasure to taste from my flesh, because…”

  The last step taken in front by the wild boar and the last one taken back by Samaya… then, she felt so well the edge of the gulf cutting without hurting her sole, but even so she smiled, for, at the horizon, she saw running toward her and calling her name, Fenrir, Bestla, and Arion.

  But even if she saw them rushing to help her, she knew that they won’t be there in time to save her – the boar was too close and closer was the gulf.

  Then, she saw, for the last time, the boar’s nostrils wiping the dust around him with his loud breath, to later jump on her.

  However, the boar passed by her, for Samaya’s body had been suddenly hugged by two strong arms, of a young man, who showed up from nowhere there and the three of them fell into the water.