An arrow was flying like the wind between the trunks blackened by the evil thoughts of Tenebre’s Forest. And its small body and its sharp top were piercing the cold air of the shadows and it was heading deeper and deeper into the heart of that place of fear, from inside of which the roar of beasts, the rub-a-dumb, and the squeak of old, dry wood was heard and that sound was passing throughout the surroundings like cold iron through alive creatures, looking for their death.
And the master of that arrow was Mayar, who was standing at the edge of the forest, still with the bow in her hands and with another arrow prepared for shooting. But even so, standing in a fighting positing, the young woman wasn’t taking her eyes off the trees and she was waiting for something.
Thus, it could be seen that she had the same deep glance as Samaya's, the same slim body, and the same beautiful face, which was washed at that moment by the morning sunlight which dared to rise in the sky above that forest of fear.
Yet, the only thing that made Mayar and Samaya different from each other was the color of their hair, for while Samaya’s hair was like the ripe chestnuts, almost having a black shade, Mayar had it completely red, as if it was Hestia’s flames in full swing, and that shade of crimson red made the black of her eyes seem even deeper than it usually was, that most of the times her glance was similar to the abyss.
However, mostly, Mayar’s glance was so fierce. Even at that moment, when she was looking at the same point toward which her arrow was heading, she fiercely looked at the woods.
Then she growled: „Come on, show up at once!” and she said this when she saw that nothing happened for minutes, as nothing changed in those places, and as nothing showed up from the woods.
„And still, you are there! You can’t hide from me, even if you enter the hole of a snake because only two souls in this world can hide their beings from the eye of my mind, but none of them is living in this forest. So, don't drive me crazy and show up!” Mayar suddenly yelled, but again nothing happened. „Wonderful then! You wanted it!” She said and she released the rope of the bow while taking the arrow from off it.
Even so, Mayar didn’t look away from the woods and ironically grinned when she saw eyes showing up and disappearing on the trunks of the trees seen in the distance.
But what was strange about those trees was the fact that each time they were appearing, it was on a different part of the bark and this felt as if they were made with the help of Black Magic and that they were the eyes of the trees. Yet, whoever saw those eyes ran like chased by the devil away from those woods because, seeing those eyes, was similar for them to seeing Death itself.
Mayar instead looked at all this with anger because she was forced to wait in silence. But seeing that the woods was late to answer her question, the young woman slowly yawned, a sign that she was getting bored. „Come on! Don’t be shy!” The girl said, making a sign to someone to exit the forest, and, soon after, from the trunk of the trees, the real masters of those eyes seen before - the ghosts showed up in the world.
They were probably around forty in number, all black-dressed, with gray hair, and deep glance. Their lips were livid, however, as if when they were still alive, they decided to drown themselves in the water while on their right cheek they had a small red mark due to a small vein that stood out.
Their nails were long and sharp like beasts have. But still, their fingers were soft enough and this gave those creatures of death a particular charm.
Although they had decided to show up in front of Mayar, none of the ghosts dared to approach the young woman because where Mayar was standing was fully washed by sunlight and this was the cause of the ghosts‘eternal pain. That’s why they were always running away from it each time they met a ray of sunshine on their way, rays of sunshine that dared to pierce the shady vault of the crowns of the trees, spying on the hidden thickets under them.
Even if the ghosts didn't dare to approach her, Mayar looked at them. Yet, nothing in their facial expression wasn’t revealing what the girl was looking for.
„Ah, what a waste of time!” Mayar eventually murmured. „That’s why I hate the world of the dead ones: the same funeral view wherever you look or you step onto. And yet, it’s still looking like an interesting game for me,” and, she closed her eyes and focused her mind as if she floated in the darkness from inside her being, where soon after she saw how an eye wide opened and it was similar with the foxes’eyes - with an oval, yellow center, surrounded by a green dark peel, which was very quickly changing in black and back. This was Mayar’s inner eye, the one she had discovered while she was still a child, and the one which was helping her to read people’s destinies.
Controlling the power of that eye, Mayar could project the forest from in front of her into that void. Thus she saw that the first line of trees looked usual, being controlled by the light and this was something that limited to maximum the power of darkness over them. Then, as you were entering deeper into the forest, the darkness became thicker and thicker and the black smoke, mixed with white, thick fog, made the air around difficult to breathe.
Yet, Mayar suddenly showed up in the middle of the imaginary forest, projected by her inner eye, and the girl looked around, seeing the same eyes on the trees which she saw in the real world.
„It seems to me that you won’t give up that easily,” she murmured. „That’s alright. I do not bother having company. But I prefer to see your faces. So, be kind and leave those poor trees and normally walk next to me.”
As if the ghosts listened to her, they exited the trees and started to walk by her side. However, none of them was stepping onto the ground, but they were floating about a meter above it.
Then, a slight gust of wind was felt trembling the leaves and the branches of the trees, the garment of the creatures of shadows, and Mayar’s. But as tighter Mayar was squeezing her fists, as quickly as the wind was blowing, a sign that two Magical powers were facing each other as if they looked for a fight.
Mayar, however, managed to control herself in the end and she left her palms free and she stepped in front.
The ghosts, from all around her, didn’t move instead. Only their eyes and their heads were moving while watching each movement made by the girl. Yet, the young woman didn’t bother at all seeing this and entered deeper into the woods.
But she saw something strange while she was entering deeper into the forest: she was seeing some images of the fight Samaya and Bestla had with Vanamar wolves in front of her eyes when they tried to enter Coallar’s den.
This made Mayar grimace because she understood that she once again lost a great opportunity to meet the other SHE because she was still remembering their first meeting in the Glade of Shadows, thirteen years ago, when they had their first fight and when none of them neither won nor lost, and Mayar was considering this as being their cowardness.
„It seems to me that we are looking for the same thing, wolf cub, but… depends on who will find it first and who will lose this game in the end.”
***
Getting in front of Coallar’s grotto, Mayar stopped and looked around: the same view she saw in Samaya and Bestla’s memories - the nature around was breathing evil, a white fog surrounding that place, and the stink, that made the air around impossible to breathe, was coming out from inside that grotto.
However, something was different then: from inside the grotto wasn’t heard any sound - neither of a wild boar nor of a Vanamar wolf, trying to frighten her and chase her away.
„It’s exactly like my dream,” Mayar whispered, and a gust of warm wind came out from her mouth and she formed a small air Portal from it, right in front of her, which was reflecting the surroundings on its surface.
Yet, suddenly, Mayar’s inner eye closed at the same moment the Portal vanished. Then, Mayar opened her eyes, but the young girl was in front of the grotto for real at that moment, a sign that she could use the reality of her mind to travel through time and space and teleport herself wherever she wanted.
But when and how she discovered this power, she didn't remember. Yet, she was sure that it had something to do with Samaya’s power, which was increasing too because even if the girls didn’t want it, they were tied by fate, and often, on their ring finger, a small ring, made from a red thread, was seen, a sign that their soul mate was still on Earth.
Then there was something even stranger when on their fingers the ring of red thread was showing up: both had the same vision - a sword that was piercing their chest and someone’s eyes transforming their body into burning ash.
This made Mayar look at the ring finger of her left hand and she saw the ring forming while the red thread was wrapping around the finger, and it seemed so strange to her because it generally showed up only during the night and when Hestia’s fire was somewhere near her burning. But it showed up during the day then, in the middle of the forest, where any flame was seen. „What’s going on?” Mayar wondered and she suddenly heard whispers talking to her from inside the grotto.
As if dragged inside that place, Mayar decided to enter. But she hid the arrow in the bag she had on her back and she grabbed the bone handle of the bow while she entered the grotto, walking at a slow step, but being so sure of her decision.
Yet, while she was advancing on the winding and cold like ice hall of the grotto, Mayar realized that namely that one was the place where the ghosts were hiding because she could see everywhere, inside of the walls of the grotto, wooden sarcophagi, but they were uncovered as if those souls, before death, had been cursed to restlessly wander the surroundings.
But this was something that couldn’t happen without someone’s help. Yet, the girl didn’t know who that person might be and the reason why he or she did this. And she didn't know this till she got to the middle of the hall where she saw, on the handle of a torch, seen on the wall, the symbol of a cobra.
„Tenebre!” Mayar whispered. „Now I understand who brought all these sarcophagi here and who controls the shadows. Only you have such power and only your devilish mind can make such a plan.”
And even if Mayar knew who Tenebre was, she couldn’t accept her as part of their group, and she also didn’t know why. But something inside her was telling her that the Queen of the Night was changeable and that her being, which was in continuous search for new sensations, could betray them at any time.
And this happened even if she found out that Tenebre was Ahi’s mother, the one who declared himself as her teacher and protector and who helped her to improve her skills all these years. But even so, Mayar couldn’t accept Tenebre only for this, as she couldn’t fight against her own feelings and wishes.
„Let’s go, Mayar! We must move further! If we came here, we must find out the reason why we have that dream all the time and why it brought us here!” Mayar talked to herself.
Then, she blew warm air around and extinguished the torches that showed up suddenly on the walls because their trembling light was something that made her anxious and was bothering the light of her eyes. And she did this because she could see very well in the darkness as if it was a day around, but she could never see a flame moved by the wind in front of her: it was killing her inside.
***
Samaya’s eyes suddenly opened and she looked in front while she was squatting next to the pyre, preparing to ignite it.
And Yellen, who was approaching her, bringing more woods for the fire, caught her fixed glance and the girl became alert. But after a few minutes of watching Samaya, who was squatting in the same position, without even blinking or breathing, Yellen understood that something weird happened. So, she decided to say this to Nathaniel too.
That's why the girl looked around and she saw him not too far from them, helping a young man with fixing the tent.
Yet, he was with his back at them, so Yellen’s movements, to make him pay attention to her, passed unnoticed. But when she threw a wood toward him, that hit the ground a few steps behind him, Nathaniel turned and looked at her, amazed to see that Yellen showed him at first not to make a sound, and then she pointed toward Samaya.
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This made Nathaniel alert too, not understanding what was happing to the young she-wolf, as he didn’t know what to do: to sound the alarm to the others to hide or wait. Eventually, he decided that it would be better to approach Samaya first and ask her what was going on. But, being one step from her, he stopped and waited in silence.
Yellen did the same. But Samaya suddenly fixed her glance on the girl, as if she was trying to see what was inside her, and this made the girl nervous and look frightened at her brother.
„Mayar!” Samaya murmured in the end. „That girl is now inside Coallar’s grotto,” she said and she suddenly stood up and looked at her left hand and she saw the red thread, wrapping around her ring finger. „Fate plans something weird. Thus, I can’t explain how that child got to Coallar.”
Do you mean that they are somehow tied?” Nathaniel asked and took the wood from Yellen’s hands and put it on the ground. „Maybe… should we go and see what’s going on?”
Samaya shook her head, denying the idea. „Those places aren’t friendly with us. Only by stepping onto those lands, in the Northern Part of the Forest, Vanamar will wait for us. But… I saw none around her. Only shadows.”
„Shadows? What kind of shadows?” The young man asked.
„Those who Tenebre brought there and told them to guard her home. Those ghosts are the souls of the women and men who died in waters, running from a curse or trying to reach one,” Yellen murmured frightened. „They will be here soon,” she also said and she looked toward the place where the rustle of the Waterfall of Fireflies was heard from.
„Nathaniel, tell this to your people too! I don’t like the feeling I have in my chest. Let’s go to our den! Better be prepared if something happens! Better be prepared,” Samaya whispered and the young man approved, by shaking his head. Then, he took the horn from his girdle and blew it, giving the signal for everybody to get prepared for moving away.
***
The sound of the blown horn has been heard till deep inside Coallar’s grotto, something that made Mayar turn her head and look back, listening to that sound for minutes in a row.
„They are hiding,” Mayar eventually whispered. „Samaya knows that I’m here! It seems that she also sees my movements,” she happily growled because she finally got an answer to one of her eternal questions related to Samaya, who became a real obsession for her, in time.
***
Siar People were preparing for moving to the West while gathering their stuff as quickly as possible. That's why the tents were kicked down while the pylons were taken out of the ground, practically forced to get out, by the men of the group.
Meanwhile, the women were bringing water from the waterfall and throwing it all around: extinguishing the pyres, and washing the ground, as if they tried to hide their scent and not to let any trace behind them that could betray their hidden place.
Yellen, who was at that moment pouring water over one of the pyres, suddenly stopped and looked at the sky: it was so blue, so bright, and so alive at the same time. But still, something made her feel anxious, and didn't allow her to take her eyes away from it. That's why her glance was piercing the horizon, looking for something while her fingers were squeezing the handle of the broom more and more and a lump was so quickly moving up and down in her throat as if she swallowed bite after bite without even chewing.
Suddenly a roar was heard coming from the horizon as if black clouds full of heavy rain were approaching in the sky and the sun has been hidden by darkness soon.
Yet, it wasn’t the darkness of the night that took over the sky by using black magic. That night was due to Tarther, the huge black bird, which was floating above the forest of Tenebre.
„In the hedges!” Samaya suddenly yelled, for, after she noticed Yellen’s glance, she also looked at the sky and she saw the bird.
Siar People didn’t wait for a second yelling. They started to run, looking for a hidden place not to be seen by the all-seeing eye of the evil bird, which was looking for someone from heights, and if it chose namely that part of the forest, it meant that Tenebre knew about their people.
Yet, Tarther’s scary yell shook the surroundings and forced people to cover their ears because the sound made by it was so hard to bear. Even so, even if the sound of its scream was cracking the sky and the earth, its eye couldn't see even the run of a mouse or the bending of the blades of grass as the entire nature „froze,” feeling the approaching danger.
Lying on the ground, in the shelter of the tall grasses and of the trees, Nathaniel and Samaya weren’t practically breathing.
Suddenly she closed her eyes and moved in a twilling world through the same tunnel where Mayar was advancing toward Coallar’s den and she didn’t stop till she didn’t get in front of Mayar. But the young fox couldn’t see Samaya and this seemed weird to the young she-wolf.
That's why she tried to call Mayar, make her stop her sneaking toward the depths of the grotto. But Samaya’s voice couldn’t be heard.
And, shaking like a leaf in the wind, Samaya returned to the real world and touched her chest with her hand. But when she tried to whisper something, she didn’t hear anything. That's why she tried to scream, but it had the same effect, and then her eyes filled with tears.
Frightened and as if in trance, Samaya tried to stand up. But Nathaniel suddenly hugged her and both have thrown themselves on the ground, at that moment Tarther flew above that place.
At the man’s chest, who was tightly holding her into his arms, Samaya was slowly shaking. Soon instead her fear vanished somewhere and her breath became calm again.
She raised her glance and looked at Nathaniel’s face, who was focused on spying on the surroundings. Yet, even with that danger around, he seemed so calm in her eyes, that man, who protected her with his own body, and it was also strange for her because she never managed to calm down so quickly the heartbeats before and bring back the peace in her soul as it happened while she was with him.
Eventually, the man looked at her, but Samaya’s face reflected nothing. But their daydream moments, when were they only and the void has been interrupted by Yellen’s hand touch, who showed them the glade seen in the distance and they saw how Tarther landed on the ground after it decided to leave the heights of the sky and feel the breeze of the Earth.
And winging its huge wings around its body, Tarther slowly shook its head as if it tried to chase away the thoughts it had in its head at that moment. But it was only a movement taken from Eris, whose thoughts the bird has been made from and which took Eris’s habits this way, for, wherever Eris felt so deep the bite of Māṉsṭar Kēlaksi's loneliness and the tiredness of times taking over her, she was shaking her head several times, clearing her mind and taking back her safeties while looking at the sky above the desert.
Then Tarther took a few steps in front, heading toward the forest, and its movement made Siar People crawl back, noiseless, till they got to a gathering of rocks, placed there by an unknown force, a long time ago, and, even if those rocks seemed useless for those places, they were still useful because they were guarding the surroundings and were serving as a shelter for those who needed it.
Thus, becoming as small as possible, Nathaniel and the others hid between the cracks of the rocks, under it, looking for a safe shelter this way.
But Tarther changed its mind in the end and, right before entering the forest, it fluttered from its huge wings and rose in the air, like a huge shadow, which was liquifying in contact with the nature around. But even so, it wasn’t vanishing anywhere but was keeping its shape while passing through the woods.
And after Tarther was lost on the horizon, Siar People left their hidden place and looked behind it. But the bird didn’t look back even for a second.
„Do you think it’ll be back?” Yellen asked Nathaniel.
„I’m sure it will! Its coming here isn’t random. Tenebre is planning something. That’s why we must be prepared. We move toward our den!” The man demanded and his people quickly ran toward their stuff and moved toward the sunset.
***
Hidden behind a stone wall, Mayar looked at the big grotto which served as the throne hall for Coallar.
Thus she saw the king sitting on his throne at that moment, lazily yawning, because he started to feel the passing of time, even if he didn’t show it because he was still looking well and young for a man of his age.
However, he had been awakened from his numbness by Tenebre’s scream, who showed up in the middle of the room from nowhere.
„Damn people of mice!” She growled. „They manage to hide each time I need them. But when I give no damn penny on them, I can see them all over.”
Coallar slowly yawned again and looked at his wife with half-opened eyes, not understanding why she was so mad while moving through the room. „What did they do this time? And who?” Coallar asked in half a voice.
„The People of Siar! It seems that they hid! Again!”
„And? What business do you have with them this time?”
Unexpectedly, Tenebre threw a cobra toward him, which Coallar managed to grab her by the neck right before the cobra’s forked tongue was about to touch his face.
That's why he squeezed her neck and later hit it against the wall.
„You never think when you need it,” Tenebre hissed through the teeth. „I’m speaking about Rophion’s girl. The one who has the power to open The Gates of Aeon. We must find her before being too late.”
„The Gates of Aeon? And what’s this?” Mayar wondered and she sneaked a little bit in front, trying to listen to their conversation from a better place. „I’m sure that they are talking about Samaya, but what exactly does she have and what do they need her for? Don’t tell me that…”
„Right!” Tenebre suddenly yelled, as if reading the girl's thoughts, and this amazed Mayar, who took two steps back, looking for shelter. „We must find her, Coallar! That’s enough for how long we had been lazy. It’s time to set Eris free and subdue this Earth. I’m tired of Rophion’s ruling and of Inlan Diar's, who all the time finds a way to ruin our plans.”
„That’s because you’re stupid!” Mayar ironically mumbled. „If you had some brain, you would have found already the manner to kneel them. But so, you are just thinking that a prisoner, who is somewhere in the Cosmos for thousands of years, will help you to open a damn Gate you never knew how to open.”
Coallar stood up and took a few steps through the room, with his hands at his back, as he used to walk. „And why should we do this for setting Eris free and not to do this for us?”
Tenebre looked at him with interest. „What are you planning this time?”
„Mannar! I think that we should set free our boy first and not a mother you had invented thousands of years ago and in front of whom you are so blindly worshiping, but who never did anything for you.”
„Coallar! You are crossing the limits!” Tenebre yelled at him and furiously threw a black cloud that was sparkling fire around toward him.
But the king dispersed it before being touched by its power and he did it without doing anything in particular.
„Oho. That is power!” Mayar whispered. „He didn’t even blink, but that cloud vanished in a blink of an eye. How the hell did he do this? I must find out his secret!”
Coallar slowly stepped toward Tenebre, who was spitting fire through her eyes, and he suddenly grabbed her by the neck, hissing through his teeth: „think before foolishly acting, Tenebre. Only due to your damn impulsive character we lost in front of them all these years. And the most important person we lost, because of you, was our son, Mannar, about whom we know nothing for about 13 years already while you are looking to set free the one who transformed our son into the monster he’s today.”
„Eris made him even more powerful than he was before,” Tenebre furiously mumbled. „Because of this, we must be grateful to her!”
Coallar grinned at her. „Eris put that malefic eye on his forehead only for having the power over the world, not to make him powerful. Mannar was powerful enough at that moment. Much more powerful than his brothers. But now, instead of having my throne and the power he deserves, he must hide like a rat, which runs off cats. Only because of this I won’t help Eris, ever.”
He let her go and she fell helpless on the ground while slowly shaking because of anger and hatred for everything that was surrounding her and then she touched the red mark she had on her neck.
„We must find those daggers, Tenebre. One of them will bring our son back to us and thus we’ll kneel Rophions and you know better than me where we can find it.”
„That girl of Rophions,” Tenebre eventually mumbled. „The one blessed with having part of the soul and of the destiny of the first master of Lifid Ibloma, the offshoot of Upprisinn, the one named Samaya.”
Her words amazed both Coallar and Mayar, who had no idea what the Black Queen was talking about, but whose words resounded so tempting for them.
Especially for Mayar. „So, we have some magical instruments here. Interesting, what exactly my copy can do more?!”
„And...where can I find that Samaya?” Coallar asked in half a voice while his eyes were spitting fire because of the hatred he felt in his chest for Rophions.
„I don’t know where she’s now, but you had her in front of you when you sent that wild boar to attack her and she later fought with Vanamar. But Coallar, none of us can fight against her because she has Chaos’s power and we can’t afford to lose our power.”
„There’s someone in this world who has that power to face the girl of Rophions,” Coallar said and a grin of pleasure could be seen on his lips. „The one who had been born from Mannar’s wish of power and in whose veins is flowing our blood. Ahi’s child!”
Tenebre suddenly stood up. „Does Ahi have a child?”
Coallar looked at her, amazed that she didn’t know about it and he shook his head in approval. „Of course, he has! I don’t know why, but he fell in love with an earthly woman and he left his seed in her womb, which was later born a child with huge power, and who can turn this world upside down if he manages to control his power, of course.”
„Another power? Who the hell is that idiot?” Mayar mumbled, unpleasantly surprised to hear that there was someone else in this world she didn’t know about.
But what amazed her the most was the fact that she read Ahi’s future and past, so many times before, but she never saw that he has a child, especially one with such a big power that could allow her or him to control the world. Yet… she heard something that could help her find out about the future: the name of the one who transformed Ahi’s child into what she’s today. Thus, she must find this Mannar first and also find out his secret.
That's why Mayar didn’t wait for the end of the conversation and she sneaked toward the exit, thinking that she hadn’t been noticed there by the two.
But she was wrong. Coallar watched her leaving and smiled while he whispered to Tenebre: „the one who’ll grab that dagger and will take the diamond of fear off Mannar’s forehead is already on her way to him. We don’t have to do anything about this. We have only to wait because you were right, Tenebre when you said that we can’t control Fate, as we can’t control Parca. Yet, there’s someone in this world who has this power and the world will shake in front of us soon.”
Tenebre looked in the same direction as Coallar, but she saw nobody and she also hadn’t the power to read her husband’s thoughts and find out what he was planning.
Yet, she had decided to listen to Coallar because Mannar was her child too and she was loving him as much as she loved Ahi. That’s why, Tenebre was ready to take a risk and fight by Mannar and Coallar’s side, even if it meant betraying her mother.