„There were times when you would have done everything to stop the havoc, Dike. Now it’s only the desire left in your soul, that crippled and spineless soul that stays and waits in front of the Gates of Fate,” a woman’s voice has been heard, talking to Dike, who was somewhere in the middle of the void, surrounded by darkness.
„Who are you? Who talks to me?” Dike asked, frightened, looking around. But he saw nothing else, except the void and the darkness.
Hearing the voice talking to him again, Dike suddenly turned toward her and saw a streak of light, coming out of a fissure seen in the void, in a zig-zag line.
„Me? I’m the forgotten world and the Times that will come. That world, that you, humans and Titans, decided to kneel down without even asking yourselves if you have that right in front of me.”
„The future?” Dike asked in a whisper.
„And the past at the same time. But there are only a few of you that saw it and there are fewer that will see what it’s coming.”
„But… why? As far as I’m aware nobody has the right or the power to intervene in the fight of Fate or change its decisions.”
Dike’s words sketched a smile on the face of the Unseen, and that sound had been heard as a squirrel's squeaking or of any other small creature.
„Fate? Did someone ever see it?”
„What?” Dike asked even more surprised.
„I meant if anybody ever saw Fate.”
„No, but… there is a Titanide of Fate… Parca, the one who decides over the souls and there’s also Moirae, those who weave the path of the soul on earth. Also, there’s Aeon, the star inside of which everything is born and where everything returns after death.”
„This is what you, humans and Titans, decided that it is. But… how real is your theory? How fair are your ideals? Can someone bow in front of something that cannot be touched? Can the souls serve the one whose face they have never seen?”
„Parca. The one with many faces,” murmured Dike.
„That’s right. And to make you sure that this is true, I’ll show you that water talks and it says the truth, and not just sends the message to the one who can or know to listen to its words.”
Suddenly, the streak of light in the form of a zig-zag, seen on the wall of the void, crackled even more and a huge, black stone Gate opened in front of Dike, forcing him to close his eyes, feeling that that light was blinding him.
Then, when his eyes got used to that blinding light, Dike looked under the sleeve he used to cover his eyes first when he raised his hand not to be blinded by the light and he saw two huge, stone gates opened at 90 degrees in front of him, at an equal distance of each other, perpendicular to the other.
On the inner side of the gates, the one that has been on the other side of the threshold and which has always been illuminated, a thousand and one figurines could be seen engraved on it and each figurine had its own meaning: souls that were running out from harms'way, Cerberus, dragons and other fierce beasts that were chasing the sinners from behind, heading them toward a huge fire that was burning inside of a bottomless abyss, like the one seen by Anaya when she went to see Kkāṟṟu and both of them watched it and they saw the Gates of the Underworld, and many of those sinners, chased by the beasts, were falling into that gulf right after the top of their toes was touching its edges. Then, on the same Gate, the beauties of Aeon were engraved: on the upper part - the green and blooming fields, dance, and music, virgins singing at the pan flute, flute, or harp, small angels flying and holding the saint rays of the sun in their arms.
In the middle of the gates, the empty place of the twelve Balances, perfectly aligned, were also seen. But there was also something different there, for, on each of the Gates, there weren’t 6 Balances as it should have been, but there were 7 on the Right Gate and 6 on the left one.
„The Gates of the Purgatorium,” Dike finally managed to stutter. „And the twelve Balances of Fate. But… why the Balance of Life and Death are separated?”
„Good Question!” The voice said. „For it is the only Balance that split up into two when those Gates have been created and the only one who broke the Balance of the Cosmos and split the Universe into two: The World of the Alive Ones and the Underworld. That’s why Life continues without a body, floating somewhere through the Universe, and Maranam threatens to destroy the world if the Gates of his world will be open and she or he will enter the world of humans and Titans.”
„But… how can we impede those gates to be open?” Dike feverishly asked.
„Your main goal shouldn’t be to impede those gates to be opened, but to defeat the one who will cross over the threshold of those gates and subdue him, turning the Master of Death into the Master of Life.”
„But… how?”
„I’ll show you!” The voice confidently said and an invisible wave of energy dragged Dike inside of that world of light.
He came to his senses minutes later when the dizziness caused by that blinding light decreased its intensity, and normal light, a daily and earthly light, took its place. Only then did Dike see that he was floating in the air, facing the sky and with his hands carefully put on his chest.
And it was a perfect blue sky, with no clouds on it, and the clarity of the sky made Dike smile, for, seeing it, he felt that peace entered his soul again. Then, he struggled with his inner force, which was keeping him floating, and stood up, looking around: that world looked exactly the same as Earth looks like. But there was barren soil all around, with no forests, cities, or living creatures.
„The Desert of Oblivion!” Dike murmured and he heard the shivering of Yggdrasil’s leaves later.
And that sweet rustle of the Life Tree’s leaves made Dike watch to his right and he saw an acorn falling from the sky, and when the acorn hit the earth, it has been immediately swallowed by the ground and, right away, a green spring has been seen growing up from the ground.
At that moment, from the spring that grew up so fast, Yggdrasil took a form, and nature around came back to life. Then, Dike saw Kiago Forest again, in all its splendor, and, on his left, he saw Tenebre’s Forest, while the space between the two forests remained dried at first, to be later covered and so fast by a cloth of green grass.
Suddenly the sky cracked under the force of the thunderlights. Then, the rumble of the thunders had been heard at the horizon, approaching the place where Dike was with such force that he thought that mad horses were approaching him. Later, the sky vault has been covered by black clouds, bringing heavy rain with them while the wind started to madly blow around, lying the trees on the ground, but without breaking them.
However, even if the madness of nature was something to be afraid of, Dike stood as if charmed, in the same place, floating in the air, without recking of being soaked to the skin.
But what was charming the Titan was the quickness with which the water was falling from the sky, flowing on the earth’s surface, gathering in one big river that was quickly crossing the space between the two forests.
„Maranam River!” Dike suddenly whispered in a thundering voice and then he saw, floating on the surface of that river, three young girls… Samaya, Mayar, and… another girl that was looking exactly like them.
Yet, the third girl's hair was black, her skin was completely white, and she was wearing a black cloak that was revealing Dike the fact that this third one was on the evil’s side in fact.
„It can’t be!” Dike murmured again. „The third Samaya is a… Yātrikars?”
The River’s water, as an answer to his question, started to violently boil, and, soon after, Dike heard a strange man’s voice coming from the depth of the river:
„And you are again right, Master Dike! Fate… the one you chose to bow in front of her, betrayed you and played a prank on you, bringing, into this world, a single destiny, divided into three.”
„But… how is this possible? There are three different bodies on the water’s surface, just as each of them has her own path to walk onto in this life. How is this possible to share the same destiny?” Dike madly shouted.
„Maybe each of them has her own path to walk onto. However, each of those three paths leads toward the same final point: the Gates of Maranam! That’s why you saw the three of them floating above my waters, the same waters that serve me and only me, and which give me the supreme power to rule over this planet.”
„Maranam?” Dike asked in amazement, but his surprise wasn’t a pleasant one: he felt deceived, disappointed, and furious that someone like the Devil cheated on him to bring him to that place. „What a disappointment! Each of you wants the throne of the world, but none of you is strong enough to get it!”
„Do you think so?” Maranam’s voice has been heard again. „I won’t be that sure this time.”
„But I am, for it’s well known to me the fact that you haven’t been capable, till now, to seize up none of the Balances. Thus, none of you has the right to rule the world, for the one who hasn’t the power over the twelve Balances hasn’t also the right to be King and also the Master of the Universe!”
„Thirteen!” The voice hissed through her teeth, showing Maranam's dissatisfaction thus. „The Balance of Death is always apart from the one of Life. That makes it unique!”
„We’ll see about that!” Dike angrily murmured. „It’ll be a day when the two balances will be one again, and you’ll be chased forever in your dark world, lacking ideals and hopes.”
„Eh, Life is like always - idealistic!” Maranam said in mockery and, taking a water shape, he raised above the river.
But even if he had a body, he was still faceless, having only an erased image of what should have been a unique trace of his personality. „You have forgotten one thing, Titan! I live in this world much longer than you have, and I know its real story.”
„Life too, actually! I’m sure you’ve been a whole once, which split up, for reasons unknown to me!”
„Do you want to hear my story?”
„I better live without such a pleasure,” Dike murmured in mockery. „Better tell me when we see your real face. Thus, I’ll know how much time I have to prepare for your welcome party.”
„13.”
„13? Days? Weeks? Months? Years? Millennia?”
„Be patient, Titan Dike. Do you think that I’m that stupid to reveal to you the real-time of my coming into this world or the moment you’ll kneel in front of me, forever?”
„Well… to be honest, I doubt that you’ll have such pleasure. And this is a true fact.”
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„I hate the smart guys or at least I hate those who consider themselves smart and play this role without even suspecting that they are meant to die. And… you’ll be my first victim, Titan! Keep this in your mind! I’ll be the one whose face you’ll look for on the battlefield.”
„Really! And to whom do I owe this honor?”
„To number thirteen! You have it everywhere in your destiny: you’ve been born at the first hour of the afternoon which is 13, in the thirteenth millennium of the sky, and even the years spent in this world end in the same number.”
„10.013!” Dike murmured, barely audible.
„That’s right. Just as this number influences the life of your both children. Or… am I wrong? As well as I recall, thirteen years ago, the two Samaya met in the Glade of Shadows, and also, after thirteen years they met again and both of them have the daggers of Life and Death. And… you are so blind if you think that one dagger serves Life and the other one is in the power of Death. Those daggers serve one single Master: the one who’ll finally open the Gate of Aeon, releasing my soulmate and giving full rights to me to control everything that exists or ever existed in Cosmos and on Earth. Well… I don’t mention the Underworld, for it’s already mine.”
Saying this, Maranam, the one made from water, turned back to the layer, the image of the three Samaya vanished, and Dike awoke, frightened, and realized that he was in his tent and that everything he saw had been just a dream.
But… that dream has been so clear and… finally, the water of the Maranam River talked to him and sent that message he has waited for thirteen years.
***
„Wait for me at dusk, in the thirteen-hour of the time,” Dike told his people. After that, he climbed on his black-like-pitch horse and madly galloped back to Tenebre’s Forest, for he intended to see the water of the Maranam River once again, just to make sure that his dream has been confirmed.
„Ha!” Dike shouted, spurring his horse while the heavy rain was fully shedding over the surroundings, bathing everything in gloomy light, even if it had to be a beautiful sunny and warm day.
However… everything was so weird that day and so many unexpected things happened, and only Dike knew the answer to all the troubling questions that were spinning in the humans’head, for, that day, the horizon looked exactly like in his dream when he talked to Maranam: a purple sky, heavy rain falling from above, strong wind, for, from an unknown reason, Aḻivu - the Wind of Destruction, seemed to be on the evil’s side.
„Ha! Let’s go, Shinar! Ha!” Dike kept spurring the horse, not taking into account the too-wet soil that was making Shinar’s hooves slip, from time to time.
***
„It’s everything ready to go, grandpa!” Zeal told Island, who was standing in front of the window and watching, preoccupied, the heavy rain outside, that was threatening to destroy everything in its way and swallow the world.
His soldiers, led by Āṇmai, were staying aligned in front of the palace: there were probably 10 thousand, aligned in arrays of ten of kilometers, with the weapons at their girdles, holding the lances in their hands, with the top towering over the sky, wearing strong helmets on their heads, under which blond, long curls were falling on their shoulders and almost all of them had blue eyes.
Their gray coats, as if specially chosen for such gloomy weather, were protecting their body from that cold and heavy rain, by being tailored from the same Veppam material, which the People of the Realm of Ice used to tailor their vestment.
„Grandpa!” Zeal said in a whisper and touched Island’s arm, making him unwillingly wince, for her hands were totally cold and this was giving her lips a purple color. „Take me with you!” She murmured again, watching him with pleading eyes. „I don’t want to stay here and think that maybe you won’t ever turn back on these realms! If it’s written in the stars for us to die, then let’s die together, on that battlefield. I want to be there with all of you.”
Island held the girl’s hands into his and put them closer to his lips, blowing warm air over them. „Zeal, I know that you worry for us, but… someone must stay here and watch our house. I would have given anything to be the one to stay, but… someone must be there too. You know that I can’t stay.”
„But grandma Inlan Diar is here… and the rest of the soldiers. There’s no point to stay and torment me in the whirl of the thoughts which…”
Inlan Diar, who unnoticedly approached them, put a Veppam cloak on the girl’s shoulders, which had a warm fur under it, and she hugged Zeal, kindly whispering to her: „they’ll turn back, Zeal. They’ll turn back for sure. It’s written in their destiny to live a long life, even if we must face this fierce war together.”
„But, grandma! How do you know that? Nobody knows what will happen tomorrow, for Fate… Parca…?”
Inlan Diar turned her head and watched the small stream that was running off between those two swans and whose crystalline water was pure like a tear. „Parca is strong and controls people’s Fate, but not nature’s. Thus, the water will always tell us about the pain that will come or about the joy. And the same happens with that stream that keeps running off through the beak of those swans, Zeal, and, which will continue to spring even if it has no layer to take its power from. Also, if the water of that stream is pure when a war starts, it means that the people that have it next to them will succeed, and if its water is muddy, then harsh times will swoop upon us.”
„And… was it always like that, grandma?” Zeal asked in a strangled voice.
„Mmm, yes, it has always been like that,” Inlan Diar murmured, barely heard, while in front of her eyes, three moments have been seen again, moments that she saw in her faraway past: the first time she saw something in the water of the stream was that Sephir’s mother will disappear - at that moment, Inlan Diar was just returning from riding and, entering the palace, the color of the water she has been so afraid of, all the time, that muddy water, had been caught by her eyes. Then, years later, she saw Zeal’s mother's disappearance, and she saw that water in her dream, for Inlan Diar, as a supreme Queen of Ice, had the gift of vision not only by watching the water but also by seeing the image shown by the stream in her dreams. And the last time she saw something in the stream has been when Edda attacked Bestla - the Queen was descending the stairs of her throne intending to go outside and, for the first time, the water of the stream had colored red, telling her about someone’s approaching death.
A painful sigh came out of Zeal’s mouth and her eyes suddenly became pale as if they were the eyes of a cobra, looking for prey while her cloth became the body of an asp.
„Dike!” Zeal murmured. „Titan Dike is heading toward Maranam River. It’s time to take part with him, grandpa! It’s time! I’ll stay!” And Zeal lost her conscience in her grandmother's arms.
Island intended to take Zeal into his arms and leave her to sleep in her room.
His mother instead stopped him by touching his arm: „Zeal is right, son! If Dike heads toward Maranam River, instead of being with his people and with the Siars, heading to Rophion Forest, it means the signal has been already sent.”
„I know, mother, but…”
„Hit the road, Island. Immediately, for it seems that time is short till everything will be started. If it didn’t start already, with this heavy rain that threatens to sweep everything around,” and Inlan Diar watched preoccupied through the window, to the rain that instead to stop became more intense.
„Then, I’ll listen to your advice, mother and I’ll hit the road, and… I hope to see you again, safe, mother,” Island murmured. Then, he approached his mother, kissed her forehead and his granddaughter's, and left the palace.
He and his soldiers climbed on the horses'back shortly after he approached them, right in front of the palace, then they spurred the animals and madly galloped to the horizon while behind them Inlan Diar’s voice was heard: „go to Maranam River first and take Dike out of there. I don’t know why, but I have the feeling that there is everything just a trap, Island. If necessary, ask Lodur and Gaea’s help, for Dike recovers already his power and it’ll be extremely difficult, even for you and for your army, to stop him if he doesn’t listen to your advice to turn back.”
Behind the army that left, the garden of the palace seemed so deserted, so bleak, bathed by the sky’s tears while strong thunders were cracking the sky, making the earth shudder because of its roar.
***
Shinar, Dike’s black-like pitch horse, suddenly showed up between the trees of Kiago Forest, heading in a great gallop over the field that was separating the forest from the river, which seemed as if it was placed on a big cauldron under which a big pyre has been ignited, making the river’s water boil as if the water’s temperature reached already 100 degrees.
Yet, even if water generally boils at 100 degrees, the river’s water probably had, at that time, 1000 degrees, for right after a drop of that water touched the soil and the grass on the river shore, it was melt like ice.
„Dike, stop!” Island shouted, with all the strength he had in his chest while his big army appeared from his left, ending about 10 kilometers behind him, but still approaching him at full speed.
But Dike didn’t hear or listen to anybody at that moment, nor did he was seeing anything around as if a spell has been thrown over his eyes while the huge hatred was boiling in his soul like the water of the river at that time, for he felt that the attack against the world, planned by Maranam and by the rest of his followers, was something the world didn’t deserve.
However, no matter how hard didn’t Island and his soldiers tried to spur the horses, they didn’t manage to get closer to the Titan as faster as they wanted, and this made Island mad, who roared and, jumping up, took his dragon shape.
Then, the dragon overflew over the boiling water, waiting for the right moment to attack Dike and stop him. But when to jerk over him, a stick, thrown against Dike, hit the Titan, throwing him off the horse and forcing him to roll on the ground.
Stopping from rolling, Dike furiously looked to his right, at the one who dared to hit him, and he saw Alabar on the ground, at someone’s feet, and when Dike looked up, he saw Lodur smiling at him.
„You!” Dike furiously mumbled. After that, he jumped on his feet and headed toward Lodur, spitting fire through the nostrils, eyes, and ears. „For 13 years you didn’t show up at all. I summoned you also for 13 years, but you never answered any of my calls. 13 years when I needed you, but you preferred not to hear me. Why now, brother Lodur? Why did you show up only now?”
His brother's heated head left Lodur unmoved instead and, smiling, he said while raising Alabar from below, using his power and holding it later in his right hand: „for I had to wash somehow my sins for what I did thirteen years ago.”
The dragon finally descended on the ground, taking back his human shape, and Island headed toward the two Titans. „Sins? What sins?” He asked.
„For imprisoning Mannar, in Māṉsṭar Kēlaksi, here, on Earth,” Lodur calmly said. „We used Black Magic then, I and Gaea. It was our duty to ask for forgiveness in front of Time for what we've done.”
„Traitor!” Dike hissed through his teeth. „Nobody asked you to make that sacrifice then. Actually, you only told me that you’ll investigate the area and if something is dangerous there, you’ll tell me. You instead, and Gaea alike, did what you want only.”
„Are you angry right now?” Lodur kindly asked.
„Do you still ask this? How do you think I felt myself all these years, not knowing where you are, if you are ok, or if I see you again?”
„I know and I’m sorry, brother. But… we had no choice then… me and Gaea! How actually you have no choice now. We must leave these places immediately and join others, for not for nothing did Maranam mention that number 13. Soon, it’ll be everything started, if it didn’t start already, and Rophion Forest is still far away from us.”
„But we don’t know when this madness starts,” said Dike. „It can be days, weeks, months, or years. If to live in fear of our life, wondering when this starts, it’s better to ask for that answer from this water, now and here, if we are already here.”
„And… didn’t you think that it can be everything just a well-settled trap?” murmured Gaea, taking everybody by surprise while she was getting closer to them, from the forest. „13 is an extremely weird number, and… somehow, it can confuse one. Why did you think that it can be minutes, and not seconds or only instants, Dike? Do you think Maranam is that stupid to reveal to you the exact time of his madness?! It’s why he showed up in your dream and not in front of you, like a normal person: he gave you what you’ve begged from these waters all these thirteen years, hope… fake hope. This has been his answer. But we can’t be sure of its authenticity, for you also know well that nobody knows Maranam, as nobody knows what he can do.”
„Actually, there’s someone who met Maranam once. But she won’t ever talk about him… Genea,” Lodur murmured.
„And she’s right, Lodur, for both Genea and Eris have this war handy and they’ll do everything to join Maranam, just to see us all kneeled down.”
„What worries me is why exactly Rophion Forest? What’s there?”
„Nothing strange, as far as I know,” Dike thoughtfully said. „Or… wait! The Glade of Shadows, where Samaya and Mayar had their first fight, thirteen years ago. Namely, there did Samaya see Tarther’s shadow, for the first time.”
„And Baradar has been also sent there by Fate… to guard that forest,” Gaea murmured, also thoughtfully.
„It means that there are real secrets hidden in that Forest,” Lodur confidently murmured, squeezing Alabar in his hand, and everybody just nodded yes.
***
The army led by Dike and Island crossed, at a big speed, the field from the river to Kiago Forest, entering deep-deep into its depths.
Behind them, on as white as milk horses, Lodur and Gaea were riding, who decided to join them in the battle, for they used Black Magic, thirteen years ago, just to be able to enter that battle, and, for that right, they paid with thirteen long years of sufferance in the Desert of Oblivion. However, it was their time to discover everything, reveal the big secret Rophion Forest was hiding from people, and, once again, bring light into the humans’heart and into their homes.
But…
The world and its hidden side have their own plans for the future… and... behind the army, right next to the boiling water, that was spitting magma drops around, Ian Gyar appeared.
Yet… that boiling water wasn’t hurting him, for he had a foggy body and this also helped him to avoid a lot of pain, many dangers, and those two big dangers the world was so afraid of… the fire and the water… were something the king with watery eyes had never been afraid of.
And, when Gaea and Lodur also entered the forest, and the white of the skin of their horses stopped being seen among the trees’trunks, Ian Gyar devilishly grinned and also vanished.
Seconds later, after crossing time and space, he showed up, at the edge of that abyss that was separating Maranam’s world of Kkāṟṟu’s, and, still grinning with satisfaction, he confidently said, in a thundering voice: „Let’s open the Gates of Maranam! Let’s world fear and shudder because of death!” And… the Gates of the Underworld finally opened in front of him.