The sky, illuminated only by a few blind stars, suddenly started to cry, and its tears had been only healing drops at first, to later start to flow streams on the face of Time as if the Time itself had lamented its own pain.

  And it wasn’t insignificant the Time’s pain, for it experienced a lot in its long existence. More, in the period of the Eternal Night when it was blind, deaf, and will-less, for the power of the night, the same night that ruled over the Cosmos for millennia, possessed by Maranam himself, managed to lap up a lot of creative energy from the heart of Time to use it later for its own nasty purposes: to subdue Life.

  Suddenly, the sky has been pierced by a huge fire thunder that illuminated the horizon above the Lands of Iṭaiyil, also known as the Lands between the Two Worlds, for it was really so: Iṭaiyil was separating the World of the Alive Ones or our Old Daddy Earth of the Underworld, that was possessed and totally controlled by Maranam. And that thunder, which seemed only astray on those lands, had its own purpose - to bring some light into a world of shadows, for nature was feeling as the sky was feeling and as the entire Universe felt it too - that on the Lands of Iṭaiyil a real fight for power will be started.

  Then, when the sky had been split up into two, illuminating the horizon and earth for the second time, it brought, into the light, the silhouette of a soul that also seemed astray on those lands.

  However, everything was just a simple semblance, for even if that soul was standing on a huge rock next to the abyss of Muraṇpāṭu or how it was called by the connoisseurs of the Black Magic - the Lands of Discordia, that lonely soul, seen from behind and that was wearing clothes of the color of the boiling pitch, willingly came there.

  And he was standing on that big rock, situated only two steps from the border of the abyss, with his back to it while the skirts of his long robe were intensely moving around his body and ankles, for the catchy winds, that came from Kkāṟṟu’s realms, even though they had crossed miles away to get to the Lands of Iṭaiyil and which lost part of their power till getting there, still managed to frighten the land with their breath that was reminding about the desert and about bringing sufferance all over the world.

  But the stranger that willingly came to the Realms of Death seemed not to care that much about the blowing of the wind or about the meaning of those places as he didn’t seem to care about what might happen to him being there. He only stood a little bit bent as if trying to warm his body with his arms wrapped around his torso while so intensely feeling the sharp cut of the winds’knife.

  Yet… that position was Ian Gyar’s usual manner of standing while being immersed in thoughts, for he was who willingly came there. But even so, even if he came there, by his own initiative, he was really overwhelmed by thoughts, and those thoughts had a single aim to reach: how to open the Gates of Maranam.

  His eyes, however, suddenly became even darker than Muraṇpāṭu itself, and his body, solid till then, became smoke slowly moved by its own energy to spin in the air.

  Then, Ian Gyar raised his hands up, looking at the sky as if asking for mercy while his lips whispered strange words which seemed to be a spell or a curse.

  And namely those words brought black, heavy clouds in the sky, that were rushing on the Celestial vault as if they were horses made from the pitch that were whipped from behind by Fate itself. And... also those clouds made be felt even harsher the blowing of the winds around, wiping everything in their way and filling the air with a huge and thick cloud of dust.

TAMIL:

  „Nittiya caktiyiṉ nuṇtuḷaikaḷākiya nīṅkaḷ, kīḻppaṭital, uyarnta kaṭṭuppāṭu maṟṟum iṭaiviṭāta iravukaḷiṉ āṟṟalai iṅku koṇṭu vāruṅkaḷ.”

EN:

  „Open, you - Gates of the Eternal Power and bring the energy of submission here, of the supreme control and of the Eternal night," Ian Gyar suddenly shouted and another thunderlight pierced everything around.

  And the thunderlight’s light revealed a few dozen of small trees that time, trees that grew up on those lands from nowhere, trees that could be seen everywhere on the Lands of Iṭaiyil. But those trees were completely leafless and seemed as if the soil had completely dried or died, and they showed up in the real world due to someone’s power, a dark soul whose malice was flowing throughout his body. Then, on the trees’branches, a lot of multicolored braids were tied, that kind of braids used by the shamans in their rituals. And, when all this had been well-seen, Iṭaiyil has been sunken into darkness again.

  Then a third thunderbolt cracked the sky with such a force that seemed that it was the end of the world: after this, a woman-shaman has been seen next to each of those trees, seen from behind.

  And those women were out of the ordinary: they had black, long hair, braided in a long tail that was beautifully grabbed into an impressing hairstyle above the head. Also, stuck in their hair in a cross-shape, they had two clips, with a sharp edge on the bottom part and a beautiful flower ornament on the upper one.

  Then were their garments: they wore long dresses in two pieces, whose long skirts had a dark-grey shade while the upper part of the dress, which could be considered a short jacket, up to the breasts only, was differently colored at each of them. But each jacket had long sleeves with a white braid at the wrists and a long, black braid over the heart, that was tightening the two parts of the jacket in a kind of perfect-symmetric one-petal loop.

  Those women yes were shamans or better to say there were seen only the souls of those shaman-women that had brought a lot of evil in the world once and, once dead, they had been saved from going to hell by the servants of evil, especially by Ian Gyar, for, since he has been born, he had the same dream almost all the nights: a huge army of such shaman-women and, once grown up, he decided that it was time to make his dream come true. That’s why he gathered those souls and trained them, for the purpose of opening the Gates of Maranam one day.

  And he made it, for, since he has started to gather those souls, he knew very well that he’ll use their power to open those Gates, and it didn’t cost him a lot of effort to save them from destruction.

  Actually, he didn’t even fight for having them: he only paid Gosmel for those souls, who even if didn’t need earthly money, wanted it. So, he considered that having that money was something „worthy” for him. That’s why it hadn’t been that difficult for Gosmel to close his eyes, from time to time, pretending that he didn’t see when or how some evil souls vanished from in front of Narakattiṉ Vācal or the Gates of Hell. And, to be honest, Gosmel neither asked himself ever what Ian Gyar needed those souls for… because... if he had known this… maybe he would have thought twice if to accept that pact or not.

  But a sudden wave of thunders started to be heard deep in the soul of the sky when, in each hand of those shamans, the Maracas appeared - the superior part of Maracas was ovoid as if it was an elongated egg, whose upper part was rounded yet while the bottom part was similar to a rolling pin's handle. And the instruments’color was dark brown, similar to the caramelized sugar, but having, on their wooden bodies, marks, and engraved figurines, of big importance in shamanism: deer’heads and bodies of Galliformes. Also, there could be seen foxes, zibelas, wolves, bears, and reindeer, for the shamans considered that these animals and their huge power helped them to reach the trance in fact and fulfill their mean during the rituals thus.

  And, when the shamans started to powerfully shake the Maracas, having their eyes closed, looking at the sky, their lips started to whisper spell words, known by millennia, but whose meaning was understood only by the shamans or by those who had black magic flowing in their veins.

  Namely, this movement of Maracas made the winds of Kkāṟṟu blow toward the trees, briskly moving those colored braids which started to also make some strange sounds, similar to the whispers.

  Then, a flute sound has been heard too: at first, it was weak, but still heard, to later increase in volume as if the one who was blowing it was using all his strength to do that, releasing all the air he deeply inhaled in his chest.

  Thus, the music of the flute, intertwined with the power of Maracas, gave the feeling of being in a magic world and having impressive power where everything can happen.

  And, who was actually blowing that flute was Ian Gyar, who took it out of his pocket and slowly moved his fingers on its bone flaps, so beautifully adorned, making that amazing sound be heard all over the Lands of Iṭaiyil or maybe further.

  Actually, Ian Gyar’s flute was similar and different from Gaea’s flute, at the same time, from Corkkattiṉ, which she used to untie the mouths of the sack of rains and bring life all over the earth in times of drought. But what others didn’t know, but Gaea was aware of, was that Corkkattiṉ had a twin, Narakam, or the flute that could open the Gates of Hell and which was possessed by Gosmel. However, Ian Gyar used his tricks again to get that flute from Gosmel, for he found out somehow that Narakam could be also used to open the Gates of Maranam.

  But before getting into Ian Gyar’s hands, Narakam was used by Gosmel only in exceptional cases when a number of souls, bigger than 13, got to the Gates of Hell at the same time. However, even if Narakam was used for opening the Gates of such a frightening world, the sound made by it was beautiful, even if traces of black magic were felt in its music. And the same music, made by Narakam, was meant to keep the balance everywhere, for, even in Hell, there’s a need for balance, not to allow the evil souls to buck against their master.

  So, the sound made by Narakam and the strange music made by Marakas had been accompanied later by the song of a cock, which has been heard from the spurred’s throat only three times, in the end.

  Then, the howl of a wolf was heard, also three times, to later many other different sounds be heard, made by animals as if those engraved animals seen on Maracas had gotten life and started to sing in their own voice.

  Yet, this made the power of the shamans increase and gather in one place, which was making the space around them powerfully vibrate as if hundreds or thousands of drums had been hit at the same time. Thus, not only the perfect space was prepared for opening those gates, as Ian Gyar dreamt once, but also the stopping of time was ensured, for the Gates of Maranam wouldn't have ever opened if the time had flown in its normal rhythm, something that wouldn’t have allowed Maranam enter the world of the alive ones, ever.

  And, when the rhythm of the invisible drums increased till it was unbearable to be heard by the ears of a simple human, the time stopped: the shamans remained with their hands raised up, tightly holding their Maracas and tambourines, the braids on the trees looked frozen while blown by the wind, and the dust around, raised in the air, formed a kind of weird and splendid curtain around that place as if an invisible and skillful master had carved, in the soul of Iṭaiyil, impressive figurines - the same figurines seen on the wooden bodies of Maracas.

  But time not only stopped at the Gates of Maranam - the whole world was frozen: the rivers stopped their flow, people seemed beautifully engraved statues while fulfilling their daily routine, and the birds of the sky also froze on the wings of the wind that followed their fly while Dike, Island and the army that was following them stopped in place, in the gallop of the horses, seemed to be the masterpiece of a famous carver that finally finished his work right in the middle of Tenebre’s Forest.

  And that total and impressing silence had been finally disturbed by a deafening creak: the huge stone Gates of the Kingdom of Maranam finally got off the ground. But even if those gates were difficultly opened, pushed by dozens or hundreds of Cyclops that were pulling thick ropes from both sides of the gates, they also managed to induce a panic feeling, namely because of that slow, but deafening sound heard around.

  And it was completely dark behind those gates as if a thick and black like pitch smoke had replaced the air in those realms. Then, the sound of a powerfully blown horn has been heard, and, if to look up to the left and to the right, on the walls of those gates, two crooked dwarves could be seen, climbed on those walls.

  Also, the two crooked dwarves had pug noses and bald heads, and only a kind of frayed cloth was covering the lower part of their bodies. The rest of their body was naked, and only their eyes, of an abyssal black, revealed their devilish nature to the world while blowing those horns with all their heart.

  Later, from that thick, black fog or smoke, for it wasn’t very clear at first what it was floating behind those Gates when they had been completely opened at 90 degrees of each other, a deafening sound of horse’s hooves had been heard, hardly hitting on hard soil.

  Soon after, the master of those hooves had been seen: Vakkurti or Maranam’s horse - a beautiful Lusitano with a black-like pitch mane beautifully arranged on the right side of his neck, whose skin was of the same shade as the mane was, illuminating the void with an own shade, forcing the blind light of Iṭaiyil seem even paler than before.

  Also, the horse’s snout was covered with a kind of mask made from Viskōs, a material of thin chains which had a dark shade of blue and which had elements like the sky, the earth, Life, and Death engraved on it.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  On Vakkurti’s forehead instead, woven from small, iron rings, the Balance of Power was seen in a miniature form, and this was only because it was the final purpose of Maranam - to have that Balance in his Power. Also, the reins of the horse were made from exclusive leather, with moments of different past battles engraved on them.

  But… nobody was seen riding that horse. At first only because… while passing through those Gates of Massive stone and stepping on the soil of the Lands of Iṭaiyil, Maranam’s body started to be outlined more and more.

  At first, only his helmet could be seen outlined, having engraved, on each part of the head, the two Balances whose supreme master Maranam was believed to be: on the left - the Balance of Power was engraved while on the right it was seen Iṟappu or the Balance of Death.

  Then, his head had been sketched, with dark long, and smooth hair, up to the shoulders, and only then did his body start to be sketched too.

  But… what was really impressive to him was that Maranam hadn’t a face: a sign that nobody ever saw him, not even Fate, which was responsible for giving an identity to each soul created by her. Thus, Maranam was the only Spirit on Earth, and in the Cosmos, who hadn't a face ever, or at least this was what others thought about him.

  Actually, the fact that Maranam remained faceless till that day was closely related to the existence of Life, for her, as Maranam, hasn't been ever seen by anybody and it was also unknown if Life had or did not have a face before.

  Yet, unlike Life, which was destined to exist like a floating voice throughout the Cosmos, Maranam got power, in time, and he got also the right to have a face if someone had given his face to Maranam, willingly.

  Thus, while approaching more and more the place where Ian Gyar was standing, Maranam’s body started to blink as if being only a projection that appeared and disappeared in seconds, and each time it was seen again, it was also clearly seen Maranam’s face. But… while getting closer to Ian Gyar, the trees, the shamans and everything else that had been before on those lands vanished, transformed in dust or black smoke, which was later blown by the wind and dispersed.

  And finally, when Ian Gyar and Maranam became one, when King Snake finally died taking the form of a current of smoke that entered Maranam’s body through his left hand, the most expected face of that body that was on the back of Vakkurti has been seen - it was the face that Dike saw cutting Samaya’s head in the vision Gaea showed him on the shore of the River of Sins, and which appeared in his dreams later, for so many times.

  Finally getting a face, Maranam roared and a deafening sound came out of his throat, telling the world about his freedom, a roar that stopped Vakkurti right in front of the rock on which Ian Gyar had stood before.

  Then, Maranam turned his horse to face the open gates and stared toward that place while his black eyes, the shade of the abyss, seemed to change their color with the rushing pass of the black clouds in the sky above him.

  Later, after a long time of staring at the Gates of his Kingdom, Maranam said in a thundering voice: „It’s time to show the world what we can do, Vakkurti. It’s time to turn back our forgotten glory and recover the throne that it’s ours by birthright and, for being invincible, nobody ever can stay in front of us or fight against us! That's why: Come on, my dears! Follow me, for I need you by my side in this battle for supremacy, in the war that is coming.”

  „But… you forgot one thing, great Maranam,” the voice of a woman has been heard, coming from behind those gates, as if she had stood hidden in the embracement of that black smoke.

  „Did I forget? What exactly, Kurūcim?” Maranam asked in amazement.

  „That Life won’t stay still and won’t give up that easily, that she’ll fight with teeth and claws for turning you back in this world of tenebres,” Kurūcim said and two black panthers had been seen, coming through those gates.

  Kurūcim and Koṭumai, the two trustful, black panthers that were following Maranam everywhere, serving him in everything and being his eternal guides, were approaching more and more the place he was staying on his horse, and their movement, lazy and elegant, was giving them a splendid graciousness.

  „Then, she will have to face me, if she wants the power and my defeat,” Maranam shouted, tightly holding the sword he took out of its scabbard. „I waited for this battle for too long already. I waited for so long the Life’s defeat. And now, when I’ve been finally released and I got a face, I don’t intend to leave my place to be taken by another one, on the throne that’s mine.”

  „Won’t you allow this not even to Eris?” Koṭumai asked when the two panthers were halfway and they stopped, without taking their eyes off Maranam.

  „Eris? Who’s Eris?” Maranam asked, unpleasantly grinning.

  „The one who fought for your release to take place. She’s Genea’s daughter, the one hidden in her Stone Palace, right in the center of Paradise,” added Koṭumai.

  „And the one who hides her face from Maranam for millennia already, for she has been about to be swallowed by Māṉsṭar Kēlaksi once and about to give her power to Maranam thus, to fulfill his plans. But… her cunningness saved her then when she imprisoned herself in her stone palace,” Kurūcim said, smiling.

  „Then… let her stay there, hidden, forever,” whispered Maranam. „If she dares to confront me then she’ll find her end eventually and, finally, I’ll get that power I wanted and that she denied to me, and this will make me really invincible,” Maranam practically shouted this time. Then, he pulled the reins, forcing the horse to turn to the right. After this, he spurred him, galloping to the west.

  The two black panthers didn’t follow him right away: they stood for minutes, in the same place, staring behind Maranam, who was going away in the mad gallop of the horse. But a single light gust of wind has been enough to disperse the panthers’bodies, to be later seen both running behind Vakkurti, to catch up with him.

***

  As if reviving, deep sighs had been heard coming out of Dike's, Island's, and the soldier’s chests when they breathed out the inhaled air they had taken before the Time stopped when they were galloping through Tenebre’s Forest.

  Suddenly, Dike and Island, who led the army, had been forced to stop when Gaea and Lodur, who were floating in the air at the height of the horses, suddenly showed up in front of them, and their wide-open eyes and their deep glance worried the two Titans.

  „Something happens, brother?” asked Dike while staring at Lodur, who, even if he was looking at his brother, seemed to look past him.

  „The sky,” whispered Lodur’s lips and a powerful thunder had been heard in the distance, making the soldiers wince and, all to one, they turned and look back, in the same direction Lodur and Gaea were looking.

  „Christ almighty,” some of Island’s soldiers whispered while the others were staring at the sky with their mouths wide open as if they have seen something really impressive.

  Dike and Island looked at each other first, wondering what those glances of the soldiers could mean. After this, they also turned their horses and looked in the same direction.

  „Oh, Lord,” murmured Island, looking terrified at the black like pitch sky seen at the horizon and which seemed to approach them in the mad gallop of the clouds. „What’s this?” The Titan of Ice suddenly murmured and, even if he had never felt the cold, he shivered from top to toe as if that cold of the ice pierced his bones.

  „The pity of these Lands,” Gaea suddenly answered him in a whisper, taking everybody by surprise, who turned toward her, staring at her as if seeing a ghost. The Titanide instead didn’t look at any of them, but past them, at the black sky that was threatening them with extermination when reaches the place where they were. „Finally, the Gates of Maranam are open! And the end of everybody is about to be reached,” she added.

  „The Gates of Maranam!” Dike hummed her words. „This means Mannar will be released from his dungeon soon.”

  „That’s right, brother, for not for nothing Maranam put that black diamond on Mannar's forehead: he created a trustful ally, and with the power of the diamond and of Maranam himself… he is in his right to think that he’s invincible.”

  „Huh!” has been heard behind them, how someone spurred his horse, and a deafening hooves'noise had been also heard coming over there.

  Looking over there, they saw Boor and Sephir approaching them in the mad gallop of their horses, masterfully advancing through the forest.

  „Look for a shelter!” Boor suddenly shouted, being only a few hundred meters from them. „Those are Aḻivu’s winds, and if one of you meets them, then he has no chance to survive,” the God added while he kept spurring his horse to approach them.

  „Aḻivu!” Gaea suddenly shouted. „He has always been a few steps only behind me, stepping on my tail. And not even now he can’t stay still! Of course… with Maranam released, he thinks that’s his turn to act up,” and she took the Corkkattiṉ flute out of her girdle, intending to blow it and open the sack of rains to drown Aḻivu’s mad dogs of winds in mad waters.

  But, before getting to blow it, Sephir passed by her, in the gallop of her horse, and took the flute from Gaea’s hand.

  „Sephir!” Gaea madly shouted. But, when to raise in the air and punish Sephir for her daring, she saw Island in front of her, after he had also moved through the air and, slowly squeezing the wrist of her left hand while staring into her eyes, the Titan of Ice told her:

  „Don't be reckless, Gaea! You know better than me that you don’t have the power to face Aḻivu. That’s why Sephir took the Flute of the Sky from your hand. If you open the mouth of the sky, you’ll only drown the land and not Aḻivu, and these lands suffered a lot already because of that mad wind.”

  „But… Island, what do you suggest? Not to punish him?”

  „For the moment, Mother Earth. For the moment. After we defeat Maranam… and or if we survive… we’ll ask everyone to pay for their betrayal.”

  Sephir turned Navarro toward the others and, at a slow step of the horse, she approached Gaea and Island, giving the Titanide her flute back. „No offense, Mother Earth. But… there was no other chance to stop you.”

  Angry, Gaea practically pulled the flute from Sephir’s hand, hissing through her teeth: „if you dare, one more time, to touch my Corkkattiṉ, I swear that I’ll forget about how much I care about you, Sephir.”

  „If you say so,” Sephir carelessly said. „Anyway, there’s no time to gossip right now or teach someone manners for touching someone’s toy. It’s time to turn tail, brothers of mine, for… death itself is blowing down our necks.”

  „But… where to hide?” Āṇmai asked, preoccupied. „As long as I know, nobody ever escaped the trap settled by Aḻivu, and… not even you, princess, or God Boor or Titan Island has enough power to face him.”

  „Then, let’s make him withdraw… willingly,” Sephir said, cunningly smiling as if she had a damn good plan to succeed.

  „To withdraw?” Lodur incredulously asked. „How?”

  „The Valley of Cry! Let’s drag them over there!” Sephir confidently said while staring at the Titans. „You know better than I do who’s hiding there and… not even Aḻivu’s dogs, or he, have the power to face those monsters.”

  Gaea shivered and shuddered, from top to toe while staring into Sephir’s eyes. „The same for us, Sephir. For… there can be our grave, too.”

  „Not if we stay together,” Dike confidently murmured. „Sephir is right. At least we have a chance to succeed, being in that Valley. Here instead, just to stay and wait for Aḻivu and his dogs… will be our perdition and you know this too, Gaea.”

  „Maybe you’re right, Dike, but… yet, I’m so afraid,” Gaea murmured, taking the soldiers by surprise, for they always thought that Mother Earth is invincible and that she wasn’t afraid of anything and of anybody.

  Suddenly, the sky started to lighten because of the thick thunderlights that were madly igniting the black-like pitch sky, a celestial vault covered by black clouds, chased from behind by smoke horses. Then, deafening thunderbolts followed the crackles of the sky, shaking the void and making every single blade of grass shiver.

  „Let’s go!” Island gave the command, turning his head toward his army, and Āṇmai, who wasn’t far from him, slowly nodded yes. After that, Āṇmai took a small horn from his girdle, which he later powerfully blew, giving everybody the signal to hit the road.

  Listening to the horn's blowing, the soldiers tightly held the reins and spurred the horses right after they saw Island and Dike leaving that place in the gallop of their horses.

  „You… don’t even think to separate from me,” Boor gave Sephir to read his thoughts when he passed by her.

  And Sephir, like an obedient daughter, followed him, for his words were law for her and, even if she was a strong personality, she also knew that without Boor, in the Valley of Cry, she had no chance to survive.

  Only when the last soldier passed by them, did Lodur look at Gaea, who was still staring at a blind spot on the ground and slowly shaking while thinking of turning back to the Valley of Cry, something that made her so frightened. Then, he slowly spurred his horse and approached Gaea’s.

  Stopping the horse only a few meters from hers, Lodur kindly told her: „let’s go, sister! I don’t think that that Valley can kneel all of us down. Not as long as the respect and the fact that we are keeping us close to each other.”

  Only then did Gaea look at him and kindly smiled: „I hope you’re right, Lodur, or… we’ll reach our end on the same path we chose for salvation.”

  Lodur said nothing: he once again kindly smiled and touched Gaea’s hand after approaching his horse more of hers.

  She instead hesitated for a few instants. Then, she put her palm over his and they held their hands like this for a few seconds. After that, they released them as if dooming a bet and spurred their horses, rushing to catch up with the others that were already far from them, madly galloping as if running of the same death, even if it was so, to the South, where the Valley of Cry was expanding on hundreds of kilometers.

  Behind them, the blades of grass slowly shook, feeling the barely felt breath of the mad wind that was approaching them, more and more. Then, the grass bent to the ground: first, in front, as if bowing in front of that wind, to later start to bend in all directions, as the wind was blowing.

  And the image of the wind, that put the blades of grass and the trees from Tenebre’s forest to the ground, heading toward the same place where Dike and his followers came from, was quickly moving in the distance.

  Later, once got on the field between the two forests, the sky, covered by heavy clouds, suddenly became darker than the void while the River Maranam started to increase the volume of its water as if he had gathered all the tears ever fallen from the sky.

  Then the image kept advancing so fast from that sudden dusk, appeared there from nowhere, till it got on the Realms of Ice, stopping in front of the Palace where the Queen was at that moment - at the door of the palace, accompanied by Zeal and a few of her servants that were following her everywhere.

  The same happened to the locals of her kingdom: they were also at the door of their house, looking in the distance at the sky of the eternal night that took over the day. And, among the locals, were mothers with their babies in their arms, young girls that forgot that they were sewing or knitting at the moment they saw the darkness approaching their home and exited with their work in their hands to look at that madness. Then, there were their fathers, brothers, their sisters, and friends, who looked so preoccupied at that moment while looking at the sky, taken over by the power of Maranam.

  But even if the view of the horizon was something to be scared about, the men squeezed the handles of the forks, for that havoc reached their houses at the moment they were covering the haystacks from the rain. Also, there were those who had shovels or pots in their hands, for that was the hour to feed or drink the animals and, while looking at their frightened children, that were hiding behind their mothers, those men snarled as the wolves, ready to protect their kids.

  „What’s going on, grandma?” Zeal asked in a whisper, approaching Inlan Diar more and practically sticking her body to her grandmother’s, like a frightened child.

  Inlan Diar, still looking at the sky covered by black paunchy clouds while the rain started to madly pour everywhere, murmured: „it’s started, Zeal! The war has started,” and the sky suddenly crackled, pierced by a thick thunderlight as if it was the answer of support at Inlan Diar’s sentence: that the war between the old and new times has started.