„At the beginning of the world, I was here... in the limitless space called Planet Earth... when there wasn't anything in heaven or on earth yet. And that was when I saw a lot of joy and pain reflected in the people's eyes, in the crystalline dew of the green grass that was seen on the fields, and also in those tears that fell from the sky to cool the earth.

  And it was at that moment that I decided to be both mother and daughter for this land; to be sister and partner for these surroundings, even if they never knew my real name.

  But... this never bothered me because knowing them ok, I felt fulfilled, even though I'm aware that harsh times approach all of us,” the voice of Life murmured barely heard and her voice rolled toward the horizon like a lump of energy all over the Field of Moirae, which stretched over the surroundings, from the entrance into Arkadia Grotto and far in the distance till reaching the root of the Mount of Fear or toward the top of it.

  And the sky suddenly cracked, stabbed by the sharp knife of Maranam’s soul, who was crossing, in the gallop of the horse, the surroundings of our Old Daddy Land, looking for Life to finish with her existence and install his supremacy - a knife made from red fire, heated to the maximum in those underground stoves, made in the underworld, where everybody thinks that’s the end, but where nobody ever turned back on our lands from.

  And, after that sudden cracking of the sky, on which patchy and black-like pitch clouds were wandering, carrying heavy rains in their bellies, colored thus by the anger of nature, a pink aura was seen slowly floating at the horizon like a strange silhouette, formed from points similar to the stars, a silhouette that was also continuously changing its form, and, because of this, it was very difficult to understand who was that person or what thing was approaching those places.

  „I’m neither living creature nor human or earthly body; I’m not a blade of grass or a gust of wind; and, even if others think that I'm the energy that gives continuity, I’m still only a kind of breathing, from which it all began, and that gives birth to anything… in the Cosmos and on Earth,” Life said, this time in a sure voice as if the beauty and the holiness of the Old Mount and the size of the earth piped her up to raise her glance to the sky and tell the world what she was thinking about.

  „Yet, you forget about Fate,” Parca’s voice was heard coming from deep underground and, as if taken by surprise or discovered by a kind of „Let’s hide" game, that interrupted line of shining points, that was known as Life, suddenly jerked in the air, raising a little bit upper, and its pink light suddenly became a feeding source of Life, similar to the Polar Lights, illuminating everything in the color of Love.

  „Who are you?” Life whispered, afraid because even if she dared to come to earth, leaving the shelter of the Cosmos for a short time, she still had no idea what she could find here, even if everything got life from her, but who nobody ever saw from closer. „Show up! Show up, you, earthly creature, and show your face to me!” Life added, taking a vertical position instead of the horizontal one, how she floated till that moment.

  And, as if feeling that her interlocutor will come from deep underground, Life turned her unseen face toward the entrance of the grotto and waited in silence while her pink energy suddenly turned to be multicolored.

  But when the strange form of Life „stole” her colors from nature or better to say she only „borrowed” them for a short time, from the depth of Arkadia Grotto, the child Parca has been seen coming out, the one who was often visiting her sisters in that childish shape of innocence, hoping to hide the Seeds of Evil thus, Seeds that were quickly sprouting in her being and, suddenly, she tried to find a way to get to the light that was hidden in the depths of the World.

  „A form of energy told another one, not knowing what else it could say while its heart jerks with fear, thinking that it’ll measure noses with Maranam himself eventually,” added Parca, and when her right hand took off the hood, the Virgin Parca has been seen in all her splendor in front of Life.

  A short time of silence took over the surroundings, time while nature took a period of respiro, admiring those two forms of energy: a life-giving one and the second one controlling it while deep inside them was seen a kind of Balance that was controlling them both - Light and Darkness, making them shine in a unique and Holly way, for „everybody is afraid of Fate, even if nobody ever saw how it really looks like or tried to bring her to her knees, eventually,” murmured Parca, to later kindly smile.

  Suddenly, Life’s eyes „blinked” in amazement because, seeing all that splendor, born deep inside her, was something she never thought was possible, even if there were a lot of miracles in the Cosmos that were also born from her, but which Life stopped admiring because she watched them for such a long time.

  „Beautiful!” Life murmured and a childish chortle has been heard by them floating around, a chortle that made Parca attentive, for even if she heard that she took form and power from Life, she never saw how that energy, called Life, looks like, just as she never heard her voice, not even in her dreams.

  Now instead, even if she felt that Life was floating somewhere close, she couldn’t see more than a simple and strange light floating around her, against an awful dark sky, controlled by the devilish power of Maranam.

  „You asked me to show up, but you are hiding eventually,” Parca reproachfully said, after minutes in a row of watching around, and seeing nothing more than that multicolored light, which she thought that talked to her before, but which made her feel weird as if splitting up at the same time, like a kind of Balance, that had two poises of different shape and mass on both of its pans.

  And this was so because that multicolored aura of energy was surrounding Parca from everywhere, bathing her in a holy light, for Life was so - always kind and protective. Yet, it took eventually that mask from Parca’s face, revealing her real nature.

  Parca's left part of her body was completely black: her hair, her eyes, her clothes, and even the nails that generally had a natural shade were long, sharp, and black at that moment - the perfect weapon to hurt someone. At the same time, her right part was completely white: her hair and her clothes, for her right eye was blue - like the color of the innocent infinity and of the bright future, for this was what Life always fought for, but always lost in the end... to defeat evil and bring happiness and innocence all around. Then it was her right hand, completely white, with the nails painted in a bright peach color, reminding others about the gardens full of flowers that bring the joy of birth into the living creatures’souls.

  „Now you definitely look weird,” Life told her and Parca finally understood that she could only hear that voice, but she couldn't see her body, for she wasn’t sure anymore if Life had a body once.

  Then, Parca found the horizon weird, for, somewhere far in the distance, she saw a small, round stain, of a golden shade, piercing that black-like pitch sky.

  „Yet, you’re probably wondering why I’m here,” Life told Parca in a cheerful voice.

  „And this is so, for as far as I could find out in my short life, you never left the Cosmos before. But you are now here, on earth. Why?”

  „To fill my soul with alive vibrations, with vibrations of splendor, before everything will be lost, not to lose their beauty and have the possibility to revive them later, even more beautiful than they were… when evil is finally imprisoned.”

  „Do you think so? I mean, do you still hope that the Good will triumph over the Evil once and that will be a Paradise everywhere eventually?” asked Parca, making a wry face.

  „I never thought this and I won’t ever think so, for I know very well that my dream is impossible. Yet, let’s not forget that everything that surrounds us is like a perfect circle, and there, where the light had been once, can be also dark later, and once again bathed in golden light after that.”

  „Peace following the war and again war after a time of peace,” murmured Parca confused, even if deep inside she knew such things.

  „That’s right: this is the Wheel of Life and of Destiny. Call it as you wish.”

  „I’ll call it better the Control of Fate,” and Parca’s eyes suddenly became shiny, each of them having its own shade, for, at that moment, the Titanide of Fate was like a double-edged sword, and, on each of the sword’s faces, two supernatural essences were reflected - Maranam, in the left one, bathed in the Light of Shadows, and Life on the right - bathed into a Devine Light.

  „Yet, Parca, you forget a single thing,” and Life’s voice suddenly became severe as if she was a mother scolding her naughty daughter. „That no matter how hard you won’t try to stay against yourself, you’ll be the one defeating yourself in the end.”

  Parca smiled: „there’s a solution for everything in this world.”

  „There’s none for the power!”

  „Why exactly there’s no solution for power if there’s one for everything else in this world?”

  „Because a power always changes another one and there’s no supreme power to rule forever: neither in the Cosmos nor in this world. It’s exactly like in your soul, there where’s Light and Darkness at the same time. Thus, no matter who’ll win this war eventually, you won’t lose it, Parca, for you are the Control of Fate and, as you’ll always win, you’ll always lose too.”

  Parca suddenly sighed when the sky turned completely dark, for that round point, through which the Divine Light passed, bathing the Earth in light and blessing it, suddenly closed as if someone covered it with a lid, and that pink light, which later became multicolored, has been absorbed inside of that small golden circle as if being absorbed by a huge vacuum cleaner and it turned back to the Cosmos later.

  Alone, Parca sighed again: „The one who’ll always lose is Fate,” she feverishly murmured while a stone statue appeared in front of her eyes, a statue that has been blown in pieces later, hit by someone with a huge hammer, and this made the Titanide of Fate shudder, from top to toe when she remembered every single evil thing she did to someone while living on earth.

***

MANY YEARS AGO. NATHANIEL'S MEMORIES

  „Wow, it's so much solitude and loneliness here,” murmured Nathaniel, the 9-year-old child, who, tired of that continuous cry of the little Yellen, but also trying to take advantage that the old ones left him alone, at least for a few moments, sneaked out of the camp and entered deeper and deeper in the forest, till he got to a sunny glade, full of fragrant flowers where he used to spend a time alone while lurking on the deers while they were heading toward the river to drink some water.

  Laying on that soft bedding of herbs and flowers, and also caressed by the soft touch of the grass that was up to the boy’s waist, Nathaniel put his hands under his head and, looking at that clear sky of a beautiful sunny day, that seemed painted above the trees, he closed his eyes and fell prey to dreaming.

  Thus, under that sweet kiss of the wind, that was barely blowing, Nathaniel fell asleep soon, also kissed by the rays of the sun, that were powerfully bathing the earth, warming it. But yet, those rays weren’t that hot, for the boy could bear them while lying on the ground and completely immersed in the beautify of nature and slowly rocked by the sweet melody of the streamlet that was heard not that far from that glade, only a few kilometers to the North, a streamlet that served as a water source for almost all the creatures that lived in Tenebre’s forest.

  Soon instead, Nathaniel felt a slight tickle on the top of his nose. But, even if this bothered him, he preferred not to open his eyes. He only moved a little bit from his nose, thinking that’s a blade of grass that dared to bother his sleep and if moving his face a little bit, that blade will move away from him and thus he’ll sleep further.

  But… was it as easy as Nathaniel thought?! Of course, not, for… no matter how hard he didn’t try to chase that blade of grass away, as he thought, the unwelcomed guest was still felt there.

  Thus, a little bit bothered by that „sauciness,” he suddenly opened his eyes, frowning, and ramped at that small ant that climbed on his nose, thinking that’s a kind of rare heal on which she’ll finally find that treasure she looked so much for.

  But… ups, getting on the top of that heal, she found only a small nose and with a lot of freckles on it, but nothing good to put on her back and carry on toward the ant hill, to guard it for eating in the winter.

  So, upset that she didn’t find anything there, more seeing two black eyes, similar to the glance of a bold mouse, staring at her, the ant became really angry and hit her right rear leg on the „ground.” Thus, she managed to sting the boy’s nose, who jerked on his butt, touching his nose with both hands.

  But when he opened his palms and looked at them, he saw that they were empty and that he failed in his attempt of catching that „damn ant” that dared to sting him.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  „I’ll catch you for sure,” murmured Nathaniel, furious, slowly rubbing his nose with his right palm while he was rubbing the left one from the trousers, for he heard that if you do this, not even if the king of the mosquitos stings you, it won’t bloat.

  Then, when his nose was totally red from so much rubbing, like his palms actually, the boy sneezed, feeling a strong scent entering his nostrils. Then he sneezed once again and one more time, for even if that scent was a pleasant one, it was tickling his nose so much, and this started to be felt unpleasantly.

  But suddenly, catching, with the top of his ear, a slight chortle and, looking around, he saw a small, purple flower, with a yellow middle, with small petals and rounded at the top, that was standing tea pot fashion on its strain, a few steps from him.

  Finally catching the boy’s glance focused on her, a glance that was something between upset and amazement to hear a flower chortling, Violeta, because this was the name of the flower, widely opened her eyes at first, also surprised that her chortle has been heard by someone, to later quickly blink from her eyelashes, coquetting, and said in a whisper: „oh, you’re so funny! Especially your nose, which looks like a real poppy flower in May! It’s more than perfect for the bees to sit on it!” And she chortled again, several times actually.

  Really upset, for he found that flower really annoying for bantering him, the boy crossed his arms on his chest and hissed through his teeth: „where did you know that? Did you see a lot of poppy flowers in your life? As far as I know, there are not many growing up around and, at your small brain, it’s less possible to live longer than a flower’s life.”

  „Should have this offended me?” Violeta asked in an innocent voice, at all upset or bothered by the boy’s commentary, often blinking from its eyelashes.

  „Should have or shouldn’t, I let you figure it out by yourself, for I think you’re more than capable to figure out if to become upset or not,” the boy said, miffed, suddenly turning his back on the flower.

  „And? May I know why are you upset now?” Violeta’s voice has been heard softer this time while she was kindly talking to him.

  Thus she managed to soften the boy’s heart too, who decided to lower a little the level of his upset in his heart and, after sticking his hands into his pockets, he slowly rotated on his heels, looking at the flower from the corner of his eyes, and mumbling a: „why? Don’t I have this right or what?”

  „Of course, you have it. But there’s not very good for a sweet and nice boy as you look to be, to be upset. More: I think that being friends with the flowers, with the birds, or with the little insects that live in this forest, you’ll become happier and more balanced, and this will bring the wisdom to you, that wisdom you seem to need in the future in your life, for you never know when you need a speechless friend to help you to avoid evil,” the flower cheerfully told him.

  But this made the boy very attentive, for he found it strange for a flower to talk to him like that, even if it seemed to be a charmed one. Thus, he strained his ears and decided to look out, for not for nothing the People of Siar passed through so many hard things during the time and they managed to still be sheltered - they taught their heirs to make the difference between innocence and cunningness and realize if someone approaches them having an evil thought or intending to be a friend. And… even if Violeta seemed to have talked to him with no mean intention, the boy found her „philosophy” weird, which was more proper for a Great Mago than for a simple flower, a Mago who saw and lived a lot in his life, knowing so much at the same time.

  That’s why Nathaniel decided to put her through proof. So, he first stood up and stretched his hands in front to chase the numbness from his bones away. After that, he took a few steps toward the flower and squatted two steps from her, curiously looking at her. „And… how did you say that you found out all this?”

  „What exactly?” Violeta innocently asked, as if she had no idea what the boy asked her about.

  „About speechless friends… and the future… and… what else was there?! Aaa… about the balance.”

  „Aaa, This is what you asked about. Simply… thoughts,” the flower drawled while slowly rotating her body on the strain, a fact noticed also by the boy, even if Violeta tried to do this „unnoticedly.”

  So, seeing this, Nathaniel crawled a step back, groping for something among the flowers and the herbs to defend himself if necessary. But there wasn’t any stick or stone to use as a weapon. That’s why, finding nothing around, he gave up on the idea of defending himself with something, thinking that maybe he only invented those things and that the flower wasn’t at all weird. And, to calm himself down, he lay on his stomach, staring at that purple flower, that was slowly rocking, surrounded by that soft gust of wind, and humming a melody.

  Soon instead, the melody deeply entered the boy’s soul and drowsed him, even if he awoke not that long ago.

  But… he suddenly woke up when his head slippered from off his palm and he moved a little bit in front, hitting his forehead with the fist unwillingly squeezed in sleep. And, after the hit, the boy murmured a barely heard: „aaa, it hurts.” But soon, that humming of the flower made him fall asleep again as if charmed by a spell.

  Yet, nature never sleeps, especially when the Magic of Evil is felt around. And this happened to Nathaniel too, who, a short time after he fell asleep, saw a big clock in his dream, and that clock had a black face, with golden needles, that also had a black and sharp tip, and whose numbers were golden as the needles were.

  And namely that golden color made the boy feel that charm so well in his soul. That’s why, he stretched his hand in front, trying to catch the 6 by the tail. But… instead of it, he grabbed the fluffy tail of a white bunny - a bunny that looked exactly like Ratatosk, which Fenrir met in the forest, being a child only when they were looking for Samaya.

  „Run! Save yourself!” The bunny from the dream yelled at Nathaniel, suddenly turning his head toward the boy and looking at him with frightened eyes.

  Namely that scream alerted the boy, who suddenly opened his eyes and saw in amazement how that purple flower was growing and growing, suddenly becoming so scary.

  That's why Nathaniel crawled back, looking to shelter behind the tall grass. But that grass was too soft and tender to protect the boy from danger. That’s why he eventually stumbled against a wisp of fresh grass and fell on all four. Then, raising his frightened glance, Nathaniel saw in amazement how Violeta suddenly vanished and, instead of her, Parca, the dark side of the Titanide of Fate, appeared - having black-like pitch eyes, that seemed burning embers, long, black hair, and long, sharp nails, while, on her face, a devilish grin was painted.

  „Others tried to hide the Fate from me,” Parca suddenly shouted, and everything around deafeningly echoed, making the boy even more frightened than before. „But you can’t hide Fate from its Master, for the one who controls the humans’destiny is me, and not a Balance or a Clock of Time, not even an element of Justice can make me bow in front of it or give up on my plan. So, boy, to tell you that I’m sorry that I caught you… it’ll be a lie, for only having you in my power, I can make everything around me bow in front of me. That’s why, I’ll start my hunt with you, and, with you, I’ll finish it, for I won’t let any element, that can influence Fate, out of my control, and you are one of those elements that can bring me to my knees.”

  At the moment Parca threw herself over Nathaniel, the boy closed his eyes and covered his face with his palms. But soon, he felt no hands holding him. So, thinking that it was just a bad dream, the boy opened his eyes and looked up.

  But everything was more than real: he simply had luck, for who Parca grabbed in her arms has been Ratatosk, the red squirrel, which was fighting with the Titanide of Fate at that moment, covering her eyes with its small paws, not allowing her to see anything around.

  „Run!” Nathaniel heard the same squeaky voice from his dream. But he didn’t stay to understand whose that squeaky voice was. He simply jerked up and ran along that glade, eastward and not westward, where the Siar’s camp was - he simply ran toward that big river with tormented water that was a few kilometers from that glade, known as the River of the Lost Memories or the River of Power.

  And why humans named that river so, the boy didn’t know or he simply couldn’t remember at that moment. The true thing was that the name of the river was perfectly describing the power of those tormented waters that were flowing down the riverbed at full speed, even if the river was crossing a slope and not an abrupt soil.

  Even so, even with all that noise around, Nathaniel ran all the road from the glade to the river, not looking back even for a second.

  Yet, he could hear Parca’s thundering voice, scolding Ratatosk: „stupid squirrel! You’re always between my legs, fulfilling the orders of that dement Yggdrasil. If you are so loyal, then go with him,” and, squeezing the animal’s fur, Parca snapped her fingers and formed a small Portal in front of her, through which she threw Ratatosk back to the Desert of Oblivion.

  As she threw the poor animal, Ratatosk turned upside down, tumbling on the grass a few times, till it got next to Yggdrasil’s trunk, without being hurt instead. Yet, the Holy Tree considered Parca’s deed as a naughty one and, as a response for what she did to Ratatosk, she heard Yggdrasil’s voice, scolding her: „you crossed the allowed limits, Parca. Nobody ever touched Ratatosk, not even Maranam did this while fighting with Life. You did this instead and you’ll pay for this, for…”

  „Yes, yes, if you say so…,” Parca said in mockery, a little bit „tired” of hearing all the time the „Dotty Tree’s” scolds.

  And „Dotty Tree” was a name given to Yggdrasil by Parca, the darker one because she could never understand or stand him. That's why, right after saying those words, she snapped her fingers again and closed the Portal.

  But… looking around, she didn’t see the boy, and this outraged her. „I’ll catch you eventually, naughty boy!” She screamed, and her deafening scream pierced the horizon and got at Nathaniel’s ear, who was already on the river shore, stopped next to it, and staring at that river which looked so calm at that moment.

  This made the boy murmur in amazement: „Oho, that’s already weird! I thought that the River of Power never stays in place. Now instead its water is completely calm and clear. Why so?!” But, being only a little boy, his attention has been caught by a stone with a weird form, seen on the shore, not that far from him, and which he right away approached.

  Soon after instead, a blinding light, seen halfway across the river, again caught the boy’s glance and he looked over there. Then, he covered his eyes with the palm, that horizontally touched his forehead, to better see what was there, on the water’s surface. And, unwillingly, the boy murmured: „what a beauty!” And his legs headed toward there by themselves, not stopping even when he felt the water getting to his waist.

  Suddenly, when the water got up to his armholes, Nathaniel has been suddenly swallowed by the water and he saw later what Samaya showed to the man Nathaniel, when Jar himself talked to the man, underwater.

  But… there was something else weird there, something Nathaniel couldn’t remember or he intentionally forgot - who brought him out of the water then, for he remembered only what his parents told him: that they found him already on the shore, unconscious, but still breathing, and that his respiratory channels had no water in them as if someone saved him from the depths of the river to later bring him back to life.

***

PRESENT TIME

  „Dike!” Nathaniel shouted, barely heard, awakening from his dream. Then, he looked around, frightened, not understanding where he was. But he understood very soon that everything was just a dream and that that dream was what really happened when he saw the Clepsydra for the first time.

  And… breathing in and out several times, he managed to calm down eventually. Then, he looked around and saw Mago and Fenrir next to a big tree, that fell to the ground, perpendicular to the road, making difficult the path for the curious ones if they tried to enter their camp, and Nathaniel understood thus that the two men were on guard that night and that they chose namely that tree as their post because it had a very thick trunk and they could hide behind it if necessary.

  The others instead were already asleep, and he could see eventually Bestla, Samaya, and Yellen laying on the ground, on their cloaks, not that far from him.

  „It’s good that it was just a dream,” murmured Nathaniel, sighing, as if he was afraid to breathe out all the air that he had in his chest while covering his face with his palms.

  „A bad dream?” He heard Fenrir’s voice to his left and this made him suddenly wince, for he didn't feel the young wolf approaching him, more when he sat down next to him. Yet, he took the bottle of water from Fenrir’s hand and thirstily drank from it. „And you didn’t answer my question,” Fenrir whispered again, for he was really stubborn, and if he wanted to find out something he never gave up till finding that thing out.

  „It can be also called so,” Nathaniel eventually murmured when he came back to his senses.

  „And… may I know what did you dream?! I mean, if you want to tell me this,” and the remark of the wolf sketched a smile on Nathaniel’s face, for Fenrir reminded him about his childhood, for he had also been a stubborn and curious kid, that poke his nose even in the snake’s hole to discover the world. But… after what happened to the river, he completely changed, became calculated and extremely wise, as if becoming mature overnight.

  „I dreamt master Dike!”

  „My father? Why?” asked Fenrir, even more amazed than before.

  „Do you remember the day when Samaya showed my past? To the river?”

  „Aga, when Jar told you about the Clepsydra, using Samaya’s body.”

  „Right. Well, it seems that he told me not only why I have the elements of the Clock of Time in my blood, but he also brought forgotten memories back to my mind.”

  „Like?”

  „Who saved me that day because, when Samaya brought me to the water’s surface, after the talk with Jar, I felt a hand grabbing the collar of my coat and taking me out of the water. At first, it seemed to me that it was the hand of a girl, later that it was Samaya’s hand, but I realized today that it was a man who took me out of the water when I was only a little boy. And that man, who saved me that day, is Master Dike.”

  „My father? Actually, why am I so surprised?! He always mumbled something about saving Samaya’s soul mate. And… as you are the one who entered my sister’s heart, it seems to me that my father really saved you then.”

  „Did you know?” Nathaniel asked in amazement.

  „About you and Samaya?”

  „Aga!”

  „You forget that we are twins, Nathaniel. Even if I don’t know everything that happens in Samaya’s soul, yet, I feel when something is wrong with her, and when her soul sings in joy, my heart is dancing. That’s why, after you and Samaya turned to the camp that night, I realized that something changed in her. But I really saw what exactly changed at her only after I looked into your eyes. And… what I saw is that you two are a whole from that moment.”

  „And it seems that you miss Sephir a lot,” joked Mago, approaching them and sitting down to Nathaniel’s right.

  „Busy body!” The wolf snarled, showing his fangs a little bit, even if he was still a man. „Better than listening to others’secrets you would have guarded the road. What if others attack us eventually?!” Fenrir said, miffed.

  „Eh, wolf, maybe you are strong and I don’t know what else, but you forget that the human mind can be even more cunning when it’s for saving our skin, and mine is damn smart, for I don’t only intend not to face Fate again, but also not to see that Maranam’s snout ever.”

  Mago’s words amazed the two men a lot, who looked thunderstruck at each other. Mago instead only cunningly smiled, for he remembered that when he saw Fenrir approaching Nathaniel on tiptoe, he realized that a damn good story was about to be told, a story that he wanted to hear. That’s why he settled a trap from dried branches all over that fallen tree, next to which he and the wolf stood on guard, being 100% convinced that if someone approaches them, even on tiptoe as the wolf did, he’ll be immediately discovered, and thus, they’ll catch the attacker right away.