“Master Eldrin! Master!”

As so often before, Master Eldrin, Leader of the Order of Wizards of Shadowrock, was, in the after-dinner hour, enjoying a quiet read by candlelight in the library, with a cup of hot tea at his side, when a noisy Leander suddenly appeared, slamming the door with the same force of a gust of wind and, thus, ruining his peace of mind.

His agitated colleague stopped in front of him, trying to catch his breath.

“You won't believe this!” Leander exclaimed.

“By the grace of the Nemertyss, Master Leander!” exclaimed the old wizard, annoyed. “Remember your position! Behave according to the dignity of the Order you represent!”

Nodding, Leander ran his hands over his chest, as if smoothing his tunic and trying to regain his composure, but Eldrin could feel his body trembling with excitement.

He just hoped it wasn't another experiment, he thought. For some reason, wizards younger than him had a certain inclination to innovate in seal design, which had already led to a few accidents in the tower. He didn't understand why they continued to do it. They never succeeded. It was enough to follow what the books of their predecessors said. There was no need to create new types of seals when the ones that existed worked perfectly.

There was a long silence. Leander remained quiet, and looked at him expectantly.

“Then speak up, man!” Eldrin ordered him. “I want to continue my reading in peace.”

Leander bowed his head in apology.

“I'm sorry to disturb you in your hour of rest, but... I need to confirm something with you.”

Yes, Eldrin thought, it was what he had feared.

“What is it this time? A communication mirror? A pen that writes by itself? A damn flying broom?”

Leander closed the door, and approached him. When he spoke, he did so in a whisper:

“Master... I can't say for sure but... I think... I found... a chimera. A chimera, Master Eldrin. A chimera, I don't know how, it was discovered here, inside our castle.”

Eldrin looked him straight in the eye. Perhaps the effect of the potions had unhinged his mind.

“Master Leander... Why don't you go get some rest and...?”

“A chimera, Master, a chimera! You have to see it, a chimera!”

“You don't realize what you're saying! You've lost your mind!”

“Come with me, and see it with your own eyes!”

Leander turned around to go back the way he had come. Eldrin, against his will, followed him at a gentle pace. The other wizard, out of respect for his superior, slowed down.

Perhaps this was for the best, Eldrin thought. If his colleague had gone mad, that would be all the justification he needed to expel him from the Order. He had only agreed to let him join it because the Count had pressured him. And all because they had been friends since childhood. That was no way to run a castle.

At the slow pace they were going, it took them several minutes to reach the staircase leading to the experiment room located in the south tower. Leander was trying not to get too far ahead, but he could tell he wanted to run. It took them another while to climb the stairs.

Finally, they arrived at the tower, in which, as always, disorder reigned. The only thing that illuminated the room were some glowing stones that left half of the room in darkness, but Eldrin could see perfectly well that nothing there was in its proper place. The work tables had never been cleaned. Scrolls, stones, plants, potions, all mixed together without any criteria, thought Eldrin, who hated that place, and stayed as far away from it as possible. He always put as an excuse the state of his old legs, and there was no lack of disciples worried about the health of their leader...

Suddenly, he felt something... a presence coming from one end of the tower whose energy could not be perceived by the senses, but pulled him along like an invisible rope.

Leander had not told him anything when they entered, he did not give him any indication. Now he understood why. He didn't need to. In front of him, at the back of the room, in a cage sealed with shields, lay a small crouching mouse.

No, that was not a mouse. It looked like one, yes, at first glance, but it was not.

He had never felt that flow of energy before. It was something new, something different. In his younger years, he had spent his time traveling through every corner of Terrarkana to study the Ethereal Codes of all races. Humans, elves, sirenians, hybrids, even common animals. There was nothing alike in the energy emanating from this innocent rodent.

Eldrin stood in front of the cage. He raised both hands, and immediately a series of golden lines began to emerge from the creature's body, ascending the air as they intertwined with each other, forming shimmering patterns that curved and twisted, creating a spiral that extended from a central point outward.

Both wizards stared at the spiral whose lines continued to rotate.

“Can you read it?” Leander asked after a few minutes.

“No,” answered Eldrin coldly. “What about you?”

“I tried, but I couldn't recognize any symbol... but I could recognize this, look... there it is...”

With a gesture of his head, Leander pointed out to Eldrin the small symbol inserted in the middle of a series of patterns.

There was the anomaly. Serpentine lines, covered with thorns, intertwined with each other like a tangle of knots.

“The dragon seal,” Leander added.

“Yes, the same one.”

“His Excellency must be notified immediately,” said Leander, and again he rushed to the door.

“Give me a few seconds, Leander. I'll be with you in a moment. I want to see some more.”

“I'll wait for you downstairs,” Leander nodded.

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However, after seeing Leander go down the stairs, Eldrin lowered his hands, and the spiral slowly dissolved.

He again raised his hands in front of the cage to make visible the codes that formed the shields protecting it. He looked at the intricate design Leander had created. Pretty good, but not enough. He twirled his fingers a couple of times, and finished his task.

He then looked at the tiny eyes of the mouse.

“You are very good at keeping quiet. I'd keep it up if I were you," he said before leaving.”

He took several minutes again to go downstairs. When he found Leander, they continued on their way to the Count's chambers.

Leander again went ahead. The confidence he had with the Count made him forget that he had to watch his manners even in front of his Leader.

He stepped in the same way as he had entered the library earlier.

“¡Your Excellency! We have... incredible news!” he exclaimed.

When Eldrin walked in behind him, he found himself face to face with the grim-faced Lord Alaric of Shadowrock, who was watching them exhausted behind his large dark desk covered with parchments, most of them related to administrative matters, perhaps some pressing message from the king concerned about the constant delay of the marriage alliance and reports from the spies stationed in the capital, of which Eldrin was also aware, although this last the Count was unaware.

According to the servants, the Lord had been there all day since dawn. Beside him lay an empty tray. He had not dined with Olivia, that much was clear. It had been more than a year since the relationship between father and daughter had been going from bad to worse, which made Eldrin's future plans easier.

The Count raised his eyebrows, waiting for an explanation for the interruption. It was Leander who narrated the episodes of the last few hours, while Eldrin remained impassive, his hands clasped, waiting for him to finally finish.

At the end of the enthusiastic explanation, which caused Leander's blood to rush to his head, the Count stood up abruptly, almost knocking over the heavy chair.

“A chimera!” he exclaimed. “But it's been...”

“Almost a hundred years!” Leander completed the sentence.

“How can you be sure? Eldrin?””

“I am as amazed as you are, Your Excellency,” Eldrin replied calmly. “But I have seen the creature and I have no doubts either. We are the first of our generation to see a chimera, but the energy flow is the same as described in the Chronicles. Although the ultimate proof has been the dragon seal we have discovered trying to decipher the creature's Code, unsuccessfully, I might add.”

“Just like the legend!”

“Exactly!” Leander exclaimed again.

“A chimera in my castle...” the Count put both hands to his head trying to process the news. “The Nymph... and the Dragon... even the Eternals are on our side!”

“It is unbelievable but it is so...” continued Eldrin. “We don't know what could have driven it to our gates, but it must have been desperate. It was fortunate that Lady Olivia just...”

“Ah, Olivia... Has she been told anything?”

“No, my Lord,” Leander answered. “When I discovered the creature, I sent her back to her room without explanation, and went straight to Eldrin to corroborate my finding.”

“Well, well, our circumstances have taken an unexpected turn... Now the king will have no choice...”

“It certainly puts us in a very advantageous position to negotiate,” Eldrin added.

“Yes, but we must move carefully...Where are they keeping it?”

“In the south tower, my Lord," Eldrin replied. “It is the only safe place. It is barely a cub, but just in case, Leander has put several protective seals on it.”

“Perfect! I want to see it,” announced the Count, but, before leaving, he stopped while listening to the old wizard:

“If you will excuse me, Your Lordship, my legs can't take any more for tonight. Leander, however, will be happy to explain everything about the creature.”

“You have earned your rest. We will continue tomorrow.”

Leander and the Count then headed in the direction of the south tower, while, in the opposite direction, Eldrin advanced a few meters slowly and, after hearing how their voices got lost, hurried the pace along an endless path of corridors and stairs until he reached his pupil's room.

As so many other times, he found it locked. A flick of his fingers was all it took for the lock to turn, and he found himself face to face with the girl.

“Eldrin! What's going on? Leander...!”

The wizard placed a finger to his lips, and gently closed the door.

“I'm glad you made the wise decision not to go out on your own,” said he.

“I knew you would come and decided to wait.”

“I have taught you well then," said the wizard with a smile and went on to quickly tell her everything that had happened.

Olivia stared at him unblinkingly.

“I had a chimera in my arms?

Eldrin nodded.

"That's right, a male specimen, but young, with very little power. Otherwise you would not have survived his attack."

“And what's going to happen to him?”

“Your father plans to give him to the king.”

“But didn't you say...?”

“A weak chimera is better than a non-existent one.”

Eldrin watched the girl's spirits collapse.

“So because of me...” she began to say.

“You couldn't have known,” he comforted her.

“Well, yes... I felt something, but I...”

“What did you feel?”

Olivia went on to describe the vibration she felt as soon as she laid her fingers on the cat's fur, but it never occurred to her that it might be a magical creature, let alone an extinct one.

Eldrin nodded in satisfaction. The girl had not yet passed the first levels in reading the Ethereal Codes, but what she was describing to him showed her undoubted potential. What a great queen she would be someday... unless the chimera came into the king's hands and then...

Despite all he had been through, His Excellency was still the same stubborn boy who had given his old master and the previous Count so many headaches.But Olivia would be different.

“Such a noble creature... it's a pity,” the wizard lamented.

“What will happen if the king...?”

“Who knows... the wizards in the capital... their minds have been corrupted by power.... They may try to train it, or test it and...”

“And that doesn't matter to my father...”

“Your father values you highly. Everything he has done so far has been for you," Eldrin sighed and turned slowly towards the door. “We will think of something in the morning, my Lady, though I have seen your father very determined. I think he even plans to ride early tomorrow morning to the capital.”

“But... the Return of the Sirenians... my father would never...”

Eldrin interrupted her.

“A chimera, Olivia, a chimera for the first time in nearly a century. You have no idea how powerful your father can become if he moves his pieces cleverly.”

Olivia didn't know what to say.

“I'll bring you news tomorrow.”

With those words the wizard took his leave and turned the lock back on the door so that no one would be suspicious.

Now he had to act fast. If her pupil was determined enough, she would know how to get them out of that mess. It was a very risky move. That's why he could not lose time and had to get a message to the Mistress of the Whispering Forest as soon as possible.

He continued walking without getting agitated down the stairs, until he turned down a corridor that led him to the courtyard at the exact time of the changing of the guard. He nodded to the soldiers, who were not surprised to see the Leader of the Order crossing in front of them, until he reached the small temple dedicated to the nymph Nemertyss, where he would surely be praying or paying tribute.

But his intentions could not have been more opposite. After stepping inside, the wizard passed the altar, where the two-meter statue of the deity carved in marble stood, and placed his hand on the wall, stamping a golden seal that unlocked the door, which once uncovered gave way to a passageway leading to the outside.

Crossing the dense wall, the wind ruffled his robes, and he found himself in a dense layer of snow that reached his knees. He swung his arm, as if trying to cut the air with a knife, and in front of him opened a path several meters long that ended just where the forest began.

Once he got there, he rested his hand on the cold bark for a few seconds until he left another golden seal imprinted on it. This one glowed for a moment, and began to be absorbed by the tree. Then it took the form of a line that crawled along the trunk like a snake and when it reached the branches it shot out like a spark that bounced from tree to tree until it disappeared in the darkness of the thicket.

He then again took the same path in reverse, this time to his quarters. As soon as he crossed the door he would have liked to fall into his bed, but he still had to make sure how effective the conversation he had had with his pupil had been.

He pulled a chair up to the wall to sit on, and placed a hand on it. As he closed his eyes, a map of golden lines was drawn in his mind revealing to him all the corners of the castle.

The soldiers stood still at their posts, the other wizards had gone to rest. Some servants were carrying out the last tasks of the day. Leander and the Count were still in the south tower. It would be a while longer before they would be out of there.

Then he turned his attention to the bedroom of the young noblewoman, who at that very moment was making preparations for her escape, which caused a light laugh to burst from his lips.

The pieces were in place and ready to move.

It was going to be a long night.