Myrius Sentos could not believe what he had just said, and, as soon as he did, he ran out of breath. He didn't know if it was because of the shock, the effort of trying to convey authority or because of the smoke that covered everything like a dense fog.

He covered his mouth, and began to cough.

“Well said, Master Leader!” Korinna shouted, raising her fist as the group took the traitors into custody.

Myrius looked around at the devastating sight. The last time he had been to the lake was when he was just an Acolyte, and his memories were very different. There seemed to be nothing left of the colorful huts with their small open courtyards that had now been reduced to a plain blanket of ash.

When he looked down at the lake there seemed to be something strange about it, and he suddenly realized that the promontory had disappeared. How was that possible?

He noticed the scattered pieces of the magicar floating in the water like the remains of a shipwreck. He still could not believe everything that had happened in the last few hours.

Once Leander had confessed to them that, in fact, a chimera had been captured in the castle of Shadowrock, adding to that the escape of the Count's daughter, and the attack of the Elementals, all the pieces fell into place perfectly.

The first thing they had to do was to find out where Eldrin might have gone. They assumed that he must have followed the tracks of the Count's daughter, but there had been no news of the girl for weeks. They then went down to the dungeon to question the detained wizards, who, of course, would not cooperate, and remained silent in a stoic attitude.

Fidelia, quite impatient, did not take long to open the collar of her robe, and show the scars of her cross seal. Many of them turned their heads, unable to hide their disgust. This was the worst punishment for a wizard. Death was preferable to suffering such disgrace.

“This, ladies and gentlemen, is what happens when you go against the Council. I can assure you that you will never forget the pain. The process is not quick at all. The executioners take their time to finish and make each cut be felt. Even today, after so many years, I still feel it every time I look at this. At first, once recovered, you will not accept it, and even forget that you can no longer do magic, and every time you try, the seal will activate, and if you hadn't wished to die already, you will want it then. You will be immobilized for a long time while you feel a thousand knives digging into your skin as if someone was trying to remove your insides. And believe me when I tell you that it will happen to you many times, until you resign yourself to live like a normal human being. But, if you cooperate, we'll say that you were just deceived by Eldrin, and that all this was nothing more than a misunderstanding.

After that speech, and despite some protests that were silenced, one of the younger wizards spoke up. Eldrin was heading to the lake.

Leander was not convinced. It made no sense to him.

“His Excellency should also be arriving at the lake by now. He never have missed the celebration. It would be illogical for Olivia to go there and risk running into him.”

However, the same wizard who had confessed added that Eldrin had received a message asking him to go to the lake as soon as possible.

“A message from whom?” Fidelia asked. “Who else could be involved in this?”

The wizard could not answer that. Eldrin had not told them everything.

Despite the doubts, staying in the castle didn't solve anything, so they had to move. Myrius hoped they could at least meet the Count, and question him about the chimera.

Fidelia shook her head as they went back up the stairs.

“Master Myrius, our priority is Eldrin.”

“But we are...!”

“I know, but that's not the real goal.”

Myrius stood his ground.

“You, Fidelia, have your own mission, I respect that. But even if you and Rovenna Astra don't like it, I was given a very different one, and I will go all the way.”

She smiled at him.

“I can't deny that I really enjoy thinking about Rovenna's face when she finds out.”

“Will the Council really be so benevolent when you tell them that...?” Korinna started asking, already far away from the dungeon.

Fidelia's smile took on a sadistic shade.

“No, they are already doomed before they even set foot on the court floor.”

They had to move fast, but Eldrin had already taken all the horses available in the castle. All that was left were carriages and carts.

“Can you create new plates to be embedded in a carriage?” Fidelia asked Korinna.

The other sighed.

“I can. But we'll have the same problem. A common metal will not withstand the pressure of the seal, and we will be forced to make several stops along the way. I can't be sure we'll make it in time.”

Leander didn't understand anything, and after Korinna explained his bumpy ride with the magicar his eyes lit up.

“I have exactly what you need!”

The wizards of Shadowrock liked to experiment to the extreme of almost blowing up the entire castle, but something good had come out of it. He and the Count had kept secret for years a project to create a metal that would resist magical power and create new weapons and armors that was in its final stages.

The three wizards of the Task Force did not understand why the Count would want to develop new types of weapons in a time of peace, but they failed to delve into the matter in view of Leander's enthusiastic explanations, added to Korinna's amazement when he showed her the famous metal, called "arcantio", made with materials extracted from the mountain, and slowly modified with magic through a long process. The inventor kept caressing those shiny silver pieces as if she had just been handed a basket full of puppies.

Actually, it took longer to create the new plates and place them in the carriage than it did to travel the distance between Shadowrock and the lake. While Leander and Myrius adjusted the plates, Korinna hastily fabricated a sort of steering wheel to facilitate the movement. Since Fidelia couldn't perform magic, she would be in charge of driving, so the others would have their hands free in case it was necessary to defend against any kind of attack.

And it worked. What would have taken two days, they did it in almost three hours. It had not been easy due to the state of the roads, which did not lend themselves to vehicles of that type, and all along the way they were afraid that the wheels would turn to sawdust, and they would be hurled through the air like projectiles from a catapult.

Well, that had almost happened. The wheels held, if barely, and Leander's metal and Korinna's seals combined to create a vehicle as fast as had ever been seen in those lands.

Perhaps too fast.

This time Korinna had exaggerated with the power of the seal. Fidelia realized that once the seals were activated. It was impossible to stop it. Like a shooting star they crossed the roads, fields and hills, barely managing to see what was around them. In their haste they had made the mistake of not waiting for dawn. It had seemed to them that it would be enough to carry a couple of incandescent stones that they tied to the front of the carriage.

It was hell. For almost three hours they did not stop screaming and holding on tightly to anything they could, so as not to be blown away by the force of the wind that the same magicar produced when moving at such speed.

And so they finally tumbled down the hills and flaming huts that surrounded the lake, hoping that the magicar would hit something to die at once and put an end to that torture. However, as this was happening, Fidelia was able to realize the fight that was about to break out. She gave the steering wheel a sharp turn, and rammed into those who must be the traitorous wizards, or at least she had hoped so, otherwise she would have a lot of explaining to do.

As for the magicar, once in the water, it could not withstand the pressure, and fell apart into pieces.

It had all gone well in the end, Myrius thought, satisfied. However, the fear of being deceived again had not abandoned him. What if all that business of the chimera had been nothing more than a scheme of that Leander who only wanted to rescue his Lord? After all, Rovenna Astra had tricked him as easily as he were an innocent child.

“Alaric!” Leander walked past him, and advanced towards a tall, burly man coming towards them. He was dressed like just another villager, with his clothes damp and soiled with ash.

“Leander, my friend,” the man shook his hand, and patted him on the shoulder. “What happened to Shadowrock?”

“They are all safe, except that we have a few wizards imprisoned in the dungeon. I've left Harald in charge... I couldn't help but come. I needed to know what was going on here.”

“How many wizards?”

“Of the Masters... all of them. Several Acolytes,” Leander lowered his head, as if ashamed. “The Order, as we know it, has disappeared, except for me and a few Initiates, whose involvement we cannot yet rule out. And all this happens when I just...”

“This has been planned by Eldrin for I don't know how long. He fooled me too,” the Count raised his eyes above Leander's head. “Where is he?”

“Eldrin?” Leander looked towards Fidelia who, like Myrius, was observing the scene.

She shook her head upset.

“He is not here.”

The Count approached them.

“Fidelia Dabrus?” he asked confused.

“My Lord,” Fidelia lowered her head as a greeting.

“I thought you...”

“Long story, long story,” she said shaking her tired hand. “In short, it is Rovenna Astra's fault... So... Eldrin did all this? Why? What did he gain by attacking the Lake Tribe?”

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The Count didn't bother to answer, and began to give orders.

“We must find him now! Cormac!”

“My Lord!” the Captain ran up to him, and stopped abruptly. “Leander? And Fidelia?”

“Hello, Cormac...” she raised her hand timidly.

“No time! Split the men into two groups!” ordered the Count. “One to set up camp to care for the wounded and the homeless, and the other to search for Eldrin. He must not have gone far in that state. Leander, take charge of clearing this smoke away.”

The shore stirred again as everyone carried out their own tasks. The soldiers dispersed as the Count had ordered. Leander asked Korinna for help in creating air waves to push the smoke away. Fidelia began to interrogate the wizards, and it didn't take long for her cross seal to show. She even seemed to enjoy watching their horrified faces.

Myrius managed to catch a glimpse of a pair of sirenians who were tending to a girl lying on the sand.

“Master Leader,” the Count stepped up to Myrius.

“Yes?”

Myrius gulped at his commanding presence. He had heard rumors every time the man visited the Council. The wizards didn't like the arrogant way he treated them at all, but he was the Guardian of the Circle, and they owed him respect. Now he was looking at him so closely, his blue eyes seemed as cold as ice.

“Did I hear correctly?” asked the nobleman.

“Milord?”

“Chimera Protection Task Force?”

“Ah... that... well, yes, that's my team,” Myrius couldn't help but sound a bit proud.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, behind the Count, Myrius felt a strange presence. He looked toward the water. At some distance he seemed to notice a tremor, something dark that moved and then backed away. He stepped carefully forward, and plunged a hand from which golden lines began to emerge and slithered like snakes through the water until they got lost from sight.

It couldn't be, it couldn't be. Calm down, calm down, Myrius Sentos. His heart was about to stop, and he was about to die right there.

The wizard looked at the Count straight in the eyes. The latter watched him with a raised eyebrow.

“Count... tell me the truth.”

“What do you want to know?”

Myrius wanted to ask a question, but instead he made his own answer.

“It's true, there was a chimera in the castle.”

The Count let out an exhalation.

“There is no point in denying it. Somehow, the Council has found out, and now you are here. Anyway, he's gone, you're too late to go after him.”

Myrius closed his eyes, savoring the triumph.

“No, no, he's not gone.”

“What are you saying?”

“He's still there, frozen,” Myrius gritted his teeth and clenched his fists to calm the trembling of his body. “I don't... I don't know why... but it looks like he's waiting for something.”

The Count looked down at the water.

“Chimera protection then?”

“Yes.”

“What's that about?”

“Well... that's... under discussion, actually.”

“Explain.”

Myrius had a feeling that only by coming clean with that man would he have any chance of seeing the chimera with his own eyes, and that was what he wanted most in the world. So much did he want it, that he felt no fear at the thought of betraying Rovenna Astra and risking ending up with a cross seal just like Fidelia.

But magic or no magic, Fidelia Dabrus was an exceptional person. They had come so far because of her, so it didn't seem wrong for Myrius to follow in her footsteps.

Besides, Rovenna thought that chimeras were extinct, so for him that didn't count.

As best he could, he explained to the Count about Rovenna's plan, skipping the part where she had deceived him, as if he had known all along that the Task Force was a sham.

The eager Count turned around.

“Come with me. If you try anything weird, I won't hesitate to run you through with my sword.”

Myrius panicked, forgetting for a moment that he was a wizard, and therefore was capable of defending himself against such attacks, but the Count looked so angry for some reason that he seemed capable of doing anything.

Before they reached the group of sirenians, someone shouted from behind them.

“Shadow!”

Myrius's mouth dropped open at the sight of that beautiful sirenian who threw herself at the Count to hug and kiss him with a passion worthy of a theatrical scene.

Perhaps it was time for him to move. He could help rebuild the village.

It took a few seconds for the couple to separate. Myrius didn't know what to do, and kept his eyes down.

“Your father?” asked the Count.

“My mother is tending to him. He seems to be recovering.”

“Good. I need your family to head back to camp. You and Numi can stay.”

She narrowed her eyes.

“What are you going to do?”

“You'll know soon.”

The sirenian did as he asked, while the two of them stood waiting.

“Myrius Sentos, why have you told me all this?”

Myrius inhaled deeply before answering.

“My priority is to protect the chimeras. They are wonderful creatures. We wizards committed a terrible injustice against them.”

“Even if you have to bypass the Master Arcanist? The Conclave?”

“Yes, even the Conclave.”

“If they find out...”

“Then I'll be free, and find another trade. I always wanted to visit the mountains.”

The Count watched him attentively, and Myrius puffed out his chest, trying to appear confident in a way he was far from feeling.

“There are several things I would like Rovenna Astra not to know,” said the Count. I will reward you for it.

“There is no need to bribe me. I...”

“Think of it as an incentive. If you really want to protect chimeras...”

“Of course I do!”

“Then you'll have no problem complying with what I'm going to ask of you.”

On the shore remained now only two sirenians and the human girl resting her head on the legs of one of them.

“How is she?” asked the Count to the younger sirenian in such a gentle way that it took Myrius by surprise.

“Better, but tired,” she replied. “We have infused her with some energy, and she is slowly beginning to regain her strength.”

The Count knelt down, took the girl in his arms, but instead of heading towards where the camp should be, he continued in the opposite direction away from what was left of the village.

“We have to hurry. I don't want anyone else to see,” he told them.

“What are you going to do?” asked again the sirenian who, from her resemblance, Myrius thought must be the other's mother.

“Clean up this mess.”

They reached a rocky area. Gently, the man laid the girl on a huge stone with a smooth surface. Myrius had already recognized her as the famous Lady Olivia who had escaped with the chimera. He would have liked to ask her so many questions, and even congratulate her on her courage, but the presence of her father intimidated him.

“Yaritza, do you sense him too?” asked the nobleman to the sirenian.

She smiled and nodded.

“I sense him, too!” exclaimed the other.

The wizard approached the water. Golden lines shot out of his hand again and faded away under the water.

“He... he followed us,” Myrius' heart was about to explode.

“Silas!” shouted the Count.

“Silas?” Olivia said softly, as she raised her head from the ground.

Suddenly, a dark shape emerged from the water. The head appeared first, black and rounded, with white spots on both sides starting just where two small eyes were located that seemed to watch them with suspicion. It was followed by a tall, stout dorsal fin that emerged behind. The creature's body was massive, and its skin glowed reflecting the sunlight.

“Olivia! What happened? Someone destroyed the promontory!” exclaimed the animal, splashing water with its thick fins, and Myrius fell backwards as if someone had pushed it.

“Silas! What have you become?” the girl got up with the help of her father.

The creature shook its head in annoyance.

“Well, can't you see? I'm a whale!”

The girl narrowed her eyes.

“I've seen drawings of whales, none of them look like this.”

“Well, the sirenians told me I was a whale, and they surely know more about the sea than you and your stupid books!”

The young sirenian, who later Myrius learned her name was Numi, let out a laugh.

“We call them orcas, and they are actually a type of dolphin,” she explained. “They're also known as killer whales, but in reality they're usually friendly.”

“See? I'm a killer whale! You must fear me! And I am not friendly at all!” the chimera exclaimed proudly, ignoring a part of what Numi had said.

Olivia raised her eyebrows.

“Well, fine, this time you win.”

“Of course I win, I'm the terror of the seas!”

Numi laughed again.

“Not quite... There are far worse things lurking in the depths.”

“I'm huge! I've never been this huge before!”

Myrius crawled on the ground, too weak to stand on his legs. He bowed his head like a servant meeting his king for the first time. He felt so suffocated that when he spoke, his voice sounded as if a duck were trying to talk.

“Mister Chimera!”

“Who is this?” asked the chimera, stepping back a bit. “He dresses like a wizard.”

“My name is Myrius Sentos! I belong to the Chimera Protection Task Force!”

“The what?”

“As you heard! We are a group of wizards whose mission is to protect your kind!”

“And how many chimeras have you saved?” asked the orca with a tone that reflected genuine curiosity, as if expecting the wizard to tell him about all the other chimeras he had discovered.

“So far, we are trying to save only you.”

An awkward silence ensued.

“I don’t need to be saved,” said the chimera, turning its head offended. “I don’t understand why everyone insists on doing so.”

“I know I’m just a wizard! I cannot change what my ancestors have done. But as long as I live, I will do everything possible to ensure no harm comes to you or any other chimera.”

The creature did not respond, and Myrius understood his distrust. He wished the day would come when he could prove the sincerity of his words with his actions.

“Shouldn’t you have left already?” said Yaritza. “You should be crossing the gulf by now.”

The orca looked away.

“I was curious. I didn’t know what had happened. I wanted to help, but Thalassa didn’t let me. She said that if something happened with my new form, they wouldn’t help me a second time. Then, after that big explosion, I almost got buried under the rocks!”

“I’m fine, Silas,” Olivia approached the orca, and extended a hand to touch his head. “You can continue your journey without worry.”

“Who said I was worried?” replied the chimera, though he didn’t pull away when she touched him.

“Olivia,” this time it was the Count who spoke. “You can’t stay.”

The girl turned abruptly to him.

“What are you saying?” she asked, confused.

The Count embraced her for a long minute, and then planted a kiss on her forehead. Still lying on the ground, Myrius caught the glint of tears streaming down the Count’s beard.

“I’m so sorry,” he buried his face in Olivia’s shoulder. “You can’t stay now. You have to leave.”

“Leave?”

“What do you remember?”

The girl covered her face with both hands.

“I... I can’t... I...” she lowered her hands, and looked at her father, distressed. “How?”

The Count stroked her head.

“There are witnesses. They have seen what you can do. I don’t know how many, but I won’t take the risk. My heart is breaking once again, but you must follow your own path now. I realized I cannot keep waiting. While you head to the island, I will take care of any suspicion. For that, I can be useful. When it’s all over, I will come to find you.”

“To the island, you said?”

The Count looked at the chimera.

“Silas, we have a deal. Take my daughter with you.”

“I don’t take orders from humans.”

“Please!” The Count knelt on the ground. “I know she will be safe with you! I don’t want her to be alone!”

The orca let out a snort, splashing more water.

“Olivia, get on my back.”

The girl looked at him, surprised.

“You said I would never ride you.”

“Don’t be silly, and get on, or I’ll leave you behind. We’re already very late.”

“You were the one who decided to wait first!”

“Do you want to go to the island or not?”

“Really?” the question was directed at her father, who only nodded.

Olivia hugged the Count, and they stayed like that for a few more seconds.

“We can’t delay this any longer,” the Count signaled to the younger sirenia. “Numi, it would be better...”

“Understood,” Numi moved closer to Olivia.

First, she tore the bottom of her tunic, leaving her legs free of clothing.

“What are you doing?” Olivia exclaimed, outraged.

“It will be more comfortable this way. It would also be better without sleeves,” saying that, she tore off the sleeves, and then placed her hands on Olivia’s shoulders. “Now open your mouth.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Nothing weird, just open it.”

Olivia opened her mouth, and Numi breathed out. On both sides of the human's neck, two gills appeared.

Then Numi pushed her into the water, and the girl floated next to the orca.

“Numi,” said her mother. “It would be better if you go with them to the mouth of the lake, just in case.”

“I will!” Numi jumped in to the water. “Come on, Olivia, and while we get there, I’ll give you a quick swimming lesson! You cannot just rely on Silas’s will! We’ll also have a race, and see who is faster!”

“Take it easy, Numi!” her mother warned as the three of them moved away.

The sun was already rising over the hills, and the sky was turning bluer as the smoke dissolved.

Yaritza hugged the Count from behind, as they watched the dark silhouettes growing smaller until they merged with the gentle waves of the lake.

Myrius covered his face with both hands, and began to sob, thanking whoever had listened for that unexpected gift life had given him.