Olivia slipped into the darkness as light as a gust of wind. Her feet barely touched the ground before she propelled herself forward again. Her lungs were about to burst and her legs ached but there was no time for a stop because of the fear she might not be able to recover again. Despite this, she had never felt so alive, like a knight on a mission of extreme urgency.

But this was no childhood game. Her encounter with Leander had put her in a serious predicament because it prevented her from taking the only exit she knew, which was located in the temple of the nymph, and even with all the precautions it would be impossible for her to cross the parade ground full of guards. At any moment the entire castle would be alerted, the shields would be activated and all the openings would be blocked. Her only option was a little-traveled area, just where the latrines used by the wizards were located.

She suddenly stopped in front of the wall where she knew the door to the passageway was located. This time she decided to open the gate a little at a time, in case there was someone on the other side. Luckily, this was not the case. Much to her relief, there was no wizard sitting on the wooden seats set along the wall. She caught a faint scent of damp wood and dried herbs that were used to counteract the odors, indicating that it had been quite some time since anyone had passed by.

At the far end of the room was a narrow window, barely large enough to squeeze through, but before she could cross the distance that separated her from it, the sound of a door startled her and she heard footsteps approaching along the corridor that led to the latrines. She did not have time to open the door again. Besides, the glow emitted by the seal might alert the person. So she had no choice but to hide in the farthest latrine from the door, behind one of the low walls that separated the seats for more privacy. The wizard who entered was in a hurry as he sat down in the first place he found emitting a sigh of great relief.

The aspiring heroine could do nothing but wait. In the south tower she had been lucky to have caught Leander off guard. In reality, she was in no condition to face any Master, and even the younger wizards were more advanced apprentices than she was, so she remained in the darkness stiff and huddled against the wall, knees drawn up tight to her chest, listening to all the man's complaints and other kinds of sounds that she hoped she could forget someday. She couldn't cover her ears because she needed to be alert to his every move.

Suddenly, a disgusting smell assaulted her nostrils, almost making her gag, and she had to cover her mouth with both hands.

Finally, the wizard left the room shuffling his feet and without noticing anything. It must have been some Acolyte or Initiate, who, like her, did not yet possess the ability to perceive the energy of magical beings.

Like a flash of lightning she went to the window. It was not easy to fit through it. First she passed the saddlebag so as not to squeeze it and then needed to contort her body several times until she was with her feet dangling in the void and in a position to jump.

About ten meters separated her from the ground which was covered by a dense layer of snow that would surely, or so she hoped, soften her fall.

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Meanwhile the mouse had poked its head out of the saddlebag.

“You're crazy!”, a little voice shrieked.

Well, he had taken his time...

“Unless you can turn into an eagle, I have to jump," she replied.

“If I could turn into an eagle, I wouldn't be here with you now!”

“Well then, take a deep breath”, the command was as much for him as it was for her.

Olivia held her breath. A prayer crossed her mind asking for help from the Nymph, the Blue Dragon or whatever deity who could be watching and felt enough pity for her.

Without further thought, she took the leap. Holding the saddlebag firmly, her hands opened as if flying. For a moment she felt as if she were floating, watching the distant stars twinkling above the majestic peaks of the Roaring Mountains.

That didn't last long because then her body plunged into the void, and seconds later she was buried in the snow.

The fall was hard but the mound was not so high as to bury her. She managed to let go of the saddlebag so as not to suffocate the chimera, who was apparently fine although shivering with cold or perhaps fear, while she tried to crawl through the snow and free her legs.

“Is this where... ?”, the mouse began to say, pointing with its muzzle towards the holes in the wall where the servants threw the waste.

“You better not ask.”

It took her longer than she expected to get up. She had to resort to placing her hands on the snow as if trying to reveal a seal. The heat emanating from her palms was enough to melt the snow, but she was tired and the flakes that had slipped through her clothes were beginning to numb her body.

She picked up the saddlebag and started walking in the direction of the forest with her feet sinking into the snow. It felt like it was going to take her forever to reach her destination.

She was now just behind the castle. There must have been guards posted on the wall, but the darkness was her ally. The problem would be when the soldiers came out of the castle to patrol in search of the alleged intruder, which could happen at any moment.

With stiff limbs and the icy wind whipping her body, she crawled for a long time through the snow until reaching the edge of the forest where she fell exhausted under the shelter of a fir tree. She no longer even cared if the Lady of the Forest herself came looking for her. The soldiers would find her after a while and then she would be taken to her father who would reprimand her for the rest of the night and the next day until he concluded that he would never let her leave her chambers again, not even for a breath of air.

At least her mission was accomplished. The chimera had regained its freedom.

“You'd better go without me,” Olivia told the mouse. “My body can't take it anymore. It was a stupid idea.”

“Yes, pretty stupid," said he. "How can I help?"

After her astonishment, Olivia was moved by the thought that the chimera cared about her savior.

“There is a place where we can hide for the time being,” she replied. “You'll have to go by yourself first, and follow a long path through the trees until you find a hut,” she pointed a finger in the direction. “The person who lives there will have no trouble helping us. Tell her my name and lead her here.”

“An elf?"

Olivia sensed the distrust in the mouse's voice.

“No, a healer. She's known me all my life. She's trustworthy. The elves live much farther away, in the center of the forest, over several days' journey. I don't know how much you know about the kingdom, but we are now inside the Circle, which is nothing more than a neutral zone.”

“Which means?”

“It means that the races can move freely within it. However, elves prefer to stay as far away as possible. You can rest assured.”

The mouse, however, did not move.

“I can assure you,” she continued, "that I don't want to meet them either, especially the Lady who rules them."

The mouse seemed to believe her, or so she wanted to believe, because he then turned his back on her and set off in the direction she had pointed, until his little body merged with the darkness.