El saw some sparks in the center of the dining room and in a second a portal opened up surrounded by the ring of fire. D brought few more ancient folios about dark magic. Among all the redhead’s friends, Arcada was the biggest bookworm, who could spend days and weeks sorting, reorganizing, and reading everything he had collected in his library. Deas was on the second place. El herself would probably take the proud 1000th place if she could count that far.

However, this time the witch decided to try her best without asking Arcada for help. First of all, she knew, the old wizard still didn’t trust The Monster above all monsters. Secondly, he didn’t trust dark magic either.

D placed the books on the table in front of El and looked outside of the window. After that unexpected attack, the two necromancers strengthened the magical protection of their secret sanctuary.

The young woman dropped her head on the table. After many hours of intense reading, she needed a little break.

- Look!- El showed the fellow necromancer her phone with an open dating app – Everything went so well with this guy and now he doesn’t write me anymore.

D took a deep, long sigh and rolled his eyes.

- What else did you expect from a man, whose whole bio consists of emojis?

- Well, he was okay-ish… - the girl waved with her hand.

- If you are interested in cave painting, I’ve heard a new civilization at Terra Primevals has just reached this developmental level. – Deas slightly laughed.

- Right, my disastrous personal life is very funny…

- Sometimes. – the man answered scrolling through books.

- Is it so difficult to love me? – El asked desperately.

- Honestly? Yes. Extremely. – D stopped scrolling and after few seconds added thoughtfully – But you deserve being loved.

El sighed and returned to the books. They urgently needed to find a way to identify their new enemy.

Suddenly another portal opened up in the dining room of the forest house. The two looked at each other, they didn’t expect any guests.

- I assume: you need some help. – said Arcada stepping towards the table.

- Hmm, big man decided to join the unworthy me? – Deas replied haughtily.

- I came to make sure, you don’t harm my ward! – the old magician frowned.

- I can be anything, but not illogical. Why would I harm something I’ve spent so much time educating? – the young man poked El in the head.

- Whatever. You need to hurry up! Today my allies won at the meeting but Iduna is determined to convince the council. We need to find a solution before the invasion starts. – explained Arcada taking place next to the young woman.

It was slowly getting dark and cold. D moved coal in the fireplace. There was almost no fire more and no firewood left. The man threw short: “Will be right back” – and left.

- I’m glad, you came. – El smiled at her teacher.

- I believe that my apprentice wouldn’t make any mistakes. – Arcada patted the girl on her shoulder.

Deas brought some firewood. The redhead made some tea and placed her favorite chocolate on the table. The three shortly kept silent feeling slightly awkward. In the end, Arcada and D had been enemies for almost three centuries.

A few years ago El confessed to her teacher that she started learning necromancer magic from The Monster above all monsters. It took the old wizard a lot of time to deal with this shock and resentment. She told him once: “I don’t excuse him, but also don’t condemn because I don’t know how I myself would act after facing what he had to. You should just trust me. You raised me well; I would have never dealt with a villain if he really was one.”

Some months after this conversation Arcada forgave the girl. He still couldn’t forgive Deas, but he came to a compromise with his conscience: as long as they needed to prevent a senseless brutal war, he could tolerate this man.

And now those three were sitting in the same room, at the same table. What a strange thing. Fortunately, good old Swiss chocolate can break any ice, so after some time, the magicians started exchanging their thoughts on how to deal with the new, unknown necromancer.

Suddenly El jumped on her feet and closed her eyes. She looked like she was trying to hear something.

- What has happened? – asked Arcada.

- The kids. – shortly replied the witch.

- Again?! – Deas seemed rather annoyed.

- What kids? – the old wizard asked in surprise.

- Long story… - replied El opening up a portal.

- Her long stories always equal big troubles, right? – added D following the girl – Stay here, big man. Keep searching.

Sam and Nick saw a familiar silhouette at the playground in front of their house. Ada was sitting on the bank hugging her legs. She looked very upset so the twins hurried to their friend. One glance was enough for Nick to assess the situation. Sam was sent to the nearest bakery to bring some snacks and water while his brother helped the little witch to calm down.

- I don’t understand. What is the connection? – concluded Ada after telling the twins about what had happened.

- And your grandmother has never told you anything about Terra Copia? – Sam rubbed his forehead.

- Yes, that’s really strange. And what’s that silent guard? – Nick rubbed his forehead too.

- I don’t know. I’ve never heard about it before. – the girl shrugged.

- I bet El knows... – Nick said slowly.

The witch made a wry face. She knew the boy was more likely right but deep inside she didn’t want to accept it. Ada grew up being told what an absolute evil Deas Dalias was. Some unclear moments of the past couldn’t change the girl’s opinion that quickly.

- The Bargals originate from Terra Pluviae. This dimension is pretty old and long abandoned by most due to its harsh climate. But maybe there is still something left in the family’s old mansion there… - assumed the girl.

The chances were not too high, but the kids still decided to check. The little witch opened up a portal and in a second all three were standing at Terra Pluviae.

A storm was raging. Lightening stroke every second being followed by a loud, dull clap of thunder. The trio was standing in front of a large, previously pompous, nowadays abandoned house. The kids quickly ran inside. It was dark. From time to time lightning lit up long, wonderfully decorated corridors. Layers of dust and mold couldn’t hide the former beauty of this place.

- Comitante Flamma! – Ada snapped her fingers and a small ball of fire appeared in the air floating around the kids.

- Okay, we are no characters of a stupid horror movie so let’s stick together. – Nick said strictly.

Others unconditionally agreed. The atmosphere of this house was way too frightening. The kids carefully proceeded through the dark halls of an ancient mansion. Birds, fluttering here and there, and unexpected thunderclaps made kids shiver from time to time.

Sam nervously scratched his arm. Something seemed to be very wrong about this place. No, not the place, the boy felt like there was somebody else here.

- Do you also feel this? - he turned to his friends.

- What do you mean? - asked Ada.

- Yes. Feels like there is somebody here... - whispered Nick.

- You two are trying to scare me? - the little witch sternly gazed at the brothers.

- No. I swear! - replied Sam.

- Maybe that's because of the portraits... - Ada pointed at the old paintings hanging all around the hall.

The trio passed a large hall that looked like a library. That was exactly what they were looking for. Old bookcases were covered in dust and spiderwebs. Everything here remained untouched for at least the last three hundred years. Most of the shelves were empty, previous owners of the house took all their belongings with them before leaving this place forever. They had left three or four books lying lonely on tables but those were romances and poetry. Not exactly what the kids needed.

Suddenly Nick stopped next to one of the bookcases. He sat down and carefully looked at something.

- This mansion is abandoned, right? - he wanted to make sure.

- Right. - Ada nodded.

- Can you give me some light here? - Nick pointed at the floor.

Ada waved her hand, and a ball of fire flew up to the boy. Now the whole trio could clearly see that the wooden floor that was covered in a thick layer of dust and dirt was much cleaner here than everywhere around.

- Okay, that's strange. - stated Nick.

Sam stared at the bookcase. It was empty. It had been an empty dusty sanctuary for spiders for some centuries for sure. Yet, two spots on the sidewalls of it were carefully cleaned from the spiderweb.

- That looks like in movies…- he mumbled.

- Yes, just this time it is no movie. Be careful! – his brother warned him.

Sam was extremely careful. The boy quickly put his hands on those spots and pressed with all his might.

The heavy bookcase trembled, moved slightly forward, and slid sideways making a loud crack. The kids were standing in front of an entry to the secret room. The fireball flew inside. Ages ago this room used to be an office. There was an office table, some leather chairs, beautiful, elegant coffee tables, and a large map of dimensions on the wall.

Ada neared her face to the map and examined it. Some dimensions were circled in red ink. "T.T. lost to the Kroblens" was written also in red ink next to them.

- What does it mean? - asked Sam.

- The Kroblens is another family that owns a teleportation business. They are the biggest concurrents of the Bargals. Those two have been competing in accuracy and minimization of effort for opening portals for many hundred years. - explained Ada. Eventually, she was the best student of the Council Magic Academy and knew everything about magic history.

- How many Terras start with C? - said Nick pointing at a red circled marked as T. C.

- Well. Several. But this one according to its position is Terra Copia. - stated Ada.

The trio looked carefully at the map once again and in a second it became completely dark.

- Where is the light? We need more fire. - Sam snapped his fingers trying a fire spell.

- It doesn't work! Somebody has put a magical shield on this place and none of us is strong enough to overcome it! - Ada sounded pretty scared.

A second later the kids heard some creaking, chirping noise coming from the depths of the house. The noise repeated slowly getting closer.

- This is a closed space, and the bookcase makes too much noise by moving. We need to get out of here. - Nick quickly calculated their chances.

All three headed to the library's exit. They tried to make as little noise as possible, however, the old wooden floor creaked treacherously from time to time. The creaking noise repeated again. It was very close, right around the corner.

The kids froze in fear. An extremely slim, bony creature that was about three meters tall was making its way along the corridor on its half-bent legs. In the flash of lightning, the trio managed to see the creature's face. It was completely bald and had no eyes but a huge mouth, full of sharp fangs. The monster stopped for a second, sniffed, and turned its head to the kids. All three immediately ran towards the main hall and exit.

The creature was following the kids almost being able to grab them with its fangs. The trio ran as fast as they could. They jumped out of the heavy wooden front door and kept running away from the mansion, hoping that their magic would finally start working.

It was raining heavily; the ground was wet and slipped. Sam fell down and slid a couple of meters on his stomach. His brother and Ada helped the boy to get up and all three kept running again until they reached large metal gates of the mansion's land.

Another two tall creatures joined the first monster surrounding the kids. The children pressed their backs against a high fence. The creatures were quickly nearing them.

- Fulgur Percusserit! – screamed El as her chain wrapped itself around the monster’s neck.

The tall bony body trembled from an electric shock. The redhead pulled her chain and threw the creature back. It landed in the mud, jumped on its disproportionately long legs, and made a loud roar. In a second El’s chain tied its legs up and the thing fell down in the mud again. The young woman carefully neared herself to it and used “Fulgur Percusserit” once again, turning the body into ashes.

At the same time, another monster ran towards the kids, not wanting to miss its prey. D hit it with the edge of the scythe, knocking the tall figure down. He walked around the giant body stretched on the ground. The creature raised its face and grinned at the man. As it tried to jump at him, Deas swung his scythe, cutting the monster into two pieces.

The third monster turned his head to the mansion. It seemed like the creature heard somebody calling it. Before the thing managed to escape the knife end of El’s chain painfully lashed its back. It turned himself to the woman and roared, raising his large, clawed hand. Deas knocked the monster down from behind, grabbed its head, and whispered: “Ignem Damnati”. The creature flamed up with dark red fire and turned into ashes in a moment.

- And again, are you okay? Nobody is injured? – El looked at the kids.

Fortunately, few scratches and a bleeding knee were the only damage. The kids were dripping wet, dirty, scared but unharmed.

- Gone again… - the redhead turned her face to the mansion – This necromancer escaped again.

- For the last time – frowned Deas – Come, let’s take your puppies to a warmer place. Don’t want to heal fever later.

The man swung with his scythe and opened up a portal.