A white thick fog was rising above the valley, close to the forest. It was something that reminded others of the white misty swamps, hidden in warm and wet places. But, despite all these, the ground around was covered with a thick dried peel, thirsty for rainwater while the dried leaves were covering the soil, even if it was still spring and nature around should have been back to life.

Also, the sleeping trees seemed lifeless: their branches stood still as if a famous painter would have drawn, with a magical paintbrush, the outline of their being. Their thick trunks had a shade of dark brown, with traces of green moss on it, and, here and there, all over their bark, wild spiders that were climbing and moving chaotically on it were seen and this called up, in the trees’soul, a sparkle of life.

The moss, of a dark green shade because of the fog, seemed to be very tender, but its texture reminded the creatures of the feelings someone had in his chest while touching something with no life in it - soft and cold.

On the ground, all around the moss, lianas were seen how they were crawling around as if mystical snakes would have tried to get to a final destination, having in their small brain a wicked purpose. The movement of the lianas was also weird, chaotical, and scary, and if to spend some time there, one could feel himself caught in an old and bizarre story in which the old witches were trying to transform the world into something never seen before.

Also, looking up, no trace of light was seen - even if the trees had no life in them. Their branches, however, grown and tangled over hundreds of years, gave the feeling of a vault, carved in living stone. And, on that vault, a beautiful picture of old events seemed to be painted, and this was also seen in the figures formed by the entangled branches, which seemed to hold each other into arms, like into a romantic tango, as if being living dancers into a charming story, told by the travelers by the fireside, when they were retelling about something mystical which happened thousands of years ago and the listener was carefully listening to the story and, in his eyes, the blink of curiosity was seen, giving to the one who was telling the story the feeling of being someone important.

But even so, with all that beauty around, a strange feeling of vertigo was awakening inside when one looked up because nothing was moving: neither up nor around and no current of air was felt around, too, and, because of this, the travelers that crossed the woods, passing through that mystical place, felt dizzy and weird as if they had drunk something forbidden which took over them and, because of this, they felt as if spinning into a carousel of fate. And, while spinning, the travelers also heard voices that were whispering about devilish events which were taking or had taken place in that temple of Shadows.

O.S:

(Tamil: whispers)

Maraṇap paḷḷattākku vaḻiyākap pātaiyaik kaṭappavarkaḷ mōyariṉ aṭimaikaḷ eṉṟu capikkappaṭukiṟārkaḷ. Uṅkaḷ āṉmāvai picācukku viṟṟu, nīṅkaḷ ulakai velvīrkaḷ, Āṉāl nīṅkaḷ oṉṟait terintu koḷḷa vēṇṭum, anniyarē - taṅkaḷ āṉmāvai viṟṟavarkaḷ ippōtu uyiruṭaṉ illai, orupōtum iṟakka māṭṭārkaḷ. Avarkaḷ taṅkaḷ ejamāṉarukku cēvai ceyya vēṇṭum, picācu maṭṭumē avarkaḷiṉ tuṉpakaramāṉa vāḻkkaiyai muṭikka muṭiyum.

(EN: whispers)

(Those who ever stepped onto the path that crosses through the Valley of Death are cursed to be Moirae’s slaves. If you want to be important, sell your soul to the devil and you’ll be free to conquer the world. But you should know something, stranger, before doing this - those who ever sold their souls aren’t alive anymore, and also, they won’t ever die. Instead, they must serve their master forever and only the Devil itself can end their miserable existence.)

And it was true, for the devil itself was living there, in the shadows, hidden in the depth of the forest, listening to the Music of those whispers that were surrounding the strangers, those who dared to enter that part of the forest, and the scary breath of the ghosts was making the travelers shudder from top to toe and a dark fog was following them all over while they were slowly advancing through the old and full of enigmas woods, entering deep-deep in the thickets of that forest and heading toward the den where the evil was living: where was night all over the year and where was cold.

But not only evil was living there: in that enigmatical forest, the power of „Good” was lurking on the evil souls, too, preparing traps for them and this was Lodur’s plan too - to catch that evil and he had planned this right before entering the forest.

Slowly advancing through the forest, Lodur was carefully looking around. His dark blue vestment was barely illuminating the darkness which took over the surroundings, but, in contrast with his golden shining hair, which still kept the shining of the stars in it, his garment seemed so pale, so lifeless.

In his hand, he had a magic stick (the material form of Alabar,) made from 12 wooden octahedral cubes. Each cube had carved on it, on each side, an eye of fire - Chaos’eyes, as a symbol of knowledge and protection of the Universe. Only on the upper face of the cube, a shining star was carved, chasing away the darkness as if Helyos would have chased Nyx away on the limitless sky vault, and that star was known by others like Bayer - the Star of Hope and Healing.

However, even if Lodur was carrying on some light with him, with each step he was taking in front, something unseen was moving behind him, crawling on the ground. The titan, wise and bold, looked at the „intruder” from the corner of his eye and, so, he saw it hiding under the wave of black magic. And, at the moment the darkness of the woods became even denser, Lodur grabbed Alabar and hit for three times on the ground with its lower part, making Bayer’s light fade off. Then, when everything around had been sunken into darkness, Lodur saw the hideous soul that was living in those places, or better to say, the titan heard and felt the hissing stinky breath of that devil.

Feeling that devil closer, the titan stopped. Yet, his nostrils moved funnily around his nose as if a bunny was sniffing the horizon, and, when the stinky smell got to his nose, like a black current of air, Lodur sneezed.

„Be healthy, Master!” a weird voice of an unknown body said, in mockery. Then his high-pitched laughter had been heard floating around.

That mockery and the laughter that followed it, made Lodur’s ears, till then normal, like the humans’, suddenly became sharp at the top and became bigger till they got the form of the deer's ears. Then, the top of the ear sharpened, and a kind of concho form of air showed up next to it, attracting the sounds toward it, and those signals were slowly moving into his auditive channel as if it was dragged toward the ear like toward an antenna.

„Are you trying to catch me, Master?” the voice said again, even more high-pitched, but it has been heard that time closer to Lodur, trying to make him fear, but Lodur wasn’t afraid at all.

To be more precise, the titan completely turned off Bayer’s light, and, grabbing Alabar with both hands, palms facing up, he started to move it as if it was a waved line, forming a kind of multicolored rainbow whose light was exiting from Alabar. But nothing around was seen till the light of the rainbow didn’t become bright red. At that moment, a large and thin tail, made from fire, swept the ground, getting closer to Lodur’s feet with a dizzying speed.

Touched by the tail of fire, the ground sighed, being even more scorched by the devil’s breath than it had been before. Also, Lodur’s vestment started to shake, „feeling” the wave of the approaching heat, but the titan didn’t move until the top of that tail didn’t almost touch his garment.

And when the tail was about to touch the skirts of his coat, Lodur left a loud „Huh!” come out of his mouth at the moment he grabbed Alabar with only one hand and, right away, he hit the tail of fire. This made the devil scream blue murder, and a high, frightened sound has been heard around, making even the asleep crows jerk in the air from the crowns of the sleeping trees, and a black wave moved through the air, deafening the surroundings.

Namely that loud sound that frightened the woods, made Lodur's hem of the robe raise in the air while a hot magma was coming from the tail. But not only Lodur's vestment was moving: his golden hair moved, too, and it also got a reddish blink while floating around his body and making him look more like a guardian of hell than of heaven. And it wasn't just a random say: his eyes also got the color of the flames, reminding Chaos'eyes, but smaller in size, and it was due to his internal power that was increasing while fighting with the devil, and this made the devil again scream, furiously:

„You didn’t enter the den you should have entered, Guardian of Māṉsṭar Kēlaksi. This forest is my kingdom. These trees are my slaves and the air you breathe also belongs to me. For not being welcome here, I’ll teach you what means to awake the devil, and, then, when you kneel down in front of me after I take away from you all the breath you guard in your soul, I’ll send a message to that stubborn Chaos and, this way, he’ll shudder in fear,” the devil grinned, but Lodur only smiled, listening to those words.

„Eris. Even in prison, you can’t stay still. But you’ll meet now the one who can face your devilish power and I’ll show you what it means to be on your knees.”

After those words, a fierce battle started, scorching everything around. The dried leaves started to burn, forming around Lodur a fire curtain, and, through those flames, dozens of tails of fire had been thrown toward the titan, who was fighting against that evil soul with the power of Bayer and Alabar, in the form of steam of blue air. But the tails were increasing in number while Lodur was alone, and that inequality of powers has been felt, even more, when Lodur saw himself surrounded by enemies - dozens of tails of fire. And this made him wonder if he makes it this time because the blue lights of thunder, thrown against the evil, weren’t that powerful and Bayer’s light was also fading off because, during the night, there wasn’t a sun from which to take power and the star wasn’t that powerful to fight with what they were facing at that moment. Its power was limitless in the Cosmos, but not on Earth.

And that inequality of powers has been felt very soon, when, so suddenly, one of the tails of fire, thrown from nowhere, hit Alabar right in the middle, breaking it into two, and leaving Lodur unarmed this way.

This made the devil laugh and think he won: „Now you are at my mercy, titan!" he said, giggling. „Pray! Accept me as your master and maybe I’ll allow you to live.” And, what was even weirder than his madness was the fact that he multiplied his voice, making it sound as if dozens of men and women were talking at the same time.

But even if those voices could scare everybody, Lodur stood calm and told the devil in a demanding voice: „Show your face, Devil! Face me, if you dare, and maybe then we’ll have a fair fight.”

„Why? Why should I show my face in front of a simple guardian of the Sky only? If you were Chaos, maybe…”

„As if you are such an important person to show up in front of Chaos,” Gaea’s voice was heard, not that far from Lodur.

Listening to her voice, Lodur looked back and smiled: she appeared in front of him as a woman about 25, with long blond hair, like Lodur’s, medium height, green eyes, and white skin. Her long dress was tailored from a yellow shining cloth, with leaves and flowers embroidered on it. At her back, she had a quiver with arrows. In her right hand - was a sword. At her girdle - a panflute, a dagger, and a miniature jug. At her neck, hanging as if it was a medallion, a Magnifier in the form of the sun could be seen.

„Mother Earth,” the devil hissed through his teeth, hearing her voice, and he right away showed up in front of the two titans - a scary creature that was facing the world.

He had a black body as if greased with pitch and that was similar to a Cyclops' body, 7 tails of fire, stuck at his back, two long arms which could be stretched or withdrawn at his will, two horse’s legs, and the head of a devil. His eyes were black burning embers. His horns were burning in flames, and, in the middle of his forehead, he had a black shining diamond.

„Mannar! What an unpleasant surprise! I thought that we had a deal, last time when we saw each other, but I see that it was just a lie,” Gaea said, in an ironic tone.

„A deal, you say?” Mannar said while laughing. „We had no deal, Mother Earth because it can’t be any deal between a simple titanide and the devil itself. Last time you kneeled me down, it has been only because I’ve been inattentive, but this time it’s my turn to show you who’s the master here,” Mannar hissed the words while showing them his fangs greased with blood.

„Well, if you like so, it’s good for me. What do you say, Lodur? Should we teach this mad creature which is his place in this world?”

„It’ll be my pleasure,” Lodur said, frowning.

Then, Lodur and Gaea looked into each other’s eyes while smiling, and, in their hands, a kind of ball of blue magic power has been formed.

But Mannar wasn’t stupid. He knew that if he waited till that ball will be formed, he would be lost. So, he attacked first, throwing his tails of fire against the titans. But, instead of the titans'bodies, the tails hit a wall made from blue magic, and when the tails'tops scratched that wall, a bloody line was seen painted all over the wall. This made the devil scream again, for it was his blood left on that wall, known as the Mirror of Times, for the power that created that wall was feeding itself from Alabar's power and, while Mannar was lamenting his injury and licking his bloody tails, Alabar had time to heal and to reborn from its own ashes.

Namely that magic of Alabar's healing made Gaea inattentive. But she heard very soon behind her: „Watch out!”

That was Lodur's yell, for he was the first to see that blowing of hot magma that has been spat toward them from the devil's mouth. But knowing that Gaea won't be able to react on time and protect herself, Lodur jumped toward her, covered her with his cloak, and held her to his chest, and when the hot magma wave got closer to them, it hit a wave of a solar heat instead of their bodies, and that heat was coming out of the titan's cloak. And the interwining of those two waves of heat created a chain reaction: a kind of multiple explosions that had been thrown against Mannar. But it didn't hit him either, for he run away just on time, hiding in the forest, and running like a rat off the boat that was ready to be swallowed by the seawater.

And the devil's run was his defeat: he tried to be brave, he tried to succeed, but, once again, he lost in front of the titans. And he understood that he lost when he foresaw that the titans will join their power, and this was something he couldn't face for sure. But he hadn't decided to run away by himself: it was Eris'command that he received through the vibrations of the black diamond. However, his run wasn't a moment of joy, but of sorrow, for what he left behind him was a land of death and lamentation.

„He can’t run,” Lodur told Gaea.

„You know that we cannot defeat him. He has Eris’power. Even if Chaos gave us Magical Power, we haven’t the same strength as Eris has. Alone, we cannot defeat her.”

„But here, on Earth, there is a small person who has the same power as Eris has. Chaos sacrificed himself, giving up the possibility to regain his physical form someday, and he sent a great part of his power to an earthly creature. And he did this just to impede Eris’rulling over this Earth. But that small creature still needs time to learn how to use that great power she has, and, till she’ll be able of doing this, we must join our power and hunt this devil, we must imprison him into the nothingness, in a kind of Cell of Māṉsṭar Kēlaksi here, on Earth.

Gaea looked into Lodur’s eyes and kept silent for a few moments. She saw something in the depths of that glance, but she understood that she can’t tell loudly what she saw: it was something beyond her power, it was something that was making her shudder from top to toe, and, because of this, she said nothing. Only a small black sphere started to be formed above her left palm.

„I hope you are right, Lodur,” she said, eventually while staring at the black sphere. „You know that we are cursing our souls by using Black Magic. This is a power we shouldn't play with.”

Lodur’s palm covered the small sphere in a protective way and, from his palm, a kind of black air also came out, a wave of air that joined Gaea’s sphere and made it increase in volume.

„I know, but I’m more afraid of what will come than of the punishment we’ll have for this,” Lodur said and a wave of sorrow was heard in his voice which was trembling. „The future is unknown, Mother Earth. If we don’t do this to protect Earth, then who’ll do this? Who if not us should influence fate? If we do nothing, then, this world will be soon a dusk, a desert, full of nothingness, and then it will be covered by black clouds, forever.”

„Parca won’t ever accept this pact,” Gaea whispered, and, a blowing of blue shining air came out from her mouth and touched the sphere. Then, above the sphere, a kind of golden light showed up, that „imprisoned” the sphere in a kind of golden cell, whose bars were seen very clearly, illuminated by the blue magical light.

Then, a pair of shining scissors cut a golden wisp from Lodur’s hair and he sprinkled that hair over the sphere. Then, the hair first spun above it, being moved by the blue air, and, very soon, it formed a big golden lock right in the middle, above the sphere.

„What was done from darkness to withdraw in it…” Lodur started to whisper the spell.

„...and its power to fade off till the night will be again dark…” Gaea continued.

„... if something from around it will sneak inside it with evil thoughts…” Lodur’s lips whispered.

„... to take the form of a snake and to be buried into the ground,” Gaea finished the spell. Then, both titans held their hands, joined their power, and, when it was enough strong, the power raised the sphere up-up above the forest, moved it in the distance while increasing and increasing in size till it has been able to cover the forest inside it, and, so soon, the sphere got above the Glade which Mannar was crossing, and, then, the sphere caught him in its trap and imprisoned him in that cell of power.

Mannar tried to run, but he understood soon that he has been imprisoned because, all around him, the golden bars of the cell were seen, and the blue magical air, also seen around that cell, transformed soon into a kind of mirror: Mannar could see what was happening outside the cell, but nobody could see what was behind that mirror. The devil roared and a kind of burning ashes had been spat all around him. But this didn’t help him at all.

But what made Mannar really shudder was to see how the forest, all around him, came back to life: the trees had been covered in seconds with green leaves and the barks of the trunks from dark became brown and full of life because of the insects and of the spiders that were moving quickly on it, and also due to the moss that was growing so fast all over, like the grass, like the flowers which grew up all around, and even the chirp of the birds was heard in that forest and this made Mannar yell because of anger.

It was something to be afraid of and to want to stay away from it, and, when Gaea and Lodur showed up in that glade, strange whispers could be heard from all around. And those whispers were sending a message to the world: „don’t enter this glade! Stay away from it or you’ll be lost forever in this cursed forest.” And, from that moment, humans were afraid of that part of the forest and they decided that it was a damn good idea to stay away from it if they don’t want to be buried somewhere and to have nobody to pour cold water on their grave to cool their soul while they were walking on the path toward the Hell.

From time to time, Mannar’s voice was heard all around, but humans and nature couldn’t hear it. Only Eris heard it, from her faraway cell.

Mad and upset, Eris also yelled while in her head a lot of evil thoughts spun and she tried to figure out how to escape from Māṉsṭar Kēlaksi, and, soon, that desert, where she was imprisoned, had been sunken in silence because Eris was too busy to plan devilish future events than to yell, and this was something to think about, and Chaos’ eyes started to show up on Māṉsṭar Kēlaksi sky even more often than before.