Now they could mount the horses again, guiding them among the boulders along the wide, gentle road. The sleigh bounced on the ruts, threatening to overturn. High above, seagulls cried plaintively in the cold air.

  The temple gates stood wide open. On the walls stood men in kimonos, surveying the surroundings. They all instantly reminded Kairu of the imposing figure of Rodrigo Antan. Inside, a stone staircase led up to the tall building. Up close, Kairu noticed that on the left and right of the temple were adjacent buildings, also pagoda-shaped, with strange frescoes on the walls. Above a small portico rose a belvedere, and in the niches by the walls stood stone birds with folded wings and crowns on their heads.

  They left the sleigh by the entrance. Ashley was the first to jump to the ground and approach the gate. She bowed to the men on the walls. They responded with restrained nods, and at that moment a fat, bald kald man in an orange toga and light sandals (as if the temple’s residents ignored the bitter cold) appeared on the stone steps. He walked slowly, calmly, regally—Kairu would even say: solemnly. He descended the stairs and bowed to each guest in turn, then said, fixing his gaze on Ashley:

  "May the blessing of Dar be upon you, my children."

  "Zaruok," Ashley said with a laugh. "I knew you'd outlast many of us as abbot! As you can see, after thirty years, everything repeats itself."

  "Thirty years…" the monk said pensively. "And you have changed. And your company has changed. Where is Petros? I already know of Nubel’s death and grieve it, and I’ve heard of Saelin’s betrayal and the war as well. But that old scoundrel not rushing here to see me—that’s, hmm, quite surprising."

  Ashley and Kairu exchanged glances.

  "Petros is dead, Zaruok," the sorceress said quietly. "He was killed. There are few left now who still remember how it all began."

  Zaruok bowed his head.

  "I know why you’ve come," he suddenly said coldly and firmly. "And I can tell you, you’re devilishly lucky. The man you need has been hiding in the monastery for many years now, and yet several attempts have already been made on his life. He is old and weak, he rarely leaves his cell. And he… is insane."

  "Insane?" Rita repeated.

  "Paranoia," Zaruok shrugged. "He’s afraid of everyone."

  "Not surprising, considering what he’s been through," Ashley murmured. "But will you take us to him?"

  "Please," Zaruok bowed, made a gesture to several monks standing by the pagoda’s doors, and they immediately rushed to unhitch the sleigh and lead the horses to the stables. The rest slowly followed Zaruok toward the great temple doors. At the entrance, the abbot bowed slowly and ceremoniously, the others hesitantly followed his example. Inside was a vast hall covered with mats; slightly open doors ahead led to a dining hall. There, silhouettes of monks setting a large table were visible. On both the left and right sides of the hall were also doors, tightly closed. From the left came a dull knocking sound, from the right—a soft rustle and the gentle chime of tiny bells.

  Noticing Kairu’s questioning glance at Ashley, Zaruok said quietly:

  "Ashley, dear, allow me to give our guests a little tour while we walk, since none of them have been to our sanctuary before. Besides the temple, where anyone may come to pray,"—he turned to Kairu—"there are adjoining male and female monasteries. In them, boys and girls, mostly orphans and foundlings, learn the path of Dar through the Higher Arts…"

  "In short, through combat and magic," Ashley smirked.

  "I’m curious how that connects to the cult?" Rita said. "Forgive my ignorance, but…"

  "There is an explanation," Zaruok managed to say before Ashley could interrupt. "It’s not quite as simple as Lady Nielder put it. You see, there are two arts that together make up a person’s harmony, which is the perfection of the body and the perfection of the spirit. Both are attained through a special training school—its traditions are preserved only here in our temple. Naturally, boys focus on the first, and girls on the second. But they do not study combat or magic in the way they are taught in your Guilds. Rather, those who leave the temple’s walls usually possess full mastery of their bodies and spirits. And this knowledge they can apply anywhere, for a former acolyte of the temple is always one step ahead of others in whatever path they choose."

  "We knew one of your graduates, Demetra, and her bodyguard Rodrigo Antan," said Yuf.

  "Oh yes," Zaruok nodded. "Demetra is a very capable girl, which is why her spirit mastered the most difficult of the arts. You see, at a certain age, after long meditations and prayers, each of the acolytes chooses the direction in which to continue their training. Demetra did not make a mistake—working with Daredevil is her calling. Our monks searched for that dragon for many years, and then spent even longer deciding whom to entrust it to.

  "As for Rodrigo… I wouldn’t say he’s a great warrior, but I must admit he mastered his body perfectly and developed his own unique style. Oh yes, I trained him myself. I must confess, hand-to-hand combat has never been particularly close to my heart. But I respect Rodrigo’s choice and acknowledge that he achieved a certain level of mastery in it."

  As he spoke, they passed through the hall, climbed further up the stairs, made their way through a labyrinth of chambers, and entered a spacious room. From there, two staircases branched off in different directions, followed by several rows of bookshelves, and at the far end of the hall, tables could be seen where adult monks were seated.

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  "This is our library," Zarouk said with a radiant smile, ascending one of the staircases. "The books are mainly philosophical, all in their original languages, many in the language of the ancient Nocturns. Studying that language is one of our most important disciplines, it’s also used in the temple services. Some of the books came into the temple’s possession in a rather unusual way. Several monks, while repairing the basement, accidentally broke through a wall and discovered vast hidden chambers sealed behind it. There they found a legendary library, transported two thousand years ago from the sanctuary of Vaimos, just before the Nocturns left the continent... Well, here we are."

  He pushed open a door, ushering the guests into a small cell with red walls, then added in a low voice that he would order food to be brought, and disappeared. Ashley stepped forward into the adjacent room, from where a welcoming exclamation rang out, while Kairu managed to glimpse a huge painting hanging on the wall by the entrance.

  It depicted six people, four of whom were painfully familiar to him. Petros, Nubel, Saelin, and Ashley, only thirty years younger, with no signs of gray hair; Ashley, in particular, looked like a young girl, barely older than him. Beside them stood a man with curly ginger hair and green eyes, grinning broadly, and the coldly mocking expression in his eyes immediately reminded Kairu of Rita. There was also another man, entirely unfamiliar—a thin Nocturn, wearing glasses and with a thick black beard. All six stood in what looked like an office, with a desk full of instruments, books, and a large globe in the background.

  Viggo gave him a shove in the back, and Kairu, glancing fleetingly at the painting, entered the next room. It was more spacious, with a small curtained window letting in faint, dim light. Ashley stepped away from the doorway, releasing from her embrace an elderly man with short gray hair, dressed in a crimson toga with gold embroidery and wearing a pince-nez. Before Kairu could process anything, Rita had already thrown her arms around the man’s neck, hugging him so tightly it seemed the old man might suffocate.

  "Is it him?" Yuf whispered to Ashley.

  "Yes. Konrad, her grandfather," the sorceress replied calmly, tossing her fur coat onto a large armchair. "That painting was made before we left Asternia… The bearded man in glasses is Vergilius. He died that night in Ardrai."

  Kairu stared at the old man. He was trembling all over, as if unable to believe he was holding Rita in his arms. But he eventually let go, and his gaze, to Kairu’s surprise, was clear and steady. There was not a trace of madness in it.

  "Rita," he murmured. "Ashley. Damn it all… You’ll be the death of me. I was expecting to see anyone here—anyone but you. Rita… my girl…"

  "Easy," she said sharply, catching him as he suddenly swayed and nearly fell. She helped him settle into a chair. "It’s all right. We’re happy to see you, too. We came here specifically to find you, to talk to you…"

  "Meet them, Konrad," said Ashley. "Yuffilis, Kairu, Viggo, Remiz, Joanna—our young friends and the ones carrying on Petros’s work."

  "Petros!" the monk flinched and raised his head; he had turned deathly pale. "So he sent you here?"

  "Calm down, Konrad," Ashley sighed heavily. "He was killed six months ago. I suppose you’ve buried yourself deep within the temple walls and haven’t heard the news from the south—or any messages from your old... ahem, allies."

  The monk sighed deeply and leaned back in his chair.

  "I’ve heard," he said quite calmly. "I know everything that’s happening in Aktida, although the death of that old rascal is news to me. But honestly, I’ve heard about Petros’s death so many times in my life that I’ve stopped grieving... In any case, Zarouk is managing his duties well. The temple is not cut off from the world. These are terrible times we live in. No one can afford to spend their life locked away in four walls, meditating and searching for life’s meaning."

  "So you know what started the war," Rita said, sitting beside him. "And that Nubel was killed, and Saelin stole the Lake of Aktida from him."

  "Yes," Konrad said. "I know. What I don’t know is—what do you want from me? Thirty years ago, I decided to stay here forever, take the vows, and never leave this temple, because here Dar protects me, and outside, death is looking for me. You can’t win this war. Saelin knows better than anyone in the world how to use the power of Darius."

  "The Lake of Aktida?" Yuf asked in surprise.

  "Darius. The name ‘Lake of Aktida’ was given to the diamond by Nubel, but he was no expert in the ancient Nocturn language. He simply made an analogy between the sacred lake and the location of the shrine of Aktos. Darius, that’s how the glyph is pronounced in the classical dialect."

  Kairu reached into the inner pocket of his shirt and felt the perfectly smooth surface of the gem. He slowly took it out, and the cell became filled with a bright blue glow. Konrad flinched but didn’t avert his gaze, staring intently at the Lake of Aktida.

  "Where did you get that, boy?" he asked hoarsely.

  "I’ve carried it since we stole it from Tepei-Kuon."

  "You? From Tepei-Kuon?! From right under Saelin’s nose?" Konrad looked at him with open astonishment, even shock. "Damn it… And I thought we were the real daredevils, but your generation has outdone us… Yes, I see. That’s it. I’d never mistake the glow of this gem."

  "You talk like you’ve seen it before," Yuf said slowly.

  Konrad looked at him.

  "It is the duty of every Seer who understands this to initiate the Eternal Return. And for the one who seeks this path, the signs will be given in the place where Darius and Octarus shall be kept," he quoted with a smirk. "I know a great deal about this diamond, Mr. Yuffilis. A great deal."

  "Vaimarakirian," Kairu muttered. "Chapter One, verse eight."

  "You read the book? But how…"

  "It was found in Ashley’s library," Kairu said. "We solved your puzzle. It was you who gave Axel the scrap of parchment, the brooch, and the coin, wasn’t it? You wanted someone to eventually understand what to do with Darius and Octarus?"

  "It wasn’t meant to be a puzzle," Konrad muttered. "I was sure my translation was lost forever. The box—that was all I had left from Petros, and I was terribly afraid it would fall into the wrong hands. When I got truly scared, I gave it and the book to Axel, because… because I thought Petros had died, and if anyone could finish what was started, it would be Axel and Amalia. They were ready to continue, ready to search for the Seer their entire lives if needed. But when I heard of Axel’s and Amalia’s deaths... I realized someone had found Petros’s box and the Vaimarakirian, and I thanked fate that the book didn’t reveal the exact location of Darius and Octarus."

  "We did everything," Rita whispered. "We reached the Lake and found the marker. It led us to an island. On that island is the First Temple. Kairu must enter it…"

  "Correct," Konrad nodded. "The book explains it quite thoroughly. Kairu, do finish reading it when you have time… You were absolutely right to decide to go to the island. It exists, and somewhere on it, there truly is the First Temple."

  "And we must find Octarus," Kairu said.

  "Exactly. To ensure the long voyage isn’t in vain, you must bring both artifacts. And only the Seer can enter the Temple… Lock the door. Zarouk and the other monks don’t need to hear this… Give me half an hour, and I’ll tell you everything I know."