"So what did the witch from the Gaia kingdom tell you?" The mysterious man asked Temiel.
"I don't know if you'll believe this, but she said she was in the Middleworld house and saw the great Zaia there..."
"Just madness, I suppose."
"I thought so too, but it seems she was serious about it. I think this is information that should be taken seriously."
"I find it hard to believe, but I'll report it anyway. You did well not letting others overhear. Maybe we can use this information as an advantage."
"Are you heading back to the Kingdom of Darkness now?"
"Hmm, I'll stop somewhere on the way first. I heard her children are with her. Maybe I can use them."
"I can give you their location if you want, but are you sure you want to risk exposing yourself like that in public?"
"Oh, don't worry about me. I'll manage. I was in your priests' room earlier tonight, and no one noticed, including you."
Temiel opened his eyes in astonishment, he had no idea the man had been there.
"What have you been doing here all this time?"
"Actually, I came to inform you about a new mission."
"What this time?" He sighed in despair.
"This war is not producing enough results. We need you to create chaos from within. Kill all the priests."
"What?! That's absurd, are you crazy?"
"Those are orders from above. It won't help to argue with me now."
"No way, this is too dangerous and irresponsible."
"'No way'? Don't forget we're constantly spying on your sister. You're not in a position to negotiate."
Temiel fell silent. He knew he couldn't disobey the orders, or else his sister would be harmed.
"Alright, I understand. I'll carry out this order. How soon do they want it done?"
"Tomorrow!" The mysterious man said with a sadistic smile.
"To manage killing them all by tomorrow?? That's impossible!!"
"I know. It's not something I or other infiltrators from our kingdom could do. The priests are heavily guarded, so you are the perfect guy for this job."
Temiel buried his face in his hands in despair.
"I'll do it."
---
Alain kept walking through the dark streets. He decided to find an open place to train with his new powers.
After about an hour of searching and wandering, he found a huge courtyard empty of people. He entered quietly and carefully and performed the same action his mother had taught him. He remembered the energy he felt when touching the crystal and focused on his palms. His palms filled with darkness around them, darker than the outside darkness mixed with the building lights. He couldn't see his hands at all.
Maybe it could blind certain people.
Alain continued focusing and training his powers, but suddenly a spear of light was thrown next to him. He was startled and turned around.
It was two guys, probably guards on night patrol, approaching him with hostile intent. He was filled with panic and started running away from them.
---
It was still midnight, but Ann was remarkably alert and waiting anxiously for what would happen.
"Isn't the investigation happening tonight?"
"We've told you already, we don't know much more. You'll have to wait," one of the guards said to her.
"Send a letter to Priest Temiel. I want to speak to him personally."
"Sorry, but you're not in a condition to make more requests. The priests have already responded to your request and left your children alone. Besides, they should all be asleep now."
The guard was right. The priests were probably all asleep now.
Ann realized she would have to wait until morning and try to hasten the process as much as possible.
---
Alain kept running from the guards.
He tried entering alleys and narrow places to lose them, but without success.
They threw solid light spears from a distance, surrounding him, leaving no escape route.
In the heat of the moment, without thinking, he tried to deflect the spears around him, activating the darkness power around his hands.
He threw his hands at the spears and, unintentionally, canceled them with his power.
At that moment, he realized that with the dark power he used on his palms, he could "turn off" the light and cancel their powers.
Still under pressure, he smiled proudly and continued running.
---
Aden lay on the floor to gather strength for tomorrow's journey.
He found himself inside a dream looking at a certain door. He didn't know why but felt the urge to open it. He approached the door and almost touched the handle but hesitated at the last moment.
"So there's only one child here," a low, chilling voice suddenly spoke and woke him up.
Aden quickly got up and looked around to find the voice but saw nothing.
"Where is your brother? Did he escape?" the voice continued to ask.
"Who are you? Where are you?" Aden asked, starting to sweat, not really understanding what was happening.
He decided to use his light power and illuminated his surroundings with his palms.
"So, the son of the witch of the Gaia kingdom has light powers? Interesting," the voice said, then chuckled a malicious, self-satisfied laugh.
Aden turned around and stretched his hands in all directions trying to find who was speaking by the light.
Suddenly, he noticed that from one direction he couldn't see anything, even when focusing both hands there.
He concentrated more and gathered stronger light around his palms, then aimed them toward that direction.
It was only for a second, but he saw a man dressed in purple and black fabric.
A second later, the darkness seemed to gather at that spot and completely erased the light.
Aden was smart enough to understand that if white and yellow clothes represent the Kingdom of Light, then purple and black clothes represent the Kingdom of Darkness...