After learning about the past, he called for an apology. "I'm sorry for what happened to your mother, Um Stawsini," he said with a few words.
Anderiyah fell silent for a moment, thinking about her words. "I hate this. What I hate is apologies — they don't help. They won't bring your mother back, won't ease your grief, and won't solve anything. But I promise I will bring that demon's head to you and kill him in a way that will calm the fire inside your heart."
Emily was surprised by his words, as if those sentences had ignited a hope inside her. "This is my promise to you. I still don't understand — after everything you did and said, are you really going to do this?"
"Yes. And this promise isn't only mine, Deputy Commander. I promise you this too." Emily was astonished; the man who would have been killed by her had forgiven her and even promised to take revenge for her. She couldn't respond, so she collected herself and left. But before she left she said, "I'm sorry for what I did." Those words were the beginning of a new page between them.
I stayed in the hut until I recovered — three weeks in total. When I regained some strength I went outside and looked around. What was I looking at? Mountains — mountains of ice. "Do you think the monsters were stupid to live here? And also the villains… they must be even more foolish," I thought.
Someone came up behind me and slapped me on the shoulder, shouting, "So — you've finally recovered, Deputy Commander!"
"There's no need to call me Deputy Commander. Call me by my name — Hassan."
"Julian — yes, that's better. Now that you've recovered, why don't you come with me? Where are we going?"
"Simply to catch some fish," Julian said. "Yes, we're going to a frozen lake to fish."
"Do I have the option to refuse?" I asked.
"No, you don't. Move."
"All right, let's go."
"This is the lake. First we need to make a hole in the ice."
"Deputy Commander Julian, didn't you go too far? You made a huge hole because you broke half the lake's ice instead of a small hole. Or — do you not know?"
"I know what I'm doing. The fish here have power unlike ordinary fish, so you have to dive after them. If you face them from the shore, you'll lose."
"Lose? How?" I asked.
"Simple. The ice under you will break easily. Slowly at first, then suddenly it will snap — just like what almost happened to you now if you weren't with me," Julian said, looking down. "Then you'll find yourself the prey." Suddenly a large fish burst through the ice under Anderiyah and swallowed him. He fell into the water.
Anderiyah held on. Julian leapt into the water, shaped a sword from his blood, and sliced the fish in half. "Anderiyah, are you okay?" Anderiyah made a cracking sound. "No — hold on," Julian said, lifting him up.
"Anderiyah — breathe. You knew the big fish was coming and didn't save me."
"I wanted to see your reaction. But it seems you have no reaction — you need a lot of training. Forget that for now; you almost died and you were indifferent. Hey, where did he go?"
"He jumped into the water, ignoring me." Julian climbed out with a large fish. "Alright, tonight's dinner is ready."
"We were lucky today. Hey you — Anderiyah — look at this fish. How big it is! I almost died — don't you care?"
"Oh — after looking closely at the fish, why is it this size? I feel a strange energy. I noticed that inside this ice there is a hidden diamond that contains infinite energy. We've been trying to find this diamond since the Ice Squad took over this place, but there was no trace of it until now. Speaking of the team — I haven't introduced you to them yet."
"Then come on, I'll introduce you. And Yiam — how dare you steal my food, especially when I'm starving after training?"
"Gift to Henry — I already ate it all. It was just a small bite," Yiam said.
"A small bite? You ate half of my food and call it a bite. You're doomed, Edward. Gift, don't be angry like that. I'll bring you more food." Hassan's right hand turned into solid iron. "I'm in trouble now."
"Hassan, Henry — it seems you're angry, so goodbye." "Come back here!"
There was a loud explosion. "How many times do I have to tell you to stay away from my room? This is the hundredth time. Do you want to die that badly?"
"This is bad — we angered Harold, and when he gets angry —" a growling sound: "He's a dragon, right?"
"Yes. Hello, Daimon."
"Prepare the dragon's fire on them!"
"We need to run now!"
"Get up and move, you fool, quickly!"
"Daimond, grab them!" Two of them opened their mouths and nearly grabbed William, but he changed direction. A man was coming out of a room, and when he saw the dragon he panicked and used his power — the place changed. "We got away from Daimon."
"No, but we have to escape. Watch out!"
"Hey — did you hear that? Above you — above!" They found Oliver above them.
"It's Oliver." Oliver fell on William and Henry. "Don't you get tired? There's always trouble and you drag me into it. Gift, Oliver — nothing happened, right?"
"William — yes, really."
"Why is Daimon chasing you? How did you know?"
"Because he was heading toward us."
"Run!"
"Wait for me!"
"Why should I? Every time — go left, come on, quickly!"
"He's still chasing us."
"Oliver — teleport us somewhere, anywhere, faster!"
"Alright." Hassan teleported them. "Good — we're away from him. Well done, Oliver. But you don't seem frightened."
"That's because we are at —"
"What now? Now you enter my room again, you two rascals. Don't tell me — Iris?"
"Yes."
"We moved from bad to worse. Iris — welcome. Before he finished, someone struck him in the face and the quiet place turned into chaos and uproar. "Hassan, Anderiyah — welcome to our new team." When Julian entered he found the place wrecked and the team members fighting. "You lot, how many times have I told you not to cause chaos?" The whole team froze in fear.
"Anderiyah, could you stay here for a second? I have things to deal with now. Who is responsible for this? Tell me who's in charge." No answer. "So it seems the team needs to be taught discipline again. It's my pleasure to start the first lesson." "Disaster, team — may each of you survive."