Erold ran toward the village at his maximum speed until he reached the guesthouse. He burst through the door in a hurry and said to Jasmin in a serious tone: "Go to the Chief immediately and ask him to gather all the villagers in his house… now!"
Jasmin looked at him in bewilderment: "What is it? Why?"
He replied while panting: "There is a Jinn… and not an ordinary Jinn, something I haven't felt the likes of before."
Jasmin gasped: "A Jinn?!"
Erold shouted: "I trust you! Just don't let anyone but the Chief know what I told you."
She nodded in agreement and ran toward the Chief's house. She found him sleeping with a calm expression, so she shouted at him: "Wake up, Chief! Danger is approaching the village!"
The Chief opened his eyes heavily: "Didn't I tell you that the astronomy lesson is in a month?"
Jasmin interrupted him in panic: "Now is not the time for joking! There is real danger from the Jinn. Gather the villagers immediately and don't tell them anything. Just tell them that you have an important matter to say… we don't know how they will act if they know the truth."
The Chief's features changed for a moment, then he muttered to himself in surprise: "She knows the true name of the creatures of darkness?" Then he shouted to the guards: "Guards! Gather the people here now!"
Meanwhile, Erold was running toward the forest, sensing the Jinn's aura among the trees. He stopped suddenly when he glimpsed a man standing atop a small hill covered in grass, under the moonlight. The man had thick black hair and wore elegant clothes, a sword hanging at his waist, and his back was facing Erold.
Erold wanted to ambush him, but the voice came to him confidently: "I know you are here… come out. I have felt you; your senses are good."
Erold was shocked and stepped out from between the trees cautiously: "Who are you? And why are you here?"
The Jinn turned slowly; his face was not a human face, but rather resembled a thick-haired black wolf with long black horns, and his eyes were a glowing yellow. He bowed politely: "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Karl, one of the Jinn servants in the royal palace. I came only out of curiosity…"
Erold said: "Curiosity? About what?"
Karl smiled while holding his sword: "About you, of course. I came to test something in my mind."
Erold raised his sword and said to himself: This is the first time I face a Jinn like him… but how will I know my limits if I don't fight?
Karl smiled, and in the blink of an eye, he lunged forward, attacking. Erold could not see his movement, but he dodged it by an instinctive feeling.
"Fast!" Erold muttered.
Karl laughed: "Oh, what senses!" Then Karl stopped.
Karl stepped forward with confident strides, his sword gleaming in the moonlight, and his yellow eyes focused on Erold like a hunter stalking his prey. Erold raised his sword in preparation, breathing deeply and watching his opponent's movement.
Suddenly, Karl lunged with his sword in a swift arc toward Erold's shoulder, who retreated quickly with a step back while raising his sword to block the strike. The blades clashed with force, and sparks flew from the meeting of the iron.
Erold tried a counter-attack with a horizontal strike toward his opponent, but Karl ducked skillfully and opened his arms saying "I am here," then attacked with a series of rapid strikes on Erold's right side, seeking to wound him.
Erold blocked some strikes with his left hand and began to move backward, trying to find an opportunity to strike back. Suddenly, Karl sneaked with his right foot to pivot and jumped upward, directing his sword strike toward Erold's head. With skill, Erold swung his sword downward to save himself, but the force was great, so he was slightly stunned and retreated backward. Karl did not leave an opportunity and attacked with another strike from the side, targeting Erold's stomach.
Erold caught his breath deeply, then gathered his strength and attacked Karl with a series of rapid and consecutive strikes, directing a powerful blow at Karl's left hand, but Karl returned it quickly. The attacks continued, and Erold had no time to respond. He stepped back a little and said: "You are not fighting me with all your strength… you seem very calm."
Karl smiled a terrifying smile: "Have you noticed that? Fine, don't say you didn't ask for it." He raised his sword high and said: "I will throw my sword, don't worry."
Before Erold understood what was happening, Karl had tossed his sword aside… then he ambushed him with a violent punch to his stomach, followed by a series of punches that made him fall to the ground.
He stood over him, saying coldly: "I thought you were stronger than this… must I annihilate the village for you to move?"
Erold's features changed, and he shouted from the ground: "Don't you dare do that!"
Karl laughed with disdain: "You are weak… you can't do anything."
Then he turned to leave and jumped from above, his black hair flying in the air, his arms extended as if embracing the air. Erold shouted: "Arthur!! Arthur!! Take my body! Just stop him!"
The voice came from his depths, filled with rage: "The thing I hate most in this world… is the Jinn!"
Karl stood on one of the rooftops, staring at the moon and muttering: "Will he make me kill them? That would be boring…"
Suddenly, a sword flashed around him; he dodged it with great difficulty and looked to find someone standing, his eyes pure white, and his sword gleaming.
Karl said in amazement: "Impressive… this is truly impressive!"
Arthur attacked him with all his might, and the swords began to clash. Karl smiled and said calmly: "Well done, boy."
Quickly, Karl struck Arthur's hand, but Arthur did not stop, even after his left hand was broken, then the right quickly, and after that his left foot, so he fell to the ground.
Karl said while standing over him: "I will not annihilate this village, but you have sparked my excitement… after a year and six months, we will face each other again." Then he swore: "If you are not strong next time, I will truly kill you."
He turned to leave, but he turned suddenly when he felt something… Arthur jumped in the air on one foot, his sword in his mouth, and attacked Karl below his eye.
Karl frowned and said: "You won't give up, will you?" He struck him on his forehead, and Arthur fell unconscious.
Erold woke up on a bed inside the Chief's house, muttering: "What happened?" Then he shouted: "Arthur! Can you hear me, Arthur?"
But no reply came to him. He turned to find the Chief and Jasmin beside him; Jasmin was crying, saying with anger mixed with sadness: "I thought you were going to die, you fool!"
Erold smiled despite the pain that began to creep into his chest, then asked in a low voice: "What happened? Where did that creature go?"
The Chief replied, trembling with sweat dripping from his forehead: "He brought you to me… he threw you before me and placed a high-level healing potion beside you. He said to me in a terrifying voice: 'Don't you dare look at my face… you will die; you won't bear this, Chief!'"
Erold's eyes widened in amazement, and he muttered while looking at his hands: "So, he is the one who saved me… and placed a healing potion beside me? He didn't intend to kill me from the start… but what is his goal?"
Jasmin said, wiping her tears: "Did he ask you about something?"
Erold replied after a moment of silence: "No, he only said that curiosity possesses him… I must ask them."
Jasmin asked in confusion: "Who are they?"
He answered while looking upward: "The stars."
Silence prevailed, then the Chief said with concern: "Do you have a way to communicate with them?"
Erold replied, closing his eyes tiredly: "I don't know… but I will try. I am exhausted now; let me sleep."
Erold lay on his bed and closed his eyes, but the echo of a faint voice began to whisper in his depths: "Erold… Erold… I'm sorry… I couldn't do anything… I am weak… How can I think of eliminating them when I am weaker than a servant?"
The voice was weeping.
Erold said with concern: "Arthur? Are you okay? Don't worry about it; I was worried about you. What happened to you?"
Arthur answered in an exhausted voice: "His last attack targeted me, as a soul, not a body. It harmed me… I was recovering."
Erold breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank God… I thought I lost you."
Arthur said in a sad tone: "Would you have cared if something bad happened to me?"
Erold smiled a slight smile and said: "Of course, man… you are my soul."
Arthur smiled and replied quietly: "So it is then…"
Outside, Jasmin was sleeping next to Erold's room door; she could not stay away out of concern for him. Erold woke up early in the morning to find that his body had returned as it was. He muttered to himself in amazement: "Do fractures heal this quickly from healing potions?"
He moved his hands and legs, then rose and went out to the town. There he met Amalia, who said to him with a smile: "Good morning… where were you yesterday? The Chief gathered us because of you; he says you have become one of the guards. Congratulations."
He sighed and said: "I was a little sick." Then he added: "Would you like to take a walk?"
She replied again: "Fine."
Erold was happy with her presence with him, but he was unable to tell her his feelings. He preferred to keep those feelings to himself. While they were walking on the beach, he asked her: "Have you not been involved with anyone other than your grandmother before?"
She smiled and said: "No, I haven't thought about that before. Also, I only have one female friend. Some have approached me, but I don't want to." She looked at her hands, the sound of the wind rising in the place as she continued: "I want to understand myself… to know my goal in this world… to solve the problems of the past; therefore, I don't think about these matters."
Erold smiled, but sadness filled his inside, and he looked at the sea and said to himself: So that's it…
Then a girl called her from afar: "Amaliaaaaa, let's go!"
Amalia said as if she remembered something: "I promised Rebekah to accompany her; see you later, Arthur."
Erold said: "Ah, fine…"
Amalia went with Rebekah, and Rebekah said playfully: "It's obvious he has feelings for you, girl."
Amalia replied: "I know, but I don't want to enter into relationships."
Rebekah grumbled and said: "Why?! He's not even ugly! Also, he seems sincere and he's afraid for you. For your information, he fought one of the Jinn yesterday to protect the village! Don't tell anyone; my brother works as a guard and saw him in a bad state, and they say he has a healing potion. Some think it's a rumor to raise his status after becoming a guard."
But Amalia was closer to being indifferent… she cannot open her heart to anyone after what happened with her parents.
On the other side, Erold was training on the beach and saying: "I must become stronger!" He swung his sword a thousand times and shouted: "Faster… another thousand!"
Until he fell from exhaustion. He remembered when Elizabeth told him: "My husband used to speak to me in the language of poetry."
Little Arthur asked in amazement: "And how does he do this?"
She said: "He does nothing; he just surrenders his tongue to his heart, not his mind."
Erold fell on the beach sand, looking at the stars, imagining Amalia, then he whispered poetry:
In the sea of your eyes, all my longings wandered,O goddess of beauty, do you intend to drown me?
I never believed in the power of a gaze until your eyes stole from me all that I was.
Your eyes are an endless ocean where my ships are lost, where my heartbeat trembles and even my breath falters.
I climbed the highest peaks of pride, yet before your innocent eyes… I stand defeated.
I fought countless battles for your sake, while you remained distant—indifferent… or perhaps simply unaware.
Like arrows buried deep within my flesh, your glances wound me, yet I welcome every scar.
The Creator shaped you with a soul both pure and gentle.
Perhaps I shall never know what your heart truly feels, but in your absence, my soul knows no peace.
For within His creation lies divine will, and He has bound my heart to the most beautiful of all He created..
He sat on the sand, his features absent-minded. Night sneaked in without him noticing, and the stars were shining above him. His exhausted body could not bear more, so he finally fell onto the sand.
Inside him, Arthur stood contemplating him with sorrow, and said:
"The tree dies beside the well,But it does not bend to ask for water…"
"Your pride prevents you, and I understand that… my friend."
Erold lay on the beach and closed his eyes. Everything around him went quiet, except for the whispers of the sea and the sighs of the wind.
Suddenly…
A bright light pierced the darkness of the sky like a stab of light. He opened his eyes quickly, his heart beating fast. Before him, that was not just an aura of light…
It was a portal glowing with the colors of the stars—blue, silver, purple—rotating and pulsing as if it were alive. The air became heavier, time seemed to slow down, and he heard a voice inside him saying:
"Open your eyes, O you who asked… the answer is behind the light."
He stood up slowly, staring in amazement, his heart oscillating with fascination. Is it a vision? Have the stars called me?
He muttered in a low voice: "Is this… the way to you?"