Cheryza awoke. IT was still dark in the hall and all the other girls were sleeping, So it was very likely that it still was a night time. Weird silent feeling, that had made her to wake up, now only became stronger. It pulsed in her mind as steady as a heartbeat.

Cheryza decided to turn on to her side. Yet none of her muscles moved. Like a bucket of cold water would have been poured on her, the fear quietly got a firmer grip on her. She was not able to move. Cheryza tried to lift up her hand. Nothing. Fear got more room for itself, throwing aside the pulsing feeling.

’Cheryza. Calm down, everything’s fine.’

’How can everything be fine if I’m not able to move?’

Unfamiliar voice laughed.

’There’s a good explanation for that.’

’Oh yeah? What?’

’You’re sleeping, Cheryza. You’re asleep and yet awake.’

’Well wasn’t that just one clear explanation’, Cheryza answered, her voice full of sarcasm.

’Your mind is awake. Your body is asleep.’

’Nice. Oh and by the way, one tiny question. Who the hell are you?’

’Me? I am Sharyaniel.’

’Snowqueen? That’s sure one weird name.’

’For a human, with no doubt. Oh yeah, it would be better for you not to follow that call.’

Cheryza had not even noticed the pulsing feeling getting stronger again in her mind. Now when she gave it her full attention, it suddenly grabbed her with itself.

Sharyaniel growled. That girl was just impossible…

Cheryza had no idea where she was.

The walls of the dim and high hall were made of black stone, and there were torches .

”Welcome.”

Cheryza turned around.

In the back of the hall on a little dais, was a tall dark-haired man sitting on a throne like chair.

There was nothing wrong in his looks, but something in him made cold shivers run down Cheryzas back.

”What is this place?”

”The god of the darkness shall ask the questions”, strong built man standing next to the throne said anger in his voice.

”God of the darkness?” Cheryza looked around her, and then looked straight into the eyes of the man who was sitting on the throne.

”I can’t see the god of the darkness here.”

”His godly highness Acechir, Lord of Rodacen.”

Cheryza couldn’t help herself. She laughed.

The servant standing on his side looked furious. Cheryza insulted the honour of his master. Acechir himself was rather surprised. No one had ever laughed at him. Nobody.

Cheryza finally calmed down, wiping away tears of the laughter.

” I could believe that if there would not be this one little fact. Xalitha is the only god in Chali’enda.”

”Milord?” Acechirs servant asked.

”No, Genan, I shall deal with this myself.”

Man stood up and walked down from the dais. He stopped when he was in front of Cheryza.

In the next moment she found herself kneeled down on the floor before him. She felt how his Gift was keeping hr down.

Man was more powerful than anyone she had met before. But though he had much strength, he still was no god.

”What do you want from me?” Cheryza hissed.

”You talked with Xalitha few days ago. I heard that. I want to know how well you know her, and why she’s having a straight contact with you. How much do you know?”

”Listen, I think I will tell you nothing.”

”Is that so?”

”Yes.”

”Are you sure?”

”Positive.”

”Pity.”

Acechir waved at his servant and then went back to sit on his throne.

Cheryza still wasn’t able to get up, the man held her down with the power of his mind.

Servant now took a step closer. Cheryza felt for awhile a sort of tingle in the air and she knew someone was using the Gift. Then she saw a whip appearing into his hands. The end of the whip divided into three leather strips, and in the end of each strip there was triangle shaped piece of metal.

Her eyes widened.

”How many, milord?” servant asked.

”The should be enough, Genan”, Acechir answered.

The servant obviously seemed disappointed.

Then he walked up to Cheryza and without a word stripped her shirt off.

Cold smile appeared on Acechirs lips.

After meeting him, Cheryza had instantly known she wouldn’t like the emperor of Rodacen. Now when she thought about this later, She already realised she hated him.

The first strike hit her back hard. The woman had been fully unprepared, and felt the air running out from her lungs. She fell forward so that she was now on all fours.

Second strike. Third. Fourth.

Cheryza clenched her fists. She would not scream.

Fifth. Sixth.

Her nails buried deep into her palms and few drops of blood appeared.

Seventh. Eighth.

Cheryza clenched her teeth.

Ninth.

The burning pain was all over her.

Tenth.

She could not keep it all inside her anymore. The scream of pain echoed in the empty hall.

The man on the throne started to laugh.

”Oh god, Oh my goddess. What’s wrong with her, Reijzah? What’s wrong?”

Cheryza slowly opened her eyes. She gasped. Slowly she moved to try if she was still wearing the shirt. She was.

”Cheryza, are you allright?”

”Nenna…? Reijzah..? Help”, her voice was raspy and she was panting. ”Turn me on my stomach. Now.”

Cheryza grimaced and moaned as they moved her.

As she saw Cheryzas white shirt coloured by blood, Nenna screamed.

”What is this, Cheryza?” Reijzah resisted to know, looking more serious than ever.

”I don’t know. First I was talking with a voice who said I was asleep and yet awake. Then The voice said ‘Don’t follow the call’. I think I followed the call ‘cause suddenly I was in somewhere else.”

His eyes widened.

”Nenna, leave”, the old man ordered.

Nenna clearly was unwilling to leave her friend, but honoured the old man too much to disobey him. After all, the wise man was the second highest man in the tribe.

For awhile he seemed to be lost in his thoughts, and Cheryza thought, as clearly as she just could from the pain, had he forgot all about her.

Then, in the corner of the dark room suddenly appeared a flame of light, which grew larger and larger, until it appeared to have the shape of a woman. Xalitha walked up to two of them. She froze as she saw Cheryza and took a deep breath.

”How long it has been since she woke up?”

”Not so long.”

”Good. Cheryza, I’m sorry, but I have to take off your shirt, so I can heal your back.”

Cheryza didn’t answer.

Because of the blood the shirt was like glued on her back. The last memory she had from that night was the waves of pain inside her, and the bright scream of pain in her mind, and Xalithas.

On the next morning she woke up on her own mattress in the girlshall. Her back was in the very same condition, than it had been last night before she fell asleep. Cheryza shivered.

”Cheryza… Listen, what exactly happened last night?” Nenna asked.

”I really don’t know by myself”, she answered with a sigh.

They never mentioned it again.

Weeks passed.

It was Lunnhen, fifth and second last day of the week. Despite the freezing wind, Zarew-master Lilis had decided, that ”exercises to build up strength” were held outside.

The trainees were warming up with doing press-ups. Everything went normally – at least for a while. From the bright autumn sky a falcon circled down. It landed on Lilis’ shoulder. After sitting there for awhile the falcon flew down on the ground before the woman, until the bird was all gone, and red-haired, smiling woman was standing in front of Zarew-master Lilis.

”Heyah. Am I badly interrupting?”

Lilis managed to show an emotionless expression, trainees did not manage. Everyone had stopped doing press-ups, and they stared with widened eyes that weird woman. Cheryza slowly stood up, wide shock showing in the corners of her eyes.

”Depending on what you are up to”, Lilis answered shortly.

”I want to steal one of your trainees.. It will only be temporary.”

”Who”, Lilis asked though she already knew.

The woman pointed at the only trainee who was standing up.

”Trainee Cheryza! This woman needs to talk to you!”

”Xebiatha”, woman said to Lilis, ”my name is Xebiatha.”

”She is my… Auntie”, explained Cheryza, who had just reached the pair.

”Family business”, Xebiatha said still smiling. ”So if it just is fine to you, I’d appreciate if I could talk talked an hour or so with Chie.. Alone.”

”Hmmmh..” Lilis didn’t seemed glad to let Cheryza go. But she did it anyway.

”Thank you, Zarew-master Lilis. Umm.. Would here be a place where I could talk privately with my niece?”

”In the main building there’s a little room nobody uses. You may use that.”

Xebiatha thanked one more time.

”All right now Chie, let’s go.”

They both started to walk away from the field, heading to the main building of Zarew-group.

”What the heck are you doing here?”

”What kind of question is that, now! I came here to get you, of course.”

”Why you? Why didn’t Xalitha come?”

Xebiatha laughed.

”Honey, everyone in Chali’enda would recognize her.”

Cheryza hadn’t yet thought about it so far.

”You played with her mind, didn’t you?” Cheryza said with an accusing tone.

”Maybe a bit”, Xebiatha admitted. ”What does it matter anyway? She won’t know and I just wanted to get you out from that lesson without fighting with your master. I thought you’d be only happy to get away.”

”I am, but…”

”But what?”

”It’s not fair to play with peoples mind.”

Xebiatha laughed again.

”Yeah, and even without a permission!” still laughing goddess pointed out.

”I’m serious”, Cheryza said becoming more and more annoyed.

”It was more like friendly suggestion than forcing her.”

Cheryza gave up. It was impossible to argue with Xebiatha.

It took again some time from Cheryza to recover. When she got up from the marble floor with the help of Xebiatha, she saw they had appeared to the same room with the table the gods circled.

Xebiatha walked up to them and sat down on her place. Everyone was there, sitting at the table, everyone save for Xolethane.

Cheryza followed the goddess of fire and greeted the others. In her mind she suddenly had a sarcastic thought, if the gods ever did something else than just sitting there at the table and talking. Or was it all just a scene they had because she was there?

Then she gave her attention to Xalitha.

”You got some things to explain”, she said, speaking again on the language of gods.

”Yes, I have”, Xalitha sighed.

”Now who’s this lunatic of Rodacen? I’ve heard rumours about Acechir the emperor of Rodacen, this Acechir I saw in my dream, tried to raise himself to Xenaths place. And he wasn’t too happy when I told him the truth. He’s no god, and yet his powers make him like a demigod.”

Xalitha stayed silent.

Cheryza just kept going.

”And what’s this dream-thing anyway? It was only a dream and yet when I woke up, I still had those wounds on my back! I want to hear an explanation.”

Silence fell into the room. Xalitha finally opened her mouth.

”Acechir… He was the first man I created After I had created Chali’enda. He turned against me, so I abandoned and banished him. But he returned, after getting himself so great powers, that I just couldn’t make him leave Chali’enda again. He settled in Rodacen. He created a society for himself from the pure chaos and then he named himself as the emperor. People of Rodacen worship him as their god and he even has his own priests.”

”How did he get the powers?” Cheryza wondered.

”I’m afraid, that it’s my fault”, Xenath said looking sheepish.

Cheryzas eyebrows were raised very quickly..

”Your fault? How?”

”Well… In the beginning of time I envied my sister. She was the goddess of light, everybody loved her. My powers lie in the darkness, And people use to discount me.”

Cheryza could only blink. Siblingrivalry? Reason for everything was siblingrivalry?!

”So, when I heard Xalitha crying to Xolethane about Acechir…”

Cheryza turned her puzzled gaze to Xalitha.

”Well it gets on your ego when you create the world and then the first man and he says you should have just left everything like it was!” Xalitha defended herself.

Cheryza noticed that more than just one of the gods sitting around the table hid smiles behind their hands. Cheryza didn’t see the situation amusing, however. Se saw it as a big, big problem.

”…And saw I found Acechir and gave him little more powers,” Xenath finished.

”Little more,” Cheryza sighed.

There’s nothing that could shock me after this, she swore to herself.

”Few more things about Acechirs priests… He calls them the Elite. Everyone, that is accepted as part of the Elite, has the Gift.”

”So what about the other man there then? Genan.” Cheryza finally remembered his name.

”Genan. Murderer of his own brother. Outcast, banished from the side of his people. No wonder Acechir liked him the moment they met.. He is the first one who got accepted into the Elite. The most closest servant of Acechir. As emotionless as his master is.”

”Yeah, I figured”, Cheryza said quietly, hatred showing in her eyes.

”You didn’t tell anything to them?”

”You’re even asking! You think I had wound up into that condition, if I would have been a good girl and told him all I knew? Which reminds me. If it was just a dream, why I was still bleeding after waking up.”

”Because Acechir invited you into the ninth dream level. Level of true dreams. What ever happens there is so when you wake up.”

Cheryza could only stare.

”Dream levels?”

”Never mind, we won’t confuse you with them now, you’ve already had your share of confusions for today.”

”But I – ”

”Well I don’t!” Xalitha snapped.

Cheryza flinched. It was the first time she saw Xalitha in that mood. Unfortunately it wasn’t the last time either.

”I think that was all”, Xalitha said quietly.

Cheryza raised her gaze.

”Xebiatha will see you off.”

The Fire goddess winked.

”Come now Chie, your lesson awaits.”

”Chie?” Xalitha asked raising her eyebrow.

”Isn’t that what you do when you like someone? Make up nicknames.”

Xalitha said nothing, she only stared at her.

”What have I done now?” Xebiatha said getting angry.

”Nothing… Yet. Remember, ’Chie’ is mine. Not yours. Mine.”

”Couldn’t you share her, just a bit? Chie is so sweet.”

Cheryza knew she was blushing, and when she was trying her best to avoid the quarrelling goddesses, her gaze met Xenaths. The true god of darkness was laughing.

”I need her.”

”Sure you won’t need her ALL the time. And I’m sure that Chie would like my world.”

”Ummm…” neither of them seemed to notice Cheryza.

”Xebiatha, why you always have to belike that?”

”Like what?” Xebiatha asked and her voice raised.

”So damn stubborn!”

”Ehh, hey…” they still ignored her.

”Her strongest element is fire, you know!”

”Well that proves nothing. Fire and Light are pretty much alike.”

”Humph”, Xebiatha said tossing her head.

Xalitha gave a deep sigh.

”I found her first.”

”Honestly…” Cheryza resisted but was still ignored. She gave up. Goddesses…

”But what if I stole her?”

”Just you dare!”

”What if I dare?”

”Leave it.”

”Why?”

”Forget the whole thing. Cheryza is my servant.”

”She can easily serve me as well.”

Cheryza sighed and sat down. It seemed that it would take awhile until she could return to Cerondee-tribe.