-One day earlyier-

"Thank you!", said Matteo, as Haji carried the last barrel into the basement, "What would we do without you?"

"You rely on me too much. I never said I'd stay. What if I decide to leave tomorrow?"

The old man laughed: "You said that ten years ago and yet here you are. You should go out to the cities more often, find a girl or something. The solitude of the countryside is addicting."

"I like the tranquillity", Haji replied. The cities were crowded and noisy: Full of flickering screens and artificial sounds; Full of people in a constant hurry, whose minds had long been absorbed by some virtual world he had never even tried to enter. Here on the countryside life had not changed all that much, especially since the wine yard he had been working on, was trying to retain the traditional processing of grapes.

"Then I need to warn you," Matteo winked, "Arianna is coming in the afternoon and she is going to stay for the week."

Haji sighted. Matteo and his wife Sofia were pleasant company: he helped them out on their wine yard; in return he could live in their guest house where he would spend the nights working on his music. However what he liked best about them was that they did not ask any questions. Their eight year old granddaughter Arianna in contrast was wild, noisy and curious.

A few minutes before the cab that delivered the curious, little troublemaker arrived at the yard, Haji had fled to his cottage off the main building. He was staring at the draft of his latest composition, played the melody over and over again but got stuck at the same spot where he had stopped the previous night.

"Something isn't right", he said to the tabby cat that had slipped through the open window. It had listened to more of his music than any human being – and more of his thoughts and troubles anyway.

"Something seems to be missing…"

He started again from the beginning, played every note carefully until he reached that open end. Why was it so difficult to finish this melody?

"It sounds sad", a squeaky voice interrupted his thoughts. The little troublemaker was standing in the open door – How could he forget to close it? On her head she was wearing a shopping basked upside down.

"Are you sad?" Arianna asked with naïve innocence.

"No."

"Then why does your music sound sad?"

"Because it's in minor."

"Then why do you play in minor?"

"Why do you wear a basket on your head?", Haji tried to change the topic.

"I'm an astronaut and this is my space helmet and we are on the moon." She made some slow motion jumps across his cottage, pretending there was lower gravity.

"Are you coming for dinner?" she asked when she was tired of her game.

"No, I have eaten already."

She through a glance at the unused kitchen corner that was still shining as if it was brand new and proclaimed: "Liar."

"I don't want to disturb your family reunion", he tried to bluff it out but from her expression it was clear, that she did not believe him.

"I bet you are one of those mutants that drink human blood and don't sleep. I have never seen you sleep."

"Of course you haven't. I go to bed way after little girls like you need to sleep. And you haven't seen me drinking blood either."

"Marco said that on the internet they say there was an incident in the 21st century where they gave some sort of medicine to people and turned them into monsters."

"You shouldn't believe everything your cousin tells you and he shouldn't believe everything he reads on the internet", he replied and hoped that it was just her childish imagination fantasizing about some fictional fairy tale she had come across. It was too complex for an eight year old anyway and her cousin Marco luckily was not a grandchild of Matteo and Sofia and hardly ever came to visit. Nonetheless Arianna was growing up and with every year she became more aware of the world around her. Soon she would notice his lack of aging. How long would he be able to hide the truth from her?

"Arianna, your dinner is getting cold!" Her grandmother's voice echoed across the yard, sparing him further interrogation – for now.

The lights in the main building had long been turned off when Haji still could not find his melody, so he decided to take a walk. It was warm but the stars where hidden by heavy clouds. Only a faint shimmer of the moon shone through. It seemed to be extraordinary calm. Instinctively he knew what all the nightingales, that had suddenly fallen silent, the bats that were staying in hideouts and the stray cats that followed him around hesitantly had noticed: a storm was about to come.

Nonetheless he was not in the mood to go back inside. He was restlessly searching for something but did not know for what.

Suddenly he felt the urge to go somewhere: some place far away in the east.

Only once before had he considered leaving the wine yard. It was, when he had felt Saya's awakening a few years ago. But she had not called for him that time, so he had dismissed the idea. But now his queen needed him. The realisation made him shudder. Something was wrong; otherwise her call would not be so urgent. He hurried back inside, grabbed his instrument and was almost on his way, when he turned back.

Saya's sword had been lost somewhere in the ruins of the opera – and he was glad about it – but he had kept some daggers and other small weapons, just in case. Not wanting to carry them around all the time, he had hidden them in his cottage where no one would find them. But now he placed them in the secret compartment of his cello case. Something was threatening Saya and whatever it was, he would fight it.

He spread his wings and rose into the air. The wine yard, where Matteo, Sofia and Arianna where sleeping, vanished into the darkness as he headed east towards the upcoming thunderstorm.