The climb on the next mountain was terrible, at last for his leg. But Wolfram made it on his own, and even at a faster pace than yesterday, so he was proud of himself. And then, he managed to find the next glowing flower in the sea of yellow petals with the sun still in the sky. Although it was more thanks to his touch than his eyes – the glowing flowers were completely different from others in that regard.

Not wanting to waste time, Gwendal led him down the mountain right after cutting the flower. And then, in the valley between two twin mountains, a strange black ball jumped out of the forest and bit him. In the same leg with the injured knee. Wolfram didn't even think about what it was and that the bit hurt as hell. He grabbed it and threw the ball against the ground with all his force. It made a quiet sound but stopped moving, so Wolfram continued his walk as if nothing had happened, only placing a palm to the bitten wound to stop the bleeding. Even Gwendal didn't notice the encounter.

When they started climbing the third mountain, Gwendal extended his hand in front of him, forcing him to stop. His brother was glaring at something in front of him. More black, hairy balls with sharp teeth and yellow eyes. They were jumping all over the path, illuminated by Wolfram's fire.

Gwendal said earlier that those twin mountains were low enough to climb both in one day, but the sun started to set, and they still had the whole mountain to climb. And now those things showed up.

Wolfram created another fireball, this one larger and hotter, intended to burn something, and send it toward the creatures. There was a shriek and smell of burnt hairs. The rest of the hairy balls ran away from the flame, clearing the path, and Gwendal grabbed his hand, pulling him up the mountain. When they passed the place where the monsters were jumping just a minute ago, his brother pushed him in front of himself and turned around with the silver blade in hand. But the fire still was in place, so the balls didn't go near them.

„They are going around us. There's a monolith on the peak. Let's go there." Said Gwendal, pulling Wolfram further up the mountain.

But he was walking at a much faster speed, and only after a couple of steps did Wolfram's leg give in, and he fell to the ground. One of the monsters decided to risk it and jumped at him despite the fire being nearby, but Gwendal sliced it with the blade.

His brother helped him stand up, slicing another black ball. But its halves soon acquired their own set of eyes and teeth and started jumping around again as if nothing had happened.

„We need to go up," Gwendal said, looking around.

Wolfram produced another fireball to shield them from the monsters, but they needed to get rid of them if they wanted to do something. All the plants will burn up if they enter the flower field with his fire. He tried to make a step and almost hissed in pain, clenching his teeth tightly. He couldn't stand on this leg.

„Wolfram?" Gwendal narrowed his brows.

„I'm fine. I can…" He attempted to make another step, but his brother stopped him.

„Forcing himself, you would only make it worse."

Wolfram clenched his fists and looked at the ground. Shadows of more and more hairy monsters were dancing around them, some attempting to get closer but ending up in fire. But it didn't kill them. Just burn a little, forcing them to back up. At last, they were scared of getting harmed.

He only tripped once. This was the only thing that he did wrong. But now, he can't walk.

„We are close to the end of this. Just bear with it."

„Let me walk on my own." Wolfram looked at his brother. He wanted to sound firm, but only a quiet, uncertain voice left his lips. Even he knew that he was unable to.

„Hang on to me," Gwendal ordered, and after another wave of frustration, Wolfram obliged.

They trudged up the mountain, hours in silence, if not counting the strange squishy noises made by the monsters. Finally, up on the top, Gwendal left him and walked over to the monolith. Something was there already waiting for him.

Wolfram didn't pay the most attention to what his brother held in hand – it looked like a metal rod – and wandered with his eyes over the blue flowers. He quickly spotted the glowing one. With this, there was only one left.

The monsters evaporated, one after another, as Gwendal stabbed them with the rod. Then, when there was no one left, he sat down Wolfram under the tree and looked at his knee.

„It doesn't look good." He murmured as if to himself and placed a palm on the injury. It started feeling warmer, and after some seconds, the pain lessened.

„We getting slower tomorrow. Don't overdo it again." He said, bandaging the leg again.

After getting up the next day, Gwendal cut up the flower Wolfram pointed to and led them down the mountain again. It took them another day of slow walking in silence, and by the time when they saw the sea of white flowers, it was already night.

It was so calm there with the gentle wind and a starry sky. Wolfram already forgot how long he had been in this forest. He didn't even count. Was it a week already? Would they be able to get out now? Even when they cut the last flower, nothing happened. He looked at the colorful bouquet in hand, slightly disappointed. But there was still a path down the mountain. Maybe there would be something.

Wolfram looked at his leg. Even when they returned home, it would be weeks before Gisela would let him get out of the castle again. And probably even longer before his brothers would. But this was his fault, so he wouldn't complain.

He stared at the sky until he fell asleep and went down his fourth mountain the following day. And then stopped, seeing the familiar coniferous forest. He didn't want to enter it, but it was the only path. But he had the blade. And Gwendal. So, he took a deep breath and walked there, immediately spotting something after taking a turn.

An altar.

Four marble bowls on pedestals were placed around it, with one on top of the altar itself.

So, this was what the flowers were for. They wanted him to make a ritual.

Wolfram looked at the altar after getting closer. Priests called it an altar of the earth – covered with a yellow tablecloth, with soil in the bowls. He saw it mainly during funerals, and it was a bad sign to him.

Not counting the soil, the bowls were empty, so Wolfram placed the flowers in every one of them, but he didn't know what to do with the one on the altar.

Gwendal watched him silently, scanned the area around them, then the altar and Wolfram again. He didn't know a thing about it. Probably even saw the altar for the first time.

The middle bowl was for life, but nothing in this forest seemed good to be placed there. Another option he heard about was the blood, but his father always told him it was better not to do this.

„Give me the knife," Wolfram said.

Gwendal didn't look like he wanted to compile with the request.

„I know what I'm doing."

It made his brother move.

With the knife in his hand, he sliced the inside of his palm and made several droplets of blood drip on the soil. It absorbed them like dirt after the drought, and everything around him started shaking again.

A little behind the altar, the ground began to rise. Wolfram grabbed the stone table to not fall again and watched as an entrance to the underground appeared before him. The shaking stopped, and Gwendal walked over to it right away, examining the hole in the ground.

„Do you think it's the exit?" Wolfram asked, looking into the darkness. The fireball sent over there revealed a staircase leading down. Will this tunnel lead out beneath the wall?

The tunnel didn't look to be a natural one. The stairs stopped after several minutes of walking down, and the corridor turned right. The long walk brought them to another passage. Its one end ended in an upward staircase, and the other led further into the darkness.

Gwendal turned into the light immediately, but when Wolfram entered the passage, a strong blow of wind pushed him the other way. A wall appeared between them immediately after.

Behind him stood a woman. He didn't see her earlier. She just appeared out of the darkness. Tall, with brown hair reaching nearly the floor, she stared at him with her yellow eyes. Wolfram had seen her before.

„We have to talk first," she said, grabbing his shoulders and leading him down the tunnel. Wolfram stumbled and tried to stop, but the woman was robust and pushed him without a problem.

They entered a round cave, arranged like a house. A big bed with furs on it, a kitchen with a fireplace, a round stone table with stools around it, and many shelves. They were full of herbs, books, colorful rocks, and another object Wolfram couldn't identify. Water on the fireplace was already boiling, and when they entered the cave, the woman forcefully sat him down on the stool and went to pour it into mugs. She handed one of them to Wolfram, but he didn't even though about drinking it.

He felt like he was in an infirmary, with the smell of medicine, and the woman had similar air around her to Gisela when he got hurt during the training. But, of course, she was still smiling cutely.

„Is all this your doing?"

She smiled and drank from her mug, urging him to do the same. Wolfram looked at the strange, green mixture resembling water from the swamp.

„No thanks."

„Drink." She ordered.

Wolfram furrowed his brows. Sacrifice needed to hear anything from her? He drank it, and it tasted like grass. Maybe it even was grass. It made him nauseous, but he held it inside.

„Happy?"

„Amber."

„What?"

„My name."

„Is that so. Care to tell me, what doesn't all that mean?"

„Just a little test."

A little test? He squeezed the empty cup tighter. What did she think? Making an experiment on him?

„Your little test nearly killed me."

„But you're fine after all, right?"

Wolfram blinked several times at how carelessly she answered him. And with his own words.

„If you're better now, we can talk." She paced her elbows on the table and rested her chin on the top of her palms. „We haven't seen each other in a long time, so there are a lot of things to discuss."

„I don't remember seeing you at all." Besides the time from far away in that forest. And he would have remembered a woman like her.

She pouted her lips, displeased.

„It's still not working?"

„What?"

„Nevermind. Even if so, we don't have much time until your brother manages to destroy that wall." She sighed and shook her head. „You already bed Frell, and the first thing you should know is that the guy is obsessed with killing you. Even if his master doesn't let him do it immediately, he will haunt you." She looked at the exit of the cave, thinking. „It would be easy if you would have your memories back, but if their ritual didn't work, I doubt my potions will."

Wolfram closed his eyes for a moment, trying to understand what is she saying. Did she mean the guy he encountered at his grandfather's mansion? Thinking about it, he also acted as if they had met earlier. He opened his eyes, and Amber was staring at him.

„Bringing Shouhu back, you wake them up. And they gather strength now. You and your husband should get your memory back and do something about it."

His check turned red, and Wolfram cleared his throat.

„I have no idea what you are talking about," he said, „But I would rather leave this place."

She grabbed his shoulder before he was able to move and didn't let go despite his furious gaze. This woman was the one responsible for putting him in this forest, and now she was sitting here, spilling nonsense. She was insane but powerful, which made her dangerous. She was able to interfere with Yuuri's magic and…

„How did you do that?" Wolfram asked. Yuuri's trip to the Earth was interfered with once, but it wasn't as accurate as this. It meant that she had a power close to Shinou.

„It's nothing." She smiled like an innocent girl.

„It isn't to me."

„Listen to me then."

„I don't understand anything that you're saying."

„You have the soul of someone I know. And your husband too. Only people with souls like yours could get rid of those things. If not, that would create another Shoshu."

Wolfram sighed and broke free from the hand still holding him. They all already know that Yuuri's soul is special, but what he had to do with it?

„He's not my husband."

„Doesn't matter if you're married in this life yet or not." She rolled her eyes. „Listen, you just have to find a way to get your memories back and don't get killed unless we would have another flood."

„Care to explain to me everything from the beginning?" Wolfram asked, deciding that if it went on like this, all this random information would only cause him confuson. Talking with women is difficult.

She looked again at the exit from the cave and composed herself.

„So be it," She started. „It's started in our first lives. We were patrons of elements, gods, as they call it now. And as long as our four could live together without conflict, another patron showed up that wanted everything for themself." She turned to look again. „We don't have much more time to talk, but Versrur finally sealed him. But unfortunately, he managed to create Shoshu before it. Versrur was too weak and died after his battle, so someone else had to deal with it. But it was god's creation, so even someone with god's blood in him couldn't kill it, so it was also sealed. And with this one seal broken, the one keeping Avels asleep was also destroyed." She was speaking faster with every word. „It takes a god to kill another god. You need to go there with Versrur to ensure it is done. You had enough rest, so you two would be able to do it."

„You said that you have this soul too? So, why did you need Yuuri to do it? Can't you take care of it? Especially that apparently, you have much more knowledge about it."

„I don't have enough strength."

„I have just experienced first-hand something completely different."

„It's not enough. You meet Frell. He had only a fraction of his power, but you saw what he could do. And even without being there. With every human killed, they would have more and more power. And there are a lot of humans they could kill."

There was a loud rumble from the corridor.

„We run out of time, Emerald. I will try to talk to you later, but you should try to find a solution on your own. Maybe in the old shrine. You already found one." Amber pulled him from the stull and out of the cave, making another stone wall behind him.

Wolfram stood by the wall, dumb folded, processing what he had just heard. He heard that name, and he didn't like that he was called by it. He didn't like anything that this woman said at all. The words were buzzing in his head, repeating themself time and time again.

„Wolf!"

He flinched and looked up. Yuuri stood in the corridor, breathing heavily, and Wolfram immediately forgot everything Amber had said. He could finally get out of here.

He ran over to his fiance and trowed his hands around his neck. Yuuri took a couple of steps back but regained his balance and embraced him.

„I'm sorry," Wolfram said, hiding his face in the crook on his neck.

„What? What are you apologizing for?" Yuuri asked, surprised, and patted his head.

„Let's go back home."

But it took him several minutes to let go of Yuuri.