Anna and Hao were riding for already two hours and horses weren't seem to be tired from running in gallops. Anna closed to Hao.

"Where do you think they're taking us?" Hao pointed the mountains.

"I think that's our destination" he looked to Anna. She seemed tired to him "are you ok?" he asked.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Nothing. Just my imagination, I guess" Anna smiled slightly and looked to the sharp mountains in endless desert. She wasn't fully alright. Anna didn't know how much time passed since they came to the Room of Fire, but now she felt that the reserves of blood are at their minimums. Her sight began to blur. Horse, as if he felt that she's not well, stopped. Hao stopped as well, turning his horse around and closed to Anna.

"What's wrong?" Anna barely sat on horse's back. Hao jumped from his horse and helped Anna to climb off. He felt how her body becomes clumsy.

"I need…blood" she barely spoke out, since her strength left her completely. Hao rolled up his sleeves and bit his wrist. A blood spread from it. Hao held his wounded wrist to Anna's mouth.

"Here, it'll keep your strength" Anna turned her head from it.

"No…you…will be…strength less…"

"Go on, you'll die!" Anna couldn't do anything else, but to suck the warm blood from Hao's wrist. A sudden flow of his memories flashed through her mind: battles, fights with father, the images of his mother, a beauty with long black hair and pale face, his childhood with Yoh, escaping from home, meeting with a beautiful blonde by the ocean… Anna stopped drinking, feeling that her strength is coming back. Hao helped her to sit on a sandy ground. She looked to his eyes.

"It was you. There by the ocean, seven hundred years ago. I saw it" Hao smiled.

"Yeah, I guess I was there, but I can't fully remember. Guess blood really never lies" Anna smiled weakly to this phrase. She looked around the desert, only lighted up the red horizon where sun just sat and this view never gone, as if time stopped. Horses started to become more worried. Hao and Anna stood up from a sudden earthquake that stirred the ground.

"What's that?" Anna showed to the wall that's been rising from the mountains.

This is supposed to be the Death Storm part, right?" he asked.

"Oh shit. That's not good" Anna and Hao jumped on horses.

"Where?" she asked. Hao showed to the direction of the storm.

"If someone hunts you, make them the prey. Golden rule of werewolf's life"

"This isn't exactly the natural habitat situation" Anna said, looking to the closing sand wall.

"But we need to get to the mountains, so lets go" Anna sighed, closed to Hao and kissed him passionately.

"Just in case" she said and they both urged horses forward. These horses were obviously brave war steeds that had been trained for battles and extreme situation: they weren't afraid of the wall that could be the end of their long life. Hao and Anna didn't slow down, but just urged horses to go faster, until they reached the speed of flying. The wall was coming and two figures were coming into it. A very few meters were left, but neither Hao, nor Anna stopped. And so they collided. An impossible force struck through the bodies of the couple. The horses jumped from the ground, sinking their masters and themselves into the sandy air. Anna couldn't see anything, but she felt that they were still flying. A great roar of the sandstorm covered their hearing, making them loose the sense of surroundings. Only touching and sixth sense could help them right now to orientate in situation. Hao and Anna felt how horses returned to the ground, but everything around were still covered with sand. Horses must have felt everything better than their masters, so they slowly carried them through the storm. They've gone like this for about an hour, until suddenly everything stopped and fell in silence. Horses stopped, lowering their heads from lassitude. Hao and Anna jumped off, looking to the place where they got. It was a bottom of the mountain and if you would look up, you'd have your sight blocked by a huge sharp hill. Hao and Anna sat on the sandy part of bottom, leaning back on the rocky part. Anna panted out.

"If we'll live through this…remind me to thank them" she pointed to the horses, which were lying on a ground for some rest. Hao smiled.

"Yeah, they sure are brave" he put his head on Anna's shoulder "and I'm very tired" Anna smiled and put her head on his.

"Me too. Guess we can have a little rest, can't we?" Hao nodded, his eyelids becoming heavier. They sank into peaceful slumber, not knowing that the hardest is yet to come.

The couple slept for some time. Anna was in calm slumber, feeling nothing except peace and warmth. She didn't know how many hours passed since they got here or how much they slept. To tell the truth, she didn't care. A soft, warm and hairy thing touched her cheek. Anna didn't open her eyes; she was too tired for that. A soft snort reached Anna's ears. She opened her eyes and looked up: a complete darkness met her eyes. Only by her heat-sensing vision she understood that her horse was waking her up. She felt that Hao was gone from her side as well as his horse. Anna stood up and walked to her mare, which was becoming impatient. The blonde listened into the darkness and suddenly heard hooves closing to her from the front direction. And sure enough, Hao ridded out of the corner, or at least that's what Anna thought it was: she couldn't see anything that didn't give out heat.

"Where have you been? I was scared to death" she said to Hao with accusing voice. Hao jumped from his steed, closed to her and hugged her.

"I'm fine. When I woke up, this maze was already here, so I decided to look around"

"And you didn't trouble yourself to wake me up? That's fond of you" Anna wasn't mad at him, she just was concerned that something might happen and she wouldn't be able to help him.

"Hey, I'm fine, ok? We won't separate again, ok?" Anna nodded and looked around in the darkness.

"How we're going to make through this maze? We cannot see the walls with heat-seek vision"

"Actually, this isn't a wall. Its more like giant bushes, changing every once in a while" Anna gulped.

"What I know about mazes, is that you need to go left at first, then turn twice to right and then go straight, if it's possible. But I guess this isn't an ordinary maze" Hao nodded.

"Yeah. Guess we'll have to trust our for-legged friends again" he looked to the horses, which was looking back cleverly "they sure are brave creatures" Anna stroke her hand gently through mare's silky coat and smiled as an animal snorted softly. The couple got on their horses and walked inside the darkness of a maze.

They kept walking, sometimes hitting the dead end, sometimes ridding as quick as horses could from the walls covering into each other. After some more time (no one knew how much), Anna and Hao were completely pissed off.

"Ok, that's starting to annoy me" Anna said angrily. Well, no blames to her: no one could stay calm in this kind of situation.

"Tell me about it. Do you have a flashlight or something?" Anna checked her waist back. She drew out a small flashlight and turned it on. The beam of yellowish light pierced the air and hit the walls, made from cypresses. The ground was covered with luxuriant green grass, which looked like a carpet, laid on for the good of your shoes.

"So, where now?" Anna asked, looking around. Hao stared to nothingness for a while, his gaze stopped onto one spot. Suddenly he risen his arm and showed to the one side.

"That way" Anna flashed into it: a path between cypresses and a crossroad in the end.

"How do you know?" Hao shrugged shoulders.

"I sense it somehow" Anna nodded.

"Well now it's a good time to check are your senses working right" and so they moved towards, trying not to loose their direction. After about few hours of walking like this, Anna stooped her horse.

"Hao, look" she showed ahead. There was a light, coming from the turn. It shone brightly, comparing to the flashlight's light. Anna and Hao urged horses to its direction. As they turned, facing the light, it almost blinded. The couple ridded towards it, until they saw nothing, only light around. A warmth and light air feeling followed then. Anna opened her eyes and gasped with amazement. Now they were standing on ground, covered with thick, white clouds, everything around imbued with whiteness. Hao and Anna ridded slowly through the white world, looking around.

"Endless clouds, huh? Wonder what we will find here" Hao said out his thoughts.

"Yeah, good question. I suppose here should be this Hall of Silence somewhere"

"But this somewhere is so wide" Anna looked around. Sure enough, the white plains looked endless and not a single movement. Not even a hint about where to go or what to do.

"We don't have any choice, but to move forward. At least there are no bushes trying to turn you into sandwich" Hao smiled to her.

"I didn't know you could joke around like this" Anna gave him a teasing smile.

"Then you don't know much about me"

"Will I find out?" Hao knew this question will annoy Anna, but he liked it. He loved to be the source of her annoyance from time to time. Anna rolled eyes.

"If you'll want to. Personally, I don't mind you finding out yourself" Hao laughed.

"Would it be lots easier if you would just tell me?"

"No. That won't be any fun" she urged her horse to gallop through the clouds. Hao followed. The ridding grew into a race without finish. Both didn't feel how they just forgot everything around, forgot the difficulties they went through, all the pain, all worries… Now they were fully relaxed, since nothing tried to attack them. Anna was ridding ahead of Hao. She looked to the front and suddenly gripped the collar of a horse tight. Mare stood up on her back legs and squealed. Hao stopped at the same time. The reason they did it was a huge crater of endless cloud wall. It seemed as if there was no end of it. The couple looked to the other side: there was a giant glass cupola, sinking in the clouds. Hao looked to the crater again.

"Do you think horses can make through?"

"Don't know, but they have a better chance than we. The crater is wide" Anna turned her mare around and urged her to the maximum speed towards the crater. So did Hao with his steed. They both ridded in the same speed now. Hao and Anna looked to each other for a while and then back to their destination. They closed to the edge and horses jumped, leaving the ground. For a few moments they lingered in air, all, horses and masters, tensed, wanting to reach the other side. For a slight moment, Hao thought that they won't make it, but this fear gone since his steed's front hooves touched the ground. Anna made it as well. Horses and their masters sighed in relief, happy about the thing they just accomplished. And without turning back or other secondary thoughts, Hao and Anna ridded towards the cupola, which will change their lives for ever…