Darius and Hunter were flying without saying a word to each other; each of the two stared straight ahead, without meeting their gazes. However, they both seemed to know exactly where to go: although Hunter had said he would return to his accommodation, he had only made it halfway towards the Red Lobster Inn, so as to disappear from the sight of his friends, and then he had changed direction and he was headed towards the coast. Darius had followed suit, and they were soon leaving Bonesborough behind.

Finally they had arrived near the beach, and there they continued up to a rock that protruded from the water at least fifty meters from the shore, and there they finally stopped. "There, no one will disturb us here" Hunter said as he landed on the damp rock. "What did you want to talk to me about that was so important that you didn't want to say in front of others?"

Darius abandoned his djinn form and returned to his human one, and finally he met the boy's gaze. "I just wanted to avoid speaking out loud about truths that I'm not sure your friends know" he replied, then his gaze became inquisitive. "You're not really human, right? Or rather, you are... but the way you were born isn't exactly... conventional, so to speak"

Hunter narrowed his eyes slightly. "You know it?"

"I am a being gifted with life magic, I can perceive the life of other creatures... and I am also a djinn, which grants me a much higher perception ability than other beings gifted with my magic such as the Palismen" Darius replied. "Grimwalker, right?"

Hunter seemed to be thinking carefully about what to say, and for a few moments he didn't answer; then he nodded. "I didn't know it had a name" he said. "But if by 'grimwalker' you mean a being created from scratch using the remains of another person, then yes, that's what I am"

"As I imagined" Darius muttered. "Does anyone else know?"

"Only Flapjack, because I told him so. I'm sure those two fairies suspect something, and so do their Palismen since they saw me and Flapjack confessed to me that he feels that I'm not like everyone else. I don't know if Katya smelling my blood might have understood something... that's why I made her drink Skara's one" Hunter's gaze became fierce: "I don't know if you're brave or just stupid, Darius. You know that I'm a grimwalker and I have a staff full of dark magic, and you're smart enough to understand that I'm dangerous. I might decide to kill you now to keep my secret, and then say that we were separated before you died. No one could accuse me of anything. You know that I have the power to eliminate you and that my magic is superior to yours. You should have questioned me in front of everyone, so as be safer and have your butt covered by those two fairies"

"I decided to take the risk" Darius replied with a seriousness he had never shown until then. "It's true, you could kill me. You have a powerful staff and your dark magic is superior to my life magic. And I don't know you, which means you could do anything to me to make sure you keep your secret. But I still wanted to risk it. Call me stupid if you want, but you don't seem like a bad guy to me and I don't want to consider you one just because of who you are"

Hunter raised an eyebrow. He expected Darius' decision to speak to him privately to be due to a foolish impulse, but instead it seemed the djinn had carefully weighed his options before making said decision. "Well, you know I'm a grimwalker. So, now what?"

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I would like you to explain to me what a grimwalker is doing here with a staff full of dark magic, especially one who fights like a highly trained soldier" Darius replied. "I don't want to think of you as a bad guy, Hunter, but if you permit me, you are far too strange for me to think that there isn't someone very wicked behind you. And as you said yourself, you are dangerous; and if you or whoever sent you here is a danger to my friends or yours or anyone else here in Bonesborough, then we have a problem"

"Very wicked, you say?" Hunter let out a sad laugh. "You have no idea who sent me here, Darius. He's not very wicked... he's on a level that has no definition in the limited language of mortals. Calling him the personification of evil would be an understatement"

He had spoken in a confident tone, but Darius could easily notice that he was leaning on his stirrup and tightening his grip on it, as if trying to keep himself balanced. "It seems… your creator isn't very nice" he said, trying to lighten the mood.

Hunter ignored his joke. "Darius… you know Luz and I came to steal your lamp, right?"

"Yes. And I know that Luz wanted to ask me to become a real girl, even if she later changed her mind and made another choice... in my opinion more than right" Darius replied, then he became inquisitive. "But you... what did you want to wish for? I hope you didn't want me to kill someone"

"Tsk! You could hardly defeat me, do you think you can defeat that person? I've never had such dreams" Hunter replied sarcastically. "What I wanted to ask you is this: can you hide me from any tracking magic?"

Darius was silent for a moment, and he seemed to think about it very carefully; then he answered: "I can do it. I can enclose you in an invisible bubble that will block any magic aimed at identifying you. But it cannot hide you physically"

"It doesn't matter, I'll take care of that. I'm good at disappearing. What I need is to make sure that person can never track me down" Hunter said, then he added: "Darius... we'll only have one try. When that person will realize that you have hidden me from him, he will be more furious than ever. If you fail, we are both dead, no... we are much worse than dead. If you think you know pain... you don't. Whatever you have suffered from the moment you were born is not real pain. That person will make you discover how what you believe to be pain is actually nothing. So I want your absolute guarantee that you can really hide me from him, and not you will fail halfway"

Darius narrowed his eyes; he was clearly starting to get really worried. "The person you speak of is certainly very powerful, hm?" he said. "No matter how powerful a person is, it is still possible to hide from their tracking magic, especially since it weakens with distance. But if you really want a guarantee that I will succeed on the first try, then I need you to tell me how powerful it is and what power he may possess". Hunter was about to say something, but Darius suddenly added with some hesitation: "I think it would be better... if you just show it to me"

Hunter didn't understand. "Show it to you?"

"Open your mind" Darius explained. "Let me look into your memory. I won't hurt you, I promise"

But Hunter immediately shook his head. "No. It's out of the question"

"Hunter, I know it's not pleasant to have someone looking into your head" Darius said. "But I swear to you that I will not try to change your memory or your personality or…"

"It's not because of what you could do to me, Darius. It's because of what my memory could do to you" Hunter replied, and his expression became both serious and fearful. "Believe me... you don't really want to see what there is in my memory"

Darius closed his mouth. Hunter wasn't lying, he was sure of it: he really thought he would hurt himself if he looked into his memories. He felt a lump in his throat: what horrors had that boy seen... or suffered... to believe that just looking at them would harm another person? "I'll take the risk. I already took one when I came here alone with you, I'll take another now. I'm feeling resourceful tonight" he said. "Hunter... let me look into your memories. Permit me to help you"

Hunter was evidently very doubtful, but Flapjack chirped a few times and looked at him with encouraging eyes; Hunter stared at his friend for a moment, then let out a deep sigh. "Okay" he told Darius. "But on one condition: don't act tough. As soon as you start to get scared, come back immediately. And remember... I warned you"

The djinn had a rather fearful expression, but still he didn't hold back; albeit somewhat reluctantly, he placed his hand on Hunter's forehead. The world around him disappeared, and suddenly there was darkness; and then, a small light appeared in front of him, which slowly expanded until it incorporated him. That was how Darius entered Hunter's memory.

It all happened in a fraction of a second: the instant he was inside the boy's memory, the djinn was hit by a cacophony of screams, desperate words, prayers, pleas, combined with a laugh that would have made even a hero without blemish and without fear run away in terror. Darius immediately felt the urge to retreat: never in his life had he felt so afraid. Those sounds were so horrible that they sent him into a panic even though he was just looking at a memory. But he steeled himself and, completely ignoring Hunter's warning, he delved further into his memory and a series of images appeared before his eyes. He could see himself in several different situations: he saw himself clashing with countless monsters; fight against a greater basilisk; talking to someone with his staff on a cliff while looking at the sea, with a great weight in his heart; face a giant fisherman; fighting the Titan Trappers... but some memories in particular were so vivid that Darius was literally sucked into them.

He was lying on something very hard and slimy, and he felt excruciating pain in every part of his body; his fragile newborn limbs burned as if molten lead were shot through them. He couldn't move, as if something was wrapped around him and holding him tight; and then finally what seemed like thousands of little tentacles opened, allowing him to see the world around him. He was in a cave, a cave made of a green, smelly material, and a person was bent over beside him, dressed in soldiers' clothes and with a golden mask on his face; and above him, staring at him, was a blue eye, no, it wasn't blue, it was a color that should never have existed in the world... and the pupil was twitching feverishly, and other eyes opened nearby to it, and then on the walls, and then even around him... and then a voice was heard...

"Hello, my little creation. I am the one who gave you life by exploiting the remains of my pathetic brother's body; you can consider me your uncle. Your name is now Hunter, and from now on you will serve me"

Darius gritted his teeth at hearing that voice; it almost made him want to vomit. It was like listening to millions of desperate souls trying to scream, but they could do nothing but formulate the words that creature was saying.

This time he was taller; he was already able to move on his legs, even though they were still unsteady, but that wasn't good; because now that he had taken his first steps, monstrous tentacles continued to emerge from the walls, hitting and stinging him, causing pain and forcing him to do his best to dodge them. He continued like this for hours and hours, never stopping until he passed out; and even when he fainted, the tentacles struck him and entered his body, passing the outer layers of his skin and hitting him directly on the nerves, causing him to wake up screaming in pain. Only when the monster felt that he really couldn't continue did he stop, but he still expressed his disappointment.

"You can do better, Hunter. Remember, you exist only to serve me. I am your creator, your master; I decide what you do. And I need you to be strong so that you can bring me all that I desire; if you can't do it, you are useless to me"

Darius visibly trembled, and nearly collapsed to his knees. He could no longer keep his balance; sweat was pouring down his face. Instinctively he returned to his djinn form, as if he hoped to fight against that being, but he could only continue to watch helplessly.

Again he was taller, more robust; his body had become stronger. By now he was able to dodge the tentacles perfectly; and then they began to move even more rapidly, and they covered themselves with spines and claws, and if they brushed against him they tore off pieces of his skin. And then sometimes hideous bony hands grabbed him and cut his whole body, tore out his eyes and then put them back in their place by sewing up all the nerves, operated on him with an open brain and heart while he was conscious and could feel everything. A true hell of endless torture, and he wanted to scream desperately, but his mouth had been sewn shut with what felt like barbed wire...

"What are you doing, crying? Ha ha! You know I love it. But tell me, do you think this is pain? We haven't even started, Hunter..."

"Darius...?"

He was on the ground, every bone in his body totally broken, every muscle torn, every organ on the verge of collapse; around him, only thousands of eyes staring at him in amusement, and a loud laugh that continuously resonated while the monster enjoyed his work. He had had a lot of fun with it, for over three consecutive days, continually destroying and rebuilding it, and it was fortunate that not even one of the vital parts of his body had not been destroyed. Or maybe not... maybe it would be a blessing... but he knew that monster wasn't so charitable. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the hideous glowing eyes staring at him in amusement; and in a corner there was still the guy dressed in white with a golden mask on, who by now had become tall and emaciated and was walking a little stooped.

"You have held out long, much longer than my best expectations. Good… you are ready. It is time for your predecessor to make way for someone else"

"Darius!"

At that point the person with the white cloak and golden mask had shaken, as if what the monster had just said terrified him, and without wasting time he ran towards him and pulled out a dagger with the clear intent of hitting him; but a tentacle had grabbed him, and he could hear their heartbreaking screams and moans as he begged for mercy, but the monster didn't listen to him at all...

"What, do you really think you can kill your successor so you can avoid your fate a little longer? You fool. You were useful to me, but you're old now and Hunter has become better than you. You've become useless"

"DARIUS!"

The man with the golden mask tried to free himself one last time, but then one of the tentacles broke his mask, revealing a face now aged but similar to his, with a deep wound that cut his face and long hair that had clearly never been cut. and now graying ones that fell on his shoulders; and then the tentacle entered his mouth, and his body seemed about to explode from the inside. The man stirred as if he were having an epileptic fit, and then stopped and calmly stood up; when he turned towards him, his eyes had become blue like those of the monster, and traces of green slime emerged from the wound on his face...

"Aaaah... a new body. It's about time, it's been a month since I last used one... at least this one will hold up much longer"

"DARIUS!"

The man approached him, a monstrous grin painted on his face, and leaned down to look him in the eyes. He shuddered, recognizing the monster that had created him and tortured him for nearly twelve years. The being stared at him for a moment, and then a new golden mask appeared out of nowhere, similar to the other person's but different at the same time, and fell at his feet.

"Now this is yours, you are my new servant. Remember, Hunter... this is what happens when someone becomes useless to me. And one day it will happen to you too. So make sure you stay useful for as long as possible... so that I won't be tempted to consume you very soon!"

"DARIUS!"

The djinn felt something hard hit his body; it took him a few moments to realize that that 'something hard' was nothing other than the surface of the rock on which he had just fallen. He looked up and saw Hunter staring at him with his arms still raised, a sign that he must have thrown it away from him. The boy had a worried expression on his face, and he was absolutely entitled to it: the djinn was trembling constantly, his forehead was beaded with sweat and he didn't seem to be able to get back on his feet, at least not anytime soon.

Darius and Hunter looked at each other for almost a minute, without either of them saying a single word; the light in their eyes betrayed the emotional storm that was taking place in the hearts of both of them. Then the djinn said: "I can do it"

Hunter's eyes widened so quickly his eyebrows nearly cramped. "Really?"

Darius nodded. "If you make a wish, I can use the magic of my lamp to create a spell that will make you invisible even to the gaze of... that monster". He didn't seem to have the courage to say his name. "But… it will take me time"

Hunter was shocked, but quickly recovered and held out his hand to help him up. The djinn willingly accepted and got back on his feet, albeit with great difficulty. "Explain better, please" Hunter asked him.

"I can't stop that monster's power... it's too great. A simple magical protection wouldn't work. But luckily for us, tracking spells lose strength as they move away from the user... and we can take advantage of that" Darius explained. "I can create an entire invisible and intangible labyrinth around you, so that any locating spell will have to go a very long way before reaching you, and once it has done so it will only find a protection that will be able to repel it since will have become too weak. However, as you said, we only have one try... which means I will have to carefully study the design of a labyrinth complicated enough that even magic unleashed by such a powerful being cannot reach you before that it lost enough energy. I will have to calculate every variable very carefully, and only once the project is completed will you have to make the wish. It may take me months, but this way we will be sure of being able to hide you... forever"

Hunter listened very carefully, and the solution that had been proposed to him made sense to him. "I understand. Feel free to take all the time you need. Remember, one try: this is all we have. I'll try to keep my uncle happy for as long as it takes"

Darius nodded. "I will do my best and finish as soon as possible"

Hunter seemed satisfied by those words. He tried to maintain a stoic façade, but it was quite difficult given the joy that was pouring from his heart at that moment. However, he maintained his composure and looked at Darius sternly. "Let's set the record straight" he said. "You trust me, and I want to trust you; but if you betray this trust of mine, you will have no way of saving yourself from me. I will kill both you and the one you spoke to. You say that you think I am a good person, but you saw for yourself what I had to do to survive, so you can understand for yourself how desperate I am. Betray me, and you're dead. Just focus on completing that spell, and once you're done, you have my word that neither you nor anyone here in Bonesborough you will have to worry about me no more; I will go my way, and you will never see me again"

But Darius didn't seem intimidated by those words; in reality there was only pity in his eyes. "I know what you had to do and what you're willing to do, and I don't blame you in the slightest after what I just saw. I won't betray you, that's a promise"

Even though Hunter tried not to show it, he was very grateful for those words. With a bit of hesitation he added: "Darius... when my uncle will realize what we've done he'll be more furious than ever. I have my own ways of disappearing, but you should think about running away too and taking all the others in a safe place. If I were you, I would find a trustworthy person to entrust the magic lamp to and make them wish to transport the entire Bonesborough far inland. And even after my uncle calms down, I advise you to keep a low profile. Trust me, he is someone who holds a grudge"

"Yes, I can imagine it" Darius commented, then he said. "If we all will have to keep a low profile anyway, you could stay with us. You don't need to go"

"I'll have to, and you know it since you looked in my memory. The others won't tolerate my presence when they know the truth... especially Luz" Hunter replied. "It will be better for everyone if I disappear from your life forever. I accepted that I was destined to die alone years ago, it doesn't scare me"

"Only if you give up, Hunter. It's not about fate" Darius told him. The boy didn't answer him and simply gave him a look that made it clear that he considered him an idiot. The djinn shrugged: "Well, it's your choice, not mine. In any case, I better get to work now. Come and visit me sometime. Now go to sleep, because tomorrow a day on the beach with your friends awaits you. Goodnight, Hunter" and with that he resumed his form made of purple liquid and took flight, and he quickly disappeared into the sky.

Left alone, Hunter finally let a smile of joy appear on his face. "Did you hear that, Flapjack? We have a chance!" he whispered to his Palisman, who chirped happily.

Just to clarify how djinn magic works: the reason Darius says Hunter has to make a wish with the lamp is because the lamp is the receptacle for most of his magic, but Darius can't use it unless someone makes a wish. A bit like the genie in Aladdin who lost most of his powers without the lamp. However at the same time if someone makes a wish with the lamp Darius must make it come true immediately, which is why he asked Hunter to wait so that he can plan an efficient spell against Belos too which he will then realize as soon as he uses the lamp