“Do you feel it?” Alishem asked warily.

  “Yes,” Dan nodded, not taking his eyes off the trees hiding the forest.

  The air vibrated, as if invisible strings had been pulled taut within it. The Lords felt a powerful magical energy emanating from the depths of the forest, but it was different—viscous, heavy, unfamiliar. No Rift had ever emitted such power before.

  “Shall we go?” asked Alishem.

  The grass rustled underfoot, tree branches creaked, as if warning of the danger ahead. One of them wanted to reach the source quickly and figure it out. The other thirsted for a fight, for fire, for battle.

  “Rakar,” Dan turned and placed a hand on the dragon’s nose, “Thank you. Now return.”

  The dragon lifted its head, its emerald eyes flashing in the darkness. It let out a low growl. The hum rolled through the forest, lifting dry leaves from the ground. Rakar’s body shuddered, and he began to dissolve into the air. His enormous wings folded. Darkness streamed into Dan in thin rivulets, until the last emerald gleam in the dragon’s eyes faded.

  “Maybe let him come with us…?” Alishem smirked.

  “I think it would be a bit tight for him in there…” replied the Lord of Darkness, who had been watching his pet dissolve.

  “Eeehh, alriight,” Alishem drawled.

  Rakar had completely left this world and returned to the depths of his Master’s Darkness. Dan and Alishem stood at the forest’s edge, ready to head towards the source of the alien Mana, when they heard the crunch of branches.

  A man emerged from the forest shadows. His gait was unsteady, one hand clutching his stomach. Thick, scarlet blood seeped through his fingers.

  “Bark!” Alishem exclaimed. His voice broke into a roar.

  “Bark…” Dan looked at the bloodied, exhausted body of the Lord of Beasts, recalling the name of his old friend.

  “What happened…?” Alishem exhaled nervously, catching the Lord of Beasts by the shoulders, “Who could have… done this to you?”

  Dan watched intently. Bark’s blood was too thick, almost black. The skin around the wound smoldered, as if corroded by acid.

  "Somebody wounded Bark’s body? Impossible… Primitives aren’t capable of that…"

  “Lay him down,” Dan said calmly.

  Alishem obeyed, carefully lowering his brother onto the damp grass.

  Dan’s Darkness began to spill forth like a river overflowing its banks. Thin streams of dark mana, like snakes, slithered across the ground, converging on a single point. The air grew cold. The silence of the void deafened Fargon for a moment. A silhouette began to form from the gloom.

  Dan uttered quietly:

  “Ligar.”

  The Darkness shuddered, and from its depths emerged a knight twice Dan’s height. Light armor shimmered with green, as if liquid emerald steel flowed within. A cold, piercing light flared within the eye sockets of his helmet.

  A dry thrum echoed through the earth as he drove his heavy staff into the soil and dropped to one knee.

  “Master,” his voice was low and resonant, “How may I serve?”

  Alishem froze. His hands clenched into fists.

  “Ligar… Healer of Worlds…” Alishem’s eye twitched nervously, he took a step back, watching as the Guardian of Darkness rose from his brother’s gloom, and added: “died…?”

  Dan stood before the summoned Guardian. Alishem, stunned by what he saw, recoiled further.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “The Staff of Helion…” his gaze lingered on the ancient artifact, “But where is…”

  “Help my brother,” Dan nodded towards Bark, who was lying there practically unconscious.

  Ligar obediently raised his head. His green eyes flashed brighter, reflecting his Master’s voice. He placed his palm on the ancient staff he held in his other hand. Helion hummed with a low, drawn-out sound. The Guardian approached Bark lying on the ground and held the Ancient Artifact over his body.

  Emerald veins ran along the Staff, glowing with a soft light, and the air around them distorted. The grass underfoot rustled, though there was no wind. The crystal crowning the handle blazed with a bright light, as if all the power of the sun was concentrated in one place.

  For a moment it went dark, then flared up again, and everything around seemed to freeze. The viscous, alien energy in the wound hissed, trying to resist. A thin purple-blue smoke erupted from the gash, but the radiance of Helion absorbed it, drawing it inward.

  “Aaaargh!” Bark arched, his back bending like a bow. His fingers clawed into the earth, leaving furrows.

  There’s something there… Dan thought, peering into the Lord of Beasts’ wound. "It’s… a shard… is it preventing him from regenerating?"

  The crystalline shard inside Bark cracked, and at that very moment Ligar sharply moved the staff to the side. A white, bone-like shard crunched as it was expelled and fell to the ground.

  “Aaargh! Damn you…!” the Lord screamed, watching as the wound began to slowly close.

  “Endure,” Dan said calmly. "So the shard was interfering… it’s fine now, but he’s too weak, the wound is healing slowly", the Lord of Darkness thought to himself, shifting his gaze to the white crystalline object lying next to Bark.

  “Ligar, help close the wound,” Dan said, turning his gaze to his Guardian.

  The Healer of Worlds obediently nodded and leaned closer to the Lord lying on the ground. He brought two fingers together and ran them along the wound. Green threads of light extended from the staff, grafting into Bark’s flesh. They intertwined, stitching him together from the inside.

  A few moments later, only a crimson scar remained from the terrible gash. Bark’s breathing evened out, and he convulsively drew in air.

  “Kgh… kgh…” he coughed, opening his eyes.

  Alishem dropped to his knee beside Bark. Dan moved closer.

  “D… Dan…” he rasped roughly, “you again… saving me… Go to hell.”

  “And I’m glad to see you,” Dan said with a slight smile, leaning towards the Lord of Beasts. “Brother…”

  Alishem laughed.

  “Ahaha, damn, he’s incorrigible! Bark, they dragged you back from the other side, and you’re still not happy! Look who’s standing here! It’s Ligar! You were saved by Ligar himself!”

  Bark looked at Ligar. "It really is him.. but… dead". He blinked and gave a slight nod towards the Knight, silently thanking his savior.

  “Alishem,” Bark whispered, grinding his teeth as he turned his head towards the Lord of Flame, “Go to hell.”

  Alishem leaned down and offered a hand to his brother lying on the ground:

  “Going to get up?” a mocking smile spread across the Flaming Lord’s face. “Or slacking off as usual?”

  Both smiled. Bark reached out, gripped his brother’s hand.

  “Oh yeah?” a beastly cunning flashed in his eyes.

  Alishem realized the trick too late. Bark pulled him forward and flipped the Lord of Flame over himself with such force that the ground hummed. Flying several dozen meters, Alishem’s body slammed into the soil, and a crater formed where he crashed, a cloud of dust shooting upwards.

  “I’m gonna get you!” a muffled voice came from the crater. “And I’m glad to see you too!”

  “Pfff, what a mess…” Bark grumbled, brushing dirt and dust off himself. “Get up already, you slacker!” he shouted towards the crater.

  Dan watched their exchange of pleasantries with a slight smile. When Bark came closer, his face softened. The Lord of Beasts extended his hand:

  “Thank you. You’re as timely as ever.”

  “Going to throw me too?” Dan asked with a smile and friendly distrust, extending his hand to Bark.

  “Pff, you?” Bark grinned, squeezing his brother’s hand tighter. “You can manage without it…”

  For a moment, the air filled with a heavy but warm sensation, as if an ancient bond, having survived millennia, had come alive.

  “How are you?” Dan asked.

  “Well, as you see, alive,” the Lord of Beasts smirked. “And you?”

  “Likewise,” Dan replied, the corner of his lip lifting slightly.

  Alishem, having climbed out of the pit and brushing off the remnants of dirt as he walked, approached them.

  “You’re such a bastard!” the Flaming Lord laughed.

  “If you’d spat, you’d have made a volcano,” Bark retorted.

  The three brothers-in-arms embraced, and in that moment, their laughter spread through the valley, echoing off the trees. But the joy quickly gave way to a shadow.

  Dan looked seriously at Bark:

  “What happened?”

  The Beastly Lord lowered his eyes. His shoulders still rose heavily with each breath.

  “Let’s move away, I don’t feel right near this forest.”

  They moved away to the lake. Twilight was already settling on the water, and only the reflections of the campfire, lit by the Flaming Lord, danced on its surface. Alishem threw a branch into the fire, and sparks flared up, illuminating their faces.

  Bark was silent, staring into the flames. His eyes narrowed, and his voice sounded low and hoarse:

  “It wasn’t just a monster.”

  “What then?” Dan frowned.

  “Don’t know…” Bark bared his teeth, but there was no mirth in his grin.

  The Beast ran a hand over the scar on his stomach, as if feeling the pain anew.

  “His aura… not like the others. Too similar to ours. Not a demon, not a beast, not a creature from a rift. He called himself the Creator’s instrument - Mirin.”