"So this is the weapon you want me to use?" Ethan said. In front of him a long white sword lay on a low table. The sword was made of a material which he had never seen before.

 

"This is an extremely useful weapon. You know, you can't always go on making weapons out of stones and twigs," Ahir chuckled.

 

Ethan smiled, too. Then he face clouded again. He couldn't shake of his feelings of worry and uneasiness about Juran.

 

"There you go!" Ahir sheathed the sword and handed it to him. "Nana has told me to bring you to her. Let's go!"

 

Ethan followed him through a winding corridor into a spacious hall. Looking around it he felt that it was some kind of a prayer room. At the left side of the wall opposite to him a low door stood half-open.

 

"Go and see her. I'll go have something to eat now." Ahir said. Nana must have heard him, for she opened the door fully and called Ethan. As he went into the room, his eyes widened with surprise. A massive black stone stood in the middle of the room. It looked like a huge stone tablet, except for the fact that nothing was written on it.

 

Nana sat at its foot and asked Ethan to sit down as well. He was curious about the stone, but chose to keep silent. Instead, he said, "Have you got any news of Juran?"

 

"Yes, I have. That's why I have called you," Nana said. "He is going to Saroha with one of Svald's most trusted generals, Astor. It's a mountainous region and the only people living there are the Sarohans, a small tribe who doesn't prefer contact with outside world."

 

"Why are they going there? Do you know anything about it?" Ethan asked.

 

In a few words Nana explained about the power of Dark and the Sarohans' knowledge of the forbidden Demon ceremony related to controlling that power.

 

"Juran must have a reason for assisting Astor in that search," she said. "Now you have to decide what you want to do."

 

"I'll follow their trail. It's the only way to reach him now. Can you help me in this journey?" He said.

 

"Of course, I'll help you!" said Nana. "I'll make all arrangements and you can start early tomorrow morning. Shura will be going with you as your guide. She is from that part of Anakra anyway and knows the place very well."

 

Ethan couldn't be more grateful. Having Shura with them was a big advantage, after all. But before he could thank Nana, she talked again.

 

"Ethan, do you know why I'm called the Priestess of Sun?"

 

"No?"

 

"Well, my ancestors took that fancy name. But actually, we are the keepers of the secrets of the Seraphs. In the beginning they were involved in the affairs of the Humans here. Later they couldn't afford to do it any longer. They chose my ancestors as the medium. But they connect to us only when a catastrophe looms large."

 

"Does this giant stone tablet has anything to do with that?"

 

"Yes, it has. It is called the Guardian and let me tell you that it was through the Guardian that I was first shown your arrival here."

 

Ethan felt elated. If the Seraphs had anything to do with his coming to this world, then perhaps he was going to play a part bigger than a mere pawn in this world changing game.

 

He stood up. "Thank you, Nana!" He said warmly. "Please see that we can hit the road as soon as possible!"

 

Nana stood up, too. "I'll go make all the arrangements now. Please eat and get some rest now," she said and left the room.

 

**********************************************

 

On the second day of their journey they reached the Silent Forest. Shura was actually a wonderful guide. She had taken them on the paths followed by wild animals and they were comparatively free from dense undergrowth.

 

"How are we going to track Juran and his companions?" Ethan asked Shura.

 

"From what I have seen so far, I can say that a troop of six horse riders have gone through the forest nearby us not more than a day ago. It is highly possible that they are the ones we are looking for, because Anakrans generally avoid the forest and mountains of Saroha. This is a pretty dangerous place," she tried to explain.

 

"Should we hurry and catch up with them?" Ethan asked as if talking to himself.

 

"Don't worry! I've the world's best tracker for you!" Shura said cheerfully. By this time, they had stopped by a small stream to replenish their stock of water. Shura made a strange whistling sound by using her tongue. The wind carried it far away and the tree trunks seemed to resonate it back.

 

A small furry animal came scurrying through the undergrowth and jumped on Shura's lap who was kneeling on the ground as she made that whistle. Ethan was startled at first, but then he recognized it to be small dog. "What is it?" He asked Shura.

 

She laughed. "It's my old friend, Kite! He's my friend since the time I was forced to hide in this mountains for a few months," she said, hugging the little dog. "It's a Sarohan dog and you won't find a better tracker anywhere."

 

Ethan watched curiously as Shura made some strange sounds and put a piece of cloth in front of the dog's nose. The dog sniffed it a few times and then made a small whining sound. Then it ran into jungle and vanished.

 

'That cloth must have belonged to Juran', Ethan thought. 'Shura must have brought it here for this purpose.'

 

"Kite will track him and stay with him until we catch up with his troop", she said as she stood up. Now let's start moving as well. We need to find a place to camp before the night falls."

 

They moved faster than Juran and his companions and reached the mountain before noon next day.