"A father's love is the most precious gift there is."

Saying

***

Night had fallen for several hours now and the streets of the city seemed as quiet as on a full moon night. Hidden in the shadows of the street, a graceful figure crept at a snail's pace under the windows of the inn where Caleb, Rawën, Aloÿs and Erwë were staying. She climbed the wall of the inn without making a sound and with agility then jumped over the bar of the balcony.

The shadow knocked very lightly on the window of the room, so lightly that Caleb, who was sleeping deeply, did not hear anything. Seeing that it didn't work, the figure signed with his hands and a small ball of light materialized. This small sphere passed through the glass and landed on Caleb's eyes. Disturbed by the light, his eyebrows furrowed and his vision stabilized. Still drowsy, he sat up awkwardly and rubbed his eyes.

Slowly, Caleb turned back to the window. He saw the blurred shadow of a person standing next to a plum tree trunk. He slowly got up from the bed, dressed as quickly as possible, leaving only his neck in the open, revealing the red marks of strangulation, opened the door of the suite, crossed the entrance hall, the inner garden and then went in the direction of the garden where the window of the room was, then joined the famous figure hidden under the trees of the garden, this one suddenly disappeared in the dark night.

With bated breath, he studied every direction to find an easy opening that would take him in pursuit of the individual. His gaze fell on a door hidden in the stone wall. Past this one, Caleb found himself alone in the street illuminated by candelabras that diffused an amber and clear light. At the foot of a lamppost stood the figure that evaporated when Caleb appeared near it. The scene recurred and a chase between him and this unknown guide took place. Guide who disappeared to reappear a few meters further.

What Caleb did not know was that after his hasty departure, Aloÿs, who had felt the signature of the Shadows, had opened his eyes and a look of inevitability had appeared as quickly as it had faded. Erwë had warned him a few hours earlier that he had recorded and sent a mestryst1 to the patriarch. Aloÿs lay back down under the comforter and went back to sleep without a care in the world. 

The heavy atmosphere of the alleys that could be perceived during the day was more perceptible at night. The streets were lit only by the moonlight, which gave Caleb a slight feeling of anxiety that ceased at the same time as his adrenaline increased. His hurried footsteps echoed through the empty streets, the wind particularly hitting his face, leaving chapped lips and red cheeks. The shadows of the few trees present gave the impression that monsters were chasing them ready to devour him.

The figure suddenly disappeared into the shadow of a narrow gap. Caleb rushed after him with a little less sure step in the alley from which came a nauseating smell.

Advancing slowly with his eyes riveted to the ground, he found himself in front of a small dark door where a woman with a muscular appearance gave him an icy look that could freeze even the bravest. It was his shadow, his guide, Caleb recognized the figure. In a slow, almost lazy voice, she said to him:

- My master is waiting for you.

Knocking on the door four rhythmic times, the woman waited and the previously closed door slowly creaked open into a quiet torch-lit hallway. As he walked Caleb tried to ask her some questions about her so-called master to get some answers, but he got none. The woman soon stopped in front of another door, this time a larger one, which she opened with a sharp movement. Behind this one was a very large room decorated with seven high stone pillars, illuminated by man'lë lamps covering the room with a bluish light. The walls were lined with long, heavy draperies representing buildings, no doubt from an ancient and lost Argeneone.

Caleb found himself facing a carved wooden dais from which sat a large painted wooden seat. On said seat, a man with a weathered face and a short gray beard, his legs wide open, stared at him with cold eyes. The patriarch of the Shadows, for yes, it was him, was named Faizel. He was a man with well-defined muscles despite his age and a stoic, almost hard face. The veteran gauged Caleb for a few minutes, making him look like hours, then in a deep voice, he ordered him:

- Follow me.

With a stilted gait, Faizel guided Caleb to a spiral staircase. The opening the old chief then opened brought them into a room lit by four torches, which held a writing case with a thick leather-covered manuscript.

Caleb could not take another step when an unknown force suddenly pulled him to the open book. A bright light blinded him and like a movie, he found himself propelled into an ancient palace. Everything was made of gems and large red screens decorated the space. In the middle of all this magnificence, two men and a woman with black hair.

- Father! Bring back this woman! Helen is already united to the King of Parthe, if my brother marries her, it will be the end of our family and our world!

- What does it matter, if your brother loves her my daughter. declared with contentment the oldest of the men dressed in a golden tunic decorated with rubies.

- Cassandra, dear sister, do not worry. My sweet Helene belongs to me already! She loves me and awaits my child! exclaimed with joy the beautiful young man.

- I beg you father and beloved brother!

- I don't care! I will soon have a grandson. What a joy!

- Father! I beg you! For the future of our lineage!" the young woman with the tied hair begged louder.

- Enough! I have no cursed and defiled descendants like you!

- Father! Father! Listen to me! turning towards her last support, she implored, Pâris dear brother, believe me! Please, she began to sob while catching his arm.

- You are insane! I do not recognize you my sweet little sister. I love her, you can understand... he said tearing his sister's hands from his arm and for the last time before turning around without a single glance for his jealous and lost sister.

These were the last words that the young woman with mysterious red and white eyes heard from her beloved father and brother. The last ones, before the world ended as she had predicted."

Caleb had watched this sad scene with wide eyes. Who were these people? What time was this? And those eyes... the same as his? Why, why was he always having strange dreams? Plunged in his thoughts and obsessed by the scene he had just seen, Caleb had not paid attention that he was already back to reality.

It was only when he felt the cold and bumpy ground that he came back to himself. What was that? he thought still in shock. He soon answered the patriarch's question, pushing his questions to the back of his mind.

- I... have nothing to say.

- To each his own," said the fatalistic man, shrugging his shoulders. In any case, it was a pleasure to meet you, but we'll have to leave each other.

It hadn't even been ten minutes, Remind me why I had to meet this man? Caleb thought, hoping to get an answer from Alew.

- I'll take you home," Faizel finished a little more slowly, pulling out a displacement stone and activating it. He thought, "Given the young man's face, this story about Nemëkè... Better save it for later.

Soon they were both covered by a light that carried them into the hotel room where three sleeping angels were waiting for them.

- Your breathing has deceived you Aloÿs. Stop pretending... chuckled the bearded man.

- Faiz', breathed a dejected Aloÿs slowly getting off the bed. You could still have let me pretend.

- Couldn't you? Come on, call me father like when you were little, microbe, replied the latter with a mocking and happy air, happy to see his adopted son again after several years without any interview on his part.

- It's a pleasure old man, but I don't feel like it. And in front of Caleb, too! Let me have my credibility," replied Aloÿs in a dejected whisper.

- You've already lost it, my friend," interposed Caleb with a smile in his voice. Well, it's not that I'm tired, but I would like to rest, do you mind? And then you can speak to you later, you know with your insects there, retorted Caleb while sinking under the comforter, good night.

A conversation then began between father and son.

- How does he know that?" asked Faizel, glancing at Caleb.

- I don't know," replied Aloÿs, shrugging his shoulders. But it doesn't surprise me," he continued with pride in his voice.

- Aren't you guys almost done?" exclaimed an acerbic Caleb, startling the two supernatural creatures.

- Good night," said Aloÿs loudly, ending their silent conversation, "Dad.

- You too son.

Nodding, Faizel, leader of the Shadows, left the room in a soft flash of light, leaving Aloÿs to close the window and head for bed, where he settled under the warm comforter with his friends. The next morning, Rawën received a call from Adonaï who summoned them to return as soon as possible. Their walk, which was supposed to last much longer, ended like that. And then with Erwë's swollen foot the program that the three angels had planned could not continue. So they decided to leave in the early afternoon.

During this free time, the four friends had been able to stay and eat delicious desserts, walk in the beautiful gardens and especially enjoy the hot springs of the inn. Then they returned quietly in a kari, a carriage pulled by a Slepnir, an eight-legged horse capable of moving over the seas, in the air and on land. The journey lasted four hours of laughter, jokes and lively conversation. When they arrived at their final destination, they were accompanied by an ever-serious Doloriel to Adonai's office, where he was waiting for them. The office was unusually and more messy than usual. Large books were open on the floor and sheets of paper were scattered all over the place.

In the midst of this carnage sat the blue-haired god on his knees, his back bent, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. His left hand was writing in fits and starts while the other turned the pages of a huge ancient manuscript with yellowed pages. He was so immersed in what he was doing that he had not seen that Caleb, Aloÿs, Erwë and Rawën had entered his office.

- We are here," said Caleb, coughing.

- Good," replied His Most Cold Divinity in an icy voice.

She stood up, dusted off her white sherwani1 and turned to the four boys, a murderous glint in her eyes. The three angels stiffened, but the hard gaze of Her Most Serious Deity dismissed them. They fled, leaving the salt statue that Caleb had become.

- What's going on?" asked the small adult, uncomfortably.

- Nothing, Adonai declared abruptly, a sign of anger that Caleb did not understand. What was he at fault for? All he had done was die and find himself in a strange world he didn't understand. He asked the question that was holding him back in an unconfident way:

- You... You wanted to see me? About what?

- Are you asking me, child?" the creator of all things asked dangerously. Looking at Caleb's puzzled face, he wondered: Really? I don't believe it," he said with a cynical laugh.

- Don't know what?" Caleb questioned softly, increasingly confused by Adonai's icy anger. What have I done now, he wondered, a little angry at the deity's silent accusation.

The impassive aspect of the God broke and was replaced by a carefree and weary voice.

- I believe that I need sleep, finished this one by rubbing his ray of the lion. I apologize for my behavior.

- A God apologizes? To me?  Did the sky fall on his head? Caleb thought, surprised to say the least, that someone of his stature would forgive him. He sighed and thought: there you go, they're going to keep me in the dark again. So when is the next meeting?

- In five days, began his interlocutor, he hesitated then humidified his lips, not two days.

The wary glance, Caleb turned away from the divinity and left the room by taking care to close the door, wondering about the reaction more than suspect of Adonaï. Leaving His Most Ingenious Majesty, his empty gaze resting on the departing human's back.

In the corridors, Caleb found himself facing Doloriel who was waiting for him with a dangerous look painted on his face. Recognizing that look and what it meant, Caleb hid his clenched fists behind his back, so that his interlocutor could not observe his tremors and raising an eyebrow, feigning his calm, he asked:

- A problem?

- I'm warning you, if I ever see you doing anything suspicious, I'll gouge your eyes out before I kill you in a death you'll remember for the rest of your life!

Caleb thought the threat was ridiculous, what could he possibly do. He didn't even know why he was here yet, and even if he did, he would have tried to die again. And Doloriel didn't even know what he had experienced in his world, in Ahes, so what was the point. He replied flatly:

- Oh.

- I'm watching you, threatening the blonde angel surprised by the human's calm tone. He left after having thrown a glance which promised a pure and hard execution of his warning.