Little Nina, only 6 years old at the time, crossed the small woods where she sometimes accompanied her father on a rabbit hunt, and reached a large plain where the gra.s.s was so high that it obscured the horizon.

Courageously, Nina set out to cross this forest of wild gra.s.s that was stinging her short legs.

The little girl crossed many puddles of mud. She almost fell many times after getting caught feet in holes dug by field rats, but, yet more stubborn than a mule, after three hours of fierce fighting against a hostile nature, Nina managed to get out of the trap that world had set for her.

Satisfied to have overcome one of the trials that her brother Ca.s.sius had told her so much about, the little girl decided that after so much pain, a little comfort was more than deserved.

Sitting on a tree trunk along what she knew was supposed to be a road, Nina opened her suitcase and took out the blueberries cake she had stolen from the closet of her house.

Nina had always been convinced that what her father said couldn't be wrong. The cake that her mother bragged about making herself was so good that it could only be made by the G.o.ds themselves.

Her little mouth covered with purple jam, her spirit wandering between a field of blueberries and a sack of wheat flour, Nina didn't hear the neighing of the three horses approaching.

When she had finished devouring the pastry, which as always proved to be far too small, she wiped her hands dirtier than feet in the green gra.s.s around her.

Exhausted by her first day of adventure and her bloated belly after eating a cake normally baked to fill the stomachs of four people, little Nina's eyes began to close.

The sun at its zenith on this hot summer day did not bother the yawning child in the slightest.

The gentle breeze that swept through this remote corner of the Kingdom of Antomea caressed Nina's little cheeks so lovingly that she fell asleep after one last yawn.

The three men, dressed in rags hidden nearby, took advantage of this moment to come out of behind their trees.

Silently, they approached the sleeping child whose mouth still contained traces of her sweet meal.

When they saw that their eyes had not betrayed them, the three of them looked at each other satisfied with this discovery which guaranteed them the possibility of starting a new life.

This exceptionally beautiful child with long red hair and two little horns on top of his head did not belong to any known race.

By selling her to a slave trader, they was certain that, in addition to being covered in gold, many would hurry to their door to listen to them recount their exploits in this unknown country that, on the road home, they would invent for posterity.

Fearing that this beautiful child would be accompanied by her mother or her father, the tallest of men wasted no time in grasping Nina firmly.

He placed her on his shoulder, and the three rascals ran away in a hurry to their horses.

Awakened by the indelicate man, when she sensed deep inside that these three two-legged creatures had no desire to play with her, but instead had no good intentions towards her, Nina panicked.

Her shrill scream made the marauders' ears bleed.

The scream, more violent than the anger of the G.o.d of thunder, pierced the sky. The crystal-breaking sound crossed the vast plain, through the small woods and finally reached a small house where a gigantic being was feeding his goats.

The yellow eyes of this being with long horns turned red. From the calm he had previously shown, when a murderous fury took hold of his heart, there was nothing left.

In one instant, the back of the being's plaid s.h.i.+rt was torn by the two long black wings that he spread before flying away.

A few miles away, tied like a leg of lamb to the front of a grey horse, Nina was biting into the thick rope that held her captive.

Still as stubborn as ever, she bit and bit, ignoring the multiple threads from this bond that had got caught between her little teeth.

With the rope half eaten away, Nina suddenly stopped her struggle to free herself. She could feel him. Even though she couldn't see it, she knew her daddy was right above her.

The three men, simple highwaymen, didn't have the chance to prepare for the arrival of the bloodthirsty being.

Like a divine coming straight down from the heavens, the being overflowing with hatred descended at high speed towards those who had just kidnapped his daughter.

It all happened in an instant.

Now in the shelter of her father's powerful arms, Nina, amazed by the clouds, tried to grab a piece of it to eat.

On the ground, the bandits' horses were still galloping, without even noticing that on their backs there were only headless men left.

In the sky, the groups of birds of prey panicked. The winged animals flying at high alt.i.tude, mad with fear, losing their sense of direction, as they approached the giant splitting the sky, b.u.mped into each other and many ended up falling.

"Nina, when will you stop worrying us?"

"When Mommy will stop lying."