About three in the morning, Kyon got home just before the little thief materialized from nothing. She was sitting on the bed, crossing her slender legs in translucent tights. She fixed on Kyon her impenetrable dark eyes of the snow queen, whose element was burning ice.

«I thought you had run away…»

«Why were you so interested in the thieves guild yesterday?» – She asked impa.s.sively.

«I had a dream... You were robbing a treasury and got caught. My bloodline bestowed me with prophetic dreams. That's why I was worried about you…» – Kyon came to the girl at arm's length. She was beautiful like a silver moon beyond his reach and cold like winter frost.

The girl lowered her eyes, framed with thick black eyelashes. If she had told him the truth, he would have told her about the dream. Then she would have been more careful. She might have cancelled the meeting altogether. She had to trust him. A mix of anger and frustration rolled through her, tearing her apart.

«It's time to clean your water key.»

She nodded and lay down, emanating depression and apathy. Kyon wanted to comfort the sad nymph, give her warmth and peace, inspire faith in a bright future. With his help, she would make her dreams come true and find happiness. He would surely return to this sad girl, something equivalent to her loss. And by all means, he would make her his woman.

The little thief felt the touch of his warm palms on her tummy. They gently and slowly moved to their panties, the forbidden shrine for anyone else. She looked him straight in the eyes but couldn't see any l.u.s.t in them. He wouldn't cross the line. She wanted to trust him. To h.e.l.l with her intuition, it only lied...

The minute dragged slowly by. All her worry and anxiety seemed to disappear. She felt more comfortable with this mysterious boy than with her uncle. Even the dangerous proximity of his fingers to her intimate place didn't scare her for some reason. He was quite cautious and careful... She could feel her heart racing.

Kyon sighed heavily and removed his hand. – «I have done everything I can. Your keys are almost one hundred percent pure. I can't make them any more cleaner. Only someone with a holy bloodline can have 100% pure keys. Now it's your turn to keep your promises and oath.»

The girl checked her keys and said with genuine regret in her voice: – «I'm sorry. I can't give you two years of life. You have broken your oath, and I can break mine. You have to understand, I really value my time... It's priceless.»

«It was to be expected.» – Kyon answered humbly. If he had known that he couldn't clean her keys 100% without capturing her soul, he would have enforced changes in their agreement in his favour. – «And that's it? You will just leave?»

The girl gracefully stood up and let her hair out of the ponytail, loose, thick mane of the color of impenetrable darkness around her head. She took out the ring she had stolen in the library and threw it to Kyon. Then she silently headed for the door. She didn't regret losing a few millions as long as she had nothing to do with him.

She gave up easily the weapon that fired fast arrows. It would be useless against those who were one or two phases stronger than her.

When she was at the door, she felt his hands hold her gently from the back. The touch was so familiar, and yet, it sent a s.h.i.+ver down her spine as if he had struck her with the ether element.

«I won't let you go. To the h.e.l.l with the ring and the money! I need only you…»

The shocked girl was at a loss for words. His voice sounded unusually deep and firm. His sincere words and gentle embrace took her completely by surprise. She was thinking of leaving him forever because she was losing herself in him, and he...

«Let go of me.» – She muttered menacingly. At least, she wanted to sound menacing, but her voice was rather timid and uncertain.

«Black queen! I want to be your black king. If you follow me, you can make all your dreams come true. I swear…�� - Kyon whispered in her ear, fervently. He could feel her strange, chaotic aura something between a destructive ice blizzard and a quiet, sad snowfall. But he didn't care. All he wanted was to hold her in his hands forever, breathing in her heavenly aroma.

Her legs trembled but held. His words were like the first ray of the sun after endless night, filling her frosty soul with life-giving warmth. This mysterious boy who she hardly knew had just given her what she had been waiting from Leon for so long...

A powerful jet stream threw Kyon to the farthest wall.

The girl turned slowly around. There was a distant, lost look in her eyes. Then she said:

«I am sorry… This is where we part ways.» – And she disappeared at once, hiding true feelings behind invisibility. No one would ever see her weakness, especially not he.

«What's your name?» – Kyon quietly asked the void.

«Valeera.» – He heard a soft rustle on the other side of the door.

«I will find you, Valeera… Whatever it takes…» ��� Kyon said slowly, making each word distinct, his face hardened with bitter despair, his fists clenched white-knuckle tight. If he were more powerful, she would just have to face the fact that he would never let her go. Alright… It was just another good reason to get stronger, more powerful than anyone in this d.a.m.ned world.

…

In the afternoon, the meticulous preparations for the operation were nearly completed. All was left to do was to make a call, and Sauron, so smart and extremely cautious, should get trapped.

Kyon had prepared the trap, using a few dozen kilos of explosives, a couple of horse-drawn carriages and carts, as well as a dozen prisoners on death row of different kinds: from a fat bribe taker to vicious thugs, embodying the concept of "powerful guards." The latter had objects that faked their stage of cultivation to the fourth phase.

All these people had been promised to commute the punishment if they played their part well. They even had a little rehearsal.

Kyon got into in the carriage for the background sound of a road ride. He cleared his throat, changing the tone of his voice, and called Sauron.

«Junior?» – The leader of the robbers asked in a dry, restrained voice.

«We are in big trouble! We've run into a caravan with two strong guards! Dozens of my brothers have been killed, many are seriously injured, the others have fled! I fought like an angry lion, but all in vain. My hands are cuffed and my legs are shackled! I activated the sound transmitter with pure energy to call you! Save me! I am begging you! I do not want to die!» - "Hans" was pleading desperately.

He could hear m.u.f.fled sounds, and then a cold voice said down the line. – «Pa.s.sword!»

"Hans" groaned. – «I can't remember word for word... I didn't have time to learn it by heart! It's something about lies and trust! And it rhymes… I guess...»

«Did you notice any mark or emblem on their carts? How long have you been on the way? How far are you from the camp?!»

«I guess there was a gray horned horse... About an hour's journey…» – Kyon described the coat of arms of a little-known but powerful trading guild. It's better not to mess with them.

*the sound of something breaking*

«d.a.m.n it, dumba.s.s! I ordered you to memorize the emblems of the trade guilds and carefully avoid the most dangerous ones!» – Sauron yelled into the sound-transmitter. He could have predicted it would happen. Hans was a rare dumba.s.s, always making mistakes.

«I am sorry… I don't deserve your punishment!»

«Who's talking here?!» – The fake cabman barked. There were sounds of the door opening, curses, and a couple of slaps... The device was confiscated and turned off.

He had set up the trap so that the leader of the robbers had two choices: to save Hans or check the camp to confirm the facts. He would be caught either way. This approach had an important psychological advantage. Two loopholes would make a cautious person like Sauron less suspicious.

Besides, there was a fairly long distance between the camp and the caravan. It would take Sauron a lot of time to go there and back. His choice would reveal his true nature. What was more important to him: his own safety or his valuable subordinate that made a good profit? Kyon was inclined to believe Sauron would choose the second option. He had taken a convenient position on the hill with a good view of the road and the caravan.

However, the "bait" was quite sophisticated. A shackled prisoner with a physique similar to Hans was locked inside the wagon. He was wearing a bracelet that concealed his cultivation and had a bag on his head. If Sauron scanned the contents of the cart, he wouldn't suspect anything. But even if he did, he would try to get inside, anyway. There was no attaching formations so powerful as to catch the leader by surprise. He knew it perfectly well. Apart from the dwarves, no one could even imagine such a thing as explosives! It was Kyon's secret weapon that guaranteed his immediate success.

Soon the third brother's sound transmitter rang. Sauron called to ask if everything was all right and then asked for the pa.s.sword. Kyon answered in the third brother's voice, saying what Sauron had to hear. Then the leader called the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh brothers, checking if his gang was safe. He was, indeed, an extremely cautious type like to a tortoise who hid in the sh.e.l.l at the slightest danger. Oh, it would be so nice to make the b.a.s.t.a.r.d squeal at tortures! Kyon just had to wait until he showed up.

About an hour later, something that had to happen happened. Someone opened the back door of the wagon, and it triggered the trap.

~BAAAM~

There was a deafening explosion. The prisoner inside was blown to bits. Two more wagons suffered the same fate. The rest of the prisoners had a concussion.

A man dressed in thick armor flew back a few dozen meters like a cannonball and rolled on the ground, making a low ringing sound.

Immediately after the explosion, the security forces rushed to the road. They had been hiding in the forest all this time. Reaching the scene of the incident, they stopped, dumbfounded. There was a gaping hole in the ground, about a meter deep. Wooden chips from the carts and bits of blown bodies were scattered everywhere. The man in the cracked armor was lying nearby.

The wounded leader of the robbers was slowly crawling straight ahead, clinging desperately to the last threads of life. He was plowing the soil with his armor, painting it b.l.o.o.d.y red. Every move was a torturous effort.

~bang~

A bullet hit the head, crus.h.i.+ng the helmet. The recoil twisted Sauron's head at a grotesque angle. He did not move anymore.