“It’s been four days already…” Alishem said quietly. “Do you think he’s alright?”

  “Dan?” Bark sounded surprised. “Hah, idiot, of course he is!”

  “We should have gone with him!” Alishem jumped to his feet.

  “So I could haul your ass out of there too?” a voice came from behind the Lords.

  “Dan!” Alishem cried out joyfully, turning toward the voice, and immediately fell silent.

  The Lord of Darkness looked exhausted and drained. His clothes were dirty and torn. His steps were slow, his gaze empty—like that of one who had just returned from the edge of an abyss.

  Alishem rushed to his brother, barely holding back joy and anxiety at once.

  “Dan! You’re alive!” The words tumbled from his lips, but each one trembled with fear.

  Dan stopped, swayed slightly, and only then sank onto the nearest rock.

  “I’m fine…” Dan replied, trying to hide his powerlessness behind a strained smile. “Just overdid it a bit.”

  "Overdid it? Did he use the Hand of Darkness? Only that technique could drain his mana reserves so completely… ", Alishem grew agitated internally, moving closer to Dan seated on the rock, "Was Mirin really that strong?".

  Bark didn’t move from his spot. He stood with his arms crossed, intently studying the weary body of his brother who had just returned from the Rift. The Lord of Beasts narrowed his eyes and fixed his gaze on Dan’s right arm.

  "No doubt about it—that’s definitely the power—the Hand of Darkness. Nothing can withstand it or escape it. Mirin is definitely dead. But was he so strong that Dan decided to use that power?", Bark analyzed internally, when a crazy thought struck him: "Was he just showing off?!"

  His eyes widened in surprise at his own thoughts; he shook his head and snapped out of it: "No. He’s not like me… Besides, that power has a great cost… Not only does the Hand of Darkness consume almost the entire reserve of magical energy, but the collateral damage—the pain and the inability to use it again for at least a year… He’s not that reckless. So, it was necessary," the Lord of Beasts concluded his internal monologue.

  Dan realized they had all already guessed the reason why the Lord of Darkness himself was in such a sorry state, and hurried to reassure his brothers.

  “Bark,” Dan said softly. “It’s alright.”

  “Is that so?!” the Lord of Beasts roared and strode toward Dan. “Have you seen yourself? It’s a pathetic sight!”

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  Dan only smiled faintly and averted his gaze, knowing his appearance betrayed him.

  “Exactly!” Alishem chimed in, squatting down opposite the Lord of Darkness.

  Dan just snorted, turning his eyes away even more as he listened to their remarks.

  “Enough,” Dan said. “Next time, I’ll just rip their heads off.”

  “Their heads?!” Alishem sprang up. “What do you mean ‘their’?”

  Dan took a deep breath.

  “Mirin is not a name. The Mirin are a race. Just like us—the Lords.” The Lord of Darkness spoke slowly.

  “What?!” Alishem wouldn’t let up.

  “Yes. I don’t know how many there are, where they are, or when they’ll appear again. But one thing I know for sure. They are incredibly strong…”

  “But since you’re here, they can’t be that strong… although, since you resorted to your ultimate attack, they definitely shouldn’t be underestimated…” Bark analyzed, moving closer.

  “It was more of an impulse than a necessity… I acted recklessly using that power. The enemy was practically defeated, I could have just torn his head off, but instead…” Dan fell silent, guiltily lowering his head, regretting his actions.

  “…instead, rage and anger consumed me, and in that moment, I only wanted to wipe his smirk from this world,” the Lord concluded after a short pause.

  “Don’t blame yourself,” Alishem put a hand on his brother’s shoulder and gave a light smile. “We haven’t fought in a long time, and then bam—a serious opponent right away…!”

  Dan raised his head and slowly shifted his gaze to the smiling face of the Lord of Flame.

  “That would be one thing, and I wouldn’t regret it if I knew he was the only one… But now, I won’t be able to use that power for almost a year…” Dan whispered, even more guiltily.

  Alishem lifted his gaze to Bark. The latter responded with an almost imperceptible nod.

  “We’ll manage!” Alishem said cheerfully, though he himself understood they were talking about higher beings for whom defeating the toughest and strongest of the Lords was no trouble at all. Alishem looked again at the Lord of Beasts, at his midsection. He was looking at the already healed wound; only a faint pink scar spoke of the power he had faced.

  “Exactly!” Bark roared and also sat down next to Dan.

  Dan only nodded silently. He was drained and could barely hold himself up, even sitting on the ground propped up by his elbows.

  “And yet… there was something off about that Mirin. It felt like he wasn’t fighting at full strength, as if he was testing me. As if he wanted to see what I was capable of, not show what he could do.” Dan said quietly.

  “He saw,” Bark said sarcastically. “Let them just show up here, they’ll all meet the same fate!”

  Dan smiled slightly, but there was no relief in his eyes.

  “Yes…” he said quietly, almost in a whisper. “But right now, I’d like to sleep…”

  Slumping fully onto the ground, he closed his eyes, and for a moment, everything around fell silent.

  Silence settled between them. The campfire flames flickered, reflected in Alishem’s eyes.

  Bark slowly exhaled, gazing toward the horizon where the sky was already darkening.

  Night had fallen over the lake once more, on whose shore the three Lords quietly celebrated their victory. Each in their own way.

  Alishem couldn’t shake the tension, and his fire flared brighter than usual, as if obeying its master’s pulse.

  Bark silently watched the water, trying to make out the stars in its reflection.

  Dan slept. Deeply. Dreamlessly.

  “Alishem,” Bark said, not taking his eyes off the water. “Do you still doubt our plan?”

  The Lord of Flame was silent, but now his silence held almost no doubt. Almost.

  “We must find the others. Tomorrow I will set out to find the Cold and Stone Lords.”

  “And I will find the Sea and Wind Lords,” Alishem added quietly.

  Bark nodded.

  “We must gather them all. Only then can we accomplish what we’ve planned.”

  Alishem raised his eyes to the sky. The night was clear and windless.

  "If only this night would never end…", he thought, looking at the stars. He didn’t want this peace to disappear—for deep down, he knew the future was inevitable.