Binara didn't move. She even forgot to breathe. A cyclone of thoughts and emotions swirled in her head—at odds with the tranquility that surrounded her in the moonlit study.

Diyan rolled up the paper and deposited it back on the shelf. The crackle of paper and the thud of boots vibrated her ears more than they should. The leopard padded to the cushion and sank down, muscles rippling under its midnight black coat.

"So that night," Binara whispered, forcing the words out of her mouth, "you teleported me away from Mahasona?"

"Yes." Diyan leaned against the shelf. "I couldn't believe that you went to Mai Mara Cemetery at night, flinging yourself directly in Mahasona's path. And you actually summoned me...Well, it was good that you did."

Binara touched her shoulder, where the mark was. "W-what about this?"

"That's my mark—a spectral signature, if you will, which wards off other demons."

"Like marking prey?"

"I didn't use it with harmful intent," he said quietly. "To the contrary, I tracked you and stationed Raya outside your balcony to make sure Mahasona didn't come after you."

"Why?" she demanded, the cyclone within gaining momentum. "Why would you bother?"

Diyan watched her, his expression unreadable. "Why not?"

As much as she wanted to grill him for a proper answer, she nudged it aside for the time being. Just breathe. In. Out. This was a total overhaul of everything she had believed to be true. It was so absurd and disorienting that she might as well have zipped into yet another reality. On top of that, the Black Prince now evoked a tangle of feelings that she couldn't begin to unravel. In a matter of minutes, her mortal enemy had transformed into something that she refused to accept. She was in control—she didn't need protection. Yet, she wasn't even aware of the enemy until now, let alone fight him. Iciness collected in her stomach, and her whole body broke into uncontrollable tremors.

"My lady, I think you need to retire to your room," Diyan said, his voice mellow. "You need rest. I will be out tomorrow, but we can talk more at dinner again if—"

"What about the Great Haunting?" Binara asked, urgency creeping into her tone. No, I will not go anywhere without answers. "Mahasona was behind it?"

The breeze blew against the window, and unknown insects chirped outside.

"It's a long story," Diyan finally replied. "But to put it simply—I was framed."

There were still too many pieces in the picture that were hidden to her. "Where is this demon now? It's in this realm?"

"Yes."

"What is this place anyways? How come it's night here all the time?"

Diyan gazed at the window—a glass circle that looked out onto pearlescent foliage. "Welcome to Holmanloke."

Oh...ghost world. Binara followed his eyes and watched a moth fly over a cluster of magenta flowers. Diyan walked back to the shelf and pulled out another rolled-up paper. He unfurled it on the octagonal table near the divan. Binara drew closer.

It was an unfinished map. In fact, only one half displayed drawings, all contained within a dark circle, while the other half was completely blank.

"This is a map that I've been updating sporadically." Diyan's fingers traced the circle. "Holmanloke is divided into two halves, Daval and Raa, separated by this ring, which is mostly a desert."

"Why is that area dark?" Binara asked.

"Because little moonlight reaches there."

So it's a planet, and the desert must go all around it like an equator. She peered at the half that contained the drawings, which was Daval. "Where are we?"

He touched a finger to the region that was defined the most. "This is Tiamsava—largely a plateau in these highlands. And here, you can see Himavan Forest. This is where we are."

"Okay..." Binara said, scanning the drawing. "Everything beyond Tiamsava is mostly blank. Why's that?"

"That's because I know little of what lies beyond."

You've been here thousands of years, and you don't know? Just how big is this place? Binara decided not to air her thought and asked instead, "You've never ventured out there?"

"I have. But not enough to map it out." He pointed to the ring that cleaved the world into two. "The desert is called Twilight Sands. That's the farthest I've traveled."

"What about all this?" she asked, tapping the other half—nothing but blank paper.

"Once you cross the Twilight Sands, you enter Raa, the land of eternal darkness." Diyan's finger slid over the ring and into the empty half. "The moon never shines there. It's dark in more ways than one, because we know next to nothing about it."

A hemisphere that never gets moonlight, and another that always does. Daval and Raa. Light and dark. Binara drummed her fingers on the table. That means...mutual tidal locking! Only one side of this world faces the moon. So the ring is the twilight zone.

"Do you have a clearer picture now?" Diyan asked.

She nodded distractedly and jabbed at the empty half. "What do you know about Raa?"

A frown lined Diyan's forehead. "The hells of Niraya are located in this land. Monsters lurk in its barren wastes. The worst of the worst live there."

"Mahasona," Binara said, her voiced hushed.

"Yes."

In the pin-drop silence, her heart hammered loudly in her ribcage. One thought after another rebounded in her head while a clock ticked away a full minute.

"I could have learned more if I had more time," Diyan murmured.

Binara narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean by that?"

"Mahasona wasn't the only one who disappeared after the Great Haunting." His frown deepened. "I did too. I was...injured and went into slumber. Until a few of my allies awakened me a few months ago."

"So to you, the Great Haunting was..."

"Yes, it feels like a few months ago."

You've been asleep for thousands of years? Her brain struggled to wrap around the scenario. "What exactly happened?"

"What do you think happened?"

"My ancestor, King Mayadunne, defeated Mahasona." Binara paused. "I don't know how."

"He did." Diyan's jaw set, as if he was determined to hold something back. "And it cost him his life."

"What?" Binara blinked at him. "King Mayadunne died from a disease five years after the Great Haunting. He helped rebuild the land."

"Yes." He turned and walked to the window, cloak swishing in the quiet. "But do you know this disease that caused his death?"

"No."

"The great battle with Mahasona affected him in a way that was deeper than injuries of the flesh."

Her heart stuttered, and she involuntarily thought of the devastation at Natran. "T-there was a battle?"

"The biggest that Mayadunne had ever fought." As he gazed out of the window, the moonbeams outlined his profile and brought out the silver in his eyes, though now they were a stormy grey. "I worked with him to bring down Mahasona until the very end."

Binara froze. King Mayadunne worked with a demon? Impossible. There was no doubt that the situation was different from what Diyan made it out to be. Her ancestor was a powerful king who stood up to demons, and the last thing he would do was partner up with one—even if the demon in question wasn't malevolent. She eyed the Black Prince, suddenly reminded of what he was. She had sworn to destroy his kind, and aversion stirred inside, making her take a step back.

Diyan continued, his frown more pronounced than ever, "Mayadunne took the full brunt of Mahasona's attacks—concentrated blasts of demonic aura. Humans might not be aware of it, but this had caused his body to deteriorate over time."

Like radiation poisoning. Binara let out a shaky exhale.

Another silence descended, as grim as the study itself, with its assortment of ebony furniture. A dull pain prickled behind her eyes—the markings of a headache to add to her bodily discomfort. She adjusted the sling, thoughts flitting from one revelation to another. A sudden movement caught her eye.

The leopard approached, large eyes fixed on her. The distraction broke the gravity of the moment, and Binara backed away, her throat going dry.

"Raya won't hurt you," Diyan said, observing her reaction. "You can touch her."

"No!" She withdrew further. "Keep that vile cat away from me."

Diyan let out a sigh. Then he sat cross-legged on the floor and whistled softly. Raya loped over to him. His frown dissolved, replaced by a smile that lit up his face. When the big cat nuzzled his neck, he chuckled, arms wrapping around the animal. Binara watched, unable to wrest her eyes off the sight.

"She doesn't mean that," he whispered to Raya, stroking the glossy fur. "You're a good girl."

The feline purred—a deep sound that was strangely satisfying. The purr rolled through the room like a muted tuk engine.

Binara found her voice. "What is she?"

Diyan looked up. "Hm?"

"Is Raya a shapeshifter?"

"She's a shadow wraith."

"And what's that?"

"Shadow wraiths are amorphous beings that live in the Twilight Sands." Diyan scratched Raya's ears as she lay down on his lap like an oversized kitten. "They can bind to one's essence, thereby become a loyal companion. When this bond takes place, they transform into an animal that corresponds with one's spirit. But this is rare. Mahasona wanted one. You saw the result."

The black dog surfaced in Binara's mind, making her shudder. "He does have one."

"Yes, he got one and corrupted it, because the bond isn't possible with a malevolent demon from the nether regions of Holmanloke. I found Raya, the only survivor from her colony. She was just a fledgling and barely alive. I brought her home and nurtured her back to health. She bonded with me, attaining the form of a leopard."

Binara stared at the big cat, trying to still the heartstrings that twanged inside. Her gaze shifted to Diyan, who went on stroking the animal's head. It occurred to her with a jolt that Raya wasn't the only one he brought home to nurture back to health.

She looked away, biting her lip, and her eyes inadvertently landed on the map—right on the prominent mountain at the center of Daval. "Wait, what is this mountain here?"

"Where?" Diyan asked.

"In the middle."

"That's Mount Meru."

Binara goggled from him to the map. Her heart beat faster than kinnara wings while scenes from the epic played in her mind. Does it mean that the sword and the drum are also real? Even if the items were symbolic, the key to defeating Mahasona had to lie in the mountain.

"Binara?" Diyan called out. "What's wrong?"

She pointed at the map. "King Mayadunne went there, didn't he?"

The frown returned to his brow. "What are you trying to say?"

"Mount Meru has something that could be used to defeat Mahasona!"

"The journey there is perilous, and demons are not at all welcome."

It was Binara's turn to frown. "So? I need to get to this mountain."

Diyan gently removed Raya from his lap and rose to his full height. "You will not."

"Huh? Mahasona has to be stopped—"

"I will stop him." His jaw clenched. "Even if it destroys me."

Why do you even care? You're not human, and Hevana is not your city. This isn't your fight. Seconds crawled by as Binara stood and stared, ignoring her burgeoning headache. "No."

"Mayadunne was a king unlike any Hevana had seen before," Diyan said, his voice controlled. "And he worked with me, a demon, to reach his goal. But even then, he couldn't seal away Mahasona. His efforts led to his untimely death."

Binara said nothing, taken aback by the show of agitation, which made his aura radiate out and press against her. The demon prince stood tall, suddenly dark and intimidating. His shadowed eyes were molten silver, piercing her to the core.

"What's your point?" Binara asked slowly. Are you implying that I'm not up to the job?

"Mayadunne shouldn't have died when he did." Diyan's words came out barely above a whisper. "I should have been strong enough to bring down Mahasona. This is my second chance to finish what he started. And this time, there will be no human sacrifices—least of all a maiden."

"It's not up to you to make decisions for me! I will get to Mount Meru." Binara glared at him. "And I'm not just a—"

"You're his descendant. And I will do everything in my power to protect you. Even if it means making you a prisoner in my palace."