"And, what happened then ?" asked Astós.

"Yes ! I'm interested too, go on please !" said Palaïós, impatient.

"Calm down you two, I'm coming. One June night, this young woman attacked our camp. She incinerated on the spot one of the elders who had tried to resist. We, who were reputed to be invincible and immortal, well, that didn't work out. We had to follow them into the palace dungeons. There, the king, who took pleasure in witnessing our destruction, lined us up. He took us, one by one, and had Kyneos burn us, who had lost all trace of humanity in her gaze. Your mother didn't stop crying; she kept saying it was her fault, that the prophecy was coming true, and that Ara was punishing everyone. She was losing her mind. When only the two of us were left, she was taken away by Kyneos and the king. In her final breath, she created an explosion that allowed me to escape. Taking with me the knowledge acquired during my 'training,' a trauma deeply ingrained in me forever, and a necklace she used to wear, which she handed to me before she left."

A silence fell in the room. Palaïós, who had been forgotten, cleared his throat. Sklerótes and Astós startled.

"Oh! Warn before clearing your throat, old man!" Astós snapped.

"You had forgotten about me anyway, whether I warned or not, it would have had the same effect."

Sklerótes nodded, a smirk on her lips.

"From then on, I buried myself in the ground, beneath the castle, and plunged into a deep sleep, hoping to stay there as long as possible. When I woke up, I went for a walk in the woods, famished. I stumbled upon lots of animals and a lumberjack. I devoured them, without thinking about my act. Then I heard the noise coming from your party. A real feast for me, who hadn't eaten for several years. I recognized your father there. I tortured him by killing everyone in front of his eyes; he recognized me, I know he did. Do you know what he said to me before dying?"

Astós weakly shook his head back and forth, the horrific images of the party in his memory.

"He asked me: 'Is it you?' Then you arrived, I recognized you, you, the Heir. When I saw you, with your blue eyes, I immediately knew what I had to do."

"You mean threaten my sister and me? Excellent choice!" Astós said sarcastically.

"But no, you silly little warm."

He turned his head towards the old man.

"She wants to save your mother." 

Sklerótes locked eyes with Astós. He was choked up, tears in his eyes, a knot in his stomach. Even though his mother's death was six years ago, he couldn't help but remember the distress that had engulfed the family upon hearing the news. As well as his father's drastic change in behavior.

"Is it possible?" Astós asked, his gaze filled with tears of hope.

"Yes," intervened Palaïós. "That's why I'm here. Sklerótes called me to help you bring back Anastasis."

Astós turned his head to the Dnophos, his gaze full of reproach.

"What did you tell him to make him follow you? How many of his family members have you killed? Two? Three? All of them!?"

"None, I haven't killed anyone, I assure you," she defended herself, raising her arms as if to absolve herself.

The prince looked to Palaïós for explanations.

"Why are you here then?"

"Please, call me by my name. And no, Sklerótes didn't kill anyone. I followed her out of boredom. I had nothing to do, nothing to lose, swallowed by deep boredom for far too long."

Astós furrowed his brow.

"I'm not entirely convinced... And unless you have powers I don't know how you could help us."

"Well, actually, Palaïós here also has very special abilities," the Dnophos intervened.

"I'm a Magus," he explained. "I can communicate with all species and connect them. I can pool their resources through an object. I can take the energy from a vigorous rabbit and transfer it to another one in poor condition just by snapping my fingers. Cool, right?"

"And what happens to the previously vigorous rabbit?"

"It loses all the energy transferred; it's a gift, not a multiplication."

"But Mom is nothing but a pile of bones scattered in the air and lost forever. How could you transfer to something that doesn't exist?"

"Look at this necklace," murmured Sklerótes. "Don't you see anything?"

"A black stone on a chain, what's there to see?"

She handed the jewel to the prince.

"Shake it, and take a closer look."

Astós complied, and a light lit up in his eyes. He understood. Nevertheless, doubts assaulted his mind.

"Ashes, you want to bring her back from her ashes," he said.

"Good deduction, Sherlock!" Sklerótes joked.

"But there's still something bothering me," the prince admitted. "Earlier, Mr... (he turned his head to the old man)"

"Palaïós," he prompted.

"Mr. Palaïós told us that if he transferred energy from a performing rabbit to one in a bad state, the first one loses the entire gift. (He waited for the old man's approval, who nodded). So if Mom is dead, who is going to give their life to save her?"

The Dnophos squirmed in her chair.

"That's where you come in. We are going to combine our energies to bring her back. Unfortunately, it's not enough."

"Who will help us then?" the prince asked.

"Do you remember the promise you made to me the other day?"

"Of course, I remember!" murmured Astós.

"Well, I asked you to pledge loyalty to me for an entire decade. Truth be told, I didn't really want to hurt you and your sister; I just sought your help. And you wouldn't have granted it to me if I had just asked."

"What does that have to do with Mom?" the young man impatiently asked.

"Hold on a minute. I had already conceived my plan, only the gears that would make it work were missing. I managed to enlist you in my case, as well as Palaïós, and now, we can save Anastasis."

"Please, stop beating around the bush and lay out your plan!" Palaïós complained loudly.

"You're being annoying, when you get started!" Sklerótes retorted.

Astós tapped nervously with his foot, agitated.

"Gentlemen, we are going to find the Heirs."

Palaïós jumped from his chair and clenched his fist.

"Yes!" he exclaimed. "Finally, action, fighting, tears, weapons. Blood! We're gonna destr-"

"Easy there, old man," Astós interrupted. "You're gonna hurt your back if you keep getting so excited. So, take it easy, grandpa."

The old man stuck his tongue out at Astós, who didn't hesitate to respond. When they had calmed down, the youngest of the group asked a question that had been burning his lips since the quest was announced.

"Are there any left?"

"Yes, did you really think we were the only ones?" Sklerótes replied.

"Well, after your story, I had doubts. And how do you plan to get their help? Don't tell me you planned to kill their entire families; otherwise, I swear..."

Sklerótes pouted. Astós glared at her.

"It's okay, little prince, I was joking. No, I didn't plan to kill their families. I will exchange my knowledge for their collaboration. I would like to help them in the process; I am well aware that it's not easy to manage Ara, Kaiô, or any of the other problems we face as Heirs."

"Very well," the young man agreed. "Do you have a lead, or are we going to have to do some very, very, very thorough research?"

Sklerótes grabbed a parchment lying in a corner of the room, unfurled it. A family tree of a size comparable to that of a paraglider's sail was now spread out in the middle of the room. The young woman leaned against the table, shoulders forward. Palaïós and Astós had stood up to get a better view of the document. Sklerótes adjusted a lock of hair falling into her eyes and pointed a finger at a starting point of a very extensive branch in the lower left corner of the page.

"The curse of the Heirs started here, with our ancestor, a certain 'Asthenes,' an extremely powerful but greedy mage who made our lives hell on earth."

The young woman slid her finger towards a sub-branch and tapped it twice to draw the attention of the two men. They immediately turned their heads towards this place, curious about what she was going to show them.

"Our starting point is this family, whose position I have to regain after some efforts, when I was still with the others." (Her voice broke). "We had planned to find them all and help them, but they died too early. I'm taking advantage of the circumstances to resume their mission."

A heavy silence fell over the room, with no one daring to speak. Astós broke the silence. He shouted confidently:

"Let's find the Heirs and save Mom!"