"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you do not know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will lose every battle."

Sun Tzu.

Two years had passed in peace and in the purest happiness. Eduarda was, for Igor, the most precious of the creatures he had met and the greatest of all the loves he had felt. With her, the wizard forgot all the hardships and sorrows, becoming a cheerful and fun person, free of the nightmares that plagued him. They both lived in great harmony and there was never any kind of problem at the university. They were always together, both at work and at college, and they were inseparable. Besides, their friendship with Valdo became even stronger, making the other classmates change their behaviors towards the homosexual colleagues.

At the beginning of the third year, a guy appeared in the new freshman class who, for no reason, started to pick on Igor who didn't care about him, although this didn't bother the new colleague but rather instigated him. Even when he started to harass the bride, Igor remained calm until the day Eduarda told him that the guy bothered her. From then on, he decided to take action and, that day, he went to talk alone with the colleague asking him to have a minimum of education and respect, but all he heard was a sneer. However, this was a laugh that shook and confused him. Still trying to avoid an open confrontation, the young man didn't react to the provocation, but put his finger up, making a bad face as if to say: 'you're warned'.

That day he was thoughtful, trying to understand why the laugh had affected him so much and spent a lot of time pondering about it without a concrete result, especially because it reminded him of the Citadel and the Crystal World that he hadn't seen since his parents' death.

At night, sitting in the living room of his house watching television and waiting for Eduarda who had gone to take a shower, he began to think about everything, thinking that it was more than time for her to know the truth about him. It didn't take long and the girl arrived, sitting on his lap and wrapping his neck. She kissed him sweetly and looked straight into his eyes, very sensual, then she smiled.

"Why is my sweet love so worried?" she asked, always very cheerful. "If it's because of that fool, forget it, it's not worth it."

"No, angel." He smiled and hugged her, returning the kiss. "He reminded me of something from my past that worried me a little."

"This your dark past that you never admit?" She laughed, getting up to release her hair from the towel, still wet. "Change the TV for some music, my love, this news is horrible. The country is going from bad to worse. These idiots didn't learn from the mistakes of 2014 and will repeat them; incredible!"

"Well," he said, obeying and putting on a soft music that made her pull him to dance, smiling. "I think maybe you should know about my past and for some time I've been thinking about explaining some things to you, but sometimes I fear that they might shock you a little, I'm afraid of scaring you because your reality might suffer a big change of perspective. Drastic and huge, actually."

"Okay." Eduarda made a final step and, with a theatrical gesture, kissed him again, laughing. "But now let's make dinner that I'm hungry. You tell me while we cook."

"You have no way, do you?" He laughed, happy. "What do you want to eat?"

"Lasagna and you for dessert," she answered, making the most innocent face in the world and provoking a laugh from him. "I love lasagna... and you, of course."

"But it will take a long time to make and I don't know if we have enough cheese, my princess." Igor laughed again, knowing that he could solve the problem in ten seconds and wondering if it wouldn't be the perfect opportunity to tell her the truth about himself.

"There are one or two frozen ones and those that go straight to the microwave without needing to defrost. Look for it there that I bought these days." Eduarda took some water and drank. "Oh, love, do you think we need to wait to graduate to get married? We almost live together and it must have been two weeks since I didn't go home! We could face it right away, not to mention that my parents love you."

"If that's what you want, just choose the time and place," he answered, forgetting to continue his revelation.

"More than anything, Igor." She threw herself on his lap, filling him with kisses. "Then we can make a beautiful baby and—"

"Hey, calm down there that baby only after we graduate," Igor retorted, alarmed, but laughing. "I think we should first enjoy our lives. I don't know why you have such a big obsession to have a baby."

"I can't explain it to you, honey, but I'm crazy to have a child."

"All right, my princess. I'll give you a whole soccer team, but let's go easy, okay?" Igor kissed her and continued more seriously, but determined. "Now, if we're going to get married, it's imperative that you know about my past—"

"Listen, love," she said, interrupting, "do you intend to go out like this?"

"Like this, how?" the groom asked, looking at his own clothes, astonished. "Is there something wrong with my clothes?"

"Wow, you always wear very light or white colors." She looked at the groom, who was wearing a sporty pants, almost white, with a white blazer and shirt. "Although white makes you attractive, but varying is good, you know?"

"It's force of habit, I guess, and white has harmony," he retorted, smiling. "It must be because of my past. Speaking of which—"

"Okay, darling." She laughed, interrupting again. "Put the lasagna to heat up that I'm going to fix the look. Then you tell me about this your mysterious past."

"Okay," Igor replied. Eduarda gave him another kiss, winked and went to the bedroom. When she was going to reach the stairs, Igor called her from the kitchen door:

"Sweetie." She turned to him and saw the clothes changing to a darker shade, almost black. "Is this better?"

"On second thought, no." She laughed, but didn't show any impression. "Go back to white that you look much more handsome. One of these days you have to teach me these tricks, but now I'm going to dry my hair."

She sent a kiss and ran upstairs to get ready and put on a decent outfit, since she was only in lingerie and they intended to go to the movies after dinner.

"She has no way. For curious she doesn't serve," Igor said, thinking aloud. He laughed and put the lasagna in the microwave while thought about the luck that fate had given him with the future wife, a woman extroverted, intelligent, cheerful and always well-disposed, besides being drop-dead gorgeous. He marked the power and time of the oven, returning to the living room, when he realized that he no longer heard the music.

Suddenly, he felt a chill of cold, shivering a little and looking around. He went towards the sound system to change the CD when he heard a sharp scream in the bedroom, something that expressed absolute terror.

Igor froze when he recognized the bride and reacted with an impressive speed. He ran to the stairs, climbing the steps four by four and entering the room with a punch. The first thing he noticed was that there was no one there and the hair dryer was working alone, lying on the floor.

"Eduarda," he shouted. "Where are you, what happened?"

Half disoriented he looked around, not understanding what could have happened. He covered the exit with his body and made a gesture towards the hair dryer that turned off. Then, the small appliance started to float and landed on the dresser. To not leave the bedroom door, he made the bed float and looked under it, finding nothing. The bathroom door was open and he saw that there was no one there. He left the room and locked the door, using his powers. From the top of the stairs, he locked the front door and went to his old room, also finding nothing. Igor searched the whole house, room by room, shouting non-stop, but nothing of the bride. When he finished, he released the locks he had made and sat down in the living room to calm down and think more clearly.

The first conclusion, more than obvious, was that she was kidnapped by someone, but the second gave him chills, because she could only have been kidnapped by a being capable of extraordinary powers, powers that only he had there. He didn't believe that there was another first-degree wizard alive after the disaster at the Citadel and they were the only ones capable of crossing the various planes without the help of a dragon or the planar capsules. The question is that this kidnapper would have to have the power to open a portal or to teleport with someone else, something even more difficult, making it imperative that he was a wizard with absurd abilities. However, as distracted as Igor was, he should have felt a portal being opened, but he felt nothing and concluded that it may have been opened before he arrived and with great skill, since he was very sensitive to the flows.

His daydreams were interrupted by the doorbell. When he opened the door, he saw Valdo and remembered that the three of them were going to the movies together. He looked around, pulled his friend inside grabbing him by the collar and locked the door, leaving Valdo very astonished by this somewhat crazy and aggressive behavior.

"Dude," he said with a punch, not giving him time to speak, "someone just kidnapped Eduarda and I'm very scared."

"W... what, kidnapped?" He widened his eyes and sat down on an armchair, looking at his friend. "How come, Igor? That doesn't make sense!"

"I don't know yet, man, but it's not a normal human being. It was someone as or more powerful than me."

"Powerful?" Valdo wrinkled his forehead. "What kind of talk is that, man?"

"Valdinho, I'm going to tell you a secret, okay?" said his friend, serious and worried. "No one else knows, not even Eduarda. I was going to tell her today, but I didn't have time, but I need you to keep this just for yourself. Promise me."

"I promise," he confirmed, curious while adjusting the hem of his pants. "What will be so drastic?"

"Valdinho, all that talk of fantasy movies about wizards and witches... well, some of those things are very true and I'm one of them."

Valdo heard that and thought it was kind of silly and a bit out of time to make that kind of joke. Without holding back and laughing, he said:

"I know... and I'm Cinderella." He raised his eyes to Igor and continued. "Come on, little brother, be serious. It's not funny to make pranks. Where's Duda that we're going to miss the session—"

He took a while to assimilate what his eyes showed because he wasn't prepared for that, but when he realized, he let out a sharp howl of terror and threw himself back, trying to escape, very pale. The couch turned, making the young man fall on his back and roll on the soft carpet, but that didn't stop him from trying to get out of there. Still on the floor, he tried to move away, crawling away without taking his eyes off the front, while screaming, hysterical:

"Help, my God. Where's my friend, you demon?"

Exasperated, he saw a terrifying monster walking towards him, the same creature that two years ago gave him the biggest scare of his life at the freshman party and that earned him some hair-raising nightmares.

Still screaming hysterically, he backed away and tried to dodge the figure of terror that approached and extended his hands. The monster seemed to want to say something, but Valdo didn't hear until a voice as strong as thunder, deep and hoarse made him stop:

"Calm down, Valdinho, it's me," shouted Igor, "I won't hurt you as I didn't before, man, it's just for you to know the truth."

"Liar, get away from me," he yelled, desperate. Going back to trying to escape and colliding with the wall that left him surrounded.

"Look at me," insisted Igor, raising his voice that echoed throughout the room, making Valdo tremble even more.

Terrified, the young man saw the monster from the college turn back to look like his friend as always and became calmer, breathing with difficulty, in gulps. Igor approached and made a glass of water appear out of nowhere, which he handed to him. Suspicious, the colleague took it and looked at the wizard, who said:

"Come on, dude, I'm your friend and I would never do anything bad to you. You can believe me," he said, emphatic, "then see if you drop the faggotry that I'm desperate."

"Faggotry, is it?" Valdo looked at him, still shaking a little, though calmer. "I wanted to see if the roles were reversed."

Losing the fear, he drank the water in one gulp, breathed deeply and looked at his colleague.

"Better?" asked Igor.

Valdo nodded and tried a tense smile. He stared at his friend in the eyes for a while until he relaxed a little more.

"So the monster of Dudinha and her Don Quixote were none other than—" he said more calmly, but still scared.

"Yes, it was me," he interrupted, justifying himself. "They wanted to rape the girls and I couldn't allow that, Valdinho. You were there, so you know it was like that. That way, I solved everything without violence except for some good scares."

"Ugh, Igor," he said, with his voice a little affected. "You had to give me such a fright?"

"Forgive me for the prank I did to you, but it was imperative."

"Was that a trick?" he asked. "I mean—"

His voice faded as he noticed that his friend was very serious and, for the first time, he felt the weight of what he said in relation to the bride. At the same time, Igor raised his hands and two balls of plasma energy formed, floating still ten centimeters high.

"I'm a wizard, Valdinho, with powers far beyond your imagination."

"You're talking very seriously, aren't you?" he asked, nervous and remembering what his friend said about the bride. "My God and Dudinha?"

"That's what I'm trying to explain, dude." Igor made the spheres of energy disappear and snapped his fingers, forcing the couch to return to its place. He sat down and continued. "As I told you, I'm a wizard, maybe the last living wizard of this plane. Eduarda was in the bedroom, drying her hair and I was heating up dinner. She screamed and I ran to her. Everything was closed and she didn't pass by me."

"And how did she disappear, man, evaporated in the air?" he questioned his friend, still a little incredulous and tense.

"Exactly. The captor would have to have a gigantic power, but it can be done. I can do it."

"Well," said Valdo, going back to thinking about the practical, a very characteristic of his. "Whoever did this, wants to hit you. We have to start from there."

"I agree. And there is a monster that wants to destroy me, but I don't think he's on Earth."

"Okay, but focusing on the present and on who knows Duda, we have two bad groups: first the Jaime's gang, but I think they don't even remember that anymore, not to mention that they wouldn't have the power to face you."

"No doubt. I would finish them even without my powers," agreed Igor, following the reasoning of his friend for whom he learned to respect the intellect a lot. "But I don't know a second group, old friend."

"The second group is, in fact, formed by a single individual, someone who makes me shiver to the bones when I look at his face: Samuel."

He had barely finished saying that, when from one of the corners of the room, a very dark one, came a frightening laugh, followed by a ball of energy thrown towards Valdo who only saw Igor throw himself in front of him, receiving the full impact. His body was covered in a greenish light, but even so, his colleague doubled over himself for a second, feeling all the agony of the form of energy that hit him. Reacting immediately, the wizard ran to the wall where a black crack, very subtle, hid.

With wide eyes, Valdo watched his friend cross that almost invisible opening as if he were a goalkeeper in the biggest save of his life. In doubt, he placed himself at a perpendicular angle to the hole in case another fireball came out, but all that came out, ten seconds later, was a staggering Igor with a face crumpled with pain. He barely took two steps, fell to the ground and the last thing he did before losing consciousness was to close the passage. Without understanding much, but worried about his friend, he ran to help him.

― ☼ ―

Igor opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was the chandelier in his living room, finding it strange to wake up on the couch. Soon after, the memory of the night hit him like a punch in the stomach and he jumped up, feeling weak and dizzy. In the armchair next to him, his friend dozed, but he also woke up as he heard Igor.

"Hey, buddy, are you feeling better?" asked Valdo, smiling and looking tired. "Sorry to leave you on the couch, but you're kind of heavy to carry one floor without an elevator."

"Thanks for the help, Valdinho," said the wizard with a very depressed voice. "I suppose you didn't sleep well either."

"Never mind." Valdo smiled. "That's what friends are for. So, what happened?"

"Samuel is the one responsible and you hit the nail on the head. I think he must be in cahoots with the monstrosity that wants to destroy me. The power of this demon is immense and is turned into pure evil. I was hit by two of those black spheres of his and my personal barrier couldn't take it. I ran back before I lost consciousness completely. I think a third-level wizard would have died on the spot with those attacks, such is his strength."

"Are you okay now?" asked his friend, still haunted by all these news that he only saw in fiction books. "Can you do anything?"

"I feel too weak, but I really need to find her, Valdinho," said Igor, desperate. "Without Eduarda, my life has no meaning."

Valdo, who was the calmest at that moment because he was not emotionally involved, advised him.

"First step: the more you prove to him that she is too valuable to you, the more he will use that to his advantage; second: let's go to college, because that's where he should try the next move in this game."

"Can you drive?" asked Igor. "I'm kind of weak and I'll take the opportunity to recover a little more."

"Sure. Let's go."

― ☼ ―