The great catastrophe happened when the six months ran out. Nothing indicated an imminent danger and the measurements proved that the two planes were stable and that the twin worlds of Earth and Crystal World were oxygenated, as it always happened.

Then I decided that Carol deserved her chance. In the great amphitheater, after she presented the measurements again and proved everything that we both already knew, I decided to authorize. I got up:

"My decision is that the Guardian of the Portals, Caroline Sanders, according to a solemn promise that I made to her on the day of my election, open the portal and explore the overlapping world. But," I emphasized that but so much that she widened her eyes, "to do this safely, we will do it in the world of plane one towards the previous plane, henceforth called plane zero, since it is further away from the Citadel and I determine that another Guardian of the Portals accompany her to give support. Hernandez, the support task will be yours."

Caroline smiled with pure joy, especially because I chose the Spanish man, who was her boyfriend since last month and they both felt very happy. I was well aware of that and wanted to please her to make up for the wait.

"You will do this in an uninhabited and oxygenated world, just in case. The experience will be carried out in seventy-two hours, so that they can position themselves." I knew that Carol needed a break every four planes she crossed. It's not as much as the dragons, who need a whole night, but I wanted her to be well rested. "Tonight I will make a private visit for the final details. Thank you."

Having finished the official part, I winked at her and withdrew to the Crystal Palace. At dusk, I knocked on her door. She opened and threw herself into my arms, happy. Then she pulled me inside and I met Hernandez, a tall and well-built young man, very friendly. We talked a lot about what they would do and I left very calm.

Three days later, I was too restless and two counselors tried to calm me down without success. It was as if I felt that a very great tragedy was about to unfold and that brought to the surface the last words of Sergey, as if he knew that something would happen.

Increasingly worried, I jumped up and opened a portal to where the experience was carried out because, as I said, I could cross all the planes at once.

Even before crossing the gap, I saw Hernandez lighting the place with a stick in his hands, since it was dark night. Carol was a superior, like me, and did not use objects. She must have entered, because she was not visible. As soon as I crossed the passage, I heard the scream. It was a scream of terror so sharp and unreal that I threw myself in one leap in his direction. Hernandez was very nervous and indecisive. He put his foot to go after his girlfriend, crossing the new plane, when he heard me scream:

"Go back to the Citadel," I passed by him running and lighting a ball of light over his head. "The portal is open. Go back right now that I'll take care of her."

But I didn't. To this day I don't remember exactly what happened because the perception of time in that plane was different and strange. As soon as I crossed the portal, my powers began to fail. First the light was reduced to a faint glow until it went out and I was in the penumbra, unable to see anything else. So I had to wait until my eyes got used to the darkness. Then I heard a laugh, a scary laugh. I ran in that direction and saw two shadows, one of them lying down in which I recognized the silhouette of my friend and the other over her. I kicked the thing with all my strength, getting some success to get it away, and picked up Carol in my arms, finding her light, too light. The creature ran after me, colliding and knocking me down. I felt something cold and scary, even though that world was quite hot. It moved away with the damn macabre laugh and I tried to go back, but I couldn't find the exit. I don't know how long I was there and it seemed something around eight hours until I managed to get out, finding out that I was lost in that dark world for three long days, without sleeping or eating or drinking. Ran down, I looked ahead and saw that the portal to the Citadel was still open. My blood froze and I turned pale, but that gave me energy that I didn't know I still had. Determined, I ran in and closed the portal. The first thing I found were some bodies on the ground, the closest one being Hernandez. Only then did I look at Caroline and saw that she lay dead in my arms. That shadow escaped through the portal and killed an entire city. I let go of her body next to her boyfriend and started hunting the entity that did such atrocity. When I found it, I fought a hard battle with it, but I was defeated and had to flee to save my life. I was in shock and ran a lot, desperate, until I ended up here almost dead of exhaustion and met Ezequiel who is the Guardian of Wisdom and saved me, but I had lost part of my memory. All this happened because of me. First because I authorized the entry and then because I left the portal to the Citadel open. When I recovered from amnesia, in Porto Alegre, and came across my dead parents, I returned to the Citadel and erected a mausoleum where I left all the bodies of my subjects protected.

― ☼ ―

Eduarda listened attentively to every word he told, very impressed. Delicate, she stroked his arm, thoughtful.

"But then, what is he?" she asked, finally. "And what is his real power?"

"A big unknown," answered Igor. "He sucks the life energy and knowledge of people, as far as I understood, not to mention that he has a terrible hatred of me. His first activity on Earth was to kill my parents and my mistake was to believe that he would stop there since I abandoned my powers. That's how we met."

"Can he be defeated?"

"I'm starting to think he's indestructible, but he can be contained. Ezequiel and a dragon managed to get him away from here. I, on the other hand, can't defeat him and I'm much more powerful, as if he anticipated my moves. I believe that, at that time in his world, there was a strong connection between us two, but he couldn't kill me. Ezequiel had been training me in war and his knowledge is much superior to any other guardian of war due to his millennial experience. Now, I need to find out how to destroy him. Maybe it's possible to manipulate the vital flows that he stole and resurrect the whole Citadel. I need to redeem my mistake."

"Honey," Eduarda pulled his head against her chest, hugging him tenderly, "it wasn't your fault. This demon can open portals and sooner or later he would have reached the Citadel. After all, he sucked the knowledge of your friend in the first place. Besides, it was not possible to imagine that this world enclosed such a monster."

"Maybe, but I still feel guilty. I should have authorized the opening of the other plane because the higher, the thinner the energy; more evolved, in other words."

At that moment Igor realized that the conversation had lasted so long that it was already dark night. He got up, threw a globe of light up and smiled. Eduarda made a gesture to get up and he went to help, but she pushed him away, gentle.

She leaned on the stick and got up, slowly. When she was upright, she laughed as if she had achieved a great victory. She walked slowly to the bathroom and, arriving there, created a faint light with her newly awakened powers, giving a laugh of pure joy.

Igor took the opportunity to make a dinner and then, materialized a television so they could watch any movie. Eduarda didn't last long and ended up sleeping in his arms. He took her to bed, undressed and lay down next to her, thinking about the last days. He fell asleep without realizing it and woke up early. As always, he brought a rose out of nowhere, placed it next to the bride and started to prepare everything in silence so as not to wake her up. He was very happy when he was hugged from behind and saw his Eduarda much better. After breakfast, Igor started to arrange things in the clearing and teach the bride how to use her lactating magic, as well as the ancient language. He laughed and commented that he had never noticed that she was left-handed. The first step was the mastery of her own body and the bride learned very fast, to his joy.

When Igor heard a loud scream in the air and looked up seeing a very large hawk flying high, in circles, he raised his arm and concentrated a little, making the bird land on him.

"Sweetheart, this hawk is very similar to the one from college!"

"It is. They are of the same species, but this one is bigger." Igor stroked him. "And much more beautiful."

After feeding the bird, he returned to his chores and noticed that the bird remained perched nearby, looking. Igor smiled, moved the bride away by about fifteen meters and said in Celtic, using his powers:

"Manifest yourself in your real form."

The bird began to grow and metamorphose before the eyes of Eduarda, who saw a huge dragon for the first time.

"You are not Saci," said the young man, "since you are even bigger than him."

"I'm not, but I think you better invent a name for me," said the dragon. "The council determined that one of us should help the Supreme Guardian as long as necessary and I volunteered. Ezequiel said that maybe you would come here as a support base. As for the shape of the bird, I took it from your memory. In the council, we investigated your memories."

"I know they did. I allowed them to do that, because I knew there was no malice. In that case, I'll call you Gwydion, if you don't mind." He turned to Eduarda. "Babe this is a dragon, originating from the eighth plane."

"I could hear his words in my head. Hi, Gwydion. Sorry for my astonishment, but until now I thought dragons were just legends. I'm Eduarda."

"Nice to meet you, Eduarda. I was also assigned to help you find, save and protect, but I see that now I only have the last alternative," answered Gwydion. "I will keep my other form so as not to expose myself. Igor, with a help it's much faster!"

Igor smiled and made a gesture with his hand. As fast as he metamorphosed, he returned to the shape of the hawk and took flight to check the perimeter.

"My God, honey," said Eduarda. "He's an amazing animal—"

"Angel, never refer to him as an animal. Man has the defect of thinking that he is the only intelligent being in the Universe. Dragons are very intelligent beings whose civilization has millions of years. It is true that their culture is different, but that does not make them less intelligent, as you saw."

"You're right." She laughed and shrugged. "I'm still getting used to everything. There are so many novelties! After all, until a few days ago, all this for me was just fiction of fantasy books."

"I know, my love." Igor smiled. "I had the advantage of being born in the middle, but I know you adapt very fast. Maybe I'm really a fiction writer and put us in the middle of the story. Did you know that when you said you would be my number one fan, I abandoned all precautions and was going to kiss you, but the damn alarm interrupted?"

"Then kiss me now," she asked, saucy and hugging the groom.

Next, she began to receive lessons in magic of all kinds because Igor wanted the bride to have a minimum basis for an emergency.

That night Eduarda already felt much better, despite being tired with so many lessons, and began to appreciate all those novelties, especially the new abilities. She never imagined that it was possible to have total control over the body or the other things she learned.

In the morning, they both woke up very hugged and happy.

"I hadn't had a wonderful night like this for months." Eduarda laughed, kissing him. "I feel so good!"

"Me too." He returned, getting up. "Let's take a nice bath and eat something. I think we can think about moving to another world so that you are more protected so that I can hunt that black demon."

― ☼ ―

That afternoon, while Eduarda practiced the teachings with the stick in her hand, Igor suddenly became alert, looking into the bush. Ten seconds later, the bird did the same.

"I feel an anomaly in the planar lines" said Igor, stiffened.

"And I smell a damn stench. Bad energy" commented the bird.

"I see that you spent some time with Ezequiel," said Igor, laughing at the way the bird spoke. "Let's follow this and see what it is. Sweetheart, don't leave here."

"It's just that I'm still a little too young and I have a lot of fun with your dysphemisms and euphemisms."

"Young how, since you live tens of thousands of years if not more," he asked, as they penetrated the bush.

"I'm only fifty thousand years old," said Gwydion, laughing at the wide-eyed wizard. "Keeping the proportions, I would be in puberty now. I think it's better not to talk anymore so as not to draw attention."

They walked for about three hundred meters when they came across an open rift. Feeling a great malaise, Igor closed the portal and started running, saying to the bird by telepathy:

"Follow from above, but only show yourself if he's not with her."

Gwydion flapped his wings harder, shooting for the sky. Igor remembered that he could get there right away and that's what he did. In the middle of the run he disappeared to reappear in the clearing at the same time that his clothes changed to the immaculate white of the supreme guardian. Since he promised Ezequiel that he would honor his cape, he began to wear it whenever the occasion suited.

He found a man ten meters ahead and with his back to him. Igor was still running and had very little time, but he noticed that the guy was his height and that he remained facing Eduarda, who seemed to be in a trance. He reacted by instinct as he stopped running, raising both hands that expelled violent rays straight into the back of the strange invader who rolled forward with convulsions. Eduarda came out of the trance right away, shaking her head and, seeing what was going on, jumped to the side.

"Bastard," she yelled, furious. "Kill that monster, Igor, kill him right away, for God's sake."

As there was a risk of hurting her, Igor did not dare to attack more violently, but unsheathed his sword and advanced on the being who turned, showing the same face as him, a perfect double of the wizard.

Igor hesitated and that could have been his end because the invader threw one of his black balls of energy at him. The young man dodged at a cost and raised his barrier just in time because the second ball hit him squarely, but without the usual devastating effect. Igor raised his sword and used it as a ray launcher, but the creature threw himself to the side and grabbed Eduarda, using her as a shield. She struggled and tried to break free, however, he did something that made her passive, once again under his control, and the wizard did not know how to attack without exposing her to risks.

Gwydion, who came in a dive to attack the creature transforming into a dragon at the last moment, made a tight curve and did not repress a scream when he collided with a bush, a scream that was a loud and sharp chirp, but that, in the wizard's mind, echoed like a big swear word.

"Lower your sword, Guardian, if you want her alive," he gave one of his laughs. "That escape route of yours was interesting. I loved the portal open in the middle of the burning house, but I figured you thought I would be afraid of here and that this would be an excellent place to run away. I fear nothing, you fool."

"What do you want, Samuel?" asked Igor, sheathing his weapon. "Why do you insist on destroying me like this?"

"I want my wife that you stole, Wizard," he said, pulling her closer and holding her tight. Eduarda was once again under his yoke and did not react.

"She never belonged to you, Samuel, she was kidnapped." Igor felt the fury grow inside him. "You can go wherever you want, but I'll always find you."

There was no answer, only the damn laugh. The monster opened a new rift and forced Eduarda to enter, accompanying her. Before the portal closed, Igor and Gwydion threw themselves at him, chasing the demon.

― ☼ ―