"Kraigan!" a whisper came to him.

Kraigan's eyes slowly opened up to the surroundings. He found Godag's face looming over him.

"Wha—" Godag placed a finger upon Kraigan's mouth before he could speak further. When Kraigan looked around in confusion, he saw the back of a person standing in front of them.

As his vision cleared, Kraigan found out that he was inside the Head Camp. Around him, all the remaining Siligon Warriors lay unconscious. Only Godag had regained senses.

For a few seconds, both Kraigan and Godag observed the man silently, wondering who he could be.

"You people obviously don't know how to remain quiet," the mysterious man spoke without looking behind.

"Who are you?" Godag demanded.

In response, the man turned to reveal himself. Both his dress and looks seemed ancient. A tattered black dress covered his wrinkly old body. He had a grey beard and glistering green eyes on his face.

"Is that—"

"Hosh!" Kraigan interrupted Godag.

"Master?" Godag immediately got up and bowed in front of Hosh. Kraigan followed his example.

"Forgive my friend, master. He just wanted to fulfil the final wish of a friend of his," Godag turned to Kraigan.

"Don't blame that poor boy. You'll need him. The fault is mine, not his. I tried to stop what was fated to happen. Instead of stopping it, I caused it," Hosh replied.

"Can you please enlighten us, master?" Godag politely requested.

"Not now. There's no time. I saved you from getting torn by those devil beings so that you can serve your purpose. If things go, the way I saw it in my vision, the entire Siligon is in grave danger," Hosh said.

"What vision, my master?" Godag asked.

Hosh's voice turned deeper all of a sudden as he spoke:

The curse will return,
Darkness shall again rise,
No soul would be spared by the lord's spite,
Four powers must combine,
Or Darkness shall forever reside.

"What does this mean?" Kraigan asked.

"Find Zai. She'll tell you," Hosh said and disappeared out of sight.

"Are you sure this was the truth?" Kingston asked.

"Seems like you were dreaming," Lousia said.

For the first time ever, all the Siligon Warriors were allowed to be part of the meeting taking place between the leaders of the four groups.

"What about Kraigan? Two people can't dream of the exact same thing, can they?" Godag protested.

"I saw all of this too. It wasn't a dream," Kraigan assured. "And besides, how else can you justify Hosh's disappearance from the camp."

"So, our master, who hasn't moved a muscle since three hundred years, is suddenly walking and talking? Then he does some magic and disappears?" Kingston asked.

"It's the truth," Kraigan stated.

"Maybe Berk provoked him to wake up," Godag suggested. "Hosh must know everything about the dark lands and its creatures. Maybe he had already met the demon that resides Berk."

"So, we have to find this lady called Zai? Anybody knows her?" Lousia asked.

"I think I read about Zai in one of the ancient texts. I don't remember much but I am certain Zai wasn't a living being but rather an object of some kind," Kingston stated.

"You study the ancient texts a lot?" Godag asked.

"Yes. Whenever I serve a king or someone close to them, I ask them to let me spend time in their royal archives as a favour," Kingston replied.

"You said you had some theory about how Berk turned into that demon, right?" Godag asked.

"Yes, and I am fairly confident now that I'm right," Kraigan replied.

"Tell us about it," Godag requested.

"The explanation is quite simple," Kingston said, "We all know that the reason why people get killed instead of being possessed by that demon is because his essence is too strong for us. But we are Siligon Warriors. Just like that demon, we got our powers from the dark lands as well. In a way, we are similar to that demon. Once you get the powers of a Siligon Warrior, your body is strong enough to sustain that demon; but not when you are in the process of getting it and haven't got it yet. However, Berk was a different case. That is why Hosh warned us about killing any child like him."

"And yet, this fool refused to listen to that warning!" someone from the crowd shouted at Kraigan.

"He got so many of us killed! He has to be executed!" another person declared, triggering a chant.

"Stop!" Godag yelled. "I know Kraigan has done a terrible mistake. However, when I talked to Hosh, he took the blame for all of this upon himself. He told me that we will need Kraigan. If we refuse to listen to Hosh's advice, we are doing the same mistake as Kraigan."

"Then at least strip away his position as the leader of Phoenix!" the crowd shouted.

But we shouldn't—"

Kraigan interrupted Lousia. "I accept my resignation. For what I did, getting such a light punishment is like a blessing. I will like to appoint Ubur as the new leader of Phoenix."

The crowd went silent. They made way for the blonde-haired twenty years old Siligon Warrior who stepped in front of Kraigan to accept his responsibility.

"Wait!" Godag stopped.

Every pair of eyes turned to Godag as he made his big announcement.

"After Gabriel died, I became the oldest Siligon Warrior here. The responsibility of leading us fell upon me. I led the Siligon Warriors into battle recklessly without a plan and got so many killed. But then, I saw Kraigan. He bravely fought Berk all alone and showed courage and strength beyond imagination. Not only does he deserve to be the leader of Phoenix but he also deserves to be the leader of the entire camp."

"What are you saying?" a lady from the crowd shouted, "Instead of executing him, you want him to rule us?"

"She's right, Godag. I don't deserve it!" Kraigan exclaimed.

"Kraigan won't be ruling anyone. I'm just placing my trust upon him to decide what is best for all of us," Godag defended.

"You're clearly making a mistake!" the lady yelled.

"If every leader agrees to it, you can't stop it," Godag said.

"I agree," Lousia smiled.

"So, do I," Kingston said.

"But, I don't!" Kraigan exclaimed.

Godag didn't paid any attention to Kraigan's protests. "I think it is decided then that Kraigan will lead us."

The crowd started shouting in protest. Things were about to go violent very soon but the sound of horse hooves stopped that from happening. A scout arrived inside the camp.

"Have you been attacked by those creatures as well?" the scout asked as he looked around at the destroyed camp.

"What creatures?" Godag asked, even though he knew what the scout was talking about.

"Those scary monsters! We need your help! They're everywhere!"