Clementine was standing in front of her granddaughter's room, staring at the name written on the door. No matter how long she stood there, she rarely dared to knock on the door. It was not so often that she could call for Han's name and try to have a conversation with her, which was making the old woman feel worthless.
'Why do things need to turn out to be like this? Tobey was already getting quite distant from us. I was expecting that Han would chase after her own professional dreams, forget about him, then get a good husband for her, and finally have a normal life... However, all the lies of the past year got unraveled all at once and it was too much for her to take.
'If only that brat had remained the same as always... If only he kept working until he was tired enough not to dare to get out of his messy apartment... Everything was okay, but I lowered my guard and let this event happen. Now, the entire paladin society is getting affected, and so is my personal life!'
Sometimes, she had the urge to cry out of anger and frustration. She had only one mission, and she failed it. Now, she couldn't even imagine the dark times that were about to come.
Clementine sat in front of the door, her back leaning against it. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes as strongly as she could to hold back the tears in her eyes.
"I just wanted that you didn't have the same fate your parents did... If not for this stupid war, your father and mother would still be here, cheering you up. The least I wanted was to get you inserted in this same world and end up hurt," she muttered as if Han would be able to hear her, which clearly wasn't the case.
"I am sorry, dear. I did all I could to protect you but... now that your eyes opened to the very truth, I don't know if I will be able to close them again."
She kept resting her back against the door with a grimace of pain and sadness on her face. She wasn't willing to get out of there until she had the courage to knock on her door again, even though what she probably would receive in response was just silence.
Clementine got interrupted, though, when someone rang the bell of her house.
"Ah... good timing, huh?" she thought, getting annoyed.
Clementine went downstairs, hurriedly opening the front door of her house, just to come across a familiar face standing in front of her.
"What do you want?" she asked in a stern voice to that man wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase in his right hand. "I thought that your life as a human was too busy for you to come for pointless visits."
"That's how you talk to someone who is, basically, your superior? Also, I didn't come here just for a casual visit, I-"
"If what you are concerned about is that demon... then, no! Of course not! I didn't take him. Everyone knows that this is quite difficult," she interrupted him, without caring for politeness.
"No, Clementine. What I have for you is something much bigger than this pursuit, even though this is related to it," as he said so, he gave a step forward to enter her house.
"And what's it, exactly?" Clementine asked, getting in his way and slightly pushing him with her shoulder, not letting the man enter. "I do not have tea nor cookies, so I can't receive any visits now. Keep it short and straightforward."
The man sighed as if thinking that nothing was helping it. He was used to her behavior, a woman that didn't like to take orders.
"Due to this demon causing a mess in his first days of awakening, the clan that resides in the neighbor territory sent a soldier here. Apparently, this soldier is very, very strong; they call him bloodseeker. You must have heard of him already."
'Bloodseeker... what that monster is doing here?' Clementine thought, her face getting more serious as a frown appeared there.
"Is he alone? Totally alone?" Clementine asked, flabbergasted. Even for a man like the bloodseeker, it was quite inconceivable that he dared to enter one of their most powerful territories alone.
The man in suit, though, going against all the logic that she had put in her mind, nodded his head in agreement.
"And, even alone, he killed many of us already. Many...", he had a sorry tone of voice, as if he was the one to blame for all those people dying.
That phrase triggered something in Clementine, making her get furious. It was only expected, though. She knew all the implications of such a thing happening, after all. They weren't in a time of peace where this kind of situation would be overlooked as a mere occasional thing; they were in a war against another race, and such a bold movement of a single soldier could cause a massive effect, that many other people would die.
"A man killing my beloved comrades, huh?" her face darkened as she muttered so. "What's your plan?"
"Of course, we are not planning to fight him head-on. Instead, we will force him to go back to his territory indirectly..."
Clementine sighed, opening the way to him, wearing a distasteful expression.
"Enter, but don't forget to make it short so you can get off as fast as possible."
The man in suit smiled, nodding his head and entering the house.
****
Myron was in his room as usual. He finished reading one of his books and was going to another one, but got stopped once his eyes laid on the chessboard for the umpteenth time.
Every time he did so, his eyes gazed at the Black Queen piece, laid at the very center of the chessboard, sieged by the whites. Next to the Black Queen was the Black Tower, one of Myron's favorite pieces that he found to be one of the most useful as well.
After he spotted those two specific pieces, his eyes would travel across the board, stopping at the opening that the tower left on the blacks, allowing the whites to attack the Black King from different angles.
'That damn bastard still isn't back. Also, the scouts and spies come back every day with more evidence of the ruckus caused by him. How will this situation unfold as time goes on? How many days will he stay out of there and...', his eyes flashed as a gleam of fear and anxiety appeared inside them, 'and when will they make their move? They have this clear opening right now, it's so obvious...'
Myron was getting quite frustrated. He had spent the last days trying to think about a manner to bring Mark back without causing trouble to his friends and family, but that was something beyond his powers.
'If only I had one-third of his strength... At least one-third...If that was possible, I bet that I would be able to stop him!'
Myron was a genius. His intelligence was way beyond average. He was well aware of it. He knew that his power lay in a different field than Mark's power. He had his own strong points, and they were quite amazing but...
'What's the sense in being so powerful intellectually? It's worthless in situations like this! I know everything that needs to be done, that could have been done, and what is yet to be done, so Mark can be back and everything will be ok; but what's the sense when I don't have the power to concretize any of this!? When the possibility exists but no one around is significantly worth making use of it, it's just a bunch of numbers and suppositions!'
Myron had a large perspective of the world, but that perspective only served to remember him how little he could reach with his short arms.
Trying to get some fresh air, he walked towards his window, only to see one of their scouts running crazily through the streets.
"Someone! Call Baltazar as fast as possible!" the scout shouted at a group of people in front of the building. They were all demons, of course.
"What's up, man?" one of them, a man of dark-brown hair and honey-colored eyes, took a step forward. It was Kyle.
"The border of our territory! It is filled with paladins and they are demanding to see the leaders of our territory! I think they are considering raiding us!"