"La La La
The Great Guard, here, awaits.
He comes waiting for the fair lady.
The one who is ethereal and well-shaped.
Know that here is where the great, yet small, guard lives."
"Well now... But I really am no good at singing… I think I'm too old for these things, and without my fair beloved, everything is blurry… Oh, my beloved. We were like broken hearts that found the missing part of their lives! How I miss you, my dear…"
An unusual whisper, very different from the usual, echoed through the darkness of Dásos All-Earth.
"Well now. Who would come to such darkness at this hour?"
He laughed at himself, feeling old.
"I must really be senile… An old man's illusion to think someone would come to this remote and ancient resting place of Dásos All-Earth… The proph—"
A firm voice interrupted him.
"Well… Who's there?" he said, his voice faltering.
Slowly, in the darkness before him, two men emerged from behind the great tree: a tall young man, somewhere around 185–187cm and slightly thin but with a firm and sturdy appearance, and an old man — at least that's what he thought — with the look of a hero, around 1.75m tall but robust, slightly muscular, and exuding vitality.
"Well now… Father and son venturing into the darkness of this forest? What brings you here, my good sirs?"
A firm but kind voice replied somewhat uncertainly, "My good sir, we are strangers to this region of Dásos All-Earth; guide us through these lands, and in return we shall do as you wish."
The old man began laughing heartily.
"HAHA, Cough, Cough. HA! Well now, sir and young man, did you have the audacious and awful notion that I'm some terrible lord?"
Alexander frowned, and Evandro looked deliberately confused.
"Come now, step closer."
They stepped out from under the shadow of the great tree's leaves, and what they saw surprised them.
It was the figure of a very short man — much shorter than Evandro, about 1.20m — with a protruding, definitely round belly; a white, thin, and scraggly beard like that of a poorly groomed elder; dark green eyes; and many hairs on his arms. He wore a cotton outfit, consisting of a beige cotton shirt, a dark green vest, and cotton pants the same color as the shirt.
The silence was so intense that Evandro could hear his heart slow down.
"Well now! Come here!" The old man called, gesturing with his fat and slightly hairy hand.
"Sir… We—" He was interrupted by the old man.
"Come on now, bring your son along, please…"
"Oh no, sir, hehe. He's not my son; he's a friend… And in fact, we're the same age: 22 years old."
"Well now! Could it be that my vision is failing me already? I should've realized that old age affects all my senses…"
"Err… Please don't say that… Your eyes don't deceive you at all, for it is true, I inexplicably have the appearance of an old man, but in truth, I am young and just as immature as anyone my age…"
"Well now…" The old man paused for a moment, stroking his beard.
"Well, this smells like something quite curious, but may I know what caused that, my 'young man'?"
"Do you have a house nearby?" Alexander said hurriedly, interrupting any possible answer from Evandro.
"Well, of course I do! Come. Come!"
The old man wore a discreet smile and walked ahead cheerfully, deeper into the forest's darkness.
Without realizing it, Evandro dropped his sword on the ground.
It was difficult for him and Alexander to determine which direction they were heading.
"I don't trust him…" Alexander whispered to Evandro, slightly suspicious.
"Relax, if he wanted to kill us, he would've done it already."
"I hope you're right…"
At times, moonlight from the full moon fell on them through the canopy. Whenever it did, Evandro noticed an increasingly dense mist around the moon.
'It's been days that I've had the impression something is forming around the Moon…'
They continued walking in nearly zigzag patterns; sometimes, due to the darkness, Evandro and Alexander would trip over a plant or shrub along the way. Evandro would just stop and calmly free his foot, while Alexander cursed in anger and bitterly swore every time it happened.
They finally came across a stone slightly taller than they were, resembling a cliff.
The old man grabbed a strange wooden staff hidden on the ground and, on tiptoes, stuck its tip into a small cavity at the top and climbed up like a mountaineer.
Alexander chuckled internally because of the old man's size.
"Come on! Cough, cough!"
He motioned for them to use the staff as he had. Alexander went first, struggling a bit with balance, but after a few bumps and slips, he made it up.
Evandro, however, with his usual calm, went up quietly, as gracefully and fluidly as the current of a river.
When they turned around, they saw a wide clearing. In the middle stood a large wooden house with a polished stone base and a small stairway of rough stone; to the left side of the house was a stone well with a light wood cover, and on the right, a small fenced area with a curiously different animal than they were used to seeing, sleeping peacefully.
"Well now! Why are you just standing there?! Come on."
He hurried along, but Evandro's exhaustion made him walk slowly across the soft grass… He unconsciously collapsed to the ground, panting.
"He's going to sleep if he stays there…"
"Well now, don't worry, young man; with what I have to say to him, he'll definitely wake up."
"You'll see."
The old man calmly walked over to Evandro and crouched beside him.
He then slowly turned him over and leaned his face above his.
"Well now!" He waved his hands above Evandro's face.
"Well now! Wake up, man!"
The old man snapped his fingers, but nothing…
"Surely it must be the magic I placed as a warning…"
Alexander, standing, approached the old man sitting on the grass beside Evandro. "Magic?"
"Well now, that's right… The magic that would warn me about the chosen one…"