The crawl was not pleasant for anyone. The tunnel was dark, cold and dirty. And it wasn’t that deep underground, so it seemed like they could hear a guard at any moment. What added to the feeling was the construction that meant colpse danger at any moment. Driller Man was supposed to dig the tunnel after all, not reinforce it.

  The first one to reach the end was Angelo. He stuck his head out and looked around.

  “Clear,” Angelo said. “We can go out, but be careful.”

  One by one everybody stepped out of the tunnel and into Ni?fanat’s territory.

  “We better get out of here,” said Angelo. “I wouldn’t want to meet the soldiers when they return.”

  “Good idea,” said Lily. “Besides, we should move quickly. I would like to find Twilight of the Gods before it causes a full on war.”

  “Yeah, that sounds like something I would like to prevent either,” said Angelo.

  One st look around for guards and Angelo, Lily and Ursu were all sprinting into Ni?fanat’s territory. There was no turning back now. The most difficult part of the mission was nearing them.

  Training magic with aunt Caitlyn usually felt great for Sarah. This time however Sarah felt differently. She couldn’t stop thinking about her friends travelling through the Fairy Realm. Were they all safe? And were they sure this was the best thing they could do?

  Aunt Caitlyn of course noticed that something was occupying the thoughts of her niece. “Are you worried about something?” she asked her.

  Sarah sighed and expined everything to her aunt.

  “Oh, Sarah…,” aunt Caitlyn said. “Some things are not simply bck or white. Sometimes it all depends on perspective.”

  Sarah still wasn’t calm.

  “Besides, I know young Dickens very well,” said aunt Caitlyn. “She will know what to do.”

  “Are you sure?” said Sarah.

  “Yes, she is a highly moral person,” said aunt Caitlyn. “Now, let’s get back to training. I was thinking that you would like to know how to make the night owl ointment.”

  “What does it do?” asked Sarah.

  “It lets you work through the night as if it was the day,” said aunt Caitlyn.

  “Oh, that will be great to know,” said Sarah.

  “But watch out!” said aunt Caitlyn. “Once you use it it knocks you out for the entire day as soon as the Sun rises.”

  “Of course,” said Sarah. “Some things are not simply bck or white.”

  When Lily and her guests were traversing the streets of Ni?fanat’s city the soldier who talked to Lily returned to the pce where she showed him the hole under the fence. This time he brought some companions from patrol. A hole under the fence is no joke. Nobody ever knows what might come to the district through these holes. That is why dealing with them is so important.

  <> said the soldier on the front.

  <> said the soldier in the back armed with a shovel. <>

  <> said the first soldier. <>

  When the two got to the scene the soldier with the shovel was really surprised. The soldier who got him to his outpost was surprised too. Instead of one hole in the ground there were two. One of them was just where the patrolling soldier remembered it. The other one was on the other side of the fence. That could only mean one thing. Whatever was coming through the hole has already come.

  <> said the patrolling soldier.

  <> said the soldier with the shovel and gave his companion his tool. <>

  It was a long trek to find Ni?fanat’s base. It was almost on the opposite side of the city. Just as if Ni?fanat wanted to build it as far away from his enemy as possible. But at st after walking for a long time Angelo, Lily and Ursu have found it.

  “Of course he couldn’t have built it closer,” Angelo joked. “What did he have in mind? Training his soldiers for a marathon?”

  “Alright, remember to stay on high alert,” said Lily. “Ni?fanat’s base is the only pce in this district that is guarded even more heavily than the border.”

  “No wonder with a Damocles’ sword this big,” said Angelo. “I bet he hasn’t found a way to turn it against others.”

  Lily tried to discreetly fly up to see how the base was fortified. Ursu however grabbed her by the ankle and pulled her to the ground. Lily saw that Ursu was pointing at something in the air. And indeed she had reasons to pull her down. The air space of the base was constantly guarded by flying snipers.

  “This doesn’t look good,” whispered Lily.

  “You have to be kidding,” whispered Angelo. “We won’t suddenly become invisible.”

  “We’ll just have to look for their blindspots,” said Lily. “And hope they actually have them.”

  Everyone thought there was nothing better to do, so they agreed to simply observe the snipers. Patiently for a long time.

  Just under Ni?fanat’s base there was a giant transmission room. A dozen of dozens communication officers were constantly talking through radio transceivers. And one of those officers has received an interesting report from one of the soldiers deployed to patrol the border between districts.

  <> the officer asked.

  <> said the soldier. <>

  <> asked the officer.

  <> said the soldier. <>

  <> said the officer. <>

  The soldier gulped at the sound of the name of the general protecting the base where the stolen weapon was being hidden. <>