'What's wrong? What did you see? Who was it?' they all started to ask at once.

Vega took a few seconds to answer, as though she was still absorbing what she had seen.

'It was Balkar!' she said finally.

'What do you mean it was Balkar?' Oliver asked, incredulous.

'He must have passed the mirror by chance,' said Darion. 'Lots of knights were keeping watch that night.'

Rodrigo felt as though something was wringing his stomach. Had they been wrong about everything? What if nothing was as it seemed?

'We have to get into the grand master's study,' he said. 'I want to see that diary again. I've got a horrible feeling.'

'Are you mad?' Vega said. 'I don't even want to imagine what will happen if he catches us in his study. Anyway, how do you plan on getting in?'

'I don't know,' Rodrigo replied. 'But we have to find a way.'

'We could use Donegan's coins,' said Oliver. 'We only need to slide one under the door.'

'Yeah, sure,' said Aisha, 'but those coins are almost certainly inside Balkar's study.'

'Exactly,' Oliver repeated. 'I just need to ask Kepi to push one under the door for us.'

'What are you talking about?'

'Balkar's ferret!' Oliver explained. 'It always sleeps inside his study.'

'That's a great idea, Oliver!' Rodrigo exclaimed. 'Come on, let's go. Who's coming?'

'I think Vega and I should keep an eye on Balkar,' said Aisha. 'She can see him through the wall of his bedroom and I can let you know by telepathy if he's getting out of bed.'

'Ok, well, I'm coming with you, Rodrigo and Oliver,' said Darion. 'If the girls are watching the grand master we've got nothing to fear.'

The five of them walked towards the staircase where Rodrigo, Oliver and Darion began to descend while the girls went to the upper floors. They walked stealthily, keeping a careful watch on every corner but once again they reached their destination without seeing anyone.

'Here it is,' said Rodrigo, stopping in front of a familiar door.

'Aisha says Balkar's in his room, sound asleep,' Darion informed them. 'There's no danger of him catching us.'

Oliver neared the door and asked the ferret to look for one of the coins. Seconds later, they heard noises coming from inside the room. It was the ferret running and jumping between each piece of furniture, looking for what Oliver had requested. A minute or two later, half of a silver coin appeared below the door.

'Perfect. Now we just need to touch it,' said Rodrigo, crouching down and stretching out his fingers. He immediately found himself inside Balkar's study. His two friends appeared at his side a moment later.

'Right, now we need to find the seer's diary,' said Rodrigo.

'I'm sure Kepi will know where it is,' Oliver said. 'Ferrets love to sniff around every corner.'

As soon as Oliver gave the order, the ferret rushed to a drawer under Balkar's desk. The small animal tried to open it, but the only thing it managed to do was end up standing on its hind legs.

'Thanks, Kepi. I can open it,' said Oliver. 'Look. It's here.'

'Let me see it,' said Rodrigo.

Oliver gave him the diary and he immediately flicked to the last page. There was the premonition, which talked about the Mirror of Power. Rodrigo looked at the previous page. There was nothing interesting there. Only a few lines that spoke of the position of the stars and planets in the sky.

But the handwriting wasn't the same.

Rodrigo looked at the diary's other pages and checked they all had the same handwriting apart from the final page.

'Look at this,' he said. 'The last page wasn't written by Agatha. It's someone else's handwriting!'

'You're right!' Oliver confirmed.

'Let me see that,' Darion said, taking the diary from Rodrigo. 'Look! The previous page has been torn out. Someone removed Agatha's last page and then wrote a fake one.'

'We need to find a piece of charcoal!' Rodrigo said. 'I think we can still read what was written on the missing page.'

With the help of Kepi, Oliver soon found a stick of charcoal and gave it to Rodrigo who turned it on its side and began to rub the last page of the diary. While the page got darker in colour, new, whitish letters started to appear on top of those that had been there before. Rodrigo soon realised that it was the same premonition but there was something else.

When darkness begins to recede

The mirror of Power will appear

Where fire never cedes.

The boy without power shall find it

But a traitor shall stand beside him.

'Now I get it!' Rodrigo said, burning with rage. 'Balkar killed the seer and tore out this page so no one would know he was a traitor! And Donegan suspected him. Do you remember what he said in the infirmary? "The last page of the diary, the one you tore out. Tell me what it said."'

'So then Balkar's the traitor?' Oliver asked, still surprised.

'The only traitor and the only murderer, yes,' Rodrigo said. 'He's been lying to us ever since–'

'Boys, Balkar got out of bed and he's disappeared!'

Aisha's voice startled them like an alarm clock. Instinctively, the three of them looked at the door and there, looking at them with a terrifying smile, was Balkar.

'Very good, boys,' he said. 'You have been very smart but you have committed a grave error. You should have removed your rings before entering my study. With them, apart from being able to appear next to you, I can also listen to everything you say.'

Rodrigo slipped his hand inside his pocket and realised he still had the ring Balkar had given him. He had completely forgotten about it.

'I must congratulate you,' Balkar continued, the smile still tickling his face. 'Although you are wrong about one thing: I did not kill the seer. I merely convinced her to do it herself. At the end of the day, somebody was destined to die that night and if it had not been her, it would have been someone else. Agatha was always prepared to sacrifice everything for others. King Garad would be proud of her.'

Balkar said these last words with a scornful grimace that didn't seem like the Balkar they had known at all. Rodrigo tried to look for an escape route but the grand master stood between them and the door and Donegan's coin was under the desk, well out of reach.

'I really must thank you, children. Donegan and Mirena suspected me and if it were not for your brilliant actions, they would have discovered my true intentions,' Balkar paced from one side to the other of the study. Suddenly he stopped and laughed. 'And to think Mirena did everything possible to keep you away from me and in the end you served her to me on a platter along with her friend! And that is not all. You helped me to work out Agatha's premonition. I already imagined Adara had deciphered it but I never would have if it had not been for you. Now, as I told you before, we are going on a trip. Let's go and look for the Mirror of Power.'

Rodrigo desperately looked around them, looking for anything that would serve to help them. Then he saw a shield with two daggers crossed over it. Quickly, he moved to claim one of them. The grand master saw him and laughed.

'Do you really think you can defeat me?'

Rodrigo realised how stupid his plan had been and for a moment he let his arms fall to his side. Then he quickly raised the dagger and placed it against his own neck.

'I am the boy without power,' he said. 'If I die, you'll never find the Mirror of Power.'

Just then, they heard a knocking at the door. Rodrigo feared the worst.

'Hey, guys. Are you there?' Aisha's voice said. 'You need to leave. Balkar disappeared.'

'Get out of here!' Rodrigo shouted. 'Go and look for help!'

But it was too late. Balkar had opened the door and was wrestling Aisha and Vega into his study.

'Let them go!' Rodrigo said, moving the dagger towards his neck once again. 'Let them leave or you'll never find the Mirror of Power!'

'I shall let them go,' said the grand master, 'but you must come with me.'

'Don't give in to him!' Darion shouted. 'Don't worry about us!'

Rodrigo considered how terrible it would be to let the Mirror of Power fall into the hands of a traitor but he couldn't do anything else. For now, he had to make sure his friends were safe, then he would find a way to avoid disaster.

'Fine,' he said, all the while keeping the dagger near his neck. 'Let them go. I'll go with you.'

'Very well, young man,' said Balkar. He grabbed a kind of golden sceptre that was hanging on the wall and brushed Oliver with the pearl that shone on its end. Oliver immediately disappeared.

'What did you do?' Rodrigo asked. 'Where did you send him to?'

'Far away from here,' said Balkar. 'As you will understand, I do not want a simorg following us as soon as we leave the fortress. When you give me the Mirror of Power I will tell you where your friend is and you can go and look for him.'

Before he could reply, Balkar cornered the rest of his friends against the door and also made them vanish. Rodrigo was left alone before the grand master.

'Where are they? Tell me!'

'Since you insist, I shall tell you. I have locked them in an underground chamber hundreds of metres below the foundations of this stronghold. That room is linked to the sea by a totally flooded tunnel. The biggest problem, my friend, is that when the tide comes in, the whole room is filled with water.'

Rodrigo felt his throat dry up and tears spring to his eyes. He balled his hands into fists with such force that he thought his nails were about to draw blood. Without another moment's thought, he rushed at the grand master with the dagger in his hand.

'Do not be stupid!' he said, easily dodging his attack and removing the dagger from him. 'There are still six hours before the tide comes in. If you give me what I want, you will return and save them.'

'How?' he asked.

'I will tell you when you give me the Mirror of Power.'

'I don't trust you anymore!'

'You should, little one, because you have no other option.'

Rodrigo understood that the grand master was right. There was nothing else he could do. He would have to go with him to search for the Mirror of Power.

'Don't do it!' Aisha's voice said inside his head, as though she'd been reading his thoughts. 'We're fine. Whatever happens, don't give him the Mirror of Power.'

Rodrigo knew his friends would prefer to die before letting a powerful weapon fall into the hands of Arakaz but he was the one who had his friends' fate in his hands. He couldn't sit there and do nothing, knowing his friends would slowly drown. He couldn't stand it.

'Come on, let's go,' said Balkar, putting his hand on his shoulder. He set his thoughts to one side, began walking and left the study ahead of the grand master.

The night was cold and the strong wind stung their faces like needles of ice. Balkar forced the horse into as quick a gallop as it could manage and Rodrigo was obliged to hold on tight to Balkar's waist to make sure he didn't fall off. As the meadows and forests went by, he couldn't help but wonder how he'd become mixed up in all of this. Why was he, a normal, everyday boy from Madrid, destined to find a powerful weapon in a world he had never imagined could exist? Then his thoughts turned to the Mirror of Power. They had been looking for it for a while, but he had never understood exactly what it was. Would it provide the person who found it with incredible powers? Maybe he could use it against Balkar and then save his friends. But how would he know how to use it if he didn't even know what it was?

They must have been travelling for almost an hour when the horse slowed its pace. They had left their flat route behind and were ascending a precipitous trail on the side of a mountain. Rodrigo leaned to one side and thought he could distinguish the top of the remains of a wall and some columns. It had to be the ruins of the city of Irdun, their destination.

I wish we'd never worked it out, he lamented, thinking that if they hadn't deciphered Adara's message they would never have found themselves in this situation.

They took almost thirty more minutes to reach the top of the mountain, where they found the ruins of what appeared to be an ancient city. The cobbled streets could still be spotted between the remains of the walls, although the black colour of the stone made it seem as though they were inside a mine. Rodrigo noticed the horse's hooves were leaving pale marks behind them and he understood that the black colour wasn't the rock, it was a dense layer of soot. Then he noticed flames occasionally springing up from between some stones.

'We have arrived,' said the grand master, climbing down from the horse. 'Remember that as soon as you find what I need, you will be able to save your friends.'

Rodrigo began to walk through the small, dark streets between half-collapsed walls and flames emerging from the ground itself. Balkar followed him closely. Rodrigo suddenly noticed a reddish light created a break in the darkness that surrounded him. Curiosity made him lift his gaze and he realised the sun was rising on the horizon. He couldn't explain how the night had passed so quickly. It seemed as though barely an hour ago they'd seen Balkar's reflection in the delayed mirror.

Oliver and the others won't have much time left, he thought, a lump rising in his throat.

Hoping to find the Mirror of Power as quickly as possible, Rodrigo lowered his gaze again but something caught his attention. Discreetly, he glanced out of the corner of his eye and confirmed he had seen what he'd thought: a simorg was soaring through the sky and approaching them quickly. Perhaps his friends had managed to escape and were coming to help him? Or maybe it was Arakaz, coming to claim his prize? Rodrigo tried to see if the simorg had a rider but he didn't dare raise his head much. Balkar appeared not to have noticed anything.

The simorg flew to his left and disappeared from view. Maybe it was merely an animal flying freely in the morning sun. Nobody had ever said that simorgs always needed a rider to fly.

You need to focus on finding the Mirror, he said to himself. Your friends are depending on you.

In truth, he didn't hold out much hope that Balkar would let him leave after handing over his coveted weapon but what else could he do? Clinging on to what little hope he had, he tried to clear his mind and focus his attention on what he had to do. But something distracted him again. A gust of wind blew against the nape of his neck, making him turn his head. Balkar had also noticed it but his reaction had been much quicker. Before Rodrigo had time to close his mouth, the grand master had kneeled on the ground to dodge the simorg's attack, its claws scraping his cloak. Then he looked at the two people sitting astride the animal: Oliver and Donegan. The blond knight immediately jumped from the animal, landing metres away from Balkar.

'Get out of here!' he shouted, unsheathing his sword. 'I'll take care of Balkar.'

Rodrigo stood frozen as he watched the two knights begin to battle, sword to sword. Their well-aimed swings clanged as hard as Toravik's huge hammers at his forge.

'Hey, Rodri!' Oliver shouted. 'Over here!'

He turned and saw his friend waiting for him astride the simorg at the end of the street. He ran towards him without looking back.

'We can't leave!' he shouted. 'We have to help Donegan.'

'I know,' Oliver answered. 'Just get on.'

Rodrigo climbed up behind Oliver and the animal began beating its wings and advancing down the street. It began to rise through the air and turned completely so they could see where Balkar and Donegan were fighting, but something was wrong. They couldn't hear the sound of clashing swords and there was nobody there where the knights had been battling shortly before.

'What happened?' Rodrigo shouted. 'Where are they?'

'I don't know,' Oliver replied. 'I can't see either of them.'

Oliver whispered something to the simorg and it began tracing circles around the spot where the knights had once stood. After a while, Rodrigo made out a body stretched on the edge of the wall.

'Look! Over there!'

From so far away, they couldn't tell if it was Donegan or Balkar as both of them had been wearing the red and gold tunic of the knights of King Garad. Only when they landed and got off the simorg could Rodrigo spot the blond hair of Donegan. They quickly approached him and he lifted his head. He was hurt but his eyes were still open.

'Go!' he said. 'Go to the fortress and look for help.'

'Where's Balkar?' Oliver asked.

'He fell,' Donegan answered, signalling to the empty space that had opened up beneath the wall. 'He managed to injure me but when he came to finish me off, I pushed him over the edge.'

'We'll take you to the fortress,' Oliver said. 'Mirena will take care of you.'

Donegan didn't answer. His eyes were fixed on the black floor of the wall that stretched out beneath his body.

'Donegan!' Rodrigo shouted. 'Stay with us! We can get you to the fortress in less than an hour with the simorg!'

Donegan didn't reply. His body didn't move.

'Get on the simorg!' Oliver said. 'I'll ask it to carry Donegan in its claws.'

The two boys quickly climbed onto the winged lion and Oliver ordered it to carry them and Donegan to the fortress but the beast didn't move an inch.

'What's going on?' Oliver cried.

'It now obeys me,' said a voice.

Rodrigo turned his head to see another person next to Donegan's body. His silhouette could barely be distinguished from the soot-covered rocks that surrounded it. Everything was black: his armour, his cape, even the enormous sword he held in his right hand.