The days passed and Rodrigo and Oliver soon became accustomed to their new life at the fortress. Spring was approaching and, although there had been a large amount of snowfall that had covered all the courtyards and farming fields in a white blanket, it was followed be several days of sun that enabled them to enjoy the snow before it melted completely. Even still, the tasks they were assigned occupied the majority of their time. Every few days, they had to plough fields, sow seeds and harvest crops, given that Lady Iradis had the power to accelerate the growth of plants. That resolved a question that had been playing on Rodrigo's mind since he'd arrived at the fortress as he'd always wondered how just a few small fields could feed so many people.

Rodrigo enjoyed their archery classes the most, despite Aisha always managing to get more bull's-eyes than anyone else. Horse riding lessons were different: it was Oliver who was well ahead of the rest but that was because he would play tricks on them and whisper to the horse he wanted to order. However, none of them particularly excelled at sword fighting. Sir Donegan continued to torment them with his absurd lessons where he wasn't teaching them anything, merely criticising their errors.

As far as controlling their powers went, they all tried to practise as Balkar had instructed but the only person who managed to improve at all was Vega, who could now read the first five pages of a book without opening it. Oliver and Aisha continued at the same level and Rodrigo still hadn't discovered any special ability.

The chore he liked the least was probably serving food and cleaning up the tables because he had to suppress his own hunger until everyone else had eaten. One day, however, they had to serve the knights' table, fortunately on a full stomach, as the adults had dinner an hour after them. The knights were all sitting around a large table in a room adjoining the dining hall. Balkar, the grand master, spoke jovially to a severe-looking woman who had to be Mirena, the nurse. Harim, the expert horseman, seemed to be explaining something to Toravik who had his bushy beard full of noodles. From the snippets of conversation Rodrigo overhead as he served the wine Harim was trying to convince the smith that no horse could run for many leagues with a similar weight on its back. He didn't manage to catch what weight he was referring to, but he imagined it to be an enormous hammer that would split a varblin in two. That was the kind of idea that normally passed through Toravik's head.

'Have you seen old Erold?' Darion asked when they gathered in the kitchen. 'What a tale he's telling Donegan, who isn't saying a word like always. He looks as though he's going to crumple intp his plate at any moment.'

'I can imagine,' said Oliver, imitating the frail voice of the old man. '"Here, Donegan, have I ever told you about the party we had for my two hundred and fortieth birthday? I needed over half an hour to blow out all the candles. It was such an effort that it brought on three heart attacks but as I'm immune to sickness I recovered straight away. I remember it well because I have it written down in my diary. I think it's on page thirty-four thousand five hundred and one."'

'How would you feel if we made fun of your gift?' Aisha asked him, unsuccessfully trying to contain her laughter. 'Would you like us to remind you of the day you told your horse to turn round and it rolled over and put its legs in the air?'

'No, Aisha. Don't remind me. My ribs still hurt. I have to learn to choose my words wisely when I'm talking to horses. They carry out my instructions to the letter.'

They all laughed before they were interrupted by shouts from the dining hall. It was a woman. Her pained voice couldn't conceal her total terror. Rodrigo moved to see what was happening. It was a woman with very curly blonde hair that reached her waist. Rodrigo had seen her before but he had no idea what her role at the stronghold was. He had never come across her on any of his chores.

'Agatha!' Adara cried. 'What's wrong?'

The woman was standing with her body stretched and arched backwards. Her eyes were empty, as if she was dreaming.

'Death!' the woman cried. 'Death approaches... It hopes to visit us tonight...'

As soon as the words left her mouth, her arms began to twitch as though she were trying to shake off an attacker. Then she fell to the ground and began to thrash violently before she finally stopped moving. Mirena, the nurse, immediately approached her to take her pulse.

'Is she alright?' asked Balkar.

'Yes,' she responded. 'This normally happens when she has one of her premonitions. She is so exhausted that she loses consciousness but she'll wake up soon.'

'It would be better if she rest in bed,' said Balkar. 'Toravik, could you take her to her bedroom?'

The smith lifted the woman in his strong arms as if she weighed no more than a feather and headed towards the door of the dining hall.

'Tonight, two of us shall remain in each of the children's dormitories,' Balkar announced. 'We will take it in shifts and be vigilant all night.'

'Do you think we're in danger?' Adara asked.

'The premonitions of seers always come true although they often do not mean what we think,' Balkar replied. 'Perhaps only a cow or a horse shall die but we will take the necessary precautions in any case.'

Adara nodded and turned towards the door of the kitchen where Rodrigo and his friends had crowded together to see what was happening.

'I'm going to take these children to their dormitories,' she said. 'I think they've seen enough.'

Adara ordered them to leave what they were doing and follow her.

'I hope you won't go speaking about what you've seen here,' she said on the way. 'There's no need to frighten anyone.'

When they reached the floor of the dormitories, Rodrigo, Oliver and Darion said goodbye to the girls. Noa looked extremely pale. Adara also noticed and tried to reassure her.

'There's nothing to worry about, little one. There's no one here who'll harm you. You'll see, nothing will have happened by tomorrow. At most, we'll find a dead mouse in the middle of the hall.'

Despite Adara's words, Rodrigo took a while to fall asleep that night. Try as he might to relax, his mind was alert to any strange noise that reached his ears. Furthermore, from time to time he heard steps outside the dormitory, which were surely the knights keeping watch. When he finally fell asleep it must have already been two or three o'clock in the morning.

The next morning, Adara knocked on the door of their dormitory to hurry them along as she usually did every day. She seemed happy so Rodrigo guessed that nobody had died during the night.

'Rodrigo, Darion and Oliver, come with me. You have to finishing clearing away last night's dinner.'

Rodrigo rose from his bed and looked at his friends. Darion was already up but Oliver remained still beneath the covers. Rodrigo went over to him and shook his shoulder.

'Just a while longer, mum,' his friend murmured, covering his head with the blankets.

'Wake up, Oliver,' he said. 'It's time to get up.'

'Oh, it's you, Rodrigo. I was dreaming.'

'Yeah, I noticed,' said Rodrigo. 'Come on, get dressed. We have to clear up the plates from last night's dinner. Let's go and see if the girls are fine.'

'Yes, they're fine,' Darion said. 'Aisha just told me.'

A minute later, the three boys and the three girls quickly descended the stairs, following Adara with difficulty.

'So nobody died?' Oliver asked.

'I'm sure someone or something did. It's inevitable,' Adara replied. 'But it wasn't one of us. Like I said, I'm sure it was just a mouse.'

'So the seer kicked up all this fuss over a mouse?' Oliver questioned.

'Oliver, seers don't choose their premonitions. They simply have them. It's not something voluntary.'

'Don't we have to go to the dining hall?' Rodrigo asked when he saw that Adara was taking them in a different direction.

'I want to see how Agatha is,' she responded. 'Come on, Oliver. We're in a hurry.'

But Oliver wasn't listening to her. He'd stopped in front of a mirror and he was staring at it, entranced.

'What's wrong? Have you lost your marbles?' Rodrigo joked.

'Look at this!' Oliver said, ignoring his joke. 'I can't see myself in the mirror. I'm invisible!'

Rodrigo retraced his steps until he stood beside Oliver and checked if he could see himself. The mirror reflected the corridor, the door opposite, the candelabras on the wall. Everything except the two of them.

'It's a delayed mirror,' Adara explained to them. 'Your reflection will appear there in a week. Come on, we haven't got all day.'

Rodrigo and Oliver ran through the passageway back to Adara and the rest of their friends just as someone appeared at the end of the corridor screaming. It was Mirena, the nurse, and she looked as though she'd seen a ghost.

'She's dead!' the woman cried. 'Agatha's dead!'

'Are you sure?' Adara asked.

'Absolutely. Somebody killed her. Her throat's been slit.'

'Quickly, go and tell Balkar,' Adara said.

The nurse turned and sprinted through the corridor and Adara headed towards the seer's bedroom, the door of which was still open.

'Wait for me outside,' she said.

Rodrigo approached the room threshold and saw the long, curly hair of the seer hanging to one side of the bed. There was a knife on the floor and the bed sheets were soaked in blood. A few moments later, Balkar arrived and quickly entered the room without glancing at the children. Mirena was with him. When she entered the room, she placed a hand on Agatha's forehead.

'I estimate her temperature is around thirty degrees so she must have died approximately seven hours ago,' said the nurse. 'Around one o'clock this morning.'

'Our dear Agatha!' Balkar groaned, taking the woman's hand. 'Who did this to you? Why you?'

Mirena continued to inspect the body meticulously, analysing every piece of skin in search of possible answers.

'Look!' she soon said. 'There's a key inside her mouth!'

'Give it to me,' Balkar said.

The grand master took the key and started to try the locks of every drawer and chest he could find in the room, which was rather a lot. He soon found the correct one, although Rodrigo couldn't see it from outside.

'Look. It seems as though Agatha gave her life to protect this,' said Balkar.

'A diary,' Adara whispered.

Nobody spoke for a few seconds.

'Look at the final page,' said Balkar, finally. 'It has yesterday's date.'

'"When darkness begins to recede, the Mirror of Power will appear where fire never cedes,"' Adara read.

'The Mirror of Power!' exclaimed Balkar. 'Agatha had a revelation about its whereabouts: that is why they killed her.'

'What is the Mirror of Power?' Mirena asked.

'It appears in an ancient prophecy,' said Balkar. 'It says the person who has it will possess a power strong enough to face Arakaz.'

'And somebody killed Agatha to find it?' Mirena asked.

'I'm afraid so,' Adara said, 'but we have to believe Agatha resisted until the end. If that object falls into the hands of the enemy, there would no longer be any hope for us.'

'What does all this about the darkness and fire mean?' Mirena asked.

'The fire that never goes out refers to a volcano,' said Adara. 'It must mean one of the Grey Hills which is never completely dormant.'

'And the darkness?' Mirena asked.

'"When the darkness begins to recede,"' Balkar repeated. 'Could it refer to Arakaz's rule?'

'It's possible,' Adara said. 'I think it could also mean something much simpler. It could refer to dawn.'

'Perhaps you are right,' said Balkar. 'If you are, we must look for it as soon as possible. I will take Oliver and Rodrigo. We shall travel on the simorg.'

'Oliver and Rodrigo?' Mirena repeated, incredulous. 'But they're just boys! It could be dangerous.'

'I shall explain it all to you when we have more time, trust me,' said Balkar. 'In any case, they are not safe in the fortress either. I am afraid there is a traitor amongst us. You must find him before he hurts anyone else. Let Donegan know and have him interrogate everyone.'

Without waiting for a response, the grand master exited the bedroom and indicated to Rodrigo and Oliver that they should follow him. Still hurrying, he took them to the armoury where he selected a leather breastplate and a large sword that he hung from his belt. Then he looked for two smaller breastplates and gave them to the boys.

'Put these on,' he told them. 'We are going on a trip.'

As soon as they reached Arms Courtyard, Balkar ordered the sentries to open the gates of the fortress. The mechanisms and gears began to screech and when a sufficient gap had opened the grand master rushed through it. Rodrigo and Oliver struggled to keep up with him as they crossed the bridge that linked the fortress with the rest of Karinthia. As soon as they reached the grass that crowned the cliffs, the bridge and the castle disappeared, swallowed by the sea.

'Right, Oliver. Call the simorg,' Balkar hurried. 'The sun is rising already.'

'We're going to take the simorg?' Oliver asked, excited. 'Fantastic. Come here, poodle. We're going on a journey!'

A moment later, Rodrigo could distinguish the unmistakeable silhouette of the winged lion in the sky as it rapidly approached before landing a few metres in front of them. As soon as Oliver neared it, the beast lay down on the ground so they could get on.

'Tell it to take us to the volcano in the Grey Hills as quickly as possible,' Balkar asked Oliver who then repeated the order to the animal. The simorg immediately took flight and began to climb through the sky. The air battered their faces more than ever, indicating they were flying at great speed.

'I imagine you are wondering where we are going and why I have chosen you,' said Balkar.

Rodrigo decided it was better not to continue pretending they knew nothing.

'We know,' he replied. 'We heard you and Adara talking about the prophecy. We were hiding in the library but I swear we weren't trying to spy on you.'

'Well, well, well,' Balkar laughed. 'So you have known all along. I was wondering whether I should tell you or not.'

It was a relief to know that the grand master took it all in good humour.

'Look,' he said after a while. 'What you see down there are the Grey Hills and the peak that stands above them in the centre is the volcano. That is where we shall look for the Mirror of Power.'

'A mirror shouldn't be very hard to find,' said Oliver.

'I do not think it will be a large mirror like those that can be hung on a wall,' said Balkar. 'Instead, I believe it will be a hand mirror or even smaller, like a pendant. Maybe it is not even a mirror. Perhaps it is an exceptionally shiny stone or a sword with a dazzling blade.'

'Even still, surely it will reflect the sunlight so we can see it from far away,' Oliver insisted.

'It is possible, but do not get your hopes up. It could be face down or hidden.'

A short while later, the simorg set them down on the slope of the volcano where the ground was covered by grey dust. The lava from the crater had left profound furrows that made it difficult to walk.

'We shall walk in a spiral, ascending little by little,' said Balkar. 'Stay alert for anything that seems out of place.'

Rodrigo and Oliver began walking, staring fixedly at the grey ground. The irregularities of the land slowed their progress and forced them to consider where to put their feet with every step. To begin with, they overcame the obstacles excitedly, convinced they would find the weapon that would enable all of Garador's knights to defeat Arakaz at any moment but they soon began to tire and their hopes began to fade.

'There's nothing here that looks like a mirror,' Oliver complained.

'Do not give up yet,' Balkar said. 'We have not yet reached the summit.'

However, when they reached the peak of the volcano, Rodrigo's hopes were dashed. A deep crater, larger than a football pitch, sat before his eyes. It was surrounded by sheer, rocky walls that could not possibly be descended. As if that weren't enough, the ground was covered in cracks that were emitting bright flashes and clouds of smoke.

'Now what?' he asked Balkar. 'The Mirror of Power could be in there.'

Balkar was silent, his gaze lost in the depths of the volcano.

'I think it is time you discovered your gift, Rodrigo,' he said finally. 'Perhaps you are destined to find the mirror as you have the power to do so. Try to call it, see it or feel it. You must believe in it.'

'But what do you want me to do?' Rodrigo asked.

'Think that down there could be the weapon that will restore Karinthia's freedom and enable your friends to live in peace. You must want to find it and you must be convinced you can do so. Call it, attract it, try to visualise it. Anything you can think of.'

Rodrigo tried to do everything Balkar had said to him. He tried to open his mind and concentrated all of his desire on finding the Mirror of Power. He tried to call it, tried to see it, but a part of himself felt ridiculous each time he tried something. He was used to seeing the powers of his friends and colleagues but when he tried it himself it seemed different. He was incapable of imagining himself doing something supernatural.

At the end of the day, nobody said I had to be the one to find the mirror, he thought. Maybe Oliver will find it using his power.

'That's it!' he exclaimed. 'We need Oliver's gift. He can ask the simorg to look for the mirror from above.'

'I admit that is not a bad idea,' said Balkar. 'I understand that simorgs have much sharper vision than humans. They can stalk their prey hundreds of metres above the ground.'

'You're a genius, Rodri,' said Oliver. 'All of your power is in your head. You don't need anything else.'

The boy slapped him on his back and called the animal which promptly began soaring above the crater in circles, flying very close to the flames and clouds of smoke. Rodrigo, Oliver and Balkar observed it closely in silence, as though any noise would distract the animal in its search. The minutes passed, half an hour passed, and still the simorg didn't signal to say it had found anything.

'The sun is high in the sky,' said Balkar finally. 'It is pointless to continue looking. Maybe we have the incorrect time or place.'

'But what if we leave and Arakaz finds it?' Rodrigo asked, feeling that he hadn't done enough to find it.

'You heard the prophecy,' said Balkar. 'One of you is destined to find the Mirror of Power. Not even Arakaz can alter destiny.'

'How can you be sure it will be one of us?' Oliver asked.

'The prophecy speaks of someone from a world without powers, a day the stars fall from the sky and a day the moon rises in the sky. It is obvious it is one of you two.'

But Rodrigo was unsure. He was certain Arakaz had reached Karinthia in exactly the same way as they had, after deciphering the riddle in the tower. He was also sure it had been a day with a new moon and a meteor shower. The prophecy could also refer to him and if Arakaz were to find the mirror, there would be no hope of ever defeating him.

I have to tell him, he thought. I have to tell him everything we know about Arakaz.

However, try as he might, the words wouldn't come out.

'We should leave,' said Balkar. 'We cannot do anything more.'

During the journey back to the fortress, Rodrigo didn't say a word. He felt angry with himself. What if they didn't find the mirror because he was incapable of discovering his power? What if it was his fault Arakaz found it first? Why couldn't he discover his gift if everyone else had done so?

Doubts and blame continued to torment him when they finally reached the fortress. Fortunately, he had no time to continue thinking about it. As soon as they passed through the entranceway, Donegan greeted them.

'Did you find it?' he asked.

'I am afraid not,' Balkar responded. 'What about you? Have you discovered the traitor?'

'I have interrogated all of the fortress' inhabitants and I can assure you that none of them murdered Agatha.'

Balkar was pensive for a moment.

'You have not interrogated everyone yet,' he said finally. 'You must still ask the three of us.'

Donegan appeared to falter.

'Now is not the time for formality, Donegan. Ask away.'

'Fine. Balkar, did you murder Agatha?'

'No, I did not.'

'What about you two? Did you murder Agatha?'

'No, sir,' Rodrigo and Oliver responded, surprised.

'Well, that leaves only one possibility,' said Donegan, shaking his head. 'It must have been Adara.'

'What do you mean?' Balkar protested. 'Adara would never have murdered Agatha.'

'She's the only person I've not been able to question. She left the fortress shortly after you. She said she had to warn you immediately that you were looking in the wrong place. Did you see her?'

Balkar shook his head, his eyes fixed on the ground.

'As I feared,' said Donegan. 'She'll be in Arakaz's palace by now, revealing the real whereabouts of the Mirror of Power.'

'Adara would never do that!' Balkar insisted.

'So why has she not yet returned? Admit it, Balkar. You know that any one of us could fall under the emperor's spell. That's the risk we take every time we leave the fortress.'

Balkar narrowed his eyes.

'Fine,' he said, finally. 'Time will tell if you are correct.'

When Rodrigo and Oliver told their friends about their adventure they were all disappointed they hadn't found the Mirror of Power but their disappointment soon changed to indignation when they told them that Adara was the main murder suspect.

'How could they think Adara would do something like that?' Aisha murmured. 'She would never betray her colleagues.'

'That's what Balkar thought,' said Rodrigo, 'but Donegan says it could only have been her. She's the only person he didn't interrogate. She left the fortress a short while after us and she hasn't returned.'

'What about Donegan?' Aisha replied. 'He questioned everyone but nobody interrogated him. How do we know he's not a traitor?'

'I trust Donegan much less than Adara,' Rodrigo admitted, 'but if he were a traitor, wouldn't he have gone in search of the mirror or informed the emperor?'

'Do you think that's what Adara's done?' Vega asked.

'I find it difficult to believe but we have to admit it's suspicious. She left the fortress saying she was going to look for us but she didn't appear. And it's been hours now and she's not returned.'

'What if something happened to her?' Noa whispered.

Rodrigo was silent. He had also considered that.

'Asking each other questions won't solve anything,' Darion broke the silence. 'I suggest we go and spy on Donegan.'

'Spy on him?' repeated Noa, terrified.

'It's not that risky,' said Darion. 'Vega can keep watch through the walls. We can observe his movements from a floor above him so we'll never be discovered.'

They all stood up, happy they could do something. Even Noa joined her friends.