My eyes met Eugene's for a second. It was hard for me to determine the nature of his emotions, but something in his eyes made my smile disappear. I did not know whether it was good or bad. I had no time for further consideration as the two remaining vampires decided to flee.

"Where are you going?"

There was no response. I went after those two but got bored. Eventually, I concentrated and I created a firewall the vampires ran into – the chase was over.

When I returned, I saw a lovely picture – Eugene was sleeping, leaning against the post. We had just started hunting, and I felt unprecedented energy but he needed to rest. Judging by his appearance, he was not telling me the real state of thing for one reason or another, and I personally could not care less.

From up close, he looked peaceful and handsome. His tattoo gleaming with dull red light, most likely fading. His breathing leveled off, and his always tense muscles relaxed. For some reason, I wanted to touch his perfect face, to outline his tattoo, to feel the roughness of his slightly unshaven face with my fingers. My hands reached out for his face against my will, but stopped half an inch as Eugene spoke in a guttural voice,

"Don't you dare!"

I clenched my hand and put it in my pocket.

"You fell asleep!"

"And you've found out that I sleep too. What a surprise," he stood up, looked around and continued, "Let's go on hunting or to the Guardians' Abode."

"I think it's better to go home. Tomorrow is an important day, and I need to rest and get ready for it. I don't want to be sleepy during the classes."

Eugene looked me in the eye for a long time, as if trying to read my thoughts, and then smiled warmly in gratitude for the secret care. At least that's what I thought.

"Okay, let's go! I'll walk you home!"

Our relationship became weirder and weirder.

The Guardians' Abode. The Cell of the Guardian.

He had not been sleeping for three days in a row, and now the narrow bed in his room seemed unusually attractive. Having taken off his jacket, Eugene flopped down on the bed and instantly fell asleep. But he was not given a chance to sleep long. Milena rushed into the room with undue familiarity.

She pursed her lips, looking at her carelessly sleeping man, when terrible things were happening.

Milena tugged at Eugene's shoulder for a long time, saying,

"Eugene, how long are you going to sleep? Get up! We need to hurry up!"

"What happened?" Eugene was muttering, being in a doze.

"Our armory was robbed."

"Milena, are you out of your mind? How's that possible? And what for?

"How do I know? Tol is gathering us all. We need to search for outsiders in the Abode and eliminate them. Another group had already set off on the trail of several Murky Shadows."

Milena threw the jacket in his face. If she was not his woman, he would break her neck for that, but he had to control himself.

"Pull yourself together and let's go. I hope you haven't forgotten how to fight while you were babysitting."

Milena was a lousy Guardian, and yet the Guardians were never notable for kindness and obsequence. For decades, Eugene had been wondering why the Elders punished him by choosing Milena as his soul mate. They chose the worst and cruelest of all Guardian-girls. Even in good spirits, Milena was more like a formidable fury than the mother of his future child. He often imagined how she was choking the child for crying. Eugene could not stand Milena and considered her a terrible lover, a bad friend, and an obnoxious woman. He could not see them living happily ever after, so he secretly hoped to be killed at the battlefield, but not to share a bed with Milena. Even thoughts of his former mistress Melinoia, who cheated on him with more than a dozen of Murky Shadows, were much more pleasant than the memories of nights he spent with Melina.

No matter how hard Eugene protested the choice of the Elders, he had no right to question the decision and with a heavy heart had to put up with this woman.

They arrived at the armory a minute later. There were kept various weapon, except for the Swords of the Guardians, which every Guardian was carrying around all the time. Shields and helmets, the most durable in the whole world, maces, which had not been used for hundreds of years but had been heartily polished every month, various bombs with a magical core and much more made an impressive arsenal. It would be enough for a few thousand warriors. All of this was checked and kept in a special order. The armory was guarded day and night by more than a hundred Guardians, but somehow none of them saw anything. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

"Only training swords are missing…" Eugene stated.

"Look how observant we are!" Milena said maliciously.

Eugene did not answer, but quietly sighed and rolled his eyes. Even Darsy seemed a much better company to him now. He frowned. There was no place for friendship or love in his life but only for his duty. That's why he seldom talked to someone about other things, which happened to be nice… Eugene waved away strange thoughts and tried to find some sort of clue or trail.

"Swords were stolen for battle. We have lesser time than we think," the Commander emerged silently. Judging by his look, it was clear that Eugene was not the only one, who had not slept much lately.

"Is there any news from the Oracle? Do you know the time and place of the battle?"

"No news so far! Gods are agitated and angry after the invasion of dark souls into the Heavenly Palace. I was ordered to reinforce the guard at the Golden Gate. They believe that this is where the attack will start."

"That's stupid!" Eugene exclaimed. "It's easier to get to the Source through the Tart Desert, Tartarus and the Island of the Dead. It's closer to get through the Palace but it is suicide. I don't think Gods will sit idly by, while the army will attack…"

"I agree with you but the Elders gave the order. We need to obey."

"Who guards the gate to the River of Times?"

"Rick and Pipe. I sent them there at my own risk. If the Elders find out, I'll be in trouble."

"Only two Guardians at the main entrance? What can they do against a few thousand souls?"

"Eugene, the gate's sealed!"

"Tol, the same they were yesterday, but several souls broke through and began to transform right there! What if the souls from the river want to cross the desert?"

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