A lone crane soared through clouds in the clear sky, drawing despair into the azure heavens!

His scattered consciousness finally made Valerius sense that something was wrong.

Fear screamed through every one of his doubles at once.

He finally realized he had been toyed with.

It was not that the wizard could not catch up; he was choosing the most suitable grave.

He frantically drove the swarm of bats onward, ordering them to scatter in every direction, toward any possible escape.

But an invisible force kept steering them.

The bats on the left would inexplicably collide with a sudden headwind, while those on the right would be startled into changing direction by an abrupt eagle's cry.

No matter how they struggled, this mass of black ink was slowly, inexorably pushed toward the same destination by an invisible hand.

Despair enveloped Valerius completely, like the cold mist in a mountain valley.

He could already make out the contours of that valley.

Douglas's hunt was drawing to a close.

He stopped toying with the terrified bats.

"Ki-!"

The crane let out a long, clear, far-reaching cry that pierced the night and swept through the mountain forests.

He stopped flying level and beat his wings sharply, shooting straight toward the higher, more distant heavens like a white arrow.

He flew higher and higher, his figure gradually becoming a sacred white speck in the cold moonlight.

The night sky was deep blue velvet, the moon a silver knotted button, and he was the only stitch of embroidery upon that velvet.

As though he would merge with that bright moon.

A lone crane soared through clouds in the clear sky, drawing poetic inspiration into the azure heavens.

A line of poetry from the distant East flashed through Douglas's mind.

He enjoyed this feeling of controlling everything. This was his own unique path, blending the wisdom of two worlds.

The moment he