It had started out like the other days before, when Holden had finally reached the Karabatta Valley from Szelevu. The pull deep in his heart had grown stronger as he got closer and closer to the land the people there called Madüjawr. To tell the truth, Holden didn't really care what the place was called or who lived in that land. He only cared about one thing, and that was the pull in his chest.
He hadn't felt this pull in millennia. Not since his old friends had made the Shadow World. Now, though, he had this feeling in his chest. At first, it had been just a small tug, and that was what had woken him up, and that was why he had set out. But as he got closer and closer to the valley surrounded by mountains, the pull had grown stronger. Now he couldn't ignore it.
In fact, he was very excited about it. He would finally see them, finally meet them again. They were finally born, he just had to find them. Even if they didn't remember Holden, he still had to see them. This is what fate does, no one can resist it. That's why Holden was in Madüjawr and that's why he searched for someone in heaven and earth, but he couldn't find them anywhere.
"It's a great honor that you came to us." The leader of the local danovus clan bowed to Holden.
The first danovus finally decided in his great despair that more eyes see better and asked the locals for help in his search, even if he couldn't give them much clue as to what exactly they should be looking for. However, it's worth a try, this thing is worth every try.
"The honor is mine. I hope you can help me with my mission." He said in a measured voice, and of course the clan leader immediately started nodding vigorously.
Thus began the relationship that completely turned Holden's life upside down. Nothing bad happened for the first few days. He was even beginning to hope that everything would finally be okay. But he could have learned by now that things were never easy for him. They never were and never would be. The day that changed everything came barely a week after he had joined the clan.
Holden slept peacefully, he didn't really need it, but sometimes it felt good to pretend that he was an ordinary person. There was still a warm pull in his soul, almost vibrating. Until suddenly something cut it off. Holden's eyes snapped open at that, there was trouble, a huge trouble. He had felt this once back then, thousands of years ago, when they had died. He wanted to act, he didn't know what, but his instincts guided him then.
But before he could get up to storm out into the wasteland, he felt sharp pain in three places on his body. The stabbing pain turned into pressure, a dullness that silenced everything and even settled on his hearing. It was as if he had heard the words of some ancient ritual from afar, but the pain made him unable to understand them. Then everything was gone.
The next time he opened his eyes, he could no longer remember who he was or why he had come to Madüjawr. He felt lost and confused. Then they appeared, the two figures taller than him, who treated him as if they were his parents. They comforted him and called him by his name, or what they wanted his name to be. Wandi. That was whem Danovus Holden, the ancestor of the race, became Vojk Wandi, the heir to the Karabatta danovus clan.
As the years passed, Wandi accepted the situation he had found himself in. It became natural that he would not remember his youth. He was only a child, how could he remember? Here was his place among the tribe, setting an example and learning the ideals of the Vojks. Everything went according to plan. The first danovus had no idea who he was and danced the way the Vojks wanted. The clan was not far from finally leading the danovuses and showing their fellow kin how much better they were.
There was just one small thing they hadn't expected. It had been almost a millennium since the danovus had been with them when it happened. Wandi had befriended the Athamana. And slowly, without the Vojks noticing anything, this friendship became more important to Wandi than his own tribe. The Athamana became his family.
And then there was him, Citar. Although the nails had dulled his senses, something deep inside Wandi's heart, albeit distantly and barely audible, screamed that he had to get close to him, that the boy belonged to him. And Wandi gave in to the pull. Then he got the fifth nail. Citar stood next to him and the moment the nail hit him, two things became clear in Wandi's mind. He was Danovus Holden and the boy behind him was his, the person he would destroy the world for.
He didn't know what it meant to be Danovus Holden back then, it was just a name to him, a meaningless thing. So he didn't even bother with it. He turned his attention to Citar instead. Only to have everything turned upside down again when the group encountered Physalis Alkekengi, and she pulled all the nails out of him without a second thought.
The feeling was completely indescribable. It was no wonder Wandi fainted. It wasn't enough that the power that came with being a danovus rushed back into him, his memories also returned. With such force as a hurricane, unstoppable and caring for no one. The life that Wandi knew was his for the past thousand years turned into a lie in an instant, his blood boiled at the thought, hatred and revenge flowed through his veins. But still, but still.
He had to be grateful for the Vojk tribe for something. He had found the one who pulled his soul to him, the soul thread that he had been looking for for so many years. Wandi became Holden again and yet remained Vojk Wandi. He remained because his partner, the one for whom he would give his life, Citar does not know Danovus Holden, but Vojk Wandi. His new family considers Wandi to be his true self. And Holden decided that this small change did not matter. There was no one in the world for whom Holden was important, it was better to become Wandi.
So he could finally have him, the tug in his chest finally softened into a caress. He was where he needed to be. Only now he had been dragged back to Szelevu by a group of ghosts and he had to become Holden again, although he would have liked to play more, but all good things come to an end someday. But after all, the Athamanas don't need to know anything about this. In their eyes, he can simply remain Wandi.
He doesn't need to return to the danovuses. Little Virvir leads their race perfectly. And the race has never really needed him. Holden was the first danovus, but that's why he was different from the others. He didn't know how the others had developed, he had always been like this himseld. A joke of nature, a bringer of destruction. He was always alone, outside the world.
Now here with the Athamanas he felt for the first time that he really belonged somewhere. He hadn't even really belonged to Teike's team back then, when there was no Shadow World, he was just an outsider there, tolerated but not completely accepted. He's at home here with the Athamanas, with a family who would do anything for him and who stand by him unconditionally. That's why he has to protect them from the truth, the Athamanas don't have to know yet. Holden can still remain a secret.