“During my life, I have always tried to sail to the horizons. And yet, there is a point where I cannot sail further, even though my ship clearly has water in front of it.”

* Ancient Logbook of the great captain Christopher Zarek

“The Mountain of Sannindi, it seems fate is a jester after all.” Ase quietly murmured to herself as she looked at the mountain that easily pierced the sky in the far north. “Where our life ended, I found one whose life has just begun, with the exact same scroll configuration as Atros…” Ase said tiredly as she looked back at the baby, a tear slowly forming and falling down her right cheek. The baby was looking back at her as well, curiously and exploratory as it held out its small little hands to her.

“Oogie Oogie” was a sound she made for reasons unknown to her as she lowered her finger to the baby’s small hand, all the while a smile was slowly making its way on her face. Once in reach, the baby grabbed hold of it and let out a small little laugh. One that was responded to in kind by Ase.

“Is this why you ran off so quickly, Ase?” a familiar voice calmly asked while she heard several people leaping across the same river she leaped across as well some minutes ago. They were part of her family, well.. the remainder of her family.

The first was Astrid Gunnulf, a woman who always was the center of calm in their group, with the sole exception when it came to their dead husband. A voice of reason in the chaos they had often found themselves in when they were still young. She had medium-length white hair with locks that flowed freely across her diamond-shaped face that was so loved around this part of the world. A set of thin lips that sat beneath an upturned nose, her amber colored eyes were surrounded by a set of dark shadows that she always dipped around her eye sockets each morning. On her neck, she wore a gift from their old husband, a necklace put together from small stones and other metals their old husband had found. Out of the entire family, she wore, by far, the most complicated outfit. But her attention was drawn by the companion behind her.

Right behind her was Hui-Ying Gunnulf, a woman that came from the Dynasty of Wu, a large empire to the far south. She had been with them for centuries, ever since they joined the Academy of war in their youth, some centuries ago. She had a traditional oblong-shaped face with dark-gray hair that reached just barely below her shoulders.. Her attire was far more simple than that of Astrid, due to her being an archer. She wore tight-fitting brown cotton pants that were accompanied by a thick black leather vest with black shoulder pads. From her right shoulder to her left waist, she wore a strap that ensured the quiver on her back was always kept in place. She wore padded leather high-boots that provided both silent footsteps and some protection for her lower legs.

The last of the people who jumped over was Gunhilf Gunnulf, unlike Astrid and Ase she had dark blonde hair alongside a round face with two locks of braided hair falling towards her chest. Her chest, shoulders, and upper arms were covered by a mixture of steel and amber colored plate armor. Her hands were covered by steel gauntlets with the left one adorned with various weird symbols. Covering the upper parts of her legs was a blue skirt that was fastened by a leather belt, while the lower parts were covered by steel armor from her kneecaps to the middle of her lower legs. Covering the rest of her feet and lower legs were steel sabatons.

“A lord child? Why would someone abandon such a precious child?” Hui-Ying’s soft voice rang out as she and her other two family members made their way over to Ase. That Ase had run off so suddenly was a surprise for sure for them, though they were reluctant to let Ase go out of sight, they had to discuss with the remainder of the family who would stay behind and take command of the war.

Once that was done, Hui-Ying, Astrid, and Gunhilf quickly broke off and ran in the direction they last saw Ase, determined to catch up. At first, they expected she ran off to check a certain area for a different army, but reports continuously given to them by the scouts never indicated an army of the Cerviel Holy Kingdom left the surrounding citadels.

Confused, and stressed, they ran and ran expecting either some powerful people spying on their battle or the worst possible situation; the total annihilation of their scouts, the fabrication of false reports and several armies making their way to the battle.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Yet all the tension left their bodies when they saw that Ase was safe and unharmed, crouched next to a cradle. They, just like Ase, jumped across the large river like it was nothing and made their way to Ase and the cradle.

“I don’t think it was abandoned… weird enough as it sounds. Look to the right into the far northern distance. Do you also see that godforsaken mountain?” Ase slowly answered Hui-Ying’s question.

“Is that.. the MOUNTAIN OF SANNINDI!?” Astrid shouted with rage, that mountain was famous throughout the entire world, but to Ase, Astrid, Hui-Ying, Gunhilf, and some other members of their family; The mountain was a wound that not even time could heal.

“Yes, come and look inside the cradle. This child has the exact same scroll configuration as Aros. I am sure you all still remember the tales of how his parents found him? The fool was always so proud that they found him in a cradle coming from the mountain of Sannindi. Just like how we now find him.” Ase smiled while she pointed at the child in the cradle. All those years, decades, and centuries ago, and still, the mere mention of Aros’s name put a smile on her face.

“Of course, that was his go-to story when he was drunk in the taverns!” Gunhilf let out a boisterous laugh while she crouched next to Ase. “He also looks like the baby pictures his parents showed us. It is said babies look like their dad when they’re fresh out of the womb, though Aros definitely died all those years ago, so I wonder who fathered and who gave birth to this child…..”

“Well, we never found out who Aros’s birth parents were. It still makes no sense to me, from what we know, there is no human population that can live on that mountain. It is completely populated with step 5 to step 6 animals and even a few that are gods, including our saviour. It would require several nations of people at step 6 to fend those off and we all know there are only a rare few who make it that far along the path. Or… they have a monster to protect them, someone like the Boar of Rot or Hulad.“ Hui-Ying replied to Gunhilf as she stared at the mountain.

“How can you all be so FUCKING CALM! I can’t stand THIS! Just seeing the mountain makes me boil with rage!” Astrid shouted at Ase, Hui-Ying, and Gunhilf. Her face was full of pain, gnashing her teeth and clenching her fists. She was always the one who felt the loss of Aros the most, partly due to her personality, but also because of her guilt. “I am going back to Thyra and the rest! I can’t stand being around here! Decide what you want to do with the child, but do it quickly. We got an army to get back to and lead. The forces of Count whatever are likely wiped out by now. So hurry it up!” as she leaped back across the river, Ase and the other two could clearly see a few tears falling into the river.

“hah, if I knew we would see the mountain of Sannindi from here, I would’ve been more adamant about leaving Astrid behind with the army. She still hasn’t forgiven herself, even though we all have.” Gunhilf let out a sigh as she watched Astrid disappear into the distance among the forest.

“I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself either if I were put into Astrid’s place. We all loved Aros and we would all die for him. She knows that and we do as well. Part of the guilt is that not only did she fail to protect her lover, but she also failed to protect our lover… and my…..” Ase slowly replied to Gunhilf as she slowly looked at the child tearfully. Her and Astrid were together from a young age, their mothers being the best of friends with each other, so she knew Astrid would never forgive herself, even in death.

“Let’s quickly decide what to do with the child. Though I think we all know what we’re going to do.” Hui-Ying interjected, as she crouched down next to Ase and hugged her tightly.

“You’re right about that Yingi” Ase replied as she gave Hui-Ying a thankful smile. “Let us go, Astrid is right. We got an army to get back to. And we have to introduce him to the other family members. I am sure Thyra and Adina won’t be able to believe their eyes. They will likely be as shocked as us to find a child who looks like baby Aros.”

“Tch, true about that! Ysra just gave birth to a daughter as well, so we can ask her if she wants to nurse him. Better to leave the nursing to someone we can trust than some random wet nurse, although Ysra is not directly part of our family.” As Gunhilf leaped across the river as well, she was reminded of the last two members of their family, Bodil and Svend who also had just gotten a daughter.

“Ysra would indeed be the best option, if we met them earlier than Svend and Bodil, her and Orm would be part of our family instead of them.” Hui-Ying softly spoke as she and Ase lept after Gunhilf across the river.

“Let’s hope everything goes well. Even if we face struggles, it will be all worth it. We will have a child that will remind us of our happy days with Aros, and perhaps he will heal Astrid’s soul as well. Odin knows she needs it.” As Ase let a smile bloom across her face, she had just one more thing to wonder about.

“Well then little one, what are we going to name you?”