I

The frozen wind blowed, and black leafless branches moved. This tree looked like a hand of a giant buried into the rocky soil of the mountains. Willem didn't want to get any closer, yet the corpse lied under the naked black as if burned trunk. In this frosted wasteland only black trees survived, if they indeed were alive.

Nervous scout took the horse away from the tree when officer got off it. Entire company was like this. It's always dark, the skies are heavy with clouds, they had to conserve provisions and even water, and most importantly there are those trees poking from under the ground. And all of them clawing with their «fingers» south. As if wanting to grasp something in this desert that would allow them to escape this place.

That's how superstitions are born. Soldiers were there for a month but already felt with their guts some kind of a rule. Natives venerated those trees and cleared the areas around the giant hands of any other growth, either out of fear of contamination or out of religious beliefs. One shouldn't disturb those idols whatever they are.

He shifted his sight upon the corpse lying over dark roots. Sent forward patrol butchered a man. As it turns out, a messenger. Enemy for sure, enemy who tried to run away, but an enemy more useful alive than dead. Kirin, who usually hit a bull's eye, here spent half of a quirrel hitting only twice – piercing leg and chest. Poor man was finished off with a knife.

- What makes you think he's a messenger? – Asked Willem.

Dog looked back at his men and protruded a scroll from his pocket. Officer immediately noticed a broken seal. A hunter and a scout had rather unkempt appearance, his nose broken in fight with a wildlife, cared not for company's hierarchy and ignored it, yet now looked depressed. A country was truly frightening. Even Kirin, the lone wolf, gave in under such pressure.

With a sigh Willem opened the scroll.

«Kill her, you have my blessing. Your king».

Willem didn't believe his own eyes. Looked at the seal again. Hurried to open his bag and take out another order of the king to compare them. «Is this a joke?» It can't be true. King couldn't order that. There was no point for them venturing this far north if he could.

Kirin was very interested in officer's baffled expresssion.

- Is it bad for us?

Indeed it is. Worse than ever.

- Return to camp. – Willem ordered.

Willem had to speak to general as soon as possible. Budevik took this request, he should know what's happening. This sealed scroll turned the world upside down. As if provisions and hand-trees weren't enough for his concern.

Simple soldiers knew not of the details, but some – say, Kirin, who as the head of the scouts was personally told by the general about things he had to look for in those lands, – had an idea what's happening. «Just moving north». Past all the cities and villages right to the mountain pass spoken of in the fairy tales, the mountain pass that let in the winds of eternal winter of the other side. It was natural to think that Budevik looked for something there. Mountain pass had no value for them by itself, so soldiers thought about some kind of hidden treasure. This kingdom exhausted by war had not many of them left.

- Eh, general's coming.

Willem noticed the approaching rider. Without bodyguards, again. Well, there's nothing to fear in those wastelands. Apart from the strange trees and ever-darkening skies, that is.

Kirin looked at officer for orders.

- You can stay. – Willem shrugged. – You can tell your story one more time.

Budevik was a general only to the company. For others he was just another one of those mercenary captains. No more than a leader of bandits, whatever his past as a real general of the first big war may say. Noone cared for the losing side, and in case of Budevik it was even worse as he was betrayed by his own side. Twice the curse.

Thirty years of such a life wrote themselves into the general. He was old and thin, his weary face accentuating sharp features of nose and jaws. Noble lineage got mixed by the age, bags under his eyes growing ever bigger. Dark grey hair tied into a tail and burns – as imperial fashion dictated a long time ago.

- What's happened? What takes so long?

General stopped at the tree and get off his horse. He first noticed the scroll in Willem's hand and only after a messenger's body. Kirin felt noticeably uneasy as general looked at him stern.

- Not good. – Budevik summarized his impressions.

Kirin started his story after a while. The same story he told Willem, not surprisingly. Found a runner that tried to hide from them, rushed towards him, hurried a bit too much, hands shaking. Finally catched up to him under this tree.

Willem handed over the scroll, careful for general's reaction. Weren't they hired to kill the princess themselves? Why would king simplify their mission this much?

This is... – Budevik raised his brow. – Madness.

Of course. Normal parents wouldn't kill their children. That's what enemies are for. But that's sorceror-kings of this land they were talking about, and those guys were cruel to the point of sometimes wanting to annihilate all life. One could expect anything from them.

- May he be surrendering soon? – Offered Willem an explanation. – And he doesn't want princess to be enemy's trophy.

- Nah, can't be. – Budevik nodded to Kirin to come closer. – Bury the messenger at least. Show some respect.

Scout hurried to obey the order. Officer and general walked away so that soldiers won't hear their talk. Kirin and his men started to fight the frozen soil with shovels soon enough.

Mission got pretty easy with such a letter. They had to take the fortress with their strength normally, but now all they had to do was to show the scroll. If it would be accepted, that is. Guards can't trust their enemies.

- But seal is broken. – Willem argued.

- Letter's not the only thing that can make guards kill the princess. Think with your head. King imprisoned his daughter on the other side of the mountains. He doesn't want her, he made her his prisoner. Pretty sure guards are instructed to slay her if she tries anything funny like an escape.

Budevik liked his plan. Better not to fight at all, deliver the letter and walk away without any losses. But most importantly, company would be able to hurry south away from this cursed land. Even trees want to run away, why would humans willingly want to stay there any longer?

Yet it looked like a trap. Some kind of foul play.

- Who's hired us, general?

Contractor couldn't not know about this stuff. Afterall, to send a company to the Gates at winter at all times was a sign of a strong persuasive power on the contractor's side. Budevik carefully measured should he answer or not.

- Razeneth.

That explained a lot.

- A-a-ah.

He was a refugee just like them. Yet they remained vagrants, became robbers and brigands, started to sell their swords, unlike him who became a king. «Impressive», – Willem thought. General was too proud to offer his services to fellow countrymen like that. Especially those who were in charge of chasing Budevik away during that first war.

It didn't end well for them, though. They lost the war spectacularly. They lost everything they had and even more. Strong proud country was reduced to rubble, bands of vagabonds, clinging to imperial banners, and mercenaries, killing for gold.

- If I may ask, – Willem tried to be polite, – gold's not the only reason, isn't it? Something good for us, I hope?

Budevik absentmindedly watched at the shovels eating at the dirt. «What's the point of hiding it now», – Willem wondered. Yet general answered with a question of his own.

- Is there a place we could call home?

«So that's what Razeneth offered – a home». Whatever that means. Willem wasn't wrong – general wouldn't settle just for money if it's a request from the people who betrayed him. It's a good thing a king offered them rights to the land, wherever it may be, but to believe words of such a king is a madness in itself. Crazed conquerors can't be trusted.

- No, my general. We would never be tolerated by anyone.

Budevik looked at officer, his mind still absent.

- I've tried to get back my rightful place for 20 years now. I will not get it back, you say?

- You can't bring back the past, my general. World has changed too much, as well as we. No one wants to serve them, moreso no one wants to serve Razeneth. Better to be mercenaries like we are now than to bow our heads to traitors.

Willem heard a sigh. Budevik stopped looking at him, general's facial expression was a mystery. He must have been hurt by those words.

- You are right, of course. Yet the pride will be the end of us. We are at our limit. With every year more of us die off on the others' wars. You surely would be able to survive for a decade or so. But in the end everyone will die, and what then? We will just lose like that?

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«To be forgotten is not that bad». Willem was okay with that.

- I decided. – General turned around. – It can't continue like this, and I will end it.

- That's a mistake.

- Shut up. I am a general around here.

In any case company was already at the mountain pass. Vespemalei's Gates were a day away, it's too late to turn back. This conversation couldn't change anything anyway.

The sounds of earth being tossed around stopped. Scouts brought stones and built a grave. «It's a waste of time», – Willem thought. Digging, marching through foreign lands, seeking for whatever, it's all a waste of time. But general thought otherwise: they a had a honor still, and thus they had to not stride away from the traditions.

Kirin was tasked to return to camp and relay to officers the message to wait. General decided to abandon the plan to take tower by force and go with the letter delivery instead. Willem, as was expected of him, tried to offer himself as a substitute messenger. Yet general denied him the possibilty the say that.

- You will accompany me.

That was strange. Willem expected to be the one doing all the work. He has planned to grab a couple of scouts and ride ahead.

- But my general, you surely can't...

Budevik didn't let him finish. General turned face to Dog.

- Lead the men south if we are not to return in two days at morning. Make sure everyone hears of it, say it to Leuw and Kramer personally, don't let the latter ignore my orders. I don't want anyone starting wars among ourselves if I'm to die. – General looked Kirin in the eyes. – Let everyone remain honorable, alright?

Scout was ready to nod. Willem kind of envied general's ability to command Dog like this.

- Still, I think we must take Kirin with us.

- Still wanting to protect me from danger? – Budevik smirked. – It's up to me to lead negotiations if there's need in them.

General shouldn't be carrying all weight on his shoulders, but Willem didn't push. Half a day towards the keep, half a day back. There're no dangers here. Darkness got darker and freezing winds blew from the mountains, but that's all there is to it.

Willem winked at Kirin, asking him not to hurry. Dog answered with his eyes. When Willem came to take his horse back Dog happened to be close by.

- Make one of your scouts tail us. – Willem whispered. – General is not himself today.

Strangely enough, Kirin didn't comply and nodded silently. Unexpectedly, officer didn't need to use any smarts to make Dog follow orders. Wrinkled his nose as if to say «you aren't a commander of mine», but he did what he was told. At least one of his scouts will follow him and general. You can't really be sure what to expect from this wasteland.

***

It got dark. In this land it was really hard to separate day from the night. Twilight born out of thick clouds blocked almost all sunlight. «Horrible place to live», – Willem thought. Landscape never changed, the same grey and brown rocks and earth and black hand-trees. He couldn't quite wrap his mind around it, but the latter grew less numerous the closer general and officer got to the mountain pass.

General suddenly stopped his horse. Willem looked around for a cause, and Budevik pointed in the right direction to look at.

- Almost there.

Now Willem saw something at the horizon too. «Almost», – he smirked. It was a building barely seen under the heavy shadows of twilight. Where the mountains parted stood a fortress made of two walls, one around the tower near the left mountain range and the other blocking the pass.

- Don't relax now.

- I won't, my general.

Willem counted trees they passed by. Very interesting. Count went up to 263 until black hand-trees ended conpletely in the grey-brown wasteland. He shivered at the thought that even the giant hands ceased to exist this far north.

At some point he started feeling someone's movement behind. Turned around a saw a small figure hiding behind the boulders. «Too far away», – Willem thought somewhat restlessly. There would be little help from a scout if he is this far behind. He made up a reason for general to move slower, letting scout to catch up somewhat.

Willem only got more paranoid from there on. If it wasn't bad before, now even apathetic to the horrors perceived by humans horses started feeling something in the air. Officer expected it the other way around, animals being of more acute senses and all, but this land thwarted his expectations. Vespemalei's country was designed to play on humans' nerves first and everyone else's second.

- Hey. – Said general quietly. – On the mountain.

Willem traced the now-pale Budevik's gaze.

- What's there?

General wasn't sure. «Some kind of a movement», – he answered. Squinting his eyes, Willem managed to decipher a dust raised into an air – and immediately carried by it away. A boulder fell down, surely. «Happens all the time», – Willem rationalized. Yet he couldn't let his guard down.

The tower grew bigger. Willem was kind of dissapointed that fairy tales lied about the far north and the mountain pass. There was no ice forest, no cities and statues made of snow and ice, no nothing, just a continuation of a wasteland even beyond the ruined walls. And tower itself turned out not to be impressive. It was sturdy, but only three stories high. It stood at the mountain's side and leaned away from it. Small buildings hid in it's shadow and behind a stockade. Wind got incredibly strong this close to the wall. Riders had to dismount and hide behind their horses.

Willem saw a figure again. It's clothes mended in the surroundings, it moved quietly, yet fast. Somehow scout was ahead of them. Thinking about it, officer didn't register how general walked away. Wind was too loud to hear the footsteps. Budevik stood not so far away and looked at the skies. Willem looked up too. Immediately he lost his breath. Up there lied something impossible, some kind of a border between here and there. From their side was the usual for these lands sky. From other side lied the incredible whiteness.

He and general may as well have been the first humans apart from Vespemalei and their servants who saw this. Willem just couldn't look away, it was such an unnatural sight. He tried to understand and failed. It was some land covered with snow, turned upside down and fixed instead of skies. Willem saw the mountains with disgustingly regular peaks pointing down, endless white steppe, some kind of ancient ruins hidden between other colors.

- What the heck is this?

- Looks like a mirage. – Budevik's words were barely heard through the howling winds. – Happens in deserts, I heard. It's surely something else, though – mirrors never stretch that far and wide.

Willem heard about mirages too. Heat made wanderers see oases with shadow and water so desired. This mirror shown something undesired, though. This sight made him want to run away. Even the winds started to be perceived as something kind, something that tried to help to get back.

- My general...

- Yeah, – he nodded, – we'd better finish what we started soon.

Willem didn't like general's face when Budevik turned his head. Unknown shooter missed only by a hair hitting a horse in the neck instead. Poor animal tried to run, but fell down on it's feet after a couple of steps.

«What are you doing?!», – Willem thought, bewildered at the treachery. Yet soon he noticed more than one figure in the shadows, at least two. General and him rushed to the walls, seeking for a place to hide.

- Are they from the tower?

Those walls should protect them for some time. General and officer managed to put up quite a distance between them and unknown enemies. Willem carefully looked over the wall's bricks to find them. He sure hoped scout will choose the right time to attack, he didn't want to fight two-on-two, seeing as the general was more of a burden than help.

And then Budevik did something quite logical. He left the hiding place and showed himself to the pursuers.

- HEY!

Willem immediately noticed shadows moving. «They're fast». Officer hopelessly tried to give general an idea to hide deeper in the ruins.

- I came with a message! From the king Vespasin! – Budevik roared over the wind. – We are not enemies!

Arrow flew over his head at exact same moment Willem pushed Budevik down. His horse didn't quite liked it but officer managed to tie the animal to the wall – to draw attention. They changed their hiding place and listened to the wind.

- Imperial swine, come out! – Said someone close by. – Didn't expect it? Found you even here, the Traitor! You'll pay for everything!

Willem clenched his fists. Enemies were close. Startled horse neighed not so long ago, meaning that pursuers walked past. Hugging the ground, Willem looked at the pass. As expected, he saw one them. Big gearded man was making rounds in the open square. He tried to lure them in.

- Come out, Traitor! Die with honor.

Instead Willem looked for places this square was easily seen from. He found a couple of them and decided to check them immediately. Big guy was still going on and on about treachery and honor.

- Huh.

There was an enemy hiding there. Willem looked around for a ways to approach him. Suddenly, officer felt his hair stand on his back and turned around, swinging his sword. He felt something scratching his back, and rushed to the side trying to lose tail. He managed to quietly hide behind a column, and a second after a short guy with a sword ran past him. Two, three steps, he fell. General cut off pursuer's head with one blow from around the corner.

- Two more. – Willem shown with fingers.

General nodded and stepped back in shadows. Willem checked his wound and sighed. That's wasn't good, and he thought a general would be a burden in this fight. Looking at the severed head, Willem realised it belonged to a young boy. «One more face for the nightmares».

Willem followed general not so long afterwards as per their plan. He was supposed to get read of archer, but apparently this guy got scared and never showed up. From over the wall he heard a fight going on, Willem immediately ran towards it. As he feared, both ganged on Budevik, trying his hardest to fend them off.

Officer rushed towards one of them and shouted, trying to grab their attention. Archer whom he targeted was slow on the uptake and couldn't block the blow, falling into the frozen dirt. Still it was too late – general fell down as well. The next second Willem felt losing ground under his feet, a fist sending him flying over a rubble and losing hold of his sword in the process.

A sharp pain struck his side, making him wriggle on the ground. Somehow he managed to push himself off the rocks which brought him such pain. Hopelessly Willem searched surroundings for his weapon, yet never found it anywhere close. A poor substitute, Willem prepared a knife. Steeling himself, moved into the blind spot, hugging his bleeding side. As he did this, to his surprise the sounds of a fight resumed.

- General?

His side only got worse after the flight. It started bleeding profusely. Moving fast was impossible like this, yet Willem hurried himself. Luckily, the big guy fought someone else and stood with his back wide open. Officer swallowed his hesititation and used this chance, stabbing the enemy and severing tendons on his legs, forcing him down.

Willem had to force himself to stand upright, almost falling down on his foe. With last of his strength he placed a knife around enemy's neck and cut it.

- General?

There was no answer. Willem expected at least someone to be alive after that, but as it turned out officer was a bit late, and a scout got pummeled to a pulp. Archer lied close by. Budevik, dead, a couple of steps farther.

Willem hugged the wall and silently slid down. «Four more». He eyed the big guy, fearing the monster might stand up and finish him off, but what were the chances of this happening? Took out cloth from his bag and wrapped around his waist. That would do for now. Willem smirked at himself – never thought he'd be so beaten so suddenly.

His eyes looked towards the fallen general. «They got him», – he thought, devastated. Those three were his compatriots, without a doubt. «Another group of mercenaries?» He found no ways of confirming and disproving it. Just some brigands, lured here by some shady promises. Just like Willem's company, really.

«What a shame». Willem put his hand inside general's pocket and took out the scroll and placed it in a bag. Hugging the walls he managed to get to his horse, still neighing at something, albeit more quietly. Stupid animal was happy to see him, it looked like. «I used you as a bait, you».

A mission remained and was yet to be completed. He couldn't let general die in vain, even if it kills him too. He believed, somehow, that his wound would be alright for quite some time. Tower stood two hundred steps away, surely he would be able to get there with horse's help. Scroll on his body would do the work even if Willem loses his head in the process.