Duskenhills was always busy, lots of trade goes through here as we are centered between three other villages. Dusken Harbor, Tres, and Dalorea. They all provide the same things in general. Furs, game, herbs, fruits and vegetables, wood, and clothing. Tres also brings in weapons to trade. Swords, daggers, and dagger axes, spears, arrows made of metal. One summer I saw a blacksmith come in with a good stock of double bladed war scythes.

We had brought a wagon full for trade. My mother provided some fresh baked bread, pastries, hawthorn berries, and some medicines my parents provide for the village healers. We also had a good amount of badger furs, wolf furs, a few fox furs, and to Aimee's dismay, the two barn puppies that my father agreed to trade to a young farming couple in exchange for the man, Leif, to build my father a new wagon.

We came to the front gates, they were open during trade times, guarded of course, mostly they checked the wagons, and groups they did not recognize. Sundown they are shut, and no one gets in or out until the sun starts to rise. Unless you are Erik, village council, or someone that has a real good reason.

We were in the wagon line leading through the doors, and I could see people whispering together, and then move to a new group and continue doing the same thing as they waited to get in. Gossip probably.

Then it was our turn to finally get through. A guard stopped us to look at the wagon and make sure we weren't smuggling in non awakened or something else.

As he was doing his job he asked my father, "Have you heard about the Magus, Treydon?"

"What about him?" my father asked flatly.

"He's looking for warriors. Says he needs anyone who is a true believer in the gods. There is a war coming." He looked excited.

My father was silent for a moment. "Any war coming will be because of him." He made a clicking sound with his mouth and shook the reins to the horses and we moved forward.

My father never was quiet about his disapproval for the Magus. I always thought it was because the Magus was smug. Now I know better.

"He's got a call out for warriors? That's not good for us." I said

"No, probably not. I think we might have to work to spread the word about what Kai has really been doing, and planning." My father suggested.

"I'll go to the ale house and talk about Vala. What he did to Parifreys seer. That should get some attention." Sigurd said.

"Be careful, Sigurd. Don't get into trouble." I told him.

Sigurd jumped down from the wagon and headed off. Without Willow in tow, she stayed at the farm. Sigurd insisted he needed her to watch for brownies and pixies looking to harass my mother in our absence.

The streets of Duskenhills were busy, and it took a while to get the wagon to where we needed to go. The center of town, to the trade tables. When we stopped Aimee climbed down first.

"Father, can I please go see if there are any new dresses and vests? I really want to find a skirt that I can fight better in." She stated.

"I told you, pants. Skirts are for farming, and daily use. Trousers are what you need." I told her. I was annoyed. She has always wanted to wear her pretty dresses, or skirts, even when training. To me they were traps in the battle field. A weakness.

"I don't like them unless I am riding for long periods of time. I prefer dresses." She said,

"No, we need to trade first. Take that bundle of fur and go to that herb table, see what you can find. Nothing we don't need, Aimee." My father said,

Annoyed, Aimee took the bundle and headed out to find herbs.

"Want me to set up? Mother wants the bread and pastries traded. She wants oils, and material. I think we might have to use some of those furs to sweeten the deal, however." I said.

"Yeah, you do that. And I will be back. I need to talk to a few friends around here. Make some noise about Kai." He turned and left, leaving me in the wagon.

I was unloading furs and stacking them beside the wagon, making space to load up the new cargo, and put the bread crates where people could see them. I could hear the people wandering by talking about Kai's call for warriors. I wanted to warn them. Tell them the entire truth. Why wasn't I? I was thinking of all the reasons I shouldn't.

Kai could have supporters here. Kai could have spies here. Kai could be here. I was driving myself crazy with excuses.

My mothers bread was good, her pastries too. A few loaves, and some furs later, I got my hands on some whale oil, some dress material, fresh leather, and for myself I traded fox fur for a pair of leather fingerless gloves. They were weaved, and had runes pressed on the cuff. Strength, health, stability, and power. I pulled them on and gave my hands a squeeze. The sounds of the fresh leather pulling. They were a good trade.

A man approached me, his hood on, gloves, and a leather face cover across his nose and mouth. His eyes were familiar to me. I squinted looking at him. "Orik?"

He pushed his hood off and lowered the mask. "It is me, Kaida! I was unsure if you would recognize me. It's been a while.

"Orik, why are you here?" I lowered my voice a bit. "How did you find the village? You are non awakened." I was shocked, and happy to see him all at once.

"I have my sources." He said through a laugh.

"Right, well it's nice to see your face, Orik." I reached out and we clasped each other's wrist.

"What are you doing here then?" I asked.

"Trade mostly. I came to Dusken Harbor for smoked whale oil. Burns longer when it's fresh. Awakened oils are usually cleaner anyways. Why are you here?" he asked

"Yeah. This is where my family is." I told him shrugging my shoulders.

"Oh, well that means you went home then after you came to Lionel? I thought you were travelling?" He asked.

"Sort of." I said with a smile.

"I hear a lot of rumors about the leader of the awakened. Folks round here talk about a war that's coming. Is that true?" He asked curiously.

"Seems so. I have a feeling that things are going to change anyways." I told him, not lying.

"Kaida, is your family going to be affected by this war?"

"Everyone is affected by war, Orik." I wasn't sure what else to say. "Orik, don't stick around any awakened villages if you don't have to. Maybe take a vacation south to the warmer parts of this world." I wanted to try and save at least one person. Even the non awakened will be involved with Kai's war. That gave me an idea.

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"Do you know something?" He asked.

"Orik, if I asked you to do something for me, could you try?" I asked hopefully.

"What is it?" was all he asked.

I loaded Orik up with every single detail about Kai, Amaia and Aadi, Vala, how I had the god Aadi's heart buried beneath my breast. Everything.

I gave him a moment to process it all.

The look on his face was thoughtful. It must sound like a wild tale.

"I want you to tell everyone you know. How they are all in danger. How the awakened and non awakened must stand up to Kai and minions together." I waited silently for Orik's response.

"Damn magic. Always causing a ruckus in the world." He said.

I didn't say anything, and just waited.

"Yeah, I'll do it. If they listen to me, is up to them. But I will spread your message." He nodded.

"Thank you, Orik. You are a good man, and friend." I thanked him with my hand on his shoulder, totally relieved he agreed.

I shoved some pastries in a wooden box with a couple of better furs and a pouch of fresh hawthorn berries. "My appreciation." I told him .

Orik nodded and left with his box of treasures.

I was relieved to have finally been able to tell someone about Kai. If my message gets around in time, it is up to the gods.

After a long day of trading, Aimee, my father and I went to the nearest ale house to find Sigurd. I had not seen him since he left on his mission of word spreading.

A Lot of the young men were talking about joining Kai to fight against whoever was threatening the Magus. I wonder what Kai's spies were telling people they were fighting for.

I stumbled into a group of young men on purpose going by.

"Sorry, I missed stepping. Was distracted by the Magus's request for warriors." I told them

Two of the men I recognized were from another farm not far from us. Their older brother would have been my age, but he died from illness.

"Thoren, Ivar is that you? You have grown a lot." I said in a shocked tone.

"Yes. Will you join the Magus, Kaida? You are a good warrior. I would be proud to have stand with me for the Magus's cause." Thoren asked me.

Shaking my head no. "I have an illness," I lied, " my fighting days may be over. I heard that the Magus killed a seer. How could he?"

"A seer? That's forbidden. They are messengers of the gods. The Magus wouldn't do that." Said Ivar.

"The Magus could do whatever he wanted, who is going to stop him?" One of the other men said.

"Why would he kill a seer?" Asked a fourth man.

"What if it's true?" I asked

"Who told you this, Kaida?" Asked Thoren.

"When I was in the village of Perifrey. I heard he killed their seer, because she was trying to stop the war." I was on a mission now.

"Kaida, that's a serious accusation. How sure are you that he killed a seer?"

"Well she was there when I got there, I met her. Then she disappeared before I left. None of the villagers had seen her. I heard when I left, she was killed by the Magus." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Maybe someone else has more information." I patted Ivar's shoulder. "Praise Ota."

I nodded my head to my father and Aimee and we walked away.

We found Sigurd in the ale house, which was good, because Duskenhills had plenty of them, and I didn't want to have to check all of them.

I waved at him as he caught sight of us walking in. He was smiling his usual happy smile, holding a full ale horn.

"My friends! I'm glad you're here!" He slapped my father on the back of the shoulder. "Treydon, you are a great man!" He laughed. "Lots of people have respect for you. This is good." He took a long drink of his ale.

"Did you hear the news? Magus is looking for an army." He drank again.

"Yes. We did." My father said rather confused.

"Yes, but no one seems to know what they would be fighting for. Just that The Magus has called for soldiers who are true believers in the gods" He nodded.

"Who is he attacking?" My father asked.

"Again, no one knows! It is all very hush hush." Sigurd kept looking over at the alewife. I assumed she was the one pouring information into Sigurd along with the ale.

"So where does he want people to go?" I asked.

"He wants people to go to the valley of Gweiadur." He said. Then I took a drink.

"The valley of Gweiadur? That's the valley of the dead. There is nothing there except deceased land, and ravagers." said my father.

"Yes." Was all Sigurd said.

I could see other patrons listening to my father. He was a prominent figure in our village, and his opinion about the Magus's call was something they definitely wanted to know.

"What in the world would he bring people there for, the land is plagued, and the ravagers will kill anyone who they find wandering the valley. Not even non-awakened people go there." My father kept talking.

"What happened there?" Aimee asked.

"There have been a lot of dark magic users throughout our history. Terrible dark magic that has been forbidden to use. Some say that the valley is where evil was born. There was a dark cult of people who used to worship dark gods. But there are other entities in this world besides gods. This 'god' that they thought they were worshipping was no god, It was a Draugr. The very opposite of a god. They thrive on evil acts, it feeds them. They fool you into performing the most unforgivable acts, promising power, and other desires, all while they are stealing their humanity. They gave the draugr everything it wanted. The cultists turned into ravagers. They stopped being anything like us, and became something new. Something that no longer has a soul. After the draugr gets what it needs from them, it leaves. The land it touched and resided on dies, blackens. There are only two places in the world where we know they have resided. Valley of Gweiadur, and the island of Drwg. Both ridden with ravagers, and both places anyone with a soul should avoid. "He finished his story, the entire alehouse had heard what he had to say.

"Well then that is somewhere I will not be going, Magus or not" A woman near me said.

"And to think I was going to find the Magus," said another man further away.

The voices of the doubt of others were filling the room.

Lots of other things were said that were not in favor of Kai.

"And that is done!" Sigurd clapped his hands together, stood up and walked to the door.

We stood and followed.

Out side Sigurd gave my fathers back a pat, "Well done, Treydon. I knew I could count on you to know the story of the valley of Gweiadur."

My father nodded, but was still very concerned.

"Lets head home." He said

We all piled onto the wagon, Aimee and I made a comfortable spot for ourselves in the furs we had left, and the two new weaved blankets I managed to get my hands on. We were warm and giggling about old stories about the stars, while we made our way home. It was late, and the day was long with everything we had accomplished, including scaring the villagers into rethinking about helping Kai. We were around the half way between home and the village when my father finally spoke.

"I can't believe people would consider going to that valley. even non awakens know to avoid that valley. The ravagers are no myth." He said in anger

"I don't think anyone from our village with go, father."

He ignored me. "Kai is bringing people there to have them killed, I'm sure of it."

I was silent. Why would he kill people he wants to worship him?