While Dovos had fulfilled his mission by returning the belonging to Igüan and watching the miracle lights of the northern night sky, Ethan had not finished his hidden agenda yet.

He heard rumours of a relic or an artefact hidden in northern snow by the Temple and he wanted to go there. Igüan said the temple placed a centurion at the opposite peak of the village but not anymore. Yet Ethan still wanted to go there, in case, the temple tried to trick them.

In any case, he needed to get rid of Dovos and Igüan first. He could not let them know that he was here to steal the relic, so. Then he got an idea.

The track between the temple route and the village route was a narrow track connecting the two peaks. A misstep could result in a fatal accident. And he tried to use it.

While Dovos and Igüan were having a conversation, he purposely walked behind them. Then he buried himself in the snow and faked his fall by placing one of his shoes above. "Woah..! arrr~!"

It was silly acting. Yet it worked. They were so deep in conversation that they did not notice the busy Ethan. Only when they heard the scream, they turned back and Ethan was gone.

"Shite! Did he fall?" Dovos asked in shock. Igüan ran back to the place and saw the shoe so he checked below. He found the robe Ethan threw down near the edge. He climbed back to Dovos and showed him the robe as he shook his head in sadness.

Dovos could not say anything as he loss for words in the absurdity. "... ... Will we find his body if we go down there?" "Probably. Not sure. Nobody falls down there yet. But judging by the fall, he might be in pieces."

The conversation stopped for a while as they did not know what to do. Then they decided to move on.

When they seemed to be away, Ethan got out of the snow shivering. A chilling snap hit his nose which seemed to be frozen already. He went down to get his robe back but found out Igüan took it with him.

"You gotta be kidding me."

He cursed at them in a shiver. He put his hands in the armpits in a desperate attempt to warm them. Then he moved on without any robe to cover his bare skin against the frosty air of the north.

There is only one track so he successfully reached the temple without a guide. He saw a narrow passage which led to the temple between two rocky cliffs. A wall made of columns of logs guarded the entrance of the passage, with a tower above. There was no one in the tower anymore. He looked around the cliff to see if there was a way to climb and found a way. He climbed the cliff and got onto the wall, then jumped down to the other side.

After an exhausting climb and entry, he found out the gate was not locked. "What am I even doing?" He questioned himself.

He sneaked along the passage which was an upward slope. He believed the temple deserted the place after the unmanned gate and tower but to be certain, he moved as silently as he could.

When he reached the top, he found two pairs of totems on top of each cliff. Each pair represents good and evil. As he walked forward, he saw a temple in the middle of the snowfield. In Ethan's eyes, the temple looked somewhat unique and original, unlike those temples in flatlands. Unlike marble temples, this wooden temple has no 'stairs of realization' at its entrance. Instead, the passageway earlier acted as a stairway. Its high slope roof seemed like a mountain peak, and at the top is a small statue of Mordu' carved out of wood.

Snows were piling up at the door and surrounding since there was no one left to take care of the temple. "They must have actually deserted this place." He was certain of it after the condition of the temple. He entered the temple to cover himself from the chilly air and get away from the frozen ground. Same as other temples, the inside was a long hall with a big statue of Mordu' at the end. "Flameno!" He heated his sword and placed a fire at one of the three fireplaces. The fireplace is a double deck system where the lower level is filled with coal to burn while the upper level is filled with rocks. When the coal burned, it heated the rocks and the water must be splashed over the rocks to get the steam. That way, one can get both the heat to warm his body and the steam to soothe his throat.

Ethan enjoyed the fireplace to the fullest. He felt all the tense muscles were getting relaxed. Then he started to get ache all over his body. At first, all the bruises and injuries from the battle were numbed by the cold but all of them resurfaced after some warmth. He quickly drank up a potion from his pocket to ease the pain.

Due to the exhaustion from the battle and the climb, he dozed off quickly by the warmth from the fireplace. He felt like a baby in a mother's arms. He recharged himself for a while until he heard some muttering nearby. He opened his eyes and saw two pairs of feet. He reached for his sword but before he got to it, a big hammer pressed down his sword.

"Dovos?" Ethan said in surprise. "Yes. Yours truly." Dovos answered. He continued, "We came here to rest the night before we search your body tomorrow. Now it is my turn. We saw you fell down. How did you come here?"

"I-I I fell off. But there was a step below and I seemed to be unconscious there for a while. When I woke up, I climbed back up and you are gone. So I came here to rest the night." He made up a lie quickly.

They stared at him suspiciously. Ethan forced his eyes to watch them in their eyes back, not to sway away, so that they did not suspect. It was a very hard job. But he did it. He convinced them.

"Oh_ thank god. I thought you are a ghost. Grandma said if a person dies on this mountain, the ghost comes here as the haven, at the feet of Mordu'. You are not. Are you?" Igüan asked him seriously but the absurdity of his question made Ethan unable to answer in the same manner.

"Yes, you are right. You got me. I am a spirit with nine souls. Once I die, I lose a soul and respawn at the nearest temple. I need to go back there and recollect my essence of soul before it is lost forever."

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Igüan gazed at Ethan, gaping his mouth in awe as if he had met a legend. Then he remembered something and gave it to Ethan. "Here. I got it from the spot you fell. It is your robe. Is the essence in that?" He handed the robe over respectfully.

Dovos could no longer hold his laughter he burst out laughing. Ethan also chuckled joyfully.

"He is messing with you. Do you really think that's possible?" Dovos laughed while Igüan, embarrassed, tried to act like he was playing along.

After some laughs, they sat by the fireplace quietly, against the giant pillar of the temple; each in his own thoughts in the warmth of fire and steam. They gazed at the crackling sound of burning coal and mesmerising dance of steamy white fumes.

A while later, Dovos finished his meditation and went to sleep. So did the rest.

In the middle of the night, when the moon was still out and the snowy owls were still at the peak of hunting, Ethan woke up. He carefully got up not to make any sound. He did not even take his sword because the metal might make a sound. He sneaked around the temple in his dagger, searching anywhere that might be hidden or might have been hidden the artefact. He looked at every nick and notch, hoping he would find it or anything related to it. Nil to the result, he went over to the barrack to search for any hints where the artefact was moved to.

The commander's hut was a separate house from the barrack. A bed, a rack and a table were placed properly inside. On the table were a bunch of documents, nothing related to what he sought. Below them was a map of the North in detail. Since he was in a separate house, he lit up the lantern which oil was turned into a block by icy wind. It took a while but it brightened up the room nicely as it was supposed to be.

Then he noticed someone was behind him. 'A Templer?' He dared not reach to his dagger as it would alert him. He dared not show defiance while his back was still to him. 'I must get out with words.' He turned around slowly, holding his breath.

He saw a man; a big man; standing and staring at him curiously.

"Oh! For lord's sake! Dovos!"

"So, did you find something?" Dovos asks nonchalantly.

"Found what? I am not searching for anything." Ethan feigned ignorance. He could not afford to be caught. Almost all warriors in Midland were devotees of Mordu', waiting to be bestowed by his lord Mordu' to serve as Templers. They would not think twice to accuse a person of blasphemy and bring to Temple to make a face for themselves. Although they had only known for a while, he did not want to fight a friend whom he had shared a pot.

"I am touring around the pilgrimage site."

Dovos chuckled at his blatant lie. He took the lantern from Ethan and shone it over the map.

"Where do you think they moved the artefact? Do you think it is still in the north?"

"I don't know what you are saying. An artefact? What artefact?" Ethan kept his poker face.

Dovos smiled and shook his head as he saw how bad Ethan was. He took out a gold coin and tossed it to him. It was the same kind of coin he got from Clara.

"Do you what this coin is?"

"Some kind of communication?"

"So you do get it. You are not totally ignorant. These coins are given out to those who do not sympathize with the Temple; the ones who see the true face of the Temple disguising itself as the beacon of mankind while poisoning society. We are the warriors who find our own ways to defeat the monsters to break the absolute dominance of the Temple."

"So, you guys are the devilspawns; hence, the angel with horns and the devil with a halo."

"Oh_no. No. Don't lump us with those bastards. They are evil bastards who want the power to oppress others. They are nothing but the same as Temple. We are different. We want the power to defeat the monsters and protect people without the help of the Temple. Our goal is to destroy the dominance of the Temple and create a power balance then end the corruption of the Temple. We are the good guys. The temple lumps around all non-aligned warriors as 'devilspawns' to opinionate the public against us."

"I see. So you are saying we are on the same side. What makes you so sure that I am trustworthy? I might tell on you later or I might be a Templer myself, killed one of you, held onto the coin and pretended to be one."

"Not possible. A Templer would never touch or hold possession of an item with the face of a devil. It would soil their sainthood and the blessing of Mordu'. Trust me. I have thrown one to a Templer in joke and you should have seen his face. He was like he just touched something nastier than rotten flesh. He prayed for his lord's forgiveness throughout that night."

Ethan listened to Dovos and noted that Dovos could be a maniac or a sadist. His Warhammer said it all.

"Anyway, I have found nothing. It is either they moved or there isn't one in the first place."

"I see. Then let's go back before Igüan wakes up."

"Igüan? Isn't he one of you?"

"Ishàn was. Not his brother."

They went back to the temple and found Igüan was still sleeping. "The sun is rising and this guy is still sleeping. He still has a long way to go." Dovos shook his head in disappointment. They decided to watch the sunrise to waste some time.

While they watched the sunrise, they saw something sparkling from the forehead of Mordu'. So, Dovos got up to investigate it.

"It must be jewellery. You should leave it be." Ethan advised him. "Oh come on. A jewel on a big statue while people are starving on the road. I could buy a lunch for thousands of people with it."

"If they find out, it will be the village that has to pay the consequences."

"It will be fine. They deserted the place and the village people are not keen followers of Mordu' either. They have their own goddess."

Although Ethan kept warning him that it was a bad idea, Dovos went on ahead. He extended his arm but the statue was taller than he thought. So he got on the narrow platform, grasping the staff of Mordu' as support.

Suddenly the staff went in below the deck and Dovos fell on his back from the platform unbalanced. As his full weight hit on the wooden floor, a loud noise roared across the hall along with some tremors.

"Just how much do you weigh?" Ethan shockingly asked Dovos.

The commotion woke Igüan up. The young man looked around with his half-opened eyes. "What's going on?" He muttered indistinctly. Then his squinted eyes became wide open when he saw a secret passage open behind the big statue.

"You big bastard! You did it!" Ethan shouted happily.