"Mommy, I'm tired..." A little girl cried as she tugged at her mother's torn sleeve.

Her clothes were all torn and dirtied, but they still carried a sense of comfort and beauty in them, showing how this girl was originally someone wealthy. Nonetheless, now, her face was covered in grime, several cuts and bruises appeared on several spots of her fair skin, some of them even infected.

"I know, sweetheart. Just, run a little faster, ok? This way we can escape those scary people..." The mother said. If her daughter's appearance was pitiful, she was desperate. The number of cuts on her body was at least double those of her daughter, and she was obviously terribly tired, but she still tried to encourage the young girl.

Originally, she would have seemed like a beautiful young woman, but now, all the grime and wounds on her body made her seem much less splendid than she should have been.

As the two kept walking, the daughter would occasionally whine painfully because of some kind of wound. They had traveled for weeks now, and although the daughter didn't know, the mother truly was not sure of where she was going.

She had wanted to run to the eastern kingdoms, where she could silently live there, but before she could get there, they had been found out by their pursuers and had almost been recaptured.

Now, she was once again on a desperate run. She had shaken 'them' off, but she also knew that they would find her again, and soon. Unless a miracle could happen, her fate was not a good one.

At best, if she was captured, they would execute her. At worst, she would be used as a breeding machine for the new king to make 'lawful heirs'. She shivered at the mere thought of that disgusting man so much as looking at her, and she couldn't help but pray to whatever god above would listen to save them, or at least, save her daughter.

The little girl had lived a harsh life. She was only born 6 years ago, and even then, the civil war was already going strong. After the capital's fall, her husband had been captured and executed, and her daughter had almost faced the same fate.

Thankfully, thanks to the selfless sacrifice of a lot of loyal servants, they had escaped, but if this continued, her daughter would not live much longer. It was obvious she was already severely malnourished and she was already starting to show signs of disease.

However, what could the poor mother do? All she had with her was her own body and a couple of clothes. They had barely survived by living off of the wild berries or other things in the forests, but now, those commodities were starting to disappear as snow began appearing.

As a woman from the south, the mother had never seen real snow. However, she was... had been a wealthy person, and wealth brings knowledge. Hence, seeing the snow, she realized that they were heading towards the north.

Seeing this, her heart fell. The Forsaken Land, the Wasteland, The Cold Hell... There were many names for the north, none of them pretty. Most of those who came here never came back, and those who did come back all told tales of scary beasts the size of mountains and savages that drink your blood.

However, the woman had no other choice. Taking a deep breath, she pulled at her daughter as they continued to walk forward.

Their feet had long since developed calluses from all the walking without shoes. However, now, they began to feel completely numb due to the cold, and although she wasn't a healer, the mother knew that this was not good at all. 

Several more days passed as the two kept and kept on walking. Food became even more scarce as they kept going, and although the water they would originally have to spend most of their time searching for was always available due to the snow, the coldness kept and kept on creeping in on them. 

Now, as the mother herself struggled to even take steps forward, the daughter suddenly fell down. Panicking, the mother quickly picked her up and tried to call out to her, but to no avail.

She wasn't dead yet, but the mother realized that such a fate was not far. Crying, the mother held her daughter in her arms as she buried her own face in her neck. Despair began to set in as the only reason why she hadn't given up yet faded away in her own arms.

Just as she herself was about to lose consciousness, a young voice called out from far away. "There! They're over there!"

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The woman felt terrible. Her whole body ached, and she felt a terrible burning sensation everywhere on her body. However, she couldn't even muster up enough strength to get up, so instead, she just opened her eyes.

Her sight was blurry, as all her senses felt. However, she could barely recognize the ceiling above her head.

"Oh, you're awake. Good morning." A voice said from beside her. Turning her head, a young woman, not pretty but not ugly either appeared.

Her face was pale white, typical of northern natives. She had long black hair and clear blue pupils, and she wore strange white robes with a symbol of a ball being held in a hand. 

"I... W-where is... my daughter..." The mother could barely say, her voice strained. Hearing this, the girl revealed a kind smile as she took the mother's hand and held it tight whilst saying, "Don't worry. She is fine. Our kind Lord saved her."

Hearing this, the mother smiled brightly but weakly as she fell back on the bed, her consciousness quickly fading. "Th... thank you..."

Seeing this, the girl smiled as she replaced the hot covers with new ones before calling another person wearing white robes with the symbol in the room and leaving.

Outside, the cold winds raged, and yet, the girl did not seem fazed at all by this cold. Walking forward, the woman began heading towards a large temple.

This temple seemed to be the entire center of the city if it could even be called that. In truth, all this city was would be a collection of houses and small shops. Nonetheless, several people walked on the roads anyways, chatting happily with their neighbors and friends. 

After entering the temple, the woman first bowed towards a giant statue at the center. This statue was just like the symbol on her robes, but much larger and far, far more beautiful. The giant ball here seemed to contain everything the north had, plus more. The hand also seemed to be almost alive and breathing, as a small golden glow continuously emanated from it into the temple and the surrounding city.

After reciting a small prayer, the girl walked all the way to a door on the sides, passing by several priests either healing injured people, helping to deal with small conflicts or praying along with fellow believers. 

Knocking on the door, the girl called out "Priestess Saina wishes to enter."

After a while, an old, gruff voice responded, "Enter."

Doing so, Saina entered the small room. In there, large bookshelves that took up more than half the space were the only commodities other than a desk at the far end of the door, filled to the brim with papers. There, an old man displaying an aura full of power and dignity stood. His old appearance only made him look wiser and stronger as if an ancient beast ready to tear intruders apart.

After a full bow, Saina, the priestess, began reporting, "The woman and child are fine. Although they suffered injuries, thanks to the light of the Lord, they have been saved. However, they clearly seemed to be on the run from something, or someone."

Laughing a cheerful laugh, the old man stroked his long beard as he recounted, "Ah... I so wish it was back in the old days, where it was just me and my companions, uniting the tribes of the holy land for the Lord... Now, I am but an old man needs to take care of small matters like these..." The old man said with a nostalgic look.

Hearing this, Saina's eyes brightened as she asked, "Lord Bishop, may I trouble you for some time for a small story?"

Looking at the young woman, the old man nodded with a smile. "Yay!" The Saina exclaimed as she jumped into the old man's lap.

"Hoho, young Saina, aren't you too old for this?" The old man laughed as he stroked Saina's hair tenderly. "I'm never too old for grandpa's stories," Saina replied as she leaned on him.

"Fine. How do I start... Oh, yes. A long, long time ago..." Before he could even really start, Saina interrupted, "How long ago? Don't be like that grandpa..."

Sighing, he continued, "A long, long time ago, around 70 years ago, your grandpa was still a young man. Back then, I was as eager for glory and justice as the young paladins of today were. I would always go around with my companions, conquering small villages and bringing them into the light of the Lord, but alas, one day, a tragedy happened!"

As Saina's eyes perked up, the old man noticed this and picked up his tone, "I was patrolling the temple in a small border town, much smaller than this. The people there had just learned of the lord, but their eagerness for salvation was enough for me to be dispatched."

"The light of the lord had already covered the village, therefore, it was my absolute duty to protect them. But! I alone was not strong enough for what was to come!"

"One day, the earth began trembling. I rushed outside to see what was happening, and what I found stupefied me! It was a gigantic dragon, larger than 10 temples combined!"

"Ooh! Did you defeat it, grandpa?" Saina cried out as she showed an excited face. Seeing this, the old man laughed but shook his head. "Of course not, silly girl. I was but one man facing such a beast! Nonetheless, seeing the people get slaughtered, I prayed. That day, I can still remember the might of my prayer, and thankfully, the Lord heard it."

"Just as everything seemed lost, the mighty dragon suddenly stopped and looked at the sky. I did so as well, and high above, in the heavens, the Lord had appeared, looking at the dragon with a fury that felt tangible!"

"As the earth rumbled and the sky cried, the lord pointed at the dragon. The dragon, terrified from the Lord's might, ran away, but it was all futile. A rain of fire fell upon the dragon, not leaving even a scale of the beast remaining..."

"What happened next? Tell me!" Saina said as she tugged at the old man's shirt. "Not now, young one. Go check on the two women, as we may have visitors soon."

Saina's face dropped as she got off the old man's lap and left. Laughing, the old man looked back at his desk, seeing all the remaining paperwork to be filled. "Ah... How I wish I was younger..." He sighed, picking up a feather and tinging it in ink before going back to whatever he was doing beforehand...