The wind howls in the streets of the village, people pack their belongings and mourn on the streets. The horse walks on the pavement with Nerys and Cadmus on it's back as they look at each other in a slight confusion. An old man is standing near the center of the village and as the duo gets close to him he starts preaching loudly.

"It has finally begun, the prophecies were true! The beginning is finally here! Run people, run! The black mist will kill us all if you don't! The Dragon of Destruction is only starting! It will come for all of us and eat us whole, it will swallos the whole world and destroy everything in it's path!"

"What are you talking about? What is happening?"

"Oh don't you know o' Ancient One? You! Of all people?! The Dragon is finally taking it's home back after all these years, it's coming for us!"

The two walk away from the old man as he keeps on preaching for a while and walks away.

"Let's get a drink." Cadmus shrugs it off as they make their way to the tavern. They both get off the horse in the front of the building and make their way into the empty place. Cadmus walks up to the bar and looks at the bartender standing up from his chair .

"Two cups of water please." He puts some coins on the bar as the bartender just looks him in the eye and sits back down.

"Did you not hear me? Two cups of-"

"I heard you, what are you going to do? Wave your fancy signs and say some magic words and burn the village down? I do not serve customers who deal with the Arts, now go away!" Cadmus sighs and turns around, getting up on his horse once again, Nerys follows right behind and jumps up as well.

"Okay, and now what? What is going on? Maybe Gununkanta attacked this land too? They were talking about the village getting burned down over a night that is what happened in Sverdsin right?"

"Why would anyone do that, Pakkaheim is not a rich country to raid and rage war on, and it does not have a welcoming terrain either why would anyone attack it, it is not war that they are scared of."

He bumps his steed as they start to ride out of the village at a steady pace.

"Now, we go to the next town and go somewhere a little bit more welcoming." As they get to the bridge that leads to the next town they stop as they see a black spiral in the sky towards Gununkanta. It's spinning around as some darkness is flowing down from it. The old man is standing in front of them on the bridge.

"You want to know what is happening still do you? Your siblings will surely take interest too once they hear of it, and the girl in the back seems to be interested as well. You feel it calling to you don't you princess?" The old man giggles as they both look at him in surprise.

"Who are you?" Asked Cadmus in a low and threatening voice.

"I am merely a messenger, enlightened by the darkness that heralds the coming of the dragon! You Ancient Ones think you are all so special, but you are just as naive as the rest of them, you will all see the light in the darkness, then and only then will you learn!" The man giggle hysterically as his eyes open wide showing his lack of vision. The man turns to the side and runs towards the ledge and jumps off the bridge. Nerys immediately jumped off the horse and ran to the side to look down. But the river was as frozen as before with so signs of the old man.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"He disappeared." Cadmus looks forward at the spiral as Nerys gets back on the horse.

"We need to get you a sword, let's go." They ride off to the next city a little faster as the sun is slowly setting down. As they get close to the walls of the city the sun almost setled down and the winds got more intense. The gates are closed off and two guards stand outside.

"Hey! We need to get in, is there something going on?" Cadmus yells to one of them but no reaction. The city is not dead silent, but the air outside is cold, colder than usual even in this frozen land. Nerys gets off the horse as Cadmus does as well, drawing his sword. Nerys gets close to one of the guards and puts her hand on the armor. It's covered in snowflakes and is obviously freezing cold. She heats up the armor slightly as the man starts to shiver under it but slowly heat up with Nerys' help.

"O-Oh.. thank you, my lady but.. how did you-"

"Don't bother with such things right now, we need to get in, especially you, the weather is harsh friend." Cadmus puts his hand on the guard's shoulder in a friendly gesture, the guard nods and walks to his partner trying to shake him.

"Don't touch him! Let me warm him up as well." She wakes the other guard too, as the other one opens the gates and they all get in. The guards close the gates behind them as they walk to the stables and Cadmus gets the horse in.

Nerys pats it's head and looks at Cadmus. "What is her name?"

"Daisy."

"Wow, i did not actually expect her to have a name at all, your lot does not seem the ones to think of such things."

"What do you mean? She is my horse, has been for a while, her legs are like my brothers and sisters' swords and axes." Nerys smiles as she looks at Daisy and they leave to walk the busy streets of the city.

They hear a smith forging by the shop, the sounds becoming louder and louder eventually they reach their place. They walk around the back to see a woman getting out a blade from the hot forge. The woman turns around and welcomes the two.

"Ah customers! Welcome, what do you need? I got the finest weapons and armor, daggers, swords, axes all sorts and only the best!"

"We just need a sword for the lady here."

"Hmm, i have 3 swords ready for now, they are all the same in quality but have slightly different styles!" The woman grabs the three swords and puts them next to the forge on display. Nerys picks one with a sharper handle, it's guard pointing outwards.

"Aah good choice, aggressive style! That will be 680 donas." Cadmus hands over seven golden coins to the woman.

"You got 2 silver?"

"Just keep the change. I feel like i will get more soon enough." Cadmus turns around and looks towards the direction of the spiral that is barely visible in the dusk.

"You're a hunter right? Is the girl with you as well?" The woman asks curiously.

"Oh no, if she would be a hunter as well, the rest of us would lose our jobs i tell you." Cadmus chuckles as they all share a short laugh.

"By the way, i am Helga, if you ever need something again you know where to find me!" The woman shakes hands with the duo and puts the swords back as the two turn around and walk towards the tavern.

They are welcomed much better than last time, they share a drink and two and talk about the village they passed and how different the atmosphere is when people are surrounded by walls, or perhaps it is something else that makes them feel safe? Or are they just ignorant? Who knows, they rented a room with two beds and laid their eyes to rest. As Nerys fell asleep she could see the spiral in front of her eyes, she could see herself getting pulled to it closer and closer. Then she woke up, looked around and went back to sleep. Was that blind old man a prophet? Or was it just someone gone mad... who knows what the future holds for them, but one thing is certain, that she needed that night's rest after the past few days, and perhaps needed the rest for the following days more.