With the first Birds singing their songs in the trees, Arkevh and Donovan sat out towards the Forest of Yor, following the tracks the carriage left as far as they could. Their Backpacks stacked with some extra food, they were given for their help yesterday.

At the beginning of their journey through the forest they were able to see multiple piles of wood, stacked together for the various sawmills further down the south. The Deeper they went however the more of the Forest's nature greeted them.

Mossy tree stumps fallen over, drowned by a brook running through the ever green grass and the occasional sightings of bunnies and deers who instantly disappeared as soon as they saw Humans.

The Forest was the complete Opposite of the loud and crowded City and Arkevh enjoyed every moment of walking through it.

They walked for a pretty long time already and it slowly became night again, so they decided to create a little camp for the night.

A perfect opportunity for such a place to rest showed itself in the form of a clearing. Close to a stream and a huge boulder whose tip loomed over the clearing a bit.

In Response to that sight Donovan had already planned something for their temporary camp, he made his finger wet on the stream and held it into the air. The Wind came from the east, from the direction of the stream.

He nodded to himself and put his backpack on the ground and looked towards Arkevh who did the same, leaning it onto the boulder.

“Listen up Arkevh, it's getting too dark to venture deeper into the forest, so we're gonna set up a camp for the night. Gather solid firewood, from the western or northern side. But no green stuff.”, Donovan explained and grabbed the spade that was attached to his backpack.

“I’m digging a hole.”, he kneels down and begins to dig below the boulder.

“For what?.”, Arkevh asks unsure and glances over to what all seemed to be attached to Donovan's backpack, Pots, Lids, even a spare dagger, while he just carried a water canteen and the food from the farmer.

“I'm making that hole a few feet deeper if you don’t hurry up.”, Donovan answers, annoyed and continues with his survival tricks.

Arkevh sighed and went to the western sight of the forest, looking for the hard and barren wood that was perfect for whatever fire Donovan wanted to start.

While picking up what Donovan wanted, he did not lose the feeling of being watched. They were probably still a day's marsh away from Farsen and a possible Goblin Camp as well.

But still, the Goblins came that far out, they saw that yesterday, so the possibilities of scouts watching them could be a risk.

However he returns without noticing anything, he did not even feel any auras or Mana near by, other than Donovan and the one from his staff.

Looking over the clearing again he discovers Donovan's Hole, dug a bit deeper than one foot and his sleeping back already rolled out.

Impatient, he grabs the Firewood off Arkevhs hands and places them into the Hole.

Only now he sees the second smaller hole, connecting it to the main cavity in which the firewood was placed.

Donovan smiles at Arkevh proudly.

“You see what I've done here?”he asks, sounding like one of his preceptors.

“You dug a hole for something I could also use my magic for.”, he says and rolls out his sleeping bag from the backpack.

Donovan just shakes his head.

“Arkevh, listen I'm gonna teach you something you will find handy one day, it's about making concealed fires, perfectly for warming yourself in enemy territory.”, he explains.

“Just dig a foot deep and look where the wind comes from, the dry and hard wood causes less smoke and the smoke that gets created does not rise to high, isn’t too big and gets redirected by the boulder.”, Donovan continues, still proud of his achievement.

“Its summer, if you want it warm i can just use my magic and give you a fire till we switch sleeping shifts.”, Arkevh explains and yawns.

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“That's not it, Arkevh, it's for the light source, yes your fire magic may be better, but only for this situation. I'm trying to teach you something before we part away for a while.”, he starts to explain.

“Your fire magic costs more to keep going as long as you don’t use your third eye thing, in addition you need more and more energy the greater the fire and how many people you try to warm. And hiding the fire source is always the best method, when you are in unknown territory. So it's useful no matter if you hold the flame or ignite a campfire.”

"Its about adapting, one day you will find out that sometimes your powers don't work like you want them to. Then you need to find another way to succeed.", Donovan finishes, symbolizing Arkevh with a snap that he should turn on the fire.

Arkevh sighs once again, hovers his right hand over the campfire and ignites it.

"Its about adapting, one day you will find out that sometimes your powers don't work like you want them to. Then you need to find another way to succeed."

“Start resting now. I wake you up in a few hours, you wake me at the first sunlight, understand? If you see or feel anything fishy, wake me up.”, he says and gives Arkevh a light smile.

Arkevh just nods and lays down on his sleeping back, whatever the next day would bring it sure be eventful.

The candles in the throne room were weakly lit, and only a tiny amount of moonlight entered the halls through the stained glass.

Leopold looked at the door that slowly opened, revealing his trusty companion and advisor, who looked the same as in Darkingstone, a Full beard complemented by his brown eyes. clothed in a fine blue garb, his braided hair lying on the back side, hiding the burn mark.

“Garwin, what are you doing here.”, Leopold starts and relaxes his back on the padded throne.

“It's almost Midnight.”, he says and looks out of the window.

“I could ask you the same.”, Garwin counters in his usual sarcastic tone.

“I have wine and I look at the moon before going to bed, it calms me.”, Leopold says and takes a big sip from his wine Glass. Southern Ljus Wine was an acquired taste.

“You almost sound like Franz.”, Garwin laughs, dodging the Wine glass of his master that crashes next to him, spelling the expensive drop.

“Don’t mention his name here!”, Leopold spits out enraged, and falls back to his throne.

He looked years older when someone mentioned him, his half bald hair even whiter than before, his hands wrinkled in rage.

“I should have killed that son of a whore, when I had the chance.”,

“He endangers the Karwitz family. I raised him. Ten years for nothing!”, he yells and punches on his backrest.

“I surely can send someone else to take care of Franz but you don’t want to send two assassins at the same time right?”, Garwin smiles, improving the mood of Leopold slightly.

“So you found someone?”, Leopold continues eagerly?

“Four.” Garwin smiles

“That many, don’t you make it too obvious?”, Leopold asks and mourns towards his wine glass.

“Well my lord they are all magic users, especially that one woman who seems to be of extraordinary strength she can kill Alexander quickly. And one of the others has a type of rock magic, it will allow him to pass through the Castle walls, where no guard is looking.”, Garwin explains and lets out a satisfied smile.

“So be it, I trust you Garwin. We worked together for 20 years. I saved you from the House of Norv cause I saw the warrior in you. King Alexander trusts us since Darkingstone.”, he stands up in glory

“Brave men died for the new owners of the crown, the Carwitz Legacy! However.”, he stops and falls down the chair again, not sure why he had forgotten such an important detail.

“What is with Arkevh and Donovan?” Leopold asks, unsure, this assassination needed to work perfectly, if the king survived they would raise their security and then they needed to wait for his death to strike.

“Don’t worry my lord, I have a plan, only three of the four will attack. The other one will take on Arkevh and Donovan and distract them, Arkevh will probably be far away from the King, if he even joins this celebration. In addition he won't use his ability to save the King's life, he would sacrifice almost everyone in the dancing hall for someone he doesn’t care about. Donovan is strong, yes but he is still an inexperienced youth.” Garwin smiles, knowing they had the upper hand.

Leopold trusted him, the trickster of the demons, Mendax.