Frits made it out of the battle without further issue. After a time, the sound of clashing weapons dissipated and all was silent. The sun was getting low as he rode alone through the seas of grass.

As he continued closer to the city, he noticed a number of abandoned camps throughout the land.

I wonder if these are from the sickness, he thought.

The fields had an ominous feel as he rode through them. No farmers in the fields, no livestock to be seen. Only empty camps and open grass as the sun fell in the West. Taunten continued forward with a determined gallop.

***

In time, the sun completely faded from the land, and the city of Hailgrad finally came into view. Frits could see the torchlight in the distance as he rode on. His wounds were consuming him as he swayed and drifted in and out of consciousness. If he did not have a horse of royal stock like Taunten, he would have surely fallen short of his goal.

Frits smiled and patted his steed as he thought of what Eric, the stable-master said, He has been on this road a hundred times. No better horse for a new messenger.

The Northwood led him south to the grand city that grew steadily in the distance. Before long, he was riding past Lake Noorden. Night had fallen and he could hear the crickets chirping and water gently lapping in the distance. Frits was shocked at the road as he approached the city. What was an area usually packed with people coming to and from the city was a quiet road devoid of anyone. Only the glow of torches on either side of the road accompanied him as he came to the gates.

Before long, he was before the walls of Hailgrad. They stood high above the road in watchful silence and pierced the sky, a hundred feet above the ground. The gates stood firm and resolute. The iron bindings of the birchwood gates glinted off the torchlight. Frits was filled with a joy that he has never known before. It was over, he was finally home.

“Hey, who goes there?” A sudden booming voice cut through the night and shook Frits back to the present. It came from atop the gate. “State your business.”

Frits mustered the strongest voice that he could, but it was still thin and seemed to be swallowed by the dark night.

“My name is Frits,” he said. “I am a royal messenger of the crown. I come from Frostwatch.”

“By Areandel, open the gates!” the voice shouted.

***

The gates were opened and as if Frits’ body knew the journey was over, he wavered and fell from Taunten. He was caught by two soldiers who put his arms on their shoulders. A man emerged from the darkness, dressed in a black tunic covering a silver chest plate. He had a pipe in his hand as he studied Frits.

“What happened to you?” the voice questioned.

Frits was breathing heavily and had difficult focusing. The pain hit his arm and side were almost too much to bear. In short, jagged breaths, he was able to get out, “We were ambushed by northfolk. Frostwatch was attacked. I have information for the crown to hear.”

The soldiers gasped and looked at one another in horror. “Get this man to the palace, but first, get a healer over here.”

A healer rushed over and looked at Frits with a concerned look. “Hold still,” she said.

The woman's hands glowed green as she placed them on his side and shoulder. Frits felt a warmth within him as energy surged through his body. After a few moments, she opened her eyes. “He is stable, but very weak. Be careful with him on the way to the palace.”

Two soldiers then helped Frits into a horse-drawn cart for travel to the palace. Frits suddenly remembered Eva and the others in the field.

He turned to the man and said, “Hailgalad soldiers were ambushed north of the capital. It may be too late, but please send people for them.”

The man nodded, “I will see what I can do. Rest easy, soldier of Hailgalad.” The man put his right fist over his heart and bowed his head.

With that, the horse was off, up the road. Frits fought to stay awake, but was consumed by his pain and exhaustion. The healer stayed by his side and tried her best to keep him alive. He drifted off as the cart bounced through the dimly lit cobblestone streets.

***

Frits was woken by a solider. Fear gripped him as he shook awake and grabbed the solider’s wrist. “Easy lad, we are at the palace.”

Two soldiers grabbed him, and helped Frits through the palace courtyard. The familiar senses of the city filled Frits with comfort as he stumbled forward. Two royal guards quickly opened the palace doors with a groan.

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They were greeted by a man that Frits recognized. He was tall and broad with a thick, but finely kept braided beard and long dark hair. It was the royal general, Baldric the Bear of Hailgalad.

“Who is this? What is going on here?”

Being in the pretense of the chief general brought new life into Frits. He stood up on his own weight and tried to draw himself up as tall as he could.

“I am a royal messenger to the crown. My name is Frits. I have returned from Frostwatch.”

Baldric looked at the man in wonder.

“Johanna, come here and help him to a seat." He turned to the other soldiers and said, "One of you, find an orator and get them to wake the king. The other, get the chief healer, Rowena.”

Johanna and Baldric helped Frits to a couch for him to lay down.

“Relax here a bit, the king will be with us shortly,” Johanna said with her hand on his shoulder.

Frits laid on the couch as his body seemed to melt away. There was a warm fire crackling away nearby as he faded in and out of consciousness. His mind rolled through the past days as he shivered and sweat in an anxious fit.

For what seemed like an eternity, he laid there until a young man came to his side. He put his hand on Frits’ chest. Frits woke and shuddered at the touch.

“Easy, easy,” the man said in voice that sounded drown out and shaky to his ears.

Frits faintly recognized the man as Edwin, the new king of Hailgalad. He tried to focus but thoughts and hallucinations bubbled through his mind, and he could not bring himself to utter a word to the king.

Edwin turned to Baldric. “What is the matter?”

“He is in a bad way after his journey," Baldric said as he stood up a stroked his beard. "Multiple stab wounds and he is severely dehydrated. To be honest with you, I do not know how he survived the journey, but he came in being carried by two others. They stabilized him at the walls, but we called for Rowena to see if she could help.”

After a short while, Rowena appeared running into view. When she saw the man, she knelt beside him and put both hands on his temples. She bowed her head and the healer's hands began to glow faint green. Frits once again felt the warmth of a healing enchantment as his mind calmed down and breath slowed. The room slowly turned from a shadowy dream to a warm and inviting place he could find rest.

Rowena's face seemed to wince in the firelight. It was clear she caught some glimpse of Frits’ mind and it poured into her, filling her with pain.

"His mind is more calm, but we must attend to his wounds soon." Their voices became more clear for Frits as he regained his consciousness.

“Thank you, Rowena,” said Edwin. “Please stay in case we need you again. After we ask him some questions, he can be brought to a room.”

She bowed and went to go sit at a chair at the edge of the fireplace.

“Now, let us hear your news,” Edwin said while he sat at his chair. Frits did his best to focus on the king. “Start with your name.”

“My name is Frits, a royal messenger of the crown,” Frits said softly, “I am sorry for my state, my lord. I came as quick as I could and nearly lost my life on the way.”

He paused and shuddered. Then, he continued, “Frostwatch has been attacked. It was nearly taken, but Everand led a stout defense and was holding them back. I was sent with five others to bring news to the capital, but I was the only one to make it. There were so many of them in the surrounding woods. They cut down all who opposed them in the open.”

“Who attacked Frostwatch?" growled Baldric.

“They looked to be northfolk from the White Mountains. From what I heard from the others and experienced at Frostwatch, the army is more organized than any that has come down from the North before. The Frostwatch garrison was pushed back to the citadel, but they held the last I saw.”

Frits hesitated, but continued, “The reason I almost lost my life was I met the enemy many times on the road back to Hailgrad. The others and myself were hunted on the road with tireless ferocity. It was difficult to say in my flight, but by my reckoning they numbered in the thousands. Mostly infantry, but they had these wolf creatures with them. They also carry great siege weapons with them.”

He paused again and pulled out his right arm from under the blanket that had been draped over him. It revealed the large wound that was colored with a blue burn.

“They had strange weapons imbued with a fiery ice. One of them struck me, but I was able to get away.”

Edwin winced as he examined the wound. He then said as he put his hand on Frits’ good shoulder, "Thank you for bringing us this news. It nearly cost you your life and it took the lives of your companions. I owe you a debt for your sacrifice."

"Thank you, my lord," Frits said as he put his hand on his king’s.

His mind swam with all that he had learned in the past days. The messenger thought of whether he was missing anything. The memory of not telling Everand of the northfolk on the road bubbled up and filled him with guilt. After moment, he knew that he wanted to say something about Edwin’s parents, but he did not know what to say.

He finally said, "I am sorry to hear about your parents. They were great people."

Edwin gave him a smile. "Thank you. These day have taken a heavy toll. Rowena, can you help this man to a room where he can get some much needed rest?"

“Yes, my lord,” she replied as she and another healer took Frits by the arms and started to led him away.

“There is one more thing you need to know,” Frits said as his mind cleared further. “I overheard their scouts saying something about attacking the capital. I was weak and delusional from my wounds so I cannot fully recall what they said, but they said something about their leader causing some sort of sickness to weaken out capital's defenses. They have a Great number of troops headed this way with speed that I have never seen before. If I had to guess, they would be able to be here in force by tomorrow night.”

“Thank you,” Edwin trailed off as Frits was led down a hall by the two healers.