Early, with the first hours of dawn, they continued their journey with Anthos leading the way. They began to veer slightly eastward, drawing even closer to the mountains. The terrain started to rise, and the vegetation gradually disappeared. Downhill, they could see the entire valley covered in a thick mist and, in the distance, bathed in the golden light of the morning sun, stood the vast Misty Forest.A few hours passed until they finally reached a space formed between two enormous rock masses, which seemed to rise like colossal walls, gradually becoming the great mountains of the range known as Ramei. The valley and its trees were now far behind. From this point on, they would begin to enter the mountains, though without a steep climb just yet. As they walked, the two great walls closed in on either side, casting the surroundings into inevitable darkness, in that immense corridor that was now beginning to be covered with snow at every step they took.Anthos was aware that once they

They were gathered around the fire. Anthos drank the last sip of rum, courtesy of Galfrido. The cave wasn’t huge, but it fit the four of them and the baby perfectly. Outside, the storm continued to batter the mountains relentlessly. Had they not found that place quickly, they might have succumbed to the untamed power of the mountain.“I think now is the time for a story,” said Begryn, opening her tunic so the guide could see Drako. The man, upon seeing him, was left speechless. He had known from the start that this wasn’t an ordinary baby, but he had never imagined such rarity in a single being.“There are unique beings in this world, ones you may have heard of in legends or deep within your dreams. They have many names, but they are known as the Dragon Knights,” Anthos nodded, his gaze still fixed on Drako. “There is one for each species of dragon, six in total. An ancient elven prophecy says that with the blood of the last Dragon Knight to be born, sacrificed at the place where a mo

The travelers continued through the damp tunnels for a while longer, unaware of the presence stalking them in the darkness. Although many of the markings had been erased, the few traces that remained guided Anthos on the path forward. From time to time, they stopped to rest their feet. During those moments, Kalen would take the opportunity to pray and ask Leiorus for a bit of his light in those shadows.The deeper they went, the more the feeling of oppression in their chests grew. There was still a long stretch ahead, and perhaps they needed to rest earlier than usual to recover the strength they had lost in battle. Now the tunnel they were walking through was much wider, but almost devoid of ornamentation, nothing but roughly carved stone.“Are we doing alright?” Begryn asked, moving beside Anthos.“Yes, I remember this tunnel.”“How much longer until we’re out of the mountains?”“Considering we’ll need to rest a bit more, maybe a day… a day and a half.”The elf made a face of annoya

Kalen, drenched in blood, entered through the opening where Begryn was supposed to be, not without first taking little Drako, who wouldn’t stop crying, and handing him over to Galfrido.Inside, he saw a chamber of horror, filled with jars containing fetuses, shrunken heads, entrails, and, at the back, Begryn tied against the wall, completely naked. At first glance, she didn’t seem badly hurt. He approached the elf, freed her, and took her in his arms, covering her with a blanket that had been lying nearby.She opened her eyes and looked at him, trying to force a smile. She looked very weak.“And Drako?” was the first thing she asked him.“He’s safe, with Galfrido.”“I can’t believe you guys did it,” she said, hugging him even tighter. “Did you even kill their leader?”“Galfrido tore his head off, though he got a nice keepsake across his face.” He paused briefly. “Did they torture you? Did they do anything to you?”“No… except that damned witch drained quite a lot of my blood and stored

Begryn finally climbed up the rocky wall and, upon reaching the top, was horrified. Ertai and Drako were nowhere to be seen, which was obvious, but Anthos was lying in a pool of blood that stood out starkly against the white snow. The blood seemed to come from a wound on his head.She ran over, checked the guide’s pulse, and felt that it was very faint. She went to the travel supplies and, fortunately, Ertai hadn’t taken everything with him. Her pouch with healing herbs was still there. She took out her bowl and pestle and began to prepare a concoction of dried plants and some flowers she kept separated in small bags.While she was working, she saw Anthos open his eyes. The young man looked around, clearly confused.“And this is…?” He turned and looked at her, though he didn’t seem to recognize her. “Are you…? Where is Adken?”“You must relax, Anthos… you must…” She didn’t finish the sentence. The guide began to tremble and foam at the mouth. His eyes bulged from their sockets, and ev