Kalen and Anthos advanced through the white snow, still firmly rooted to the ground, as the sun peeked through the clouds and dazzled their eyes. The terrain was uneven, but it had become much flatter now that they were moving away from the mountains. A few trees scattered in small clusters weren’t nearly enough to cover the horizon, not even on the hills. A calm yet freezing wind struck their weathered faces.For Anthos, following the trail of the druid apprentice wasn’t too difficult. Though not an expert tracker, he knew enough and had the necessary experience to pursue his prey without issue. Perhaps it wasn’t his strongest skill, but he was better at it than the rest of his companions—except Begryn. He remembered once again the Blood Claws, when he had to act as a tracker for a group hired to hunt down an ogre. That had been near the city of Proco, in southern Trabarioth, where the orcs of the frozen lands lived. In fact, it had been those very orcs who had hired them, and there

For several hours, they advanced at nearly a trot, without exchanging a word, until they stopped by the banks of a stream to drink water and eat some salted meat.“I want to make something perfectly clear,” said Kalen ‘Fal through clenched teeth, glaring at Anthos with fury from beneath his thick brows and the strands of hair that fell across his face. “What you did back there was the act of a petty thug, devoid of any kind of virtue. Had the circumstances been only slightly different, it would have been the last time we stood as colleagues. I want to believe that what I saw was nothing but a shadow of your past, not something you’re still suppressing.”“We got the information, Kalen. We didn’t have time to waste talking.”“Did you see that man? He wasn’t some filthy bandit who deserves to be hacked to pieces, nor a mindless monster.” He pointed furiously back in the direction they had come from. “Did you see his face, the fear in his eyes? Did you see how he looked at you? He said he

After moving Galfrido to a sheltered, more comfortable spot—no easy task, since the enormous man must have weighed a ton—the half-blood elf began gathering branches and logs to start a fire. There was a small grove not far from there. She found herself wondering if it had been a good idea to stay behind instead of going with Kalen, but that no longer mattered. They had left several hours ago. She trusted fully in the knight’s skills, and, in large part, she had learned to trust Anthos as well.Once the fire was lit, she cooked some of the remaining legumes. It wasn’t much, enough perhaps for that night’s supper and one more lunch, but nothing beyond that. She hoped Galfrido would be better by morning.The night wrapped Galfrido and Begryn in a cold, starry mantle, with the moon still casting light over the valley and, farther away, over the Ramei Mountains. The elf could not help but wonder what had become of the cursed witch Baba Yaga. She had heard a thousand tales of that infernal

They noticed the looting had ended. They couldn’t tell whether hours or minutes had passed, as the adrenaline coursing through their bodies warped their perception—sharpening their senses but distorting their sense of time. They saw groups of orcs pass by, carrying supplies such as barrels or crates. Others passed with corpses slung over their shoulders. At first, they didn’t understand why, but then they realized they were preparing to impale everyone who had fallen in Rivero, surely to leave their mark of terror.“It’s a stroke of luck they haven’t spotted us yet,” Begryn suddenly said. They began to notice a light drizzle falling. “But if we stay here, they’ll find us.”“The way’s clear now,” said Galfrido, peering out from between the crates, straw, and filth. “If we make it to the river, we might find some place to hide. Orcs hate the water—it’ll give us an edge.”“Alright… let’s follow this path to the watermill. From there, it’ll be easier to skirt the river.”“Agreed.” They ad

It didn’t take them long to find a bridge to cross to the other side of the Diamond River. The wooden crossing was quite precarious and didn’t even have a guard post, but it was located at a rather narrow stretch of the water, so they managed to cross without difficulty. Several days had already passed since they had left behind the village of Rivero, with its funeral pyre and charred buildings. After that, the days had been gray and rainy, marked by a bout of snowstorms one night. From the smoke and the stench of death, they could deduce that Faradax and his army had crossed the main bridge toward Epsilia, and that the city had fallen. They hadn’t come across any survivors or refugees from the ravaged villages, but that was only logical, since the adventurers were traveling through inhospitable and sparsely populated lands. Not a very appealing choice for those who had survived.With that sorrowful image lingering in their minds, they pressed on through the frozen lands. More than on