Rushing toward the smithy, Max stopped at the entrance, sweat pouring down his forehead.
"H-Hey Max, what brings y-you here?" Kevin asked, holding a spool of dirty white string.
Huffing, Max coughed out, "The old man—where is he?"
Kevin spun around as if looking for him. "I d-don't think he's here. M-maybe he's still in bed."
Max laughed. "Sleeping? Him? Haha, good one, Kev." He looked him directly in the eyes. "Seriously, where is he? I need him."
Kevin shrugged. "I really don't know… B-but… m-maybe I could help?"
Taking a deep breath, Max said with a slight smile on his face, "Sure. You can help."
He walked inside the smithy, not waiting for the young man to let him in.
"Sev and I will be leaving for the desert soon, and we need weapons… I need weapons. And clothes," he said, walking past Kevin, who stared at his back.
"We d-do have some spare k-knives and spears, but for anything proper you'll have to wait a few days."
Max stopped. "And clothes?"
Behind him, Max could hear Kevin stumbling for something on one of the tables as things fell to the ground.
"We only have one poncho and a vest. A-as f-for the desert, we d-don't have anything on hand c-currently."
Picking up a small piece of forged metal, Max asked, "Can you have something ready in a few days?"
"Y-Yes!" Kevin shouted without hesitation. "You c-can count on me."
Max finally turned around with a wide smile. "Good. I'll come by in about a week then. Thank you, Kevin."
He tried patting him on the back but couldn't quite reach the taller Kevin, instead patting the side of his arm.
"I am… We are counting on you."
"I won't let y-you down!"
As Max left, he could hear the young apprentice already scrambling for his tools and materials.
Running around the frozen lake, Max entered another building, this one with a tent right outside it. A few men were sitting around a small fire, eating dried meat.
"Has anyone here seen Phix or Yusuv?"
The men turned their heads, only to see a younger boy yelling at them. Seeing Max, they smiled, warmly greeting him and offering him food.
"Yeah, Master Phix just left. He said he'll be back in an hour or so. Why?"
Max pointed toward the main hall. "Sev and I are leaving for the desert, and we'd like for one of them to escort us at least outside the mountains."
The men shuddered at the mention of the sunless blue desert. One of them raised a hand.
"Why are you leaving now? Didn't you just return from a trip there?"
Unsure of how to answer, Max smiled awkwardly. "We… left something there and need to retrieve it."
The men looked at each other for a moment before looking back at Max.
"Well, if it's just to the cave, then maybe we could take you."
Max's eyes lit up. "Really? Thanks, guys. We'll be leaving in about a week."
He was about to leave but stopped mid-turn.
"Oh, and could you tell Phix about it when he comes back? I'm sure Sev would be most assured if he came with us."
The men laughed. "Sure, we'll tell him."
Max thanked them again before leaving.
*
Sev sat at the top of a tall cliff high above the sanctuary.
Looking down, he saw tiny people running around, trying their best to live and survive. From this height, Sev gazed at the distant peaks reaching into the clouds. Even further beyond them, he stared at the hazy tall pillars stretching into the fog that covered the entire sky.
He couldn't help but reminisce about his first time seeing them.
Opening his notebook, he began writing, the bright sun illuminating his worn, empty pages.
'Memory lost:
We entered a large, endless cave illuminated by beautiful, alien-looking moss. Oddly enough, even the water glowed. For the first few days, none of us could sleep as we traveled further and deeper into the unfamiliar dark. The difference in temperature was almost deadly—we felt like we could drop dead at any moment, especially without anything to eat.
The caves were like a maze. Each time we turned a corner, we appeared right where we first began… or at least we thought. Despite numerous days of walking, we never found a dead end or an exit.
Tensions were slowly rising, especially when we decided to finally make camp after finding and killing a tough monster with stone-like skin.
I was woken up by Astrid screaming. Opening my eyes, I saw she was covered in blood from her arms down to her legs. My heart pounded as I reached for my weapon. At first, I thought we were attacked in our sleep—but then I saw it.
Hunter was crouched near the sleeping Jill. His mouth was covered in fresh, dripping blood, but he didn't look hurt. He had an evil grin on his face as he stared at Astrid, weapon in hand. In front of him was a piece of gnawed flesh. I wanted to throw up.
The commotion quickly woke Yusuv. Despite his large frame, he managed to sneak up on Hunter and take him down. We tied him up using glowing vines and pieces of our clothes as we tried to help Jill. Unfortunately, she was already dead.
Lashing out in anger, Astrid kicked the wall next to Hunter's head. With a loud thump, the wall shook and small pieces of rubble fell beside us. Once again, I was reminded of the sheer strength of Astrid's combat fragment.
We didn't feel safe keeping Hunter around, but we couldn't afford to kill him. Losing both Jill and him would put us in too much danger—his sense fragment was too useful to lose.
We had a long conversation after he awoke. It resulted in us keeping his hands tied and without any weapons. We convinced him that if he wanted to survive, he would have to help us.
We walked further and deeper until we saw light. We were sure this was the exit—that we were free—but we couldn't have been more wrong.
The light wasn't coming from above, but from below. Strangely, looking down the cave, we saw complete darkness. It was as if the shadows themselves were emitting light without being chased away by it.
The worst came right after, when a strong pressure attacked all our minds at once. It was a cold feeling, like that of certain death. We were lucky to make it out with our lives.
Whatever that was, I never want to come close to it again.'
Closing his notebook and putting it away, Sev took a deep breath, clenching his teeth before pulling himself away from those memories—leaving behind another empty space within his mind.
*
The week rolled by quickly.
Sev, Max, and a few bodyguards stood at the entrance to the sanctuary, backpacks full, dressed in warm clothes and covered by large brown wool coats. Sev impatiently scanned the area, waiting.
They had been standing there for about an hour, during which a small crowd gathered to watch them depart.
"Where the hell is he?" Sev muttered quietly, white smoke rising from his mouth.
Then he saw him.
A man in light grey metallic armor, dressed in a fashionably large overcoat with a scar on his cheek, approached them calmly.
"He cannot be serious," Sev mumbled.
"You're late," Phix yawned. "Am I? Or are you two early?" He laughed, wiping the drowsiness from his eyes.
"Whatever. Are you ready?"
Phix nodded, his hand moving to the sword at his waist.
Sev rolled his eyes. 'Show off.'
Phix spun around before asking, "Astrid isn't here?"
"She had some other business to tend to."
Phix nodded, then smiled. "Oh, and have you heard? There's a rumor going around about some girl named Melody. They say if you see her, she'll bless you with luck."
His cheeks turned red as he stared at the sky, deep in thought. "Ah, I wonder what she looks like. Maybe we'll see her."
Sev stared at him for a moment before shaking his head. 'Gullible idiot.'
"Are you ready?"
Returning to reality, Phix quickly patted himself down. "Yeah."
Sev gestured with his hand. "Let's go then."
Max nodded, while Phix smiled. "Yeah. Let's leave this place."
The small group gradually made their way through the narrow exit nestled between two cliffs, cheered on by the onlookers. They crossed large snowy plains, narrow cliffside paths, and harsh mountain terrain.
They passed the place where, just a few weeks ago, Sev and the caravan had fought off the spider horde. There were no signs the battle had ever happened.
Somewhere far along their journey, a silhouette of a man stood on a distant hill, watching them as they walked—observing their every move, and following behind them.