Mathew shivered in the cold evening air. Above, thick clouds covered the setting sun and cast shadows across the landscape.
An imposing line of tall trees had become visible in the distance, stretching in either direction as far as the eye could see. Deimos Forest was nearing.
Argus and Mathew once again sat side by side in the driver's seat of the carriage. It had been several days since their last conversation, and since then they had been riding mostly in silence, which was fine with Mathew. He just didn't want to sit next to Ophelia inside the carriage.
Mathew rubbed the seam where the Iron Mind met his neck, trying to warm it up.
"Do you feel the cold? Your iron skull, I mean." Argus asked
"I don't really feel any sensations at all anymore. Not in my head. But the rest of me still does, and metal can reach the temperature of ice, so it's not the most comfortable in this weather. Honestly, I'm afraid to see what happens to it in the heat… I don't want to fry myself."
"That must be… quite difficult to deal with."
Mathew looked at his stoic expression, realizing that Argus was trying to empathize with him.
"Thanks." He said.
His attention was caught by a strange sight up ahead. The carriage was approaching a small wooden shack at the edge of the forest; its far exterior wall practically hugging the flora of the Forest of Terror.
Right outside the shack sat a single individual, overshadowed by the looming gloom of the forest behind him. A dense fog blanketed the entire area, obscuring his hunched shape.
As they got closer, Mathew couldn't help but exclaim in surprise:
"Is that a fishing rod?"
"That…" Argus started to protest but trailed off. It was indeed a fishing rod.
This strange individual was sitting on a large boulder and had cast a fishing line into what appeared to be a large hole in the ground, perhaps a meter in diameter. Still hidden mostly by the fog, the man noticed them and raised his hand high in greeting.
Argus let the horse ride up a little farther before urging it to slow down.
"Are you the famous guide of the Forest of Terror?" Argus called, his voice a few levels below a shout.
"Could be." The figure said. "Name's Pandarus."
Argus knocked on the wood of the carriage behind his head and called for Ophelia to come out. The carriage door opened up, and Ophelia stepped onto the ground, walking towards the guide with the sisters in tow.
"I am Ophelia." She said to him, and he repeated his name back to her. "Can you not step closer to us? I would like to see the face of the one I am to do business with."
"Well, I normally would, but I am really hoping to get a good catch here."
"Have you no manners? You have guests, but you refuse to greet them properly?" She said, her face stern. Pandarus sighed in response, hopping down from the rock.
"Alright then, but don't make a big fuss about my appearance." As he escaped the cover of the fog, Argus audibly gasped. This made Mathew flinch too, as he wasn't used to the usually calm man showing such emotion. The reason soon became clear.
Pandarus was taller than the average person, much like Ophelia and Argus, but he was hunched over dramatically. His skin was an angry tone of dark red, and his eyes were pitch black. His gnarled hands had black fingernails that resembled claws, while his teeth were yellowed and pointed like knives.
He was also bandaged everywhere. His hands, his midsection, even his nose and right eye were covered with white cloth bandages.
Mathew instantly thought they were face to face with some kind of demon.
Argus reached forward a hand, and a mirror-like axe appeared.
"Stop right there, Incorthian Devil." He said. Pandarus froze.
"Dismiss your weapon," Ophelia said.
"But my Lady, this man is a Dovkin," Argus said, then he noticed the unchanged expression on Ophelia's face. "I see. So you already knew."
Ophelia didn't confirm anything, but Argus allowed his axe to disappear.
She already knew beforehand? Was this also something she was told in her vision of Order? Then what about Mathew? Perhaps she had already known about Mathias as well, and that's why she had come to the temple of dread.
But that couldn't be completely true… Though Ophelia had seemed to have expected Mathew to be there, she had most definitely come for the Rod of Submission.
"Lady Ophelia, why do you need my services?" Pandarus asked.
"We wish to get to Attica. I need someone who can safely navigate us through these woods."
"And you think I can do it?"
"Yes." She replied. "Perhaps the only one who can."
Pandarus nodded at her response, and then rubbed his chin
"For the right price, I could do so, but I cannot guarantee your safety. Even for someone like me, the woods are a dangerous place. They do bear the name Terror, after all."
"We can protect ourselves if necessary. You are just there to point the way." He nodded.
"Excellent. You have gold, I assume?"
Ophelia turned to the sisters and spoke an order: "Siyah, Beyah. Go fetch the gold and silver from the carriage."
"Oh! Of course, my lady." Siyah said, and Beyah gave a low bow before the two scampered off to obey.
"Are you sure about this, my Lady?" Argus said in a low voice. "We do not have much gold left, and we already used all of our platinum."
"We will have enough," Ophelia said, not caring to lower her own volume to match his. Argus fell silent.
Siyah and Beyah arrived quickly, each with a bag of precious metal.
"We will form an Annum contract. It will last one year." Ophelia stated.
"The journey through the forest shouldn't be longer than a month…" Pandarus said, his single visible eyebrow raised.
"That is fine. We will add a clause that allows me to end your contract early if I allow it."
"Hmmm… It seems to me that you trust my skills, but not my character."
"You are an Incorthian Devil. I will never fully trust you."
"But you trust a creature like that?" Pandarus stated, pointing one of his non-bandaged fingers at Mathew.
"Hardly." Came Ophelia's immediate reply.
"W-What? Hey!" Mathew stuttered. "Why am I being brought into this?"
Ophelia ignored him, instead gesturing at Siyah. The young woman walked up and poured several round lumps of silver on the ground.
"How much?" Ophelia asked.
"Twenty," Pandarus stated, holding up a thumb and a pointer finger.
"Very well. The contract is thus 'I, Pandarus, accept this contract, for twenty beads of gold, I will guide Ophelia and her companions for one year so that they arrive at their desired location as safely as possible, or until Ophelia states the job is done, upon which the contract will end.' Now repeat it."
Pandarus did so. Beyah placed twenty lumps of gold into his waiting hands, and the silver on the ground faded.
When Mathew activated his true sight, he saw a new transparent string, glistening with many colors, now attaching Ophelia and Pandarus together.
Another monster had joined their group.
"Now that the contract is formed, are there any questions for me?"
"Do we need to leave the carriage here?" Ophelia asked
"Most likely. We should take the horse though, as long as you think we can protect it. Either that or set it free to wander along the Dorian plains."
"We shall bring it with us," Ophelia affirmed.
"I see. When were you planning for us to set off?"
"Immediately."
Pandarus sighed, a pained expression crossing his face as he looked at his feet.
"And here I was hoping to catch something before we left…"