“The night dances with the stars. And the stars will slowly align again.”   CHAPTER XII: As the Night Deepens; There Is More To Enjoy About the Festival      A BIG, HAIRY structure suddenly emerged into the scene. It appeared to be a wooden statue of a woman approaching her old age— slouching her back as she stood with the help of a long stick being tightly gripped around by her right hand. The statue was huge— approximately about ten meters tall or so, I suppose. Then it was wearing a plain, violet tent dress, some parts of it were hidden by its frizzy, puffy long hair of blackness. Its nose was long and pointy— similar to a witch’s. In addition to that, it was wearing a familiar pointy hat too, exactly the same as what everybody was wearing that one night. In its entirety, it appear

“They say, we are going to savour the things that we fear the most, and we are not going to be able to alter it.”   CHAPTER XIV: Bamboozled by Kismet; Sharing of Food Will Never Get Old      “SHE’S DEAD.” ONE moment, Johann Dorfer came up to me in a serious tone, carrying the same old lady we met at the side of the road on our way here. She was closing her eyes and won’t wake up no matter the effort we gave in quaking her body.      She was fast asleep and wouldn't open her eyes. When we tried to check her pulse, it was no longer pounding. We were just talking some minutes ago and now she’s dead.    

“Sometimes, your allies come in the right, unexpected moment disguised as a good enemy.”   CHAPTER XVI: Reconciliation with Houlio Merto; The Mystery of the Message They Simultaneously Received      RED FLAMES OF the bonfire engulfed the whole area as we stared at each other. Houlio Merto and I were in the middle of the battle ground, positioning ourselves in a fighting stance. With my arms against my face, fists balling, as if getting ready for any signs of attack, I examined him. He looked strangely calm. His face was blank, with no emotion at all. He did not let me read him. He did not let his attacks be foretold. I was completely clueless about what he was going to do.      The crowd meanwhile, although bus

“Before going on a battle, you must prepare two things: your weapon and your grave.” CHAPTER XVII: Reckon Your Move; An Adventure With a Veteran (Part II)    I JUST FOLLOWED wherever Houlio Merto went. I was no longer familiar with the environment. Soon enough, we reached a shade. We did not stop by though. We just went over the trees and took a couple strides under the leaves of the trees and let ourselves get slashed by the rays of sunlight slipping through every gap of the branches. We stayed like that for a couple moments before reaching a river. I noticed it was the end of the entrance to the woods. Moments later, I noticed Houlio’s pace dying slowly until coming into a complete stop. He l

“If you can’t face danger, it is a moment you will forever be ashamed of as you live. But if you face a danger so bravely despite the fear, it is a danger worth dying for.” CHAPTER XIX: Start of the Trip; Death Is Lurking Everywhere    AT DAWN THE next day, we departed from the woods and started travelling again with no delay. Fortunately, there were not any enemy or wild animals yesterday night so it gave us enough rest and sleep for the trip. We packed the remaining food we had left and fetched water from the river that was ever so clean. We did not stay too long anyway and instantly got on our horses right in time, or I am guessing even earlier than that. We followed the walls and the river on the way.    The whole time, the environment