Sister Nymeria accompanied Tanya to Ishani’s shrine, but Count Gressil was requested to stay back as they did not feel it was a good idea to allow non-believers in the Goddess’ presence.Even Aurelia was told to wait outside in the general prayer hall, and the only ones permitted to enter the inner sanctum were Sister Nymeria and Tanya. Inside the inner sanctum, the High Priest had his head bowed over the altar, and Ramel was nowhere to be found. “Father Varya, are you alright?” the priestess asked, touching him lightly on his shoulder. “What ails you?”The High Priest turned around with a jerk, his lifeless gray eyes staring into hers. “Sister…Nymeria. Welcome to the abode of our Goddess. You have traveled quite far. I hope this is your final destination.”Sister Nymeria stepped back, as a sense of uneasiness washed over her body. “You do not seem alright, Father. Where are the other priests?”“I instructed them to go to the neighboring villages and distribute alms to the poor. The

The festivities continued outside while the nobles from the four great families returned to their lodgings to rest for a while and change into traditional attire for the midnight celebrations.As soon as they returned home, Aurelia went up to Ramel’s room to check on his health. She knocked thrice and was about turn the knob when one of the maids opened the door, allowing her to step inside.Ramel was lying on his bed with nothing but a loose silk robe on his bare body. He was sweating profusely and an old man was applying a yellow herbal paste to his chest and frequently wiping Ramel’s forehead with a moist towel soaked in the icy cold water from the fountain of Erelor.“What happened at the shrine? Did you see any—”Aurelia stopped midway as the old man turned around and looked at her. It was none other than Arch Maester Zang Wu Ling.“What on earth are you doing here? Who called you?” Aurelia asked, fixing her questioning gaze upon his face.Zang Wu turned away while mumbling, “I a

At half past two, Ezra fell asleep. But instead of being able to relax, his mind receded into a dark abyss. He found himself going back over a hundred years in the past.Ezra’s face grimaced in pain as he started shaking on his bed. He tried to get up but felt as if someone was holding him down. Despite his best efforts he could neither scream nor open his eyes.In his vision, Ezra was teleported two hundred years ago. It was 1450, and the place in front of his eyes was the great plain of Zaraya. Ezra found himself standing on top of a plateau and watching a bloody battle unfold between the humans and the elves. King Rudeus Gerlaine’s infantry forces were getting slaughtered by the elven archers.The armored swordsmen were dying like flies as the ranged elven formations standing on the other side of the battlefield were raining volley after volley of fire arrows upon them.Realizing that his infantry was no match for the elves, King Rudeus finally decided to send out his heavy cavalr

Jasenki climbed to the top of the tree by using a rope ladder and then carefully positioned himself inside the gunner’s nest. From here, he had a clear view of his surroundings, and the pine cones and needles offered just enough shade to hide him from preying eyes.The two hunters hired by Lord Wilhelm climbed onto the two watchtowers and prepared their compound crossbows. Loading steel-tipped bolts into their weapons, they waited patiently for the griffin to show up.If Lord Wilhelm had tried to hire any member of the adventurer’s guild for such a task, they would have declined the offer without a second thought. It was because every adventurer worth his coin knew that hunting a Fork-tailed Griffin was a perilous task, and violating the rules of Ishani’s hunt could get them imprisoned or even exiled from town.However, these two hunters had agreed to do the dirty work since they were mercenaries from the distant city of Nilfaria. Hence, the common laws of Aranor would not apply to th

The wounded hunter clenched his teeth and pressed his lips as tightly as possible to muffle his pained cries. But Jasenki wasn’t ready to let him off the hook so easily. “I think you are pretty hard of hearing. Let me help with that!” Jasenki fired two shots which struck the ground, narrowly missing the hunter’s left ear. The hunter’s eyes widened as he trembled in fear. His heart was pounding inside his chest, but he tried his best not to cry for help because he knew his cries would attract a bigger monster than the armed noble standing before him. Frustrated by the man’s stubborness, Jasenki moved closer and stepped on his wounded knee. “We did not have to do this the hard way, but you left me no choice. I want you to squeal like a pig!” Jasenki kept applying pressure, crushing the man’s bleeding knee with his boot till he finally could not take it anymore and let out an anguished scream. “Arghh! My leg!” “Yes! Keep screaming for me, you filthy peasant!” Jasenki pressed his fo