A forsaken God in exile, seeking to find his purpose.
A soldier with a questionable past.
Destiny picks the two most unlikely pieces upon the board and brings them together, when the end of the world seems to loom over the horizon. Their paths cross...
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Brittlerock, where commander Karyk sent Farren, Rendarr and Karles with the news of the attack, was a small mining settlement north west of Kinallen, the garrison there under the command of Commander Del.
Overhead, the star-studded sky had begun to fade as the riders led their weary horses up the Lakefront trader track, which would lead them to an old wooden bridge across the stream-- if it hadn't collapsed, that was. It was either that, or they would have to go south and skirt the lake, which would add yet more hours to the already tiresome journey.
For a good few minutes Farren considered summoning Atruer and perhaps making another deal to make their horses sprout wings, but dismissed it soon as a half-baked notion of her sleep deprived brain. Not that the ideas from her fully awake mind were considerably better, but still.
She unstrapped her helm and let the icy wind drifting from the lake rouse her properly. The wind whipped the rough strands of her copper hair.
They passed a gloomy abandoned cabin near the lake shore, its roof caved in and walls on the verge of collapsing. Farren wondered if the melancholy place had once been home to someone.
The other two travelled ahead in silence, Rendarr uneasily shifting the reins in his hands from time to time. Farren brought her gaze to the lake on their left. Hundred paces from the shore, the surface was frozen solid, and beyond that, thin sheets of ice drifted in the dark water.
Yet mere days ago the lake had thawed completely. Spring Fest was but a few weeks away.
Winter had returned.
"You know, Gran used to tell me this story about the Winter God Edis; about why he is so cruel to the land..." Farren trailed off, eyes on the lake.
Renadarr looked over his shoulder. "Hmm?"
She wanted something to break the stifling silence that hung heavy between them, and seized the opportunity.
"So this is how it went: Lord Edis had a little brother, right, and he loved him more than anything in the realms," Farren said, "but then one day the brother barged into Rhilio's castle to tell him how he didn't agree with Rhilio's way of ruling the Celestial Realm."
"The nerve," said Rendarr with a yawn.
Farren huffed. "At least I'm trying to break the silence, so you don't fall asleep; then slide off your saddles and break your necks."
"No, no, I'm brimming with excitement. Do continue your tale."
"So Rhilio got mad and was like--" Farren swung one gloved fist wildly before her, "'you're wrong and I'm gonna ship your arrogant arse off to the mortal realm as punishment!'"
"King of the Gods talks like that ?"
"Perhaps. How'd I know? Anyway, Edis is still to this day trying to find his exiled brother, whose name by Rhilio's curse has been forgotten by all his worshippers. Wherever Edis goes, winter follows his footsteps. And when he gets angry because he cannot find his brother, he raises blizzards. Know why it's so hard to cross the Drakhall mountains up north?"
