Die Alone

Chapter Eighteen

Amber Young
Orphic

The Orphic Isles were quite chilly. They didn't quite have seasons like home but instead it was perpetually fall and a brief few months of summer. It was always gray and foggy constantly, which Amber didn't really mind. She was always an indoorsy person and rain is the best weather to read.

However, today Amber was walking through the cold and rainy town to make it back to her dorm space. Her routine was similar to Bellātor. It was nice to have some order and a guaranteed place to sleep after their first few weeks of traveling in Side. She was not keen on making friends but surprisingly she fit in quite well and quickly got comfortable. Adrian however, still hides in his room when he's not doing any training.

Once Amber made it back to her room, the first thing she noticed was a letter on the floor. She knelt over and picked it up giddy. She could tell by the deep green wax seal that it was Judyta responding.

Quickly Amber shuffled to her desk and cleared a few items. To her left was a pile of previous letters the two had been sending each other over the few months.

Amber opened the letter carefully and began to read.

Hello Amber!

In response to your last letter, yes I've started learning alchemy, It's super exciting and it defies all logic which is fun. Today I worked on some healing recipes and next week I start to learn about hexes a bit more in depth.

I've not seen Sebastian or Sakiya in like two weeks and even then it was a brief run in the kitchen late at night. They're still training together with some Ferox lady I've forgotten the name of already. Wait, I think it was Andy... or Anna. Well maybe it's Annady. I guess memory is more your thing. How's Adrian been? I've mailed him once but he never responded. I've also kept in touch with Sion and Niamh who seem to be having a blast in the Amaranthine Kingdom. I don't know if I would describe my training as a blast but it is definitely more fun than I would've thought.

I actually hit a target from fifty yards a few days ago so my archery skills are slowly improving. Archers are kind of the snipers of this world, which I'm not too keen on killing anyone but I guess it's a safety precaution to have some fighting skills. I picked archery because it was the least tactile form of attack. Aside from like cannon balls which I've actually never heard someone mention so scratch that, I don't know if those exist here.

I'm rambling a lot but I guess that's what these letters are. Weird having to wait so long for a response. No wonder the war has been going on for decades.

Anyway, I don't think there's much else to say about myself. How goes orphic training? Is it still warm there? It's still about twenty five degrees here. Celsius of course.

Well, that will be all. I miss seeing everyone.

Regards,

Judyta

Amber enjoyed getting letters, it was something to look forward to. So she quickly started on a response in hopes to get it mailed to Judyta as quickly as possible. She grabbed her quill and ink as long with a paper for writing.

Hi Judyta,

Good to hear from you. It scares me that it's been ten months since we've all been separated. We've been apart longer than together in this world. I often wonder what circumstances would bring us all together again. I also wonder how we were so quickly assigned roles in a war that ceased to exist in our heads a year ago. Speaking of, it's almost the year anniversary of entering. September is almost done and yeah I'm really not excited for the cold rainy weather to come here at the Orphic Isles. I miss being able to check the weather for the day and week. At this point I've learned to leave the house prepared for a tropical storm.