As we near the entrance of the gates to the village, I spot archers approach Elika before recognising her and letting Elika pass. We follow suit and it takes us a few minutes to get to a tall and big building that is in the middle of the village. Elika enters before allowing us in, inside looks pretty warm, 3 fireplaces are dotted around the room; one on the left, the right and at the back of the room. In the middle of the room is a raised platform from which an old but lively man is seated. His white beard trails down to his chest and his head is bold. He's wearing fancy clothes that only a Jarl could wear. As we approach the man I stop abruptly and kneel in front of him, showing my respect.
Jarls are basically the Lords or Kings of a large village or small cities. They still have as much power as Lords do, and are still highly respected through Kufrait.
"Who are these people Elika? You know having travelers into our palace is prohibited." The old man, who I can only judge as Elika's father, rumbles as Elika goes to his side.
"Please forgive me, but these people have just saved my life. And you know the question that I asked a fortnight ago? It seems this man may be able to fulfil it." Elika explains and Elika's father strokes his beard before closing his eyes and nodding.
"Very interesting... Rise, young warrior, and tell me your name." He commands me and I does as he instructs.
"My name is Darren Taver. Son of Lord Taver of Ferringway and proud Paladin Captain of Lidan's army. At your service." I tell the man and he chuckles a hearty laugh.
"Ah... I prefer men like you, strong. Able to rule and well known through the land. See. My daughter has had an obsession with adventuring since she could walk. Ever since her mother died she has been pushing herself, I have agreed that it would be better for her to be free. But ah... The problem was that there are strong monster that surround the mountain range, I have been worried for my daughter and because of my ignorance, I did not let her have the freedom that I promised her. But you've seemed to open my eyes and I know that if my daughter is paired with a strong willed adventurer like you. Then she can see the world..." The old man tells me and I bow my head to him.
"I am proud to have such a task put with me. I will protect her, yet let her grow as well as we are travelling. You have my word." I pledge to the old man, and to Elika as well. The man stands up from his throne before approaching me. Standing at 6ft he towers over me, blocking my shadow. But I remain strong and don't move from where I am standing. He puts his hands on my shoulders and grips them.
"Hm... Even from you just speaking words, I can tell you are easy to trust and loyal. You may be from high lineage, yet you do not act like you are above anyone else. You don't take anything for granted and treasure anything you own. Or not own for a fact. In another life I would believe for you to be a great king." He tells me and I continue to bow my head down for a moment before standing up straight once more. "Whenever you want to stay here. Winterwood is in your debt..." The man continues before walking back to his throne and sitting back down in it.
I exit the palace with Peach, Vanilla and Elika behind me. I examine the mountains before finding a viable way to trek up them. It takes me a few seconds before I find one path that looks not as dangerous as the others. I point it out to my group and they agree with me as they see it's the only way up. We walk out of the village before I engage a nice conversation with Elika, whisky the other two are talking as well.
"Oh. I forgot to tell you that the King of Lidan is my godfather." I inform Elika and she looks at me, surprised at how I forgot something so important like that.
"Really? How much noble blood do you have inside of you?!" She asks me and I shrug.
"I don't know. Although I don't act like a noble, don't like the way they treat people who are slightly less richer than they are."
I glance back at the other two girls to see Vanilla is shivering. So I let us stop before casting the flame spell and also the tempest spell. Causing hot air to swirl around Vanilla's body. And in turn causing her to thank me repeatedly, hugging me before letting me go as my face turns blue from lack of air.
"Anyway, we should continue our way before the sky gets too dark and we have to settle into a cave..."
As I said, we continue our way up the mountain range till the sky turns to an inky black, and the Illuim lights come out (A/N: Illuim lights are the northern lights) and colour the air with different colours that flow around the sky like a loose kite. We manage to find a larger than needed cave on the side of a cliff, after clambering up that is.
I help Elika up the cliff before jumping back down and landing on my feet with a grunt. Vanilla just flies into the cave whilst I help Peach vault up before Elika grabs her hand and hauls her in. "What are you doing?" Elika asks me as I grab a chunk of snow and make it into a ball before rolling it into the snow and gradually making larger. After that I have some slight difficulty getting it up into the cave, but with Vanilla's and Elika's help I get it up. I roll it though the cave before spotting a very large dip in the rock and going over to it. I use the flame spell once more in both hands and the ball of snow starts to melt rather quickly. After a couple of trips back and forth between the cave and gathering more snow.
I've made a pool that could fit 10 people, with the water brimming up to the edges. I brush my hands off before heating up the water to a nice temperature. Vanilla and Peach are eager to get in. But Elika is just confused.
"What is this for?"
"Oh. I'm used to making these. It's for the two girls when they get too cold."
"Oh, could I join?"
"Of course Elika. I just have to wait outside for you three to be done. Besides, I'm going to be on guard duty tonight."
I go outside before creating a pillar on which I can scan the area for any danger. I set up a small flame to keep me warm as I shed my armour. I hear Peach start to sniff around and I turn back towards her before falling off of the pillar. As I accidentally take a glimpse of Elika in nothing but her knee socks. She looks out to see me fall off of the pillar and she shrieks, covering herself the best she can before grabbing my cloak and wrapping it around herself.
I make contact with a rock instead of snow and my left arm crunches underneath it. I suck in breath as an overwhelming pain showers me. Peach peers out of cave with a smile until she sees me rolling around in excruciating pain. She scrambles down before pushing my back up and let's me lean on her.
"Darren's hurt!!"
"What?! Darren what happened?" Vanilla flies out before landing softly next to me.
"I... Argh... Slipped off the pillar and landed on the rock... I think my arm is busted..."
Elika jumps down from the cave entrance, fully dressed before pointing at me.
"How dare you see me na- oh... I didn't know you hurt yourself... I thought you were like one of those perverted men."
"Argh... No, it's my fault for turning around... I slipped and it feels like I've broken my arm... Karma I guess."
Peach gently wraps her hands around my arm and starts to heal it.
"It's a little cold out here... Why don't we go back inside and you can continue to heal my arm?" I suggest and the girls help me up slowly before having Vanilla fly me up to the entrance of the cave. "I envy you sometimes."
"Wha?! More like I envy you! I mean your strong, good looking and you're easy to trust." Vanilla gets caught off guard and she blushes a little before going back to her normal self.
"You know why I envy you? Because you can fly. I've always dreamt of being able to fly, here I am with someone who can fly as easily as I can walk." I explain to Vanilla, who just looks at me with warm eyes.
Peach and Elika clamber back up into the cave and after that, the bath is left alone.
