During the night, Ayla had a strange dream. Rhobart, Milton, Kerra, the Paladins, her, and a few more people she did not recognize were in a building made of stone. The building was mostly in ruins, but four stone pedestals stood in the middle of the floor. Ayla, Rhobart, Milton, and Droyn placed four objects on the pedestals. Moments later, a portal opened, and they entered it. The portal took them inside what appeared to be a very tall cave, but there was no way of getting out of it. Close to them was a path winding up along the wall. They walked on the path until they reached the upper part of the cave. A temple was built inside the wall. Rhobart and the Paladins unsheathed their swords while Milton took out a magic rune. They entered the temple. Magic crystals illuminated the chamber. Eight stone sentinels sat next to two big stone doors, four to the left and four to the right. On the stone doors, seven symbols were carved. Ayla touched one of them, and the stone sentinels came t
Sylvar’s blue eyes turned dark, and he bared his teeth. “Rania is my other half. My n’alxa. I’ve tried to talk to her, but those two Paladins are always in my way. I am trying to be patient, but if I see them touch what is mine one more time....” “If Rania is yours, why aren’t you with her? And why are you still letting those two dimwits near her?” Milton asked. Sylvar looked flustered. “I wanted to take things slow and give her time to adjust to the idea that she will be with me. Human-elf n’alxaes are very rare.” “Does she know?” Ayla asked. “Not yet. Sarya had a vision before I left Arvamel, and she told me about Rania. I didn’t expect the Paladins when I came to the Fire Monastery, and now I am unsure of how to approach her.” “Listen here, you go to her, grab her face between your palms,” Rhobart said while fisting Ayla’s braid. She tried to bat his hands away from her, but his hold on her was strong. “You look straight into her eyes,” Rhobart kept talking while his onyx eyes
Rhobart slept peacefully beside Ayla, his left hand around her waist, his face buried in her hair, but she... she was still awake, thinking about the twins. She felt sorry for the twins, for she knew how big their desire was to find their n’alxa. And then there were Rania and Sylvar. What if Sylvar could not get past the fact that Rania had been with the twins? A pale moon rose above Nordmar. O’neltxero—The Longest Night in the Year—will be in five days during the next Full Moon. Feasts were to be held in the village and the monastery. She and Rhobart would celebrate not only the beginning of a new year but also fourteen years since they had their alxa-lotx ceremony. After the O’neltxero, Rhobart wanted to return to the Warrior Clan and finish preparations for the war. Ayla had yet to find the forgotten book or anything about Uzriel or the prophecy. Knowing what was at stake, Ayla got out of bed, dressed silently, put on a black cloak that Rhobart had purchased for her when they wer
Ayla refused to take the mug from Eude. “I can’t. I might be with child,” she let the twins know. The lack of her monthly cycle was starting to bother her. What if she truly was with child? Eude sat beside his brother and put the extra mug on one of the empty chairs. Hudde drank from his mug. “Rhobart’s seed finally took root, huh?” Eude looked at Ayla’s belly. “The bastard didn’t lose any time! Are you thinking the same thing as I, brother?” “I think I am, brother!” Hudde replied. The twins clinked the mugs and drank all the wine. “We are going to be uncles,” they said cheerfully. “We are going to teach the little prince everything we know.” Ayla never expected to see the twins so happy for a baby that wasn’t theirs. Hudde poured some more wine. “We will take the little prince hunting and fishing and show him how to use a sword and a bow. When he comes of age, we will take him to get his piercings and teach him all about women.” Eude grinned. “We will take him to women befor
“What about her?” Ayla asked. Eude pulled out an empty bottle from the sack. “Fine. One bottle for her only if she wants it.” “You are the best princess ever,” Eude praised Ayla. “And Rhobart, the best king. After all, he nursed you back to health,” Hudde said. “You mean Milton?” Ayla asked, confused. The twins seemed amused by her words. Was she wrong? But if it hadn’t been Milton who stayed by her side, then who? Could it be...? “You still think Milton was the one that wiped your forehead when your fever was too high or cleaned and changed your clothes when you would vomit because you couldn’t keep down even a spoon of soup?” Eude asked. Hudde snorted. “Do you think Rhobart would have permitted another man to hold you in his arms all night long? Or to wash your body covered in sweat?” Why hadn’t Rhobart told her the truth? ‘Thank you for being by my side while I was sick. I don’t remember anything about that time,’ she had said to Rhobart. When she had said that to Rhobar
She went over to the desk and looked at the books. Most of them were in Old Nordmarian. Among them was an old journal. Ayla picked it up and used her tunic to clean the dust from the cover before opening it. Fortunately, the journal was written in the Common Language, and it belonged to a novice that studied in the Fire Monastery sixty years ago. Day 1, year 1077 after the second War with the Orcs While hiding from the novices that love tormenting me, I found an old tunnel in the wine cellar. I don’t know who built it, but it looks very old. Tomorrow I will go back to it. Day 5, I have been exploring the tunnel for a few days and found three doors. Driven by curiosity, I opened them, wanting to know where they would lead me. Behind one of the doors, I found another tunnel that took me to a library with forbidden books about Dark Magic. Day 33, I started spending more and more time in the old library, reading books about Dark Magic. I have learned more from these books than fro
Ayla took out her dagger. The Paladins raised their swords and moved lightning fast as if they were born to fight evil. There was no fear on their faces as they attacked the undead Orc. The undead Orc lifted his big fists and aimed for Hudde. The Paladin dodged them, but the Undead Orc was faster than the skeletons, and he swung his fists once more, hitting Hudde in the ribs and sending him into the wall behind him. “Are you alright?” Eude asked as he attacked the creature from behind. “My ribs feel as if they are on fire, and I am sure at least two of them are broken, but other than that, I am great,” Hudde said sarcastically. Eude snorted. “Always the jester.” A cursed axe appeared in the undead Orc’s hand, and he aimed for Hudde’s neck. Ayla could not just let Hudde die. She threw the dagger at the undead Orc at the same time as Hudde leaped to his side. Ayla’s dagger pierced the creature’s upper arm. Eude attempted to decapitate the Undead Orc, but the creature turned around,
Where have you been?” Rhobart asked Ayla. His eyes fell on her left arm. The sleeve of her white tunic had blood on it. And dust. “You are hurt? And why are your clothes dirty?” “I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to go on a walk. I must have scratched myself with something,” Ayla tried to lie. Rhobart folded his arms over his chest. “Why do I have the feeling you are not being honest?” Ayla licked her lips nervously. “Could we, perhaps, talk about this in our room?” she asked, not wanting to have an argument with Rhobart in front of Atlas and Zell. “Don’t mind us. We were on our way to see our griffins. It just happened that we stumbled upon a very frenzied Rhobart,” Atlas explained. “I was not in a frenzy,” Rhobart protested. “Maybe a bit worried for my woman, who was supposed to be sleeping next to me, but instead, went Inoss knows where.” “As I said, I was… just taking a walk,” Ayla huffed. Atlas looked over Ayla’s shoulder, squinting his eyes. “Is that the twins?” Ayla clo