The war between Tsungstat, the kingdom of magic, and Fardug, where magic was prohibited and mages were persecuted, had been raging for years. The frontier between the two kingdoms had been moving constantly, one overpowering the other only for a few short periods. The cities and villages standing on that constantly moving line were always at risk of being ravaged and overtaken. In one of those occupied cities, a young woman was having a dream or rather a nightmare. She was seeing herself at a younger age, she was probably five or six years old. She was walking by her mother outside in the rain. It was autumn, for some reason she remembered that detail. In the dream, her mother's face was blurry, she could not remember much from her mother. People say the first thing one forgets about a person is their voice. Her mother used to sing to her for hours, in this instance her voice was one of the only things still clear in her mind, the only thing linking them still. In the dream, the rain was becoming louder and louder almost to the point of being deafening. Her and her mother took refuge in an abandoned barn they managed to find, their soaked out clothes hanging off them. At this moment she noticed her mother was breathing loudly, almost gasping for air. When she looked over to her she saw blood, sipping from between her mother's fingers. The wound seemed deep, the mother knew it was fatal but despite the dire situation she still smiled at her child and began to sing her a song, her favorite one. The words were a blur but the melody was unmistakable. The music was bringing back the smell of the wet dirt and hay. The wind was making the barn shake and the old wood creak but despite all of this the young girl wished for nothing more than to stay in her mother's embrace being lulled by her voice. A shadow appeared in the door frame, the shadow of a woman. For some reason, the mother clenched her arms around her daughter even more. It was all the strength she could muster but she wanted to keep her child close to her. The dark figure entered the barn, slowly making her way towards the two. The mother whispered something to her child but the rain was louder than her words. Then, the mother's arms fell by her side, she had said her last words. The other woman kneeled close to the girl and her words resonated louder than anything else.

  " Lilith, wake up."

  Lilith arose as if she had been shocked awake from the dream. Was it only a dream or was it a real memory? She had no recollection of her life before she had begun to train in the art of sorcery and became known as the first sister. The last time such a memory came to her mind was during her fight with the witch huntress Amélia. When she put her hand on Lilith's head, it was as if their mind had become connected and an early memory of Lilith had been unlocked. She didn't know why but she needed to find Amélia not only because she was an enemy of her kingdom who could actually perform a kind of magic she had never seen before but also because of this strange connection that she needed an explanation to. It has been almost a year now since this battle between the two, even though she was at her mercy, Amélia had let her go. Lilith had been after her ever since, following rumors and dead companies of soldiers. She also needed to avenge her younger sister, the third sister, Jane. The passing of the third sister had sent a ripple through the realm. Lilith, Ophélia and Jane were considered the most powerful witches after the queen herself. For one of them to die in an undisclosed event was mortifying to a lot of witches. The circumstances of Jane's death had been hidden for obvious reasons. Only those present at the moment and the two remaining sisters knew how she died and how dangerous the woman who had managed to defeat her was. Lilith finally decided to step out of bed. For a few weeks now, her and Ophélia had been tasked with pacifying the remaining resisting forces of a city recently conquered. The operation was taking longer than she would have wanted it to. A singular resistance cell was remaining and hiding among the citizens. The soldiers under Lilith and Ophélia's commands had been charged with finding them and then were tasked of sending words for the sisters to come to deal with it as soon as they could. This delay was putting Lilith on edge. She wanted to go after Amélia as she had heard talks about a woman matching her description. Young, jet black hair, incredibly fast, always accompanied by a man. The man must have been the other witch hunter they had captured alongside her back then, Ben was his name. Remembering him made Lilith feel abnormally irritated, it was something about his attitude that stuck with her and annoyed her beyond belief. She was in the middle of trying to meditate when someone knocked on her bedroom door.

  " What is it? "

  " First sister, I have come to tell you that we have found the information you have asked for."

  " Come in."

  The soldier shyly opened the door. By his reaction and how he opened the door, she could tell he had been to see Ophélia before her. Ophélia had the habit of either killing the people sent to give her messages or have sex with them. Sometimes she would do both, she enjoyed comparing herself to a praying mantis, feasting on her lovers and becoming stronger as a result. The man walked up to her and gave her a piece of paper. After observing the information on it she sent him away and got dressed in a more proper attire for the mission she had to go on. She wore her usual black dress as well as a pair of sturdy boots. She fixed her hair in a ponytail and left her room to go get her sister. She knew that despite Ophélia also getting the information she would not start her preparations unless Lilith came to get her. As soon as she turned in the corridor of her sister's bedroom she could hear moans echo in the hallway. " Oh no. Not again ..". She hated how classeless her sister could be. She was supposed to represent the height of the witch society. She would constantly sleep around and find new partners as soon as they arrived in a new city or camp. To the point that sometimes soldiers would mistakenly come to Lilith expecting her to be the same way as her sister. More often than not they would end up being impaled on the spot as nothing could irritate her more than a man thinking he could get anything out of her body as if it was his right. Without even bothering to knock, she entered the room and saw exactly the kind of scene she was expecting to stumble on. Her sister was straddling yet another random man she had probably scooped off the ground in the street. As soon as Lilith entered the room, the man stopped moving, causing Ophélia to bark him new orders.

  " Don't stop now I was close!"

  " But Miss .. you have a visitor I-"

  " I didn't tell you to stop!!"

  Lilith sighed loudly as it was not the first time she had been forced to talk to her sister in such circumstances.

  " Ophélia. We have received new orders."

  " I know, this man is the messenger, he looked so appetizing I couldn't help but ugh .. eat him right up!"

  " Could you stop at least when we are talking? "

  " No. Wanna join in? "

  " Absolutely not. I refuse to partake in such useless .. debauchery!"

  " That's the virgin in you talking dear sister. You should revel in the pleasure of the flesh men or women can give to each other."

  " I have no need for it. Could you please at least look at me when we speak? "

  Ophélia sighed and got off the man who felt a wave of relief wash over him until he noticed the witch placing herself on her hands and knees in front of him as if she was ready for more. She looked back at him with a raised eyebrow.

  " What are you waiting for? Keep going."

  " But Miss .."

  " If you do not start thrusting in three seconds I will chop off your head and feed it to the dogs."

  With his life now on the balance, the man had no other choice, he grabbed her waist and pulled her towards him. Soon, the sounds of flesh against flesh were filling the room under the uncomfortable and disgusted gaze of Lilith.

  " Really?"

  " You said.. oh shit.., that you wanted me to look at you no? I am looking at you. Faster!"

  " This is nauseating. I don't know how you can enjoy such a thing. Sweat, spit and sometimes other secretions blending together in a mix of smells and sounds. Nothing refined. Nothing of subs-"

  " Yes! Almost there! Come on!"

  " Are you even listening to me?!"

  " Stop talking for a second, I need to focus!"

  Lilith was seconds away from turning this entire castle upside down. She looked away as her sister's moans grew louder and louder. She finally stopped what Lilith considered 'wailing' and froze with her mouth hung open, her hands grasping at the bed sheets as if it was the last line preventing her from drowning at sea, her body slightly spasming, she was covered in sweat and her hair was a mess. The man behind her was out of breath, it seemed he was completely finished as well. Ophélia turned back to him and grabbed his face with both her hands.

  " Thank you, that was divine."

  She kissed the man passionately. At first, he was surprised, he then started enjoying the kiss and getting into it until he felt a strange sensation of cold overtake him. He opened his eyes and saw that Ophélia's eyes and hands were glowing, she was performing a spell on him of which nature he had no idea of. Scared for his life, he wanted to move away but her hands were holding his head firmly. He could feel his entire body grow cold and the feelings in his limbs were disappearing little by little. Eventually the man stopped moving as he could no longer do so. His consciousness was still there despite his body being frozen from the inside. Ophélia finally pulled back from the kiss, her lips making a suction sound as she moved away. The man had been turned into a real ice statue. Proud of herself, Ophélia turned to her sister who looked as uninterested as ever.

  " What do you think? Isn't he my finest piece of art yet? I call it 'frozen pleasures and agony'."

  " Great. Can we go now? "

  Ophelia's smile disappeared.

  " What a way to ruin the mood."

  " I do not care about your mood. I care about finishing our job here and moving to the next city."

  Ophélia got off the bed and started getting dressed. While she was putting on her clothes, Lilith sat on a chair. Ophélia turned back to her sister and finally decided to have a serious conversation.

  " So these rebels, how many are there exactly? "

  " A hundred or so. Most of them have been hunted down and given up to our forces. The last ones are hidden in the tunnel system under the city."

  " Why can't we just treat them like rats and flush them out? Leave them to drown and cut down the ones that survive."

  " Because the queen judges that those are also her future subjects. She started this policy because of YOU! Because you keep ravaging the cities we go through leaving them with more corpses than anything!"

  " The queen is a fool if she truly believes that with enough time she will convert those fanatics. They have been brainwashed into believing mages are agents of the devil and that somehow we are monstrous creatures."

  " So you mercilessly killing them is supposed to make them think otherwise..?"

  " No. But it makes me feel better! "

  " Ugh.. Ophéliaaa .."

  " I'm ready!"

  " Let's get this done. I can't wait to be out of this city."

  The two sisters began walking down the hall and towards the exit of the castle they were occupying. Ophélia noticed Lilith seemed off and grew curious.

  " What is the real reason you are in such a hurry?"

  " It's nothing."

  " Come on! Tell me."

  " Fine. I just want to find the witch hunters."

  " Oh. They are probably dead already. We haven't seen traces of them in months!"

  " That's because you don't pay attention. We are close, I'm sure of it."

  " Hmm. The boy was pretty cute I guess."

  " This is not the reason I want to find them. And if we find them, I need them alive. Understood? "

  " Why? Why do they have such values to you?"

  Lilith paused for a few seconds, cautiously considering the words she was about to say.

  " When the girl touched me, I saw .. I saw mother.."

  " Are you sure you just didn't hallucinate after being hit too hard? "

  " I am sure of it."

  " Was it a vision? "

  " No. A memory but the girl was in the memory watching from my eyes. Do you remember anything from our time in the coven? "

  Ophélia took a few seconds to think as she was searching her memory. She shrugged and shook her head as nothing was coming to mind.

  " Nah. I don't even understand why you care, mother wasn't there most of the time."

  " For you maybe! I want to know where she is!"

  " Sister, mother is either a coward who hasn't participated in the war or is dead. Either way she is dead to me. Of mother she only has the name. Jane would agree."

  " Don't you dare use our departed sister's name to slander mother and to try to spite me because of your jealousy!"

  " It always comes down to jealousy with you. Have you ever thought that maybe, just maybe I was not in a constant competition with you and unlike you I don't need validation from others?!"

  " Oh yeah that's why you fuck everything that has a pulse ..."

  " Better than being an ice queen, completely unattractive to everyone! Unlike you I allow myself to feel! "

  " I can feel I am focused when you aren't. This discussion is over, we have things to do."

  Lilith started walking away from her sister. After a few steps Ophélia muttered something under her breath but loud enough so that Lilith could hear it.

  " Only I cared about Jane and we both know it."

  Lilith froze in her steps. She turned back to look at Ophélia and her face was a mix of grief, anger and resentment. The two sisters stared at each other with immense animosity. The air was tense between the two, both of them had held their breath ready to unleash their power at each other. The door at the end of the corridor they were walking towards opened and a guard appeared completely out of breath.

  " Sorry for interrupting miladies! The commandant has been requesting your presence for a moment now and he wants to detail the operation to you before we depart!"

  The sisters stopped their confrontation and silently agreed to pick it up later. They followed the soldier to the commandant room. The man was a tall bald older man with a classy mustache. The man was looking down at a map of the city and was impatiently tapping his finger on the wooden table.

  " Ladies. Welcome. As you have requested we have located the final resistance cell. They are located in the eastern district not far from here, their numbers averages from seventy to a hundred. The issue we have is they have enemy combatants among civilians. We also cannot detonate the tunnels they are hiding in as they are located right under civilian towers."

  Ophélia yawned out of boredom and pointed at the sewer entrances near a river crossing the city..

  " Cowards, there are no innocents over there. If they were, they would just give up the resistance. Lilith, you could crumble this entire place right? "

  " Yes but like I already told you the queen doesn't want needless massacres perpetrated in her name."

  " Then I could just flood them. Pick your way but I refuse to go into some dirty tunnel infested by rats."

  " Why do you have to make it so difficult all the time!? Fine, commandant, give me a few of your soldiers, I shall go in and pacify the remnants of resistance."

  The man nodded to her request and resumed his explanation.

  " Once the city is in a calmer state, we are to resume the trading operations, allow refugees from the nearest Fardug villages to cross and make sure to reinforce this current position in case the city of Soven was to fall. Miss Lilith, how many men do you require?"

  " Not more than five. We will need oil, torches, ropes and I need two of them to be efficient marksmen. "

  " Sure thing miss!"

  " Great, I will wait for them in front of the estate."

  She turned to the soldier near the door and instructed him to go prepare her horse. Ophélia had made her choices of only engaging in this operation if she could remain above ground. Everyone knew what they had to do. The plan was set in motion as the night was now setting.

  Lilith slightly pulled on the reins to get her mare to come to a halt. Her horse was agitated, wary of the noises coming from the nearby houses brimming with life completely unaware of what was about to happen. She gently stroked her mare's mane in order to calm her down.

  " Shh. There there Luciole. Just stay here and wait for me girl."

  Lilith dismounted from Luciole and looked around the street. They had taken over the city a few weeks ago but the blood in some of the streets and the scent of death remained. Luciole gave Lilith a slight headbutt as if to ask her to focus. Ophélia was stationed a few streets away and was supposed to wait for any strong disturbance in her sister's aura. This was usually their way of silently communicating with each other. They would often tell each other to remain alert and if they felt a strong change in their mana fluctuations it meant they were in danger. Their informant had tipped them off about the entry to the tunnel system being the basement of the tower they were about to enter. Lilith silently instructed the soldiers to follow her as she led the march forward. As she was expecting, the tunnel was hidden very simply not in a regular basement but behind wine barrels in a cellar.

  " Men, move this, we don't have much time."

  " Yes first sister!"

  Quickly and efficiently they removed the barrels and lit the entrance of the tunnels. It was barely large enough to fit two people walking side by side. This time she instructed the shield bearers to move in the front. She would remain in the center of the formation and the marksmen would cover the rear. They engaged themselves into the tunnel, awaiting to see or hear anything. It felt like an eternity until they finally heard some voices coming from the end of the tunnel. It seemed two people were having a conversation until they actually saw the light of the torches of Lilith's guards. One of the men standing guard placed his hands in front of his mouth to project his voice.

  " Who goes there ?!"

  Lilith silently signaled to her marksmen to move forward so they could take out the men forward. As they were moving, the guards at the end of the tunnel were growing impatient.

  " Hey! Don't move! If you don't state your business we will ring the bell! You have ten seconds!"

  Lilith leaned forward to whisper to her men holding the crossbows.

  " I will synchronize my shot with yours. Don't try to aim for the head, we will go with numbers instead of precision. On three. One. Two. Three!"

  The two crossbowmen fired their shots at the same time as Lilith who formed small rock spikes in the air shaped after her image of a crossbow bolt. Her elemental proficiency was for most minerals. She was able to replicate anything she could imagine or manipulate anything made out of stone or dirt without needing an incantation or a specific rune. That special trait was known to be specific only to the daughters of Morgan as far as the general witch society was aware of. Jane's proficiency was with the concept of pain and that talent was lost at the same time as her life while Ophélia was able to even conjure water out of thin air and manipulate it at will. Lilith instantly saw the two guards fall to the ground and instructed her shield bearers to go finish them off before they could call for reinforcement. The men ran forward and quickly impaled the agonizing guards writhing in pain on the floor. The little group kept moving forward. The tunnel system seemed to go further and judging by the sound coming from above their heads, the river was near. Lilith was also able to tell as she could sense the aura of her sister nearby. They entered a bigger room that seemed to be holding the provisions of the rebels. Sacks of grain and floor were stacked in the corner of the room. The air was rancid, the hairs on the back of Lilith's neck were standing. Something felt off. She instantly lifted her hand to tell her men to stop their march.

  " We need to turn back. Now. I don't like this."

  " But Miss, this was the only path."

  " No. there had to have been an adjacent tunnel hidden along the main one. Have you ever hunted goblins? This is how they operate. The main tunnel actually leads you to either a trap or where they keep their food. We turn back now! "

  Lilith's instinct was correct but sadly it was too late. As she looked inside the tunnel she noticed the lights of torches heading their way. Her guards instantly took formation to protect her and hold the entry to the room they were now trapped in. At the same time, trap doors masked as regular walls opened on the side of the room revealing rebels hidden within. Lilith reacted instantly and lifted walls of dirt around herself and her company to block the arrows coming from the side. She then clearly heard one of the men on the side scream for help.

  " THEY HAVE A WITCH!!"

  Lilith took a few steps back and impaled the man who had just screamed along with the man standing behind him with a lance of hardened dirt directly from the ground. The rebels coming from the main tunnel had reached the entrance of the room and had engaged Lilith's guards. She was now left to defend her crossbowmen and herself against the incoming hordes from the side. She was about to unleash a wave of mana so she could call for her sister but before she could do so another trapdoor opened in the back and instantly a rebel threw a round object her way. She reflexively slashed it in the air with another rock projectile. Once slashed she realized it was a pouch containing a red powder, she instinctively covered her face to avoid breathing it and recognized what it was. " Ruvarium! Shit they are more crafty than I expected ". As long as she stood near it or inhaled it, her magic would be disrupted. She had fallen for their trap. She either needed to move away further into the room or wait for the ruvarium powder to dissipate completely. The rebels weren't about to give her time to think, they charged towards her with the intent to kill her before anyone else. Her crossbowmen were only a few steps further but they instantly turned to provide support for her. They had enough training to be able to recognize the red powder and what it meant for the magical support. They shot right beside her and hit both of her incoming assaillant. Only one of them fell to the ground while the other, hit in the shoulder, kept charging at her. He swung his sword hoping to decapitate her but Lilith ducked and slipped under his arm. In a flash, she grabbed the man's dagger that was dangling from his belt and stabbed him in the flank with it. She may not have been a trained soldier but she had a basic knowledge of self defense even though she hated having to dirty herself with her enemies blood directly. The man fell dead on the ground. Each passing seconds Lilith was trying to reactivate her magic in hope that the ruvarium would cease its effect on her. One of her soldiers fell, an arrow piercing his neck. The two remaining shield bearers were being pushed back by the overwhelming rebel presence still coming out of the tunnel. Quickly, the room was being filled with enemies throwing everything they could at her and her men. Lilith was dodging left and right everything she could. She focused on her aura and felt the control of it coming back. During this moment of inattention one of the rebels snuck behind her and jumped at her with the spear forward. Lilith moved aside but not fast enough, the spear opened a gash in her right thigh causing her to scream in pain. As she did previously, she moved closer to the rebel to cut the reach advantage of the spear but sadly her mobility was reduced due to her leg injury. She pushed the rebel to the ground, like most rebels joining the fight, this one had their head covered. Lilith did the only thing she could think of and decided to aim for the eyes, she removed the hood of her attacker but stopped as she saw their face. A young blond woman, probably not even eighteen years of age yet. Her face reminded Lilith of Jane. That split second of hesitation was enough for the young woman to overpower Lilith and flip her on the side. She began to clench her hands over Lilith's throat hoping to strangle her fast. She struggled on the ground, the air was running out of her lungs. With all the dust that was kicked with the current struggle the ruvarium had dissipated enough that Lilith could muster control over a fraction of her aura. Her control was still imprecise but she focused to move the ground around her and create a slant that would move the woman strangling her. The ground shifted position, the woman slid aside and Lilith coughed loudly as she gasped for air. Her men were falling one by one. Lilith had badly misjudged the level of preparation and organization those people had. She was about to resort to having to crumble the walls and everything around her until she felt Ophélia's overwhelming presence. All she could say before hell broke loose was a single word to her remaining escort.

  " COVER !!!"

  As soon as she said that, the two remaining crossbowmen as well as the shield bearer ran to her, leaving themselves completely open to any attack. The rebels were about to storm them when the ceiling started to shake above them. Lilith shielded herself as well as her remaining soldiers in a dome of stone. Almost instantly, torrents of water came pouring in the structure. Lilith began to sweat as she was straining herself to maintain her stone dome intact and hermetically closed. The pressure of the water applied on her was excruciating. The voices of the rebels were literally being drowned out by the tons of water coming into the tunnel. After a minute, the water had stopped flowing and the air had become colder, way colder than it should have been by just being exposed to the outside air. As she let her protection fall she was greeted by the satisfied grin of Ophélia surrounded by frozen waters. Ophélia had the capacity not only to control water but to change its properties which includes its temperature. Lilith looked around and all the entrances from which the rebels came out of were now closed shut by ice. The ceiling had been busted open by the weight of the water. Nothing of the tunnel structure remained as Ophélia had flooded everything. Lilith could see the bodies of her dead escorts frozen like the rebels. The remaining soldiers that were accompanying her took a bow and thanked her for her protection, they then took off to begin securing the surrounding area. Lilith was still slightly dazed by the effort she had to put in to protect herself from her own sister's attack. The only reason this took that much of a toll on her was because of the ruvarium she had slightly breathed. Ophélia was already walking away from the scene, she reshaped the ice around the ceiling to form stairs so she could exit easily. Lilith followed her sister and a shiver went through her entire body as she breathed in the cold air of the night. Looking around, she could see the damage Ophélia had created. The ground floor of the buildings had been flooded, Ophélia had used the water from the nearby river to flood the tunnels and burst through the ground, the street was completely destroyed. Lilith was looking at the ground and seeing the content of the tunnels float back from within the basements that had been flooded. A sense of sadness she did not expect to feel took over her as she saw children's clothing as well as a doll. She couldn't help but think that within those now flooded tunnels, were not only fighters but their families as well, women, children, elderly and sick people. All of them were now lost, drowned by her sister. Lilith walked up to her sister with anger in her heart.

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  " Look what you've done!"

  " I saved you didn't I? And I got rid of the rodents. The words you are looking for are 'Thank you dear sister.'."

  " Have you thought about the collateral damage!? The houses in this entire district are now all flooded, the basements which contain these people's provisions for the winter as well! There were innocent people down there!"

  " I already told you. If they were truly innocent, they wouldn't hide under those tunnels like rats. They can live out there in the sun like civilized people instead of the savages they act as. Now we can move on from this city. Come on, the sewer flooded as well, the stench is bothering me."

  Lilith was furious, she may have believed her cause was just but her enemies didn't deserve such a lowly death. Her sister was reaching a new low and it was one of the lines she was not willing to cross. Ophélia had already mounted her horse and was trotting away back towards the castle. Lilith was still concerned with the current situation. She may have not been able to rescue the innocent down in the tunnels but she could assist those who were caught up in the catastrophe. Lilith began organizing evacuation and rescue efforts of the entire district. For hours she helped dig around the survivors of the flooding created by Ophélia. Countless families were now without homes, without their loved ones and most importantly, without hope. All they could see in Lilith and the soldiers accompanying her was a brutal occupying force here to pacify and colonize them. A woman stuck in a basement was pleading for her life barely hanging swimming on the surface among her own belongings. Lilith opened up the ground and reached out to her with her hand. The woman reflexively grabbed the hand extended to her but she had yet to notice who had reached out to her. Once she was out of the water, she looked at Lilith and then looked at her own hand in disgust. As if touching Lilith was like coming in contact with a deep rot. The woman first spat on the ground and kneeled to use the water on the ground to wash her hands. In her eyes was only pure hatred for the witch. Despite this, Lilith couldn't fault her. It had been instilled in them for years that mages were the sources of all evils. The king's propaganda about the risks of magic had done devastating damage to the public's perception and Lilith understood that the queen wanted to show kindness to these people as it would help change said perception. Ophelia's actions tonight only further cemented that belief that magic should be eradicated from this world. Despite the apparent 'success' of tonight's operation, Lilith returned to her mare feeling a profound sense of defeat, hoping that soon, her quest for a sense of fulfillment will come to an end.

  Back in the fardugan capital of Biracüz, the pope of the order of the red sun, Deglan Iliop, was walking up from the lower districts back to the royal castle. His outings had been more and more frequent in the recent months and most of the servants in the castle were beginning to wonder what happened to all of his 'prodigies'. They were mostly children that he would pick off the street and bring back to the castle. Children would come in but none would come out. Recently he had needed to change to which district he would go as the people were noticing his visits meant more children would disappear. No one knew what was becoming of the children he was taking away with him back to the castle. The most optimistic people believed he was educating them and having them adopted by rich families while the more realistic ones knew that something nefarious was at play. Deglan turned the corner into a seemingly empty alley. The city had just been washed under heavy rains. Bricks were still slick and Deglan had to pace himself to avoid slipping. From the corner of his eyes he felt a presence to his right. He looked and noticed a frail boy, completely disheveled, simply dressed in rags, his bony fingers clasped around what seemed like his only possession, an old wooden box. Deglan kneeled close to the boy and smiled at him. The boy remained wary of the strange man before him, he looked way too nice, too well dressed and smelled like nothing. To the boy, the man was only after his box and he was not willing to let it go. His fingers grasped the box even more, that was all the strength he could muster. He was so skinny he could barely lift his own head, his sunken eyes were looking past his brow as if he was trying to appear somehow threatening, a slight trickle of saliva was slowly dripping out of his mouth clearly indicating he was starving. Deglan reached inside of his long robe and pulled out a pastry he had taken from the castle kitchen. The young boy's eyes lit like jewels exposed to the sun for the first time in centuries. For the first time since they had been face to face his mouth opened but no sound came out of it. Inside, Deglan knew he had already caught him. The pastry may have been cold but it was fresh, the scent of butter reached the boy's nose causing him to salivate even more. Deglan finally spoke to him for the first time since he kneeled on the wet pavement.

  " I don't even have to ask you if you are hungry. And I don't even think you know who I am. I am not here to harm you, I find the needy, the deprived, those like you whose soul has been sucked by humanity's depravity and lack of care for its peers. As humans it is imperative for us to care for each other otherwise we are nothing but beasts, driven by our basic functions and instincts. We have to give others what they lack. So feed a man who needs to be fed, comfort a child that needs to be comforted, compliment the woman who needs to be complimented. Take my hand child and we will both find what you need from this world."

  The boy understood most of what the strange man said to him, he was still desperately fixated on the pastry. Deglan decided to put an end to his torment and finally handed the food over to him. The boy instantly dropped the small wooden box which bounced off the ground and landed at Deglan's feet. He picked it up and weighed it with his hand. It seemed like it was empty, what was inside had probably been gone for a long time, sold for food most likely but the box in itself had a powerful meaning to the boy. Deglan kept a hold of it but also extended his open palm to the boy. The small child pondered for a moment, his mouth still full, he had been told to be wary of smiling adults but this man's smile harbored no ill intentions. He gently held on to the man and followed hiù through the dark streets, unaware of the fate that would soon fall upon him.

  That same day, Maria Ruvarro, the queen of Fardug, awakened at the first lights as always. She had grown used to not having the need for servants to help her in the morning. She refused to grow complacent and lazy like so many other nobles. She looked at herself in the mirror, taking a mental image of all her features. Almost sixty seven years of age and yet some would imagine she had just entered her fourtyest year. Her youthful appearance was one of the many reasons the women in her lineage were often given to be married off to high ranking members of society or in her case even royalty. King Stanislas Ruvarro the first, her husband, who at the time was only prince Stanislas had taken an interest in her himself. He had courted her the proper way, shown her real interest which didn't fade even after she had given him heirs. It was rare for noblemen to actually care for their spouses as anything other than receptacles to bear children but Stanislas was different. Sadly, none of their direct children were alive anymore as they had all perished in the war, they only had their two grandchildren, William and Damien, born from their second son who could now inherit the throne. They had to wait another five years for William to turn fifteen so that he could officially be king. Until then, Stanislas would oversee the kingdom and the war while the queen had to focus on the internal affairs and the finances of the kingdom. This organization was by any means not conventional, it was Stanislas idea to delegate some of a king's functions to his closest advisors and friends and Maria was the person he trusted the most in this world. She could tell him the sky was green and he would believe her instantly and rework his view of the world around the view she had. Her morning started by a simple shower followed by a modest breakfast of dried fruits and bread. She then dressed herself in a formal attire, attached her gray silver hair in a bun and delicately placed her crown on her head. She looked at herself in the mirror one last time and felt a passing sense of melancholy as her eyes panned towards a notch she had made on that very same mirror years ago. A single letter that she had cut out of frustration into the wood of the mirror. She closed her eyes and traced the outline of the letter with her finger, memories of her fourth's son resurfaced and a wave of sorrow and grief washed over her due to an old belief she did not hold onto. The fourth son born in a royal lineage was considered a bad omen, a curse on royalty foretelling of a kingdom's demise. So when the queen was pregnant with her fourth child she prayed for a daughter. The child she birthed came out healthy, he had her eyes and her previously brown hair instead of the blonde that was passed down to all the Ruvarros. It was decided instantly that the child had to be sacrificed to appease the creator and repel devils. Back then she committed such a grave transgression that advisors of the king suggested she should be executed for treason. She had taken the decision to hide the child and leave it in the care of a close friend of hers. Sadly, the woman perished in a tragic accident, either the carriage was attacked by bandits or a wild beast rampaged through it. When the queen heard of the incident, she went on the road herself with a company of soldiers to look for the child but to no avail, the carriage as well as the crib were empty. Only corpses, mud and dried blood was left. After that, the queen was inconsolable. She kept telling herself that maybe, just maybe, the child could have survived somehow, that by some twist of fate a kind soul would have come and rescued the baby or maybe if bandits had attacked they would have adopted the child. Back then the queen had stopped sleeping or eating, she was letting herself wither away until one day she prayed to the creator to give her a sign, anything to appease her tormented soul. She had almost completely fallen to despair when one fateful night, she was visited by a spirit whose silhouette she could not distinguish. The figure of light approached her as she was standing on her balcony overlooking the city and simply touched her forehead. The spirit had spoken no words, shown no emotions and yet she was able to tell by its gentle touch it was sent by a higher power to reassure her that her child was alive and well in the world. She never told anyone about it, it may have been an illusion created by her delirious mind at the time but she decided to believe in it. If there was even the slimmest of chances for her son to be alive, she wanted to believe in it. Despite this decision to have faith, she could not help but be sad when looking at the letter S etched into the wood.

  " I hope you are still out there my dear, my beloved, my Sargon."

  Deglan had just returned to the palace while carrying the boy. As he was used to, he moved through the castle unbothered. Ever since he had been given a few rooms devoted to him and his protegés he was easy to miss and moving through the castle was no longer a big event which he didn't mind. He entered his room and gently dropped onto his bed the boy who had fallen asleep in his arms. Deglan admired the boy for a few seconds, taking in every detail of his face as he could. He looked almost like a painting. A frail dechiveled figure on red and gold sheets. The perfect figure representing the disparities of this world. If he was to give a name to such a painting it would be 'Hypocrisy of the royalty in the face of poverty.'. Deglan caressed the boy's hollowed cheek with a gentle smile on his face. Deglan stood up and almost instantly heard a knock on the door.

  " Who is it? "

  " Melitta, your holiness."

  " Come in, my child."

  The young servant entered the room with a basket of fresh laundry on a cart. As she was used to, she waited until he gave her an order, nervously making one of her curls twirl with her index finger. Deglan pointed at the boy on the bed and Melitta sighed. She knew what she had to do. She reached inside of the basket and pulled out some ropes and walked towards the boy. As she was slowly and carefully tying him up to the bed, she thought about Amélia. She had lost hope to ever see her, to hold her or even kiss her ever again. She was fondly remembering the times she spent in the nun's company until she was dispatched for her first ever mission during which it was reported that the entire squad of witch hunters in training were decimated. A few bodies were recovered but most weren't. Among the missing was Amélia. Ever since she had been gone, she had been subjected to Deglan's abuse daily. Everyday he would find a new way of hurting her physically or mentally. At first she tried resisting him, she wanted to tell someone about what he was doing but he had a hold on her. Everytime she felt like speaking about his dark deeds, it was like his hand was coming to choke her and prevent her from speaking. Eventually, she stopped resisting, she stopped thinking about the fate of all those children and crying over them at night. Once she was done tying the boy down, she moved aside to let Deglan perform his ritual. He grabbed his book which looked like it was made with human skin as well as a dagger. At this moment, the young boy opened his eyes and wondered why he couldn't move. He tried moving his arms and legs and realized the situation he was in. Panic took over him and he began to furiously move around, the ropes were so tight that they were starting to dig into his skin, despite the pain he kept pulling on the ropes. Blood was starting to drip onto the sheets. Meanwhile, Melitta was silent, looking into nothingness, trying to drown the noises of exertion and pain from the child. Deglan slowly approached him, the dagger in one hand, the book in the other as he began reciting something in a language Melitta couldn't comprehend. She had seen him perform this ritual countless times and it never got any less unsettling. She knew it was some sort of dark art but she no longer had the strength to ask the questions nor did she want the answers. Deglan finished reciting his text and lifted his arm, the dagger hanging above the boy's sternum. The boy let out what would be his final scream before the dagger came down. The dagger penetrated his chest with a thud sound, the boys instantly went limp, the gleam in his eyes faded and a last breath almost inaudible escaped from his lips. Death had taken the child into its cold embrace. As he would always do, Deglan asked Melitta to leave the room at this exact moment. She was not allowed to see or hear what would come next. The first few times she wanted to know but in the back of her mind she could feel Deglan's gaze fixed upon her, as if his fingers were talons ready to sink into her neck. Once she was out of the room Deglan carved signs he saw in his book into the boy's flesh, soon after, a dark mist began to rise from the body. Slowly the mist rose up from the body and slowly formed into a humanoid shape. The mist became slightly clearer and took more on a purple shade as the figure became more and more precise. Finally, the shape revealed itself to have taken on the appearance of a woman with no distinct features. The only discernible trait were the eyes that appeared as dark beads that could swallow the void of the hells itself. Deglan kneeled and bowed to the figure.

  " Milady, it is a pleasure to see you once more."

  " Deglan Iliop, I see you have grown. You have absorbed many more of those souls since the last time we have conversed.

  " I have indeed made use of the talent the creator has gifted upon me."

  The mention of god made the woman click her tongue in annoyance.

  " Just the gods? Is your memory so short that you do not remember who gifted you this book? "

  " Oh I meant no disrespect milady of darkness. After all, we are all blessed under the red sun. I just sometime forget you do not worship the crea- the false god."

  " Your apology is accepted. So, tell me, have you found the girl? "

  " I have been looking for her using the sight those rituals have bestowed upon me but the shape of the visions remains blurry. Contrary to what most believe, she is still alive but behind the Tsungstian enemy line. It is impossible for me to go have my followers fetch for her."

  The woman exhaled a disappointed sigh and by the movement of the mist Deglan could tell she was massaging her temples to calm herself.

  " It's been almost a year, Iliop. I am starting to doubt your commitment to this future I told you about. I thought you were promising. Don't you wish to ascend? "

  " I do!! Milady I do! I promise you I will find her!"

  " She is the most important piece of this puzzle. The key for us to ascend to godhood. The next time we speak, you better have found her and have her back here. My attention is required by the lords so I cannot afford to be distracted by this task. When I originally managed to get her to be in your possession I really had hopes that you would be able to keep her under your control. Do I need to replace you with a new puppet? "

  " No milady. I will not fail you again. Next time, I will have the nun."

  " Good. Now go and do not disappoint me again."

  " Your wish is my command lady Morgane."

  The mist suddenly flew towards Deglan and entered his body through his nostrils. A wave of pain coursed through his entire body. His jaw clenched, his eyes were wide open and his mouth hung open as he was unable to scream. The veins on his neck and hands were becoming a dark shade as his body was processing what was happening to it. Finally, he fell to his knees gasping for air. As always the ritual was taxing on his body but this was the price he was willing to pay to obtain the same powers as Morgane. He took a few seconds to rest and finally stood up. He tapped his robe to remove some dust from it and licked his fingertips before running them on his eyebrows to smooth them. He walked up to the door and knocked on it to signal to Melitta that she could enter once more. Without saying anything, she entered the room and untied the ropes binding the now lifeless child. Gently and carefully, she wrapped him up in the now soaked sheets. The reason Deglan sheets were red was also to avoid raising suspicions, she carried his body and placed him into the basket after she was done moving the clean sheets out of it. Still in silence, she bowed to Deglan and exited the room, now heading for the castle waste disposal where she would first burn the body and then deep clean the sheets as she was used to. All the while, Deglan was looking down at his book with a devious smile.

  " That wretched woman.. Who does she think she is to speak to me this way!? Once I have ascended, I will teach her the meaning of being smited by a god. Just you wait dear Morgane. I will find her and bring her back and then I will have no uses for you anymore. I will find Amélia Revan."

  Somewhere deep down in a forest close to the border of Tsungstat, a company of soldiers as well as a few witches were making camp for the night. They had been dispatched to reinforce the currently sieged city of Soven, one of the most important bastions in the current war. The tents were quickly set and all the horses were attached. The company was composed of around fifty men of all ages and sizes. Around one of the campfires a discussion was growing louder than the others and attracting others attention. Two men were arguing over a story they heard.

  " It's bullshit and we all know it!"

  " I'm telling you it's real!! The wraith is real!"

  " Come on, you really think a wraith roams the battlefield and manages to decimate companies in a matter of minutes and dissapears without leaving a trace?"

  " Yes! Some guy in the last tavern we were in told me how he saw it! It was a woman covered in blades, blood and mud! "

  " A woman huh? Ahaha he probably had one too many drinks!"

  " I swear it's real! He saw her one day just cut down a group of men in the blink of an eye like it was nothing! She is faster than the air itself and it seems that no blade can ever touch her! It's said that she lost her loved one in the war and ever since then it is said that she fights to avenge him."

  " It's just a sad story to get wenches and childrens weeping. You shouldn't get yourself swept up by such tales!"

  " I maintain, the wraith is real. It's said she appears on such nights. Slightly windy, no moonlight to be seen."

  Rustles in the woods behind him made the man jump on his feet and turn around in a flash. The soldiers around him laughed at his panic. The lights of the torches were not going far enough for him to make out what the shapes in the forest truly were but he was sure of it, something was coming this way. He wiped some sweat off his brow and ignored the mocking gestures and noises of his comrades. The noises sounded like calm footsteps, slowly coming their way. The man turned back to his fellow soldiers in a panic.

  " Wait everyone! Listen! Don't you hear this!?"

  All the men suddenly quieted down. Focusing on the sound of the forest around them. The wind was making the pines fling and hit each other causing dead branches to fall all around the camp. Packs of rabid dogs could be heard in the distance howling. These dogs, these hounds of war often having to share the spoils of battle with ghouls and other scavengers. The wind suddenly stopped, making the sound of footsteps clear. The soldiers drew out their swords in expectation of a confrontation. A singular hooded figure appeared. By the long dark hair coming out of the hood, it appeared to be a pale young woman. The man who was previously panicking started to shake in fear.

  " Th-Th-Th the wraith! It's the wraith!! She has come to collect our souls!!"

  The commander of the company marched forward and slapped the man in the back of the head.

  " Idiot, calm yourself! She is probably either a refugee or a whore looking to make some coin."

  The woman was still walking in their direction in complete silence. The commander walked up to her with a torch in his hand, he stopped only a few steps away from her. The woman stopped at the same time he did. The hood and cape she was wearing was covering her entire body up from her head to her ankles. The man chuckled as he passed an arm around her shoulders.

  " Hey lil missy, ya can't just walk around alone in the woods at night. It ain't safe out there, ya see even brave fellows are shaking in their boots."

  The young lady remained silent as she was led closer to one of the camp fires under the gaze of all the soldiers. They stopped near one of the fires at the edge of the camp. The woman had still not said a thing, the only moment she looked around was when she heard some of the witches of the camp giggling over a cup of tea. The commander of the company invited her to sit but she remained silent once again. She was looking around the camp, each man that would encounter her eyes would feel a wave of fear course through them. She was of average height and seemed quite young but she had an overwhelming presence to her. Her hair was as dark as the night. For the first time since she had appeared at the camp she finally spoke.

  " Where are you headed?"

  One of the soldiers was about to answer but the commander's instinct were telling him it was better to identify if she was a potential threat first. The commander moved beside her and once again moved his hand around her shoulders.

  " Let me ask you a question. What's your name, little lady? "

  The woman did a very slight hand motion barely noticeable. The commander tried to speak but for some reason he felt unable to. The words were stuck in his throat. He reached for his throat and felt a warm and familiar sensation. He could feel a warm liquid pouring down from his throat to his chest. He looked down at his own hand and was shocked to see blood. He had yet to figure out its origin. He could see it drip down on the floor, he looked around himself in confusion. The soldiers around were already pulling their weapons out, some were afraid, some were enraged, he wanted to scream at them to look for the enemy but only gurgling sounds came out of his mouth. He looked down and made a horrifying discovery. The young woman was maliciously smiling at him, a bloody dagger in her right hand. He hadn't even had time to notice she had pulled a weapon out, nor did he have the time to realize that his throat had been slit. So many questions were going through his mind as his life was literally slipping through his fingers. He fell heavily on his back, his mouth hung open and his eyes forever fixed in a horrifying stare at the sky. The woman finally removed her cloak and revealed herself to the camp. She was wearing multiple harnesses with countless blades all in their sheathes. One of the soldiers wanted to take the initiative and rush her. As soon as he took a step, an arrow came flying out of the darkness and hit him right in the head. The girl equipped herself with two serrated daggers and pointed one of them at the group of witches already reciting incantations to defend themselves.

  " My name is Amélia Revan and I have questions for you."

  Chaos ensued almost instantly. Some soldiers tripped over each other trying to reach for their weapons. The closest ones to Amélia were torn between cowering in fear or mustering their courage and charge at her. She didn't leave them the time to even make either choice. She passed through them cutting throats and opening their bellies up, letting their intestines fall into the mud. In less than five seconds, at least seven of them were on the ground bleeding out. Meanwhile, arrows were falling down on other men in the camp, the shots were coming from many different directions. The three witches accompanying the camp were trying their best to shield soldiers as well as themselves from the projectiles. Amélia was moving too quickly for them to get a clear shot. Finally some of the tsungstians began to fight back, they began trying to make formations and restrict Amélia's movements but they quickly realized it was not a possible strategy as the woman was way too nimble. The longer they were taking to come up with a strategy, the less numbers they had. It seemed like every sword, every arrow, every rock from their slings were missing her by a hair but no blade or projectile could draw blood from her. Another ten soldiers fell in the mud, twisting themselves in pain. Amélia jumped over one man and cut his neck in the process, she turned in the air and threw one of her many blades at another. She kept grabbing any weapon she could get her hands on while discarding some of her own. If one of her blades was too slick with blood or stuck into a body she would let go of it and grab one from a soldier, mostly going for daggers and short swords that most of them were in possession of. Some of the soldiers had fallen to their knees in despair, praying for help or crying out for it.

  " THE WRAITH!! RUUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

  Finally one of the witches decided to go on the offensive and step forward to confront the attacker. She began reciting an incantation to strike Amélia with searing light. As soon as she began her chant, Amélia switched her focus to her and cut through rows of soldiers to get to her. The witch panicked and stopped her spell to try and defend herself with a mace but to no avail. Amélia slipped by her but instead of killing her on the spot she grabbed her by the neck and took a second to pause.

  " Hmm. Not you."

  " Wha-"

  The witch could not finish her sentence as her throat was instantly slit. Arrows were still raining upon the camp, some on fire causing the tents to be set ablaze. The horses were pulling on their reins trying to run away into the forest. Such a scene could have happened in the hells and it probably would have looked the same. Another witch circled around to Amélia's blindspot and aimed at her back, an orange rune appeared in her right hand as she was finishing preparing her spell.

  " Sinder !"

  A lance of flame flew across the camp burning the ground in its path. The flames looked like they hit her but Amélia had no reaction to them. The witch stood there in disbelief. "This is my most powerful spell! How is she unharmed!?" She thought to herself. She was about to summon a second lance but out of the darkness flew an arrow that landed right in her neck. The witch fell to her knees, unable to breathe or form any thoughts. Only one witch and a handful of soldiers remained. The soldiers were just beginning to understand something was off with the woman decimating their ranks. The fact that nothing seemed to be able to touch her or that the blades she was throwing seemed to just accelerate mid air was indicative of a possible magic usage. But why would a witch attack Tsungstians? Only five soldiers and the witch remained, the camp was now drowned in blood and flames. Amélia was slowly walking towards them, making her blades twirl in her hands. One of the men walked towards her with a trembling voice hoping to plead for his and his men's lives.

  " P-pLease listen to me! You don't have to do this! You're a witch right? Right!? We can't hit you because of your magic I'm sure of it!"

  " I'm not a witch. I am a nun of the red sun, a proud fardugan and a witch huntress."

  " That's impossible. I've seen what you can do, why would a magic user fight for a kingdom that considers magic to be heresy!? Your people would behead you if they knew of your abilities! "

  " That's why none of you can leave alive. But since you know, I guess I can show you what I can do."

  Amélia lifted her hands and the remaining daggers she had on her harnesses began to move by themselves as if controlled by invisible hands. She had not formed a rune nor had she uttered an incantation or drawn a rune. The daggers simply responded to her command. They all suddenly pointed themselves at the already surrendering soldiers. With a simple chin movement, she directed the blades at her targets. Everything was over in an instant, the soldiers limp bodies fell into the mud, only leaving a frightened witch crying on the ground. Amélia approached her slowly and with caution. The witch raised her hand towards her but as soon as her eyes met Amélia's she knew that no matter what she was about to do she was going to die. She refrained from using magic, simply bringing her hands and arms together as to comfort herself in her last moments. Amélia kneeled in front of her.

  " Look at me."

  The witch looked up and her eyes met with the deep grey eyes of Amélia. The witch huntress then placed her palm on the witch's forehead and waited. The witch couldn't comprehend what was happening, Amélia removed her hand and looked disappointed. Clearly she was expecting something to happen but the witch could not give her what she wanted. Amélia then stood up and began to walk away from the witch. Thinking she had decided to spare her, the witch let out a sigh of relief which would end up being the last breath she would take as a dagger flew from the ground and directly planted itself into the back of her neck. Amélia looked through the camp to grab whatever she could from the soldiers, luckily, rain had started to come down causing the fire to be controlled. She headed towards the carriages carrying the provisions and managed to find a chest that seemed to have a simple lock. The commander probably had the key for it. She walked back towards where she first arrived and found the man's body. As she was searching his body her mind wandered to how different her life had become since she became stranded in enemy territory almost a year ago. Ever since her witch hunter unit had been captured by the sisters, she had been unable to return to Fardugan territory. Her mind began to drift to the thought of being in Melitta's arms again. Despite the time they had spent apart, her feelings for the servant were still as strong. Lost in her thoughts she was unable to notice the figure approaching right in front of her at the edges of the camp. The hooded figure was holding a bow and arrows and was aiming right at her. She only noticed when the arrow came loose and flew in her direction but instead of dodging she remained completely still. The arrow flew right by her, moving her hair in the process and went directly into the guts of the sole surviving soldier that had been playing dead so far and only rose to try and strike her in the back. The man fell on his back and began to twist himself in agony. The hooded figure placed the bow back on its back and walked towards Amélia.

  " You're lucky I am watching your back Amelia."

  " Oh what would I do without you Ben."

  " You say that in a sarcastic tone but I took out a lot of them while you were just running around!"

  " Oh excuuuuuse me, would you rather be the one having to dodge everything down here?"

  " You don't even have to dodge! Your weird magic thingy that protects you works like a charm! It still creeps me out though! "

  Ben moved back his hood and grabbed his own sword to go finish the man he had just shot. In the time they had spent together they had grown to trust each other more than anyone they had ever met. Ben's hair had grown quite long and he preferred to simply attach it in a small ponytail that wouldn't go very far. As for his facial hair he had never been the type to grow a lot of it but after a year spent mostly in the wilderness his previously boyish clean shaven face had morphed into the rough and scratchy beard of a man. Once he had cut the soldier's throat he turned to Amélia and smiled at her.

  " So, do we have anything interesting, 'wraith'? "

  " I hate that name, it's so stupid."

  "But it works like a charm to scare Tsungstians."

  Amélia and Ben had been trying to find their way back to the Fardugan kingdom for months now. After they had killed Jane the third sister and escaped Lilith, they had been stranded in enemy territory trying to survive and attacking enemy lines of supply as best as they could. They had decided on the current strategy of sending Amélia in and having Ben cover her as he had been injured by Lilith. A stone lance had pierced his leg during their confrontation with Lilith and it had taken months to heal properly. Even to this day, he could still feel some lasting pain and running didn't feel correct to him. Amélia had managed to develop her talent a bit more during this time. She was able to control objects with her mind but so far she could only do it to small ones. She was also capable of stopping anything from coming too close to her which made it look like it was impossible to hit her. She had hoped that somehow she would be able to find more information about such a particular power somewhere in the libraries they had been going through but nothing seemed to talk about a power such as hers. In this aspect, she truly was a unique witch even though she still hated to be considered one. Amélia finally found the key she was looking for and with Ben went back to the carriage to examine the content of the chest. Inside they found some pouches of gold, written orders as well as maps. Amélia quickly read through the orders under the impatient gaze of Ben.

  " So? What does it say?"

  " It says they were on a mission to Soven. I think this is the occasion we have been looking for Ben."

  " Soven? It's not that far from here. About a day away if we go fast. But I thought we were supposed to avoid big cities? "

  " Yes but this time it's different. Soven is currently besieged by the Fardugan army. If we manage to help our own army to capture Soven, they could offer us safe passage back to Fardug and we can go back to - "

  " - to Biracüz!"

  " Exactly!"

  " I almost can't believe it .. it's been so long since we have been home."

  " I know, and to think it started with a recon mission, our first mission ended up being almost a year long one but this time I'm sure of it, we're going home Ben."