Soon after Aeron and the others left Kingsfall, King Emeric had a meeting with general Don and some special intelligence agents in the palace's war room. The king connected Aeron's betrayal to what Alvis had previously warned him about, so to ensure Aeron was not going to be a problem in the future; he ordered a secret meeting.
"Everyone in this room must swear to never speak a word of anything I'm about to tell you to the public," said king Emeric. General Don and his agents all put their hands over their hearts and swear an oath of secrecy to the king.
"Sire, what is it you request of me and my agents?" asked general Don.
"I need your agents to frequently find out information on the exiled prince Aeron, and then I want them to report back me or you. You may have to visit the places he goes for this information, so I will personally be funding this mission. Use whatever materials you need." Responded the king. The agents all got their orders from the king and general Don, then they left to go on their assignments.
One month after Aeron was Exiled, He and his group headed to the northern border of the country. They travel by foot with barely any weapons to defend themselves or barely any food to eat. Aeron and Alana wear cloaks with hoods to hide their faces from local people. Many poor villagers dislike the king because he doesn't show equal treatment towards them and people of a higher social standing. Some people if given the chance might even take out their frustration on King Emeric's lineage. They arrive at small village in the middle of the northern province in the Venied empire called Aride. The Area surrounding the village was a barren tundra surrounded by mountains with very little vegetation. The blood curdling song of crows could be heard as they got closer to the town. The dirt quality was so low that it looked as if growing crops here would be close to impossible, but somehow the farmers living in the village are able to grow some food even if it's a little bit. They start taking a walk through the village when they notice people staring at them. They wanted to break the strange looks they were getting from the local people, so they head into a tavern called "The Lone Crow." When they entered the tavern it was dead silent, it was as if there was nobody inside. The sound of the door slamming as it closed echoed through the entire tavern. Everyone's attention was on these newcomers in town. The group made their way to a table in the back near a window with four seats. They sit down to get comfortable but notice that people are still staring at them. A girl then comes over to the table.
"I've never seen you folk before, you guys aren't from here, are you?" she asked quietly
Alana then responds, "We are new in town."
"Wow, you talk really proper miss; you must be from the capital," said the girl. "You guys seem interesting; I want to know more about you. I'll bring you guys some drinks on the house, then we can talk more." She goes into a back room and tells her father she's done working for today. Then she returns with the drinks.
"My name is Elisabelle Bierman, but most people call me Elise. What are your names?" asked the girl.
The group looked at one another, then one by one they spoke. Aeron spoke first "My names Aeron."
Alana elbowed Aeron in the side then she spoke "Sorry for my idiot brother acting so cold, I'm Alana, this loser's twin sister, nice to meet you."
Rose chuckled then she introduced herself, "I'm Rose it's a pleasure to meet you." Pierre cleared his throat ready to give his introduction, "I am Pierre, I am the protector of these three."
Everyone quietly laughed at him and his face became red with embarrassment, then he sat down.
"So, what brings you guys to a town such as this one," asked Elise
"Just passing through," replied Aeron.
"Well you stopped at one of the poorest towns in the northern province. You could probably see that, while you guys were walking through," said Elise. "We can hardly grow anything here because of our poor soil, and it snows a lot, but we get by." They all talk for hours enjoying a relaxing conversation with their newfound friend.
They overhear a group of local mercenaries behind them, talking about old ruins not too far from the village.
"What are those guys behind us talking about?" asked Pierre.
Elise then tells the story of the ruins, "If you guys are looking for a little adventure there are old ruins to the west of the village. An old legend that says deep down under the ruins there are treasures waiting to be found and a legendary sword that can only be wielded by the chosen one, or whatever that means."
The story caught the interest of the group so they decided that they would look at the ruins later. The group of guys they overheard started smirking and stared at them again. The group was filled with a bunch of big muscular men that looked like they could scare off a bear.
Aeron noticed the group of men but didn't want to startle everyone else.
"You guys can stay here for as long as you want. You guys are all my new friends," said Elise.
They thank her and all head off to bed in the top of the tavern.
While Aeron was sleeping, he had a dream that seemed too real but also almost nightmarish. The dream was about the time when they got attacked by bandits in the forest. He was like a monster burning all the bandits showing no mercy to any of the bandits and then the dream abruptly ended. Aeron's body felt like it was on fire as he killed the bandits. He then woke up from his hellish nightmare drenched in sweat. Aeron didn't want these dreams to continue so he decides to sit and meditate for the rest of the night. He tried focusing his mind on the ambient noises like the creaking of the wood or the snoring of his friend Pierre. Suddenly Aeron felt like he was transported to another place. The room was small and dimly lit with a single hallway coming from one direction. The hallway seemed to have no clear ending and was covered in darkness. Aeron then hears footsteps approaching from out the dark. He could feel the fear travel up his spine and flow throughout his whole body as the anticipation of seeing what was coming became his number one priority. Green flames appear and encircled Aeron's body and he starts feeling the pain he felt and his dream. Aeron begins crying out in pain, when he is then woken up by Pierre.
"Aeron what's wrong?" asked Pierre. He was sweating profusely, and his eyes were red. He had a stream of tears flowing down his face. The pain he felt in the dream state felt as if he was really getting burned. Aeron wipes his faces getting ready to respond.
"Oh, it's nothing Pierre, Just a bad dream that's all. I'll be fine, don't tell the others about this," said Aeron. He felt embarrassed that his best friend saw him like that, but he was too worried about what his dreams meant, to care about what Pierre thought at that moment.
In the morning they left the tavern and headed toward the old ruins west of the village. As they leave the village a suspicious man was following them from a distance. The outside air was as cold as ice. Aeron's hands were starting to feel numb from the cold temperature. Every breath they took made their mouths look like geysers blowing steam. They had been walking in the freezing weather for almost two hours before they arrived at the ruins. The ruins had big stone rocks stacked on top of each other like pillars with several small stone huts built around the area. In the middle of all the huts there was a big stone temple with writing on it that nobody in the group could read. They headed toward the entrance of the temple.
"Wow, this is a strange place. I wonder how long it has been here," said Rose trying to decipher the strange runes on the doorway.
"Everyone be on your guard," said Pierre
When they went inside the temple, they saw three paintings over three different doorways. Each symbol resembled a different element. The left had a symbol of water, the middle had a symbol for fire, and the right had a symbol for earth.
Elise asked, "Which way do you think we should go?"
"I think it will be best if we go in groups down each one, so we don't miss anything" suggested Aeron. "Pierre and Elise should go down the left doorway while Alana and Rose go down the right one."
"But what about you," asked Alana out of concern, "We all should stay as one big group."
"Yeah Aeron, I agree with Alana. We should stick together" said Pierre.
Aeron tried to reassure everyone "I will be fine by myself. I had training with Alvis back in Kingsfall. I need you and Alana to protect Elise and Rose."
"Even though I don't agree with your choice It is the best option, so I will follow your plan," said Pierre as he knew he couldn't convince Aeron.
Aeron comes up with a plan just in case they run into trouble "If anyone needs help and can't call for help expel your magic energy so we can sense it and we can come find you." After the group is done talking, they each head down a different path.
Each hallway was tight, narrow, and dark. As Aeron got further and further down the hallway his visibility became more and more limited, and it felt like with every step the hall was getting hotter. The path Pierre and Elise went down was colder than it was outside. Droplets of water were seeping through the cracks of the stones falling onto Pierre and Elise. Alana and Rose's doorway led to a seemingly never-ending staircase that continued into an abyss. Alana uses her gift with magic to cast a spell to help them as they navigate down.
Alana chants "Holy guiding light, grant your power to me to light the way!" A bright ball of light appears in front of them lighting the way down.
At the end of Aeron's long hallway there was a light shining from a room ahead. The light was the same color as the flame he saw in his dream. He started to feel an ominous connection to the temple like he was being called here by something or someone. When he entered the room, he saw a table that had inscriptions on it. Aeron approached the table and tried to read what was written on the table, but it looked to be the same language as the writing found in the first part of the temple. With his last glance at the table he spotted something familiar in the writing that shocked him. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things and then he reads it one more time. It was hard to figure out everything in just this little section, but he could make out "The lord of fire will come; his name is Aeron." He didn't know how to react to finding this in the ruins. As he investigates the table some more, he notices a dip in the table carved out into a hand. Aeron curiously puts his hand in the same spot as the carved-out hand, when a spiked blade pierced straight through Aeron's hand from a hole. He screams in agony, but because of the depth he was at, nobody could hear him. A stream of blood rushed down into the hole the blade came out of and spread throughout the cracks of the table. The blood begins to glow a florescent red, and then two walls open up to reveal another dark room. Aeron rips of a piece of his cloak and ties it around his hand to stop the bleeding. The sound of metal shackles could be heard coming from the room. Aeron slowly stepped into the newly opened room when he heard a familiar voice.
"I see you have finally come," said the voice.
"You're the voice. The one from my dreams," Replied Aeron in astonishment.
The figure looked to be wearing clothing made of shadows with chains around its wrists and angles.
"Free me, it is your destiny," said the figure.
"I choose my own fate. There is no destiny," said Aeron.
"Nobody can control or deny their destiny. You are bound by its will, you are never truly free to do as you wish," said the figure, "A human's worst enemy is time and fate because it will always be moving, even when you're not."
"Now free me and fulfill your destiny," again said the figure.
Not sure of what to do, Aeron asked, "Why should I let you go, there is probably a reason your chained up."
The strange figure replied with, "Humans are scared of things they cannot control. The people of this kingdom were scared of my old master's power. To prevent me from awakening again, they sealed me here."
"Who was your old master?" asked Aeron.
"When you free me, you might find out, but you might already know the answer," replied the figure.
Aeron was intrigued by what the figure said, so then he cast fire magic that heated the chain shackle's and melted them off the wrist of the entity. The hot chains hit the ground releasing the figure from his binds. The figure stood up and then said, "I told you this was your destiny, your legend has just begun." The figure seemed to disappear into a fog that cleared the room.