Nesterin hugged himself. Lightning flashed through the hole. Thunder struck. The chilling wind blew inside, creating mist as he breathed out. The trees rustled.
A wisp of flame came out of Elwin's hand. It floated between them, radiating out warm. Nesterin approached the flame. He couldn't stand the cold any longer. They'd been stuck in this hole for a while now. His eyes were already tired and weary. He couldn't fall asleep. The cold won't let him.
"The storm will pass in a few hours," Elwin said. His green eyes twinkled. Cultivators always had an impressive appearance. Looking at the sect master's radiant, handsome face, that couldn't be any more true. His frame was athletic, wrapped around a red robe. The waist was tightened by a string.
"So even the immortals couldn't fight against nature?" Nesterin asked.
The man didn't look at him. His eyes were outside, towards the sky. "We're not immortals. It's nature that gave us this power."
Nesterin turned silent. He had nothing to say to the man anymore.
After a while, the storm disappeared. Bright light came from the hole. The cold disappeared, and trees started to stand. It was quite a magical sight. The animals came out of their burrows. They jumped around, climbing trees and picking fruits.
"Let's go," Elwin said. "Do you want to go home or not?"
Nesterin came out of his daze and approached the sect master.
Suddenly, a group of cultivators in dark robes landed from above. They brought a sword on their back. Probably one of the sect master's subordinates.
"Who would've thought we would meet someone from the Nefarious Sword here," One of the men said. "Let's take his head as souvenir."
Apparently, they were not friends.
Elwin smiled and clasped his hand. "Fellow cultivators from the Dark Sword. It is nice to see you."
"Yes, it's nice to see you too, so can I start killing you now?" He approached.
"Wait, senior brother. Our elder doesn't allow us to kill this year."
The man stopped in his track. "You're lucky this time."
The cultivators left. They walked in the direction of the Royal Palace. Nesterin guessed that they would attend the banquet.
"What a nice fellow," Elwin said. "We're good friends with the Dark Sword."
Nesterin doubted that. He always heard the Nefarious Sword sect bragging about how they killed a disciple from the Dark Sword. Was this sect master retarded? One of the elders might have poisoned his brain.
The both of them continued their journey. They exited the Illusion Forest and went past many mountains. On the way, Nesterin saw many animals that he had never seen before.
In one of the mountains, he saw a horse-sized fox with brilliant, colorful scales. It has narrow, circular two pairs of wings, and its legs were dark bronze. It flew around the sky and its nest seemed to be at its peak. The peak was colorful too. All the bright colors were there and combined with glittering pink.
"Beautiful right?"
Nesterin nodded. "What are they?"
"They are called the Dreamfox. They only live in mountains such as this. And don't let their look fool you. They are quite strong. They are quite weird too."
"How so?"
"They avoid cultivators but didn't mind in the presence of the norm."
Nesterin and Elwin arrived at a small village. The sky already turned dark with the Hexagonal moon shining down on them.
"We need to get an inn," Elwin said.
"No, we should get going. We don't have time to waste."
Elwin shook his head and pointed at the villagers who hurried to enter their house. "The Wrathful has begun. We have new rules to follow."
"What do you mean by the Wrathful?"
Elwin didn't answer him but he pulled his hand and brought him inside a tavern. Immediately a pair of young women dressed in a brown robes ran to them. They tied a bone necklace to their neck and rubbed some kind of spices on their cheeks.
Nesterin let them. He didn't know what was this all about. The women then quickly shut the window and any other holes in the tavern.
"What is this all about?"
"Ssh." Elwin, the women, and the fat guy who seemed to be the owner hushed him.
Elwin approached him and whispered to his ear in a very low voice. "Don't speak or make a noise."
Elwin and the others didn't move. They seemed to be trying to not make any sound. Then he heard bells ring.
Cring! Cring! Cring!
It was the sound of small bells ringing against each other.
Cring! Cring! Cring!
It was followed by a footstep. Each time the foot stepped, the bell rang. Someone or something was outside. It made a weird sound. It sounded like a man but a beast at the same time.
Elwin and the others were still silent. The only thing that moved was their eyes. Nesterin felt his leg stiff. He didn't want to move his leg, but his reflex betrayed him.
Creak.
Elwin and the others turned their eyes towards him. Their face turned pallid, and their lips turned white.
The world turned colorless and time stopped. Nesterin couldn't move a muscle and no one else moved. He felt something staring at him. Suddenly, it appeared before him. In an ethereal form, a hideous creature with long nails approached him. It moved weirdly, necks turning left and right, making cracking sounds, and its arms twisted. He felt in his chest. For a moment he sensed the smell of rot and death.
His hand glowed in dark color. The creature cried out. Its long tongue reached the ground. Nesterin felt sadness and agony within that scream. He felt sympathy for the creature. He couldn't explain why but he felt that the creature was looking at him like he was her son.
The creature caressed his cheek and slowly turned into dust. Then the world turned back to normal.
Elwin and the other gasped. Their chest went up and down.
Elwin strode to him and grabbed his shoulder. "Who are you?"
"What are you talking about?" Nesterin said. "I'm Nesterin. The leader of the Black Wolves under Hax Rebellion Army."
"That witch," Elwin said, frowning. "She didn't kill you. Why?"
"I don't know. I know nothing about this. And what is that creature?"
"It's better for you to not know," Elwin said.
"They seemed to know." Nesterin pointed at the women.
"They're not who you think they are." Elwin opened the door. "Let's go."