The Shivergate is getting busy for their victory party. They have their own task according to their capabilities.
The young women are decorating the dining hall which is the venue of the great feast. The men are organizing the dance floor and arranging the tables. The children are playing around with the other kids and with their mothers while they still try to help as they can.
The music is playing as it usually does, even if they can't quite put words to the rhythm, it fits perfectly with the mood that is spreading across all of them like a warm spring sun even though they are in the icy north.
Their smiles show the same warmth and the joy that everyone has been feeling inside for hours. The girls are dancing like birds fluttering on the wind and the men are enjoying watching them as they twirl around on the dance floor.
When one particular couple takes to the dance floor the rest of the men start clapping loudly and look for their partner to dance along.
"Uh-erm..." Shantel fake coughs to get the attention of Einar who stared blankly at the floor.
"You look like you're broken... What's on your mind? May I help you with that?" she offered.
He doesn't answer and stares into space. "Hey.. Are you okay? Come on, don't tell me you haven't enjoyed the moment yet." He snaps out of his trance and stares at her again before shaking his head. "What am I going to do with you?"
Einar started to Shantel with concern. His future action might cause harm to everybody, especially Shantel.
"I thought you changed… but you are still our Einar." Shantel whispered her conclusion to answer the thing that's bothering her mind .
"He-hey~ what's happening here? What did I miss?" Keiran asked them as he place his arms at Einar and Shantel's shoulders. They quickly turn to face him.
Keiran's face looks like he was just woken up but he's still trying to make sense of whatever has been going on around him. His eyes scan around him from left to right until he settles to gaze at his friends. "Why is everybody looking at me like they're about to commit murder?"
"You ruined my moment with Einar." Shantel answered in a whisper but Keiran already heard it.
His expression changed from surprise to realization and then to an amused smile.
His eyebrows raised and gave her a teasing smirk.
"What? No way!" Keiran shook his head, laughing. "I can assure you, you have no chance with Einar. He is the most dedicated person that I know. He will put his duty first before anything else."
"Yeah, I know. That's why I like him." Shantel smiled brightly at him but her expression quickly changed when she realized how dumb her confession sounded after she said it out loud.
Keiran teases her more until her face turns red as a tomato. "Anyway," she continued with a blush creeping up on her cheeks, "Have you heard another thing aside from celebrating here this evening? I just heard from my father that…"
Einar and Keiran looked at each other because they knew what Shantel was talking about. It's only been two weeks since the battle ended but there are many things that have happened in that short time period.
Winning against the third wave of the Dark Forces. Taking the witch as captive and the crown prince Jafar, decides to join to their victory as their guest.
The sound of the horn roared at the area, to give a signal to everyone to go to their plaza. When everyone is there, the thing that catches their attention is the huge wooden post with many small woods below. The scent of oil is evident in the area. From the center of the wood, they could see a thin woman dressed in thin dark clothes that made her shiver from the strong cold of the north. When the witch sees that every single person is staring at her with curiosity and anger in their eyes, she tries again to escape from the special rope that ties her at the post but they tie her tightly.
She shrieked and tiredly laid her body at the post. Everyone laughed so hard that they could feel the air coming out of their lungs and tears running down their faces.
Einar felt the urge to stop what they were doing but he kept his mouth closed when he thought about the scene.
[Time remaining - 0 hours: 34 minutes : 27 seconds]
He looked at the timer above his head and closed it again when he confirmed the time.
"They are here." he whispered in his mind as their ground grumbled.
A portal opened, and the church of light entered. The portal shut immediately behind them. He sighed quietly and tried to relax himself. If things turn sour then he might need his power but not now. Not yet.
As they entered the plaza, there were several people standing on the stage. Their heads were covered with white cloth and their hands were hidden underneath their robes. A person with a more sophisticated design of white clothing went to the podium and stood up with a book and then he cleared his throat to ready himself.
When the whole plaza goes silent the guy starts speaking. "This day is special indeed because today, we will execute the witch. She is a…"
System Task: Bewitched by the Witch
Task: Save the Witch [Morgana] from her execution.
Time remaining - 0 hours, 28 minutes and 32 seconds (counting downwards)
The people watch silently at Morgana a Einar holds the torch to light the oiled woods.
Einar felt something cold hitting his side, he turned to the right and found Keiran with a frown, he was pointing his small dagger.
Suddenly Einar remembered their words to each other before they became an official knight.
"When you see me acting differently or I go mad, please don't hesitate to kill me." Einar said while cleaning his weapon that it was covered with green blood stains from the monsters that they caught.
"Why should I? And what made you say that? You are the purest person that I've met. There is no way that you will get mad." He tries to laugh but the atmosphere became awkward so Keiran stops.
"We don't know what will happen in the future." Einar replied with a serious tone and left Keiran in their barracks.
"Don't lie. We both know that I have lie detection skills. I don't want you to use it on you because you are my precious friend and I also don't want to break my trust in you." Keiran's words made Einar come back to his senses.
Einar sighed in defeat.
"I'm planning to free the witch." Einar admits.
"But why would you do that? I thought that you were loyal to the empire." Keiran questioned.
"I still am." Einar insisted.
"I can't understand it! You say that you are loyal but you are doing something betrayal?" Keiran was confused with his best friend's behavior and couldn't figure out why he was acting so differently.
"I can't let anyone to stop me... if I can explain my reason on doing this but I can't." Einar didn't want to admit it. He just hoped that Keiran won't ask for anymore explanations.
"And when is it going to happen?" The questions continued to pour through his head as he looked for the answer in the darkness.
They've known each other since they were a child and they've fought together for years after that. Even if sometimes they got angry at each other, there was nothing that really mattered between them anymore than friendship.
But now, everything seems different and Einar feels like he was starting to realize just how much Keiran means to him.
"Soon, I hope." Einar whispered to himself.
"Well you better find some excuse soon... otherwise it won't be long till they all find out that you're the one behind all this." Keiran teased Einar but it is also a true if Einat got caught red handed.
"Thank you."Einar genuinely said and leave a quick smile before going on the stage.
The fire from the torch blazed as it fighting itself from the wind that passed through. Every steps that Einar made echoed in the place. The people there cannot help themselves but to put smile to their faces as if they are seeing a hope while their eyes are on Einar who is walking towards to Morgana.
Morgana looked at him weakly. She can't distinguish the person who is standing on her from because of the shadows that covered his face. "What are you doing here?" She rasped the question. Her voice sounded so tired. Einar felt bad about making her wait in such circumstances.
"I came to save you." He answered with determination.
Morgana's face crinkles a little bit but her eyes betrayed how tired she must be feeling. "Are you playing your words on me?"
"If you think that what I said is a trick then I'll will not say it again so just stay still. I'll bring you away from this dreadful place." Einar's promise calmed Morgana down a little. She stayed still with her hands tied. She had no choice but to listen to what she heard.
Time remaining - 0 hours: 8 minutes : 45 seconds]
"Light the wood, Einar." The high priest ordered after closing his book.
Einar nodded and look at the torch that he is holding. He slowly walks around the pole while looking for the place where he can start the fire. The wind was blowing strongly and the flames started dancing around. As the wood begins to catch on fire, Einar carefully walk away. His movements got slower with every step he took until he finally stopped and looked at the witch again.
With the amount of time left until his task has finished, he took a deep breath.
Once his lips formed into a line and his jaw clenched slightly he raised his arm to the sky. He closed his eyes as he concentrated all of his energy to make the flame fly higher. Then he opened his eyes to look at the fire once again to make sure it was well set up.
[Skill book: Teleport x1]
Skill book is an item that you can store an skill.
He looks at the fire once again. Then, in the next second, the witch disappears after the fire went down and became calm.
[Time remaining: 0 hours, 3 minutes, 22 seconds]
The time is still going down. He knows that his task is successful but his heart says otherwise. He feel something ominous.
Something he does not know what to call or identify. It was a sensation that told him to keep moving forward.
His thoughts was interrupted by the high priest clearing his throat. He walked over to him.
The High Priest looked at the flames and nodded. "Alright. Let's move." He spoke softly.
Then the group began walking to leave the place by taking again the portal. The people of Shivergate went back to their party as if nothing happened and they fill the crowd with joy and laughter.
System Task: Bewitched by the Witch
Task: Save the Witch [Morgana] from her execution.
Time limit - 0 hour, 0 minute and 25 seconds
Status : FAILED