[Matriel, Gared, Taylor] 

THE WORLD was built by Origin. God-king of all. Every single thing; man and beast was made by Origin. His temple, a rare sight, amongst tall black rigid unnatural trees, gigantic miracles erected by the god-king himself. 

Hooves 'plashed into freezing water, in and out, a gigantic beast breathing out hot air that mingled with the frost itself, its mane a flourish of black with tied bows. It's rider a short man covered by furs he pulled close to his skin.

Gared could imagine otters running through the river.

He felt the way the sun hit perfectly at this area illuminating it from all around.

He only needed to tilt his head up slightly, and he could see the tall rise white towers of Matriel's Academy.

A temple to Origin. 

"Father you said when you see it…" Gared whispered, as his temple creased at the wind and his eyes squeezed with trepidation. "It shall encompass your entire life. I see it. It is larger than I imagined and I am so far away..." 

Then Gared looked toward the overflowing flag that filled the sky almost as if it was hand-crafted by magic itself and put into existence.

The all-seeing eye.

The Eye of Origin.

The horizon line. 

"'All races were made in his image. The seven all in accordance to his image, they were seven, they were chosen, they were the select few to govern all.'" Movement from behind, 'plash 'plash 'plash, the river parted, and a young woman's voice greeted his desperate ears for the first time in a long journey. "'Grandoise is the place of Origin.' But this is one of his smaller sanctuaries." 

Gared saw the young woman, his fiancee, Taylor, and her thick layers of fur overwrapping her skin only revealing her dark blue eyes, overtake him and lead her equally gigantic horse onto the main path. 

She was correct. Gared had also heard stories of the larger temples, but seriously? Was he expected to believe that the biggest building he had ever seen was merely a dwarf compared to the others? He opened his mouth to reply but then quickly found her leaving him behind. 

"Yah!" Gared snapped the reins of his horse to catch up, as the words quickly fell from his mouth ignoring the stinging cold and the almost hale-like snowflakes. "Really? Are you serious?!" 

Raising her sharp chin, she looked up at the temple, her eyes studying the massive structure as the gigantic trees began to obscure her vision. She did not answer immediately and instead looked around appraising the entire environment around her. 

Taylor then shifted her sight and her brow creased as she appraised Gared. "You look like a child." She mocked openly. "This is probably the smallest academy Origin has granted us." 

Gared felt the cold air sting his skin, causing him to shiver slightly. Her words bore into his head faster than the cold ever would. He pulled the furs his mother gave him closer to his breast, then slipped his hand beneath his trousers, much to the displeasure of Taylor who clicked her tongue, warming them around his leg and feeling the sting of the cold touch his inner thigh. "God, it's cold…" he muttered off-handedly. "I can barely imagine an academy bigger than this…"

"You won't need to," Taylor stated with a chilling tone, her gaze icy as she corrected him. "Although, I can easily imagine something grander than this. We'll encounter many such sights... 'The winds of the temple,' as your father mentioned. It's a rare spectacle, one that surpasses anything I've witnessed before. Quite a contrast from our humble beginnings in that insignificant village."

The cold arctic winds of the academy blasted them with another wave of cold, and Gared couldn't help but notice Taylor barely shivering amidst the freezing gusts. His brows furrowed as he regretted his attempt at conversation, realizing his words were futile against the biting wind. "I would love to be in my bed right about now. The academy must have big fluffy beds- The ones used by nobles!" The thought made him think about at least one positive thing about this journey. "A big bed would be a sight welcomed after weeks of traveling." 

For a moment Gared thought she'd finished speaking as she continued onward in a sly hue of silence, gazing up at the trees and stopping momentarily, halting her journey as she oddly rubbed her hands against the trees. 

In an off-handed manner, Taylor remarked, "I hardly feel the cold. I wouldn't have minded staying outside a bit longer." Seeing Gared's confusion, she elaborated, "We'll be training outside. It would be advantageous to acclimate ourselves to this cold, even if only slightly."

"You say that but from here it looks like you're already used to the cold," Gared quickly answered. "Besides, no one can change in a day." 

"The stories say otherwise," Taylor remarked with a click of her teeth, pausing to carefully choose her words. "You're only saying that because you're cold."

"I'm freezing. I've been shivering nonstop for the past two days, and my rear end feels like it's frozen solid," Gared retorted, mimicking the sound of Taylor's tongue clicking. "How are you not feeling cold?"

Taylor for the first time in their entire journey looked away from him as a red blush crossed her lips. She opened and closed her mouth for a few moments before pursing her lips together. What had gotten her to act like this? Gared eyed her for a moment. He had always noticed how big the furs were around her, almost as if they didn't fit her… 

Taylor clicked her tongue and stretched out her elegant chin to the sky as she answered. "Your father provided me with fur." 

The look of surprise and shock that crossed Gared's half-frozen mummified face almost cured all the coldness he could ever feel as he felt heat rise to his head, a fury overtaking him. "That's unfair!" He shouted. 

"I asked first," Taylor admitted with a blush, her embarrassment evident as she avoided Gared's gaze. "Besides you're a man, aren't you?" 

"Bullshit!" Gared shot back with a grin, upplaying his frustration. "The favoritism, the indignity! It's blatant, and I can smell it like a pile of turds from a mile away."

"Should you be saying that to me?" Taylor looked over her shoulder at him, her eyes meeting his directly for the first time in a long while.

The look in her eyes mirrored the time he had caught her trying to hunt a lamb alone, only to end up hurt - wide, red, filled with innocent shame. She still twisted her fingers when embarrassed, a habit he found endearing. Gared couldn't help but smile at the sight. Suddenly, a blast of snow slammed into her face, eliciting a surprised yelp from Taylor followed by a cacophony of laughter from Gared.

Amidst his laughter, Gared teased, "You want to stay out here for a few more days?"

Taylor hissed at him, "Shut up!"

Gared trotted forward and placed a hand on her reins, steadying her horse as he always did when they were little. Her horse sputtered, his laughter subsiding as he guided her horse forward. It had been ages since they'd spent time like this.

"When we get to the academy, are we going to be like this too?" Gared slowed his horse as they approached.

Taylor paused, her face frozen in time for a moment as she opened her mouth.

A sound of sputtering interrupted them, accompanied by crashing footsteps and the noise of falling wood from the depths of the forest.

Gared and Taylor wheeled their horses in the direction of the commotion.

Gared's eyes fixed on the depths of the forest as Taylor snatched her reins away from him, appearing on the verge of rushing away in mere seconds.

Quickly, Gared seized the reins of her horse, catching glimpses of cautious white and ensnaring gold amidst the forest, along with a radiant royal blue. "Calm yourself," he whispered

"Ho, there!" A voice sounded from behind the winter blizzard and tall whipped trees. "Friend, foe, or slave. 'Tis your choice, and I promise to turn all foes into my slaves and my friends into foes so little Mark here may have a friend."

Another voice, high-pitched and boyish, cut through the wind, hurriedly interrupting the first. "We are not foes!" Gared could discern the speaker turning their head, hushing the other with a scolding. "You bastard!"