Arya and Mercy were riding the horse for a while. They put a considerable distance between the capital and them. But threats still linger as warlords aren't slow.
"What is the name of this horse? I have never seen one as good." Arya was amazed by the stamina and strength of the horse.
"His name was Rush, a horse born in the forest of the forsaken. Rush can run for 5 hours straight at this speed with his armour and two of us." Mercy smiled and rubbed Rush's ears gently.
"Was? Did you give it another name?" Arya asked.
"Is I mean. Different riders call horses by other names. My friend used to call him Dark Moon. He is the only horse I will ever need to travel anywhere." Mercy spoke while smiling, but he also bit his lip next.
Maybe he was coping with the death of his companions.
"I assume your hiding spot functions well. Warlord Dia Mantha could be hunting for us at this moment. Beautiful she may be, but I don't want her catching us." Arya wished.
"I see. The family of doctors and antivenom makers have a council warlord." Mercy looked impressed by the fact.
"The Mantha family has a good history with Uro's kings and queens. Dia Mantha, the wisdom, is a gift from God to Lord Mathers. She has eyes everywhere, and she knows everything the people do."
"See everything? Does she have a sixth sense of some sort?" Mercy asked.
"I don't know, but she always knew my relationship with Ina. A crime within the city walls, call it theft, killing, kidnapping, or sexual assault. She had an idea about who did it. She had some ideas about what happens outside the city."
"hmm..Interesting." Mercy thought of something and looked at the sky, searching for something.
"Anyone else you can think of who can hunt us down? The council must have more members who can locate and kill people for them. Unlike the Judge who puts a bounty on people's heads." Mercy joked at the Judge.
"Ravina Azakna, the negotiator. She can read dwarf minds and connect two different minds of any human or dwarf. The other can hear each other's thoughts." Arya shifted himself on the saddle.
"How can that help her hunt us?"
"There was a dwarf among the assassin you froze. If any assassin's mind was to Ravina, she could tell our faces. Moreover, Dia can help her find us." Arya was rightfully worried.
"There are five lowborn lords under the council. Their abilities are either too simple or as weak as I am. They will be hunting us for a reward, too." Arya began breathing heavily.
"Arya, how many orbs of power have you observed since your birth?" Mercy inquired.
"None. I haven't had a single orb in my life. They say the orbs are hidden everywhere, even under the Earth. But I didn't find one for me anywhere." Arya spat at this luck.
"I travelled through Uro, except for the forest of the forsaken during my adventure to find the undead lord's crypt. I found spheres for the entire council, and Ravina got seated on the council because of me. But I haven't received a thank you in my life...." Arya grabbed his hair.
"Now that I think about it, I am being used by all of them. Since birth, my father sold me for the gold and Lord Mathers for his position." Arya began to weep.
Ignoring Arya's breakdown, Mercy looked at the sky and listened to the feeling in his skin. The feelings are the answer to his worries. Something was wrong.
"Arya, how long do you think we have been riding?" Mercy asked Arya. Arya wiped his face and cleared his voice before answering.
"I think for two hours at least. I could be more. Why? Did something happen?" Arya asked, his tears frozen at his cheeks.
"Arya, when you were at the Tavern, a clock hanging on the wall. Can you remember that time the clock was telling?"
"No."
Mercy stopped Rush from moving forward, and he reached inside his clothes and brought out a handwatch. The handwatch was coal black like Mercy's suit, but the dials and the time number written on it were white like snow.
"We left on my horse at 6:37 of the evening. If you are correct and we were riding for 2 hours, the time should be 8:37 of the evening or near it. Shouldn't it?"
"Yes," Arya replied.
Mercy turned around and showed the handwatch to Arya. Arya read the time on the clock, and his nerves caught cold.
"How has the time not changed? Is it frozen?"
"Don't bargain with the truth, Arya. The time froze due to some warlord's ability. Our time is frozen, and our space is frozen just like that. We would be travelling endlessly in this space-time until we starved if I didn't find this out."
"I don't remember any warlord being able to freeze the world and trap them like this. It is a grand illusion magic master just like you!" Arya questioned.
"Have you ever thought of the possibility that a warlord might not reveal all his ability for the world to see? Secrets are a shield in the pack of power, and nobody will give away their unique ability so easily," Mercy claimed.
"Woah.!" Arya fell on the snow below as Rush suddenly disappeared below him, and Mercy landed on his feet like it was his daily business.
"Can you please explain what the hell is the problem with your horse? How can it appear and disappear into non-existence at your wish? You are a Warlord, aren't you?!" Arya screamed at Mercy as he pushed himself away from him in the soil.
"Warlord can sense another warlord's touch. See if you feel my warlord powers in this?" Mercy gave Arya to stand up.
Arya took his hand and stood up, but he did not feel anything different than touching Ina. The touch of warlord would surge him with the strength of the warlord, but touching Mercy didn't.
"Maybe you are hiding your powers using your illusion spells?" Arya slowly stood up on his feet, still making accusations. Mercy sighed upon hearing this.
"Alright, see if this is an illusion."
"Wha-"
*Punch
A light punch near the jaw knocked the light out of Arya's mind. And his unconscious body fell to the ground. Mercy stood there and cracked his neck.
"Well. The coast is clear; come out!" Mercy screamed at the endless snow ahead of him, but no response came from the snow.
"Come out or you and everybody alongside won't die. I don't want any orbs of power used on you wasted. I know you can hear me come out!" The response was still null. Mercy knew the waiting game very well an old trick in the book.
"Then I will get a little rough. I don't have enough time to cast this without incantation." Mercy folded his hands into each other, the fingers lapping on each other.
"Hill of fire, the water of roses, death and life, the rain bringer and the sun. Protector of humans, the cold eraser."
Mercy opened his hands in the air, and his sword manifested from thin air.
「Spell: Heir of Fire」
The sword fell from the sky with green flames rousing its flame on the ground. The cries vanished in a second, and the flame spread everywhere.
"Stop!!! We surrender! Stop!" A cry came from some direction, but Mercy didn't care. Time was up.
The snow all around vanished in a second. It melted into water and then boiled into steam. Green grass below the snow and the trees turned to ash.
The sky became burning like paper and crumbling from all sides. Arya's body was in good shape but his clothes weren't.
"Good thing this spell doesn't harm the human body. Saying that ,where are my quiet enemies... There they are."
Mercy looked at the naked bunch of men and women shaking on the ground and a person standing beside them.
"You Flame god worshipper, I, Alone Riza, will make you bite the dust today!" An old bald man is wearing a robe while holding a spectre and book.
"This seems fun."
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