"Is your hand good Celestine?"asked Thorian. "I have to say, even though it was your first time, you actually did a pretty good job of hunting that deer, though you hurt yourself too. I mean how can someone trip and fall on their own feet!" Thorian cracked laughing.
Celestine, a little embarrassed "It happens, it's not like I wanted to do it anyway, I just couldn't help but try it because Caden asked me with such an innocent face."
"Well, let's sleep for now we still have quite the journey left to the capital. I don't want to carry you both for the end of the road." All three of them then went to sleep peacefully for the rest of the night.
As the dawn came near, all three of them woke up and continued their journey on the white blanket. After the arduous journey of three days they finally reached the capital, Noxthistle. As soon as they were at the gate, they could hear the crowd inside, chattering, blacksmiths hammering on the raw iron, children laughing and playing and other various kind of noises, beyond the hundred feet walls. It was a lively and beautiful kingdom.
"It was a good thing that we weren't attacked by any monsters, right Mr. Thorian."said Celestine. "There are not many monsters that live in Nightsreach due to its harsh environment. The only monsters you will find here are Jotunns, Ice serpents, Dire wolves, Snow hags, and lastly, frost dragons. Out of all, the least seen are snow hags, and frost dragons are said to be an old legend. So, only fearful creatures left are dire wolves, ice serpents, and jotunns. But all these creatures live in the western part of Nightsreach and are rarely seen here."
"It seems quite lively here"says Caden. "If I am not wrong, I think it is because of the upcoming festival of The Night's Embrace."replies Celestine. " What's The Night's Embrace?"asks Caden with a curious face.
"It's a festival in which all the people of the country gather in Noxthistle to celebrate the coldest and longest night that comes every Ten Eons. There are various events, food stalls, competitions that take place. I think the most famous is The Midnight Blade Competition. In Midnight Blade, all the famous and strong swordsman fight and whoever wins gets ten Lunar Seals, which are equivalent to a thousand star shards. That much is enough to buy yourself a nice, small and comfortable house." Explains Celestine.
"Well that's enough talk for now. Let's go and find ourselves an inn, and search for your husband after getting fresh. And also, I forgot to ask you, what is the name of your husband, Celestine?"
As soon as he asked the question Celestine turned her guard on and became a little tense. Little drops of sweats started falling down her forehead and she started looking everywhere. She replied "His name is...Ss...Sylvain Avernight!"
The name Sylvain Avernight stunned Thorian into silence. He recalled the surname Avernight which was bugging him ever since he heard it. "You're telling me, that you are, the consort of, the legendary man whose power could rival that of the worldly saints, The Arcane duelist Sylvain Avernight."
"Yes, that's mostly it!"replies Celestine. "If your husband is that strong, then why couldn't he handle those bandits alone and told you to run away."asks Thorian. "I understand your suspicion but those weren't any normal bandits, they were all necromancers and half of them were also beast tamers. My husband would have had to use his magic to fight them, alone a sword wouldn't have been enough. He didn't want me to get caught in the crossfire so he told me to run away and he lured them away in the opposite direction."
"Our wedding rings have a magic enchantment on it so that they constantly keep us aware of each others health all the time. That is why I was not in any distress in the morning because my ring showed yellow colour, which meant that he was injured but it was not fatal."described Celestine.
Caden was just standing there in a state of bafflement not knowing what his father and Celestine were talking about.
After freshing up and taking a proper bath after three days and filling themselves up, they started looking for Celestine's husband. Thorian, as a former commander used his connections and asked a few knight to start looking for Sylvain. And they themselves, also started looking for him in the capital.
"Father, can't we just ask anyone if they have seen uncle Sylvain. If we just to everywhere searching for him, it would take a long time."asked Caden. "We can't son. It wouldn't have a problem if he wasn't that famous, but with his popularity, most of the people would know his name and almost quarter of the people here would know him by face. If we ask someone if they have seen the Legendary Arcane duelist because there were chances he was in the capital, chaos would erupt."
With that, they continued the search. They went to taverns, inns, restaurants, temples and also searched crowded places in hope of finding Sylvain thinking that he was surrounded by people. Unfortunately, after searching for him for two straight days, they had to come to the conclusion that Sylvain was not in Noxthistle.
But Celestine didn't want to give up. She told Thorian that she would go to the next kingdom, Shadowfen, she hoped that he would
be there because it was their original destination, and she asked Thorian and Caden to go back to their city.
"Celestine, I know this may be hurtful to hear, but I have dispatched the knights under my command in all of the five kingdoms in Nightsreach, and there is no information on Sylvain."said Thorian in a heavy voice. "Let's stay here till the festival of The Night's Embrace is over, maybe that could cheer you up. We will then go to my house and you can stay there. Maybe Sylvain would come and find you himself."
Celestine looked at her ring, it was green, meaning that Sylvain was in a very healthy condition and in no danger. Seeing that she felt a sense of relief and with no choices in front of her she couldn't help but agree with Thorian.
In the starry sky both and a cold night Celestine and Caden are asleep after the search for Sylvain. The quiet sounds of the inn and the crackling of fire could be heard. Thorian is sitting on the chair outside the balcony of the inn drinking tea, next to a small fire.
"Sylvain, huh!I never thought that I would cross paths with that man again. That scar he gave me, years ago, I still remember those cold red eyes. Those eyes of a devil!" Thorian then slowly touches his scar on his face, a straight cut through the left eye caused by the wielder of the Astral Rend. "That bastard."said Thorian, clenching his teeth as hard as he could.
Thorian's rage began to rise, his pupils dilated, his face had no expression, just his eyes, looked as if they were breathing fire. Before he could do anything his son Caden walked outside half asleep. "Why aren't you sleeping father, we have to wake up early tomorrow to go to the festival."
Seeing Caden, Thorian took a deep breath and softened his expression.
"Oh, I was just going to the bed son, don't worry. Even if I were to sleep late, I would still wake up early than you."
"No father, I slept early today, I am sure to wake up earlier than you."
"Tell you what- if you manage to get up before me and get ready, the I would buy you something worth a Sunmark."
"Promise?Don't go back on your word, father!"
Caden then holds the fingers of his father and they both go inside the house laughing.