He hesitated for a moment in the east entryway of the two-door chamber, taking in the sight of Lady Aurelia standing by the hearth, her back straight, posture dignified, but with an air of weariness hanging about her.
The journey had been long, the road treacherous, and the village's resources sparse. The dim light from the fire cast soft shadows across her pale face.
She turned to him as he approached, her gray-blue eyes sharp beneath her wimple. "Good evening, Aldwin," she said, her voice cold and distant like the unfavorable weather. "My children and I have settled in, though the chill of the north still clings to us."
"Lady Aurelia," Aldwin bowed, "it warms my heart to hear you are well. The weather in these parts is unforgiving, as you will soon learn, but my hearth is at your service."
Her lips twitched upward, though the smile didn't reach her eyes. "Your hospitality has been most gracious, I assure you. This village is… quaint, though I admit it is not what I expected. We have passed through many lands, and none have prepared me for such isolation."
Aldwin stepped forward, his hand resting on the back of a nearby chair. "Kragnir is indeed small, my lady, but it stands firm. My people are hardy folk, and though we lack the riches of the southern towns, we have survived many a harsh winter." As if to confirm his words, the smell of burnt wood wafted into her nose.
He cleared his throat. "I understand that Captain Cedric shall soon join us?"
"Yes, within the fortnight," she replied, her gaze drifting momentarily toward the window, as if seeking his distant figure on the horizon. "He was detained in the capital, securing supplies. His duty calls him, as it always does. But I..." She paused slightly, as if finding the right words, "We've come ahead with the children, that's Clarissa, our youngest."
She gestured lightly to her youngest child, Clarisse, whose white novice's robes of her religious order stood out.
"I trust their presence is not too much of an inconvenience for you, Lord Aldwin?" Her voice carried a subtle challenge, testing his patience, with bringing the matter of their intrusion.
Aldwin straightened his back, offering a reassuring smile. "Not at all, my lady. The presence of your noble family brings honor to this humble village. The captain's reputation precedes him, and we are glad to offer whatever aid is within our means."
Aurelia's expression softened a little, though her demeanor remained cautious. "I am grateful, truly. However, I do have concerns. The men Cedric has sent ahead report unsettling rumors. Raiders, or worse, from the north." She paused, she stared at him with eyes as cold as the winter itself "And this tower—this godforsaken tower Cedric has been tasked with defending. What threat does it truly pose? Or, rather, what danger is it meant to hold at bay?"
Aldwin hesitated, his words caught in his throat, the weight of her words pressing down upon him.
He doesn't know what to tell her at this point, for fear of complicating matters that he had no say in it.
He had hoped to delay such a conversation, but it seems this lady Aurelia was no woman to be trifled with.
"The tower…" he began, choosing his words very carefully, "it has stood here since long before my time. A relic of an older age, some say." He said, but her expression clearly showed that she's not buying it.
The room descended into an unsettling silence, only the crackling of the flames is heard.
She said nothing, but patiently waited for him to elaborate and Alwin is still trying to word it the right way.
Seeing his hesitation, lady Aurelia's gaze turned even more unfriendly.
"You are hiding something from me, Alwin." She stated bluntly, "But I'll have you know that lying to me will get you nowhere... I'm fact, it might even impact the security of your village negatively"
Alwin's heart raced as he forced a wry smile, "That was surely a threat... Am I really at bad at lying?" He sighed inwardly.
"Should I really tell her about it?" His mind raced with different solutions to evade the topic.
"It'll be better for you and everyone, if you'd tell me all you know" She added, not even sparing him a glance now.
He was stunned speechless, could this woman read minds or what?
With a sigh, he continued, "Others speak of darker things, whisperings of ancient magic that the sorcerers of old bound within its stones." He said, trying to notice a change in her attitude but he found none for she had turned her back to him, her visage faced the north.
"I cannot say which tale is true, but I know this: of late, there has been movement in the woods." He finally relents and spill the tea, "Shadows seen at the edges of the village, strange tracks found where no man should tread, that's what Lord Thorne was out asking about."
Aurelia narrowed her eyes this time, her fingers tracing the edge of her sleeve thoughtfully, her heart getting colder.
'Is this a suicide mission of some sort?' She wonder, just who wanted to get rid of Cedric this bad? Surely it couldn't be his majesty... Right?
Or so she hoped.
"Then you believe the tower is more than mere stone and mortar...? Is that why Cedric has been sent?" At this point her voice isn't low anymore, "To guard against the unknown?!" She questioned sternly.
The cold wind seemed to have slipped into a the room a little, blowing her black hair ever so gently and sending a chill down her spine. As if it is whispering a warning... A warning against the unknown.
Aldwin let out a weary sigh, "what a headache she is! Just stop with the damn questions woman!" He pleaded inwardly.
The flames flickered wildly for a moment before regaining their strength, and the room went back to it's normal warm temperature.
"That is for greater men than I to decide, my lady. But I do know this: your husband's presence here is no small matter. The king would not send his best captain to the edge of the world unless there were something worth protecting…"
He turned his eyes to the north, where a black tower stood eerily alone. "...or something worth keeping at bay." He finished with a grim face.
He could clearly remembered a scene straight away from hell, townsfolks butchered in a way no human being could.
Body parts badly mauled, human bodies badly mutilated and defiled...
It was an event that the townsfolk of Kragnir never wanted to talk about, hoping to miraculously forget it. That isn't something he'd be willing to tell her, Lord Thorne will surely kill him if he did.
The room fell silent, the crackle of fire being the only sound once again. Aurelia seemed to contemplate his words, the flicker of fear passing briefly across her face before she quickly hid it with her calm composure.
"My children," she said quietly, glancing towards Clarissa who is holding a book, reading piously at the far end of the room, oblivious to the weight of the conversation. "She is young, beautiful and pious" Her face took on a softer tone as she gaze on her.l affectionately.
Alwin nodded, a small smile at his lips, he'd definitely do everything in his powers to stop innocent souls like her to be harmed by the wretched.
"...and Leon, he is also young yet brave. He will learn much in his father's footsteps." She said.
Remembering the place they now had to live in, a knot couldn't help but form in her heart. "But I will not have him grow up in a place haunted by specters." She added.
Aldwin stepped forward, his voice steady. "I will see to it that no harm comes to your children, my lady. Nor to you or your kin. The village will stand as it always has." He solemnly declared.
And as of this moment, his words are full of sincerity.
Aurelia nodded slowly, though her mind was clearly elsewhere, already calculating, planning for the uncertainties ahead. "Very well, Aldwin. I trust you will. For all our sakes."
With a final nod, she turned back toward the hearth, her thoughts consumed by the shadows beyond the village walls.
***
Meanwhile it isn't over for a certain eavesdropper by the door, he had only heard the conversation from the Godforsaken tower part.
But it is enough of an information to make his heart cold.
Tower? Protection?
Something worth keeping at bay?
Who the hell ordered for us to be sent here?! Is it really the king? If it is him why in Arkyn's name will he do that?!
"Is that royal seal a fake then? If not... Why will the king sent the family of his favored captain to this faraway land? And from what I've heard... It's a great task and father's soldiers will barely be enough to hold anything this bad at bay!" Cold sweat dropped from his forehead and he immediately left the door, heading towards the room he shared with Leon.
The room is a modest one, it contained two beds with a nice heavy blanket, two bags are kept near each of the beds and a single table stood at one of the corners nearest to the door, a small knife lie on the table. Finally, on the walls, hanging upon a nail is two coats.
There is also a metallic plate with barely burning coals in it, it at least kept the room warm nevertheless.
"I smelled a conspiracy!" He timely evaded the plate that was lying on the stone floor, almost walking into it due to haste.
But I'm so damn weak to help! And this time I can't run, what could I do to help...
"I need to make this work... Somehow it must work" He sat on the bed on the left, he rummaged through his own bag, pulling out random clothes trying to find the source of guidance to the act he had been faithfully practicing for nearly a year.
"Just where the hell did I hid it!" Out of frustration he pour out all the contents of his back, yet still failed to find what he was searching for.
Is this some sick joke played upon me by the heavens?
He slowly raised both hands and grabbed his head, closed his eyes and thought hard on just where could he have placed the book.
A method he often test, tried and trust in helping him concentrate.
"Wait... under the bed maybe?" He muttered as if struck by an epiphany.
He immediately dropped down to check beneath the bed.
"Thank Arkyn's light, you are here" He sighed full of relief as he eagerly opened the pages of a thin leatherbound book.
This carries the last of his hopes, this leather bound book is his last resort.
He stopped flicking through the pages, and stopped on one of its pages. On this particular page, is a slightly complex rune.
"Complex... But still doable nonetheless" He mumbled, his expression immediately turn sour though, after he remembered the instruction for newbies.
He stared at his finger...
"Do I really have to bite this finger just like how the seasoned mages do?" He pondered.
Amidst his pondering, a knife on a nearby table came into his sights.
He immediately grip it and made a tiny cut on his thumb, he then started to draw the rune onto the room's floor with his own blood as the ink!
"Come on..." His heart raced as he tried his best not to messed up the complex lines.
A few minutes later, probably three minutes...
"Hah... Finally" He exhaled a breath he didn't notice he was holding, guess that's what too much focus did to the body and mind.
On the half-opened spell book, on the runic page lies two words: Ignis exigens
With blood dripping from his thumb, he started talking alone in the room, "Through the power of the sun, and through the virtue of Fire." He began.
"Hear me and respond."
Nothing.
"Arkyn please..." He begged, his eyes losing their shine.
"Through the power of the sun, and through the virtue of Fire." He tried again.
"Come Fire! And serve!" He cried out.
He expectantly looked at the rune, and kept moving his hands, maybe it might help in producing flames?
Two minutes of staring at the rune made him sigh... "I truly am the dumbest of fools sometimes, how can I ask a righteous god to bless my witchery? Maybe wizardry..."
Definitely not sorcery.
With a sigh he focused his tired eyes on the rune, trying to fine attunement with it.
"I couldn't feel a dogshit of attunement from this but let's try again once more..." He closed his eyes and started talking to the empty room again.
"Through the power of the sun, and through the virtue of Fire."
Nothing happened!
Yet he didn't stop, on the contrary, he proceeded forward with some unknown certainty in his heart.
"Come Fire! And serve!"
A small hum resounded and the corner of his lips twitched upwards.
"Ignis exigens!"
Crackle!
"HAHAHAAHAH"
Ominous laughter echoed through the room.