Far away from the city of Runric, still in the country of New Bellum, three well armoured knights were climbing a high mountain. The winds were strong, white snow was falling wich made it hard to see further than 2 meters and the road was incredibly steep.
The road they took was a dangerous one, but The destination was even worse.
New bellum was quite save compared to other countries. The biggest advantage is that the country was formed on a island. Monsters and evil forces had a difficult time reaching New Bellum. The Old King and now the government took good care of the dead, wich made it hard for monsters to be born, and every black magic user that would be found would get a trial and had a high chance to be executed.
But even New Bellum, with all the advantages it has, still holds some dangerous places. These regions were called 'death spots'. There were multiple reasons why a place could be called a death spot, there could be legions of monsters, their could be one single strong creature, the flora and fauna could be deadly, the air could be toxic or all of the above together. There wasn't really a ranking for these death spots, for one person it could be quite managable while for the other it could mean certain death, it really depended on the person and the gift they had.
There were 4 well known death spots in New Bellum, 'The swamp of Reldor','Kings tomb', 'Vermilion Green' and last but not least 'Dragons Peak'. All of them were deadly for different reason, But most would agree that Dragon Peak was the hardest to even reach. And that was what the three knights were experiencing right now.
"Can someone remind me why whe choose to do this" the man in the middle yelled at the woman in front of him.
"Stop complaining you block head, it was this or the the Tomb." The woman than sighed and looked back. "We both know that you and me preffer fighting wyvern than the undead so this was the optimal choice".
The woman in the back whom was carrying a sleigh filled with bags chuckled. "You complain a lot for a man. I thought that it was manly to power through the hardest conditions while staying indifferent."
The man stopped walking and turned his head. "Ellie, shut up or I will throw you of this mountain"
"Little Andrius, I would like to see you try."
Adrius now turned around completely facing Ellie. He now slowely walked towards her until somthing made hime stop.
"Quit it both of you, one more word or complain and I'll throw you off myself. I can deal with these wyverns myself if I have to." The woman in the front shouted.
Andrius and Ellie both felt shivers. Both of them than started walking up the mountain again.
"Don't be so angry Jass, we were only joking around" Ellie said while keeping a smile on her face.
Andrius kept his silence, he was fully aware that there was nothing he could say to brighten the mood.
After a few hours of walking up the mountain the three knights reached a sign.
'Beware death point Dragons Peak ahead'
Behind the sign was a small cave that looked like a perfect place to take shelter.
"We will camp here for the night, rest up for a bit and continue our journey tomorrow morning". Jasmine said while walking towards the empty cave.
The other two knight slowely followed.
"You know sis, next time we are going to the Tomb. I dont like the cold rotten bodies of the undead but I much rather have that than my own cold flesh right now" Ellie said while trembling.
Jasmine made an annoyed face at her. "Remember what I said earlier, it's also cold down there."
"Hey hey calm down, that was just a joke. But I really wouldn't mind going to the tomb next time. Runric is quite close and we haven't been back home for quite some time you know. I think that our poor parents would like a visit." Ellie's usual smiling face than turned a bit somber. "Redrick might even welcome us with open arms".
Andrius shook his head while pulling a tent out of a backpack on the sleigh. "He isn't even replying to our letters, that doesn't really say 'you are forgiven' to me." He then walked towards Ellie to grab somthing out of her bag." Jasmine what did our last letter from Belle say".
Jasmine was busy rubbing two pieces of dry wood together. After a few movements a fire started to form. "Well she said that she was pregnant, for starters. Redrick is also doing better, he gained some weight and is practicing the sword with some fallen noble. That noble knew Caitlin aparantly so she insisted to be trained by a Goldfield. Belle also implied that redrick wasn't willing to write us, so dont count on seeing him happy when we finnaly show up".
All three of them looked troubled.
Ellie who felt the uncomfortable silence the most quickly tried to lighten everyone up. "Did you hear anything from the twins, I know that they don't write a lot but they atleast have the decency to let us know how they are doing".
Andrius was done with his tent and started with jasmine's and Ellies shared tent. "They are in Orearion at the moment. The guild was asked to lend some A level adventurers to help with a Demon uprising. A Demon noble started calling himself Demon Lord so every country is suposed to send some troops."
Jasmine while putting a pan on the fire jumped on the conversation. "We are only sending some adventurers because of the looming war with the 'United Empire'. Every little piece of man power we have is required for their next assault."
The mood was ruined again. But Ellie was used to the pessimistic conversations with her siblings and knew that she could still turn it around.
"Hey maybe that Empire forgets we exists. Lynn or Estell might meet the Empirical Prince there, fall in love and save our asses. They both have the looks and the skills for it anyway."
Andrius laughed. "Lynn would find the actions of the United Empire revolting, wich would cause some problems between her and that Prince. Estell might join those demons, just to be able to kill that bastard."
Jasmine finaly had a smile on her face while shaking her head. "joining them, absolutely not. She would beat up that 'Demon lord' make Lynn the leader, fight the Empire herself and call it a day."
Andrius sat down next to jasmine to enjoy the fire. All the tents were standing strong.
"Lynn would be a weird Demon Lord. Is it even possible to be an angel and demon at the same time. I know that Estell isn't well suited to lead people, but the title is just made for her."
Ellie smiled, she finnaly achieved her goals.
They than joked around for a bit, enjoyed each others company, ate and than went to their tents.
"Andrius, have you the sound trap at the entrance" Jasmine asked before entering her tent.
"I have, anyone who enters the cave will alarm us." He anwserd
They all went in their tents, tired and destroyed by the hard conditions outside.
But just before the three of them fell asleep, Ellie realised somthing.
'Wait a second, somthing isn't right. That just can't be'
" wait wait wait a minute" she said loudly.
"What is so important that you have to disturb my sleep" andrius replied.
"You don't need that much sleep you blockhead, I dont think that a beauty sleep is going to safe your case anyway. But no this very important".
"What" Jasmine replied with an anoyed tone.
"Belle is pregnant?".
Next morning was brutal for the trio. They had been talking until quite late so they were a bit sleep deprived. They were now slowely moving up the mountain again.
"Please tell me to shut up next time" Ellie said with a big yawn.
"We have tried that before, but you always have somthing to say in the most inconvenient moments." Andrius replied. The dark circles around his eyes were easy to spot.
"Please both of you I beg you, be silent."
Jasmine said in a anoyed voice.
The silence remained for an hour. They noticed that the snow was slowely turning black, the temperature was also rising.
"We are getting close"
The government had send the three Kings knights to Dragons Peak to lessen the wyverns and false dragon population. Dragon Peak did have some real Dragons but they didnt bother themselves with humanity. The false Dragons and wyverns where different. They were creatures with small intelect that hungerd for flesh, power and territory, if their population became to big than it could threaten the surrounding villages and cities.
So the three knights were tasked to kill the wyverns and false dragons.
At that moment all three of them felt a gust of wind coming from above.
"We have company, I think its a big one." Ellie said with a big smile.
"Andrius, you get its atention. Ellie you are with me."
The three of them took their positions and waited for the assailant to show itself. The black and white smoke made it hard to see.
But than a dark silhouette came closer and closer
"Wait until my sign"
The creature hunched a bit and its head got closer and closer until theu could see its details.
*ROOOWAAARARRAA*
"It's a fake dragon, you both know what to do."
Jasmine jumped up with a big greatsword.
" just in time, I was in a bad mood"