It was a starless, moonless night.
Whoosh... whoosh... A biting wind was blowing in from the ice plains in the far north. Any ordinary person would have their skin frozen blue if left exposed to the extreme cold for more than half an hour. If their ears were left unprotected in it, they would fall off like pieces of clay as well.
The sound of people drawing in sharp breaths came from outside the walls of Orida Fortress. A few guards were taking shelter in a corner, their bodies trembling uncontrollably like a leaf in the cold.
"Blasted weather, why can't those mongrels lurking outside the fortress walls just freeze to death in it?" muttered one of the guards. The others did not respond. They simply tightened their leather armors even more around them.
