As soon as the moon had risen, they got ready for their journey. Balder destroyed some of the remaining crates and put them in the sack. They now started walking where Felem lead them. Hallr walked with his weapons drawn.

  “So you don’t think about any funny business”, He had said when Felem had finally found the courage to ask him why.

  They were moving slower as they did yesterday, because Felem proved to be not as resilient as them.

  “I was a chronicler”, he said to the question what his profession was.

  Kolr and Hallr just smiled at one another. Balder though that it was likely that neither of them could write, it wasn’t something that was usually considered to be important in the Northerners society, not even under nobles but Balder had decided to learn it. The reason the two were laughing was likely because they found the idea of the position of someone just dedicated to writing ridiculous.

  In the north everyone who was powerful enough to afford it hired a priest to do that kind of work. But they wouldn’t be dedicated to just writing but would instead also do his religious duties and advice their lords.

  If times would have been better Balder would have likely become a priest too. Balder could read and write both northern runes and the imperial alphabet, he even understood some of the primitive orcish writing. Priests serving under high figures were held in high regard within the northern society and other than priests of the imperial church, the priests of Haburo were allowed to marry.

  By midnight, Hallr had grown impatient with Felem's sluggishness. Without a word, he sheathed his axes and ordered the man to get on his back, the sight drawing chuckles from Kolr and Balder.

  About three hours before the end of the night they had reached the stone road Felem had talked about the previous day. The man was surprised, that they reached it so quickly as he was expecting for them to only reach it tomorrow.

  They found a small but deep lake nearby, with clear water in it. It was the first water they had seen since they had started their journey south and as of now, they were in desperate need for it, since their wine was empty by now. In the middle of the water was a flat stone big enough to fit a few people on it.

  Nearby lay a small, deep lake, its surprisingly clear waters glinting faintly in the moonlight. For the first time in days, they found fresh water, a welcome sight after their wine had run dry. In the lake's centre rested a large, flat stone, an ideal refuge against the beasts of the night, as most beasts couldn’t swim.

  Felem was hesitant to swim over as he was scarred of monsters that may be hidden in the lake. He only swam over after Hallr had threatened to skin him alive.

  Before swimming Balder threw the bag with the ashes and the bread over to the rock.

  As they were about half through Felem was suddenly dragged down by something. Kolr tried to keep him from drowning while Hallr immediately dived under the water, ready for a fight. Balder followed him.

  Under the Water they found a green, humanoid figure. Thin hairs hid its face and in between its long fingers were gills: a Kappa.

  Underwater, the beast revealed itself: a grotesque, green, humanoid figure stared straight at them with its yellow eyes. Thin hairs veiled its face, and gills flared along its neck. It was a Kappa.

  Kappas were fish demons, that were rarely seen, since there weren’t many places on the continent where they could hunt, since they only felt comfortable in deep lakes or rivers.

  Balder wasted no time and dived towards its face with his axe drawn. He quickly cut in its arm while looking straight into its large, yellow eyes. It was hard to cut it underwater, but not impossible and the beast let go of Felem and dived back into the deeps of the lake followed by a trail of black blood.

  Hallr was clearly angry about it escaping but decided to follow Balder back up when he dragged the barely conscious Felem up. The Chainmail had made it easy to go under the water but now made it hard to resurface, especially now, that they were dragging Felem.

  They managed to do it only when Kolr dived as well, then they quickly brought Felem to the stone in the middle of the lake where he gasped for air.

  Kolr and Hallr looked at each other.

  “You stay with the fag, we go and try to get the fish-face to show its ugly head again”, Hallr said, to which Balder nodded.

  Hallr and Kolr took their chainmail’s off and went back into the water, but only went so far away from the rock, that they could still stand, with their waste above the water.

  They wouldn’t catch it, Balder knew that, so he didn’t bother protesting when they had ordered him to stay behind.

  Balder was happy, since the water had washed most of the blood away, that had stuck the chainmail to his clothes and for the first time in a few days he was able to take it off. It felt freeing since sleeping in the chainmail had made laying down very uncomfortable for him but though to him being tired, he had overcome this pain to at least get a few hours of sleep.

  Balder now took the sack with the bread in it and pulled out the last loaf. He broke it in half and started eating. Felem looked at him with a hungry look on his face, so Balder decided to break of a small piece and give it to him which he devoured with a thankful look. How long had it been since the man had last eaten?

  “M-may I ask a question?”, Felem said hesitantly.

  "You already did," Balder replied, his tone flat. "But sure.”

  “What is your relationship with these two?”, Felem asked, nodding toward Hallr.

  “comrades”, Balder answered.

  “Sooo… you fought side by side with them throughout the last years?”, he interogated further.

  Balder laughed, his first answer would have been sufficient for any northerner.

  “Yes, but no”, Balder said, “we have been to the same battles, but I only have known them for a few days.”

  Felem looked at him confused: “You…seem so close. If you don’t know them, how can y-you trust them when travelling in such a small group?”

  Balder looked at him angrily: “we’re northerners! We have enough enemies as is, we don’t have to fight each other……Imperials on the other hand come under our blade regularly.”

  The man flinched and took a bigger distance from Balder. Balder laughed: he didn’t want the man to feel comfortable, or even think they were friends. Balder could see both Hallr and Kolr killing the man no matter what if Orcs End had truly been retaken by the empire.

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  Hallr and Kolr returned from the water.

  “The coward won't show his face”, Hallr said angrily, “I’m holding watch for the day!”

  "You did that yesterday," Balder protested, but Kolr shook his head and leaned in to whisper, "You won’t stop him. He saw it, and he’s going to kill it."

  Resigned, Balder handed Hallr the last piece of bread. They made a fire using splintered wood from the crates and settled down for the day.

  Balder was woken up by a terrible smell just as the day ended. He looked around and found the Kappa laying near him. Hallr kneeled beside its dead body, holding his blood drenched axes in his hands. He had hacked in its chest so often, that it had turned into something resembling marmalade. Balder wondered, that the sound it must have made hadn’t woken him up.

  Balder looked into Hallr’s happily smiling face while the other two woke up.

  They looked around, since the moon hadn’t come up, beasts were still out there, circling around the lake, searching for a way to reach them.

  First moonlight was starting to reach over the mountains, while the others woke up. In the scarce light balder could see what had been circling around them: it was some kind of big, feline creature he had never seen before. It had sleek features, but the only thing Balder could clearly see were its light green eyes staring at him.

  As the moon was going higher and higher and more and more of its light reached them and the beast eventually left them alone in order to go to sleep, as it was a creature of the darkness.

  Hallr had been unfazed by the beast, instead he had just stared at the Kappa’s body and now he looked at Kolr, like a child searching for the approval of its father. Kolr gave him a slight smile.

  After that Hallr immediately swam over to the other side of the lake, the others followed him despite still being sleepy. Felem was hesitant to swim over as he too had seen the beast, but a look at Hallr’s grim face was enough to convince him that he would be better off doing it.

  They quickly traversed further along the road. It was a more or less peaceful walk, Hallr didn’t have to carry Felem this time as the man was still scared of the beasts and wanted to stay as close to the group as possible.

  Their journey was peaceful for half the day, but the tranquility was soon shattered. From beyond the hill came a faint, steady rhythm, a sound growing louder with each passing moment. The thuds carried a sense of urgency, as if something was fast approaching from the other side.

  Without a second thought, Felem bolted off the road and ran past a large rock situated roughly a dozen meters to the right. Balder glanced at his two companions; the urgency in their expressions spoke volumes. Without a word, they followed Felem's lead and raced toward the rock for cover. By the time they reached it, Felem was already farther ahead: he was out in the open, whatever was approaching would see him.

  Hallr quickly caught up to Felem and tackled him from behind, sending both of them sprawling to the ground. Ignoring Felem's pained growls, Hallr roughly dragged him back toward the safety of the rock. Meanwhile, Balder and Kolr dove behind the stone just as the source of the noise began to appear on top of the hill.

  Three riders appeared; their horses eerily robust despite the region’s scarcity of supplies. They were travelling in a line with the two at the front wearing Armor and helmets, making their faces unrecognizable, while the one in the middle wore a simple, black robe. He looked quite old, since he had white hair and a short beard.

  The soldiers were easily recognisable as imperial footmen. Cylindrical steel helmets with flat tops gleamed in the dim light, featuring narrow vision slits and small perforations for breathing. Their bodies were encased in chainmail that provided seamless protection, leaving only their hands exposed, which were covered by plain leather gloves. Draped over their torsos was a cloth adorned with their local lord's banner; these ones had a tower on it.

  Balder immediately recognized the banner as the one worn by the imperial noble family Tarto, which had the fortress Orcs End for hundreds of years, until Balder’s father had captured it. But what where they doing here?

  From what Balder knew the family’s head and all his supporters had gone further south, where they still held on to some minor cities and castles. From there their plan had been to contact the emperor and ask for help, but Balders father had always been confident, that there would be no reinforcements, since the empire had already been stretched thin before his invasion.

  Hallr wanted to go and fight them, his hand already hovering over his weapon, but Kolr held him back.

  “Wait, something isn’t right”, he explained.

  “The riders aren’t even cavalrymen”, Hallr argued, his tone filled with frustration.

  “that’s exactly what bothers me”, Kolr replied, his eyes narrowing.

  Balder’s attention shifted to the robed man. “That might explain it,” he said, gesturing toward the figure’s crude wooden staff, which at first glance appeared to be a simple cane.

  “A sorcerer,” Hallr exclaimed with a feral grin, his excitement palpable, “That sounds like a challenge.”

  “that’s not a fight, that we could win”, Balder protested, “they can’t have many of them left these days, they wouldn’t just let him walk around outside their gates when they wouldn’t be sure about his safety.”

  “So, you think he is powerful?”, Hallr asked eagerly, his anticipation almost childlike.

  Balder nodded, watching as Hallr’s exhilaration grew, nearly spilling into reckless action. But Kolr reached out, placing a firm hand on Hallr’s shoulder to ground him. “Let them pass by,” Kolr ordered, his tone leaving no room for argumentt.

  The group fell silent, hidden behind the rock, their breath measured and deliberate. Felem’s unease was obvious; his wide eyes darted toward the riders: he wished to sprint toward them. Yet he stayed put, acutely aware that any attempt to desert the group would cost him his life.

  They were almost past the rock, when they suddenly stopped.

  “What happened?” Hallr whispered, barely containing his anticipation.

  They didn’t answer and instead looked at them quietly on to the road. Since the stone was a dozen meters away from it, they had trouble seeing what was going on.

  “Seems like they’re inspecting something”, Kolr noticed.

  Balder squinted his eyes, trying to see what it was that they were looking at. The moonlight reflected of the surface of something made from metall. It was an axe.

  His chest tightened as he instinctively looked down. The axe that he had carried with him for the last few days was missing from his, the others noticed Balder’s looks. Hallr got exited again.

  “That wasn’t here yesterday,” the sorcerer declared sharply, his voice cutting through the silence, “Search the area. We won’t risk walking into an ambush.”

  The armored riders moved into formation, their disciplined stance betraying their experience as foot soldiers, not cavalry. Their horses, though healthy, seemed to serve as transport rather than tactical advantage. One soldier guided his mount toward the rock’s edge, unaware of the danger lurking nearby.

  When he rode past their rock, Kolr struck swiftly. His blade found the neck of the horse, cutting deeply. The animal collapsed instantly, its body pinning the rider beneath it. Kolr abandoned his sword to avoid being dragged down by the falling beast, whose severed head still hung by a remaining thread of sinew.

  Meanwhile, Hallr saw his chance. With the rider down, he broke cover and sprinted toward the sorcerer on the road, determined to reach him before any magic could be unleashed.

  As soon as the sorcerer realized what was going on he started to draw circles in the air, trying to cast a spell before Hallr could reach him, but it wouldn’t be enough, Hallr would reach him. But then the soldier that had ridden to the other side rode past the sorcerer and charged towards Hallr with his sword drawn.

  Hallr just stepped to the right and clamped the man’s sword in-between his axes and ripped him out if the saddle, since he wasn’t sitting in it firmly, making it even more obvious, that the two men weren’t trained horsemen. The soldier hit the ground, but Hallr didn’t kill him, since he needed to reach the sorcerer and could waste no time.

  In the short time Hallr had needed to take down the man a ball, made out of pure, dark blue light had formed in the middle of the sorcerer's staff's rotation.

  Balder hadn’t seen many spells in his life, as he hadn’t fought many imperials and both the northerners, and the Orcs didn’t have high knowledge of magic. Still, he had seen quite a few different spells over the course of his father's campaign, but he didn’t recognize the one the sorcerer was currently casting.

  Hallr got to the man and struck at his head, confident that the strike would kill him. But then, less than a meter away from the man’s face it was if as Hallr struck a stone and his axe broke.

  Just as the confused Hallr raised his axe for another strike the sorcerer finished casting his spell: the blue ball flew up a few meters and then split in many thousands of pieces. The pieces now rained down again and it was if as it was raining blue sand on the group for a moment, then everything went black.