A spiked steel mace head smashed into the side of a wooden door. With a crack of wood the head broke through. Once again it smashed into the door and withdrew. Then the door was kicked open from a sudden force.

Standing in the frame of the door was Ragh, long-mace in hand. He wearily looked around the inside of the structure. There were large round tables strewn around the room, all in surprisingly good condition. Wooden chairs complemented the tables, all neatly pushed underneath them. At the far end of the room there was a wooden bar with bottles behind it. There were no stairs leading up, which surprised Ragh because there was clearly another floor above it… maybe it was accessed from the outside scaffolding?

He cautiously entered the room, keeping a loose grip around the handle of his weapon, ready to move it at any second. Behind him Aster casually walked in, stepping over the new shards of wood on the floor. Boards creaked as Aster walked towards the bar.

¨A tavern! You know, bards say all good and epic adventures start in a tavern.¨ Aster looked behind the bar and grimaced. ¨Damn we got a friend here, best to just leave him be.¨

Seeing how Aster had entered the tavern and nothing happened, he walked in as well. The temperature was already beginning to drop to critical levels, chilling to the bone. It was a bit warmer in this building, among all the dust that covered the floors and furniture the wood still retained a bit of warmth. The fireplace was empty, a single rocking chair sitting near it.

Aster held up a metal and glass lantern which had been sitting on the bar. Surprisingly when he touched the wick of oil it turned on, letting its luster fill the room with a dim glow. Ragh shut the creaky wooden door. Its lock had been smashed off but the door still closed. He propped a chair up against the door then decided to just roll a table in front of it.

Once the area was successfully secured he turned back to Aster. ¨Good sir, that flame won't attract the Flame Cacklers?¨ Ragh loosely pointed towards the lantern. He was too tired to give much reason or effort in his motions.

¨The flame is fine, encased and small. There won't be any lizards tonight.¨ Aster shuffled through the counter of the bar. As he moved there was a clatter. He grimaced and looked over. ¨Sorry skeleton, knocked you over on accident.¨

Ragh sighed as he realized what the friend Aster mentioned earlier was.

¨Well, well, well, what do we have here?¨ Aster withdrew from behind the counter a couple of opaque green glass bottles. He flipped them over and read the labels. ¨Solitude´s Bite, Dead Man's Gambit, Holy Water. That last one sounds illegal.¨

Aster continued to pull out different alcoholic wines and ale with great enthusiasm. ¨ I'm a religious man, but who can pass up wine at a time like this?¨ He grabbed even more bottles from down below until nearly the entire bar was covered in the bottles. ¨I'm going to check the cellar and see what's down there.¨

Ragh watched as Aster disappeared into the kitchen through the door behind the bar. He sat down on the rocking chair near the cold fireplace. He let himself relax. His entire body was in pain, particularly his shoulder. Once he made sure Aster was gone he slowly lifted the visor of his helmet and wiped off more of the dried sludge.

He let the long-mace rest against the side of the rocking chair. Then he put his visor back down. He was not sure what to think about Aster. They were friends now, that was a fact, but his brash and overconfident attitude kept getting them into dangerous situations. Ragh wished that he would be a little more cautious. Though if he was, they might still be back at the bridge with the platinum eye archer.

There was also the Sinless Warden. Where could she possibly be? The Dragon Dregs were difficult to navigate and filled with acidic black sludge. Not to mention the wandering undead that existed everywhere in the city. There had to be some kind of way to locate the Sinless Warden.

If she was still alive, what could they use to locate her? He had tools to work with, he just didn't know how to put them together. As he was in deep though the door to the kitchen opened again.

Aster came out with two mini barrels. Written on the sides were strange symbols that looked like words.

¨I found something special Ragh!¨ Aster approached the rocking chair, holding one of the barrels up. ¨This here is a pint of Flame Tongue. Brewed by allied dragons it is said to warm the blood and dull the senses. Its battle brew.¨

Ragh took one of the casks from Aster and inspected it. ¨This is draconic lettering then?¨ He asked, looking at the strange symbols.

¨You would be correct, everyone that lives in Ful´lal´tul knows the language. We are long allies of dragons after all. Not to mention we were at war with them as well.¨ Aster pulled up a wooden chair and sat down next to Ragh. ¨I guess when you lost your memory you lost the ability to read and write draconic as well.¨

Ragh nodded slowly. The ale was contained in a strange way. The container looked like a mini barrel that held about a pint of the Flame Tongue. There was no clear way to open the thing. That brought up the question, could he even drink if he didn't need to drink water? Chances were it was possible considering how eager Aster looked.

Aster gave up on trying to pry off the lid and instead grabbed a wine bottle off the bar. ¨I don't remember them being so hard to open.¨ He said.

¨Good sir, you said that the Flame Tongue dulls the senses right?¨ Ragh set his mini barrel down on the floor.

¨Yeah, it's good stuff but with how tightly it's sealed, I think I'll take it for the road.¨ Aster popped the cork on his bottle of wine before taking a swig. He drank it like it was water.

¨If we encounter any foul smells the ale might work on dulling our senses then?¨ Ragh asked.

¨Sounds like a good idea to me. I never thought of that.¨ Aster handed Ragh the bottle of wine.

Ragh looked at the label of the bottle. It read ¨Unyielding Woods Eclipse- 1197¨. Reluctantly he took a swig. The flavor was strange, with a sweet taste of crisp apple followed by a more soothing breezy berry. It didn't taste much like wine at all. He handed the drink back, the taste lingering on his tongue.

For a moment the two shared a drink, letting themselves relax. Cold creeped into bitter levels leaving Aster to submit and call forth a small flame.

¨Before we rest, we should decide where to look next for the Sinless Warden.¨ Aster mulled over the remaining drink, voice hard and serious, a stark contrast to the cheery attitude before.

Once again the two were silent, pondering over what to do.

¨Perhaps there is a more magical way of finding the Sinless Warden? If she is alive she has to have divinity. It might narrow down the places we need to search.¨ Ragh used his recently learned information about divinity.

¨Such a technique could work.¨ Aster said. ¨I can perform a divinity search technique. It will tell us all sources of divinity within a certain range. It does burn divinity though, which is why I am reluctant to use it. Not to mention it takes a full night to cast. It was often used as a way to get in touch the world around you.¨

¨Burn?¨ Ragh asked.

¨Yes, techniques that burn divinity are forbidden. These abilities do not use divinity but instead use the force released upon its destruction. These abilities are much stronger than normal ones. This comes at the cost of draining the world of life, the more divinity is destroyed the more dead the world becomes. It is said that in ancient times the world was so rich with divinity that nearly everything held a spark of it.¨

¨Then the lack of divinity was caused by the people.¨ Ragh spoke underneath his breath.

¨Overtime more and more divinity was burned leaving the world more and more mundane and lifeless. It is what probably allowed demons a foothold in the first place.¨ Aster finished off the bottle of wine and set it on the floor. ¨I can use the technique, even though burning divinity is forbidden, I feel as if this would be acceptable. Desperate times call for desperate measures after all.¨

¨This technique was originally pretty useless considering the amount of divinity in the world. It is very easy to cast, enough that anyone could learn it. The circumstances we are in though make it useful, there is not much divinity left to find.¨ Aster explained.

Aster closed his eyes and held his hands together as if in prayer. From his lips he spoke in a storied voice.

¨Kindling divine fragment, I am in tune.¨

His brow furrowed as he concentrated. His hand drifted down to the floor, letting it slide over the floorboards. Then he suddenly snapped his eyes open.

¨There are many small spots of divinity clouding the area, likely from the remaining animals.¨ Aster grabbed the empty bottle and set it on the floor before turning it. ¨There are hotspots of divinity, likely the amount stored within a demon´s core, contained but unable to be accessed by the beast.¨

His hand turned the bottle again. ¨Then there is something, I don't know what it is but it has an ocean of divinity attached to it. I was unable to locate the exact location simply because of the large presence it was giving off.¨

¨Then, did the spell help at all?¨ Ragh asked.

¨A little, if the Sinless Warden is what the rumors say, only she could have such a presence. We have narrowed down the search to one section of the Dragon Dregs.¨ Aster tapped his finger on the floorboards harshly, as if pointing something out on a map.

¨Good sir, what if it is just an even bigger demon?¨ Ragh rocked back and forth slowly in the rocking chair, trying to relax just a bit.

¨Well, if it's a demon then we really will have no clue. We will have only the gods to help us.¨ Aster had a grim look on his face. ¨We will be fine though, it was foretold.¨

The two settled down for the night, deathly cold creeping in around them. Ragh was able to weather the cold, his unique condition allowing him to do so, Aster was left shivering, his teeth chattering all night. He was curled around a small flame he held. His icy blue eyes staring blankly into its depths. But within them, a spark of hope.