Zane walked down the stairs, Merana and Mira, who had lowered her head in embarrassment, following closely behind him.

"Oh my, I do apologize," Merana said with a smile on her face. "I have also heard everything from my dear little sister. So I do apologize again for my behaviour yesterday, it was not right for me to attack you like that."

Zane shook his head.

"Ah right," Mira said. "I still have a healing potion, we should use that."

But Zane again shook his head.

Better safe that for the journey. Who knows what might happen.

The three sat down at a large table in the middle of the inn, the guards had already surrounded it and ordered food. Zane noticed the group of mercenaries from yesterday glare at him.

"Well then, our journey should not take too long, I assume three, perhaps four weeks," Merana said. "Your future husband was worried about you."

Mira looked down at the table, without answering. The innkeeper brought their food at the same time, giving Mira an excuse to stay silent.

"Oh and I am sure as their future bodyguard you will like him, he is a quiet man, like you," Merana said to Zane. "His name is Xavier."

Zane nodded without paying it all much mind.

Better have her think I'm going to stay for now.

"Will he even want me with only one hand?" Mira asked.

Zane could hear a hint of hope in her voice but was already certain that it wasn't hope for the answer being 'yes'.

"Oh I am sure he will, you are a beautiful young woman. And besides, things like that can be replaced. Oh, I can already see the beautiful hand made by master craftsmen, with wonderful jewels all over," Merana said, sounding like a little kid.

When the three had finished their meal Merana walked over to the innkeeper and put a few gold coins on the counter before snapping and leaving together with Zane and Mira, her guards leaving after them, making sure no one followed. A lot of people looked after them as they left the inn and walked down the staircase.

It was cold outside, and the thin layer of snow that had been there the day before had covered nearly the entire area. The sun reflected off of the snow, blinding Zane at times.

They stopped in front of the largest carriage that was there and one of the guards brought over the two largest horses. All three entered the carriage and the guards saddled the other horses and climbed on them.

"Well then, let us leave," Merana said loudly so that the guards outside could hear her.

One of the guards climbed on the carriage to lead the horses. Shortly after the carriage started moving and the riding guards followed. The inside of the carriage was fairly small, barely high enough for Zane to sit comfortably. Mira had sat down beside him and Meran had lain down on the other bench.

"Oh, by the way, you mentioned you went into the tower with a member of the Aldamillion family," Merana said.

Both Mira and Zane nodded.

"From the main family?" she asked.

Mira looked at Zane who tried to remember.

"If I may ask, why do you want to conquer a tower?"

"Ah, that is quite simple. My father said that he would only allow those who do great things to become the head of the Aldamillion family. I have already been outdone by my older brother on multiple occasions and I am only the second in line . . . for now. But if I manage to conquer one of the towers my father will have to recognize me as the next head of the family."

Zane nodded at Mira after he remembered a conversation she had with Rex when they were about to leave for the tower.

"He was," she said.

"Hmm . . . I assume it was Rex then, the only one stupid enough to go and conquer a tower with the help of only two mercenaries. But from what I heard the tower was not quite as dangerous as the old tales say, is that true Reaper?" Merana asked.

Zane just shrugged, unsure of what to answer.

Did Mira not tell her it was Rex? Ah, who cares.

From there on their journey was rather silent. Zane was still quite sleepy even though he had fallen asleep and continued to let Aura course through his body. But it was difficult to concentrate inside the shaking and rattling carriage so he eventually decided to look out of the window and look at the environment.

The large plain to both sides of the path they were travelling on was covered in white snow and the large spruce trees that surrounded the plain were slightly shaking in the wind. In the distance, Zane could see a massive stag, the size of their carriage with antlers so sharp that they might as well be made of blades. Plants were growing all over the large animal. Next to the stag were multiple deer of similar size, plants were growing in them as well.

A mountain began slowly climbing up into the sky far behind the spruce forest. When Zane looked out of the front window of the carriage, which was above Merana, and looked past their driver he could see the mountains pierce the clouds in the far distance and then slowly climb back down from the sky until they were completely hidden behind the spruce trees on the other side. The mountains nearly reached all the way around the Velva Highland, at least that was how it looked like to Zane.

It was already beginning to get darker and the forest had slowly come all the way to the path, the trees now blocked even more of the sunlight.

"We should find a place to rest and wait out the night," Merana said loud enough for the guards outside to hear.

The carriage slowly came to a stop on a slightly wider part of the path and Merana got out, Zane and Mira following after her. It was even colder now than before, snow fell down from the sky like rain and Zane could hear grunting in the distance.

Is this even safe?

"Set up the tent please," Merana said to her guards.

Two of the guards walked to the back of the carriage and unlocked a large chest on the back wall. Inside was a large red, rolled up tent. They set up the large tent near the path. It had the vermillion coat of arms, two nine-tailed foxes with a shield between them that had a burning rose on it with the words 'A Heart of Flames' beneath it, on both sites, the head and a small roof over the entrance. Zane looked back and now noticed the coat of arms on the carriage as well.

They really put this on everything.

"You have no problem sharing a tent with us do you Reaper?" Merana asked.

Zane looked over to Mira, waiting for her answer.

"I-I don't know," she said.

Merana shrugged and said, "Guess you can then."

She walked behind Zane and pushed him into the tent. The inside seemed warm and there were even lanterns hanging on stands that the guards had placed inside the tent. The floor was covered in thick blankets and a few pillows laid around.

"Make yourselves at home," Merana said with open arms as she lay down.

Mira sat down next to her and Zane sat down in a corner with his legs crossed. He already began to let Aura course through his body when the other two began talking.

"Does he always do that?" Merana asked.

"N-No, at least I think he doesn't," Mira answered.

"Hmmm . . . hey Reaper, what are you doing?" Merana asked loudly.

For a few seconds, Zane stayed silent but he eventually opened his eyes and looked at her.

If I ignore her she won't shut up, right? This one might be worse than Holvin.

"Meditating," he answered.

"What for?" Merana asked.

Zane now got a bit annoyed at her. The look in his eyes became slightly colder and he slightly clenched one fist.

"No particular reason," he said.

"Hmmm . . . I guess some people like doing that," Merana said as she leaned back, letting her head rest on a large pile of pillows.

Mira looked at him in a way he couldn't quite figure out. A combination between an understanding look, one of pity and one of anger, but it also had a hint of concern in it.

"Make sure to get some sleep," Mira said as she pulled a blanket over her and her sister.

Zane nodded and closed his eyes again, going back to meditating. The tingling feeling went through his body as he concentrated more and more. During his mediation, he was distracted by sounds coming from Merana multiple times and was eventually pulled out of it completely by her loudly announcing that she was awake now.

He slowly opened his eyes to see Merana, who had gotten up and was looking at him with curious eyes.

"Did you do this all night long?" she asked.

Zane shook his head, not wanting to start some sort of argument.

"Good then," Merana said as she was leaning over Mira who was still sleeping.

Merana gently blew over her face which made Mira jump up, nearly headbutting her sister.

"W-What was that?" she asked, hectically looking around the tent.

"Just me my dear sister," Merana answered with a smile on her face.

Mira sighed loudly as she turned to Zane, who was still sitting in the same spot he had sat the day before with his legs crossed.

"Did you sleep?" she asked.

Zane nodded slowly as he suppressed a yawn. Merana left the tent first, leaving Mira and Zane alone. He could hear her order the guards around, and a lot of snapping.

"We shouldn't make her wait," Mira said.

Zane nodded in agreement and stood up, with difficulty since his legs had fallen asleep. With help from Mira, he stumbled out of the tent. Merana and the guards had already begun preparations for their first meal of the day. A small table had been set up near the tent with three chairs around it. On top were multiple plates with fruits, vegetables, cheese, wine and other beverages, and a basket full of bread. Next to the table was a fire where one of the guards was preparing the meat.

To be rich . . .

"Great, take your seats. The food should be done soon," Merana said, already sitting with a glass of wine in hand.

Zane and Mira both nodded before sitting down. It was still fairly cold but the heat emanating from the fire helped greatly. They didn't wait long for their food to be done and took their time eating, especially Merana who spent more time talking about the good old times than actually eating. Once they were done Merana ordered the guards to pack up the table, fire, plates, leftover food and tent before all three of them returned to the carriage and sat down inside.

"We should reach a small village soon so we can finally rest in a real bed again soon," Merana said as she pressed her hand against her back in an attempt to cure the knots in her back.

She snapped and the guard that served as their driver shook the reins and the horses began moving. The other guards, all riding on horses, stayed close to them and watched out for any danger. Zane continued to stare out of the window and into the forest on their way onwards while Mira and Merana continued talking about some old stories.

After a while, the carriage was going up a small hill and the forest began to retreat. Zane looked forwards and saw a massive, frozen lake. From the top of the hill, he could clearly see multiple villages that had been built all around the lake. On it, he could see multiple small dots that seemed to be people with some sort of vehicle to move over the ice.

Zane was nearly blinded by the reflection of the setting sun on the ice and he could see the small dots slowly move away from the middle of the lake and towards the villages.

Must be peaceful around here.

By the time the still broken moon had appeared again they had reached a small village at a split in the road. There were only a few trees scattered around the path and the village was facing the lake.

They entered through a small gate, left the carriage and went to the next inn. It was nearly completely empty, only a few young men sat at a table and were talking quietly.

"Oh, a Vermillion what an honour," the innkeeper said as soon as he saw Merana who entered first.

She went up to the innkeeper and ordered food. All of them sat down at a table and the guards surrounded them.

What would happen, one of them comes at us with a mug?

Their food came shortly after and once they were done eating Merana paid the innkeeper for some lodging. Only two rooms were still available so Merana shared a room with Mira and Zane got one for himself. The guards waited for them to go up the stairs and then began drinking on their own.

"Well, I wish you a good night, Reaper," Merana said before she and Mira disappeared into their room.

Zane went into his, undressed, sat down on the bed, crossed his legs and began meditating. The tingling feeling had again become stronger and he could feel more Aura course through his body than the night before.

Good, it's increasing faster than I thought.

As soon as the light of the sun slightly shone through his eyelids he began anticipating a knocking on his door or someone calling for him but what pulled him out of his meditation instead made a shiver run down his spine.

"Help!" a woman screamed loudly.

Zane opened his eyes and jumped up, his legs were asleep. He looked out of the window that let him look to the village's main path that led through the middle of it.

People were running away, towards the lake, screaming in fear.

What the fuck is happening?