It had been a hard, long two months. We had spent countless hours training in practices which were alien to me from my training to be a Knight, and even more countless hours of riding the chargers we had taken from the training fort.

Now we were almost at our destination. The sea breeze felt cold against my skin, despite being bundled up in furs and thick clothes. It was an exceptionally cold winter this year and the shallow depths of snow which normally covered the ground were much deeper than normal. Much deeper and lasted far longer than normal.

It was hard to know where the road was, as it was covered under a deep blanket of snow. At times it was easy to see where tracks from where other travellers braved the snow, even if their passage had been partly covered from a fresh blanket of snow. Other times we found ourselves on frozen farmland, where the ridge and furrow earthworks had been hidden from view under an even layer of snow.

Even the mountain of the man, Hallvard, occasionally mumbled about the cold. As for Alis, she had taken to riding behind me, her arms wrapped around my waist. Together we shared our warmth, and occasionally Alis had been brave enough to act as if we were dating. Neither myself, nor Hallvard, had said anything about these brief moments of intimacy we shared.

I had even enjoyed those brief moments.

Finally we had reached the top of a slight rise which overlooked the sea and city below us.

Right now, Alis was leaning out from behind me. I could imagine just how excited her pretty freckled face would look. Looking down at her, I could see that I was right. Her eyes were open wide, as was her mouth. She looked more like a child going to see their favourite TV character than a squire in service to Aggard. But I like that childlike side to her, it made her seem so much more approachable and pretty.

She looked so pretty I was tempted to figure out a way to give her a kiss. But unlike her, I was not yet brave enough to initiate signs of intimacy towards her.

So instead I decided to look upon what had excited her so much. Below us lay a dark city nestled along the shoreline of a vast sea which stretched far out to the horrizon. The sea glistened in an orange light as the sun was setting on another day of almost endless riding. The orange light of the setting sun also washed the snow covering the lands in a gentle light.

Near the horizon I saw shadowy shapes eating away the bright orange glistening sea.

The city was the Gateway to the Isles: Rynstowe. A city that was bustling with adventure and danger according to the many tales that Alis had shared with me during our rides together.

Hallvard had snorted and told us a few choice facts about the city to us, but despite that Alis was still enamoured with the overheard tales she had managed to sneak a listen to from the bards and bands of actors as she had been growing up as an abandoned orphan. Tales which had given her hope that there was a better life for her out there than the one she had been living.

I had hoped that we would be able to sleep in a room tonight but the city was still far off and the sun was rapidly setting. So it was no surprise that Hallvard climbed down off his giant charger and started setting up a tent.

Alis scrambled down into the almost pristine snow, her pretty freckled face gazing in awe at the scene laid out below. I let her have her fantasies and set up our tent for us. The large bulk, strength, and regular use of his tent of Hallvard meant he had set his tent up quickly with practiced ease.

With the practice from this journey I was not much slower, normally. But today was not normal. Just shoving the snow from where I planned to pitch the tent into a wind break took up more time than pitching the tent itself did. Even after having to fight with the frozen soil to hammer in the tent pegs.

By the time I had pitched the tent, Hallvard had finished setting the rest of the camp up, and was now brushing down his giant of a charger.

Despite the chilly wind Alis was still standing there gazing down at the view of the city. I walked over to her and wrapped her chilly body in mine, bringing my face next to her chilly freckled cheek.

'It's so beautiful, Klarric,' Alis said, taking my gloved hands in hers. 'Thank you for bringing me here.'

She broke away from looking at the city and looked at me. Her bright eyes shining with excitement. Over the months her bright red hair had grown slightly. By now it reached the back of her neck. She parted her lips slightly and I brought mine down to hers. Our frozen lips touched the others for the first time in our life.

'Squires!' Hallvard called.

We turned to face him, her slender yet muscular body wrapped up in my spindly arms. Her cheeks were the same colour as her hair. My cheeks felt unnaturally warm.

'Sorry, my bad,' Hallvard said. 'I'll start preparing food for us.'

Alis pulled out of my arms, and I let her go. She followed Hallvard back to the camp.

I stood there watching the darkening land below, watching as the city started being swallowed into darkness joining into the nothingness of the sea. Only the pale snow covered ground held out against the darkness.

The tales that Hallvard told of the Isles scared me. I longed to be strong like Alis, eager to start an adventure, but I knew that this wouldn't be an adventure. I needed to be strong, much stronger than I was now, just to surive.

To do more. To protect Alis, to fulfill the hopes Aggard had placed in me, I needed to be much, much stronger.

Standing there I watched as everything was consumed by the darkness, even the snowy ground which had valliatnly held out until the end.