The Northern Regions, the uppermost land on the continent of Gaia. A kingdom once reigned there. The people who lived in the North (some still do) were called Northerners and the kingdom was once known as the Northern Kingdom (Northerners had no imaginations). The existence of the Northern Kingdom had a short existence, only ruling for about two centuries before it fell into ruin. Nobody bothered to try and rebuild another kingdom, as the Northern Regions were not the ideal area to house thousands of people. Few animals could live up in the North and vegetation was like an oasis in a desert. No kingdom had reign or jurisdiction on the Northern Regions, but the Sixth Sanctum under Drath Nav once tried to conquer the region only to be stopped from a coalition between the Valkyrian State and the Gaia Empire. Only small tribes of Northerners lived here, along with the Nox clan of assassins.

The Nox clan moved to the Northern Regions a couple decades ago to isolate themselves from the three kingdoms, raising and training the children in peace. Since the Northern Regions was unconquered, the Nox clan had no allegiances, they didn’t answer to anyone; the only person that held authority was the elders of the clan.

“Where exactly does your family live? I doubt they have a giant village in this frozen hell.” Valentia asked.

“You’ll see when we get there,” I replied back.

“Or you could just tell me asshole.” She grumbled.

We trudged along the snowy ground- having ditched our horses at the furthest town in the Gaia Empire- making the rest of journey on foot. Snow horses existed, of course, a mighty breed of horses that had a heavy coat of fur to protect itself from the unforgiving cold of the Northern Region, unfortunately, Val and I couldn’t manage to get one. We also had to spend some coin to get warm fur coats. Fools would venture into the Northern Regions, underestimating the weather, and freezing to death. It was quite common to stumble on a frozen corpse here.

“Why wouldn’t your family move somewhere secluded AND warm?” Valentia complained, shivering from the cold.

“Well, the clan had considered moving to the Isle of Reef. Would’ve you preferred if we had moved there?” I asked her sarcastically.

I knew she shook her head even though she was behind me. The Isle of Reef was an island off the coast of the Valkyrian State that like the Northern Regions has remained unconquered. Its weather is more pleasurable, having the constant presence of the Valkyrian summer, but it was riddled with very dangerous plants and wildlife. Exotic, deadly poisons could be extracted from plants and animals, with no known cure due to people being rightfully fearful of venturing to the island.

“Hey, Seth,” Valentia called out.

“What is it?”

“So I listened to your Senate hearing, and you said you were exiled from the clan because you murdered a fellow family member. Is that actually true?”

I didn’t answer immediately. I took in a freezing breath of air and exhaled, looking at the mist that escaped from my lips. Snow clung on my coat, my mask, and my face. It burned as it melted onto my skin.

“No, I didn’t. I never murdered someone in the clan. I was just somewhere at the wrong place at the wrong time. I was accused of murder, but I had no way to prove my innocence so I became the murderer.” I answered.

“Oh.” Valentia simply replied.

The rest of our journey was mostly kept in silence, with the howling of the wind and the occasional small talk, usually instigated by Valentia. It was usually about my personal life, but I wouldn’t get into man details or I would just refuse to answer if it got too personal.

“What about you Val? What’s been going on with you?” I asked to remove the spotlight off of me.

“Well, I’ve taken over father’s role of Master of Intelligence. He and mother are happily enjoying retirement together at the family’s new villa (constructed by the late Rex as a thank you for many years of loyal service). My younger brother has become a lieutenant in the army, having his own little command.”

“I do believe that I asked what was going on with YOU, not your family Val.”

Valentia ignored my remark entirely. “Father and Mother keep pestering me about when you’ll visit again. ‘When is your boyfriend Seth gonna visit,’ mom would always ask me.

“Boyfriend? What makes her think that?” I asked.

“I may have lied a couple of times.” I heard Valentia snicker.

“Of course you did.”

“You should be honored, Seth. Most people would die to be my significant other.”

“Falling on my sword sounds like a better option,” I replied.

“Oh shut up. Over the course of this mission, you’ll find the love you have for me.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Over the horizon, a mountain chain came into view. Our destination was right within view, what used to be my old home. I felt my heart start to race; I could feel my heart beating in my chest. Despite being exiled, it was still home to me.

“Is that it over there?” Valentia asked.

“Yes, it is, those mountains are our destination. The Nox clan lives in those mountains. We’ve been digging giant caves in those mountains for years now the village was built there, constantly growing. Despite that horrible weather, agriculture is possible in the village, thanks to the heat of the mountains.” I explained to Val.

We eventually reached the foot of the mountain chain and sure enough, a cave was there, leading into the belly of the beast.

“Won’t random people just enter the cave to seek shelter?” Val asked as we started to walk deeper into the cave.

“The entrance of the village is way further down, we may be a clan of assassins, but we’re not heartless, we let the mouth of the cave for Northerners to rest and set up camp when the weather outside becomes dangerous, if they go too far, they’ll be stopped by scouts and if they resist, they’re murdered.”

After a while, humidity replaced the cold of the outside. Stalagmites and stalactites became more frequent, little ponds of water sprouting up left and right, with the occasional sound of water dripping. Soon after, the humidity was gradually replaced with warmth. We stopped to remove our heavy fur coats, put back our cloaks and stuff our coats in your travel bags, which held all our equipment.

“We should be entering Nox territory shortly, stay vigilant,” I warned Valentia.

I heard her pull out her daggers from her sheaths. She knew when to listen, that was good. We ventured on, slowly this time, scanning our surrounding’s constantly. Nox assassins were the best of the best, learn to not blend into the shadows, but become the shadows themselves. My exile from the clan would’ve probably made me rusty in spotting the scouts. Only an idiot would screw up this golden opportunity.

“Die murderer!” someone yelled, his voice echoing throughout the cave. Had the clan become morons after my exile?

Straight ahead, a figure was sprinting at me, sword in one hand. He wore a similar cloak as mine, with some minor details, like the emblem of the Nox clan, and it wasn’t as torn as mine. From our current distance, I couldn’t clearly make out who was charging at me. I unsheathed my blades, surging forward to fight him.

“Be careful Val, there are usually two or more scouts!”

“Got it!”

The moronic assassin raised his sword and so did my blades, they struck, steal hitting steal. With our weapons pressed against one another, I could now see who I was fighting. I was disappointed.

“Nice to see you again Ymir.” I humorlessly joked.

His jaw tightened. “Don’t call me that fucker.”

“Brother then?”

“Even worse! You’re not my brother, you never were!” He yelled.

I see he was still as short-tempered as he was in the past. Nice to see some people never change. That means he should be a piece of cake to handle. Unfortunately, I heard behind me sounds of metal meeting metal, meaning the other scout had decided to join the fray. Good thing Valentia was there. Ymir I could handle, but Ymir and another Nox member, I highly doubt I’d win.

“Get out of my way Gaian.” The other scout told Valentia, this one female.

“Fat chance. I’ll be your opponent.” Valentia told her.

“You? Please, your presence is almost an insult to my skills.”

“Overconfident about her skills, is that you Delilah?” I called out.

I heard her laugh. “Nice to see you still haven’t changed Seth after all these years.”

“I’m here on important business; I request to speak to the elders.”

Ymir laughed. “Like I’ll let you anywhere near our village after what you’ve done.”

Ymir and I broke off and started to spar. It was mostly a game of dodging and blocking. I had some opportunities to strike and injure him, but I couldn’t bring myself to harm him, even if Ymir clearly wanted to see his sword burrowed in my gut.

“Damn it, you’re still as sharp as ever,” Ymir yelled in frustration. He looked over to where Delilah and Valentia were fighting and a smile spread across his face. “Can’t say the same about your friend though.”

I didn’t believe him, I had given a few training lesions to Valentia as we made our way here. She wasn’t perfect, but she certainly improved from our spar back at the royal palace. I doubt she was already defeated.

I pushed my attacks against Ymir, trying to wear him down, tire him out. He slashed with his sword; I dodged to the side and punched him right on the side of the stomach. He released his sword, giving me my victory. Ymir was never good at hand to hand combat. We duked it out, flying punches at each other. Ymir’s punches were predictable but he was an assassin; he was still quite strong. Blocking one of his punches still hurt like hell, but so did mine. I grabbed his arm and threw him over my shoulders, slamming him onto the ground where I used him as my personal punching bag until he crumbled onto the floor. Now it was time for Delilah I thought as I turned around to help Valentia.

“Stop moving Seth, or I cut her throat,” Delilah ordered. I froze in my tracks. Delilah had already defeated Val it seemed, but now without its costs. She was bruised all over, having some cuts on her arms and cheeks and a bloodied nose. Valentia was in a similar condition. The only difference was that Delilah wasn’t on her knees with a knife to her throat.

“Sorry Seth, I tried my best.” Valentia apologized.

“You don’t have to apologize Gaian; you put up a nice fight. Train with us and you’ll be able to best at least Ymir in no time.” Delilah told her.

“Great job Delilah! Now we can kill both of them.” Ymir eagerly exclaimed behind me.

She shook her head. “Absolutely not Ymir. Seth said he had important business with the elders. He may not be with the clan, but he has the right to seek a meeting with them.”

“Thank you, Delilah.”

“Seth Nox being thankful?” she asked raising an eyebrow. “That’s quite unlike you.”

She let go of Val and made her way to Ymir who was brushing himself off. I ran to Valentia and made sure she was alright.

“You are to follow us at a distance, step any closer and we will see that as a declaration of hostility and we will kill you,” Delilah warned. “Follow me.”

So we followed them, as we dove deeper and deeper into the cave. We passed other scouts and sentries who glared at me, some with awe, some with delight and some like Ymir, with absolute anger. Eventually, torches appeared, along with a paved floor, streets, the cries and shouts of children and playing, archways, rivers filled with fish, houses and statues of Nox clan members, we had arrived, I had finally arrived home.

“This way,” Delilah told us, heading towards the center of the town.

Knowing Delilah, she’d purposely take the route that would have the most people just so they could gawk at me and sure enough, she did. In mere minutes, the announcement of my arrival and a Gaian girl (they didn’t know who Valentia was) had spread throughout the entire village. I could see people on the rooftops looking down at me, people in their houses peering at me through the windows. I had become an attraction, I hated every second of it.

Valentia squeezed my hand and held firm. She probably was extremely nervous, this was probably the first time she had ever seen the village and being a tourist attraction certainly didn’t help.

We eventually reached the center of the village. It was a giant circle, with a river surrounding it, only accessible by connecting bridges. In the middle of the center was a ten-foot statue of Mathieu and Vanessa Nox, the founders of the Nox clan of assassins. Standing in front of it was a middle-aged man, with a broad build, brown beard, brown eyes and greying hair. I immediately recognized him of course.

“You’ve finally returned Seth.” He said.

“I have returned father.”

Father looked beside me to look at Valentia. He gave her a deep bow.

“Valentia Crimvern, what a pleasant surprise. What brings you here?”

The name Valentia Crimvern sent ripples across the mob that had gathered around us. Ymir and Delilah immediately backed away when they realized that the Gaian was actually high ranking nobility.

“I’m so sorry ma’am; I didn’t realize who you were.” Delilah apologized, bowing deeply.

I saw Valentia grin slightly, she was enjoying their discomfort.

“I’m here as Seth’s partner while he’s on official business.” She replied.

Father nodded and beckoned us to follow him.

“Let us talk somewhere more private, away from prying eyes and ears. I’ll see if your business is worth a talk with the elders.”