Bella was serving the final costumer at her tavern located at the southern edge of Ecrin, her tired eyes showcase the long night and the flood of costumers, mostly soldiers and adventures arriving here from the cities to gather supplies or hunt wild life. Handing the last costumer his tankard of ale she headed back to the kitchen to clean the utensils and tankards. Hearing the drunken voice of the last costumer leaving her tavern she sighs and finishes the last dozen of cups before throwing the apron in a pile of dirty clothes. Looking over the ever growing pile she thinks to herself, "I really need to wash my clothes soon, maybe in the afternoon." As she thought to herself a sudden shout could be heard from the entrance, rushing out to see what the problem is she notices an elven female with dark brown hair, matted to her hair and her tired eyes hinted at a tiring night of probably traveling, Bella's eyes opened in shock as she looked over the slumped over human male, his shirt torn and underneath on his skin a large infected wound caused Bella to gag in reflex. Bella's mind was interrupted by the sound of the elven traveler's voice.

"Please help us, my companion was injured during our travel here and I can't stop the wound."

The plea for help woke up Bella, her tiredness instantly gone as she answered, "Come, you can lend a room upstairs, please follow me." Elaine clutched the unconscious body of Will and carried him through the empty tavern, following the tavern keeper upstairs Elaine looked on as Bella unlocked one of the bedrooms and headed inside to open the window. Walking inside Elaine walked over to the bed and laid Will's body, his body feverish and weak.

Fishing up several herbs and ointments to treat the wound, Elaine began treating the wound, after ten minutes of crushing different herbs into a medicinal paste and covering it with bandages Elaine's body dropped down on the ground, scaring Bella.

"Miss are you okay?!"

"I'm fine, just tired."

"What happened to you guys, your companions injury doesn't seem to be natural." Bella asked as she looked over to the festering wound. Elaine followed the tavern keepers eyes, the wound had been treated at the surface, but she knew that they needed a healer or proficient doctor to help Will.

"We were attacked by a monster a few weeks back, his wound haven't healed properly since then and we were attacked by bandits and he was injured." Elaine answered, she could feel her tiredness taking over her body as her eyelids drooped, sleep overtaking her.

"What do you mean monsters?" Bella asked, but no response came from the female traveler, instead a low snoring could be heard from Elaine. "I guess she have been traveling the whole night to get here." Bella thought to herself as she took one of the blankets from the common room downstairs and gently tucked Elaine in.

"I can just ask her later." Bella thought to herself as she walked out from the room and quietly closed the door behind the door, seeing the two travelers asleep Bella yawned and headed towards the entrance, closing the wooden door and locking it, she headed towards her own room behind the kitchen and quickly fell asleep.

several hours later Will's eyes slowly opened up, finding himself in an unknown room he jerked up from the bed but he flinched in reaction, clenching his wound on his shoulder he grunted in pain from the sudden movement of his body. He looked down at the sleeping form of Elaine at the bedside, a woolen blanket covering her body.

"She must have travelled her after the bandit attack." He thought to himself as he thanked her silently for saving him. Contemplating for a moment in silence Will's attention was diverted as he looked over at the waking form of Elaine, her droopy eyes slowly opening, confusion in her stare.

"Good morning Elaine."

"Will! Are you okay?!"

"Im alright, feel a lot better thanks to you." he felt gratitude to his ally, going as far as he could in a bow.

"Don't over-stress your body, you are still injured."

Suddenly the door opened up, Will moved his attention to the door, Elaine raised her hand to calm Will down as they saw Bella entering the room.

"Thank the gods you are awake, how are you feeling travelers?" Bella asked.

Looking at each other for a moment, Elaine nodded in assurance, they were safe at the moment, "Thank you for the kindness of lending your room to us. Its better." Will answered sincerely. He pondered before asking if there was a doctor or healer in town.

"Not that I can recall, your wounds seem to severe for you to fix alone, as can be seen by your companions reaction to the injury, I recommend you travel to Ave Ludum for help."

"What is Ava Ludus?" Elaine asked, unsure.

"Its Ave Ludum, its an academy located at the western coast where people train and learn magic." Will explained.

"Magic? don't everyone have magic?" Elaine asked.

"Not really, most people have a connection to a wind of magic, and Ave Ludum is a centre of learning to train young mages in harnessing this connection. You are different, I have been guessing since we met, but you are a druid right?"

"I am, but what does that have to do with it?"

"Well, from what I remember, druids have a natural connection to the land and nature, controlling and using mana is in your blood, but for most people they have a connection to a wind of magic, and therefore have to train their ability to harness and use their mana.

"Do you have this connection, to a wind of magic I mean?"

"No, I am considered Null, someone without a connection to the winds, and therefore not able to use my mana efficiently." Will explained while tapping his index fingers together.

Contemplating for a moment about the new information, Elaine's thoughts were interrupted by the voice of Bella, still standing in the doorway. "Excuse me, do you want lunch?"

"Yes please, we can head downstairs, right Will?" Elaine asked Will who nodded in agreement.

Sitting at the empty tavern Elaine and Will are handed a plate of lunch, some sort of meat and vegetables by Bella, grabbing a plate herself the trio are sitting together at one of the tables, quietly enjoying the food.

"This is delicious!" Will exclaimed.

"Well thank you sir. By the way, who are you guys?" Bella asked while chewing on a large chunk of meat.

"My name is Will Marlow, I am from the northern regions, this is Elaine Nyve, my traveling companion, what's your name miss and where are we currently?"

"I'm Bella Thomson, I run this tavern as you can see in the town of Ecrin."

"Once again, thank you for helping us, how much for the room and food?" Elaine asked, wanting to return the favor.

"Its alright, I had a good haul from the nights costumers, so you don't have to pay."

"By the way, did a troupe of soldiers arrive here some time ago, led by a dwarven man?" Will asked, hoping Bella knew anything. Bella thought for a moment before answering, "I can't recall soldiers arriving here, did they arrive from the south or north?"

"North, from Cymbal forest west and then following the stone road south."

"Nothing I recall, the only soldiers were some adventures from the south heading north. Why you ask?"

"Its nothing." Will simply responded.

Finishing their lunch Will thanked Bella for her hospitality and the duo headed out to continue their travels. "Are we still heading towards Ishban to find your allies?" Elaine wondered.

"It seems we have to treat this injury faster than excepted, We know the final destination is Salamish, so a detour wouldn't take to much time in catching up with Artír and the others."

"So... our next destination is?"

"Ave Ludum, located in the city of Ruun, the city of merchants." Will explained. He continued on explaining, "As stated by Bella, we are currently in the town of Ecrin and we have about a week of travel to arrive in Ruun in our condition."

Agreeing with their plans Elaine waved good bye to Bella and the duo headed towards the southern gate to head on in their journey, walking through the town Elaine stop in her steps as she smell something sweet, drool forming in her mouth.

"Why did you stop?"

"I smell something incredible!"

Looking around for the cause of Elaine's sudden actions Will spots a small shop were they are selling candy almonds. "Do you want to try them?" He asked. Getting a fervent nod as an answer from Elaine he walked towards the small stand and bought a small pouch of the candy. Handing it over to Elaine Will chuckled as he looked on as Elaine gently opened the pouch and throwing one of the almonds into her mouth. The sugary taste hit her mouth instantly and Will thought he hallucinated two hearts in Elaine's eyes.

"Oh my! They are incredible!" Exclaimed Elaine in joy.

"You can eat them on the way, we have to hurry."

Thus Will and Elaine headed towards the gate, happily snacking on the almonds Elaine lazily tapped the ground with her staff and two elks appeared from the woods just outside town.

"Your magic really is incredible." Will exclaimed, astonished by Elaine's druidic magic.

"Thwank you" Elaine answered, her mouth filled with sweets.

Three days passed and Elaine and Will left Ecrin and they are currently camping for the night at the base of a hill with several trees protecting them from harsh weather. Letting the elks feed on the grass the two travelers enjoyed their dinner, consisting of fruit, dry jerky and the candy Will bought her.

"I have been wondering something." Will asked while he chewed on an apple.

"Hmm?"

"Why is it you don't eat meat? during lunch you only ate the vegetables and now only fruit and your candy."

"Oh, my kin learn from young age to not eat meat, only to forage from nature, we only kill animals if they are a danger to us."

"Interesting, I've never heard of your "kin" are they nomads?"

"They are kinda, kinda not. We live in the seven sacred woods, and we usually live in assigned forests from birth."

Fixing his traveling bag Will lays down on the ground slowly to not cause a rupture in his wound. "Seven sacred woods? I've never heard of that."

"Well, we are kinda hidden from the mortal world, by name we are hidden in obscurity, but you certainly have heard of them, Cymbal forest is one of the sacred forests by the way."

"Is it?! So do you have rulers of any kind? Who is the leader of Cymbal forest?" Will asked but looking over at Elaine he noticed her melancholy mood after his question, understanding he asked something sensitive he added, "You don't have to answer if you want."

Sitting quietly for a moment, contemplating answering Will's question she sighs loudly before answering, "Kinda, we have arch druids who are leaders of the sacred forests, each one sitting on a council overseeing our kin from internal affairs and outside dangers. Regarding Cymbal forest... It was my mother."

"Was?"

"She went missing twelve years ago during one of her journeys. I am the last druid of Cymbal." Elaine explained, her mood soured and her head was down between her knees. Unsure how to answer Will kept silent in the night. Sleep overtaking the duo they awake to the embers of their bonfire from the night, Elaine stretched her arms in the morning sun, looking back at Will she thought to herself, "It seems the wound is treated for now, according to him we still have a few days of travel left before our arrival at Ruun." Sitting quietly in the warm rays of the sun thinking about her life, "This past years have been weird, from Tirnas being destroyed by the betrayer, to become the chosen champion of a deity, to ally myself and defend our world from these monsters."

Sudden movement from behind her caused Elaine's head to jerk in the direction of the noise but she relaxed as she saw Will slowly opening his eyes, his left hand holding the injured shoulder. "How are you feeling Will?" Elaine asked.

"Could be better, But its easier to move around since leaving Ecrin. Thank you by the way for the treatment."

"Don't stress it, we are allies right?"

"Indeed we are." Will answered, chuckling to himself he added, "its quite funny that before that we tried to kill each other while battling a monster." Hearing Will's words caused Elaine to quietly laugh with him. "You are right, funny how we went from enemies to allies. Have you had a meeting with Nag'losh in your dreams lately?"

"Not since the bandit attack, Nag'losh appeared in my dreams and informed me you are protecting my body and led us to safety. He talked some sort of mission but I can't remember what kind of mission he talked about."

"What about the wolf pup, didn't it say you were its sibling or something?" Elaine asked, a small chuckle from the weird statement uttered from her lips.

"Its weird, I don't really know much about your druidic magic but I have some weird link to his thoughts. Do you know anything about that?"

"Kinda, I have a similar case since I am the champion of Nyalith, A large stag is currently overseeing my home in Cymbal forest, and I can call on her to appear before me whenever I need. I assume you can do something similar when the pup is older and have a stronger mind."

"Interesting, by the way, since the wolf pup is a "sibling" to me or something, should I give it a name?" Will asked which caused Elaine to abruptly laugh at his sudden question. Wiping her cheek she answered, "You can if you want, I was blessed as Nyalith's champion eight years so I have had my familiar for some time, her name is Geale. Try asking the pup."

Not fully understanding her answer he closed his eyes in concentration and in a familiar motion sent his thoughts into the void, suddenly a high pitched voice came back, "Brother! How are you?" Shocked by the ease of communicating with the pup Will answered, "I am fine, how is your stay at Cymbal forest?", Will felt weird talking to not only a wolf but also a wolf calling him brother. "It's great here, I have been growing rapidly, there are a lot of boars and animals I can hunt here. Did you need anything?

"I was wondering, Elaine talked about her familiar, a large stag called Geale, do you have a name by chance?" It went quiet for a few moments after Will's question but the silence was broken by the voice of the wolf, "I don't think so, our ancestor told me that you should give me a name, and thereafter I could gain some powers. Can you name me brother?" The voice asked, his voice pitched even higher than normally. Thinking for a moment about a good name for the pup Will finally spoke, "Your name shall be Fimbelwarg." As will uttered the wolf's name an intense headache caused Will to recoil in pain, hearing the yelps from the other end he got worried, but his worry didn't last for long as the wolf spoke, "Thank you brother Will, Soon I can join you two in your journey fully, just give me some time!" Fimbelwarg spoke as the connection broke between them, leaving Will confused sitting on the ground.

"What happened?" Elaine asked, seeing Will's confused reaction she knew something happened.

"It seems our bond has finalized since I gave him a name."

"Oh, that's good, what name did you give the pup?"

"Fimbelwarg, It means wolf of winter in my ancestor's language. Seemed like a good name since I'm the champion of the winter wolf." Will chuckled as he thought the latest revelations were surreal, a talking wolf and a deity he was pledged to.

"Now we have another ally at least, so that's good." Elaine interjected.

"I guess so, shall we continue? We have a bit left before the city of merchants."

"Lets go, adventure awaits!" Elaine exclaimed.