Chapter 4

(Side story but still has important information)

As they were on their way, Novius and Aine continued to talk for the entire way. Darius stayed silent, awkwardly. The horses suddenly stopped out of nowhere.

"What-" Aine said, confused. Darius was also concerned, Horses had never done this before unless there's something dangerous. Everyone drew their weapons. A woman walked out of the forest in front of them. "I've never seen that woman ever... I live in a small village so we would know who lives in what house... I've never seen this woman before, so she's not from the village..." Aine said, tensing up. The woman looked up at them.. She had bruises and scars on her face. "Hey! Are you okay?" Novius said, getting off his horse and running to the woman.

The woman mumbled something before passing out... Novius looked at Darius and Aine before looking back to the woman. Novius carried the woman to his horse and safely put her on the back of his horse. "What do we do with her?" Novius asked, turning to Darius and Aine. "I dont know... lets just bring her with us until she recovers." Darius said. "Maybe you should be careful... My grandfather always tells me to be carefull around strangers" Aine said, sounding unsure about the decision...

They continued their journey to the next realm.

Night came before they got past the border. They set up camp and started a fire in an open field so nothing but the fire will burn. They put the woman in a tent near the fire while the three of them started to cook their dinner for the night.

They chatted and laughed as they ate.

"If you don't mind me asking, What is Cullodran like? I've never been anywhere outside of Ellemond.." Aine said, taking a bite of her barbecued fish. "Well... I guess It's like any other realm really. Cullodran just has a lot more festivities than the other realms. But if you count traditions, we don't really have many traditions" Darius said. "Though the one thing we enjoy more than other things, is probably the tree decorating" Novius said, Turning to Darius. Darius agreed. "Wait, What tree decorating? What's that?" Aine was confused and interested in the topic.

"So basically, every winter, Everyone in the city would gather around this big pine tree and hang small little signs on the branches. You write your wishes on the signs and hang them on the branches. Throughout the year, If your wish came true, You would take the sign off the tree and throw it into the river so your wish could stay real and true for as long as you live" Novius said with a smile. "There is a rumor in the village that gods and goddesses used to bathe in the river and left dusts of good luck and prosperity in the flowing waters" Darius said.

"Wow, that's really interesting" Aine said. "What about you? Are there any interesting things about your village?" Novius asked. Aine thought for a moment... "There is this one fun tradition we do during winter. We would wait until the lakes and rivers turn into ice before we cut them into large bricks of ice and make small ice igloo's for kids to play in. We also make big ice sculptures of our gods and deities to honor our gods and ancestors" Aine said with a smile.

"That sounds fun!" Novius said happily. Darius agreed.

"There's also this one thing we do in the spring. We host something called the flower festival. We basically hold a flower based convention. We make things like flower shaped candied apples, flower shaped candies, we sell all kinds of flower bouquets, flower vases, and we hold flower based festival games at the convention too" Aine said with a smile.

Novius and Darius listened to the fun activities. "Should we do stuff like that for the next festival?" Novius asked Darius. "Definitely! I'll talk to the mayor once this whole journey is over" Darius said. "I never expected you to be such a cheerful person Darius. When I first saw you, you looked like you were the type of person to hate happiness" Aine said. Novius burst out laughing. Darius glared Aine while she just stared back with a mischievous smile. Novius couldn't help but laugh at the whole thing.

Suddenly, there was a soft rustle from the tent. The three of them turned their head to the tent and saw the woman had woken up and sat up. Now she was rubbing her eyes in the tent. Novius went over to her. "Hey.. Are you okay? You were beat up pretty bad... Do you remember what happened to you?..." Novius asked the woman. The woman stayed silent and shook her head. "I see... Well, Do you at least remember your name?..." Novius asked, worried. "Veda..." The woman said quietly. "Veda? Is that your name?" Novius asked. She nodded. "Alright.. Get some rest. Your body needs rest to recover" Novius said before laying her back down and walking back to Darius and Aine.

"So? Did you find out what happened to her?" Aine asked. "She doesn't remember what happened to her. All she remembers is her name, Veda" Novius said, sitting back down with them. "I'm starting to get skeptical..." Darius said. "Why? She's weak and harmless right now. The worst she can do right now is run away from us" Novius said. The two chose to believe him and started to chat and talk again.

"You know what... Have you guys ever heard of the overworld and underworld?.." Aine asked. "Oh yeah, What about them?" Darius asked. "Have you ever wondered why they weren't counted as realms?" Aine replied. They thought for a moment... "Wait... That is strange..." Novius said as he continued thinking... "I don't think it is strange. The history records say there are nine nations and nine nations only. If history says its not strange, It's not strange" Darius said. "Wow... You really are a "By the book" Kind of person aren't you." Aine said, looking at Darius.

Aine and Darius started to argue again. Novius looked around and realized it was really late at night. "Hey guys, let's get some rest. We have a lot of exploring to do tomorrow morning" Novius said before standing up and walking to his tent. Aine and Darius glared at each other before walking to their own tents to rest for the night.

And so, they are now resting for the big journey they have the next morning.