Prologue

7th of Agnos (3rd month of the Janaea Calendar) , year 978

Groszaky, Valithia

"Jszardin, get the family heirloom and escape with my wife and son!"

The old man was still able to put up a valiant stand despite receiving over a dozen slashes, mostly from his flanks. The enemies were just too many, and he had been fighting for close to an hour already.

As for his loyal servant, Jszardin, he was no better though his master expertly shielded him from any harm. It was just that the much younger Jszardin's stamina had rendered him unfit to go on fighting.

Jszardin tried to defy his master's order. How could he leave him at his current state?

The old man roared in anger, "Jszardin, if you don't go now, all the fighting I had done tonight will be a meaningless waste!"

"But, but, but…Master…"

"Saving the boy is the most important thing right now! You'll understand it after the boy grows up and takes his rightful place among the stars!"

The old man took another slash from behind as he was dealing with one of the assailants. He spun and slashed at the same time, cutting down the man behind him. His great sword continued into an upward arc before he brought it down upon another attacker.

"Master, what kind of a person would I be to forsake you like this?" Jszardin cried in a desperate plea of defiance, tears rolling down his cheeks, snot dripping into his mouth.

The old man slashed down at the last attacker inside the hall.

He turned to his servant and said, "One who has my eternal gratitude.

"If you can bring my son to safety, I'll be your most loyal friend be it in heaven or in hell."

At this time another wave of attackers rushed inside the hall.

"Run towards the passage near the northeast corner," the old man instructed Jszardin, his mouth close to his ear. "Twenty-two of our best guards will be waiting for you. Kirilina will tell you where to go."

Jszardin was still hesitant but decided to submit to his master's bidding in the end.

"Master's will is my vow," he pledged.

The old man gave him a sorrowful look.

"Goodbye, old friend," he said before turning around to raise his sword as the wave of bloodthirsty masked warriors approached.

***

"Baroness, we have to go!"

"Jszardin, why is Ryuszun not with you?"

Jszardin looked her in the eye, deep sorrow etched in his eyes.

"Where is he? I'll go get him."

"Please, M'lady, it's pointless to go to him now. He fought so hard to give us an opportunity to save you and the young master. Let's not waste his sacrifice. Please, I beg you."

Baroness Kirilina covered her mouth as warm tears gushed down her lovely face.

Jszardin grabbed the three-year old son of his master, Baron Ryuszun, and carried him in his arms. He looked at his master's young wife with imploring eyes.

"We have to go now," he said softly.

They rushed out of the house and headed towards the secret passage. But halfway along, a blast stopped them on their tracks. When they turned around, they saw a man with a staff extended towards where the fireball exploded. It seemed he didn't want to kill them right away.

The man was a wizard. Worse, there were at least 15 men behind him.

"Jszardin, take my son and make a hard run for Ragha. Don't stop unless you really have to."

"…M'lady?"

"When you reach Ragha, find a village along the Agnos Fork of the River Karyan. You leave him there. Your presence will only lead the enemies to him. There's a piece of treasure in the saddlebag of my horse. Give it to the family whom you shall entrust Kraszad with."

"M'lady…I don't understand."

"Should you ever meet again…" Kirilina choked on her words. Tears rushed down her pretty face. She was so young and beautiful, yet life had not been very kind to her. "Should fate allow that you meet my son again when he's all grown up, remember to tell him that I love him more than life."

"Please, M'lady, not you too…" Jszardin could not remember the last time he cried. But that night he had cried twice and not ten minutes had passed between each crying bout.

"Did you remember everything, Jszardin?"

"Please, M'lady. Not like this. We can still escape together."

"Not from that wizard, Jszardin. But I can still stall him long enough to allow you to escape. Did you remember everything I said?"

Jszardin found himself unable to speak, his emotions choking the life out of him.

"Did you remember everything I said, Jszardin?" This time Kirilina's tone was more forceful.

Startled, Jszardin replied, "Yes, M'lady."

Kirilina nodded her head. Afterwards she said, "As soon as I face them, close your eyes."

Jszardin nodded his head.

Immediately after facing the enemies, Kirilina cast a pillar of light that emitted such brightness that everybody except for Jszardin and Kirilina lost their sight temporarily.

"Go!" Kirilina commanded Jsazrdin.

Once again, Jszardin hesitated. His eyes had moistened anew.

"Go! Don't waste any more time!"

"Yes, M'lady!" Jszardin said with resolution. Thereupon, he ran towards the secret passage.

"They're getting away!" one of the attackers shouted.

As soon as he got within the secret passage, Jszardin turned around in time to see the wizard cast a large shadow over Kirilina's pillar of light.

With the blinding effect of the pillar taken care of, the enemy assassins realized that two of their targets were missing. Still, they advanced towards the baroness, not a few of them exclaiming carnal designs upon the beautiful lady of the house.

Kirilina drew a line in the air and a long wall of fire sprang up in front of the enemy line, effectively stopping them from moving forward.

The enemy wizard responded by summoning six dark spheres and sending them towards Kirilina following different paths in the air. Each sphere was the size of a fist and glowed with tremendous evil intent.

Kirilina covered herself in a sphere of light. Small fist-sized spheres rotated around the large sphere adding an extra layer of protection.

However, after the third dark sphere had hit, the smaller spheres were already destroyed. The next two dark spheres broke the large sphere of light protecting Kirilina. Then, the last of the dark spheres struck Kirilina, who was flung backwards. When she landed about ten meters away from where she stood, she rolled several times.

Kirilina struggled to stand up. There was blood at the edge of her lips. Her hands drew a large circle before she extended her right hand, palm facing forward. A large ball of fire with a diameter the size of her arm span formed in front of her.

She turned to face where she knew Jszardin and the boy would be at.

"Goodbye, Jszardin," she said. It was the same sweet smile she always gave to all the people in the household. But this time her eyes no longer carried a sadness to them. Rather they glowed with pure love, like the smile of his master whenever he gazed at his son.

Kirilina sent the huge fireball towards the enemy wizards. Behind it her body phased then disappeared.

With a mocking grin, the enemy wizard just stared nonchalantly at Kirilina's fireball. At the precise moment, he drew his staff slightly forward then flicked it sideways. The fireball was redirected to the side. It exploded on a building used as a shed for cattle. The shed disappeared completely, and a large crater appeared in its place.

Just as the wizard redirected the fireball, Kirilina phased right in front of him. She held the wizard's robe by the waist as she let out beams of light from her body. The beams of light tore apart the shroud of darkness that covered the wizard.

Then, Kirilina summoned another fireball just as large as the one before.

"No!!!" the wizard screamed.

Right before the fireball engulfed the two spellcasters, Jszardine turned the young master's eyes away from the scene.

The fireball exploded covering a very wide area. It incinerated the men following the wizard instantly. As for Kirilina and the wizard, Jszardin saw their bodies turn into an outline before completely disappearing.

"Farewell, M'lady," Jszardin said. He stroked the boy's head as tears flowed down his cheeks.

***

11th of Tukruk, year 978

Outskirts of Aeonia

They had been riding eastward for a little over a month.

That morning the three-year old boy couldn't find his friend, a cheerful lad called Nineteen. Ever since they rode away that dreadful night, Nineteen had been the one taking care of him—cheering him up by telling stories and making him laugh at his antics.

"Where's Nineteen?" he asked old Jszardin.

"Nineteen? Ah…" the head servant hesitated.

He didn't really have to say it. The boy already knew as soon as he fumbled for the words to say.

"Five sent him to fetch something," the middle-aged servant declared. He was obviously lying.

"He will re-join us eventually." More lies.

The little boy turned around before Jszardin could see his tears.

Including him and Jszardin, there were 24 who escaped from Groszaky Manor that night. Now, there were only five of them.

He remembered everything he saw during their escape.

Before that night was even over, the strongest of the guards, the one called One, led a group of five people "to give their pursuers a nice welcome." That was what One said.

As the sun was about to set the next day, the one named Two dismounted from his horse along with three others. With swords drawn and a grim look on their faces, the four loyal guards vowed to "hold the pass to the last drop of their blood."

Six more men stayed behind over the next two days.

For days they rode hard, stopping only very briefly at rivers to refill their water pouches and gobbling down a little food. Otherwise, they'd just eat some jerky while riding on.

When they saw a very tall mountain on the fifth day, the group galloped towards the forest behind it.

Jszardin ordered two men to ride up the mountain to check on their pursuers while scouting the land ahead.

Not 20 minutes had passed later, the two reported back to the group.

"They're about five hours away," the one called Five said. He was the strongest of the seven remaining guards.

"Lantig, help us," exclaimed one of the guards. "All that hard riding while hardly stopping for sleep and yet they're this close?"

"Is it Ten?" the one called Six asked.

Five nodded his head, fury written all over his eyes.

"I swear I'll kill him before my life is over," Six promised. He and Ten were very close. It was he who taught Ten the very same tracking skills the latter was using in pursuit of them.

"Unless I get my hands on him first," Five retorted. He was the best tactician among the men in their master's soldiery. Jszardin forbade him and Six to join the "welcoming parties" as he needed them to see this mission through.

"There'll be a time for that," Jszardin interjected. "Right now we need to create more distance from them."

"Is there a river ahead?" Six asked after a while.

"About three hours north," Five replied.

"Good, we could use that to lose them."

It was already evening when they reached the river. Two of the men crossed while the rest followed the river upstream for an hour. Upon reaching a ford, Jszardin, the boy, Nineteen and Five crossed to the other side on their feet even as Six and two others of them led the horses further upstream.

Two hours after crossing over, lightning lit up the night sky. In a short while heavy rains poured down and wouldn't let up.

One of the two men who crossed earlier linked up with them to report that their pursuers were camped two hundred meters from the riverbank but had to move further back on account of the thunderstorm. They also reported that the enemy still numbered over a hundred.

Jszardin got the group moving downstream. They spotted the campfire of their pursuers about 400 meters from the other side.

"They dare to mock us!" Five was enraged by the sight of the enemy openly showing their location.

"Let it go," Jszardin advised him. "Our mission is to bring the young master to safety."

He urged everyone to mind their steps and not leave any traces that would give away the direction they were headed. He reminded them that the hard travel would wear down the young master and that the boy's health was beginning to deteriorate.

"This little trick that Six came up with has to work or else the young master is done for," he stated plainly.

After three hours of walking downstream sticking close to the river, Six and the other two caught up with the group. They were riding their horses, which were swimming in the middle of the river, while leading the rest of their mounts.

In a short while everyone mounted and rode out.

Several days later, Five ordered two guards to ride out. Only one of them would return. They learned from this guard that the enemies were about five days away.

By this time, they had slowed their pace on account of the young master.

Every seven days Five would order two guards to ride out and only one would report back to camp.

The boy knew that it was finally Nineteen's turn to not come back.

***

25th of Tukruk, 978

Rashalkt Forest, Svanehsha Kingdom

"Follow the path north for five days. You should arrive at a village where you could buy a horse. Ride north for a day more then go east from there. The three of us will get ourselves spotted in some of the nearby towns to lead them away."

Six's plan didn't leave anything to chance. He wouldn't even spare Jszardin and the young master a horse if it could help avoid suspicions. At any rate, their horses were already spent from all that traveling. They badly needed fresh mounts.

"Nineteen did a really fine job, didn't he?" the guard named Twelve opened his mouth for the first time.

"Yes, he did," Six said quietly, sadness evident in his voice. He turned his gaze to Five. "How old is he?"

"Not more than 15 summers," Five replied. "I kept him for as long as I could but, alas, I had to sacrifice him too."

"Such a shame for one so young and brilliant to sleep under our foot too soon." Six sighed heavily.

The three other men bowed their heads. What could they say? Nineteen gave the pursuing enemy enough trouble there was no sign of them for several days while their group travelled at a leisurely pace for the young master's sake.

"He gave us a shot, now it's our turn to make sure we succeed," Six said, resolution returning to his eyes.

The rest nodded their heads.

There were no exchanges of pleasantries nor well-wishes. They knew it would hardly matter. Just as well, they knew what was in each other's heart.

"Goodbye, old friend," Five said solemnly. Six and Twelve followed suit.

"Fare thee well, Young Master!" the three loyal guards bowed to the little boy.

The little boy bowed in return.

"Goodbye, my friends," Jszardin said. "Until we meet again."

***

16th of Adun, year 978

Winaobi Desert, Northeast of Ragha

From the night of their escape until reaching this part of the desert, Jszardin and the young master had been traveling non-stop for over five months. Without a capable guide like Six, they had overshot Ragha and, thus, had to break back taking a south-western route and ended up in the vast Winaobi Desert.

They had been traveling through the desert for four nights now. Jszardin decided to travel at night and rest during the day to conserve their energy. Even then, the young master's life was hanging by a thread. The hard travel had worn him down, but the desert was a real killer. Their water supply had also run out during the day.

If the young master had not been the son of the Baron of Groszaky, he probably would not have lasted this long. Baron Ryuszun was famed for his incomparable vitality. It was well told that in his youth, he had won several battles by simply outlasting the enemy.

The young master had obviously inherited his father's vitality. However, he was just too young to have any hope of surviving the desert without any water.

Seeing the critical condition of his young master, Jszardin was on the verge of breaking down. The spectre of a failure loomed heavily upon him. Raging against the cruelty of fate, he defiantly walked hard all night with his young master strapped securely on his back with a blanket.

With unyielding determination, Jszardin didn't allow himself to be bothered by the burning sensation in his calves and thighs. He prayed earnestly to all the gods to not let his legs cramp up.

Alas, Time is a cruel enemy. Before he could even find any sign of water, tendrils of light started to break the darkness.

"No, no, no, no, don't come up yet!" Jszardin's cracked voice was barely a whisper. Everywhere around him was a vast plane of brown sand and emptiness. It was at this moment that fatigue and a parched throat began to overwhelm him. Tears of despair started to trickle down his face. He still walked on but listlessly, like a drunk on wobbly legs.

Jszardin didn't know how long he had walked like that, but he knew he did so for a long time. He also couldn't understand how the sun wasn't fully out yet. Suddenly, before he realized it, he was walking on green grass. Over at a distance, he could see a snaking silvery silhouette.

"It's a river!" Jszardin blurted out, the sight reinvigorating him and giving back some hope to his soul. His mind wanted to question how it was possible, but the ragged breathing of his master alerted him.

"We can get through this, master," he said. "Just hold on a little longer."

With that Jszardin walked as fast as he could aiming for the river. All of a sudden a light breeze caressed his skin and seemed to rejuvenate his weary body. He jogged then ran at a steady pace.

He knew he had been running for some time, yet the sun seemed reluctant to come out fully. Jszardin couldn't care less. His young master had a chance to get through this ordeal, and that was all that mattered to him.