Chapter 6

"Sure, Alaric, we're going after Molech too. Let's unite our missions! It's better to stay together instead of everyone going their own way." - said Merydia.

"Well, since you are going to Doriam, I have something to show you that will help you on your journey, do not leave without first taking this." - Balrod said, then proceeded to get up from the couch and began digging through some wooden drawers full of papers and other objects.

"Hmmm... where did I leave it... Oh, here it is, Doriam's map. You will need this, take it, I hope it is useful for your adventure." - said Balrod smiling and stroking his long brown beard, while he extended his arm with the map rolled up with a red ribbon. Alfred proceeded to take it subtly

"Thank you very much, Lord Balrod." - Alfred responded, and he began to slowly and subtly untangle the cord from the red ribbon. The map was stiff and did not unroll easily, it seemed to be made of some material other than paper, perhaps it was made from the skin of some animal. The map was similar to a parchment, its edges were peeling and damaged by time, indicating that it was an extremely ancient document. Alfred took the map with both hands and began to spread it on the table where they had the coffee cups.

As everyone saw the map laid out and spread on the table, they realized that Doriam was an immense land and that it would probably take several years to fully explore it. Alfred put his finger on the map and began to slowly run it over it as if his finger had the ability to see. Alfred proceeded to look for the shortest path to Doriam and found that the land was just a few walks away from where he and Merydia were. It could be reached on foot from Balrod's house.

In order to enter that land, we need to cross a mountain range that extends like a wall, from the north, in Edim, to the south in Badum. The shortest way to enter must be through some valley, we won't even climb the gray mountains.

"The Valley of Darthalia" - answered Balrod, sitting down on the sofa again and lighting his wooden pipe. – "Right there lives the race of Darthals, a species of humans with horns, ah! Truth be told, Tammy, the creature that took your stone is a Darthal. They are beings considered wild by the race of men, although also by other races like ours. The Basauns. However, they are a very strong and brave race, you will have to be careful with them since they are not very peaceful, so to speak, they have always prepared for war and they do not like strangers."

"There must be another way." - said Merydia. "I am afraid of the Darthals, I would not dare pass through their lands. Just when they discover us they would take us as prisoners or as slaves."

"There is another entrance which is not shown on the map." - said Balrod - "There, near the Targen River, there is a bridge which takes us directly to Doriam, however, the entrance is being guarded and guarded by a ferocious dragon, the dragon will ask you for total submission to Moloch in order to enter. You will have to pretend to be Moloch's spies and to do so you will cover your faces with hoods to deceive the dragon. However, for nothing in the world you should be discovered, if for any reason the dragon discovers that you are not faithful to Molech, he will kill you without hesitation. If the dragon questions you, say that you are spies of the magnanimous Moloch. That is the safest and shortest entrance to that dark land."

Alfred and the others were left looking at themselves and on their faces you could see their willingness to enter through that route that Balrod provided them. The three nodded and subsequently stood up from their seats.

"We'll go that way, Lord Balrod. We'll meet again soon, if we survive our mission. We must overthrow that evil that plagues our world and fast" - said Alaric, looking at Balrod in the eyes.

"I admire your bravery but you can't go without something else." - said Balrod, handing them black hoods so long that the fabric dragged them along the ground; The equally long sleeves hid his hands. The hoods were so wide that only showed their mouths, shadowing the rest of their faces. After putting on their hoods, they left Balrod's house, bidding him a warm farewell, thanking him for his hospitality.

"Come back soon!" -said Balrod, shaking his hand, saying goodbye to the three. Meanwhile, Alfred, Merydia and Alaric set off walking towards their new destination.

As they approached, the sky turned gray, bringing forth the mist of the land of Doriam. The sunlight turned yellowish and opaque. The clouds turned dark purple at the bottom, while at the top they showed a lighter purple color due to the sun's rays that illuminated them. They went up a hill passing a small curved bridge with large stones embedded in various colors, blue, others brown and others gray. Under the bridge was a translucent greenish river, from which fish could be seen swimming even from the bridge.

Passing the bridge they found a canyon, a large sinkhole which fortunately had some stone stairs, which they subtly went down to avoid the risk of falling, since the steps were quite damaged, some steps were completely destroyed so they had to jump from stone to stone in order to continue their descent, they even had to hold each other's arms or shoulders to be able to go down more easily.

The canyon had a very dark atmosphere since no sunlight reached them from that shoal. Around them, the atmosphere was very humid, it seemed like it had just rained. The stones were moldy and there were also small clumps of grass and grass sprouting from the damp, black walls of the canyon. When they reached the ground below, they were greeted by a large stone arch which gave entrance to the bridge they were looking for. From the arch, sunlight entered, showing a luminosity of an orange and red hue, it was like the colors of fire. You could see the clouds, the sky, and the long stone bridge in front of your eyes. A white marble bridge but in the dim light of the sun, it turned a fairly slight orange color. The bridge had a lot of pointed arches at the bottom, where a river of purple water runs. At the top of the bridge, you could see some stone arches of a Gothic appearance, in which were hanging fire lamps.

The three individuals began to walk across the bridge, feeling the blow of the wind and the breeze of the water on their faces. Slowly, they began to see mountains on the horizon that faintly loomed due to the fog that covered them. Suddenly, something began to appear from the water.

"Do you hear that?" - Alfred said when he heard a subtle roar from the waters, which became increasingly powerful as they walked in.

"Yes, it's a roar, it must be the dragon! Put on your hoods!" - said Merydia who hastily proceeded to cover her face and hands with her tunic. The others did the same and continued with their walk pretending that nothing strange was happening.