Chapter 4

After Thomas left, Ivan continued to sit there and enjoyed the feeling of the sun’s rays on his face. His muscles still ached from the morning work and the warmth of the day was making him sleepy. As he began to doze off, more yelling caught his attention.

The first thing Ivan noticed was the massive battle-axes; two steel heads, carved like a crescent moon, strapped to a black-wood staff. Then he noticed the warriors holding them.

“Hemgels.”

The Hemgels were a fiere race from the Frost Mountains, located in the northernmost part of Valden. A life of hunting ice-bears and inter-tribal fighting had turned them into the most ferocious warriors in Valden. The laws set in place by the current King permitted them to retain their own way of life, least they start trouble with others.

Standing in front of the warrior, and barely coming to shoulder height, once again was the thin man who had paid him and Thomas. A fast torrent of racial slurs pouring out of his mouth.