Camp Beside The Village

They began climbing the mountain. They took half an hour to reach the top. The mountain wasn't completely snowy. Some spots were only rock and nothing else the rest of the mountain was snow.

When they stood at the top, the rays of sunlight struck their face. They wiped the sweat on their face and enjoyed the majestic sunset for some time.

Slowly, the darkness increased and soon, it was completely dark. Charles said, "Let's camp here. We'll move tomorrow."

"Do we even have tents and stuff for camping?"

"No, we don't."

"Then, how do you plan to camp here?"

"Camping doesn't always mean applying tents and all that shit. We'll just burn the campfire and sleep on the ground."

"Sleep, in this cold, you must be kidding. I'm freezing out of life here."

"Then bear with it. From the day you rode that train, you were destined to suffer the utmost cold and other harsh weather. Now, sit down and do as I say."

They cleared snow off an area where they could sleep, sit, and also burn a campfire. Charles took out a waste cloth and laid it down.

Then, he took out a lighter and burnt the cloth. Morgan asked, "Won't this burn go out easily?"

"No, this is a fire cloth. It never burns out until it is ordered by its owner to go out."

"Oh, it's convenient. I would love to have it too."

"Then just buy it later."

The fire began burning like a campfire. They sat facing each other. They were sitting on the opposite side of the fire. Charles began a conversation.

"Ok, so I will tell you the reason we are going to the Golden Frost Village."

"Finally, you are at least telling me the reason. What is it?"

"Do you know about Dillards?"

"You mean, the rumours about the Dillards? I've heard a lot of 'em. But I don't think it's true."

"Some are true and some are false. Which would you like to hear first? The true part or the false part?"

"The true part."

"For that, I will cover some background information. This world was once a very developed place. Human civilisation had reached every corner of the Xeno and Xalandiam.

They had also settled on 15 different planets. However, one day, something happened. Something strange happened. Everyone out of the Xeno died of a heart attack and every settlement out of Xeno blasted.

Half of the population of Xeno died of the same reason. At that same time, the western side of the world suffered from a sudden pandemic.

The remaining civilisation on the eastern side created a barrier so large that it went above the atmosphere. The barrier was ring-shaped, splitting the complete world into two parts.

We are in the east part. We don't know anything about the Western part and the technology we had centuries ago. Our ancestors destroyed every piece of technology and its information.

However, they wrote the information that I told you just now. Whatever I told you is confidential information which is limited to Interpol.

You must have not known anything about this. We have even retrieved some of the weapons of that age. Believe me or not, they are capable of destroying the whole galaxy."

"Really?! I didn't know all these things. But, are you speaking true? And why should I believe you? All this stuff sounds like a storyline of a fiction work."

"I understand your doubts. But, like I said, believe me or not, it is true."

"But, how does whatever you said relate to the topic?"

"I'm coming to that. During the mass extinction, it is believed that all the memories of every people faded. But the monks saved humanity because, somehow, they weren't affected.

They taught everyone about language, art and culture. They formed the religion of Dillards; the religion was unnamed, but the surname Dillard was more than enough.

Those monks are long gone and only their few descendents remain alive. One of the Dillards is Tom Dillard, the one who saved you.

So far, he is the only Dillard I've met in such a long life. This is how rare they are. And most of the Dillards live in the Golden Frost Village.

The true part of the rumours is that the Dillards are not the only ones living in the Golden Frost Village, which is the homeland of Dillards.

Only Dillards are supposed to live there but there also lives a man of about your age. He was adopted by the Dillards, but now, they want to kill him.

But Interpol interrupted and requested him to wait for 15 days. If no officer came to his rescue, he would be killed. And, tomorrow's the last day."

"What the fuck?! If there is so little time left, why don't we go right away."

"We don't wanna attract trouble inside the village. And besides, we are being watched."

"Hey, you must be kidding, right? Why are shocking me with everything you say?"

"Keep calm. They don't know that we've noticed them. In a few minutes, they will attack us in our sleep."

"What if we don't sleep?"

"It's no use. In that case, they will attack us anyways and still, we'll be weak."

"Then what should be done?"

"Act natural. Let this conversation go smoothly. The moment you stand up, you'll be attacked. Be prepared for that."

"But didn't you say that we will be attacked in our sleep?"

"I did say so. But we will not stand up for a few hours more. Doing so, they will feel suspicious and try to kill us immediately. "

Charles' words followed a long moment of silence. The wind blew slightly, touching their faces. They felt the melting of snowflakes touching their face.

Morgan was still feeling cold. A lot colder than he ever felt. But he knew that there was no point speaking about that now. So, he ignored the cold.

He asked, "If the existence of the monks in the mountains is the true part, what is the false part?"

"Everything else is false. Everything that I didn't tell you is nothing more than false rumour."

"Damn, there are so many fucking rumours flying around."

Morgan scratched his head for a while. After a while, he snapped his fingers and said, "Oh yeah, I almost forgot. When will I get the agreement? And when will I go to the headquarters?"

To be Continued...