After the Administrator of Seresmus left noisily, the four remained silent. Kassel sipped from a lukewarm beer and stared into space. He turned his head to follow the floating dust and then glanced at Tanya. She was also silently drinking. Throughout their week-long journey from Tachisel, crossing the Sky Mountains, Tanya had been quiet. Occasionally,…

The village of Leofio in Carnelock was a poor excuse for a fortress guarding the south. The walls were low enough to climb over with bare hands, and so rickety that a good kick could dislodge the bricks. Parts of it had been left in disrepair for months. But it could afford to be. This…

A snow-laden wind fiercely poured into the room through the broken window. It was the topmost room of the Ice Castle, where the floor, walls, and ceiling were all made of ice. Ice shards carried by the wind literally tore at the skin. Lofin stood with a sword in one hand. Blood flowed down his…

Azwin lay on a bed, covered with a rough blanket provided by the Lemifs. A Tachisel woman Lemif had carefully placed food beside her and left, but Azwin didn’t touch it. She intended to sleep and wake up early to see Kassel off tomorrow, but she couldn’t sleep. The magic powder Lofin had sprinkled had…

As Lofin rode on Rai’s back, flying into Tachisel, he first spotted Victor. It was impossible to mistake that Excelon’s black armor and his single arm for anyone else. Lofin shouted at Rai to block the sorcerer and then jumped off. He didn’t know if the woman Victor was about to strike with his sword…

“Wake up, Azwin.” He said after dumping a bucket of cold water on Azwin’s face. Azwin jerked up and screamed. “What are you doing!” “Talking back to your teacher again. How many times must you be hit before you fix that tongue of yours?” “Why don’t you fix your manner of speaking?” “What do you…

Gerald swung his axe high and stumbled back down the stairs. The Lemif soldiers, filling the staircase, glared with hatred as if he had killed their king. Gerald watched their timing and suddenly swung his axe, sending spear shafts tumbling down the stairs. “I didn’t kill your king! You saw it. If you try to…

To Azwin, a human, Tachisel seemed like an ancient city that had disappeared. She looked at the grand city of the Lemifs as if she had become an explorer. Throughout the city, gigantic trees that seemed to support the sky blocked the surroundings, but compared to other forests, there were relatively few trees. It was…

Putnai, the Lemif city of the Fvoe. Ruskin thought that when he arrived in Putnai, he would see Mozes’ grand army ready to invade. He expected Victor, the commander-in-chief, to be at the forefront, armored and armed, heading towards Larunton, another Fvoe Lemif city. Yet, Victor was leisurely sitting in a shack, on a chair,…

The black-skinned Lemif woman groaned softly and stirred. Everyone was startled as if waking from a dream and turned to look at her. While Kassel and Lofin were still hesitating, not fully awake from the hallucination, Rai, who had regained his senses a little faster, approached her. Then he touched her face and said, “Just,…