"We're almost there, lady," an obese carriage rider shouted.
Aria sat at the back of the carriage, hood covering the majority of her face.
Vegetables and all sorts of meat accompanied her. It gave her little room for comfort.
"Thanks again for this," Aria said.
"Sure, no problem," the rider said. "Remind me again, why are you going to Agni?"
"Well… I…" Aria paused, unsure how to answer. After running from dusk till dawn after escaping the castle, she realized she had no idea where she was going.
She wandered aimlessly until finding a farmer hoping to sell his produce at Pyros' capital, and he offered to give her a ride.
She had been to Agni before, but that was always under Lycan's supervision.
She didn't pay much attention to the environment. She was too busy thinking about how much she hated the dress Lycan had picked. Also, the lectures on how to speak, what cutlery to use.
Stupid dance steps that she had to do every five minutes. She took a deep breath, calming herself.
'This is different. You're free now,' Aria thought.
"I… um… I'm here for one of the festivals," she lied.
"Is that right?" the rider asked. "The next festival isn't for about a week. Don't you think you're a bit early?"
"Nothing wrong with being punctual, right?" Aria said.
"That is true," the rider said. His eyes diverted to Aria's bow. Her short curved blade was hidden under her hood. "You planning on entering one of those games? I hear the winner gets a load of coin."
"That's the plan," Aria lied.
"Your parents, do they know where you're going?" the farmer asked.
Aria hesitated to answer, her lip quivering before letting out a sigh.
'He gave me a ride without asking for anything. I can at least answer some questions,' she thought.
"No, no they don't."
"Really?" the rider said, intrigue in his voice. "Isn't that a little dangerous? A frail and lonely girl traveling all alone. Something devastating might happen."
Aria frowned. "Trust me, I may be alone, but I'm not frail. Besides, I'm of marrying age. I can do whatever I please."
"If you say so, young lady," the rider said, continuing their journey. The carriage halted. "We're here."
Aria looked around. The back of the carriage had a covered canopy and no windows. Only an exit towards the back. She tried peeking to the front to see more.
"Stay there!" the rider commanded unexpectedly. Aria stopped, staring confused.
"I mean…" the rider paused, clearing his throat then putting on a weary smile. "…the entry payment is a hassle just for one person. I can't pay for the both of us."
"Okay…" Aria said, her eyebrow raised. Whenever she had come here with Lycan they never had to pay. But Lycan was a noble. Maybe it was different for him.
She peeked through the front. It was an entrance to Agni. The city had large walls and she did recognize its architecture, but it wasn't the entrance she was used to.
There were no armored guards wearing Pyros' symbols. The entrance was grand, decorated with stone, and old. It seemed ruined. One of the gates was barely holding on, the stone crumbling.
'Is this something non-nobles have to go through?' Aria thought.
A man approached the rider. Not wearing armor but regular dirty clothes. The rider waved to Aria to get down and hide among the produce. She obeyed, but with her ears listening.
Something about this just gave her shivers.
"So what do you have for us today?" the strange man whispered.
"Just the regular," the rider whispered as well. "Some meat and vegetables, and also… a red one."
Aria's eyes widened hearing the last words.
"Why did he just…" she paused, pushing a strand of her hair into her hood.
"Really?" the stranger said, excited. "You're sure she's not a fake?"
"What do I look like to you, a damn fool?" the rider said. "There's no doubt. She didn't have the slightest smell of those putrid dyes. You know how much money we'll make selling her."
"This is it for us. Pyros truly has blessed us with one of his spawns."
"Indeed he has," the stranger whispered, with a wide grin. "Well, you know where to go."
With a tap on the carriage, the rider continued to move.
"I could drop you off here, but I think it's better I take you to the heart of the city," the rider lied. "Trust me, you're going to love it."
"Sure, why not," Aria said, gripping her bow tightly.
The carriage stopped at an abandoned street with a barrier of three run-down houses. Five men with swords were outside the carriage's entrance, the rider with them.
"Take her," the rider said, smiling sadistically.
One approached the carriage. An arrow flew through, penetrating his head. And then four more at incredible speeds, all in an instant.
All men were dead except the rider, scared and stunned.
"Damn it!" the rider said, turning to run. He screamed and crashed as an arrow pierced his knee. And then another in his other knee.
He was pinned down. The arrows sunk deep into the rocky ground.
He saw two feminine feet in front of him, bandaged.
"Look at me!" Aria screamed. Scared for his life, the rider obeyed. He skipped a beat and his eyes widened as he found Aria, no longer hiding behind a hood and her arrow half-drawn at him.
"Who else have you done this to? Tell me or you're dead," she said, bloodthirsty.
Meanwhile,
Fenris walked through the Safe Zone or rather the city inside of it. As a habit, he walked through the alleyways, the roofs, and quickly moved from one to the other.
A useless effort. There was no one but him here. But still he kept his guard up, sniffing the air and using his restored sight and hearing. Still, nothing.
He eased only a little, observing and analyzing his surroundings. This city's buildings were all on the verge of crumbling, with simple architecture.
"What happened here?" Fenris said. All these buildings were evidence of a civilization, but the absence of humans was strange. It wasn't the first proof.
When Buck saved and woke him up in the tiny house, he also had the same thoughts. But this world, what could possibly survive here? He walked upwards on a slope, then stopped.
He had been walking and investigating the city for some time now and was now at the edge of the barrier.
Over the edge was the portal shown on his map. Leading to who knows where. The swirling aura it produced was reminiscent of Gwendolyn's aura.
"Maybe this is our escape back to our world," Fenris wondered. "Gwendolyn had to leave one for us, didn't she? How else were we supposed to get back?"
If he was right, that left him with a question. Was he ready to go back?
"No. Not yet, and besides…" He paused.
He opened his map. The ferret representing Buck had moved from its original position and was somewhat closer to his. Buck would no doubt search for Fenris until he found him.
No matter what.
"Persistant and annoying, as always," Fenris said, placing his map back, but his eyes trailed to the very edge. To the large wolf's head with the label Trials.
"Just what is that?" he said with intrigue. To find out, he would have to pass the barrier. Then he looked in front of him. Right next to the portal was a tear in space. A rift—the violent sibling of a portal.
"What a coincidence these two are right next to each other… or is it?"
Rifts were similar to dimensional portals, except for their unstable and unpredictable nature. Portals took one from one place to a designated area.
Rifts, however, would take someone anywhere without reason. He had heard of rift storms appearing and taking entire villages from one nation to another.
Meaning if he went to the rift, he could end up back on the death blizzard or back with the Guardians. Or someplace he had yet to explore. No guarantee he would be close to where these trials were.
Placing the map away, he walked over the edge of the Safe Zone's barrier. Or tried to, anyway.
"Ow," he let out, feeling as though he had walked into a hard wall. The barrier pulsated with small waves. He placed his hand on it. It was solidified. Vexed, he brought out his claws and swung at it rapidly.
All that occurred were ripple-like vibrations. The barrier held. Fenris couldn't help but chuckle at the situation.
"So either I take a risk or go home," he snarled. "There's no way this is a coincidence. Someone or something had to have done this."
He brushed his silly idea aside with a sluggish wave.
"Just who could have done this? Some powerful mage or some god. No, most likely just a strange magical ecosystem. Yes, that's most likely it."
Still, he had a choice to make. Staring at both the portal and the rift, he turned away. He would wait for Buck. Not because he had to. He had already proven that he could survive this world without him, but still, he had no idea where the rift could take him.
It would be good to have some help. But he wouldn't stay idle. He continued exploring the ruined city. The moon from this world still gave him plenty of stamina and energy.
Maybe there was something he had missed. He ran on all fours, rooftops to rooftops, alley to alley, windows to windows. Testing something.
"I'm faster," he said with a proud smirk. His earlier suspicions had proven true. Consuming the core of the fire guardian elementals had granted him one of its abilities.
"I wonder how much more I'd have to consume. It doesn't matter. I'll eat hundreds, thousands. No matter what it takes. I will get stronger."
In his excitement over his improved speed, Fenris crashed into one of the stone houses by accident.
He stumbled through broken planks and shattered rocks. He grunted but was in very little pain. His durability from consuming the ice element and his grey hide armor protected him.
"I'll have to get used to my new speed."
He readied himself for one more run, but stopped. Something in one of the rays of the moonlight caught his eye. Something small and easy to miss. But it twinkled.
He approached and picked it up.
"Is this… a diamond?"
Fenris had seen drawings and read descriptions about it in books and overheard street merchants talking about it. It was clear like a diamond and it was perfectly cut. But was it as hard?
Fenris squeezed with his thumb and index finger. It shattered easily, leaving sparkling dust.
"I guess it wasn't a diamond after all."
But its particles still remained. Frozen in the air, shining with beautiful, sparkling lights. Fenris couldn't help but stare in awe.
He reached for one of them like scared children; they fled from him. But they didn't disappear.
They expanded and formed into something. Humanoid figures. A family of three. The mother and child were hiding. The father holding a spear aimed at the door.
"Papa, don't leave!" the child screamed.
"What the hells?" Fenris said, shocked.