The destiny of a prince

Chapter XIII

                                                                                        Ms. Bogger

                   After a day of riding, running in the cold wind blowing in front of them, the evening was getting closer and closer, making Corvin and Faren look for a good place to stay. Finding the right place Corvin began to make a long-burning fire and skinned a rabbit he had caught, then set it on fire. Another hour passed and they waited for dinner and lunch to rest as long as possible in the morning.

                  They were planning to leave as early as possible to get to The Black Rock quickly. They didn't have much to go on, just wanted to go through Valda too to see why it's so scary for everyone. He didn't think anything of what people were saying about many things, and he wasn't interested, but he was very curious about this place, especially since he had to go there to break that curse.

                  The next morning Corvin and Faren left as soon as the sun was up in the sky, and the wind calmed, making their journey a little more pleasant. They went north where they came across a small forest that was still green compared to the others that had already fallen off their leaves. The farther the smell of burning wood and deadliness grew in the forest, the stronger it went. Shortly after entering the forest Faren stopped, putting his hand on his nose.

                - Can't we bypass?

                - We could, but we should bypass all this forest and it will take us more than two days to get to The Black Rock.

                 -But I never felt this warm air and this nasty smell, said Faren. Where it comes from?

                 - Yes, it is. On the spot that as soon as the forest is over we will give the valley that everyone is afraid of. We can see it better now than when we are fighting Lucifer's army.

                 - But if we prevent it from being brought back here, who will drive it? Do you think that without a leader they will go to war again?Ț

                  - To be honest I don't know, but even if Lucifer can't come here I'm sure he'll send someone else to lead them. As long as  Val'dul stays as we will see in a few moments, these lands will not be safe.

                 -But what is Val'dul connection to Lucifer and his armory? asked Faren.

                - That valley is like a portal to him. If he is to come back and lea his army, I suppose that's the place. There he was defeated, and there he will die if he returns.

               - Can I ask you something?

               -Yes, but let's move on, Corvin said, then started on his way.

               - What do you want to do?

                -Meaning?

                - I want to know why you do all this. You are trying to reunite the kingdoms again, but for what purpose?

              - Revenge my father. I'll kill Rohan in front of everyone, as soon as he confesses that he killed the former king, Corvin said in all his anger.

             - Then why don't you go straight to him. I don't think you need an army, no matter what he's looking for, Faren said, stopping on the go.

           - But why do you mind how I do things? I don't care if I will be king or not, all I want now is for Rohan to die, and the renewal of the alliance is because his father asked for me.

          - Then you're a fool if you go on this mission with the thought of avenging your father. Do you think that if your father knew what you were doing he would be pleased?

             -Don't talk to me like that, Corvin crawling to Faren. You had your father from the beginning and you have him now. You have both parents, you do not know what it is like to have a beautiful life and in one day you find out that the attack of the orcs that killed your mother was not a dream.

               - That's the way I don't know. But that doesn't mean you have to do everything yourself. If you want revenge, take revenge, but know that you will be exactly like Rohan if you go on this mission with the desire to get revenge.

               - When my father was killed no one helped my mother grow up, why would I now ask for help, why would I expect help from someone? Corvin asked.

              - Do you think you're the only one who wants him dead? If that were the case, would Blackheart and Elder not agree to the treaty being renewed? Elder trusts you will do what is right, as I have.

             - And what do you want me to do? I can't forgive him for what he did.

             -Your time will come too, Faren said as he put his hand on him. Remember to complete the treaty renewal, your kingdom must accept.

             - Yes, but Rohan will never sign ...

             - Your right, but you will sign the treaty. After Rohan is taken down, you will take his place, and then you will have your kingdom and the people will follow you. Now let's go, we stayed too long here.

             Faren forced the horse to walk, leaving Corvin behind for only a few seconds and then followed. Corvin was looking at Faren as he walked past him and didn't understand why he trusted him so much when he barely knew him. They had been traveling together for some time, but he didn't think that after such a short time you could trust someone as much as Faren had in him. There was a time when they were silent without saying anything to each other. Faren suddenly stops at the edge of the woods, causing Corvin to come quickly to see what happened.

               Reaching next to her she saw the most frightening valley. They finally arrived in Valda, but suddenly they didn't want to see that place.

             -Goodness, said Faren, squeezing the saddle in her hand.

             - That's why everyone is careful. I never thought such a thing was possible. We need to do something to make this place exactly the way it was.

             - But how?

             - In one way you can. It is said that this place became frightening because of the war of 2000 years ago and to return it must end.

             -More precisely Lucifer must die, said a voice from behind them.

Corvin and Faren flinched at the sound of that voice behind them, causing them to turn in the direction they heard. He saw no one, so Corvin dismounted, gave Faren a hold of the horse as he drew his sword.

            - Come to light so I can see you better.

            - And what makes me think that once I step into the light, it won't immediately knock me down?

             - Come out and we'll see.

             Then he quieted for a few minutes, then slowly began to see a shadow coming out of the darkness. Corvin and Faren were silent as soon as they saw the young man standing in front of them. A young man as tall as Corvin, with long hair almost to the middle, the color of his hair was golden blonde, his skin very white and his face the usual color that people had. What attracted her most attention were the sharp ears. The boy had come out of the darkness very calmly, he was an elf. Corvin and Faren remained in the mask seeing him come out of the darkness, dressed in black boots with dark brown pants and blouse, underneath the blouse had a kind of blouse created from the finest and hardest material. His name was mithril, nothing could pierce that material.

            - Who are you? Corvin asked.

            - Just a friend. I saw you were gone and I was sent after you, said the elf.

            - Where can we go?

             -Selumista quessir tell you something?

             - Why don't you tell us who you are? As far as I know, you can be an enemy, Faren said, ignoring her.

             - I'm Lemar Lemir's son. I was sent by King Inshir to see what happened to you.

             - We are not as fast as you elves and besides we had problems along the way.

             - Then what are you doing here if you stay away from orcs?

             - I wanted to see why everyone is afraid of this place. Looks like they were right.

             -You didn't have to come here, so let's get out of here as quickly as possible, Lemar said.

             - Yes, but one day we'll be back ...

             And then Lemar stops him and shows him something much further so that he can see something clear, the elves saw much better in the distance. There were orcs coming toward them, but Corvin and the others were lucky he hadn't seen them and so he wanted to stay. Lemar motioned them to go east to bypass the orcs. It had been only a few hours before they had uttered a word, only to walk as far as possible from that valley filled with orcs, goblins, and trolls that roamed about.

             - What's going on here? Corvin asked, breaking the silence.

             - This place has become their territory. They like this place and they want to keep it, but we are fortunate that only a small part of their breed lives here. Soon it will be full of orcs, goblins and trolls.

              -Not for long, Faren said. We're going to regain this place right Corvin?

              -Yes.

              - You're pretty confident. Are you sure it will be as you say?

              - Once the treaty is renewed we will go to war and defeat once and for all.

              - Are you sure that the treaty will be renewed by all? How do you know gnomes will sign? As far as I know, they do not want to have any connection with anyone anymore, but they have retreated to the depths of the earth.

              - They will be badly stubborn, but I will make them sign the treaty. For now, I'm curious if your king will sign.

              - We'll see. Now let's step up, we don't have much anymore and we reach The Black Rock village.

              - But from where did you know where we are and why your king sent you, as if he didn't want to deal with anyone.

             - You appeared in his dream. It had been heard that someone wanted to unite the treaty but it didn't interest him until he found out that you were the one. So he changed his mind.

             -Me? How does he know about me and why did he change his mind when he saw that it was me?

              - I don't know, but you'll find out soon.

             - Do you know about Arkeryn's sword if he is with you? Faren asked.

              - There is no sword. It's just a myth. I don't know why Inshir changed his mind, but you will know everything you want when we get there. Hopefully we won't have any other annoyances on the way.

              Lemar made Corvin and Faren follow him. Corvin didn't trust him, but for now he had nothing to do. He knew that the Arkeryn sword exists and that it is with the elves, maybe Lemar didn't know about its existence, but Inshir certainly knew about everything he wanted to know. Corvin was still thinking about what made Inshir think about this treaty.

              - Are you going to go all night?

              -The more we go, the faster we get to Selumista quessir, Lemar said.

              -If we go all the time without stopping the horses will die, Corvin said from behind them. Let's find a good place for this night, and in a few hours tomorrow we'll reach the Black Rock village.

                 Lemar hadn't even said anything when Faren's stomach made a noise, letting him know he was hungry. He said nothing more and immediately looked for a good place to stop and rest. Faren gathered firewood. They filled their bellies with food and with a little fear of what they had left, they spread out by the fire to warm themselves up a little. Lemar was the first to stand guard followed by Corvin until the morning, leaving Faren to rest longer.

                  The next morning they didn't stay long and set off on their way to The Black Rock Village. The weather was getting worse and worse, causing them to cover up as well as they could, and to stay away from the strong wind. She had begun to sniff at what made the trip harder, the closer to the mountain the weather worsened, and visibility was also a nuisance. One thing was good for them, there was no trace of orcs, goblins or trolls. With difficulty in a few hours they passed on the other side of the mountain, from where he could see the village.

                   He did not see much, just as the smoke was coming out of the furnaces of the houses here and a little light struggling to come to the surface of the flames falling incessantly. The closer they came to the village, the better the gates of the village and the walls made of black stone were not very high.

                    Soon the gates opened, and a powerful man in front of them was holding his sword, and two other men with bows stretched out for them.

                    - What do you want? asked the stranger.

                   -We are in the process of passing and we have looked for a place to sleep, hoping that this village wil offer it to us tonight, said Lemar.

                - An elf traveling with two people. I'm sorry but I can't let you in.

                -What? Faren asked. Can't you see what's snowing and how cold it is? just this night we want to stay tomorrow you will not find us here.

                - I have never seen you here and I will not let strangers come in here.

               - We need to get to Ms. Bogger we are looking forward. King Blackscar sent us, Corvin said at last.

                Not having any goalkeeper, they are allowed to enter with an advertisment. If they are having trouble they will have to deal with them, then he led them to the inn called Ms. Bogger, which was a small bar but had rooms where he could stay overnight. Corvin and the others were taken to the Ms. Inn. Bogger by the man who opened the gate where they were left in front of the inn. When Corvin and the others entered the door of the inn, everyone who was there stopped what they were doing and looked at them with an ugly look, especially since an elf had entered. The people of this village did not like elves or any other race except humans. After a few seconds a fat man not too tall with an apron around his waist and a bushy mustache, beckons everyone to continue their work, then goes to Corvin.

                 - We don't serve his breed here and I'd rather you go.

                 - He is with us and will stay as long as we are here. We are looking for the owner of this inn, said Corvin.

                 - What's your job with him?

                 - It is very important to talk to him alone.

                 - I'm Bogger. So will you tell me what you want from me? The sooner, the better.

                   Corvin took the letter from Blackscar and handed it to him. Bogger opened the letter, looked over it, then motioned for them to follow him to a room where it appeared to be his office. Bogger tells the bartender not to be disturbed and then closes the door behind him.

                  -I hope you weren't tracked and I thought it was you and the elf, Bogger said.

                  - Only Faren and I left Shinestone, and I met him last night when we were approaching Val’dul. He stopped us from going further.

                  - Well he did. The uprising didn't start well and you want death? Don't you know that whoever gets in there doesn't escape life?

                  -I didn't believe in anything that was said about Val’dul, Corvin said.

                  -Don't worry it won't happen again, I'll take care of them during this trip, Lemar said.

                 - What do you want to say? Faren asked.

                  - Don't you know? It has been rumored in Rohan's kingdom that the true prince is still alive, but for the time being the poorest of them believe this is their only hope. Soon they will multiply and ...

                  - Who gave this rumor? Corvin interrupts him.

                   - Blackscar and me. You just want to get your kingdom back, right? You cannot enter the palace and hope that Rohan will simply give you the throne or that people will accept you immediately.

                   - But if those who support the idea that they are alive will die? Then what are you going to do, I don't think they're going to take that risk.

                    - Everyone hates Rohan even if he is not in his kingdom. It only hurt, it killed innocent people to show people that it caught the killers who killed your father and his family, even killed a small child to sue him and his mother instead of your mother.

                    - Rohan will pay for what he did. If I didn't kill my mother and all the villagers in the Fae village where I lived my whole life, I wouldn't even care about him, ”Corvin said in anger.

                     - You're quiet, Corvin. Now it takes you to your room to rest. You will find food and drink there, and the fire is already done, tomorrow we will discuss more. Now I have to go back there until they do some nonsense, talk to nobody, who knows who's on Rohan's side, Bogger said.

                        Bogger got up and walked out of the office while a group were arguing over too many drinks. A few minutes later Corvin and the others leave the office and head to their room where they found a table full of food and a large fire in the fireplace. Finally, they also had a large table and a very good mead, not the one they had on the road, and the horses were spoiled in their turn. After such a meal they could do nothing but lie on the beds that were in that room, not too big but grandparents.