Ice and snow.
Before he even opened his eyes, he already noticed that the environment was different from before. This is no longer the south of Avenella in the warm May, but a place that has been away for a long time, a homeland that I have not returned to for a long, long time. The breath inhaled in his mouth had a chill that penetrated the heart, but it did not make him feel uncomfortable, because the words in his ears that gradually became clearer had enough weight to warm everything up——
Back again, he thought, and then slowly opened his eyes.
The wind blows across the cold land, and the lake in the distance sparkles with silver. The dark green color of the fir trees common in the northern part of the East Coast is thicker than any land I have experienced since, as if the painter has overturned the palette. As if black was accidentally mixed into it, this sharp and dazzling deep dark green forms the ultimate contrast with the snow-capped land and the calm lake reflecting the clear sky - once you see it, you will probably never see it again in your life. Forget again.
The huge moose, which is almost as big as a war horse, is staring here from a distance. This largest deer in the world has few rivals among mammals, and among those dragon-like creatures that have the ability to capture them, the common dragon lizard Rejected by the most terrifying cold in the world here, as cold-blooded creatures, they can only go to the subarctic zone. In this icy land with short sunshine hours, only warm-blooded animals can move freely.
-The moose ran away, they sensed something.
The wind direction changed, and a snow-white dragon flew from a distance.
A dragon.
Not a dragon, not a hybrid, and certainly not a dragon lizard.
A real dragon.
It flew across the sky, its slender and graceful body and huge wingspan seeming to cover the sky and the earth. The animals in the forest were frightened and ran away because of the existence of this top of the food chain. There was a noise. In the distance, a snow tiger that was originally lurking in the dense forest trying to capture a young moose lost the opportunity to capture because of the sudden interference of this huge monster. , hungry, it jumped out and bared its teeth, trying to intimidate an opponent that was more than a hundred times its size——
The details are still so vivid. He is standing here at the moment. What he sees with his eyes and hears with his ears are all frozen. There cannot be any difference on that day, but in his heart it seems to be separated, with contradictory views. At the same time, I feel all this in the first person and look at it objectively in the third person, thinking about it.
The dragon flew over, its left wing tilted and began to fold. Its size is too large and if it lands directly, it will inevitably cause a big impact on the ground. Therefore, it slowly retracts its wings to adjust the angle, and gradually hovers from high in the sky to lower its height——
This lasted for several minutes, and when it allowed its huge wings to catch enough wind so that its forty-ton body could slowly fall, the dragon adjusted its direction and then landed on his before.
'————' The snow on the ground that had just fallen last night and had not yet become compact was instantly reduced by at least half a meter in thickness. In his memory, he subconsciously raised his hands to protect his face. The snow tiger that Guang caught a glimpse of turned around and ran away like a frightened cat.
"You are here as invited." The dragon said. The language was unusual and could not be uttered by any humanoid creature's pronunciation structure. But even if the ears cannot understand it, the meaning goes straight to the heart.
"And I will fulfill my promise." The dragon came closer, a certain kind of light began to shine, and he continued: "From now on, you will inherit the name of -"
——The memory ends here, every time. Perhaps it's the chaotic nature of dreams that disrupts everything, and even though it feels so real, it's still not the real world, so it can all happen again.
He had more or less a clue as to why he came back here.
The wind changed direction—or rather, it stopped.
The sounds of people talking and living suddenly appeared in my ears in an instant. It was the warm life of a small town and it was full of happiness. Schoolchildren were singing songs, and younger children wearing bearskin hats were playing on the snow-covered streets. Their mothers, with their arms akimbo and a straight face, told them not to get wet, while a child holding a snow shovel stood beside her. The soldiers persuaded with a smile while working.
No, people here are not enthusiastic.
Just like the constant cold all day long, the people living in this land are delicate and humble in their hearts. They don't like to shout loudly, and they don't need many celebrations and parties. Everyone just lives their own lives like this, there is no need to talk endlessly, but every word and deed is simple and real, like a bonfire burning quietly to provide warmth; like a bowl of thick soup made from freshwater cod, paired with Delicious reindeer meat and mashed potatoes, everyone just quietly enjoyed the company.
"Your Excellency, Mr. Leader, you got up so early today -" the residents greeted them: "I won the sauna competition yesterday." They smiled like this, and he waved and walked out of the street. A sudden cold wind blew by, but it was nothing to the people who had long been accustomed to all this. A neat group of soldiers came out from the street on the left carrying snow shovels. Although people often said that they were more like handymen than soldiers, these people themselves did not have any grudges.
"Good morning, captain." The soldiers smiled and nodded at him, and he replied: "Thank you for your hard work."
"Dang-dang-" The bells echoed in the distance throughout the city, and the soldiers quickened their pace. It was the breakfast bell, and he turned around following the sound and saw at a glance the hanging bell. The bronze clock at the top of the church.
The scene was frozen, and even the snowflakes flying in the air stopped moving.
"..." He gained the ability to move and could freely move around and speak in the dream.
"Is it because I'm in the legion again?" Henry said, "It's been a long time since I had this dream again, and the details are still so nostalgic." He reached out and touched the surface of the city wall. The cracks in the stones and the cold touch are very much like a real scene. But he knew that this was just a dream. Due to the influence of certain things, this memory would occasionally surface due to the ups and downs of his mood. Everything was so real, but everything was already so far away.
"..." Henry didn't speak anymore. The short period of time when he was able to move freely was the result of the intertwining of chaotic memories. After entering the scene in his normal memory, it would return to the fixed perspective and development of the past. This is a wonderful feeling. It is obviously his own memory, but he is like a bystander watching, unable to touch or influence - after all, it is just a fragment, the chaos recorded by himself in a period of history. part.
The scene changed to a warm interior, with a fire rising in the huge semicircular fireplace, and the servants gathered around and used it to grill sausages. There was a sound of "Bang -", and the short girl in nun's clothes placed the wooden basin containing a large pile of rye bread heavily on the long table because of the difficulty. "Your wrist isn't hurt, right?" He said in the dream, but perhaps due to a lack of memory, he clearly called the other party's name, but all he heard was jumbled and unclear syllables.
"It's okay, I'm very powerful." The little girl looked up and showed a big smile: "Aurora's children have been able to be independent since they were six years old, and I am also a nun in the church!" She said this, and next to her A woman eating bread added lightly: "Novice nun -" she said, and the little girl turned her head and walked towards the other side with a "hum".
——The memory switches again.
"Are you here?" It was a female voice. It was not high-pitched or sharp. It even made people feel that there was a gentleness that lingered, but it was full of power.
"Yes." Henry answered, not the past him, but himself - he knew that this was just a dream, just a fragment of the distant past. Even if the words he replied were different, the other person would say what he said next. It was still the same words, but he still said "hmm", just like the person who was actually here in the past.
This whole long period of preparation, this whole period of memory, is actually just for this moment.
Something in reality evoked his memories, and some similar situations in reality touched his mood at the moment, causing him to have a long-awaited dream about everything that had happened in the distant past.
"You asked me before, Mr. Leader." The woman did not look back. She stood by the window, leaving only a slender back that complemented the long black hair.
"Things created by human beings can actually be destroyed so easily. Even solid steel and castles that are said to be impenetrable may not necessarily be able to exist longer than human beings themselves, because we are so He is good at self-destruction and always seeks ways to destroy himself." He was silent, both now and in the past, and the woman continued: "Even great and lofty ideals will inevitably change as time goes by. Yes—you asked me before why I said such a human being is 'incomparably beautiful', do you remember?"
"Well, I think I can answer you now." She continued without waiting for Henry to answer the previous question: "Even if birth is inevitably accompanied by pain, even if it is because of greed and things will inevitably begin to decay as long as they exist - but because In this way, new things born have such precious meaning.”
"Even if destruction is inevitable, even if human beings seem as fragile as ants when crushed by the wheel of fate, but-" She turned back, her gray-blue eyes reflecting the sparkling snow scene outside the window. Liang, there is no trace of weakness on that delicate face, it is full of stubbornness.
"Human beings can fight against fate, even if destruction is inevitable, even if everything they have worked so hard to create will eventually fail, even if evil is entangled, even if the country is destroyed and the family is destroyed -"
"After that, humanity will still get back on its feet, every time."
"I firmly believe so, Mr. Leader." She smiled slightly: "Maybe it seems to you that it is just some empty beautiful words. Maybe after this I will never be able to smile at you so easily again, but no matter how."
"Please try to believe, Mr. Leader." She said, but before Henry could answer, there was a series of footsteps nearby, and then an anxious voice shouted: "Sage - —”
The surface was covered with silvery light and blood-stained swords.
Henry closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the air around him had warmed up significantly.
"Do you believe it..." He muttered quietly, and then got up from the bed in the military camp. There was a movement next to her. Mila, who had short hair, came over biting a twig for brushing her teeth. When she met Henry's eyes, she tilted her head as if asking her teacher what was wrong. "Nothing." The sage shook his head, then stretched his muscles and stood up.
"Where is His Highness the Prince?" he asked. The chaotic military camp was short of supplies, so many things needed to be temporarily set up. Edward and other noble officers had been extremely busy with command and deployment these days. "In the east, they are looking to see if they have gotten rid of the Otolo people." Mira squatted down, picked up her armor and started to put it on. Our Luoan girl's identity at the moment is Lina's escort who is accompanying the army. , although if she really had to go to fight, the situation would definitely be in the most critical moment. In that case, her own strength would not be of much use, but Mira still maintained good habits and would not relax her vigilance at all. .
"Yeah." Henry responded to her briefly, and then walked outside. The white-haired girl stared at her teacher's leaving figure, feeling that he was a little strange today, but then she shook her head and dismissed the idea.
Two flowers bloom, one on each side.
When the northern army led by Edward encountered the ambushed Otolo heavy infantry and was defeated and fled into the forest to reorganize, at the same time, Charles, who was originally a vanguard but failed to report the news in time, was in the most serious situation. moment.
Their decision to go to the viscounty was a wrong decision. When negotiating with the other party, Charles discovered the viscount's words and confirmed the fraud and captured the other party decisively. However, the 800-man cavalry was immediately defeated by the larger Yasib. Surrounded by troops under En II. And when he was trying to get his men to issue a warning, a young southern knight rushed up with a sword and killed the raven that was delivering the message with his sword. His behavior of rushing up against the attacks of several swords was the order. People admired them, but Charles and the others also lost the means to communicate with Edward and others.
Although there are also pigeons and ravens in the viscounty that carry messages, these birds that were not brought out from the army cannot recognize the northern army. They can only be used to send messages at fixed points, and will not be collected until the Dordogne side. By the time the message was sent out to inform Edward and the others, a week had passed since they were ambushed by the Otolo people.
The situation over there is still unclear, but here it is at the end of its rope. The viscount's castle did not have enough food and grass to support the additional 800 men. In addition, Ahiberne II's army became impatient and began to resort to methods such as poisoning and using trebuchets to throw plague-infected corpses into the city. , if they wait any longer, they may be annihilated.
The men and horses were weakening day by day, so on this morning, Charles made up his mind to strike hard and try to find life from the dead while he still had some strength left.
"Qiang——" The silver light flashed, and the knights of the northern army lined up neatly.
"For the future of our country," said Charles, shouting in Avenera as the door opened.
"For Avenella!"
