Most of the oil paint on the wooden sign has peeled off, leaving only a few strokes. Parsul identified it carefully, but his finger pointed to a random road. "right."
"Don't you have a sense of direction? There is a canyon on the right."
"Are you going or not?" she yelled.
The knight shut his mouth and turned to the right. His pace suddenly quickened and he almost threw Parsur away. She immediately grabbed hold of his hair, trying to retaliate. But he didn't say anything to stop him. After crossing the fortress, they finally encountered a rare sunny day and had to hurry up.
The canyon is much narrower than the border between Saint-Valorin and Auregna, and its depth is not alarming, but the cliffs on both sides slope downwards. Frost and snow made the rocks steeper and more slippery, so they stopped beside a spruce tree to take shelter from the sudden wind.
Parsur glanced at the cliff. "This is a great place."
"To the eagle. You want to cross the river?"
He understood her insistence on this path. Passing through the canyon, the mountain road on the other side leads directly to a mighty river. The capital of Alanvor is said to be located at the source of the river. "I have to pass."
"The Black Moon River never freezes." Joey reminded, "If you want to cross the river, you have to take a boat."
"That's it." Parsul said, "The Black Moon River is also a symbol of divinity, and ordinary magic cannot cross it. It is the mother river of the Alanwo people, and it is also the main altar for witches and werewolves to worship the gods." Her His tone softened a bit. "There is no life in the Black Moon River, but it provides a place for death. This is a noble act. Do you hear its distant waves?"
"So crossing the river requires a specific boat. Maybe what you heard was the captain's bell telling you to pay your bill."
Parsu paused. She had never thought about this before. Saint Valoran still followed the barter trading method. After the war with the Empire, metal currency gradually became popular. Naturally, she had not come to Aurenia empty-handed, but she had left all her luggage there when she fled from Mortus. I should save a few pieces of jewelry. In the eyes of the ferryman, could the magic potion of the forest have any value?
"Obviously, this is not your job." Joey turned his face and his voice became softer. "Anyway, we only need boats, not manpower."
"You better not piss me off, Joey."
"You just need fire."
It was too early to discuss crossing the river; they hadn't even crossed the canyon yet. The wind was getting stronger with no sign of letting up, and the sun in the sky turned into a small blur of orange dots. At the bottom of the canyon, among the rocks and frosty cliffs, the howls of wolves echoed sadly. Parsour had a premonition of another long snowstorm coming.
The knight tugged at her fur collar. "Get up." His fingers were even warmer than her face. "It's going to snow. It's not too late to turn around now." Another road leads to a werewolf village. When the moon is not full, they welcome travelers other than humans and Alanwo elves. The wooden sign also belongs to them.
You can also go to the Black Moon River through the Werewolf Village, but it will take too much time on the way. After getting feedback from the forest, Parsur weighed the two and chose the shorter path. Of course she wouldn't back down at this moment, so she grabbed the tree trunk and stood up. Suddenly, Parsur found that the leg injured by Nightingale was almost completely healed. I haven't walked much these days.
The strong wind blew up a layer of snow and roared into the canyon. Parsur wrapped every inch of skin tightly, leaving only his eyes exposed. The knight was not considered tall among his companions, but he was still a head taller than her and twice her weight. If she were to advance on foot, the strong wind might be enough to knock her off the cliff, but it was different now. When he reached the edge, Joey's feet seemed to be nailed to the ground, motionless. Looking at the black and white rocks below, Parsul couldn't help but feel dizzy, as if he was looking at hell.
"forward. Go to the end of the world, you can't look back" the voice sounded. For the sake of Heather and all the merciful gods, Parsul thought, I can't do this.
A bridge of frost stretched in front of me, and the rustling sound of freezing penetrated my ears. In the extreme cold, Parsul can feel the improvement of Joey's magic power. Maybe if he stays in this ghost place for two more years, he can become a pivotal figure among the Silver Song Knights. Mysteriously connecting the two sides, the knight takes a step forward. The mist of breath was instantly torn apart by the airflow. Parsul couldn't pretend that he couldn't see anything, so he simply closed his eyes. Maybe next we'll slip and fall to pieces in the abyss. But Joey's steps were steady and heavy. Feng Xue and he were just bystanders, and there was nothing they could do to add fuel to the fire. Hell, I couldn’t do anything without him.
Even so, she still couldn't forgive Joey.
Before entering the snow forest, Parsul would never accept help from his enemy. This will cause hatred to become nefarious and eventually lose its original appearance altogether. But if only things were that simple. Parsul wanted to laugh at his oath-breaking, curse him for his frame-up, part ways with him, and cut them off... In the stormy wind and snow, she only wanted to fill the cracks in the cave. This is not right. I should be filled with resentment and use all means to retaliate. He was the one who brought me here and he was the one who committed the horrific murders. She was supposed to spend the rest of her life in the sunny northern forests. Heather, what do you want me to do?
"forward"
She got her answer. But maybe it was just the rumor.
The knight is halfway through. Parsur opened his eyes and could see the bottomless abyss under the ice. The air flow was mixed with snow foam, which hit her head and face. Her breath formed a thin crust under her scarf. When will it be the end? Even if what was waiting for Parsuer was not spring sunshine and green shade, she felt it didn't matter.
They cross the canyon.
The ice track shattered behind him, plunging into a wide, dark valley. The cliff at this end is not as steep as before. The downward slope is very gentle, like a beach at low tide. She always felt that this place was the opening of hell, and it must be easy for the devil to climb up the slope. But if you look carefully, there are only shallow wolf paw prints on the snow.
"Someone's going to come after me," Joey said.
"A werewolf?" she blurted. They have been chased by nightingales these days, but it is impossible for the witch to hide so many killers in the forest. They probably used local materials.
"Aurenian. Agent from the south."
What this means is the imperial agents hiding in Alanvor. Parsur shuddered. "The Knights of Silver Song are going to attack Alanwo?"
"Sooner or later." The knight stopped by a dead birch tree and cut off the branches with a dagger. He chopped for a while, then switched to an ice blade, and finally got a piece of wood as long as an arm. Neither Parsur nor Joey had a tarpaulin to start the fire, but the mythical creature didn't have to follow mortal rules. When the flames started, he held the wood to Parsur. "Maybe today."
As warmth and light emerge, so too does the past they had escaped from return. Parsul took the torch wordlessly, feeling himself gradually thawing. She wanted to turn around and get rid of the nightmare. Maybe we should stay in that sheltered cave, eliminate the smell and footprints, and hide there for the rest of our lives. The truth and the past belong to another person and have nothing to do with her.
What harm could this do?
Parsur stuck the torch in the vines and threaded his hands through his collar. Compared to fire, the knight's body temperature is like frost. He hunched his shoulders and slowed down due to the transfer of heat. "I saved you," she whispered in his ear, "otherwise you would have died in Alanvor."
"Just the moon elves and water elves?" the knight asked arrogantly.
"This place is blessed by God."
"Everyone has his own god. Why didn't Heather punish me? When you were in Mortus, you prayed day and night to the garden."
"Isn't this it? I dragged you into a journey of death, Joey. Don't ever think about going back."
Even though they had been communicating in Elvish, the knight lacked the words to respond emotionally. Or maybe he was thinking about how to make his blurts less stinging, Parsour thought. This is a rare silence. She didn't know if her guess was out of expectation, so she had to say something else...
"I won't go back."
"What?"
"I won't go back."
"You have nowhere to go. Like me..."
"Same."
"You should have said that."
"A living person will not die if he doesn't speak." Joey stepped across a ditch. "You tell me what you want. I have to listen anyway. I'm a footman."
Parsur understood his explanation. "Who asked you to assassinate Elber?"
"emperor."
He had no choice, no more than I did. "A new era has dawned on Oregna. Maybe, Joey, maybe he doesn't need you anymore."
"Really? I can still hear his orders. All the time. It's so noisy."
"He wants you to take me back?"
"He asked me to come with you."
Around the pond, the cold wind suddenly changed direction. The torch swayed violently, but ultimately persisted. "This is the voice of your heart, Joey, follow it," Parsour told the knight.
"What if he changes his mind?"
"Ignore it. You are free, so why care about the shackles of the past?" She replied without thinking.
The sunny weather did not last into the afternoon. The strong wind heralded another long snowfall, and they arrived at the Black Moon River in the evening. Parsul thought that finding the boatman in the ice and snow would be the only difficulty, but it turned out that there were too many people willing to wait in the snow. The past has finally caught up with them.
Joey sharpened his knife on the stone, the steel shining like a diamond in the firelight. More weapons of frost lay at his feet, ranging in shape from rough to fine, the best ones closest. The knight thrust them into the snow one after another, leaving the defective ones far away. Parsur even saw a bow arm among them. She picked it up and wound it on the string, but as she began to try it, it shattered into a shower of ice crystals.
"Are you practicing making weapons?"
"Yes. The materials are costless anyway."
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