The two horses with four people—Corvus, Elsyn, Lea, and Lior—marched through the boundless grove called Umberfall. Across the woods and muddied paths they moved, their pace slowing only for meals or rest. With the onset of night, they would come to a halt, only to begin again with the dawn.

  The dreary process continued—the sun rose and fell, the horses marched and paused—yet the voyage itself was far from banal. For some at least.

  Heavy circles hung under Lior's ruby-eyes, and his usual sharpness was nowhere to be seen. Almost as if he was tired of life—or its creatures.

  "You said we'll reach the Covenant today. Where's it?" Lea complained.

  "Soon. For the eighth time stop asking me that," Lior said.

  Believe me, I'm more eager to reach there than you, Lior grumbled mentally.

  He reached behind his back and grabbed something; a hare. He barely looked at the creature before callously throwing it off the horse. The hare nimbly braced the fall and hopped onto the second horse into Lea's lap.

  She caught her purported child, and said, "That's child abuse, Lior. She just wants to play with uncle Lior a bit."

  "Then why do I keep hearing you shooing that rabbit in my direction. I know you're deliberately sending that creature at me. For the sixth time stop doing that."

  Lea did not reply. She abided by a certain maxim: what you don't hear, didn't happen.

  Lior, having witnessed the same tactic in play before, quickly recognised it again: "I know you can hear me—stop pretending."

  After a brief pause, Lea innocently said, "Corvus, you said something?"

  "Not a word."

  Lior grunted and increased the pace of his horse.

  Lea giggled and sent the hare past Corvus toward her sister. It climbed Elsyn's hair—catching her by surprise.

  "Pipsqueak, I told you to take care of it by yourself."

  Lea employed her maxim again.

  Unfortunately for Elsyn, she could not reach her sister without falling off the horse. Her awful skills as a rider saved Lea from her wrath—and unleashed the goblin upon everyone else.

  "Corvus, how big is your team, the Reavers?" Lea asked. Having had her fill of fun, she now sought to sate her curiosity.

  "Five squadron leaders with three members each, and two people to helm them. One is me, the Vice-Captain; the other is the geezer, Captain Elric Ironbough."

  "That's one, two... so many people."

  "Twenty-two," Elsyn quietly added.

  "Are they all like you?" Lea asked.

  "No, most of them are fools; actually all of them are."

  "Even the squadron leaders and your captain?"

  "Especially those imbeciles, except Zuberi, he's the only reliable one."

  The feelings must be mutual, Elsyn thought.

  "Who do you like the most among them?"

  "Felix," Corvus answered without any pause.

  "You didn't even wait to think. Are the others that awful?"

  "I don't think awful is quite the right word to describe them. Disaster fits much better, and catastrophe for two of them."

  "Three of them you just don't know yet," Elsyn commented.

  "Three? I suppose you can call the geezer a catastrophe," Corvus replied.

  "She obviously means you," Lior muttered under his breath.

  After a few hours, the horses stopped.

  "What is it?" Corvus asked.

  "We're here, the Covenant of Eldara," Lior answered. "Keep walking in a straight path and you will find it."

  "Why do we have to walk?" Elsyn asked.

  "And aren't you coming as well, Lior?" Lea interposed her question.

  "The horses will be useless ahead, Miss Elsyn," Lior said.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  "Hey, didn't you hear me? Answer my question." Lea spoke.

  Lior did not reply; turning the tables this time.

  "Sis, you ask him."

  ...

  "Sis! I'm speaking to you."

  Elsyn gently stroked the hare while disregarding her sister's existence.

  Lea pouted in anger.

  Corvus patted her head, and said, "Let's go. I've heard there are plenty of tasty foods in the Covenant."

  "... Okay," she got off the horse.

  "Lior, you certain you don't want to come, the woods can be dangerous," Corvus spoke.

  "People of Eldara are my masters and my enemies. I won't share a roof with them under any circumstances. Besides, I know these woods, I can take care of myself. If she can find a hare, I can too."

  "Very well then," Corvus replied.

  As they began to leave, Lior said, "Just don't take too long to return."

  "Ta-ta, Lior," Lea turned and waved at him.

  "Get lost already," Lior hissed.

  "You were plenty fun," Lea added from afar, her words echoing in the forest.

  As if... Lior's thoughts were bitter, yet his cold eyes betrayed hints of warmth just so slightly.

  Lea grabbed Corvus's finger and moved ahead. Elsyn catching up to them, placed a hand on her sister's head, and walked alongside them.

  After half an hour of walking, the woods of Umberfall gave way to a shore-like clearing. Beyond the clearing, a large water body lay frozen; the cold had turned its surface into a flawless sheet of ice.

  Gentle radiance of the day reflected the cloudless, expansive, sapphire sky on the even ice sheet. It seemed as if the heaven had come down to bless the ground with its splendour and serenity.

  Rising ahead of the ice sheet, the Covenant of Eldara rested. It was not properly fenced, but then again with the large water body serving as a natural barrier it did not have to. Its buildings, save for a few structures, were modest in design and shape.

  The Covenant did not exude the grandeur or might one might expect from a great empire, nor did it seem oppressive and bleak like Bleakmoor Hearth. From the lens of a stranger it seemed...

  "... Pleasant," Elsyn spoke. "Almost... homelike."

  The trio could not look away from the tranquil scenery in front of them. Lea's heart fluttered like a butterfly, then suddenly, myriad of questions flooded her mind:

  "Will they accept us? What if they send us away? What if they separate Hary from me?"

  Elsyn crouched in front of her, and said, "You trust Mum and Uncle, right?"

  Lea nodded twice.

  "Then don't fret over nothing. It'll be alright."

  Lea smiled dryly and instinctively tightened her grip over Corvus's finger.

  Sensing her unease, Corvus said, "If you want, I can take you guys with me to Shardmarch. I may not look like it, but I'm actually fairly rich; I eat whatever I want, whenever I want. I'm sure the geezer can find a lodging for you."

  Elsyn looked at him for a moment, then replied, "Thank you, Corvus. But we each have our lives and problems. Besides, I have faith in Mum; Covenant is the place for us. I can feel it."

  She took the first step forward onto the sky-like ice sheet. Alongside her, Lea and Corvus moved as well.

  "Do you know anyone in here?" Elsyn asked.

  "I've come across a few of the Covenant's forces during work, but I can't say I know much about them."

  I should've known, Elsyn lamented.

  "Although, there was this one woman—a very nasty one—I had the misfortune of working with. Just hope we don't stumble into her by chance."

  "What do you mean we? I don't remember poking some strange soldier because I can't say please," Elsyn retorted.

  "I've said please, dozens of times in fact."

  "This is the first time you have. Apart from this, remind me of any other time—I dare you," Elsyn said.

  "Just give me a minute," Corvus smirked, and fell into a pensive mood.

  "Take an eternity if you will," she teased.

  Soon, a minute passed, then another... and then another. Yet search as he may, Corvus could not find a single instance of him uttering the humble word: please.

  My life is devoid of meaning... and please, he somberly thought.

  Before long, they reached the entrance where three people approached them.

  "A man had twin sons, one of them always troubled him, so he poisoned that son's food. However, the next day he discovered that his polite child now began annoying him," Corvus spoke out of nowhere.

  Elsyn stared at him in mute disbelief as the guards drew closer by the second.

  "Wait for it... Because he poisoned the wrong son. Did you get it—they were twins, so he could not recognise one from the other."

  He grinned smugly, and added, "So, how was it? I even added a solid punchline this time."

  "I can't decide..." Elsyn said. "... What's worse? Your joke or your timing."

  "It's called dark humor. You just can't—"

  "Hellooo, girl–I mean Elsyn, and the mighty Vice-Captain of Reavers Corvus Ashford himself, against whom I hold absolutely no grudge, and who owes me a debt. How'd you guys do? It's been so long," an overly informal greeting cut off Corvus.

  The speaker was a familiar petite woman—Ravina Brineheart—who had once mistaken Corvus for a Doomwarden of the Bone-Rend Kind.

  "Miss Ravina, greetings. It's good to see you," Elsyn courteously replied.

  "Ravina. So you lived, huh," Corvus replied, not quite as courteous.

  "See I told you I know these gents. You may leave now," Ravina said to the two guards, who then promptly left.

  She moved toward Elsyn and playfully stroked her head, then focusing on Lea, she said, "This must be the sister you talked about. What's your name, sweetie?"

  "Applea."

  Ravina's happy facade wavered for a second before she inhaled, and continued, "What a pleasant... name. Just like your sister's."

  "Miss Ravina, if I may ask; why are you here to personally greet us? I don't think we left on very good terms," Elsyn questioned.

  Lea gestured for Corvus to lean down and whispered,"Is she the nasty woman you spoke of?"

  "One of them," he whispered back.

  Ravina casually waved a hand, and replied, "Whatever you mean, Elsyn. From what I remember we parted ways like long lost sisters. And sisters don't tell on each other to their superiors." Her feet rapidly tapped on the ground.

  So that's what this is about, Elsyn understood Ravina's true motives.

  Ravina wanted to conceal the fiasco she had committed in the Hearth, like taking Elsyn hostage, threatening her, and almost executing a couple of enslaved children as an interrogation technique.

  "Of course, Miss Ravina. We won't do anything to jeopardize your position, right Corvus... Right?"

  Corvus smiled evilly inward, and said, "A man had twin sons, one of them was a miscreant, so he poisoned that son. The next day he discovered that his polite child now began annoying him... Because he had killed the wrong twin. How was it?"

  "... Was that supposed to mean something?" Ravina asked in confusion.

  "Apparently a joke," Elsyn clarified.

  All of a sudden Ravina burst out into laughter. She did not stop for a full minute. "Haha... One of the youngest and the most funniest Mundukar of the world. You're truly a man of many talents.... Now just don't speak of what happened on that day, and I will even believe you're a fish, if you say so, Ashford."

  "You heard that El."

  "Yes, I did. But you didn't; all of it."

  The trio followed Ravina Brineheart into the Covenant of Eldara, the Promised Sanctuary.