His luck.

The Philien Deaths....

He gasped heavily finding support from the small spike sticking up from the rift's edge after a deadly fall.

His wings cushioned him from getting any sustainable injuries.

His cloak was ripped by thousands of black shards lying between the rocks.

The black shards glimmered with the reflection of faint light from his wings until they vanished.

An old drawbridge connected the two mountains. It was nearly torn down being built and connected centuries ago.

The frosty wind made it creak. Half of it's ropes were dangling from the height that if one were to cross it carelessly the fragile bridge would send the passerby down to the abyss that was hundreds of meters below in darkness.

He couldn't make use of flight in a freezing weather of the steep snow covered mountains.

He gulped and carefully stepped on the bridge that shrieked at his every step.

The frosty wind stung his cheeks. He felt dizzy because of the cold.

The bridge was a mile long. He steady crossed it while some nasty mountain crows tried to peck at him with their beaks as if purposely making him fall.

He waved his hands to keep them away.

The plank beneath his right foot split into two diving into the darkness nearly dragging him with it.

He caught the side ropes and slowly pulled himself up. The bridge creaked louder.

He was finally able to make it. He wished he could make use of his wings but the risk was far greater. He could never be too careful in the enemy's domain.

The snow was thawed forming a curved lane through the spruce trees. He staggered and forced himself to continue descending the path that may have lead him to Central Capital.

"Just wait your highness...I will bring you back with me. I made a promise...to myself."

He kept walking on the track until nightfall.

His legs gave away causing him to collapse near an old spruce tree that was shorter than its neighbors.

He kept repeating the same words in his sleep until he felt warmth around his body.

He regained his conscious and the first image his eyes saw was a wooden ceiling.

The bed was made of straw which was quite uncomfortable to sleep on.

He shuffled through the thin fur blanket while hearing murmurs and crackling sounds from the hearth and the couldron hissing over the fire.

He looked at two figures Infront of it talking about something in Wahrheitit.

When his vision cleared he stared at them in both disbelief and viewed them as threat.

He leaped out of the bed and grabbed his blade and pointed at the neck of the demi- human standing closer to the bed.

They were on guard by his rapid moves.

He demanded them of who they were but they simply stared at one another.

He wasn't sure if they understood him. He decided to repeat his question in various languages until they partially understood Mogholian.

"Where is this place? Is it the Central Capital?" He inquired about the place.

"This is...Philien Village a part of Stygian Frontier." One of them replied confused.

"Who are you?"the other man who had brown skin and a small horn sticking out of his forehead asked him.

"I'm a merchant... I wanted to go to trade at the Central Capital but I lost my goods and companion after being raided by bandits." Octavius was surprised by how well he could lie without even blinking.

They seemed suspicious at first but considered his reasoning admitting that indeed there were road bandits close to the capital borders.

He felt his head. The wig still covered his blonde hair. No one saw him through the disguise.

Darius did a pretty good job in selecting their attire.

He asked them about the shortest route that would take him to the Central Capital.

They told him the directions twice so he could memorize the name and the location of the places where he had to cross through to get to the capital city.

Philien Village was situated at the northernmost part of Stygian Frontier.

He was already in dismay to hear the name Stygian Frontier.

The place that was onece a battlefield for the three realms. The forests burnt down and blood and dead contaminated the shores and rivers around dying them red.

A place completely isolated from the world.

It was tired to be cursed.

After thanking them for their help he left Philien Village and continued down the uneven road to Ironfall.

There were around six villages and three main towns in Stygian. The territory was surrounded by the longest mountain range from north to west. From the east it had the enchanted forest covering one third of its area.

And from the south were stormy shores where ships rarely set anchor on its harbor.

He saw a merchant caravan taking the same route.

He cautiously observed them. They looked like merchants from Kemet Empire.

He caught up to the merchant who was leading the caravan.

They were coincidentally going through the same route.

"Why did you choose this place?" He inquired about the odd decision for a caravan to take a risk through the stormy shores.

"It's because we don't have to pay the dock fee. And the rate here is cheaper than any place in Wahrheit. At least we are even able to sell the lowest quality products here." He laughed aloud.

Octavius felt frustrated. He was an upright person and knew how much if a loss it was for this place.

-"Is the lord of this place unaware of his own land?"

Erebus felt his ears ringing.

"Someone's talking about me in bad light." He mumbled looking out of the palace windows.

Octavius had reached the town by midday.

The merchant had introduced himself as Akhenaten. He was jolly old man who loved to hear stories from passerbys.

He invited him for lunch at the inn in Ironfall. It was the only inn in the place.

After paying up the stables for a place secured for his camels, they went into the inn to grab something to eat and reserve rooms for an overnight stay.

He heard several hoovebeats on the ground.

"Someone is approaching." He told himself.

Five garrons of demonic species with one horse that was an average horse used by the humans entered the town.

He watched an aged man I'm a prim suit wearing a cloak get off the demonic creature and helped another person who had a small built.

"A woman perhaps?" He guessed.

"Nobles I tell ya! Must be the lord of this place. Inspection or ordering stuff for their entertainment is all they do I tell ya. They ain't even knowing how much their people be suffering."

His eyes were on the woman who got off her horse wearing pleasant clothes abd covering herself with a thick fur cloak.

Her hands were bandaged. He couldn't grasp the look of her face.

He suddenly flinched.

-For a moment...our eyes met... I'm sure of it."