# 23_The Wanted Criminal
The rain poured.
The horses traversed through the woodlands at a steady pace. The rider's cloaks darkened. Foxes returned to their dens, birds huddled together in their nests, a cold wind shook branches.
After a while, hearing the sound of birds, the solemn weather made known, the horses shook their heads as the clouds parted once more, entering a high clearing. At the top, the knight lowered his damp wood, a flash of pair of black leather gloves revealed the head of a purple eyed man behind white hair dripping with water drops.
He shook his head, facing the view of a kingdom spanning at the center of a ring of mountains, arranged like a crown. Brown cottages, terracotta tiles and smoke rising from the chimneys.
They were near the border. It had been a few weeks for the journey back. On the way, they had been resting at inns instead of camping outside like their journey towards Gyric's Den.