Our destination, and first stop on our journey to Merinsk, was a small village by the name Sosalk. Nag had put his hood on as soon as we left the underground. Revealing his ident.i.ty was still risky, despite the people of Biarkh's acceptance of other races. We didn't know what to expect, we were all in foreign territory.

"Have you ever been to this country before?" Nag asked me as we took a beaten road.

It looked old, and ran in zigzags, but it was large enough to accommodate carriages. The road signs on our way said the village was near.

"No," I answered. "I've never been north of Kozag before."

"I have," Zoey said, surprising the both of us.

"How?" I asked. "Aren't you from the east?"

"Yes," she said. "Before I was sent to the Crucible though, I was sent to Biarkh to train. The capital, Rolar, houses the Sister's Order."

"I never heard of your order until I was imprisoned in Helton," I said.

"Only rich people can afford sisters," Zoey said. "We're trained to heal, cook, bathe, and even please if need be. The name of the order just gives it a holy image. It's a rotten organization, in and out."

"Humans are dark creatures," Nag commented.

"You don't know half of it," I said.

We heard the clattering of hoofs on the road behind us. We turned to see three cavalrymen, riding at full speed toward us. They wore steel plate armor. Their black capes fluttered behind them as they urged their mares to gallop faster.

My hand instinctively reached for the new sword's pommel. Nag shook his head, warning me not to stir any trouble. The hors.e.m.e.n noticed us and shouted at us, ordering us to clear the road.

We did as we were told. They sped by us, without as much as a second glance. One of them yelled an order as they went along. We were to stay clear of the road until the carriage pa.s.sed.

Nag, Zoey and I exchanged puzzled looks. We kept walking by the side, rocks twisting our ankles. Zoey almost fell, face first in the uneven ground. We were considering going back on the road when we heard more hooves behind us. We turned to see a large carriage approaching. There were three more cavalrymen in the front. I saw others behind, but I couldn't count how many.

They also shouted the same orders, clear the road. We stayed away from them. As the carriage pa.s.sed by us, I saw the symbol of a black bear, standing on two hind legs, on the banners that flew atop the wooden car.

Once the escort was out of sight, Zoey turned to us.

"That's Bodrick's family sigil," she said.

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"The Bodricks?" I asked.

"Do you know them?" Nag turned to me.

"Everybody in this continent knows them," I said. "They're the cruelest family that ever existed."

"You forgot the Stalwarts," Zoey corrected.

"You seem pretty knowledgeable about this continent," Nag said.

"I had to study them all," Zoey said. "All the prominent families in the four continents. Yours is considered the worst by the way." She was looking at me.

"You're from that Stalwart family?" Nag asked. "I thought the name was just a coincidence, they'd never let their own fight the Wars without Lord Osmen's help."

"You people know more about my own family than I do," I said, feeling frustration build up. "Don't call me by name when we get to any city or village here, alright?"

"That seems wise," Nag said. "What should we call you?"

"Zedd," I said, reluctantly. "Zedd, Darkstar."

Zoey snorted. "What a silly name," she said then burst out laughing.

"Yes, that's the point," I said, defensively. "No one's going to frown upon hearing my family name at least."

"Yeah," Zoey said, clutching her stomach as she tried to stop her laughter. "They'd just snort and move on."

"They'd also wonder at what kind of silly parents you had," Nag added. "Who'd call their child Zedd?!" He chuckled.

"Whatever!" I said. "Just don't call me by my real name, okay?"

"I'm surprised you never researched your family's past," Zoey said after she seized her mockery. "Were you born under a rock or something?"

"My father never liked to speak of it," I said. "Apparently, he had a good reason for it."

We kept walking and talking about the Bodricks and the Stalwarts. We reached the village by midday. It was a small, peaceful hamlet. A quite wide river ran through it, cutting it in half. There was a circular, stone arc at the village's entrance, decorated by multicolored flowers.

The village was busy. We heard the merchants shout at the top of their lungs from a distance. They were trying to get people to buy what they had in stock. n.o.body looked at us as we walked in.

The village was packed with people. Some wore cloaks like us. Others strolled about the market place, looking at the items in display in elegant suits or in flashy, extravagant dresses. We made our way past the busy market place and into a tavern.

The owner cast a quick glance at us then motioned to the back of the room with his chin. He might have noticed we kept our hoods on, and realized we didn't want to be disturbed. I ordered some ale for us, and three meals. Nag was offered some gold by the chief. We used some of it to pay for our food.

Food came in pretty quickly, chicken legs with a side dish or fried vegetables. It wasn't the best, but it was delicious. I needed that to feel some kind of reconnection to our world. I hadn't tasted freedom in so long. It felt refres.h.i.+ng. I was finally out of captivity, with my future at hand. I could finally decide on what to do.

'You seem awfully cheerful,' Eva said.

She'd been silent ever since we defeated Lemien. I even tried to contact her before, but she just brushed me off.

'Someone's finally in the mood to talk,' I said.

'Food replenishes your energy,' she said. 'Silence and time off, replenishes mine.'

'You've recovered then?'

'A bit,' she said. 'Where are we?' she asked.

'A small village in Biarkh,' I said. 'Nag helped us escape successfully.'

'Enjoy it while it lasts,' she said.

'Why bring the mood down?' I protested.

"Hey!" Zoey's shrill voice made me wince.

"What?" I hissed at her. "Keep your voice down, will you? We're strangers here."

"She called for you more than three times," Nag said. "You weren't listening."

'I'll leave you to your friends,' Eva said. 'Talk to me when you're alone.'

"Here he goes again," Zoey complained. "He just phases out. You can kill him then, and I bet he wouldn't feel it."

Nag chuckled. "Where does your mind take you?" he asked.

"I haven't had enough time to think of the past," I said. "I somehow lost my memories when I was captured by Utar. I think I shut them in, I didn't want to remember. Now that I'm finally out of his reach, I found myself thinking about everything that happened."

"Why?" Zoey asked. "You never told me why you were sent to the Crucible anyway."

"It's because I didn't know why, or, well, didn't remember. When I first met you, I had blocked my memories."

"Do you remember now?" Nag asked.

I nodded.

"Why then?" Zoey added in.

"I'll need a stronger drink that this one to tell you my story," I said.

"That's an opportunity we cannot miss," Zoey said, cheerfully. She stormed to the counter and came back holding a tankard full of a foul smelling drink. She shoved it a me and ordered, "drink!"

"Not sure I should do that," I said. "We still have a long way to go."

"We're spending the night here," Nag said. "We decided on it earlier."

"What?" I asked. "When?"

"When you were lost in thought," Zoey commented as she settled across from me at the table. "Now, drink and tell us about your little tragic story."

I brought my nose closer to the tankard and winced. "What is that stuff anyway?" I asked, disgusted.

"You wanted a strong drink," Zoey said, "I got you one. And we don't have much money. So I got the cheapest."

"Just drink," Nag urged me. His red eyes were studying me underneath his hood.

"Oh, what the h.e.l.l!"

I took a long gulp from the tankard. I wasn't sure I was willing to get back to it later.  My stomach immediately contracted as I swallowed the foul drink. I felt as though I was about to lose my lunch. My ears buzzed and I felt them get hotter and hotter. The room spun for a little while. That s.h.i.+t was strong.

"Will you tell us now?" Zoey asked.

I was about to speak when one of the customers in the tavern started yelling. We looked to the side and saw two men arguing. One of them was wearing the steel armor and the black cape of the riders we encountered on the road. The other was the owner of the tavern.

"You let foreigners sit in your tavern cloaked like that?" the armored man was shouting at the top of his lungs.

"I'm sorry sir," the tavern owner said in a faint voice. "It's the festival. Many foreigners visit our little village. Some of them are wealthy merchants who don't want to be found out."

"Are they talking about us?" Zoey whispered.

"You there!" the armored man pointed at Nag, answering her question. "I've seen you on the road. You don't look like wealthy merchants. Take off those hoods. Let me see your faces."

I stood up and approached the armored man. If Nag took his hood off, we'd be in serious trouble. That armored man didn't seem like the reasonable kind to me.

"We're weary travelers sir, poor too," I said as soon as I got closer. I made sure not to remove my hood at once. I had to cover for Nag. I also hunched my back and spoke as loudly as possible, to suggest we were not city folk.

"Where are you heading?" he asked. "And remove that thing. It's rude not to reveal your face to the one you speak to."

"We're heading to Merinsk, kind sir," I said. "We heard there's good work there, pays well at the docks."

"Why do you hide your faces then?" he asked.

"Cuz they're ugly to look at, kind sir."

I removed the hood then, revealing my scarred face and empty eye socket. The man in front of me, with his well combed hair, his trimmed beard and his s.h.i.+ny armor, winced.

"You're one ugly motherf.u.c.ker!" he swore. "Are your companions as ugly as you are?" he asked.

"Uglier, kind sir," I said.

"Go back to your corner," the man ordered. "I don't want to see your faces in the marketplace when my lady comes out, do you hear?"

"Yes, kind sir," I replied. "Thank you for your generosity."

I reached for his hand to shake it, as peasants do to people they believe are higher in social status. The man repulsively retreated then left the place. He kept mumbling about peasants polluting their land as he went.

"Nicely done," the tavern owner said. "You can have another tankard for free, if you want."

'No thank you!' I thought. I thanked the man with a nod though, then went back to my seat.

"Where were we?" I asked.

Zoey and Nag went still and quiet. I could feel their impressed stares under their hoods.