Iziro.
The journey was slow but long. Everything around increasingly resembled the calm before the storm. The only distraction from this uneasy feeling was the sounds of birdsong carried by the wind.
“It seems like the locals have long gone to the fort under Rinfall,” said Rein.
“Have you been there?” asked Iziro.
“A couple of times… Deadly boring. Even in warm weather, everything in Rinfall seems excessively gray. If you’re talking about Rinfall, of course. But if it’s the fort on… then it’s just a regular fort. Although it has two hefty stone walls built not so long ago… to withstand the pressure of Raedarian invasion and complicate movement along the main trade route. Essentially, it’s a large military checkpoint into the central region of Rinfall’s territories. Have you been to any of the castles in the kingdoms?”
“A long time ago, when I still lived in a village on the Lir River. I…,” Iziro began, lost in thought. “In general, I often visited Santris. Surprisingly, it was a very beautiful city, and its castle was equally elegant. And I came here through Fordrim. It will forever remain a mystery to me why the Fords from Fordrim seized power over the kingdoms, and not the Liharts from Santris.”
“When I lived in the Illyrion Castle, I heard about that. Santris and Fordrim… They had a bloody feud for centuries – and one fine day, the king of Santris decided to wipe out the entire family of Little Alex Fordrim at the wedding of King Rinfall – who was then a young Soral Rin. After the massacre, Alex miraculously survived, and he was smuggled out and hidden within the walls of Fordrim. Soral was furious but too young to take decisive action. Over the years, Alex transformed from a boy into a man and, seizing the opportunity presented by the conflict between the Raedarian Empire and Rinfall and Santris, decided to unite the kingdoms under his protectorate, ensuring their survival against the pressure of such a formidable enemy. But perhaps it was only possible if Bart Lihart – the killer of his family and still the king of Santris – was dead. The King of Rinfall was forced to take such decisive measures, forming an alliance between Rinfall and Fordrim. Santris simply couldn’t fight against two neighboring kingdoms and the Raedarian legions simultaneously. In the end, the king of Santris was betrayed by his own elder son in exchange for the lives of his family and the opportunity to continue ruling Santris, albeit in the role of its lord. Alex Ford stabbed Bart Lihart with a spear at the ‘Meeting of the Three Kingdoms,’ dedicated to opposing the Raedarians; after that, he wasn’t just the king of Fordrim – he was the king of the kingdoms. I used to find this story somewhat inspiring,” said Rein. “I’m surprised you’re not familiar with it.”
“I heard something similar, but they were just rumors. Wildly exaggerated tales. If you believe what I’ve heard from people, there were even dragons involved. After hearing all that, you don’t know what’s true and what’s fiction anymore.”
“I heard that the last dragon was seen long before the appearance of Reinia,” said Rein.
“Haha. Well, I guess they either never existed or are hiding somewhere,” said Iziro.
Finally reaching the desired road, Iziro said, “Alright. Seems like I’m tired of walking. Give me your hand.”
Rein smiled and helped Iziro mount the horse from behind.
“Well, what do you think?” Rein asked, grinning broadly. “Not so bad, huh?”
“Yeah, not bad,” replied Iziro, sitting behind Rein.
After a considerable amount of time on the road, passing through forests and fields, small laboring villages started appearing in the distance.
“Wow, I didn’t think we’d get here so quickly,” said Rein.
Iziro, sitting on the horse behind Rein, peeked over his shoulder and said, “Yeah, I thought it would take longer.”
“And there are people,” remarked Rein.
Four people were trying to fix a broken wagon in the middle of the road.
As Rein approached the group, Iziro immediately dismounted and began helping them lift the wagon so they could replace the wheel.
“I thought we had more important matters,” said Rein, smiling slightly.
Iziro saw three men, a woman, and even a little boy struggling to lift the loaded wagon.
“Thanks, we’ll manage,” said one of the men, straining to lift it.
“Let me help!” Iziro said to the boy.
Once Iziro joined in, the wagon almost lifted off the ground.
“Thank you,” said the man, while the other two started changing the wheel. The woman just watched Iziro and Rein.
As soon as the wheel was replaced, the woman immediately rushed to one of the men who was carefully inspecting the new wagon wheel and whispered something in his ear. The man abruptly turned, looked at Rein, and said:
“Are you a Raedarian? And you too? We don’t need trouble!”
“What are you talking about?” asked Iziro.
“We know about the invasion. We won’t be able to help you with anything if you’re here for that.”
“We don’t need anything,” replied Iziro.
“Let’s go, Izi,” said Rein.
Iziro looked at Rein and grimaced at being called “Izi.” The people quickly gathered and rode the wagon towards the nearest village. Rein extended his hand to Iziro.
“No, thanks,” said Iziro. “I think I’ll walk again.”
“Well, suit yourself,” replied Rein.
After passing a couple of villages, they finally saw a massive mine, more resembling an open-pit quarry. The pale sky and the workers in the mine, seemingly spending their entire days digging ore with pickaxes and hauling these rocks for processing, gave little resemblance to a happy life. However, these people had to do this day by day to earn some money for their survival and their families.
“A big mine,” remarked Iziro.
“Haven’t been here before?” asked Rein. “I can give you a little tour!”
“Yeah… I haven’t been here before,” said Iziro.
“Let’s go! You can’t easily go around this mine anyway. It’s easier to go straight through!”
And so, they descended into the vast pit, dug over the years for ore extraction. As they descended, the local workers dropped their tasks and began staring intently at them.
“Do you see that too?” asked Rein. “Any idea what’s up with them?”
“You’ve been here before! I thought you’d tell me,” replied Iziro.
“Maybe it’s somehow related to the legions advancing on Rinfall.”
“Or maybe they just don’t like us. Either
