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—Northern continent, Sylvestris territory, Alfheim. 

She had come here by simple chance. 

It might as well be luck, really, because out of all the other places in the world that she could have been right now, she was here instead. So if that was not lucky chance, then what else could it be?

However, just what exactly was this tiny little idea of ‘chance’ anyways? When she, the sunset haired girl, thought about how she had come here by chance, did that ‘chance’ account for the fact that she chose to go right instead of left at a theoretical crossroads, and then left at the subsequent one instead of right? If so, then were her decisions a part of what made up this construct of ‘chance?’

If so, then what about when she had spent several days weighing the decision to take a mountain pass until a caravan took off ahead of her and caused the land to slide out from under them, thus blocking the entire route for months to come. Was that also part of this ‘chance?’ She made the choice too late and the result was that she was no longer able to make the choice. 

But what if the choice had not been hers to make in the first place? Although word was that the caravan had caused the landslide, the reality was that the land had already slid out days prior to its discovery and the caravan was blamed for it.

So if her decisions, indecisions, and lack of a decision were all part of what made up ‘chance,’ then would everything not just be a part of this vague umbrella term known as ‘chance?’

She had come here by the direct result of her many choices, of which consisted of both the thoughtful kind and moment spurring and even those which were not hers to make. Or in other words— she had arrived here purely by chance, strict chance, and nothing but random chance.

And it was through this chance that she had ended up here, at this part of the world, at this point in time, on roads less traveled, with nothing but the clothes on her back, the sturdy coat that kept her warm, a satch of things, and a whole lot of free time. Quite a carefree journey if she were to say so herself. She was something of a tourist herself, one with no set destination and no intention of ever returning to a place called home. Was she a wanderer who was homeless then? That was debatable. Yes in the sense that it was less of a home and more of a… Well, that was besides the point. 

Sometimes she traveled by horsebound carriages that bounced and rumbled and sometimes it was just by the trodding of horses itself– or a mule, or a camel. There were a lot of beasts in the world that could be trained, of both the exotic and familiar variety. Although some were clearly superior to others.

Once, she even rode on the giant basilisks of Misrue, which were hatched and reared for centuries by a line of certain aficionados with a calling towards the more draconid side of the beastly spectrum. Now that was a unique experience. Basilisks over a thousand years of age are rumored to be able to support entire armies on their backs, like some kind of moving fortress. There is even a story about a tyrannical king who rode on one such beast anywhere he went as a show of power.

That was an exaggeration, but there was some truth to it. Like many other draconids, basilisks were biologically immortal, meaning they did not die from old age, and only kept growing the longer they lived. Meaning, if a basilisk managed to live long enough, then sure, it would be feasible that there would be one who could support an entire caravan on its back, but a thousand years was far from enough. 

Basilisks are a type of wyrm– land draconids with snake-like bodies but still possess two pairs of limbs– and in the wild, they exhibit long spinal protrusions on their backs. Reared basilisks have this protrusion snipped off when young and maintained in order to allow for multiple rows of seats as well as an overhanging tarp to be secured. 

The millennium old basilisk that she rode on after paying a hefty price was a massive hundred meters in length and at least five meters at its widest. While there had been only around a dozen others seated apart from her at the time, at full capacity the beast could have carried well over a hundred passengers at a time. 

However, if the girl had to pick and choose her preferred method of travel, then it would be by none other than her own two feet, with the trusted soles of her boots that showed the passage of many years. Maybe she was just a traditionalist, but things like beasts, carriages, and ships were restrictive and she had to fit herself to work around them. After all, at the end of the day, what could be better than to rely on the good old self?

Though if she could be allowed just one single complaint… it would be that it was too much of a pain in the back having to mule around every single one of her belongings herself. If she wanted to bring water, she would need to have water skins. If she wanted to boil that water, she would need a pot. And if she wanted to do something more than to just drink water and be able to eat well, she would also have to take with her salt, spices, dried meats, and even solidified bouillon— and by that point, she may as well just settle down and live in a house somewhere. 

But… 

“Well, isn’t this just fine?”

For one to be able to move at one’s own leisure, to be able to stop when one felt tired, to go when one felt like continuing— at the end of the day, was this not the true essence of what it meant to travel? If she felt like taking a breather, perhaps a change of pace by riding a carriage, then so be it. That was the epitome of freedom after all. 

As such, day in and day out, the sunset haired girl traveled alone on these unkempt roads where the hills were vibrantly green and rolled on endlessly in every direction. Cold air cast itself over the surrounding countryside and the fog that came by in the mornings made the hills look like individual tiny islands floating in a sea of milky white. Here, she would sometimes find traces of past settlements: rotting homes left barely still upright after their families have long since moved on; foundations where homes had once stood but razed and burned away; or even on some rare occasions, homesteads that looked perfectly fine over the distance, but the lack of smoke rising from the chimney and the overgrown frields told of their vacancy. 

She liked discovering these places to spend the night in. It let her envision just what kind of hospitality the people who used to live in these places would have provided. Not to mention having a roof over her head and walls to keep the winds out was nice too, she supposed, but she was fine with or without it.

In any case, with the passage of time and a little footwork, even this bitter landscape could melt its way into a cozy settlement and civilization. 

…

…

The Sylvestris family that took her in greeted and received her with welcoming arms. 

The folks of this land were kind in this way. As winters were always harsh and survival often came down to the mercy of the harvest, the people of this land have grown well accustomed to lending aid in hopes that aid would one day be lent back to them during a time of desperate need. 

Even so, the process was as quick as it was abrupt. Before the girl even had time to settle, she was already being received like an old family friend. She would like to think this was because they were just that friendly, but she knew if she had instead been a two meter tall lumbering giant of a man, this quaint family of just a mother and a daughter might not have welcomed her so openly.

“Thank you, I really appreciate the kindness. While I can’t repay you with anything I have on me, if you need an extra pair of hands for something, or if you are in need of some plain old manual labor, I would be pleased to lend a hand, or both,” the sunset haired girl smiled. 

“Please, please, don’t even mention it. You are a guest. I cannot work a guest with good conscience. Make yourself at home. I’m sorry the house is so unsightly. Oh, we just so rarely have visitors that I haven’t been keeping up with the appearance of our home. My name is Alyson by the way, and this is my daughter,” the woman spoke in quick succession as she welcomed her visitor into her house. 

The sunset haired girl did not seem to mind this awkward tension in the air. In her mind, Alyson was simply being too humble. In fact, the house being a little untidy only added to the homeliness of it. As for Alyson’s daughter, the blonde young lady who had discovered her in the fields and brought her back, was fidgeting around waiting for an opportunity to join the conversation.

She was Aalis, of “this village,” or so the blondie had explained to the sunset haired girl when they had met on a hill. Aalis had been weaving straws at the time and noticed the vibrant hair like the glow of a torch in the dead of night. Her father’s name was Bjorn and so she was called Aalis Bjornsdottir, meaning “Aalis, daughter of Bjorn.” 

“This way!” Aalis tugged her hand and led her deeper into the house. The blonde looked like a younger version of her mother, and indeed, if you took away all the age lines, the dark circles under her eyes, and added some color back into her hair, Alyson could be mistaken for her daughter’s elder sister.

“Take a seat. This will be your bed!” She patted the straw mattress, having already taken a seat on it the moment they arrived and when the girl looked at her in curiosity instead of taking the seat, Aalis redoubled her efforts and patted the mattress loudly again.

“Alright, I get it, I get it. You can calm down now.” 

The sunset haired girl set down her bag and stretched to rid the kinks from her back before finally taking the seat.

“So where do you hail from? Did you come all the way out here on foot? You didn’t have a horse with you and I don’t recognize your accent. Are you perhaps from the southern lands? I’ve only heard stories about the people hailing from down there. And your hair— Oh wow! Your hair is so pretty. I’ve seen folks with red hair before, but never have I ever seen a shade of red like yours! It’s amazing! It’s just like the leaves on an oak during autumn— no, it’s just like the skies during sunrise!” 

“Take a breath and slow down,” the girl replied calmly, assuring Aalis that she would not be going anywhere and that she would get to answering all her questions, but only one at a time.

Aalis seemed to have regained a little of her senses after that.

“Oh! That’s right, before that, are you hungry? Do you want something to drink?” 

“Am I hungry? No, I am not. But on the subject of if I would like anything to drink, then my answer will be water, later. Just boiled would be fine, yes, because I have some tea leaves with me. Thank you.” 

The young lady nodded in tune of the thanks.

“Mm, so! So where do you come from? I’ve lived here all my life, but for your information, I have heard a great many things from my father over the years. Perhaps I’ll know where you come from?” 

“Maybe,” the girl humored, but she was not convinced of that statement. In fact, she would be legitimately surprised if Aalis did know about where she came from. 

“I come from a place very, very, very far away from here— in a place where ancient and noble dynasties reign unequivocal from one coast to another; where ten thousand thousand people gather to live tightly in great walled cities; and where there is but a single ruler who sits upon a golden throne and governs it all.”

“Hmm…” Aalis was in deep thought at the description the girl gaver her. While she had said that she had heard many stories in her time, it was not actually that many, but it was a little bit difficult to admit her error after what she had boasted to the new friend. And so she smartly chose to say something that avoided the topic. 

“That does sound like something you would hear as a bedtime story,” the blondie nodded quietly to herself. 

“Yeah,” the sunset haired girl chuckled lightly, “you would not be the first to say that. But sometimes the truth is taller than the tallest folklore. Tell me, would you believe me if I were to tell you that, in another place far away from here, someone else would think that your lifestyle by the sea would be the strange one?” 

“Mmmmm…” Aalis contemplated seriously about that statement, but in the end, her answer could only be a straightforward, but difficult, “No, I can’t. Without the sea, how do they eat fish? The sea is just so important, do they just starve if their harvests are bad?” 

“That’s what I figured,” the sunset haired girl laughed again.

“I want to ask something else now. What about your hair? Does everyone have hair as beautiful as that where you come from?” 

“This…? No, this is just something that runs in the family… or I guess I can’t really say that. My family tree is a bit on the chaotic side. It’s a special me trait! How about we go with that? Though truth be told, it is a bit showy I think.”

“Just a bit?” Aalis asked, her head tilting ever so slightly.

“Just a tiny bit,” the girl laughed while nearly pinching her index finger and thumb together, “see, there are times when a person just wants to be left alone, and sometimes that’s a little bit hard if you happen to stick out like a sore thumb. But you live and learn. In this case, watch, all I have to do is put on this hood, and problem solved!” 

Aalis frowned.

“You don’t sound like you’re very happy about your hair, even though it’s so beautiful and captivating! Red, just like the Aesirs! No different than the goddesses, Lady Freyja and Lady Frigg! You shouldn’t be ashamed of that!” 

“Is that… so?” 

The sunset haired girl was taken momentarily aback.

“That’s certainly the first time I’ve been told that before, and believe me when I say it’s the first time. However, enough about me. Since I’ve answered all your questions, may I ask you some this time?” 

“Yes, of course! I’ll answer anything you have to ask me!” 

“It’s about your name. ‘Aalis’ does not sound like it’s a local name at all, not with all the ‘-hildrs’ and ‘-hildas’ out here. In fact, if someone were to ask me, I would say you were brought here from somewhere else. Your mother’s ‘Alyson’ being the same as well.” 

Aalis’ ears perked, and upon hearing this her eyes flashed and her expression turned bright.

“You noticed? You did! I had been hoping you might!” Aalis cried out in joy, momentarily alerting her mother across the house, but after taking a quick peek, Alyson returned to her business of tidying up the house.

Aalis then began to narrate. 

“My mother is foreign, you see. Many years ago, when my father was young and in his prime, he often went on these annual expeditions that took place after the planting season, where dozens of warriors would put down their tools and pick up their arms in order to sail across the fog. They would fight against the barbarians over there and come back bearing glory, women, and riches. My mother was one of those brought back during one of my father’s many campaigns.”

“You sound quite proud of your father,” the sunset haired girl observed. 

“Very proud!” Aalis replied adamantly. “One of the places my father would often burn down were the barbarians’ pagan houses of worship. My father has told me all about them and their savage and wicked practices. Over there, women are treated worse than slaves and husbands would beat them without rhyme or reason. What’s worse, they worship a cruel god that takes joy in punishing parents by forcing them to consume the flesh of their children, and in turn punishes those very children by forcing them to consume the flesh of their parents. So not only are they barbarians, they are also cannibals.”

Aalis’ body shuddered visibly as she recalled the more gruesome details of the things her father had once told her. 

“And that isn’t even all of it. Do you know how these barbarians deal with unruly children? They stone them to death!” she gritted, “I was horrified the first time I was told this. Why would anyone do something like that? Is this why they are such savages, because anyone brave enough to try to make a difference would be stoned to death before they could even get started? And do you know what else? They even dare to teach people that their god is the only one that exists and that they should kill everyone who disagrees. That’s just twisted! Absolutely abhorred!

“It’s because of reasons like these that, every year, our people would set out on an expedition to cull these barbarians. My father always told me the reason he went was because he could not stand the thought of such practices being spread so close to his home.”

“I see. So your father was a hero then. A gallant man.” 

The sunset haired girl, with her dull pupils which were the deep shade of freshly spilled blood, swept her gaze upon the young lady before her. And meeting this gaze, Aalis was startled for a bit.

“But that aside, I also wish to ask you something, Aalis. Do you mind?” 

“Please do,” Aalis nodded her head carefully.

“As Bjornsdottir, do you hate these barbarians then, Aalis?” 

“I do,” she nodded seriously, “my father hated them as well. That was why he fought to punish them, for people like my mother, and also to appease the wrath of the Aesirs and All Father, Odin.” 

“Then what about your mother? How do you think she feels?” the girl asked next. 

“My mother? Well, I’m sure she must hate them as well. That’s why she went with my father, right?” She spoke without much thought.

“Do you really think so?” 

“…?” 

Confused, the young lady could only stare blankly at the sunset haired girl. 

However, instead of a proper response, what she got was a casual shrug on the girl’s part.

“No, it’s fine, nevermind. Sorry for asking you these strange questions. Go and be proud of your father. There’s nothing wrong with a daughter doing that. But just don’t forget where your roots lie and where your mother comes from. Mayhaps she has a different take on that story— Oops, I’ve already said too much. This is none of my business after all. What a blunder.” 

In the end, Aalis only murmured to herself.

“There’s no way that could be the case, right? I mean, women are treated very unfairly over there after all. My mother was probably glad to follow my father here.” 

…

…

“Across the sea and beyond the everpresent fog that barricades your shores from those whom you call barbarians, there lies a world with a culture different from your own— your ancestral lands. This fact you already know, but what if I were to tell you, Aalis, that this, which you have known about your entire life and consider to be everything that there ever was, is but a tiny fragment of the greater world out there?

“Look towards the boundless sea, what do you see? The fog? But is that the end? No, of course not, because as you have told me so wondrously, beyond that lies the land of barbarians, where riches and honor lay yet unclaimed. Now see towards the other side, what do you see? Indeed. There lies countless plains and hills that stretch on beyond farther than the eye can see. So then what do you think is beyond that? 

“Beyond the verdant hills, dirt roads, and trees and bushes, there exists even more hills, and even more roads, and even more trees and bushes. But if you manage to go beyond even all that, and continue for even longer, for a thousand thousand more fathoms, you will see that you have come across a land so completely bizarre and foreign to you that, if it was not for the same sun and sky above your head, it may as well be a whole other realm. 

“Close your eyes and imagine, Aalis. Imagine an infinite expanse of desolate browns and oranges that stretches as far as one would be willing to seek. Sand covers half the world, while stone covers the other. During the day, the air would be blistering and dry like the inside of a hearth, while during the night, the air would drop below freezing. Here, water becomes one of the most precious and sought after resources, fought after in wars even. It must seem strange to you, who has always been surrounded by water, right? But believe me when I say there are whole civilizations of people who have only known that as their everything.

“Imagine next, a world opposite to this desert. Imagine a place where trees are so densely packed that you would barely be able to walk two strides without having to stop to carefully weave through a network of roots, foliage, and branches. A place where the sky never stop raining; where the air is so hot and sticky that, if you aren’t drenched in the rain, you would be drenched in your own sweat instead. 

“It sounds like a terrible place? But what makes this place interesting are all the different and rare beasts, insectoids, and plants that you would never come across anywhere else in the world. In fact, it is even said that the raw ingredients for many of Alfheim’s most precious elixirs and medicines are sourced from here, including the Burrowing Mandragora, which is said to be so potent that it could even revive a man that is a half step away from death, or bring a healthy man a half step away from death. People can’t quite seem to agree on what exactly it is.”

“What about your birthplace?” Aalis wanted to know next as she sighed in wonder, “Is your birthplace just as wondrous and otherworldly as this forest of rain and desolate wasteland you’ve mentioned?” 

“My birthplace? You wish to learn about my birthplace? Very well. The land of my birth is even farther than that rainforest and that desert. In fact, it is so far away that I’m afraid even if you had ten lives, it would still be lacking if you wished to make the journey there.” 

“Ten lives? Do you mean ten lifetimes?” Aalis giggled. Ten lives, that was a silly way to put it.

“No, you would only need one lifetime to get there, but the journey is so perilous that I’m sure an ordinary girl like you would die ten times over before getting there.”

“Is it that dangerous then?” 

“It is that dangerous, yes. So I would prefer it if you didn’t go about it on your own. I wouldn’t want your death to be on my hands.” 

“Then I can simply hear about it from you, can’t I? About your homeland.” 

“Of course. That I can do. That, I can do,” the sunset haired girl nodded slowly and then mused. She was beginning to like the spirit in Aalis more and more. A good girl and a good listener, that was what she was. After all, it was infinitely more fun and enjoyable to tell stories to someone who was attentive and willing to listen versus someone who couldn’t care enough to even grunt a noise of acknowledgement— or someone who interrupted her every few words, like a certain verdant hair she was acquainted with.

“I mentioned it once before, but let me tell you in detail this time. I come from a place very, very, very, very far away from here. Farther than the jungles and rainforests of Byru, beyond the scorching deserts and drylands of Misrue, there lies the beginnings of a vast sea that stretches farther than your land is wide. And sailing across this, there exists the grasslands of Gu Meng. Close to here lies the Great Middle Empire, home to the Tianshi race of the Feys, sword cultivators, and where rice is the staple always on the menu.”

“What? The sea? As in the Great Sea? My father always said to carry a sunstone while crossing the fog and to never stray into the Great Sea, as all who have done so have never made it back to tell of that journey. So there truly is a world beyond the Great Sea?” 

A certain shine was in Aalis’ eyes. It was clearly visible even under the dim flicker of the lantern’s light, and it was awe. 

Up to now, she had been listening quietly to the great and many things her newfound friend had been recounting, but she believed them all without question. Why? Because no matter how wild they had been, they had all still fallen squarely within her scope of expectation. Things like wolves the size of boulders? Those were known as wargs, told of in many tales, both heroic and cautionary. What about bogs where iron seeped out like blood? While she had never seen it personally, she once heard something similar in passing from her father. And then there was the rainforest and the desert. Outlandish and otherworldly for sure, but after all the things which her friend had told her, it was far from unbelievable. Although she may not have seen those places in person, she understood that she still could, and that made all the difference. If she walked long and far enough, she may one day come across it.

That was understandable, right? 

But the Great Sea— 

The Great Sea was different. 

The Great Sea was all encompassing. 

The Great sea was… where earth met its end and where water devoured the land.

There was even an old folktale about how each of the nine realms were a ship, and all drifted endlessly admiss the Great Sea of Yggdrasill. It explained how the rising and falling of the tides was simply the bobbing of the great ships and how when weak men and women died, their souls would be pulled to the Great Sea where they would eventually be washed up onto the cold frozen shores of Hel. 

Now, this was not a very popular folktale, and Aalis did not believe it herself, as the land across the fog was separated by a stretch of sea and could only be reachable via ship, but she still firmly believed that there was nothing beyond the Great Sea. Those who truly, truly, journeyed out into the Great Sea never returned and were all hailed as great pioneers. They were heroes who gave up their lives in search of adventure that may not even be out there, and that was an act worthy of praise. 

But what the sunset haired girl said— if what she said were to be believed, then… 

“Yes, of course. How else would I have gotten here then? Though I suppose I don’t have any way of proving that to you.” 

The sunset haired girl simply shook her head and shrugged helplessly.

“I think… I think you’re a trustworthy person. You wouldn’t lie to me. You don’t have a reason to after all.” 

“Then you will simply have to believe in my words. By the looks of it, it seems like you have a lot of things you want to ask me,” the girl nodded a little.

“Of course! It’s a whole new world; anything can happen, right? It would make anyone curious about it. So what’s it like in this Great Middle Empire? Are there more people who have made the journey across the Great Sea like you have? Perhaps you came here with companions? Family? What are they like?” Aalis, still in a daze which had struck her, asked many things in a hurry. 

“Family?” The sunset haired girl laughed bitterly, as the image of her father appeared in her head, though it was much closer to a scoff than a laugh, “it would be strange if he got on a ship. No, not family, but I did meet someone on the journey. A stowaway, and according to the rules on that ship, stowaways were to be tossed overboard. That ship capsized and I saved the stowaway, but that one is a bitter story so I don’t plan on telling you about it.” 

“And the Great Middle Empire?” the blondie asked again.

“Well, let’s see,” the girl pretended to think, “there are great vast regions of flat grassland with men and women who live lives just as you do, waking up to work the land when the sun rises, and harvesting crops when the seasons come proper. Some are doctors, some are blacksmiths, and the likes. And in the cities, there are jobs appropriate for those who live in cities.”

“That’s…” Aalis trailed. There was something awfully suspicious about the way the girl worded that, but she could not put her tongue on it. 

“Disappointing? Underwhelming?”

“But what about the magic? It’s a whole different world after all! Surely there must be something more interesting! What about the creatures there? What about the seasons? Are there people who live in the clouds? Deep in the earth? Inside mountains? That can’t be all, can it?” 

“Don’t you think that, to these people, living here in this other world across the Great Sea, you would be the one living in this different world? How would you explain it to these people if they were to ask you about people who lived in the clouds, deep in the earth, or inside mountains? Though we may live in entirely separate worlds, as far as could possibly be, speak different languages, or work in different professions, we– like anybody else– still do our best to live out our lives. After all, when you look up, we all are under the same sky, with the same sun, and the same moon, over our heads, are we not?” 

Aalis had been played the fool, and she realized it too. 

“You got me there,” the young lady scratched her cheeks. She had been made the fool, but it was in good fun so she did not mind. Or rather, any sourness she might have felt was wiped away when she saw the amused expression on the girl’s face. She might have uncovered a different side to her friend just now.

“Not everybody has the luxury to travel. That applies to both on land and on sea. It’s just that unlike on land, trips across the sea are long, hard, and arduous and require a person to be fully committed to the cause. That means they cannot turn back mid journey even if they wished to. But the world is vast, and like life, people always find a way, whether that be by ship, or other more… creative methods.”

“Such as?” Aalis prodded.

“Flight,” the sunset haired girl gave a single word response.

“Like birds?” 

“Like birds,” she nodded. She did sometimes wonder just what exactly went through the minds of the first people to look at a man-eating gryphon and decide that they were going to ride it– much less ride it across the sea. But there were all kinds of crazy people out there, not that she had much right to complain, as she too could be considered one of those crazy people. 

“What about dragons?” Aalis asked. 

“What about dragons?” the sunset haired girl asked back.

“Do people ride dragons?” 

“Hm… well…” the girl pretended to be deep in thought, but in reality kept an eye on Aalis to see how she would react, and the blondie did not disappoint. The exact expression was difficult to describe in words, but it could certainly be described as a child asking if old man Santa Claus existed.

“Do you want there to be dragons ridden by people?” she eventually ended up asking. 

Gripping the bed sheet in her fists, Aalis cried out her wish.

“I want to know if dragons exist, period!” 

“Dragons are as certain a certainty as water is wet and fire is hot. Yes, those winged beasts that rule the skies and breathe magic like you and I talk do exist in this world.” 

“Yes! I knew it! I knew it! Now I can finally tell those idiots my father wasn’t being a liar when he told me about dragons!” 

Aalis was excited enough by the news to be leaping in joy, and she would have had she not already been tucked tightly in bed prior to this. Still, the way she squirmed and swung her tight fists around portrayed all the feeling of glee and satisfaction in her body for the sunset haired girl to see. 

“How do you know I’m not just saying that to make you happy?” The girl looked at Aalis in amusement.

“But you’re not lying, aren’t you?” 

“Why would I have any reason to lie to you?” the girl laughed, “I suppose you could say I’ve seen a few dragons here and there.” 

—The word “few” here being entirely subjective. 

“Could you tell me more about them?” 

“Of course. But which one do you want to hear about?” 

“I don’t know, I haven’t the slightest clue what kind of dragons are out there.” 

The sunset haired girl contemplated for a moment as she considered Aalis’ words.

“Hm. Okay, how about this. Why don’t you tell me what you know about dragons and we can start from there? Just act like I’m one of your friends and tell me what you told them.” 

“Eh—? No, but I can’t! Impossible!”

The young lady sunk deep into her sheets in a fluster until only her forehead and her golden hair could be seen any longer. Truly, in her eyes it felt too embarrassing for her to try to speak the same way she did to her friends in the village to an actual expert. 

Back then, Aalis had only repeated verbatim what she had been told by her father. “The dragon’s wings were like clouds in the sky and in its wake followed vicious winds that were powerful enough to capsize ships.” It had only been just that at first, but the more time passed, the more innocuous details were added in by her— sprinkled in really, just like salt, in order to add even more spice to the already tall tales. And now it had come to bite her back now that she could no longer even remember just what had been added on by her and what had not been. 

“Impossible, you say?” 

“Nooooooo! I can’t!” Aalis shrieked.

“Good answer,” the girl laughed in the face of the bright red Aalis, who finally released the sheets covering her face. 

“It is…? You’re not just saying that to make fun of me, are you?” 

“Do you want me to tell you that I am?” 

“…Don’t make fun of me please…” Aalis whimpered. 

“Then I’m not. I was only asking to make sure,” the girl shook her head amusingly, “In any case, I know where I should begin now. Here, let me ask you another question then. Just where do you suppose dragons come from?” 

Aalis thought for a moment, at first to try to come up with a clever answer in an attempt to get back at the girl, but when nothing came quickly enough, she opted to answer with a safe answer. 

“Eggs? They’re a bit like snakes, aren’t they, dragons, only so much bigger and so much more frightening.” 

“A standard response. It’s not wrong… but it’s totally wrong.” 

“Do dragons give live birth like cattles then?” 

“No, I meant to ask you where you thought dragons came from, such as what was there before dragons existed, that eventually turned into dragons.”

“What was there before dragons existed?” Aalis repeated, confused, “I don’t understand.” 

“You know, like how dogs descended from wolves, or how birds are just feathered reptiles.”

“Eh? Huh? What? Birds are feathered whats? Huh?” 

“Erm, what now? Oh, whoops. Sorry about that Aalis. I got carried away there. I forgot only the guys at the Scholarly Republic of Aquae care about these kinds of things. Just forget I said any of that— wait, no, actually don’t. This ties into what I want to tell you next. When I said that you weren’t wrong, but you totally were, here is what I actually meant: dragons do lay eggs, but they are nothing like snakes. Even though dragons have scales and in a way might resemble a snake with wings, they are in fact direct descents of the Jotnar.”

“The Jotnar?” Aalis exclaimed loudly. 

Jotnar, or Jotunn singularly, were giants— 

—The very giants that dwelled in Jotunheim and whose essence flowed within all living beings in the universe, including that of the Aesirs that resided in Asgard. However, it was more complicated than that, much more complicated. It always was, especially when the gods and godly beings such as the Jotnar were involved.

“Yes, the Jotnar, specifically, Nidhogg. Birthed from the scales that shed from his body, all true dragons are incredibly large, intelligent, and most importantly creatures of complete magic. Their magic is so potent that even in death, a dragon’s body remains as resilient as it was in life. In fact, items made from dragon parts are known to even ward against the most harmful effects of cold, fire, and lightning.”

“Nidhogg, the serpent who gnaws at the root of Yggdrasil that imprisons it… So then Nidhogg is a dragon?” 

“Yes, Nidhogg is a dragon… only not really. Nidhogg is a Jotunn that looks like a dragon, and it’s actually its descendents that you and I know as dragons. It might sound like a bunch of nonsense to you, I understand, but just think of Nidhogg like Sleipnir, the eight legged warhorse of Odin who is similarly a Jotunn, but just looks like a horse. Just think about it, what animal do you know has six limbs like dragons do, or eight limbs like Sleipnir does? It’s a trait associated with the Jotnar.”

The girl watched as the blonde Aalis made an “Oh” face of understanding as certain things clicked in her mind. 

The sunset haired girl continued, adopting a tone as though she were talking about dragons like regular old livestock.

“So then are spiders and ants also…”

“Hahaha, I’ll leave that up to your imagination,” the girl laughed as Aalis pouted.

“So if the blood of Nidhogg flows through all dragons, and all true dragons are direct descendents of Nidhogg, then just where do draconid species like wyverns, drakes, and wyrms fit into all this? For reference: wyverns are like birds in the way that they have four limbs and their wings are attached to their arms; drakes lack a pair of wings and really just look kind of like a big lumbering lizard; and wyrms are well… basically just snakes, but big, and has a pair of arms and legs, and also draconid… Oh and by the way, cockatrices are…”

There was an obvious pattern arising here, but the girl opted to not point that out yet as she too only just began to realize it.

“What about cockatrices?” Aalis tapped on the girl’s arm after noticing how she abruptly stopped talking.

“…A cockatrice is quite literally just a very big, very stupid, and very angry chicken… but draconid.”

“That doesn’t sound very fitting of the proud dragon race at all,” Aalis was disappointed at the image formed in her head. 

“That’s because they aren’t. There’s also this unfounded rumor going around that the thing is supposedly so hideous that a man would drop dead at the mere sight of it, but that’s complete and utter nonsense. I’m sure it was just some poor guy who saw the giant thing on his farm and died of shock. Like I said, big angry chicken. Moves like one, sounds like one, and apparently tastes like one too.”

“You mean to say you ate a dragon?” Aalis was in part amazed and horrified, but also conflicted. If the sunset haired girl had hunted the cocktrice and cooked it on her own, that would make her a dragon slayer. A dragon slayer! But at the same time, it was a giant chicken. Come on. Would that make anyone’s mother who butchered a rooster for supper a lesser dragon slayer? It was quite the difficult pill to swallow.

“A draconid, Aalis, a draconid, not a dragon. It may not seem important to you, but I know some people who would be very annoyed if you were to use the terms interchangeably. But yes, I have eaten a cockatrice before. If true dragons have six limbs: two frontal, two rear, and two on the back, where does that place draconids species like the wyverns, drakes, and wyrms who have less than that?” 

“Mix breeds!” Aalis raised her hand quickly.

“Good answer!” the sunset haired girl was even quicker to follow up, “because of the jotunn blood that flows in their veins, true dragons can breed with just about anything that moves. Don’t ask me how it works. I can’t answer you. It’s Jotnar magic shenanigans. Something about them being the precursors of all life, therefore they can mix with all life. All you need to know is that purebred dragons can mix with almost everything, with one of these few exceptions being that of the fey (such as you), so no draconid men. Again, don’t ask me how it works, I am incapable of telling you. You wouldn’t want to imagine it either. Yes, just like those… those…”

The image of those stupid looking cockatrices took up her mind. 

“Um, are you alright? You don’t look so well,” Aalis was worried for her friend at the sudden silence. She was even prepared to leave the bed that she had been tucked so tightly and comfortably in, but the sunset haired girl stopped her before she could do that.

The sunset haired girl raised a hand to indicate she was alright.

“It’s okay if you want to stop for tonight.” Aalis was worried for her regardless. 

The sunset haired girl was hesitant for a moment, but decided it was getting quite late anyways, so it would be better for Aalis to tune in for the night and they could always talk more the following morning. 

“Yes, let’s do that. Good night, Aalis.” 

“Nn, good night.” 

… 

… 

Almost as though in direct contrast to her own daughter, Alyson was much more a reserved woman, a far cry from the sparkling conversationalist Aalis was.

“My guest, are you up so early in the morning? Was the night too cold? Was the bed uncomfortable? I hope my daughter didn’t cause you any trouble last night.”

“No, it was just fine. You don’t have to worry. And my coat keeps me plenty warm. You’d be surprised. I suppose you could say that I’m an early riser. Basically, I’m used to it. I’m always up in time to see the sun rise. But no, I should be the one asking if you slept well, with all the dark circles collecting under your eyes. Are you doing alright?” 

“I’m alive, and so is my daughter. The seeds for this season have been sowed, our livestock are doing well, we have plenty of food waiting in storage, and clean water is always available from the well. What more could I possibly ask for?” Alyson responded.

“Wealth? That’s a typical one. Good companions, alcohol, fame, status, or true love even. There are a lot of things people want but don’t have,” the girl shrugged lightly, choosing not to go too deep into the subject when she saw Alyson’s lackluster reaction.

“Maybe in the past, I might have wished for one or two of those things, but now? I have my daughter.” 

“They do say that people change drastically once they become a parent. I suppose you are someone who can attest to that.”

The girl took a seat at the table, and after a brief intermission, breakfast was served. It was a simple cereal consisting of wheat gruel boiled in goat’s milk. She thanked Alyson with a short word of gratitude as she received the bowl.

“Well… well… well…” she murmured as she cupped the bowl with both her hands. It was remarkably warm, hot to the touch even– a stark contrast to the stiff coldness of the air– and for a short moment in time, she was entranced by this small heat. It surprised her. She was sure she had never experienced this exact set of circumstances before, yet she felt strangely attached to it, like a childhood nostalgia, but more than just that. Ever since she set foot upon this land, it was as though she was feeling a constant sense of dejavu from a set of memories not of her own.

It was strange and weird, but she had lived long enough to know to embrace these feelings even if she did not know the cause of it. 

“Is the food not to your liking?” Alyson worked up the strength to ask. She grew worried when she saw the sunset haired girl refusing to eat from the bowl even after many minutes.

“No, no, it’s nothing of the sort,” the girl shook her head, both to reassure the mother and to clear her own mind, before beginning to eat dutifully. Taking the wooden spoon that had been set aside, she skimmed the surface of the wheat gruel where a thin film of milk and cereal had cooled in contact with the air. She tried that first, savoring it for the firmness that came with the milk skin composite rather than for the taste, of which the taste of wheat was thin and was overshadowed by the sweetness of milk. 

It was a quick and simple meal, fit to warm the body up in the harsh coldness of the mornings here. However, now that breakfast had finished, and with Aalis still fast asleep in the confines of her own bed, the sunset haired girl took the opportunity to speak more with Alyson in hopes to open the mother up for some conversation. 

What was her motive? What did she want from the sole mother of one? Nothing. The girl just wanted to chat a little to pass the time and to get to know Alyson more. 

During her travels, she had met all kinds of different people: generous folks with their own shortcomings; petty men who ruined their entire lives over a small grudge; criminals who were unable to live an honest life no matter how hard they try; as well as many others, but if there was one thing that she learned from meeting and conversing with all of them… 

“Do you want to hear a story?” 

It was that no sensible person would pass up on a good story.

“Pardon?” the mother asked, as though expressing genuine shock that the girl had spoken those words to her, “A story? I’m afraid I’m far too old to be listening to stories. Maybe you should ask my daughter instead?” 

“—Nonsense! What makes you think you’re too old to listen to stories? Is there a law that says that people aren’t allowed to listen to stories once they reach a certain age? If that is the case, then should travelers also not be allowed to share stories with each other by the fire?” 

Caught off guard again, this time at the fever in the girl’s response, Alyson reacted positively and eased into a light chuckle. 

“Never truly. You’re right, life is short and can end at any moment, whether by sudden illness, an accident, or by the will of the gods. Therefore, one should never turn away an opportunity set right before them. I’ll take you up on your offer then, my honored guest,” she nodded. It was true.

“As one who packs lightly even while traveling, I don’t have much in the way to offer as thanks for the hospitality you and your daughter have provided me. However, if there is one thing I always have with me, it would be my wealth of knowledge, experience, and of course these small tales of mine. But I am not a bard, nor am I any other kind of professional storyteller, so do excuse me if my stories lack flare. Now, let me think…”

The sunset haired girl tapped the side of her bowl as she sorted out her mind. 

“Ah, I know just the one. Alyson, tell me, what say you about the tale of a king’s daughter who wanted nothing more than to become a chivalrous knight?” 

“A princess who wanted to become a knight?” Alyson covered her mouth in surprise. She had been half expecting the girl to tell her a story about the Aesirs or the Jotnar, as those were the kind of stories told usually to the children here.

“That’s the story, yes,” the girl nodded once to affirm, “it’s a short tale, but nonetheless it is filled with dreams, expectations, and the onset of harsh reality. While young, there are plenty of little girls who want to become princesses, but here was this little princess wanting the exact opposite. Fate works in strange ways sometimes, no?

“Unlike the other princesses who were raised with the education needed to run a kingdom, this princess was spoiled by her father and grew up surrounded by the fantasy of chivalry instead— about knights who went out to the world to slay monsters, rescue damsels, and to help those in need. The aspect she was particularly intrigued by was that of knights battling vicious beasts to protect the kingdom from harm, and the story she was most enamored by was that of the knight who battled impossible odds in order to prevail against a terrible dragon. Why? In order to rescue the princess held captive by the vile beast, of course! This is the peak of a child’s romance. 

“While normal girls her age would daydream of becoming the princess waiting to be rescued by a knight in shining armor, this princess, who was the object of all their imagination and adoration, wanted to be the knight in shining armor instead! Hah! Indeed, she wanted to be the one to best the terrible dragon with her own two hands. She was quite the fearless and brazen one, as noted by even the castle’s maids and servants.

“Although the king was fine publicly with his daughter idolizing these storybook tales, he admonished her behavior in secret. He did not like how she wanted to put herself into harm’s way for the sake of something as silly as replicating a storybook tale. King or not, he was a father, just like any other man; he sought only the best for his daughter, which was why he ended up spoiling her the way he did. But even he had his limits, and that hard limit was quickly breached the day his daughter met one of these fabled knights while he was out of the castle on business. Well, Alyson, what do you think happened next?”

Alyson could not part her lips to answer. She was partly too intrigued and partly too afraid to answer that question.

“The correct answer,” the girl continued when she saw that Alyson was not going to make a guess, “would be that the princess expressed her desire to accompany the knight on his journey– for her to be made a squire in service of sir knight. Naturally, the king found out, and when he did he finally snapped. With a face lit red with anger, he quite literally threw the knight out of his castle and yelled at his daughter until she locked herself away within her own chambers. But even then, his anger did not quell and he did not stop berating her through the door all throughout the night.

“When dawn came, he regretted his actions very much and spent the entire morning pleading and apologizing to his daughter.”

“Did they make up?” Alyson was almost too scared to ask.

The girl chose not to answer.

“But much to his dismay, his daughter never once replied to his pleas. At first, the king thought his daughter was still mad at him, so he continued to plead. But not long after that, some terrible news reached his ears and that was when he finally chose to knock down those sacred doors of his daughter’s privacy. What he saw was the entire place a rummaged mess. His first thought was that a thief had broken into his daughter’s chambers and taken off with his daughter, but that would have been impossible, so, the only logical conclusion was that…”

“Oh no…” Alyson mouthed wordlessly.

“Oh yes…” the sunset haired girl’s lips curled lightly as she watched her expression.

“His daughter had left on her own. What gave it away? Was it the fact that there were no signs of a struggle in the room? Or was it something more obvious, such as the rope dangling out the open window being weaved of the many dresses which he had gifted to his daughter over the years? The end. Story finished. And the king was left forever devastated.”

“That was… that was terrible…!” Alyson was exasperated, “Where is the conclusion? The happy ending? The story, it couldn’t have ended right there, could it? There must be more to it! Tell me what happened after that!” 

“The princess defied her father and chased after her dreams. Isn’t that the happy ending you were looking for?” 

“That’s no happy ending! That’s a tragedy!” she cried, “What happened to her after that? Did the knight do something to her? Please tell me what happened after that!” 

“The princess?” the girl shrugged, “The princess left of her own volition. Why would the knight have anything to do with this?”

“Of course he has something to do with it! She had to have gone with him, where else could she have gone? And if that was the case, then how could that knight have been so irresponsible as to leave with the princess? Do knights not serve their lords? How could he have run away with his daughter like that? That’s treason! That must break his oath!” 

The girl merely shrugged again. 

“Some say the princess got herself killed pretending to be a knight. Others say she gave up on her quest early on and quietly went back home after realizing that life was not so romanticized as the storybooks. And well, there are also those who believe that, to this day, the princess is still going from village to village, and town to town, playing hero to save the helpless and to help the poor, just like in the stories which she enjoyed so very much. But as for what really happened to her, who can say?”

“How terrible…” Alyson lamented quietly again, “the poor king, what of him? What happened to him after all that? How did he take the news after realizing his daughter ran off on her own?” 

Yet, as much as she wanted to know the answer to this question, it was not something which the girl had the answer to. 

“I apologize however I do not have an answer to that question. Well, the king did send his army out in search of his daughter, not that it did him any good, and I watched him drown himself in wine for days on end. But no, in all seriousness, I really do not know what happened after that. At the very least, the princess was finally able to live the life she always dreamt of after being cooped up in that castle all her life. As a parent, that feeling is something you should be able to empathize with, no? Don’t you want Aalis to be able to chase after her dreams, to be hap—” 

“No!” Alyson screamed at the top of her lungs as she rattled the table and all the things on top of it with a heavy slam.

Unperturbed however, the sunset haired girl continued to look at her specimen curiously. 

When Alyson finally realized what she had just done in front of her guest, she quickly sat down and apologized. 

“I’m so sorry you had to see that.”

“It didn’t bother me,” the girl waved the concern off casually. It would take far more than that to upset her.

“I don’t know what had gotten into me, but I just got so mad thinking about it,” Alyson explained.

“What if that decision to chase after her dreams directly led to her death? How could I empathize with something like that? It’s just so dangerous for a girl so young to be out in the world like that! Does she even know how to survive out there? I know that if I were in his shoes, I certainly would regret it until the day I died if anything were to happen to my daughter.”

“Well…” the girl played the devil’s advocate, “there are risks that come with every aspect of life, even life itself. You were the one who said it, how, ‘life is short and can end at any moment, whether by sudden illness, an accident, or by the will of the gods.’ Even a person living in the safety of a castle could still die one morning choking on a piece of stale bread. So let’s use that as an example. What if the princess managed to live a longer life by going out on an adventure as opposed to her initial fate of dying to a piece of bread? Certainly, she lived a life free of adversity, and as a parent, you could take pride in that, but she would have lived longer had she left the castle and become a knight.”

“That’s a silly example, and you know that!” Alyson rebuked quickly. 

“Okay, then let me change it then. She is a princess, and there are always dangers associated with succession and power struggles, especially within royalty. So she doesn’t die to a piece of bread, but she dies instead to poison, or assassination. And let’s take it further. What if she never had any interest in the power struggle and actually found it to be incredibly troublesome? What if she just wanted to do what she wanted to, to become a knight? Are you going to keep her against her will, to have her participate in something she wants nothing to do with? Or would you rather her escape that danger and be happy in one fell swoop?”

“But you don’t know that! There doesn’t always have to be danger!” 

“Well, you don’t know that either,” the girl merely countered with the same argument, “and we’re talking purely hypothetical now, so why must you work yourself up so? This is a king you have never met, and this is a princess you will never meet, with the events being ancient history.”

—”It’s almost as though you see the princess as your daughter and you want her to live the life you couldn’t, in the way you wanted.” 

…Though, some things were better left unsaid. 

“Oh you poor king. You poor, poor, king. I don’t know what I would do myself, having a daughter who wanted to throw her life away, chasing after something so stupid. She shouldn’t have gone off on his daughter in anger. Oh you poor foolish king. Anger makes even the wisest of men give in to the rashest of decisions. There are many things, once said, that cannot simply be taken back.” 

The mother placed a hand over her own chest, and with the heaviest breath possible, she sighed as though her soul was leaving her.

“You don’t know so well,” the girl sat, observed, and directed, “Alyson, let me ask you again then, as a good guest of your hospitality, are you doing alright?” 

“I’m…” Alyson struggled to find the right words. And it was clear as day to the sunset haired girl the sheer amount of anguish that was being kept hidden behind that crumbling facade of a single mother in a household of two. There was so much to say, so much that was bottled up, and so much that she could not bring herself to say– not to her daughter and certainly not to anyone from this land. But if it was someone who wasn’t? Someone who had nothing to do with her and will soon have nothing more to do with her? 

“I’m… well… it’s… it’s just that— oh how am I to put it! It’s about my daughter, Aalis. And I’m just so worried about her and what may become of her in the future.” 

“Is that because of how much she looks up to her deceased father?” 

The mother gasped, not knowing how her guest could have possibly come to this conclusion, but nodded unconsciously in the end.

Spot on, the girl knew from this reaction. 

“It is very concerning to me as a mother, yes,” Alyson replied in as calm a voice as she could manage, but the girl did not care about such things.

“Because Aalis hates her own people– your people– am I correct in saying that?” the girl inquired further.

“So I take it you’ve heard about it from my daughter then?” Alyson asked in a daze, “No, actually, it shouldn’t surprise me, given how much that child likes to parade to everyone about her father’s previous exploits.”

The weary mother shook her head in resignation before breathing out with a heavy baggage of emotions once again.

“Yes, I am worried about Aalis, and I am extremely concerned about her precisely due to how much she hates her own people, but at least I still have her with me. While she may look up to her father, she at least does not have the stupid dream to go on the same expeditions he once did… Yes… to the land across the fog…”

—To a place she once called home… 

Alyson’s eyes were closed in deep nostalgia and remembrance.

…

After a brief spell of silence, the sunset haired girl was the first to speak.

“Your daughter told me in depth about the teachings your people used to practice.”

“Used to practice?” Alyson wiped the little beads of tears that had begun to form and looked up in surprise, “how would you…” 

“I don’t know about the distant past, but if it’s just recently, then I too have visited the so-called ‘land beyond the fog,’ and the people there were quite hospitable and accommodating. I would like to believe that something to the severity of rampant cannibalism and the likes would be quite an easy thing to spot had it still been going on while I was there. But hey, what do I know? Just a stranger in a strange land, isn’t that right?”

“Ah… I see… I see…”

The girl had joked a little at the end to ease the mood, however it seemed like it was an unnecessary thing for her to do. Alyson had tears streaming freely from her eyes now, not in grief, anger, or sadness, but in relief instead.

Relief in the form of a heavy weight being lifted from her shoulders, a weight which had been pushing down on her and crushing her little by little for all the years since she had been brought to this land. When she heard the sunset haired girl talk about her homeland without the extreme hostility that she had been made typical to, it was as though she had finally… finally found an ally after all this time. And even though they were simple strangers, having met for only a night, it brought about a feeling of extreme catharsis that could not be described by words alone.

To no end had it always frustrated her whenever she heard her own daughter, someone of her own flesh and blood, revile her own people as though they were the most evil and disgusting things to have ever walked the earth. Those were practices long gone! Bygone practices of a bygone era, abolished by the very people who once put them into place after realizing just how terrible they were! She wanted to tell her daughter. Each and every time, she wanted to tell her daughter, yet she did not speak. She could not speak. 

For her daughter’s own safety, Alyson dared not teach her those things, for they were deep in hostile lands and she feared the lips of children were too loose. The sole reason she was permitted here and not killed had been because of the good name of the man who brought her here. And now that the very man in question was no longer around, that good name was all that they had left. 

All it took was one slip of the tongue for Aalis to be labeled a sympathizer for the “barbarians” and the two of them would be killed. That was the reason why Alyson had kept her mouth shut all this entire time, and for nearly twenty years she had been biding her time, until she felt Aalis was old enough to be told the truth. But now it was probably too late to change her daughter’s mind, not after it had already been molded for that same amount of time by the teachings of her deceased father. It was a tragedy, but all hope was not yet lost. 

“How was it over— Did you happen to— No… I shouldn’t. I have a daughter here now. I shouldn’t… I shouldn’t…”

That life was behind her now. Even if she knew what had happened, it would change nothing. If anything, instead of helping her to move on, it may just cause the desires which had once been beaten out of her to swell up to the surface once more. 

Defiled since long ago, she was no longer the young maiden she had used to be. Even if she managed to make it back to the place she once called home, could she possibly start her life over again? Could she possibly continue where she left off, as a maiden ready for love, before her entire town was razed to the ground and nearly everything she had ever known and loved butchered for the sake of worthless heroics and honor? 

—And what of Aalis, her daughter, her jewel, her only shining beacon of hope in this land far far away. 

Her tears had stopped now. Wiping away the last remaining traces of it, she was no longer Alyson de la Daryl, she was now Alyson the mother. She looked at the sunset haired girl straight and then she said.

“I’m sorry about my miserable appearance, honored guest. Let me say it again. Yes, I am worried about my daughter, Aalis. I am worried about her future, I am worried about her past, and I am very much worried about her now. There is so much I am worried about and there is so much I want to talk to her about, but I simply can’t.”

“You may tell me then,” the sunset haired girl gave a simple, but strong, response, “if you believe that sharing the secret which you have kept buried for all this time may lighten the load on your heart, then pour it all out.”

“No, my dear honored guest, I believe you have already lightened the load on my heart, whether you know of it or not. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you…” closing her eyes, Alyson bowed before the sunset haired girl and thanked her in the most heartfelt way she could.

…

“But…” 

At the end of it all, there was one thing at the back of her mind which the girl simply had to ask, and after asking it, Alyson gave her best answer, though at the same time, it felt less of an answer and more of a plea.

“She won’t. I still have time. It isn’t too late. She hasn’t gone over to that side yet. Aalis is still young. Her mind is still flexible. She can handle anything. There is still time.”

…

… 

The morning quickly picked up once Aalis woke up and had her breakfast of wheat gruel and bread, and by early noon, both the sunset haired girl and the young lady were out of the house. 

The reason? Aalis had offered to take her guest around the village and, without a good reason to refuse, the sunset haired girl agreed to go.

“The air feels great,” the sunset haired girl sighed as she felt the crisp, cold, air brush through her ears and hair. 

“It sure does, doesn’t it?”

“Do you enjoy the cold?” she asked Aalis. Her? She loved it, and she loved it even more the colder and crisper it was. 

“The cold? It feels nice if I’ve been inside a hot and stuffy building for too long. The breath of fresh air is a life saver sometimes, though, it’s not so much fun if it’s so cold that it makes my nose itchy, and when that happens, it’s hard to stop sneezing until my nose becomes all red and runny. But for times like that, I have this.”

Aalis tugged on the bright and colorful muffler she wrapped twice around her neck. It had a nice repeating pattern of triangles and diamonds, and would have been long enough to wrap around her neck several times over had she not stuffed the ends into her clothes.

“To blow your nose?” the girl asked bemusingly. 

“No! To keep my nose warm! Otherwise I would have to wash it if I really were to blow my nose with it! But you knew that already, didn’t… didn’t… achoo!?”

“Hahaha. You never know, that’s why you have to make sure. Can’t say I’m from around here after all.”

“That’s not fair— Ackchoo!” 

“Come on, maybe it’s time to make use of that muffler.” 

“No! I told you already, that’s not what it’s mea… meant… achoo—! For!”

Aalis pinched her nose and pouted. She did not like being teased like that.

“What about you then?” the young lady asked. 

“For me, I have this,” the sunset haired girl tugged on the collar of her coat, “it’s a neat little thing. It keeps me warm when it’s cold, and it keeps me cool when it’s hot. And it does much more than that too.”

“Wow! Really? Where can I get one?” 

Aalis was amazed.

“Well, who knows,” the girl laughed. 

“Tell me!” Aalis puffed her cheeks again. 

“Hahaha, I suppose you can say it’s a gift from my sister. But really, I provided the materials and she was the one to make it into a coat.” 

“Oh. Then it can’t be helped,” Aalis was slightly disappointed, but she quickly let it go as the two of them continued down the path and made their small talk.

“That’s right. I just remembered something I wanted to ask. Aalis, what’s the name of your village? I would like to know for future reference. Or is it’s name simply ‘this village,’ oh Aalis of ‘this village.'”

“Huh? What are you—?” Confused, Aalis quickly began, but her recollection quickly came back and she clapped her hands in response. “Oh, hehehe, I said that because I actually forgot what the name was, since nobody mentions it here. But if you want to know, we can ask the village head. I’m sure he knows! But I’m surprised you actually remembered something like that.”

“Of course. If there’s one thing I’m proud of, it’s my wealth of trivial knowledge, and the ability to retain that information.”

“Wow, really? How proud?”

“I’d say it’s pretty high up there.”

“More than dragonslaying?” 

“Depends on which dragon you’re talking about,” the girl laughed at the thought of a certain fowl draconid.

“Yeah, you did say it was just a big chicken after all.”

“I admit, I got a little carried away before, but despite how it looks and tastes, a cockatrice is still a draconid, so it’s much bigger, stronger, and faster than anything you are likely to ever face. Its talons are also sharp and hard enough to tear through steelplate and stones. I can’t recommend you enough to stay far away in the event you ever come across one. You wouldn’t want to become chickenfeed, would you?”

“Say, what’s this about dragons and draconids? Are they any different? Or is it just two different words to talk about the same thing?” Aalis wondered. 

“Here’s a simple way to think about it. True dragons are called ‘true’ dragons because they take on the form of Nidhogg.” 

“So six limbs, because Nidhogg is a Jotunn,” she mused.

“Exactly so,” the sunset haired girl praised Aalis for remembering, and the blonde reveled in that feeling. 

“But what about draconids? Are true dragons also draconids? Or are only the mixed breeds like wyverns and drakes considered draconids?”

“That one is simple to answer as well. No, true dragons are not draconids, therefore everything that looks like a dragon but isn’t a true dragon is a draconid. While draconids do certainly have draconic features, they are without exception always smaller, weaker, and dumber than a true dragon. And once they start to really start to stray from the purity of the bloodline, that’s where you start to see creatures showing up like the cockatrice and similar creatures.”

“I see. I see,” Aalis slowly nodded her way into acknowledgement. But from an observer’s point of view, it looked as though her head was bobbing up and down much like an apple would in a bucket of water.

… 

Here was a quaint little settlement tucked away at one of the farthest reaches of civilization. If one were to go any farther north, then only glaciers remained. The buildings were dirty and varied wildly in scope. Not a single one looked alike. Some were quite shabby little places, built of mud slabbed over a light wooden frame; whereas the grandest of them all was a towering hall constructed with massive beams of timber and set upon a sturdy foundation of stone and mortar. All in all, it came together to give it a powerful and noteworthy shape.

Incidentally, Aalis’ was a turf house built partially into the hill itself. It blended into the side of the hill it was a part of and the thick turf walls kept the interior wood finish of the home well insulated. Although the temperatures would still drop quite a bit over the course of the night, especially if the windows were left open. 

“You see that? That’s the feasting hall,” Aalis pointed towards the towering building the girl had just been looking at and explained.

“Have you ever been inside it?” the girl asked, half distracted by the different sights and sounds surrounding her. She could see children lazing around the side of the streets as well as a woman who was in the process of weaving a basket outside her home. She could also hear the distant murmurs of talk, cheers, and shouts, some banging of hammer on wood, and smell the distinct smell of freshly baked bread. And with a second sniff, she could also smell soup simmering. 

“A few times only, but always with my father, and never during any big event. You should see how it looks on the inside, it’s huge! The ceiling is so far away that even if you were to stand on a table and reach up, it would still not be enough to touch it! And there’s enough space inside to fit everybody here twice over.”

“Oh?” the girl finally took a closer look at the lavishly adorned feasting hall with a half pint of interest now. She had seen buildings just as large, and larger, before but it still impressed her nonetheless— if not by the craftsmanship and artisanship which was several grades above anything else present here, then at least by the clear amount of time, money, materials, and effort that an out of the way place like this must have scraped together in order to get the job done and raise it off the ground. That in itself was a feat worth praising, she believed. She would not praise the rich man for owning a home, but she would gladly celebrate with the poor man for being able to put his life together and get off the streets. 

As the two of them turned the corner, the girl noted the wide open space in front of the hall’s entrance, as well as the impressive amount of people gathering there for some kind of event. Off to one side, there was a large circle drawn out of the dirt where she spotted a crowd around two grown men wrestling each other to the ground. Off to another side, there was yet another crowd gathered around a keg of dark mead lugged onto a table that had obviously been dragged over from somewhere else. 

“Ahh, so that’s where all the noise was coming from,” the girl nodded to herself. 

“Ahhhhh! How could I have forgotten!” Aalis suddenly exclaimed. 

“What’s the matter?”

“Hey, hey!” the young lady bounced, “I just remembered something important! How many more days do you think you’re going to stay here?” 

“How many more days? Well, that depends?” the sunset haired girl answered curiously, “to be frank, I would have left this morning if not for the fact that you offered to show me around. Why? What’s this important matter you’re talking about?”

“So do you recall the annual expeditions that I talked about? The ones that my father used to go on?”

“Of course, how could I forget? You were so proud when you talked about it.” 

“So see, that’s happening tonight!”

“Hrm? Really, tonight huh, interesting. And?”

“I totally forgot about it because of you!”

“What, are you perhaps blaming me right now?” laughing, the sunset haired girl teased. 

“No, no! That’s not it, that’s not it at all. I had so much fun listening to your stories that I completely forgot about it. But that’s not the point! See, before across the fog, the expedition parades from village to village to gather kindred souls as they go. Once they have enough men, they stop by this very feasting hall to celebrate, feast, and drink mead, and that’s going to be tonight!”

“And where do I fit in all of this?” the girl asked. 

“Ahaha… is it that obvious?” the young lady scratched her nose sheepishly, maybe it really was just that obvious, “See, I’ve always wanted to go to the feast, but mother never lets me. She tells me that it’s for boys and men, but that’s just not true! I’ve heard that women have gone on the expeditions before as well, and if that’s the case, then they must have been at the feast too!”

“Right, go on.” 

“And this is where you come along. Right now, you’re a guest under the law of hospitality. And the law of hospitality dictates that we must treat any guest with the utmost hospitality, for if we do not, then we in turn do not deserve such hospitality for when we need it most. The point is, if you say you want to go to the feast, then we are obligated to let you, even if you are an outsider.” 

“So…” the sunset haired girl mused, “you want me to go to the feast so you can use that as an excuse to tag along.” 

“Yes!” Aalis jumped with stars in her eyes.

“Well then, since we’re already here, why not kill some time? It seems like the others here have the same idea. Let’s go.” 

The girl pointed towards the dirt ring she had spotted earlier. Now that Aalis had explained what was going on, it was clear that the ones gathered here were here for the feast, but whether they were a part of the expedition or just people coming for free food and games remained to be seen. 

“Y-Yeah! There’s no problem at all, I’m with you after all! Let’s go!” Aalis replied, hesitant at first, but she quickly gained her stride. As a matter of fact, she grabbed the girl’s hand and led her straight to where the two men had been wrestling earlier. Now there were two different men fighting against each other, both wielding a dulled iron sword and large round shield. 

At the outset, the smaller of the two men was slowly gaining ground on the other, however anyone with a discerning eye could see that his opponent, the man with the shaved head and tattoos of birds, wolves, and bears all the way up his arms, was simply gauging his opponent. This man had not even broken a sweat yet and hardly looked like he was putting in any effort to block each of his opponent’s full powered blows. 

“T-That’s Bor!” Aalis whispered excitedly, pointing at the man, “He’s the guest of honor! Bor Tyrfingsson, The Helmsman! But he also has a second name that we call him by: Bor, The Mighty. Do you want to guess why?”

“Does it have anything to do with how he’s about to completely manhandle the man fighting him right now.” the sunset haired girl answered without taking her eyes off the man in question.

“What?” Aalis did a double take, right in time for Bor to violently disarm his opponent and knock him flat on his back with a single slap of his shield. 

“Ahahahaha!” Attaining victory, the venerable giant of a man roared with laughter as he planted his sword firm into the ground— He was massive, truly, and his rippling muscles, which were outstanding even among fellow Sylvestres, could be seen clearly underneath the loose fitting tunic that he wore. 

Bor’s powerful voice easily broke through the crowd’s loud roaring and could be heard even amidst all the noise. And once he had his fill of laughing, he walked over to his opponent, who was still lying on the ground, and pulled the man up with a single effortless tug. 

“Wow… amazing. That’s simply amazing…” Aalis sighed in awe, “Yeah… they say that Bor has the strength of ten grown men. When he charges into battle, he can shatter the bones in a man’s arm by simply parrying a blow, and when he is on the move, he is like a boulder that cannot be stopped. There are a lot of stories about his achievements as well, such as the time he fought by himself and defeated fifteen opponents at once with nothing but his two fists! People even say that he could defeat a draugr if he ever met one. He’s just awe inspiring.” 

The sunset haired girl looked— the expression Aalis made right now, it was the exact same as when she was immersed in her stories. That made her smile a little. It seemed that Aalis had someone to look up to still. 

“Oh.” 

An amazing idea suddenly struck the girl, and the slightest hint of mischief crossed her face. 

“Yes… how fun…”

If her gentle voiced companion were here now, she also would surely have the exact same thought. 

“Hey, Aalis,” the sunset haired girl whispered into the young lady’s ears, “do you want to learn how to fight?”

“Huh? What? Yes, yes! Are you going to teach me?” 

“Yeah, I am, consider it your lucky day. I might not take on many students, but I used to be an instructor back in the day, you know. Here, here, come with me, quickly.” 

“Wait!” the young lady cried. However, the girl did not listen and instead dragged her through the crowd and past all the jutting elbows to the front row. By the time they made it there, the center stage had already cleared and the crowd was eagerly awaiting the next fight. 

“Now, let’s see…” the girl scanned the crowd for a suitable partner for the inexperienced Aalis to practice on. And she spotted someone quickly. 

“You! Over there in the middle! Yes, you, Ginger Beard! Come forward!” her voice cut through the noisy crowd easily like an ice pick through soft snow. And even though the people were not conscious of it, they all still quickly simmered down and turned their attention to her as though she was a leader speaking.

“Aye, I have a ginger beard. I like it.” the man, who had been sipping from a vessel of mead just now, placed down his drink and sauntered up to the front. He was not sure what was going on, but with so much mead in his system, he did not really mind either. 

“Pick up a sword. It’s time to fight.” 

“Hic—! If you’re sure,” slushed and confused as he was, Ginger Beard obeyed the order nonetheless, “so am I up against you…?” 

“You’ll be fighting this fine young lady right here.” 

The sunset haired girl grabbed Aalis up by the shoulders and practically dropped her inside the ring. 

“Eh…?”

—Just like that, Aalis was about to experience the first fight in her entire life. 

… 

… 

The people were in a stupor. 

Here was a woman suddenly playing into a man’s world. By standard of definition, these kinds of rough plays, such as wrestling, toga-honk, and mock fights would be reserved only for the rough and hardy boys. Ladies such as Aalis should keep to their side of the world and even should they approach, the closest they should approach should be by the side to watch. 

This was simply the way things should be, like how the sun should rise from the east and set in the west. It was an unspoken truth– a status quo of their culture– that all shall uphold whether they know of it or not. 

So then what was going on here? There was a frail little lady with legs thinner than some of their arms who had just defied this status quo. Should they be excited? Should they berate her? Were they just hallucinating?

Should they perhaps cut down on all the mead instead? 

“BLAH! WHO CARES? ‘FIGHT’S A FIGHT! MEAD! HAND ME MORE MEAD!” 

“BUST HIS KNEE! SEND HIM BACK TO HIS MOMMY, GAHAHAHA!” 

“FIGHT LIKE A VALKYRIE, BRAVE LITTLE LADY!”

One after another, these sorts of rough cheers started to fill the air. These were warriors who braved the sea to fight the unknown in search of glory and riches. For them, it was precisely the unexpected that brought them excitement, and this was just another one of those unexpected things that made their blood roil. 

—But the little lady in question, however… 

“Impossibleimpossibleimpossible— that’s impossible!” 

She was frozen in terror. How could this have happened? What went wrong in her life to have led her to this situation? Oh gods, save her, please. 

“Alright, crash course time, listen closely,” the girl lightly slapped Aalis’ cheeks to bring her back into this world and began to tell her exactly what she wanted her to do.

… 

“Huh?! You want me to do what?” Aalis was shocked, “will that even work?”

“Don’t worry about that, Aalis. I can guarantee you that nothing will go wrong if you follow through exactly what I tell you to do.” 

“B-But…” Aalis was still reluctant, “He’s a warrior! He’s been fighting all his life! And meanwhile I’m just me! What can I do against someone like him?”

“It’s okay, he’s weak. He’s super weak. In my eyes, you are both just as weak as each other. There’s no problem at all. You’ll be fine.”

“You’re a dragonslayer! Of course you would think that. Me? I’m just me!”

The girl stopped to think for a moment.

“Aalis,” she said firmly. 

“Yes?” the young lady squirmed. 

“Do you trust me?” the girl asked. 

“I do…” Aalis finally nodded. 

“Then do what I tell you, alright? I promise you nothing will go wrong.” 

“O-Okay.” 

“Great. I’m glad you trust me,” the girl showed Aalis a smile that only she could see. Then she stood up straight and called out to the crowd, “Sword!” 

“Aye!” 

A man from somewhere in the crowd cried out and a practice sword came flying Aalis’ way. 

The sunset haired girl caught it out of the air and placed it firmly into Aalis’ hands. It was heavier than she thought it would be.

“Hold the sword like this. Both hands. If it’s too heavy for you, choke up your grip. Yes, just like that. Now, one foot in front of the other. Wider. Perfect. Keep your knees bent. Good. Now when the fight starts, just do exactly as I have told you.” 

“The lady is ready!” the sunset haired girl shouted across the ring. Then she grinned. 

“But first, should she give you a handicap? You’re drunk off your ass after all. It wouldn’t be fair if she were to fight you normally.” 

“—EH?!” Aalis whipped around and screamed in front of the girl. 

“No no no no, I cannot be doing that,” Ginger Beard shook his head, “I would become the crew’s laughing stock if I were to accept a handicap fighting a lady. Nay, if anything I should be the one giving her a handicap.” 

“Are you sure about that?” the girl’s grin sharpened. 

“Aye aye.” 

“How about this, let’s make this even more fun. Let’s make a bet. If you let her have the first strike and she beats you, you’ll have to give her your weapon. Not that toy you’re using right now, your actual weapon.” 

Ginger Beard scratched his beard in a daze, and after a moment of thinking, nodded.

“Sure thing. I haven’t a complaint. And if I win… how about she has to pour mead for me all night. Nothing beats having a pretty little lady fill my drink.” 

“Perfect, the wager is sealed then, and the witness is everybody here!” The sunset haired girl spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. Then she leaned forward and whispered encouragement into the young fighter’s ears. 

“Now then, Aalis. The stage has been set. The rest is up to you. Just do exactly as I have told you and you will be fine. There is nothing to worry about. You will be fine. You have what it takes.” 

Aalis gulped, nodded, and then walked. She walked to the center of the ring, face to face with Ginger Beard, and held her sword the exact way she had been shown.

The man looked at Aalis almost pityingly. 

“Whenever you’re ready, lassie. Just swi— URGH!” 

“Hyah!” 

Aalis swung her weapon as hard as she could, at the exact spot she had been told to, and it landed straight and true, right in between the man’s legs. 

Ginger Beard let out a miserable groan. But the ordeal was not yet over for him. As he lurched forward while nesting his jewels, Aalis then took a step forward and with her second swing she easily knocked out the back of his knees. Thud! And just like that, the man had collapsed into a miserable pile in the ring. 

“I… did it?” Aalis was almost afraid to voice her thoughts. It couldn’t have been that easy, could it? All she did was swing her arms twice and this was the result? Was fighting always so easy? Even without any experience, she managed to beat someone who had been on the expeditions before. If that was the case, then maybe she could actually go as well? There were no rules saying a girl like her could not go after all, so maybe? Would they let her? Maybe she should ask her friend, she would know, she was way more experienced at this than her when it came to fighting. 

But wait, before that— 

“I did it! I won!” Aalis practically lept with joy at the victory and the first she turned to was her friend who led her to this moment. 

“Good job, Aalis. See, what did I tell you? Easy win,” the girl gave her a slick thumbs up. And judging by the reaction of the crowd, they seemed to share in the sentiment. They were half roaring in laughter and half singing at the humiliating show of defeat. 

“I love my women with a fiery temper! Come with me home, little lady, and be my wife!” someone from the crowd let out a shrill cat call. 

“Eh? Eh? Eh?” Aalis was startled. For her to be proposed to right there out of the blue. How was she even supposed to react? She could not even tell who in the crowd called out to her either! Also, what did he mean by ‘a fiery temper?’ She did not have a fiery temper!

“You’ll just get your ass whipped in the bedroom! I always knew that you were into some weird shit! Bwhahaha!” another man cried out in response to the whistle. 

“Shut yer fucking mouth, I’ll beat your ass in the ring!” the first man cried back. 

“No, YOU wanna go in the ring? I’ll whip your ass for her!” 

…

As the crowd continued to holler and be restless, Ginger Beard slowly rolled over on his back and spoke in a low groan to the one who had put him into such a miserable state. 

“Ough… That sure sobered me up quickly. That was dirty, lassie. I underestimated you. Argh, I can feel my stomach in my throat urgh… I won’t accept this.” 

“I—” Aalis tried to say, but her lips were stopped by the sunset haired girl with a finger. 

She, the sunset haired girl, picked up the sword by the fallen man’s body, planted it firmly in front of his face, and leaned casually over it. 

“Hey, Ginger Beard, did you not just lose? Are you already raring for another fight so soon? That aside, you let her the first strike– that was the handicap you imposed upon yourself– and you lost fairly because of it. It was as simple as that. You made a wager and you lost. Are you not ashamed of asking for redos in front of all your witnesses?” 

“She just hit me in the bollocks,” Ginger Beard coughed painfully, “how is that a fight in the name of good fun? I can’t accept this.” 

“Well, well, just what do you want to do about then?” the girl asked, her unreadable expression never changing during this entire conversation.

“—Ahahahaha! Just accept the loss, Ginger Beard!” 

However, before things could go on further, a third party emerged into the ring and interrupted. 

“Helmsman, not you too,” the man groaned, half in pain and half in the disappointment that even his own helmsman was calling him that nickname now as well. 

It was Bor Tyrfingsson, helmsman to the expedition, and the one who had fought in the ring earlier. Now he was in the ring again to diffuse the situation.

“Why not? It’s a great name! Hamoor the Ginger Beard! I like it! You got a second calling out of it, so just shut up and take it like a man! Well, you’re already down on the ground taking it like a man though, Ahahaha!” 

The downed Hamoor looked up at his helmsman and finally relented. While he was not the most happy about it, when his helmsman told him to accept it, there was nothing he could do but to accept it.

“And you, little valkyrie! What a great show you put up!” Bor gestured at Aalis, “I’m impressed. Are you gonna be coming to the feast later?” 

“I…” 

Aalis choked up. What should she say? She was going, sure, that had been the plan all along and why she had enlisted the sunset haired girl’s aid, but like a child being caught red handed stealing fruit from a stall, she was unable to say anything. Was it nervousness? Was she starstruck? She could not say anything, so she shot a gaze at her partner in crime for help. 

“Go for it,” her friend’s smile seemed to say. 

—! 

Aalis’ throat stopped seizing up when she saw that look. It was just the amount of reassurance she needed. 

“Of course!” Aalis replied with all her heart. 

“Hah! I’ll see you there!” Bor showed a toothy grin and roared. 

“See, now you wont need an excuse to go anymore. You got an invitation from the guest of honor himself. Everything worked out in the end.” 

…

…

With the night mooning on the horizon, the temperature of the air dropped finely. Even the fine whites of one’s own breath, while outside, could be seen under careful scrutiny under the last of the daylight. 

Alyson was sitting idly by the firepit and preparing for the night’s supper of stewed cured meat and potatoes. It was starting to get late, and it had been awfully quiet around the house all day. Aalis must be having fun, the mother thought. It was rare that she got to play with someone like this so she was glad that the traveler girl came by to stay. 

However, it was also then that she noticed— it was awfully quiet. What time was it actually? 

“Aalis?” the mother called out, “Aalis? Are you there?” 

There was no response. Not even a muffled yell from across the home. 

It was so late and yet her daughter had not returned home. How odd. In the past, anytime Aalis left to go on her own business, she always returned home long before the sky turned dark. That child loved to eat after all. She would never miss a meal even for the world, which was why it was strange. 

It was already so late in the evening and supper was even almost ready to be served. Where was Aalis? 

Worried now, the mother put down her ladle and made her way to the outdoors. 

“Achoo!” she sneezed involuntarily as the chill of the outdoor air washed over her face. It was cold. And it was there that she noticed the faint lights by the faraway village square, by the feasting hall. 

“Is it already that time of the year again?” she mumbled under her breath. It was those brutes again, who came by every year to eat and drink mead like hogs before leaving to go slaughter more people for sport.

…

All of a sudden, an intense feeling of anxiety washed over her like a bucket of icy water being poured down her spine. 

“No… no no no no no! It couldn’t be! Aalis!” 

The mother quickly ran back inside the house. She grabbed the first coat she could find and began making her way down the hill, towards the village square, as quickly as her two feet could take her. 

…

…

Within the feasting hall, also sometimes interchangeably called the mead hall, there were many people seated across many different long tables. Some of these tables were longer, and some were shorter; there were also some built of a different kind of wood, and some which were rickety and some sturdy. However, all of them were lined up into multiple isles, breaking in the center of the hall by the firepit, and were filled with all kinds of foods and drinks. 

There were the meats of lamb, reindeer, bear, and fowl– roasted and carved into slabs– fish baked in sauce, stewed potatoes, fruits spanning the spectrum of red to purple, nuts of various shapes, bread from the morning, cheese, and lastly, mead. Especially mead. As a matter of fact, there was more mead to go around than everything else put together. There was even a table with nothing but mead spread over it. 

To these people, the stuff was passionately called liquid gold. And while its value may not be anywhere near what its name implies, they treasured it just as much as the shiny stuff, and to some, perhaps even more so. It could be sweet or dry depending on the season, and it would bring a pleasant time to anyone who drank a flagon of the stuff. 

However, since it was not easy to come by in a faraway place such as this, with limited resources, it was rationed out carefully, with few exceptions. But once those events came through, the people downed it like water. This was one of said few exceptions. 

“I’m guessing this is everyone then,” the sunset haired girl rubbed her chin as she took a headcount of the room. It was quite dimly lit in here, as most of the lights came from the overhead candle mounts and chandeliers, giving the hall a warm and cozy glow. However, unlike Aalis who could not even see what was across the table without squinting her eyes, she could easily count every head like a brokerage counting the debt of an easy client. 

“Just about a hundred huh.” 

“Oh, don’t forget that not everyone here is a part of the expedition. There are some who came here just to eat and drink,” Aalis chimed in as she grabbed one of the little pie-like pastries off a platter and stuffed it into her mouth, “I love it when my mother makes these meat pies. Oh! And these honey pies too! They’re so good!” 

“You sure do love eating,” the girl observed. 

“I haven’t eaten anything since breakfast! I’m as hungry as a draugr!”

“Hey, little fiery lady! Do you wanna play some cards?” A voice from several tables over called out.

“They’re calling out to you,” the girl nudged Aalis. 

“Wait, me? Why is that me?!” the little fiery lady was flustered.

“It’s because of what you did to Ginger Beard. They have respect for you now, you know.” 

Hearing this, Aalis really stopped. Respect. That was not a word she used lightly. To be respected, one had to be great. Like her father. Like Bor. Compared to those two, what had she done with her life? Stay home all her life? Work on the field sometimes, weave some other times, and play? 

“No, I don’t believe that,” she shook her head. She could not accept that— not yet. If perhaps she had gone on one of the expeditions and came back bringing glory, then that would be a different story. But right now? No, she could not accept it the way she was currently.

… 

While not the most organized, these men were also not rowdy. Many were past their prime, but looked plenty hearty– seasoned. There were also several kids, perhaps a dozen, likely looking to make a name for themselves. Perhaps this was even their rite of passage. Well, they were not exactly children, but the sunset haired girl considered them kids the same way she considered Aalis a young lady. Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen— they were all the same to her, practically still a newborn. Look away for a moment and they would already be well on their way as adults. And look away a second time… 

Anyway, many of these men had shaved heads, trimmed beards, and a generally stocky build. Bemusingly, there was one stout man who stood out with his chest length plume of beard that probably continued more testeroine than his side of the hall combined. Practically everyone had tattoos as well from the looks of it. However, none had as much of a show of it as Bor had: An eagle fighting a wolf on his left arm, and a bear roaring on its hind legs over on his right. 

“Are you having a good time, Aalis?” 

“Wassat?” Aalis looked up, her mouth still stuffed with pie, “Mhm! I love the food!” 

“Haha, in the end, it comes back to food after all,” the girl laughed. Well, what else could she say, it was a feast after all. Even with all the singing, drinking, and games, what it still boiled down to was a time to eat and to stuff yourself.

“Speaking of, I haven’t had the chance to try anything yet.” 

“In that case, I recommend this!” Aalis quickly placed one of the meat pies she had onto the girl’s plate, “it’s super super good!” 

“Oh.” 

The girl did a full stop. 

“Eh? What’s the matter, did you want something else instead?” the young lady asked innocently. 

“How about I try the honey pie instead.” 

“Sure! Here you go!” 

Aalis quickly switched the pastries and stuffed the exchanged meat pie into her mouth. It was kind of fun watching her go, the girl mused as she too took a bite out of her pie. 

—Sweet. 

The honey pie, as its name implied, was very sweet. It was a custard pie loaded with honey, and it was quite decadent— perfect for those with a sweet tooth. Although the level of sweetness was just a bit too much for her, she still enjoyed it quite a bit. As a matter of fact, depending on her mood, she might even grab a second one before the night was over. 

“Ahoy there,” a voice called towards the two. 

“Mmf?” Aalis looked up. 

It was Hamoor the Ginger Beard, and he came bearing a gift. 

“I found you at last. Apologies about my sorry display earlier, but here,” Hamoor handed Aalis a sword and leather sheath. 

“This is…” Aalis looked at the sword with a great sense of awe and asked, “are you giving this to me?” 

“Of course, this was my end of the wager,” Hamoor nodded. Even if Aalis had forgotten about the bet, he had not. And now he was fulfilling what he owed.

“I’m surprised, I would have thought you’d take it personally after that loss,” the sunset haired girl spoke from the side. 

“Aye, I might’ve, but then I sobered up. What worth is a man’s oath if he cannot even keep his own words. It don’t matter if he made them drunk or not. Well? What do you think of this beauty?” 

Aalis carefully pulled the blade out of its sheath and admired the warm hue of light glancing of its body. 

“It’s the first time I’ve held a real sword like this…” she stated in awe. And it was the first time she ever owned one as well. 

“Aye, I’m glad you like it.” 

“Oh? But hold on,” the sunset haired girl noticed something strange about the weapon, “this is the same one that Aalis used in her match against you earlier.” 

“I know, I know,” Hamoor scratched his beard, “I know the wager was to give her my own weapon, but I use an axe, and I didn’t think it would suit her well, so I took the liberty to grind up that sword up to snuff. I’m a smith, you know. But even then, it took me all evening. That’s why it took me so long to get here.” 

“Thank you.” 

Aalis sheathed the sword and placed it on her lap.

“Aye, no need, no need. I’ll be off then. I need a drink after all that work. Enjoy the feast.” 

And just like that, Hamoor the Ginger Beard came and left. 

“I still can’t believe it… this is mine now… not anybody else’s, but mine. All mine,” Aalis whispered to herself as she once again admired the sword in her hands. She unsheathed the blade and carefully ran her finger over the cutting edge. There was a fine layer of grease smeared over the entire blade! That surprised Aalis. Does it make the sword cut better? Just what was the purpose of it? She had to ask someone later. 

“It’s all yours now,” the sunset haired girl reaffirmed, “and you’ll have to learn how to actually fight if you want to make proper use of that.” 

“Yeah…” Aalis muttered, “yeah…”

At this moment, there were many things going through Aalis’ mind. Many, many, things. Tales of heroics which she had listened to in the past. The feelings that she had when she first heard those stories. And slowly, but surely, she was coming to a conclusion which she would never have dared to realize before tonight. 

… 

“Hm…” 

The girl leaned back against a post, arms folded, and looked at the entranced Aalis for a long time. She looked at the young lady as though she could read her thoughts by the glimmers of light in her eyes. 

She took a deep breath, shut her eyes, and then exhaled slowly. She sighed as though she knew she was about to make a decision she did not want to. But, seeing Aalis the way she was now— her attitude, her raison d’etre, and her resolve which was only now just taking shape… the sunset haired girl simply knew.

“Ah… I really want to help her.”

… 

…And it was precisely at these exact moments in her life that she truly and honestly hated herself.  

She hated herself for being so fickle, for herself to be so easily swayed– so long as she let herself the chance– by the emotions of these people whose lives were so always so fleeting and ephemeral, like the characters who only lived on the stage… Yes, just like that, characters whose entire lives, histories, and legacies could be played out within the time of a single viewing. 

And just like how the audience of a play should not charge up on stage to punish an actor for playing out their role as a villain, it would also be wrong of her to interfere with the lives of these people like Aalis simply because her whims and desires dictated her to do so.

If the one she considered a sister were to be here now, she would surely be scolded by her using that gentle, yet firm, voice of hers. She would be chided by her for being an idiot getting into someone else’s mess yet again, and she would most definitely be chided for continuing to be so partial to these fleeting stage characters even after they both promised to never do so anymore, for each of their own sakes.

Therefore, she silently made an apology to that person beforehand for what she was about to do now. That person would understand, the sunset haired girl knew. After all, they were “sisters.” 

And so… 

… 

“Here.”

The sunset haired girl said. 

“Huh?”

Confused, Aalis looked up, but before she could, she felt a heavy weight drop onto her shoulders and as she touched it, all the cold in the air melted away as though it had only been an illusion. It was warm… so very warm that it reminded her of her mother’s embrace… 

This was… this was the sunset haired girl’s coat.

She was speechless. She knew that this coat was a gift from the girl’s sister, and from what she was told, it was something that was far from normal. It would keep her warm when it was cold, and it would keep her cool when it was hot. In fact, she was already experiencing the effects of it firsthand as she felt the cold wash away comfortably as though she had been dropped into a gentle bath of warm water. 

“Are you sure about this?” Aalis could only ask. 

“Wear it well,” the sunset haired girl said simply, “I am entrusting it to you. Take care of it and it will take care of you.” 

“Ah…” 

Aalis gripped the two lapels of the coat and brought it closed tightly. 

“Thank you, thank you, thank you…” 

“. . .” 

The girl stared quietly into Aalis’ eyes, then she sighed, shook her head, and finally flicked Aalis in the forehead. 

“Come on, lighten up. Let me help you put this on.” 

“Thanks…” Aalis muttered again. She felt tremendous gratitude for the girl’s act of kindness. This was a gift that weighed far more heavily in her mind than the sword which Hamoor gave her. Why? Because the girl had no obligation to give her it. They had met only yesterday, and all this time she was latching onto her, listening to all her stories, taking advantage of her to go to the feast— and yet, what did the sunset haired girl do? She taught her how to hold a sword and helped her win her first fight. She got her a sword of her very own. She gave her confidence. And now the girl even gave her something that was not only precious in monetary value, but also precious to her own self. 

At this point, just what could Aalis possibly do to repay such a debt to the girl? Nothing. There was nothing she could possibly do to repay a debt of this magnitude. She knew that very well, and that made her feel sad even though she was feeling the most happy she had ever been in her entire life. 

“Shush, what did I just say?” the sunset haired girl lightly berated Aalis, then she proceeded to explain to her how to wear the coat, “just pay attention to this right now. The coat has an off-centered design. You wear it like this; left side over the right, see? These straps on the front— you use them to secure the flaps so that the coat doesn’t open up or dangle too loosely when you walk. It was tailored specifically for me, but you should have no problem as long as you fasten the straps correctly.” 

… 

“Um,” Aalis began again, but stopped as she was almost afraid that the girl would tell her to stop. 

“What is it?” the girl asked as she was patting the coat down and adjusting it to Aalis’ likeness.

“Could you teach me how to fight like you? You’re strong. You’re a dragonslayer, nothing like the rest of us. Could you teach me how to become strong like yourself?” 

—The sunset haired girl. 

Up until this point, Aalis had always associated her with the image of a traveler: A traveler dressed in a heavy coat, who went from one place to another helping people as she went and accepting hospitality from those who offered it to her. Even though she wore a sword by her side, it was something that just passed by Aalis’ mind as a part of the attire. The outside world was dangerous, and everyone needed something to protect themselves with, and for the girl, it was her sword. 

However, whatever the reason might have been, it was different now that the girl had given Aalis her coat. The young lady did not know what it was, but as of this moment, she could feel just how much the weapon stood out next to the sunset haired girl’s body. If previously, the girl looked and played the part of a traveler who just so happened to be carrying a sword for self defense, then right now the girl felt like a heroic figure who was just about to stride into a battlefield with a murder weapon at her side. 

That impressively slim and toned figure that Aalis could make out underneath the loose fitting shirt— those sharp eyes the dull shade of freshly spilled blood— those delicate yet strong hands that could easily snap a man’s neck like a piece of straw— and the silent aura that caused even the hardened crew of the expedition to respect her. 

Quite frankly, it was a little unnerving how much her friend had changed, but the sight of it all also left Aalis feeling just a bit breathless in a way she never experienced before.

“I’m sorry, but that’s impossible,” the sunset haired girl shook her head, “Even if I taught you how to fight, I can’t teach you to be strong.”

“Is that so…” Aalis was left feeling disappointed. 

“And done,” the girl stood back straight and admired her work, “but you’ll be fine. Have some confidence in yourself. Even if I can’t teach you, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to learn.” 

“What do you mean?” confused, the young lady tried to ask, but before she could get an answer, the booming voice of Bor filled the hall. 

…

… 

There were two purposes of the feast. The first was to celebrate the expedition and the brave warriors who volunteer their lives to bring back riches and glory. And the second was to have a place for those new and inexperienced to be officially welcomed into the crew. 

After Bor’s voice filled the air, the restless ambience of the hall grew respectfully silent and still. Aalis and the sunset haired girl also stopped what they were doing to pay attention to what was about to happen. 

With his drinking horn raised high in the air, it signified his clear intention to address. And with him being as tall as he was, there was not a single soul present who could not see his figure. It might have been hard for others to make out with the dimness of the hall, but the girl could clearly see Bor’s eyes sweeping over the sea of faces. 

And then his eyes swept over to where the two of them were, and lingered. It was only for a split moment, but the girl could feel his strong gaze meet her own before it moved on, seemingly satisfied. 

“Right then, before we begin, everyone doing fine? Still have both your eyes, your nose, and your sons and daughters? Not forgetting a leg at home or anything, are you? Then good, let’s begin,” Bor finally started speaking. His speech was heavily accented, and his choice of words were anything but sophisticated, but at the same time, it was genuine, and that alone carried with it its own kind of charismatic charm. He was a big guy with an open sleeve. 

“The food’s wonderful, and the mead is even better, as always. I know I have no one other than the wonderful ladies in the back to thank for putting together this night’s feast. Make sure you all thank them properly before the night is over. However, the expedition hasn’t even taken off yet and we’re already celebrating this much. Those of my crew beware your appetites, ‘else full sacks of treasures won’t be the only thing you be towing home this year.” 

Immediately, a couple voices in the hall shouted their disapproval. 

“Bor, shut it and let us drink the night away already!” 

“You should watch your own belly before you watch ours, Ahahaha!” 

“Stop interrupting me, you pissdrunk dumbasses!” the helmsman barked, “if you’ve something to say, wait! Wait until I’m done and then you can sing your mother’s lullabies at the top of your lungs for all I care!” 

After hearing Bor’s jab back, several more members of his crew raised their retorts loudly, and instead of berating them again from the lack of respect, Bor only shook his head and smiled. 

“Now, settle down, settle down,” he raised his drinking horn into the air once more to gather the attention of the people, “it won’t be much longer. But we are here for a reason, and there are things that we must do before fun can be had.” 

Before long, young men– boys really, aged no later than their mid teenage years– came out before bor. At first there was only one, but several minutes of shuffling later, a total of ten of them appeared. The youngest was probably not even twelve years old and the oldest was still two years behind Aalis’ age. What had to be noted was how they were each holding onto a cup of mead.

“It’s the initiation ceremony, I’ve heard about the details from my father, but this is the first time seeing it in person,” Aalis confirmed in a whisper. Her palms were tense and her legs were starting to feel giddy. The sunset haired girl noticed this too.

One by one, the youths walked up to Bor and shared a drink with the helmsman. Once finished, they were considered a part of the crew. It was a simple yet meaningful rite. Were it only just that, it would be normal. However, in a room packed with testosterone filled men too sloshed to even walk straight, the girl did not think it would end up being just that. Of course, it was also none of her business. 

“It looks to be a great turnout this year as well, with a healthy amount of new blood. I couldn’t have anticipated any more!” Bor’s deep and powerful laughter filled the hall up to the high ceilings and the man took one final sweeping look at the sea of people to bask in the feeling of jubilation. 

When his laughter finally stopped, the helmsman raised his drinking horn for the last into the night.

“Eighty-five brave heroes have gathered under my name this year in order to set off on an expedition across the fog! It makes my chest swell with pride at the thought of being given such an honor. I still remember when the duty of a helmsman befell onto me. That time, I could only swallow my spit and accept this daunting duty, but many years have passed since then, and now I can only say that I am glad that I took up the torch passed my way…” 

… 

… 

—Aalis.

As she watched the speech and listened, there had been a pit that took root in her stomach and was slowly growing ever deeper. There was something she wanted to do tonight. No, that was wrong. It was more accurate to say that it was something she had wanted to do her entire life. But, in all her life, she was never given the chase. She had been born a woman and not a man, and that made all the difference. She was not strong like a man was. Her arms were scrawny and her stride was small. 

She was nervous. She was tense. And even though so much had already happened tonight: she learned how to fight for the first time in her life; she obtained a sword that was meant only for her to use; and she was even given a precious gift by her newfound friend— it was still not enough to break through a lifetime’s worth of restraints and the chains of uncertainties that sprung forth from it. 

With each passing second, and with each word spoken, the seeds of desire within her body were being suffocated and decomposed into dread by these invisible chains that germinated in the shadow left by her confidence. 

It was the feeling of wanting to do something but being unable to— not because she could not, but because she did not know if she was qualified to, and being frozen in fear because of it. And while she was frozen in fear, with each passing second, the opportunity slipped further and further away until it slipped away entirely. 

—Aalis.

—Aalis. 

“—Aalis, aren’t you going to go?” 

Aalis felt a firm hand placed on her shoulders.

… 

“But… Can I?” 

She turned her head. Was this something that she was allowed to do? What if she messed up? What if she failed to live up to their expectations?

… 

“…Go.” 

With a voice lighter than a breeze, the sunset haired girl smiled, and then pushed Aalis forward.

Go. 

Go chase after your dreams. There is no one in the world who will realize your dreams for you, so if you yourself don’t reach for it, then who will? 

—And “Go” indeed, Aalis went. 

…

… 

“…That time, I could only swallow my spit and accept this daunting duty, but many years have passed since then, and now I can only say that I am glad that I took up the torch passed my way. With that all said and done, let’s raise our mead for one final toast and enjoy the rest of the night—” 

“—Wait!” 

Aalis’ sharp voice filled the hall. Like the other recruits, she too was holding onto a flagon of mead as she walked up to Bor. However, her serious approach was not met with an appropriately serious response. 

“What’s this? Is the little valkyrie going to pour some mead for our helmsman?” one man asked.

“Little valkyrie, you’re supposed to wait until after he finishes his mead before you fill it.” another man was confused.

“How enviable, this helmsman of ours. Come pour some mead for us too, will you?” a man even mocked. 

Hearing these remarks one after another, even with her current resolve, Aalis could only clench her fists tightly to the point where her knuckles turned white. She knew it. Despite what the sunset haired girl had told her, about how she had gained respect for beating Hamoor, in the end, she was still treated like a barmaid in this place which was the center of a man’s world. 

Infuriating. So infuriating.

Dammit all—

“—ALL OF YOU, SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTHS!” 

The helmsman’s brutal growl tore through the stale air like an eruption and with a single shout, silenced the entire hall, lest anyone want to face the full brunt of his fury.

“I apologize for my rowdy men. Now then, little valkyrie, why have you come here before me?” his gaze landed onto Aalis’ brown eyes and he asked her in a much calmer voice, “you carry mead with you, but something tells me you are not here to pour it into my cup.”

“I…” Aalis began, but choked up almost immediately. All of a sudden, it became a hundred times harder to talk, as though she had only now just been made aware that she was at the center of everyone’s attention; as though a rock had just fallen into her throat and had gotten stuck there. She knew what she had to do next. All she had to do was to say it. If so, then why was it suddenly so difficult?

Eyes shifting now, Aalis kept looking back and forth between the flagon of mead in her hand, Bor, the flagon, Bor, and back to the flagon. It was filled halfway with the luscious dark liquid that was only taken out for this occasion every year. 

A minute had passed now, however, Bor was patient. He kept his eyes on Aalis and did not make a sound even as Aalis struggled to speak. 

“I…”

“Yes?” Bor urged her on. 

—Go.

Aalis was suddenly reminded of the heroic figure of a certain somebody and the final words that person imparted onto her. 

Yes. She had to go. She could not stop here. This was not where her journey would end. This was only the beginning— 

“—I want to join the expedition. I want to be a part of your crew.” 

Aalis had finally said it– the words that she had told no one before, not even to herself– here, in front of everybody. She finally said it, for the first time. She finally said it, the words that encompassed her entire dream to be a part of the expeditions that journeyed across the fog.

Immediately, the entire hall erupted into a furious uproar. 

“What! A woman? A part of the expedition?”

Shouts, cries, screams— everyone was yelling out how they felt on the matter. A woman, joining the expedition! That was the biggest upset this decade, not since the previous Helmsman died! 

“What nonsense! Go home, little lady!”

“That’s right, this is no place for you to fool around, go home!”

“You do not belong here, go home!”

“Return!”

“Leave!”

“Begone!” 

This time, however, Aalis would not be shaken by the various taunts and belittling statements throwing her way and her fiery brown eyes remained locked like an iron clamp with Bor’s blue ones. And for a split second, the young fighter could see the smile that spread across the helmsman’s face before he unsheathed the sword on his sides and drove it down like an iron spike into the very floors of the hall— 

“WHAT DID I SAY?” 

With a single command that cleaved through the chaos, the hall had once more returned to silence. This time around, no man would dare to interrupt the two.

“No one here will dare laugh at you again for your decision,” Bor told Aalis, before he directed his sights to the rest of his crew, “tell me, was there anyone who laughed at you all when you made the decision to join the expedition for the first time? Even though you were all just greenhorns once upon a time, who still dared to laugh at you when you shared that mead and took up your sword back then? Who dared to laugh at you? You were applauded for your bravery and people drank to it. Now it is her turn to pick her her sword, so all of you shut your fucking mouths. If you want to open it for something, then you should be opening it to drink mead in her honor and not to yap like a flock of seabirds.” 

Aalis watched all of this play out carefully. As it turned out, the girl was not wrong. Her actions in defeating Hamoor had indeed impressed someone. It impressed the one person who truly mattered and the respect that man now had for her would propel her forward towards her dream.

“Then, you will accept me?” she asked him. 

“Little valkyrie, what is your name?” 

“I am Aalis. Aalis Bjornsdottir, daughter of Bjorn Eitrisson.” 

“Ah…” Bor was taken aback, genuinely, “I see. Then this is fate, Aalis Bjornsdottir. To think I would have his daughter under my wing after he passed the reins of helmsman to me… Truly, this is fate. I am speechless.” 

When he thought back to Aalis’ earlier exploits as well as the sunset haired hero who was her companion, it all made so much sense now. If she was Bjorn’s daughter then he could accept that. Bjorn was a heroic man, so it only made sense that his kin would share in the same destiny. 

“Yes… I would be happy to share a toast with you,” Bor finally nodded, “may you have the gods’ blessing and perhaps you will one day blossom into a real valkyrie. To Aalis Bjornsdottir!” 

Aalis raised her cup and tapped it against Bor’s. 

“I hope that I will be able to live up to your expectations.” 

“Don’t worry about that now, Bjornsdottir. Just drink with me.” 

The two of them shared a silent toast in a hall of a hundred crew and thus it was yet another story concluded. Aalis was a carp who finally lept over the dragon’s gate, being able to catch the ship that would eventually lead her to achieving her dreams. 

The end.

…

If only it had ended that way, then it might have been a storybook tale. 

However, life was full of unexpected twists and sudden reversals. Even the happiest of days and most joyous of times could be upturned with the arrival of a single uninvited guest. 

Amidst all this reined in silence, one figure had pushed her way out into the open, and her pitiful complexion paled even more as she looked forward and realized the identity of the young lady before her eyes. 

Her voice croaked a word– a name– and then the world returned to deathly silence. 

“Aalis…? Is that you, daughter?”

It was simply, simply, the worst timing in the world. 

…

… 

Over here in this part of the world, at this point in time where the peaceful starry night shone, beyond roads less traveled, there was a tiny little village. Standing within this tiny little village was a grand feasting hall, and inside this grand hall, the silence in the air was grisly and the tension was thick enough to be carved with a knife like a succulent meat roast. 

“Aalis… Oh Aalis… if that is you over there, please, turn around for me. It is you, isn’t it?” 

The figure who had fought her way out of the tight crowd fell forward onto unsteady steps. With her distinguishing trait of golden hair and eyes of the light blue sky, there was only one person in this village who it could have been. Yet at the present moment, she could hardly be described as shining. Because pale with horror, the woman had none of her past composure and all it took was a simple cursory glance from anybody to reveal the grim countenance and terrible complexion plastered on her face. 

“Aalis, it is me, your mother. Please turn around and let me see your face.” 

Practically begging now, the mother approached the center of the hall, where two people stood. 

—Clak.

—Clak.

—Clak.

Step by each painful step, she inched forward. And her arms, trembling with weakness, reached out towards the one whom she believed to be her daughter. It was obvious from the get go. Her expression told all that needed to be told. In the deathly silence summoned by Bor, she had heard everything, and she certainly had heard Aalis’ declaration to join the expedition and the helmsman’s acceptance and toast.

However, even if all the facts pointed to this person in front of her being her one and only daughter, she still absolutely refused to believe in the truth until she could see Aalis’ face reflected in her own eyes. This was her refusal. This was her stubbornness as a mother. 

“Aalis, my daughter, what are you doing here? Why have you not come home even during these late hours of the night?” 

This could not be real. This simply could not be real. This was a lie— a lie fabricated by the gods. Yes. Of course. This was all just a lie: nothing more than an illusion, like a dream, because— because there was still time. There was still plenty of time for her to explain everything to her daughter. Even if her daughter hated her own people now, her daughter’s mind was still young and flexible. With the right teachings, she could make Aalis realize that her people were not barbarians and that they were good people and that they had long since abolished those old traditions.

So what was this? Why had her daughter been accepted into the expedition? That was just silly nonsense. Because that would mean she was out of time now. That would mean, before getting to know the truth of her own people, her daughter would become just like her captors and slaughter her people like pigs. This was not right…

No…

No…

No— 

“No!” Aalis cried, her back still facing her mother. 

“No…?” stunned, Alyson’s voice echoed where she froze. What did her daughter mean by no?

“Please, go home. I promise I will explain everything to you properly, but right now, please, just go back home,” Aalis tried her best to speak calmly. 

In a sense, she knew she had this coming to her, making such a big decision without talking about it to her mother first. But what she could have never expected was for things to blow over even before the feast had ended. She had planned on breaking the news to her mother once the night was over and everything had been settled, but now that things have come to this, she was no longer allowed that luxury. She could not show any weakness here in front of everyone. Not here, not now, and certainly not when she had already gotten so far already.

If she left with her mother now, then all that she had fought for, what little respect she had gained from Bor and perhaps even the crew, would dry up like a drop of water on a searing hot pan.

“Aalis…?” the mother whimpered softly as she felt her throat go dry, “what are you saying? I am not leaving without you. Just turn around and come with me right away. This place is not meant for you.” 

Hearing this, Aalis shot a pleading look towards Bor. She wanted him to say something here. All it would take was one line, and he could deny what her mother had said. After all, she was a part of his crew now so she had every reason to be in here. 

“It is not my place to intervene in a matter between a parent and child, I am sorry.”

To Aalis’ dismay however, Bor looked away apologetically. 

What about the sunset haired girl then? She could probably do something about this. Aalis quickly looked to where she had been before, but no luck, she was gone. 

“Daughter?” Alyson reached out for her daughter’s shoulders again. Her throat was beginning to get unbearably dry now.

“No… mother, stop. I can’t leave. Not yet. So please, just go home. I’ll go back as soon as I can, but I can’t right now,” the sound of Aalis’ voice cracked as she once again mustered the strength to tell her mother no. 

However, this was not enough and Alyson’s hands soon touched her shoulders.

“—Don’t!”

Perhaps something had unknowingly snapped in her this time, because Aalis accidentally raised her voice at her mother. Maybe too loudly, because after this, her mother could be heard falling onto the hardwood floors with a resounding thud. 

What came next, no amount of resolve could have prepared Aalis for it.

“No, please… why…? Oh gods, why have you forsaken me? After all I’ve gone through, after all I’ve sacrificed to raise this child of mine, this is what happens? Have I not given up enough already? Have I not offered enough of myself yet?”

Alyson’s terrible wails filled the stale air and Aalis’ face twisted terribly. There was no sane person on the planet who could remain calm when faced with their own mother’s sobs. Even Bor, who had no relation with the mother, could not bear to watch with a straight face as this went on. 

Aalis’ expression became filled with grief. Her eyes squeezed shut and her jaws clenched tightly. 

Somebody stop her. Somebody say something. Anything! Just make it stop. Please make it stop— thoughts like these continuously filled her mind as she tried to block out her mother’s soul wrenching cries behind her.

“Aye, you two, could you possibly take this outside? This family matter, I don’t think this is an appropriate thing for all of us to hear.”

At last, Bor said something. On the outset, it might seem like he was just simply shooing the problem away, but in a way, this also gave Aalis an excuse to leave without losing any more face. 

Aalis sent Bor a thankful look before turning around to face her mother finally.

“Mother… Let me help you up.” 

And as the crew parted like the crimson sea of some myths to let the mother daughter pair through, Bor could take a seat backwards and slump his weary shoulders.

“Bjorn, it looks like you really cut out my work for me,” he mumbled, before attempting to take a glug of his mead, only to find his horn empty. Seeing this, the man slumped back into his seat and massaged his forehead tiredly.

“Come on, what are you all staring at? Someone pour me some mead.” 

Awkwardly, the feast resumed, this time without the inclusion of Aalis.

…

…

Outside the feasting hall, there were two: a grieving mother, and a rebellious daughter. At first, the daughter was helping her mother walk, but not long after, the mother regained her stride and continued by walking at her daughter’s side.

Neither of them talked and the silence casted a difficult atmosphere like a spell that was both unbearable and difficult to breach. Eventually though, when the two left the farthest bounds of the village, the daughter spoke. 

“I’m sorry, mother. I know I should have talked to you about it first, but there was no chance for me to do that.”

Now that the two of them were alone, Aalis decided that she would just tell her mother the truth in the most simple and straightforward manner.

“I will forgive you as long as you just forget about all of this and stay properly at home.”

Alyson’s stance however, was unchanged. This was her stubbornness as a mother. 

“But why, mother. Why?” 

After all this tension, her daughter could finally ask the golden question. Indeed, it was the golden question: Why. This was it. Here was Alyson’s chance to finally tell her daughter everything, for her to speak of past grievances and to set right what was wrong. 

“Aalis, daughter, listen to me,” she gripped Aalis tightly by the shoulders and turned her daughter to face her, “I have something important that I must tell you. It is a truth that I should have told you many years ago, but I was afraid. I could never do it. Aalis, you must listen to me. Listen to me carefully and tell no one what you are about to hear.” 

Alyson lowered herself to a whisper. However, before she continued, she first scanned the area surrounding them to make sure there was no one eavesdropping on the two of them.

“All that you know about the land across the fog, they are but lies, misrepresented truths that once were but no longer. Those people are not your enemy, they are your people, your true allies. You should not be fighting them.” 

“What are you going on about? Is this what you mean by having to tell me something so important that you even have to make sure no one can hear us right now?” 

“Of course!” Alyson affirmed tightly, “those things that your father taught you: about how our people treated women worse than slaves, how we worshiped a cruel god that forces parents to eat their own children, how we would stone unruly children, none of them are true! Nothing that they have said about our people is true! Bygone practices, all of them! They are bygone practices of a bygone era, abolished by the very people who once put them in place!”

“Wait, wait, mother, slow down. I can’t keep up. And you’re hurting me right now, please let go!” Aalis tried to make her mother give pause, but to no avail. As a matter of fact, Alyson tightened her grip even further. 

“I’ve wanted to tell you this from the start, but I couldn’t. Forgive me, it was for your own protection. But know that not a single day passed where I did not wish you would know the truth. I was afraid that if I had told you, you might have gone to tell off your friends, and that would have put you in danger!”

“Mother! Slow down—!” 

“We’re alone here. We’re deep in hostile lands, where the only ones who can understand us are ourselves!”

“Wait! Mother—!”

“Do you know why we’re allowed here? It is because I begged for my life and gave myself up to become your father’s wife! If it wasn’t for that disgusting man, I would still be living happily back home. If it wasn’t for that disgusting—”

—SLAP! 

The sound of Aalis’ hand hitting her mother across the face cracked in the empty night sky like the sound of a rock hitting the bottom of a ravine. 

“Take. That. Back.”

Her voice trembling and her fingers stinging from the slap, Aalis sounded out word by word. 

“Aalis…?” whispering in total stunned disbelief, Alyson slowly brought her hand up to touch the spot where her daughter’s hand slapped her. What just happened? Why? 

“Why…?”

The mother stared at her daughter blankly. 

“I said. Take. That. Back.” Aalis gritted her teeth, and she took a step back from her mother as well, “don’t you dare insult him. Don’t you dare call my father disgusting! He was my hero! I won’t allow you to speak ill of my father like this even if you are my mother.”

—Bjorn Eitrisson Her father, the one thing sacred to her above all else.

He was the person who raised her with his dreams. He was the person whom she respected the most in the world. Even if he wasn’t around anymore, that respect she had in him did not diminish one bit. That was why, even if it was her mother, whom she did love dearly, she would not stand to allow her father’s name to be tarnished. And this was doubly so now that he was no longer around to defend himself, so she had to do it in his place. 

“Y…You… You ungrateful daughter!” 

Between the wild fluctuations of her heart, all the things which have happened today, and her daughter’s sudden outburst and violence, the shock which Alyson had been frozen under finally melted away into the fury which laid seething underneath. 

“You unfilial child! Just what in heaven’s name do you think you’re doing? Who do you think you are? You dare hit your own mother? I gave birth to you! Without me, you would not be alive to talk back to me today!” 

“And I am here today precisely because you raised me!” Aalis gritted her teeth in restraint, but her anger still leaked plenty through, “I know you gifted me life, and I am thankful to you mother, but even then, I would not be here today if not for my father. So take it back. I will not let you insult him like this. Take back what you said about father!” 

“You stupid child, you know nothing about that man! He’s a great man? He’s a hero? That’s just what you know of him. But what about me? Have you ever thought about what that man means to me? He burned down my home, murdered my brothers and sisters, and the only reason I was spared was because I begged to let me be his wife!” 

“…What?” Aalis mouthed. 

“Yes! That’s right, your father was a monster. That’s what he always had been. Under that facade that he showed you, he was a murderer with thousands of lives killed under his name. How do you think I felt having to service that man every night while he was home and wait patiently for him to come home while he was out killing more of my people?”

“No, that’s not right. You’re lying,” Aalis shook her head in flat out denial, “father was good to you. What do you mean? He was always good to you. He was always considerate of you. He brought back foods that you like and he even made the house bigger when you complained about the animals being too near while you slept.”

“That’s because you, unlike me, are his blood.”

“No, enough. I don’t want to hear about this nonsense any longer. If you won’t take back your words. Then we’re through here. I am going back.” 

“Aalis—!” 

With a burst of reflex that was far beyond her age, Alyson lunged out and managed to stop her daughter by the wrist before she could walk.

“Let go! I’ve had enough of this!” Aalis yelled as she attempted to jerk her hand away.

“No! I won’t let you go, Aalis.” 

“Why not? You clearly don’t care about father even though he cared so much about you. And I am his blood, just as you have said. So why should you care about me?” Aalis replied coldly. 

“You are my daughter as well! My blood! My flesh! How could you think I don’t care about you? I would not be arguing with you no if I didn’t care! I just don’t want you to put yourself in danger like this. How could I bear to see you hurt? What if you become cripped? Worse even, killed? You will understand one day when you have a child of your own. How can I sit idly by and watch you go kill yourself when I know I could have stopped you?” 

“…!”

Aalis sucked in a sharp breath of air. Even though she wanted to shout something back, even though she wanted to say something terrible as an outlet for the fury burning her up from the inside, even though there were so many things she had lined up in her mind to say— she couldn’t. 

Bitterly, she stopped. And bitterly, she faced her mother again. 

“I’m sorry,” Aalis said to her.

Hearing this, Alyson’s face practically bloomed, however— 

“—But,” Aalis continued, “I can’t stop now. This is something that I have always wanted to do— something I have always dreamed about doing. So now that this dream is finally in front of me, as real as real can be, I can’t stop now. I’m sorry mother. I’m sorry for yelling at you. I’m sorry, but I still have to go.” 

Aalis was able to free herself from her mother’s grasp without resistance. Or rather, her mother lost strength in her arms and practically let go on her own.

“You’ll get yourself killed,” Alyson told her daughter. 

“Some things are worth dying for.” 

“You’ll be killing your own people.” 

“I was born and raised here. The folks here are my people.” 

“I see.” 

Alyson’s gaze fell to the ground. So in the end, she had run out of time after all. 

“If that is all, then I will be going now, mother.” 

With one final look, Aalis turned and began returning to the feasting hall where the rest of the crew were still drinking. 

… 

… 

“—Well… you look pitiful, Alyson.”

“Who goes there?” weakly, Alyson raised her head to see who had called her. But when she saw nothing in the front, she turned behind— and the first things reflected in her eyes were the dull, blood colored, irises of a certain somebody looking at her, observing her, an inch away from her face.

“H-Honored guest? You nearly scared the soul out of me! I’m sorry for my miserable appearance. A lot just happened— Wait, my daughter has been really attached to you since you came, so surely if it was you—!” 

“Shouldn’t you be happy that your daughter is finally leaving the nest to chase after her dreams?” 

Alyson, with her mind going a mile a minute, was really similar to her daughter at times like these. 

“How? Why? She’s going to become a murderer. And then she’s going to get herself killed!” 

Hearing this, the sunset haired girl shook her head gently. 

“Don’t you think that all of this is just what you want out of her? It’s not what she wants out of herself.” 

“But…! This isn’t right!” 

The girl sighed at Alyson, and then sat down on the grass next to her.

“Come, take a seat with me.” 

After a moment of incredulousness, the mother took the invitation and sat down on the grass as well. 

“Let’s not talk about what’s not right and what’s not wrong for a moment, okay?” the sunset haired girl said to Alyson, but it was less of a question and more of a statement.

Alyson nodded slowly with a strange obedience. 

“Do you think that insulting the one your daughter looks up to the most and denying the one thing she dreams about doing more than anything else will make her listen to you?” 

Alyson had an answer to the question, but at the same time, she could not make the sounds to speak it.

“Do you think that screaming at her and berating her that she understands nothing will make her understand something?” 

Again, Alyson had the answer to the question, but for the life of her, she could not open her mouth to answer it.

“Isn’t it the fact that she doesn’t understand you now, that you should have tried to understand her instead? You were so preoccupied with how you felt and how you wanted her to be that you didn’t stop to think about if that was the way she wanted to be.” 

The girl, with her sunset hair blowing in the wind, closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the crisp cold air.

“If you truly wished for things to have turned out different, then you should have worked towards it long ago, long before things could have had the opportunity to escalate to this point, Alyson.” 

Breathing out, she opened her eyes and took a long gaze into the bright night sky, where all the stars glimmered like the jewels in a jewel box of infinite size.

The expression on the mother’s face as she became drowned in her own sea of emotions was a complicated one. It flared at first, those feelings, before reducing to mere whimpers— like a once angry flame that caught a small breeze during its dying throes, before finally burning itself out into a pitiful pile of embers. 

And leaving her like this, the girl stood up. She stood up, patted her clothes free of dirt, and headed off. It was time for her to go now. She had stayed here as long as she needed to and for no longer shall she stay. 

“It seems like your judgment was wrong this time, Alyson: You did not have any more time, and your daughter is young no longer.”

…

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…

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…

…

…

…

…

The ship departed.

She left. 

The ship had finally left the shores.

This was it. 

She was finally going.

She was excited. 

This was her dream— her dream of nearly twenty years.

There was nothing in this world that she had been looking forward to more than this. 

And yet… 

Why was she so sad? What was this anguish that was in her heart— this knot that was stuck in her throat— this feeling that she hadn’t felt even when she found out her father died?

“Urgh…” 

Aalis brought her head down in discomfort and her small hands, which had been gripping onto her sword, let go to instead cling onto the coat wrapping against her body. 

Not even this coat— this precious coat that could keep her from the frigid cold of the seafaring winds could keep this throbbing and misery at bay.

“No… I hate this…”

And silently away, in a place where no one would care for her sorrows, Aalis sobbed until she felt the embrace of sleep take her so.

.

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