*Book One of The Accursed Chronicles*
August was a man from a normal world, living a mundane life until one night everything changed, and he was sent spiraling into a world stuck forever in winter, full of magic, creatures, and a curse that has grip...
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The trek out of Merk had been interesting because I'd gotten to see the outer wall of the city that encompassed it in its entirety. Icicles had hung from everything, and snow had battered up against the walls, making the grey stone look white and blend in with the ground at the foot of the wall. The streets out had been cleared mostly of snow, but the further out that we had rode from the city, the worse the roads had become.
The snow had coated the horses' hooves and each step had sunk them into more snow. The horses hadn't seemed to mind, each of them bushy like a fur blanket and with thick hair on their hooves. Unlike them, I had minded greatly as I had sat chattering atop my horse and wishing that I were back in Ashedale every second.
Ashedale never got cold like this, it never even got so much as long, stab-worthy icicles hanging from every branch. I missed the lush green forest and wanted to escape the bitter white one that held little life. I understood now why these people were hopeless because I, too would become depressed and upset if I had to live in an endless winter.
After a day of traveling, Aegar's Keep had been where we had stopped along our journey. According to Gloom, it was a midway point between Merk and Lorge, and belonged to Lord Eirith whose position and land was bestowed upon him by Krak's late king himself. Gloom had explained that Lord Eirith was a difficult mage with a keen interest—dare I say a sickly interest—in humans and he'd made it a point to tell me to avoid Eirith at all costs.
I'd taken his words to heart.
When we'd come upon the keep, the land around Aegar had been about as desolate as a barren wasteland, completely riddled in white fluffy fields and trees all nestled in bunches. Stumps of chopped trees had surrounded the walls of the keep while the tippy top of the keep had been plastered in snow. Torches had flickered in the wind and had been our guiding light in the dying light of the day. The heat of them had enticed me in, but it had been the meal offered by Lord Eirith that had won me over.
I sat in the servant's kitchen on my third bowl of what I believed was stew with a mystery meat. Me, Leuthar, and Daesa's guards had been ushered into the kitchen to eat while Gloom and Daesa had been given the best seats in the keep. They were in the dining hall, being served and discussing private matters while us "servants" were kept in the kitchen.
But I didn't care because food and warmth was all I needed, for the most part.
After I swallowed my last bit of food, I finally looked up from my bowl to see everyone gone from the kitchen, except for Leuthar. He glowered across at me, looking between me and my bowl. What was it with people and watching me? Did I have two heads or something?
"What?" I asked when I placed my spoon into my bowl and pushed the empty dish away. He huffed and stood from the bench, readying to leave me alone here until I rose with him. "Hey, we are going to be travelling together for some time. It's better we get to know each other now than later."
