The King's Bargain.

The Pass

Soon Lorcan had gathered all they needed. Myrna retrieved two satchels from within the hall and gave one to the king. It was only halfway filled with food and small bottles of water. It was little, but it would serve. The snow that had suddenly began before Eanva's arrival had worsened. Blankets of snow now covered the land, including the path they would need to take.

"Do you see those tall mountains to the north?" Myrna asked him.

"Of course, i've heard that there lays a valley between them"

"Indeed it does, and we shall go through it, but this will not be easy"

"And why would that be? It's only a lone passage through the mountains"

"It is certainly not just a passage, many conflicts took place there, it is known that terrible spirits reside there, creatures that allow no passage"

With an air of arrogance about him the king replied.

"If they do not allow it willingly I will make them" Myrna shook her head.

"Arrogance of such magnitude, even now? There's no end to it with you, is there?"

Lorcan took steps towards the pass, his strides quick and wide. Soon the priestess struggled to keep up with him.

"The pass will notice your confidence, do not tempt it into showing it's power!" But her warning did nothing to stop him.

Soon he reached the entrance, taking his first steps into the foggy pale air Lorcan noticed nothing was happening, despite the priestesses words. He kept going, Myrna close behind. The ground was rough, rocky with small puddles of water, moss having spread like a wild flame to cover all the ground and more. Nothing had assailed them, the only noise their footsteps and the howling of the wind through the jagged grey walls of the mountains.

"I'm truly shocked as to how you're still walking. Anyone else showing such disregard for the powers that roam here would surely die without getting even halfway through the pass"

Lorcan kept walking, Myrna noticing a small smile on his lips, she rolled her eyes in silence.

"Tell me, Lorcan. What happened the night of the Horned Beast's attack?"

He sighed, his confidence vanishing as well as his smile.

"He came as soon as the sun dipped below the horizon, the sunlight being replaces by a great bolt of red fire that destroyed the wall of my kingdom, the gates were shattered and burning before I could even rise from my throne"

He took a deep breath, clenching his teeth.

"As soon as I got outside of my hall I could smell burning, and not long after that hear screams and the clashing of swords, the heat is what will forever stay with me. It was chokingly warm, it seemed to almost suck the air from my lungs as I ran towards the chaos near the broken gates"

Whatever Lorcan wanted to say next died before it ever crossed his lips, a few tears now ran down his face and his breathing had turned uneven.

"Continue, once you've shared it the pain will lessen, if only a little" Myrna said with a slight smile on her lips, though her eyes were filled with sorrow.

"There he stood, i'd heard so much about him, how the three children of Alvaran had held him off for their entire lives. And now he stood inside my realm, fighting a legion of soldiers as if it were nothing. He weaved between sword strikes with an unnatural grace, and when he struck his black claws tore through tempered steel as if it were paper"

"Did you do anything to stop him, anything to help?" She asked.

With a rough laugh that was born out of sorrow instead of joy Lorcan answered: