Unnamed, Forest in the Kingdom of Oranis-Mainland- Early Winter 15 years AR

He thought he was selling his soul but what other choice was there. The beasts had made it to Oranis somehow and even after years fighting them in the south, he knew something had changed. He didn’t know exactly what but after keeping their kind in check for hundreds of years, they were beginning to get the upper hand. So when they had come out of the grass and caught him and others on the road, he thought there was no hope. He knew they couldn’t outrun them so he quietly hugged his family on his knees and begged for them to spare them, he’d do anything. Rumors in the legion said some of them spoke but he never expected to meet one and to actually have it listen to him.

Six months later he knelt before the one that spoke. He’d never been given a name but it had said ‘call..lord.’ He would have backed out of the deal but they were smarter than he thought, they kept hostages. It was 'take the deal or die', then 'follow it or his family dies'. He did what he needed to. Behind him were the 100 orphans, all the same age who would be 16 within the same month of spring. He realized where ever he brought them, it’d end up like Oranis. He stared at the massive paws in front of him, not daring to look up.

“You… tell.” he glanced up and the monster in front of him was gesturing to the orphans, who looked betrayed by the man who took them in and led them there. Fearful at the group of over 100 werewolves surrounding them, “we… bite... kid…Grrrrrrr... No…die… ever! No die...if no… talk. ” The monster's voice growled as he spoke but the message was clear.

“Y-yes, milord,” he turned to the children. The monster struggled to form the words but he understood what it meant, “They’re going t-to turn us into one of th-them. Y-you’ll be im-immortal but if you t-tell anyone, they’ll kill y-you.” It seemed that was enough to show he was willing to do the monster's bidding. Some of the werewolves moved after the werewolf lord barked, letting his wife and two children run towards him, they hugged him and he kissed their heads as they cried. Another bark and they were yanked away.

“take… off…all.. kid,” The monster reached down and grabbed his shirt, he took it off and motioned for the children to do the same, some did so with tears in their eyes, while a few refused and stared at him. One boy just glared at the werewolf lord in front of him with murderous intent. The monster walked past him and straight up to the boy. Without a word, it picked him up, dug its claws into his neck, and tore off the poor child's head. He hadn’t even had the chance to scream.

There was no resistance after that. A couple of werewolves lunged for the body but backed away with their heads lowered at a growl from their leader. He gave another command and the pack of monsters descended on the man, his family, and the children.

When they woke up the following day the werewolves and the boy’s body were gone. All that was left was a pile of coins and a bloody tabard. His wife picked it up, fumbling it. As it unfolded, he saw a grey stone with a lighthouse on top, the Everlight. They were bound for the Northern Isles. They could go anywhere but if they were lucky he could get lycans to help them. He looked at the kids that would soon turn to monsters, they didn’t have long to get there.

What the man hadn’t noticed the night before was that those items were sitting there the entire time. He also didn’t notice that there were several other tabards depicting the Everlight, the sigil of the kingdom of Islacaea. Those extra tabards were now gone.

*********

Forest of Dain, Kingdom of Dain- Early winter 15 years AR

“Wow, this is fucking better!” Aethred exclaimed as they walked along the road. Jon didn’t even ask what Aethred was talking about. He actually had to blink a few times to get his eyes to adjust. It’d been the first time in months he’d been able to see more than a couple of hundred paces into the forest. Other than across Lake Daren of course.

The road they were walking along was rough and unpaved but it was a road that led to the Fortress of Willow’s Point, or what was quickly becoming a fortress. From where they stood it was a relatively easy trip across Dain to the capital of Bastia. The Imperial road went through there making it even easier to get to Saena and Ederath.

“Pretty,” Tira stood beside him, he looked up at her and back at the wide-open landscape with a few inches of snow covering every inch.

“Yeah, it is… aren’t you cold?”

“You always ask that,” she said with a half-smirk. A moment later a fit and curvy ginger stood beside him wearing only a skirt, breastband, and belt with built-in suspenders. She leaned in and kissed him. He didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around her and kiss her back. His hands exploring her back while hers wrapped around his head.

After a few moments, they pulled away from the kiss, “and every time I ask that you kiss me.”

“And every time I kiss you, you wrap your arms around me. So why would I be cold?” She smirked in a way that said she had proved her point as she rubbed her hand down the dire wolf pelt that Jon was wearing as a cloak to keep himself warm and to keep her from having to press her bare skin up against cold scale mail. Jon moved in to kiss her again but stopped when a snowball exploded on the back of his head.

“That’s enough outta you two, let's move!” Ser Afgheir yelled as he passed, Jon looked at him and could tell he wasn’t actually mad, “and as for you! Loudmouth, If you so much as think about throwing snow at me I wi-”

“I won't!”

“Did you just interrupt me?” Afgheir walked up on Aethred, who backed away, “I’ll drag you north and find the first frozen fucking lake to dunk your head into the ice! Not the water, the ICE! We’ll see what gives first, the ice or your head. I’m hoping it's the one attached to your fucking neck. Given how thick that skull of yours is, I’ll have to find some thick ice to make it worth it!”

“That’s new,” Aethred said, “It’s not bad.”

Afgheir looked around for a moment as Jon was walking with Tira, hand in claw. Afgheir continued down the road while yelling, “Squire Ragnar! You point out to me the first fucking frozen lake you find.”

“Wait, what?” Aethred seemed confused, “Ser, I thought you wanted to bounce some ideas off me, that you were getting tired of the fucking window?”

After a moment Jon watched a snowball fly through the air and hit Ser Afgheir in the shoulder. Snow sprayed up and hit the side of his face. He turned to face Aethred who was already running but was hit by a snowball himself, Jon didn’t even see who threw it but it was with enough force for Aethred to lose his footing and slip on the slippery ground.

Jon suddenly felt something cold and wet plop down on his head. It had nearly zero force to it and he automatically looked up to see an orange furred left hand directly above his head. It turned into a human hand as Jon turned to its owner.

“Oops, it slipped,” Tira grinned and then stuck her tongue out at him before scrambling away to grab more snow he did the same laughing.

“Just think when we get up north, I’ll drop you in a snowbank,” Jon said still laughing as he threw a snowball.

“Wait, you’ll drop her… Boy, if anything she’s going to toss you into one!” Afgheir said in an amused tone, arm already cocked back to throw a snowball.

The expedition started with music and ended with laughing in the snow.