Zane pointed his guns directly at the cloaked person, both loaded with blood needles.

"W-Wait, it's me. Lovia," the person said.

She took off the hood of her cloak and showed him her face.

Good, it's really her.

Zane lowered the guns and had the blood needles return to the vials. He put the corks back on the vials and the guns back into their holsters.

"What were you doing here?" Lovia asked.

"Ran into an acquaintance," Zane responded as he walked past her.

"Wait for me."

The two walked back to the camp. Rex stood outside his tent, once he saw Zane he approached them.

"Zane, there you are. What happened I heard yelling," he said.

But Zane just walked past him and sat down at the campfire.

"Misses Lovia do you know what happened?" Rex asked.

"He said that he met an acquaintance . . . but well I saw him fight some soldiers that looked like they were from the army of Avalon . . . what were they doing here?" Lovia said.

"What? Avalonian soldiers? Are we close to one of their camps? Should we leave?" Rex asked. He looked to Zane for guidance.

Zane shrugged.

We might be close to one . . . and if Regal returns to a camp he might return with more soldiers . . .

Zane stood up and walked over to Rex.

"We leave," he said calmly as he went to his tent to disassemble it.

"Yes, good, we shall leave."

Rex went into his camp to wake the driver. It didn't take the small group to pack up everything and go back into the carriage.

"Zane, how many Avalonian soldiers can you deal with?" Rex asked.

Zane thought for a second.

Good question . . . if I use that I might be able to take down a platoon or two at once . . . but most run anyways.

"Most run . . ." Zane responded.

"Good to know," Rex said. "We should try to get some sleep here in the carriage."

And so they continued their journey sooner than expected. For the next few days they kept sleeping in the carriage, someone always looking out for enemy soldiers. After the end of the first week, they decided that it would be safe from now on and that they could set up camp at night again.

They had made quite some progress on their journey since the fourth night. The area surrounding them was full of hills and the mountains of Alva were now quite close. But the tower was still far away.

Two weeks were a very optimistic guess for their travel time.

Towards the end of the second week of travel, they began to travel over a mountain which took them three entire days. The nights on the mountain were hard. They had to look out for many wild animals trying to steal their supplies.

Once they had overcome the troublesome mountain they reached a large area enclosed by mountains on all sides, the great valley of Alva. From here it could be seen.

The skeleton of a massive snake, climbing up the tallest mountain in the entirety of Ion. A mountain so large that even the part where it disappeared above the clouds what thicker than some mountains. The snake's head had been pierced by an enormous spear. The shaft was made out of a black material that would shine when the sun hit it and the large spear tip was made out of a metal that hadn't rusted in all the time it had been there. What interested Zane, even more, was the snake killed by that spear. It must have once been the largest creature to live on land. It was so large that its massive bones nearly entirely covered the mountain it was circled around. Its head had six large hollowed-out spots, suggesting that this creature had six eyes. No matter how many times Zane saw it, he couldn't help but stare at it.

That night we barely got any sleep.

"Just what would happen if things like that still existed?" Lovia asked.

"I believe they still do . . . it's just that none of them are as large as that one was," Rex said as he took a bite out of his food.

"What?" Lovia responded shocked.

"Yes, I believe they are called Canyon Basilisks. They live in the massive canyons surrounding the highlands of Ion. They are especially common over in the Boriam Region." He took a short break to take another bite. "Although as far as I know, those are far, far smaller and only have four eyes . . . this one might be another species . . . perhaps a Mountain Basilisk," Rex said.

"And what could have killed something like that?" Lovia asked.

"In this area, they say that the gods did it a long long time ago . . . but no one truly knows, maybe someone like Vindictus would know," Rex answered.

The guy might have actually been the one who did this . . .

"Vindictus . . . the thirteenth god . . . I wonder what he's like," Lovia said. "Have you ever seen him?"

Rex began laughing. "Oh Lovia, of course, I have never seen him. I doubt anyone who ever saw him survived." He turned to Zane. "What about you Zane? Ever seen the thirteenth?" he asked, still laughing.

Zane noticed that Lovia was quite embarrassed to have asked such a question. But to the surprise of both of them, he nodded.

"What? You have met him?" Rex asked.

Zane nodded again.

"When?" Lovia asked.

"Day before we left . . ." he said.

Both Rex and Lovia looked at him in disbelieve.

And he's probably even watching us right now.

Zane looked up at the mountain peaks above them. But there was no sign of the dragonkin.

"Zane, there is no need to lie to impress us, your feats are already more than enough," Rex said.

But Zane just leaned back and looked at the massive snake.

I should ask him about this snake the next time we meet. Whenever that may be.

Zane noticed that Lovia was studying him with a curious look on her face.

The next day they continued with their journey and stopped at a town nestled between the mountains and a large lake.

"We can finally sleep in a normal bed again," Rex said.

Zane looked around the town. It was tiny compared to places like Hirmal or Velvin. The three quickly found the inn, leaving the carriage driver behind to deal with the horse. It was a small inn, about the size of the Igaris Inn over in the Ulva Highland. Zane again had to duck to even enter the inn. They ordered food and rooms, ate, and then went to each of their rooms. Zane slept well, like every time when he could sleep in a normal bed again. In the morning he met Rex and they ate together.

"Ah, good morning Zane," Rex said as he sat down at the table.

Shortly after him came Lovia.

"Misses Lovia, you're awake early today."

"Yes," she responded. "So what will we do today?" Lovia asked.

"Well, there is a bathhouse in this city so I would like to take a bath. Afterwards, we should stock up on more supplies now that we are close to the tower," Rex said.

"Oh, a bath would be great," Lovia said with a smile on her face.

They ate and then made their way to the bathing house. It was located close to the lake and was quite small compared to others. Rex and Zane were already inside when they noticed that Lovia was not following them.

"Is something wrong?" Rex asked her.

"W-Well . . . it's mixed bathing only . . . are there no single bathes?" she asked.

"Hmm . . . I don't know . . . no, I don't think there are any . . . is there anything wrong with mixed bathing?" Rex asked confused.

"N-No . . . I just don't like it. I will just go bathe in the lake or something," she said before running off.

She's definitely hiding something from us . . . but who am I to dig around in other peoples secrets.

"Quite strange," Rex said.

The two of them went into the bathing area, barely anyone was there. Only a few old people sat in one corner and talked to each other. Rex and Zane sat down in the warm water.

"So, Zane . . . have you heard any stories about the tower located here in Alva?" Rex asked.

Zane shook his head, not wanting to talk right now. The two bathed for a while before they decided to leave and go buy supplies.

"Zane, would you go look for misses Lovia?" Rex asked.

Zane nodded and looked after Rex as he went back into town.

She said she would bath in the lake . . . so that's my best bet.

Zane walked over to the edge of the lake and looked around. But he couldn't find her anywhere on the side of the town. In the distance, he could see a waterfall.

Probably the best place to take a bath in this lake.

Zane walked along the edge and towards the part of the mountain behind the town and across a small slither of land leading towards the waterfall hidden behind large bushes and trees. It took him a while to crawl over the many roots and plants but he finally managed to reach the waterfall.

Lovia's cloak and clothes laid on the ground but she was nowhere to be seen.

Should I really even be here? And how come she has such expensive-looking clothing . . .

Zane stepped out from behind a tree and before the waterfall.

"Rex asked me to get you," Zane said, hoping Lovia would hear him.

He heard a short scream in response. "Turn towards the lake and don't look behind you," Lovia said from somewhere.

He could hear rustling behind him and after a short time, Lovia tapped him on the shoulder.

"Alright, you can turn around now."

Lovia was fully dressed in her clothes and cloak but her hair was still wet.

"Dry your hair and come to the town," Zane said.

I hate speaking this much.

Once Lovia had dried her hair as best she could the two went back to the town.

They met Rex in the market together with their driver, carrying multiple baskets with all kinds of food. Zane and Lovia helped them carry it all back to the carriage and load it.

"So, I believe we can leave now . . . the tower should now only be a few days away," Rex said.

Zane nodded.

The next few days passed without any more incidents. They drove along a wide path, met many merchants and other mercenaries, none of which were willing to join them.

Does he really expect that someone who's travelling in this area even plans on going into that tower . . .

"Where exactly is the tower?" Lovia asked on the third day of the last push.

"Oh it's very close to where the tip of that massive spark has been driven into the ground," Regal responded with a smile on his face.

At noon on the fourth day after leaving the town they reached it. The tip of the spear that had killed the giant snake. Looking at it from up close made it appear even larger than it seemed from far away. The spear tip was far larger than the gate to any city Zane had ever seen. It was still as clean as it must have been the day it was made. Neither dried blood from the large snake nor any plants were on it.

What kind of metal is this . . . not a speck of rost nor do plants grow on it.

From there it was only an hour until they reached their goal. The tower of the Alva Highlands.

The carriage stopped in front of it and the three got out. The tower was tall and went into the overhanging mountain above it as if it were a stalactite that reached all the way to the ground. The large, mossy gate seemed nearly untouched.

No one must have tried to open this in quite a while.

"We are finally here," Rex said.

He walked towards the large gate and inspected it.

It took us about another hour to prepare for our upcoming journey. We loaded the supplies into large sacks and put them onto a cart that the horse would be pulling.

"Well then, are all of you ready?" Rex asked them with excitement in his voice.

"Yes!" Lovia responded quickly.

Zane and the driver just nodded slowly.

"Great," Rex said before he turned towards the gate and pushed it open with a loud squeaking noise.