Ezra crossed over the plains and came to the bright village in the horizon. He couldn’t gaze away from the large pillar soaring into the clouds above. The village itself, just from the outside seemed different from Dustgarde and Fayspell. Sarabell even looked weak in comparison. The roads were painted blue with clouds drawn on it, mirroring the sky above. Most of the homes had a bright yellow coloring. However the residents here all seemed to differe from each other. Ezra saw no warriors or mages around. This place had a sense of naturallity to it. Ezra walked through the front gates and immediately was met by a familiar face.

“EZRA!” Nicholai leaped in joy towards his friend. He went int entirely for a hug.

“Aww. This is nice.” Ezra replied in happiness.

“What happened?” Nicholai worryingly asked.

“Let’s get with the others and I’ll tell you guys.”

“Oh. Yeah. We’re in this inn. We took turns waiting for you.” Ezra wondered on the fact of them taking turns.

“How long was I gone?”

“2 days.” Nicholai answered. Ezra’s mind then shook. 2 whole days. He wondered how much he made them worry. “We agreed to wait 3 days before looking for you.”

“Makes sense. If I had made it here while you guys were looking it just be a loop.” Ezra said as they approached the inn. He opened the door to find Anabelle and Katreena sitting in the main room.

“EZRA!” Anabelle yelled in surprise. She jumped up and came over to him. “You’re okay.”

“I wouldn’t say that. That fall almost killed me.” Ezra said going over to sit down.

“So what happened?” Katreena asked.

“Well. I’ll tell you.” Ezra sat back and explained his short tale of the time in Sarabell. Anabelle was amazed. Nicholai was curious, and Katreena didn’t seem very interested.

“Woah.” Anabelle expressed her excitement.

“We have to go there at some point.” Nicholai said.

“I agree. However there are other things to focus on right now.” Ezra said. He turned to Katreena.

“Did you get your word to the mayor?” Katreena slightly blushed. She turned her head.

“We...I was busy waiting for you.” She said. Ezra smiled. He could see her shy aura.

“Oh. Were you worrying about my loud mouth?” He began to tease her.

“Yeah, weren’t you mad about him coming.” Anabelle joined in. Nicholai rested back in laughter.

“Shut up you two!” Katreena yelled back in a blazing fury. The others were now laughing in unison. The rest of the inn, had joined in after overhearing the conversation. Ezra looked to see this, and decided it was time to explore the village.

“Alright. Well when do you intend to meet him?” Ezra asked Katreena.

“Well. He only takes visitors on fridays. So we have to wait until tomorrow?” She replied.

“Okay then. Guess it can wait. Why don’t we go see what this place has to offer?” Ezra asked the group.

“I’m down. I’ve been watching this place from the window. About time we had some fun.” Nicholai cam back with.

“You know I’m in.” Anabelle answered as well. They all turned to Katreena who was quiet.

“Fine I’ll come.” The others leaped with joy. They exited the inn and started to journey around the village. While there were blacksmiths and magic shops. Most of the village was food stands and performers. Some were talented artist. Anabelle had herself and Ezra pose for a painting. She rested on the ground, Ezra sat before her and she put her head over his lap. The artist kept the painting and hung it up in his shop for all to see, and potentially buy.

The ventured through a street filled with live performers. Ezra caught eye of a man in a red and black mask. He wore a black robe that tread all the way to the ground. Ezra was pulled in by him. He created a ring of fire around him, and more rings formed from those. Ezra was lifted off of the ground. The rings surrounded him in a ball of fire. Ezra saw it change from a orage flame to a bright red flame. Then he was put down.

“Huh? That’s it?” He asked.

“Dragon Heart. Listen well. This display is for the soul of man. The flame indicates the nature of one’s heart. The Heart of the Inferno Obsidian will reveal the flames which have scorned you.” The man recited.

“Umm...okay.” The group started to walk away. “What was up with him?”

“No idea.” Nicholai responded.

They found their next destination a large market filled with foods neither of them had seen before. Nicholai had his face concentrated on one certain cart filled with vegetables.

“Looks nice doesn’t it.” The vendor asked Nicholai.

“This spread is amazing. I’ve never seen veggies like this before. What’s this white one ,sir?”

“This is the Cloudbird Sprout.”

“Cloudbird. Wait. It’s made of meat?” Nicholai confusingly asked.

“Not at all. You see. The Cloudbird is a monster that flys in the upper part of the village. Inside it’s body are seeds that can be grown to grow this sprout.”

“That’s crazy.” Nicholai said in awe.

“Want a sample.”

“Sure!’ The vendor cut off a piece from one in front of Nicholai. He granted it to him and the young mage took it and bit it carefully. His face lit up. “This is awesome! We need to get some of this…...wait.”

Nicholai turned to Ezra. “Ezra I just realized something. WE HAVE NO MONEY!” Ezra gasped loudly. He came to the realization at the same time as Nicholai said it.

“Holy shit your right. We should have gotten our reward from Granius!” The two young men were now sobbing together on the floor. Katreena was annoyed at the sight.

“Hey Katreena, let us borrow some money!” Nicholai asked in a yell.

“Sorry can’t. I need my money to get back on the boat back home.” She said emotionlessly. The two went back to sobbing fiercely. They then walked away from the cart, wallowing in their poverty. They just walked around and watched as everyone else in the bright village enjoyed themselves.

“Guess this was a bust. Not only that but we also need money for the boat ride to the Serx Empire.” Ezra said.

“That’s where we’re headed next?” Nicholai asked.

“Yeah. I want to find info on that dragon rider we saw in Dustgarde, and we might find some info on your pops.” Ezra responded.

“Yeah. Hopefully.” Nicholai sighed. He put his head down and tried not to think about anything happening. Yet his thoughts we’re interrupted by shouting.

“EVERYONE, EVERYONE. HE”S COMING!” A man ran through the village and shouted in despair. Ezra caught a glimpse of him. He turned to Nicholai. They both had the same idea. “HE’LL BE HERE SOON EVERYONE.”

The people of Cloudwick started to franticallyh move about. Yet, they weren’t moving within their homes for shelter. They began to clean the streets and the front of their homes. Ezra watched in utter confusion. The screaming man ran up to them for a warning.

“YOU GUYS. WHAT ARE YOU DOING? DON”T YOU KNOW WHAT”S ABOUT TO HAPPEN!”

“No. I thought some evil bandit was showing up. However it seems everyone is acting like it’s chore day. Wait. Maybe it’s the mayor. This guy must be a beast!” Ezra was now excited to meet ths upcoming man. However the other had to correct him.

“That’s not who I’m talking about! You idiot. I’m talking about someone who can scare the pants off any monster in the Freelands. This guys is unquestionably the strongest guy to walk these fields.”

“Who is it?” Ezra said now completely intrigued.

“IT”S GRIMM. HE’S DEADLY, RUTHLESS, AND ALLROUND NASTY.” The man informed Ezra about the man soon to come. “Crap. Why am I still here? I need to go and clean up!” The man ran away towards his home.

“This guys seems like some real business.” Ezra confidently stated.

“Strongest warrior in the land. Can’t wait to see this figure.” Nicholai responded with the same confidence. They waited at their position. The rest of the village continued to frantically clean, and make sure things were in order.

From the horizon, a group of people started to approach the village. The nature of the village around them continued for just a bit more. Until finally subsiding after the group came close.

“Anabelle. What do you sense?” Ezra asked her.

“The most powerful one. He’s feeling…..rather calm.” She answered.

“This is gonna be good.”

The men all started to come through the village. Ezra heard Katreena gasped. She was gazing at the ones behind the leader. All were young men dressed beige colored garbs and blue pants. They each had black boots. And some were wearing necklaces with a silver snake, some had bronze snakes, and only 2 had gold snakes. That included each young man had a weapon either to their side or on their back.

The leader was the most fascinating to Ezra. He was taller than his young companions. An eyepatch covered his right eye. His top was snow white with longsleeves. It was patterned by blue streaks forking through the shirt, that lead down into his black pants with each leg having a stream going up it. Despite his skiing being the same brown complexion as Ezra’s and Katreena’s, he had a very visible scar under his good eye. However Ezra took note of his most noticeable traits. The first was his hair, it was pure white, and braided down into large spiraling pigtails that reached down his back.

The other, was the massive scythe on his back.