For the next few days, I continued to work and I avoided asking any questions about outlanders or the Battle-Hardened. During those days, the foreman actually gave me some eggs, bread, and other food. I guess Lars told him I was eating too little. Well, I say give, but he told me that he would deduct them from my wages. I normally hate it whenever my pay gets deducted, but at least I know what it’s for and it’s not like I can avoid buying food. After work finished one day, the foreman had the workers gather inside the lodge and he handed out our pay. I received twelve copper coins approximately twice the size of quarters, in thickness and diameter. One side of the coin was blank while the other side was etched with the outline of an egg. As I played around with the coins for a bit, the foreman gave a very small speech.

“Alright boys, we all know what tomorrow is, so there is no work tomorrow. Enjoy your day off.” The men silently nodded and made their leave. I just stood by a little bit confused until Lars came by to ask me what was wrong.

“Something wrong, Braith?”

“Um…what is tomorrow?”

“Oh…right. Well, tomorrow is very special.”

“Why?”

“Well, tomorrow marks the anniversary of the end of the war.”

“War?”

“Yes…I suppose you don’t know about that either.” I shook my head. “Well, five years ago a really big war finally ended. It involved almost the entire continent so I’m surprised you’ve never heard of it.”

“Yeah, I’m not from this continent.” At first, I thought this was a huge slip up on my part, but for some reason, I didn’t feel the least bit worried telling this to Lars. This feeling was clearly right as Lars calmly continued on.

“So you really just ended up here out of nowhere?”

“Yes.”

“Well, you’ve been coping with this pretty well so far, then. You must be made of some pretty tough stuff.”

“Not really. I mean, I miss my home, but…well, let’s just say life wasn’t that great there.”

“I see. Well, you do want to go back home someday, right?”

“Well, yeah, but I have no idea where home even is.”

“I wish I could help you there, Braith.” I covered my eyes for a bit

“It’s fine. Anyways, can you tell me more about the war or the celebration? Or basically anything else about this place?”

“Sure, but there’s quite a bit to say. Maybe I can tell you about it while I show you around the town tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I guess that works.” It was at that moment when I finally realized that I have never actually been around the town. I’ve always just worked the whole day and then went to sleep in the old lodge at night. I must have been thinking about too many other things.

The next day, I met up with Lars and we went around town. Having never really been around the town, I wouldn’t have even known that there was a celebration going on that day. Sure, there were a few stands set up but they were just selling ordinary things like produce.

“Is this how it’s like every year, Lars?”

“Hmmm, basically. We are a pretty small town and this day isn’t really so much a celebration as taking a day to remember the war. The main feature of today is later in the day where we mourn the fallen soldiers.

“Oh…”

“I’m guessing you’d actually like to know about the war now.”

“If you don’t mind.”

“I don’t. Well, like I said yesterday, the war took place across almost the entire continent. There were a lot of groups fighting, but it boiled down to the nine largest groups. The war also lasted nine years. That’s why some call it the War of the Nines.”

“Nine countries were fighting against each other?”

“Not exactly.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, there were nine very large groups, but there were many others that fought with each of them. Some of the nine were also allied with each other. Some called it a war of the three races, but that wouldn’t be quite right either.”

“Three races?” I asked, immediately thinking back about home and the many global conflicts.

“Yeah: the humans, the Battle-Hardened, and the Farseers.”

“Farseers?”

“There aren’t any Farseers where you come from?”

“I don’t think so. I don’t think we have any Battle-Hardened either.”

“So it’s just humans where you come from?” Lars asked, surprise clearly showing on his face.

“Well, yeah, I guess.”

“A place with only race? How interesting. It must be quite peaceful where you come from.” I cringed a tiny bit.

“Mostly. Anyways, can you tell me what the Farseers and Battle-Hardened are like?”

“They are both a lot like humans, but with some pretty big differences. The Battle-Hardened are considered by some to be the greatest warriors. Generally, you can’t really tell the difference, but many of them are a lot stronger and faster than humans. The Farseers are also like humans, but they can tap into the energies around us; they can use the elements.”

“Elements?”

“Yes, like fire and water.”

“So they can use magic like wizards?!

“Wizards?”

“Oh, well, it’s a word we have for people who can do stuff like that.”

“So there are Farseers in your world?”

“Um, no.” Lars gave me a very confused look. “We have stories about people like Farseers and Battle-Hardened, but they go by different names and they don’t actually exist in my world.”

“Interesting,” Lars said, putting on a pensive expression.

“So, can you tell me more?”

“Oh, of course. But, what exactly would you like to know now?” I had to pause to think. What are the most important things to know about an unknown world? I thought for a few moments and really couldn’t think of anything.

“I’m not really sure.”

“If you think of something else, just ask.” I nodded. We went around the town a bit more and nothing really festive happened. Sometime in the early afternoon, most of the townspeople seemed to start moving in one direction and they all went to the very edge of the town. I glanced around and saw several rows of stones standing in the ground. I also saw many people wearing dark clothing, quite a few looking down at the ground while gathered around the stones. Among the people dressed in black were the foreman and a few other lumberjacks. I instantly felt awful about referring to this day as a celebration. I looked down at the ground and nervously shuffled my feet. After a few minutes, I heard a voice speak and I looked up. It was the man I first talked to when I came to this town.

“Fair people of Befson, today we honour those noble men who fell during that terrible war. They may feel gone from us forever, but they are not truly gone from us as long as we remember them. Remember all of those precious moments we have shared with them all and know that they are living on in Valhalla for their heroism.” The man concluded his speech by clasping his two hands together and bowing his head. Everybody else bowed their heads too and I followed. The people remained in the cemetery for most of the afternoon, talking amongst themselves and a few speaking to the tombstones. Lars walked around a little bit but he did not appear to have any tombstone to visit personally. He spoke with several of the townspeople while I quietly stood in his shadow. I had nothing to contribute to any of their talks and the looks I received because of my unfamiliar face made me very uncomfortable. After suffering emotionally in silence for about fifteen minutes, I started to get annoyed and Lars eventually noticed. The two of us left the cemetery and I started to take in some deep breaths after leaving that crowd.

“Sorry,” I said, only half meaning it.

“It’s okay.”

“Was there a certain grave you were waiting to visit?” I asked more genuinely.

“No,” Lars stated simply. I did not want to press further.

“Hey, Lars, can you tell me more about outlanders?”

“What would you like to know about them?”

“Well, where do they come from…generally?”

“Braith, do you have any idea where you are?” The question sounded kind of rude but I knew Lars didn’t mean it like that.

“No, I have no idea.”

“Well, we live on the continent of Midgard.”

“Midgard? Hey, I remember that man mentioning ‘Valhalla’.”

“Yes, Valhalla is the final resting place for warriors.”

“Those names sound kind of familiar, but I can’t really remember why…” Lars silently stood by, waiting for me to remember, but I couldn’t. “Just go on.”

“On Midgard, several powerful families control much of the continent, but there is also a lot of land they don’t control. This land is mostly wilderness that is inhabited by nomads and other people living in small towns and villages. This land is called the Outlands, and people who live there are called outlanders.”

“So, outlanders are just people who don’t live in larger towns?”

“Not quite. Most of the continent is wilderness, but the Outlands are a certain kind of wilderness. The Outlands are lands that are not controlled by any of the major families; they are independent.”

“So…they are the borders?”

“They are between the borders.” I couldn’t quite understand that and any example I could use to help me probably wouldn’t make sense to Lars.

“The Outlands are lands…that are between the large territories…but don’t belong to anyone.”

“Yes, exactly,” Lars replied, nodding.

“Oh, so it’s like what the Rhineland was.”

“The what?”

“Nevermind. So, are the Outlands…big?”

“Yes, they cover parts all across the continent.”

“Are we near the Outlands right now?”

“We are quite close; just beyond the Ertrill Forest would be the Outlands.”

“So, where are we right now?”

“Which territory?”

“Yeah.”

“Befson is under the Holtz kingdom. The territory’s name is Holtzan, the southernmost human territory.”

“Does that mean we are near the sea?” I don’t even know why I’m asking this. I’m not even in the mood for traveling and I got seasick the last time I was on a ship.

“Not that close; we are by the northern edge of Holtzan.”

“What about the other places?”

“I can only give you a rough idea about the other regions since I haven’t traveled much in a long time.”

“Don’t you have a map?” Lars gave me a funny look.

“Maps are quite difficult to come by; they are very expensive. I don’t think anyone in Befson has one.”

“Oh…”

“Are you planning to travel soon?”

“Oh, no! I mean, I don’t know where anything is and by the sounds of it, going just about anywhere can be dangerous.”

“The Outlands may be an unfamiliar place to most, but it is not that hostile of a place. Well, you generally don’t have to worry about hostile people, that is.”

“So you’ve been to the Outlands before?” For some reason, Lars looked just a bit troubled by that question.

“I have.”

“How far have you been?”

“I’ve mainly just been around the area near Holtzan; I haven’t traveled much, like I said.” Lars seemed to be intentionally keeping his response short.

“Why did you go to the Outlands in the first place?” I knew that Lars probably didn’t want to go too deep into this but I had to ask. Lars turned his body around a little bit, as if preparing to stretch or sit and then he just folded his arms together.

“Let’s just say that the drive to explore is something hard to deny in any man.” I nodded in agreement despite not liking his answer. I’ve asked enough. I should just worry more about living here in the meantime.

It has been a little more than a month and we are now nearing winter, or so they tell me. They have months here like on Earth but they don’t call them the same names. When I first got here, it was apparently early in the month of Libra and right now it is the middle of Sagittarius. The fifteenth of Sagittarius to be exact. Each month has about 30 days and there are 12 of them so I guess time goes by at around the same rate here.

Towards the end of work, it started to snow. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen snow. After work finished, a lot more snow started to fall. Lars came over and asked if I had been storing enough food, firewood and coal at my lodge and I told him I was. After that, the foreman came over.

“The snow is really coming down. If the weather gets any worse, don’t worry about showing up for work, just stay at home and keep warm.”

“Okay, I will.” I thought back to that time in high school where I had to take a make-up test right after I got back from being sick for a few days. It was awful.

I made my way back to my lodge and noticed that the snow was getting much worse. I could barely see twenty feet ahead of me. I also noticed the wind getting stronger from the chills on my cheeks. As I got closer to my lodge, I started to speed up to get out of this cold. I couldn’t see my lodge, but when I felt that I was almost there, I noticed something in the snow. It was something with a very deep red colour and I started to slow down as I cautiously approached. After getting closer, I saw that the red thing was possibly some kind of blanket. Getting even closer, I found that it was actually moving slightly. At first, I thought it was the wind but after getting up right next to it, I could sense that something was moving underneath it.

I reached for the blanket, and right as I did, a particular strong gust of wind blew it back a bit for me. I gasped. At first, I took a few steps back and looked around in a panic. Then I sucked in some air, coughed a bit, and knelt in the snow by the blanket. I slowly brought my hand to the edge of the blanket and pulled it back more. I revealed the face of a golden-haired girl. From the tiny bit of mist swirling over her, I could tell that she was still breathing but her face was flushed from the cold.

I could not begin to question just why a little girl was lying in the snow but that didn’t matter. I had to get her out of the cold right now. As I bent over more to try and pick her up, I could feel the intensity of her shivering through the blanket. I put my hands under her and lifted her up. I brought her closer to my body for both balance and shelter from the snow and I quickly continued to my lodge. Oh, but this would be pretty awkward if she were to wake up right now. Please don’t wake up until I get you back home. Oh…that didn’t come out right.

After a minute of walking, I could see my lodge, and with some difficulty, I unlocked the door and brought her inside. I first shut the door and then carried her to my bed. I did clean up the other rooms a bit during my time here, but only my bed had usable sheets.

After laying her on the bed and putting my blanket on top of hers, I quickly shoved more coal into the stove. After getting a bigger fire going, I went to check up on her and saw that her face was getting a bit less red. I breathed a sigh of relief. I could now begin to question just why she was lying in the snow. Judging by her body size and face, she looked about five years old. Also, although I didn’t confirm it, when I carried her, it felt like she wasn’t wearing anything underneath that blanket. Before I could get more thinking done, I heard my stomach rumble. I don’t know where she came from, but she’d probably be hungry after waking up. Well, she’d also probably be confused and scared as well, but I can only really deal with the first thing. I went to the stove and started to prepare some porridge.

When I went back to my bedroom with two bowls of porridge, I saw that the girl was now awake. She had both blankets wrapped around her and when I walked in, she started backing away on the bed. I looked at her, and she looked at me, and I felt that she was planning to back away some more. I took a few more steps into the room to find a place to set down the bowl of porridge and she did move back more, her body pressed up against the wall. Very slowly, I put down the bowls of porridge and waved at her. Waving isn’t exactly something you can forget how to do, but at that moment, my hand moved around in a very unnatural, shaky and mechanical way. If she could move back any further, I’m sure she would.

“Uh…hi.” She said nothing. “W-What’s your name?” No reply. “My name is Braith.” Still no response. I sighed and moved in a bit closer to sit on the bed. I saw her angle her body towards the edge of the bed. Inside my head, I almost laughed at the thought of her simply bolting out of the room. Then, I lightly hit myself for thinking that was funny. The little girl now put on an expression mixed with confusion, clearly seeing my own expression changing because of my random thoughts. I picked up one porridge bowl and brought it towards her without moving from my seat. After staring at the bowl for some time she pulled down the blanket so she could bring one arm out, but she stopped just short. I closed my eyes and then felt the bowl of porridge shake. My suspicions were just confirmed. I felt her take the bowl from my hands and I turned away from her before opening my eyes. I picked up my own bowl of porridge and started eating, still not looking at her. We ate in relative silence. After she finished, she put the bowl beside me and I picked it up while covering the side of my face. I left and waited in another room. Having nothing else to do, I lay down and just closed my eyes. Maybe I could just ask the others about what to do later. Lars might know what to do; he’s strangely informative about a lot of things.

When I awoke, I felt a bit colder than usual. I got up and went to check on the little girl. When I left my room, I felt some wind in the hallways. At first, I didn’t think much about it, but when I got to my room, I saw that the girl was gone. I felt the wind again and I ran towards the front door and found it ajar. I opened it wide and snow started blowing inside. Faintly marked in the snow was what looked like a trail of little footprints. No, no, no. Why?! Why would she just leave in this snow?! Yeah, I’m a strange man who brought you into his home without any real explanation, but…but…argh!

I closed the door and pressed my back against it. That girl is as good as dead now. Going out in that kind of snow with just a blanket. There are wild animals in the forest, too! What could drive you to take your chances with that?! I fell to the ground and held my arms around myself. I closed my eyes and immediately began to mourn her for a moment before opening my eyes. I got up and slowly opened the door to see the raging snow outside. I closed it again and went into a room in my lodge to retrieve an old pitch fork. Then, I quickly put on an extra layer of clothing and went outside. The trail was fainter now, but I could still make it out. Young lady, you’re gonna have a stern talking to when I get you back inside.

I followed the trail as quickly as I could, but it was difficult due to the constant snowfall. After a while, the trail went into the forest. Of all places…I would have taken in a deep breath of courage before venturing in, but that would just hurt my throat. I entered the forest and continued to follow the path. Deeper in the forest, I noticed that the footprints were starting to look different. They seemed to be getting just a bit longer, as if she were starting to slide her feet. I tried to quicken my pace and then I suddenly heard a howl up ahead. Fear surged through my body but I refused to turn back. I raced forward, my throat starting to hurt from all the deep, cold breaths I was taking in. I eventually reached a small clearing and saw something red. I also saw something grey.

The wolf turned its head slightly when I entered the clearing. I couldn’t make her out clearly, but it looked like the little girl covered her body up with the red blanket. I advanced against my flight instincts and had the wooden shaft gripped tightly in my hands.

“Shoo! Go away!” I yelled at the wolf, waving my stick a bit. The wolf growled at me and slowly advanced. Oh come on, isn’t this stuff supposed to scare you off? “Shoo! Shoo!” I yelled again, waving the stick about more. The wolf just came in closer. I bravely, or recklessly, moved in closer as well. The wolf stopped in his tracks and I stopped, too. Suddenly, the wolf pounced at me and I frantically swung the wooden stick, striking him on the side before he could fully close in on me. Unfortunately, it was a shallow hit and my frantic swing caused me to lose my grip and the stick flew off. The wolf shook its body a bit and growled again. Without any weapon, my courage quickly dwindled and I started to back away. The wolf pounced again and I jumped to the side. I avoided the attack but I lost my footing on the snow and fell over. I glanced over my shoulder as I lay on the ground and saw the wolf. I covered my head with my arms and cowered as I heard the wolf run at me.

Instead of my flesh getting ripped apart, I heard a loud thumping side and something landing in the snow next to me. I slowly removed my hands from my face and saw the wolf lying on the ground next to me. I then looked up and saw the little girl holding what was now a wooden stick; the pronged end had broken off. She was breathing heavily and her whole body was pink from the cold. After my brief moment of amazement, I looked away from her and got up. I took off my fur coat and handed it over to her without looking. She dropped the stick and took the coat from my hands. When I was pretty sure she put it on, I turned to look at her again and then quickly buttoned up the coat for her. I looked over at the wolf again and then at the little girl. I could see dried tears on her face. I quickly went to get her red blanket and she wrapped it around her body.

“Come on, let’s go,” I said, extending my hand to her. She took it. Personally, I wanted to just carry her since she was barefoot, but I thought that could have made things worse. I especially thought so since my own legs were still feeling shaky.

We made our way back to the lodge and the first thing she did when we got back was sneeze. I put more coal into the stove and started to make some more hot porridge. When I came into the bedroom with the food, she was wrapped up in blankets and shivering, her face only a bit less pink. She looked up at me when I entered the room and didn’t shy away this time. Before handing her the porridge bowl, I had something I needed to say. Do you have any idea what could have happened out there? You could have died?! It was freezing out there and you just had to go into a forest filled with predators?! Can’t you think at all?! Yeah, I did want to say all that at one time, but now they just seem pointless now.

“I’m glad you’re safe.” I thought I saw her smile at me just a tiny bit before sneezing again.