Dear Journal,
            The life that fate has sewn its threads to create for me is woven in sadness and despair. Despite this reality, I've decided to wear this garment with pride and valor,  for it was destined for me because its weight can only be lifted by my strength.

                                                      - 𝓔𝓵𝓲𝓪𝓼 𝓢𝓽𝓮𝓮𝓵𝓮
(1605)

The snowstorm had ultimately placed its frosty winds to rest as its viciousness subsided to a light but cold breeze.

In warmer times, the entrance to the once considered 'great city' of Garshank was quite conspicuous since the trees of the forest had separated to line what could be called crossroads. The right path leading to the city and left leading to their cemetery.

It was not difficult to truly decipher what direction one should take in order to enter Garshank as the trees on each path spoke raucously to guide any stranger.

The trees leading towards the city were perennial and lively as their fluffy foliages were filled with encircling butterflies and birds who sipped nectar from their blossoms and frolicked among the leaves, occasionally seating themselves within the tree feathers.

The sun seemed to shine brighter on that side, as flowers grew all around their roots, creating homes for insects while appealing beautifully to the human eye.

An assortment of animals such as squirrels and cats often sat in the canopies as they enjoyed the stalwart build of what was often called 'old ladies' due to their gracious demeanor; an indication of life and the greater beyond.

The trees on the left however, leading to the cemetery were doddery and wilted. Some had naked limbs; weak and feeble as they rotted from the inside while others had their leaves browned from the sun's rays.

There were vultures circling above the bare limbs while black birds perched upon their withering arms watching commuters pass.

The strong smell of death and decay was also quite eminent from constant improper burials since the dead were often subjected to neglectful sepultures.

There was nothing welcoming about the path and all signs did tell that it only lead to the lifeless.

Presently, at the beginning of winter, you could not decipher the paths unless you knew of them before, being that all the leaves, both wilted and green, had shed and the earth was now covered in snow. It was pertinent to mention also that Garshank had fallen, much like the inhabitants of its cemetery.

Nevertheless, this reality was not the most startling thing to behold at this crossroads.

The 9th company had been the first to arrive at the crossroads only to bear witness to the hundreds of dead bodies singularly lining both pathways.  

With Elias's company of two hundred and fifty warriors now reduced to that of a hundred, their weariness from battle was replaced by grief and horror as they all gaped at their fallen allies.

"Dear, Lord." Damien said lowly, his breath ragged from battle but expression clearly repulsed.

"They are all..." Melonie said as the realization hit her.

"Dead." Elias clenched his jaws, looking at the oversized creatures lying in the red painted snow.

The trolls were as large as ogres and just as hideous with their thick, yellowish skin and hunched backs. Each of them had their eyes open as they revealed small, beady irises that seemed to gaze at nothing. Another prominent feature on their faces were their bulbous, warty noses that further aided in their unattractive appearance.

Despite these many similarities, they were all killed in different ways.

Some had missing chunks of armor that indicated bite marks, others had deep gashes to the chest. There were arrows protruding from the hearts of many while the others had their features difficult to discern as a result of blunt force trauma.

It had been the first time in while since Elias felt the emotion of panic.

To say this was not a major setback would be a cruel lie punishable by death. Their allies, the trolls, known for hiding as they cunningly avoided human contact for centuries and created mischief without even being detected were boldly murdered and arranged like bricks along a road way.

This was not an indication of being rightfully defeated in battle, this was a massacre and a personal decree of war upon Elias and his army.

Elias walked timidly over to the bodies as he observed his fallen allies. The smell of their hot blood melting the icy snow made him nauseous as he looked around him. A few of them had holes in their armor indicating that their hearts had been ripped directly from their chests.

Startling him, his eyes shot to his leg as a hand reached out and grabbed one of his ankles roughly.

As he gazed down upon the perpetrator, he was greeted by the dying words of a troll who would soon depart.

"W-wolf.." the troll struggled, coughing up blood as it spewed from the commissures of his mouth. The beast did not get to finish his sentence as his eyes drifted pass Elias's and off to the ether; the cold, dark place he knew well to be death. His grip loosened around the vampire's ankles as his upturned palm fell on to the icy snow.

"Werewolves?" Damien uttered incredulously. "How could I have missed the scent?!"

"How could I have missed the scent?!" Elias scolded himself, running a hand through his hair.

"Werewolves? As in rogues?" Melonie enquired.

"No." Elias answered, staring into the lifeless eyes of the troll. "They must be Baltazaar's men."

"Well, what should we do? Should we wait until the other companies make an appearance?" Damien asked.

Elias was quiet as he studied the faces of his men, who all looked to him for guidance and instructions on what to do next. They had been severely reduced in numbers on their 24 hr journey and would definitely be outnumbered if Baltazaar's forces were indeed up ahead. It would be a suicide mission to bring them further into the lion's den.

"We wait for the others." Elias ordered. "Do not drop your guards. Elves that are knowledgeable in healing techniques, please help your injured brethren. The rest of you replenish your lost weapons from our fallen allies here. May God rest their souls."

As Elias was about to help salvage a few weapons, a severe pain shot through his chest. He fell to a knee, grabbing his chest while wincing in pain, his teeth gritting as he tried to ride out the sudden sting of agony.

"Are you alright?" Melonie rushed to his side.

"Syrus.." Elias said, his voice panicked.

His companion had been severely hurt, Elias could feel it within every crevice of his being. The pain reverberated through his body for a few minutes before disappearing, leaving Elias to wonder what had happened. If he had died, surely he would have known; surely he would have felt it too, right?

Elias did his best to get to his feet as Calen's company was next to arrive, his horrified expression visible as he tried to process the scene before him.

Melonie assisted Elias in explaining the situation at hand as well as disclosing their suspicions based on the final words of the fallen troll.

"This is not good." Calen said worriedly. "These were some 300 men! We will need all the help we can get as not only are we fighting Odelina but Baltazaar as well."

While Elias shared the same harrowing distress, he could help but feel daunted by the sudden turn in events so early on in their coming battle. In addition to this, only 12 of the 20 companies had arrived at the estimated time they all should have and Syrus's company was not apart of this count, which further unsettled him.

It was to be assumed that absent companies had either been delayed or had perished but Elias refused to believe the silly notion that Syrus's failure to appear was due to his death.

Spotting Annora a little distance away healing a few of her warriors, Elias decided to go and speak with her, hoping to quell his worry.

"Have you seen him?" Elias stood behind her. He rested his hand on his left breast, remembering the sting of pain he felt previously.

"No." She sadly, heaving a sigh as she ran a hand through her disheveled hair.

"He is not dead." Elias clenched his jaws.

"Ofcourse he's not but we cannot wait for him. You see what has happened here. We have to get to Citridel immediately before we suffer anymore casualties." She responded, finally standing as she faced him.

"I know." Elias said lowly, his voice filled with sadness.

"This is war." Her eyes softened as she gazed into his.

She placed her hand on his right arm, giving it a slight squeeze that sent a small zap of electric current through his arm before leaving to tend to the other injured. Frowning, Elias turned to watch her walk away as he rubbed this spot she had just touched.

After treating all the wounded, each member rejoined their companies, setting off one after the other as they took the route of Garshank in different directions to arrive at Citridel.

The old city was only an hour away and with the enemy so close, they had to change the original plan of a troup march in order to meet the rest of their allies with the highest amount of numbers possible.

Luckily enough, the 12 companies arrived in Citridel safely, each entering the old city with their eyes peeled and their guards up as they keenly observed the decrepit, old buildings remaining.

Citridel was once a great city, much like Garshank, however, it was attacked by the rebel forces of Selvalley who laid waste to its structures and turned into ruins.

Here, covered in the heavy snow, it looked like a deserted open field surrounded by a forest.

As planned, a satyr was left to watch the entrance to the city, greeting his allies before leading them to their headquarters, the Citridel monastery.

It was currently the only building standing, marking it extraordinary among the snowy wasteland.

Watching the satyr and his nervous demeanor, Elias could not shake the cold fingers of dread wrapping its fingers around his heart as a means to warn him.

He had been troubled ever since hearing the troll's dying words and feeling the minor jolt of electric current from Annora's touch was just as perturbing.

As they passed through the broken down portcullis guarded by two centaurs, Elias took a moment to ogle at the religious building.

Monasteries were created for enclosed and remote communities of monks led by an abbot. This one in particular, resembled that of a castle in size and in structure.

Its brown bricks were covered in a blanket of white snow while missing pieces of the building broadcasted signs of its destruction and neglect.

Standing valiantly in the large outer courtyard were their allies; large battalions of supernatural creatures who wore expressions of courage and dismay.

As Elias and his company made their way across the courtyard, Elias noticed fient, bloody footprints of various sizes and shapes in the crunching snow as he walked. He scowled at the fact that he had not smelled the blood first as his nose was superb at detecting the red liquid, more so than anything else. This had also been the case for the trolls. With over hundreds of them dead, he should have picked up the scent from miles away.

"Lord Calen, you have made it." a centaur called at him as the companies neared each battalion. The companies stopped several feet away from the other creatures as the leaders exchanged words. Not surprising as keeping ones distance was a natural instinct between creatures of different species.

"With bad news, I'm afraid." Calen sighed. "Our allies, the trolls have been defeated by an enemy faction."

"It appears so." the chimera's leader, Rozen uttered, glancing around at all the companies. He had the head of a green scaled dragon, the body of a lion and a snake as his tail. Elias ascertained that he spoke without opening his mouth, seemingly communicating directly into their minds.

Frowning, Elias's gaze alternated between the blood on his snout and his serpent-like eyes.

"Melonie." Elias said lowly, hoping she could hear as Calen and the rest of the creatures conversed.
"Something is not right."

She pursed her lips as she followed his gaze, seeming to notice the disheveled attire and injuries of some of the creatures.

The griffins had bloody paws, the centaurs' arrows were fewer than normal, the chimeras could not hide their murderous intent and the satyrs would not make eye contact with them.

Catching Annora's attention, Elias looked over at her standing at the head of her company. She frowned as she noticed his troubled expression, knitting her eyebrows as she mouthed the word what.

"The wolves seemed to have saw through our plan. Join us inside to further discuss changes on how we will proceed on our march to Selvalley." Brynzin said firmly.

"Ofcourse." Calen insisted.

"Wait," Elias interrupted, just before the companies would lead off. "I have a question."

"Elias.." Annora frowned.

"How did you know it was the wolves?" he asked.

Elias's words hung in the air for a moment and then it was taken away by the icy breeze that accompanied the light snow fall.

Everyone turned to look at him but his gaze was vicious; never faltering.

Rozen interrupted the uncomfortable silence with a knowing laugh, bobbing his long neck.

"You're a smart one, vampire." he hissed.

"We've been betrayed, ready your weap.." before Elias could finish, arrows were sent flying at all companies.

Elias caught a few with his fast reflexes but a few of his warriors were not so lucky as they received dead shots to the heart.

Brynzin charged at Calen while the rest of the creatures attacked each company, taking care to only make kill shots.

Rozen pounced over to Elias who dodged his attack by skidding beneath him as he was suspended in the air. Swinging his sword, Elias did well to cut off the creatures' serpent tail before jumping to his feet.

"You're good vampire, how did you know?" He hissed before lashing out at Elias again, almost biting off his arm.

"You were sloppy in your betrayal." Elias said, watching the creatures movements.

"You murdered the trolls and turned against us. Why?" Elias questioned, swinging his sword again as the chimera dodged it.

"We got a better deal and the trolls would not join us. You know the bastards, they're never really helpful." Rozen said, lunging for Elias again. Timing him, Elias pointed his sword in the direction of his attack, allowing the monster to lunge into the weapon, sending it straight down his throat. He collapsed at Elias's feet as he withdrew his weapon.

"A better offer?" Elias said to himself before picking up a very familar scent.

"You bastard!" Elias exclaimed, turning around just before Baltazaar's sword could run him through.

The werewolf was barely clothed for the weather as he wore a white linen shirt with baggy brown trousers and no shoes. His eyes were as gold as Elias's, sparkling every now and then as their swords gashed against each other.

He smiled at Elias's troubled expression, revealing four fangs on each row of his teeth. The now king of Gandalwell extended his claws as he slashed Elias across the face, leaving a bloody scratch on his cheek.

"We meet again, Elias Steele." Baltazaar said, laughing at the vampire's reaction to hearing him utter his full name.

Pulling her cloak down, Emma glanced into the enchanted mirror she had found in her father's old things.

Baltazaar had been so hasty to rid the castle of all his possessions that he did not take care to properly assess each item and determine its worth or importance.

"Dahlia, are you sure this is the shorter way?" She asked the little trinket.

Rubbing the snow off of her eyelashes, she cursed when the mirror did not reply immediately.

Her hands had become frostbitten and her mouth felt dry from the long journey in the icy, white sand.

"I am sure." A voice hummed from the mirror, a purple fog forming onto the now opaque surface.

"Will I make it in time?" Emma asked.

"You will, but you will not." The soft, eery voice hummed again.

Huffing, Emma rolled her eyes at the riddled answer she had received, continuing her journey as she dredged through the forest.

Chanting the latin word calor, Emma pressed her hand to her forehead for a few minutes and then to her stomach.

"Is he alright?" Emma asked a little lower.

But the mirror did not answer. Emma, however, did not need an answer since she could already feel what was happening.

This was the journey to the end.

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(Calor - warmth)

So sorry for the wait😭
This chapter is a bit short only because the next will be a little long.

There is probably 1 or 2 chapters and an Epilogue left in this book and I am so excited for everyone to see the end.

I've already started the next chapter so I wont take long to post it.

Please don't forget to vote. ❤️❤️

Everything is coming to a close!