Life and Death, two star-crossed lovers
Sending gifts to one another
So far, yet so near they are
By universe they're kept apart

~⚔️~

"Cristela remember don't go out to the mountains, I cannot protect you if you always disobey my orders"  said my father full of concern that I could see in his eyes

My father had always warned me about coming into the mountains. There were two truths in life, he used to say: That the mountains were no place for farm folk, and that Uncle Ryle was a no good swindler. I'd learnt as a boy that my Uncle was not a swindler, he was just better at business. But many years later, I was finally learning my father wasn't wrong about everything. But I had a purpose for being here; we all had a purpose. And we knew there were risks.

There was nothing left for me now. Nothing left but to finish what we started. I dug my boots into the snow beneath and trudged on. Where I was travelling — east, north, west, I had no idea — but I knew what I was looking for. I knew what I was hunting. Wraiths left behind a sort of luminous mist wherever they moved, like the shimmering trail of a slug. This was how we knew what had slaughtered the people of the village. This is how I knew what had killed my father. Often the trails meant it was easy to avoid the wraiths, but I wasn't looking to avoid this one.

We'd found it already, or I should say, it had found us. Its bright frosty-blue eyes had emerged from in the encircling blizzard last night, appearing as if from nowhere out of the gloom. I immediately took a swing and missed, but it didn't. It took out my navigator with a slash off its left claw, falling away into the blizzard, lost in the night forever. In the same movement, the beast carved up my companion with the right claw.

There was no chance to defend ourselves, no chance to fight after that. We just had to run. It had now taken everyone from me. The last survivors. My family, my home. I couldn't even go back to the farm, not really. Growing food on the frozen plains that lay in the shadow of these hellish mountains was damn-near impossible. Getting the conditions right in the frigid temperatures, where ice never left the ground, took a lifetime of experience and my father had not yet managed to teach me all I needed to know. Twenty-two years apparently was still not enough to be a farmer in a world ruled by frost. All I had now was my goal, our goal. To kill the beast that stole my future.

We weren't even sure why it was in the village. Not in my lifetime, nor my father's, nor his father's before him, had a wraith left the mountains. He used to tell me all about them, as the hearth crackled away. The stories had grown even longer of late, with the new mining going on in the mountains. They brought to the village some new stone fuel, and with it, the fire burned longer than ever — which meant the stories just kept on going. Stories of monstrous creatures in the mountains.

Bloodthirsty demons of an old world. My father would regale me with tales of wraiths cutting down weary travellers and seasoned knights alike. He himself had never seen one, nor had anyone I knew, but we all knew what they were. The stories were as old as time. The miner's work got me asking even more questions about my father's rules, though. Why were they allowed into the mountains if they were so dangerous?

Tsk tsk

Apparently, a combination of military convoys and fire-wielding sorceresses kept them safe from both the elements and the wraiths. I was a bit disgruntled with the notion that I was so incapable when they were not.

~⚔️~
"Cristela, come here, I've been looking for you for a while, your mother is starting to worry about you!" He said as he dragged me to our home.

A small wooden house located on near the mountains of Azian
Where our families grew crops and hunt wild boar. Our farm. I missed it

As we enter the room, I could smell of my favorite dish, my mother greeted me with a smile and motioned for me to sit down at the table. As we all sat down and enjoy our feast.

"We have been waiting for you in a while, where have you been my dear?!" She asked
As she continues to eat

"Marcus and I are playing hide and seek! Mama"

"And then while we're playing i saw a baby rabbit go near azrian mountain and I followed it. it's really beautiful and i wanted to take care of it but i lost it in my hand and went to the dark side of the mountain" I happily shared but saddened at the last part

My father and mother shared a look
I can sense the concern and disappointment in them
And whispered to each other

I found out from my pals that the mountains hold many dark secrets but I thought it's just their way to scare children's and Yes we've been told not to go near those lands

We never asked why.

My father let out a cough and said
"I think it's time for you to know the legend of the Azrian Mountains, my dear child"

"Are you ready for it?" He seriously asked

I just nodded waiting for my nightmares to begin

The feeling of excitement and anticipation that I've felt at that time. Is indescribable.

Those feelings had long since passed.