"We camp here. " She announced, her companions were quick to halt their camels and hyenas, but the warden was slow to respond, he sat awkwardly on his steed, a scarf wrapped around his face and head, though she could feel his cringing and the tension of his body with each move the camel made, Yemna would laugh would it not have been disrespectful, she would once again remind herself that he was no imperial, he was a warden, therefore he deserved decency and respect.

  She hopped off her Hyena, around them were long fields of golden grains and hills, seemingly meeting the bronze sky in the horizon as the sun was dragged down by Nao, the sky keeper, and if he should will it, the night would be a canvas of stars and moons to watch over them as they slumber with no cloud in sight, but they were yet to see, they began to set up their camp, securing the camels to a lone sand thorn, preparing the leathers they would sleep upon, setting the fire and drawing a circle into the sand around their camp.

  By the time they ate, night had come along and with it the chilling cold breeze of Asaroth deserts, a nip that could only be felt throughout the night in the endless stretches of sands, but it was a clear sky and with it came the shinning moon and the stars, each once was a mortal and each with a name, Yemna bundled up in the leathers that she would sleep on and moved closer to the fire, across from her sat the warden, and on the edges of the circle her guard patrolled, constantly, without rest.

  "Are they human? " The warden asked as he hugged himself and shuddered.

  "They are, the Tatar are highest class of the common Asarothian, warriors by trade and birth. " She replied.

  "Birth?" He repeated her words.

  Yemna nodded and added. "It is but a term of respect, a Tatar is a class for those who prove their mettle in battle, by birth only means that they were always meant to be Tatar... In Asaroth, anything could be taken so long you have will, and the strength to back it, even kingship."

  "Odd." Lucas commented.

  "How so ? How do you folk of the empire equally share your roles? " She questioned.

  "Houses rule, it had always been the way we lived since the downfall of tyrant mages, still one could join the shore guard, imperial forces or one of the houses guards to earn a living, or prestige." Lucas explained.

  "Or a warden." She uttered, unsure if that would be the case, for road wardens were considered vagabonds and a bad omen by the common folk of Osward despite their honorable and dangerous profession , or so would her father tell her.

  "Sure, a road warden as well, yet as I traveled and worked through all provinces of Osward empire, the common man had no love for a road warden, we are seen as opportunists and cold-hearted men and women. " He said.

  "Do you get trouble from them? " She curiously asked.

  "It depends. " He admitted. "Northliem folk would ignore us, Folken is caught in a civil war, their dwellers would chase us away from their villages, and as for Sorren, well, aside from the tower of heavens, it is a wasteland so we would be begged to stay in their villages, Rolivia is... Not safe, and Ortigea, they have the imperial forces to protect them."

  Out of all the provinces he spoke off, only one place had caught her attention, she bobbed her head ahead and asked."The tower of heavens? I heard word of it from travelers, is it as big as they say? "

  "Much bigger." Lucas clarified. "A tower near the sea, so high it pierces through the cloud so far, one could not see its end, and near the sunrise, it casts a shadow so large on the western sea, sailors would think it was still night... Inside, crops grow and a day cycle is conducted, and there lives ten of the great houses of Sorren with their subjects. "

  She could not fathom how such a construction would be brought to existence, but as far as she knew, it was built in the ages of tyrant mages, and they were capable of many things let along constructing the marvels of Osward.

  "There is a celestial beast, roaming around that tower. " He noted.

  She tilted her head and asked. "Oh? Is it a danger as well? "

  He shook his head and exclaimed. "No, we call it Haloth, the great whale... A massive whale, ten times the size of the normal whale, it flies through the skies and around the tower, protecting it from all harm and serves no one but the tower itself ... Though I am not certain what could harm that tower, nonetheless, the beast is harmless. "

  "So was the celestials who forced my father into his quest. " She uttered.

  He sighed and responded. "That is an anomaly, hopefully my order will study it further more so it may be prevented in the future... Say, I answered your questions, but I have some of my own, if your highness do not mind. "

  "Ask. "

  He thoughtfully rubbed the side of his chin, he looked to the far dark corners of the surrounding desert then leaned ahead as his words barely slipped his lips. "Are... Are the Zator spirits real?"

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  "Of course. " She answered, she known that while knowledge on those beings were common in the Tatarian lands, foreigners did not know much, save for the shore guard, for the Zator spirits lived on sand and sea, seeing that her answer did not seem to ease his tesnion, she added. "They have powers unlike any mortal and live centuries longer, Some live amongst us, posing as one of our own, and some live far away from our eyes, they live on a different realm but can walk into our realm on will, they dwell in wastelands and deserts, and the highest of them live in castles on the sea."

  "Wastelands and deserts... " The warden muttered. "Is it true what some say about them? Treacherous out of amusement? "

  "Some are, and some aren't, but i would be careful of what I say about them whilst we travel through a desert... They are very vengeful, for the smallest of things. " She reminded him. "And they are here, outside of the circle, watching us, and listening to what we say. "

  The warden eyes widened as the air hung heavy and silence came down on their camp, with the crackling of the camp fire being the only melody to provide them comfort, Lucas turned his head to the side and gazed on the edges of the circle, however there was nothing to see, Zator spirits had a realm of their own and her words were but the things she heard from Solya as she grew up, and the accountings of Shamans and travelers, she had not seen with her own eyes those beings, but she found them to be intriguing, though she did not voice her intrigue, they could be listening after all.

  "Well, so long we do not be a nuisance, they will do the same. " She said. "Rest if you can, Warden, tomorrow we will be at the border."

  "Yeah, you as well. " He responded.

  She nodded and watched him as he soon fell asleep on his leathers, though she was uncertain she could do the same, the land they were heading to made her uneasy after all, she had no issue with the Zator spirit, and the Gahrak were nowhere to be seen, even if they were to ambush their camp, they would not stand a chance against her guards, the warden and her herself, what had been plaguing her mind was the thought that for those very mines which shelters the Gahrak, her grandfather lost his life to the imperials attempting to keep those mines.

  A long war, her father told her, it was what took away her grandfather from her life, the greed of the imperials led to their invasion of what used to be the gold mines of Asaroth, they pillaged and plundered all forts and villages, her grandfather and his three eldest sons attempted to fight for those lands and their people, but the imperial army was far too large and far too equipped, what came about was a defeat, her father ascension to the throne after Killing his rival chiefs, and another war as the Gahrak, being the cunning creatures that they are, attempted to make benefit of Asaroth weakness, they were defeated, but once more they were causing trouble, and her she came, following the footsteps her father once took, but today she would fight for her king, for the emperor, and for her people, but she would not voice the emperor part, nor will she admit it, for it would dishonor her grandfather and the uncles she had never met, princess Yemna and future queen of Asaroth would never bow her head to any imperial, and she would never forget, never forgive.

  Throughout the night, she wrestled with her thoughts and once she had fallen asleep, she was woken up with the ray of the sun, the sky keeper was a cruel god, she told herself as she yawned and began preparing for the rest of the trip with her companions, it did not take long for them to set out on the road, though from this point, and in the far distances where the soil was rough, they would see abandoned villages of clay and straw, and other times it would be piles of rubble from broken castles with no man or woman to call it home, the more castles they saw, the further they were closer to Asaroth northern border, the path they were taking was named the Frost road, it would take from the southeast point of Asaroth on the sun beach, all the way to where the Frostbanes who ruled Northliem lived, Frosthold keep, passing through every province on its way, a long road which was highlighted by landmarks of ice bergs the size of a house and could not be melted, created by their artifact the Frozenthorn blade, a contrast with the sands they traveled through.

  As the sun reached it peak and with it the heat of that day, on the horizon where the shapes danced and shook she saw where the sands would end and the red soil began of the Imperial colony, and on its edges laid fort Aculus and its village, her nose crinkled at the ashy scent, though as they moved closer, her heart would skip a beat as she realized what brought the scent, for that village was pillaged to the ground, it's walls of wood stripped down and it's barns broken through, it's shacks burnt and stables empty with traces of blood amongst the rubble and piles of bodies stacked on one another and burnt to the ground.

  "Gahrak? They do not... " She told herself.

  "No Gahrak would burn a body, to them it is but a waste of flesh..." He reminded her. "It was the imperial soldiers in the fort."

  "Then we ought to ask them what had happened... Keep your weapons at bay but at the ready. " She ordered them as they approached towards the fort, the construct was named after an imperial commander, it was nothing of notice, it was more of an outpost than it was a fort, with wooden walls surrounding it and one tower to oversee the surrounding areas, but it did provide strategic value in the Asarothian imperial war, her father told her, and as they reached the gates, a guard peeked down from the tower and shouted. "Open the gates!"

  When the gates were opened, she would see a view that she would never forget, men, women and children covered in mud, dirt and blood, limbs torn, cries and whimpers echoing in the fort, as for the soldiers, their imperial equipment was nothing to speak of as they themselves were as torn as the common folk, half helms and shredded boiled leathers, and while injured they carried out their duties.

  "Warden?" The only man in chainmail stepped ahead, his hand resting on the strap of his arming sword, she could not see his face under the steel helmet he wore.

  "Yes, I am here on the emperor's request. " Lucas reached for his pouch and pulled out a letter then handed it to the man.

  The man carefully read it, he whispered to himself as he read then gave it back to Lucas after checking the imperial seal, a purple wax with the sigil of a rose, he gazed towards Yemna and her guards then back to Lucas and exclaimed. "I am lieutenant Hemacus, in charge of the fort, I was told of your arrival and we held out from the Gahrak as much as we could, after the first ambush we had no choice but to allow the civilians inside our fort... But sir warden, I was told you would be here with Asarothian reinforcements, not to inspect the area. "

  Lucas and Yemna glanced towards one another, then looked back at the lieutenant as she spoke."We are the reinforcements, we were told that the Gahrak passed the border already and were attacking the mines. "

  "What?... But I sent out a letter a week ago to the Imperium, they are moving back to the border and attacking us from both sides." The lieutenant explained in disappointment and disbelief.

  "Letter? We heard of no such thing. " Lucas replied.

  His words had no response, instead the lieutenant laughed, for a long minute, then spoke. "Then may the Imperium gods help us all. "