Frostreaver Saga

The journey back through the Emerald Jungle was quieter than the journey into the City of Mist. Perhaps it was because they were tired. Perhaps it was because they had nothing left to prove. Or perhaps it was because, for the first time since they had entered Kunark, Caradawc could feel the spirits again. They did not speak. They did not guide him. They simply watched. Waiting. Phephe walked beside him. "You feel them?" Caradawc nodded. "They're back." Phephe smiled. "Then we're close." Behind them, Kabuki walked slowly. She was alive. That was enough for Izzy. The Cleric had refused to leave her side since the final battle in the City of Mist. Every few minutes she glanced across to make sure Kabuki was still moving. Eventually Kabuki noticed. "You know I'm not going to disappear." Izzy frowned. "I know." "You keep checking." "I am checking that you're not a...

The gates of the City of Mist stood before them. For several moments, nobody moved. The seven Frostraiders had spent hours travelling through the Emerald Jungle, following an ancient road that had slowly disappeared beneath the mist. Now there was nowhere left to follow. The spirits had gone silent. Whatever happened next would be theirs alone. Break looked back at the group. "Stay together." No one argued. He turned towards the gates. They opened. Slowly. Silently. The mist rolled outward. Then the Frostraiders entered. The City was unlike anything Caradawc had seen before. Ancient stone buildings rose from the jungle, their towers disappearing into the mist. Broken statues stood along the streets. Ruined walls leaned against one another. Some structures appeared almost intact. Others had been reduced to piles of stone. The city was dead. Yet it did not feel abandoned. Something moved somewhere beyond the mist. Caradawc...

The spirit hovered beneath the surface of the lake. Its form was almost impossible to understand. Part mist. Part light. Part memory. Caradawc could feel its presence within his mind rather than merely seeing it before him. Beside him, Phephe stood perfectly still. Neither spoke. Neither needed to. The Calling had brought them here. Now they were waiting to learn why. The spirit looked first at Caradawc. Then at Phephe. Its gaze seemed to pass through them, as though searching for something hidden beneath flesh and bone. At last it spoke. Not through sound. Through spirit. You have followed the path. Caradawc nodded. "We have." You have listened. Phephe stepped forward. "We have tried." The spirit seemed almost amused. Trying is not enough. The words settled heavily within Caradawc. He had heard similar lessons before. The spirits did not reward effort. They rewarded understanding. The Calling is no...

The road left the Frostraider headquarters at dawn. Caradawc walked beside Phephe. Neither spoke for the first hour. There was something strange about leaving together. They were both Barbarians. Both Shamans. Both new to the Frostraiders. And both had been given the same instruction. Seek the spirits. Neither had been told exactly what that meant. Break had simply watched them from the doorway as they prepared to leave. Caradawc had asked the obvious question. "Why are we going together?" Break had looked from one Shaman to the other. "Because neither of you has learned how to walk this path alone." That had been all. Now they walked beneath a pale morning sky. Phephe eventually broke the silence. "You realise he didn't actually tell us where we're going." "The Ocean of Tears." "That's where we're going." "Yes." "Th...

The sea breeze carried the smell of salt and tar across the docks of Freeport. Caradawc stood beside Izzy, watching sailors unload crates from a merchant vessel that had recently arrived from Faydwer. Around them merchants shouted prices, dockworkers cursed one another, and gulls wheeled overhead in search of scraps. It all seemed strangely ordinary for the beginning of a new life. "You seem disappointed," Izzy observed. Caradawc grunted. "I expected something more dramatic." "You mean dragons?" "Or at least a prophecy." Izzy smiled. "You've been spending too much time with bards." Before Caradawc could reply, a familiar voice called from behind them. "I found them." Both turned to see Cymru striding across the dock. The Barbarian Beastlord looked much as Caradawc remembered him. Travel dust covered his boots, and the easy confidence in his expression suggested t...