"Hey guys, I think he is finally starting to wake up, his eyes are beginning to open," a soft voice spoke as a small group of people gathered into the medical tent that was fixed up in a clearing beside the woods. A young woman was walking through the entrance of the tent carrying a small box of medical supplies when she noticed the man on the only bed starting to move about. "How are you feeling?" She was quite concerned for the man in her care as she walked over and knelt down next to the bed, checking his vitals. "I can't believe with injuries like yours that you are alive, much less conscious right now. What happened to you, you poor thing?"<br/><br/>Everything seemed hazy as the man woke from his sleep, his whole body in tremendous pain as he attempted to sit up.<br/><br/>"No no, just go ahead and relax. You need as much rest as this world can give you," the young lady insisted as she pushed the man back down.<br/><br/>"Where am I?" The man spoke with a deep voice.<br/><br/>"You are just outside the kingdom of Eirwen. We found you laying almost dead up the road a few miles and brought you back here to treat your wounds. You have not moved an inch for the last two weeks, so we thought you might be in a coma or something. We had almost lost hope but you are awake now. Tell me, who did this to you? Your body is in shambles and your skin seems to be covered in some sort of disease that we have never seen before. The men were afraid you were contagious but it does not seem to be spreading to any of us." She gave a smile and a sigh of relief as her patient was now finally awake.<br/><br/>For a moment the man laid there in complete silence, contemplating on the events that had taken place weeks earlier. He looked upon the young woman who had been caring for him and then at the group of people who stood behind her, all of them seeming very joyful and happy among each other. His eyes focused back onto the young woman as his lips cracked open, "Do you know where you are?"<br/><br/>A look of confusion came upon the young woman before shaking her head and smiling, "Not really, we had left Eirwen to travel the world and have gotten a bit lost as we misplaced our map but we are hearty adventurers, so we will be fine. I heard there was supposed to be another kingdom nearby but we have no clue where it is."<br/><br/>A grin played upon the man's face as he looked upon the lost travelers.<br/><br/><div><hr style="height:2px; width:100%; border:0; color: white;background:white;"/></div><br/><br/>Walking through the ruins of Ciarduh, Dardanos the Devourer moved slowly as his body had started the slow process of healing itself after having been ripped apart by the darkness that had now subsided within him. Anger fumed from him as he walked at the idea of having let the young Eira slip away from his grasp.<span style="font-style: italic">What happened back there?</span>He thought to himself as the site of the tower, returned to its intimidating position in the center of the kingdom of darkness, loomed in the distance.<br/><br/>He reached the tower and walked through the walls as they opened up for him. Standing in one of the many dark hallways, he looked behind him at the group of minions that had followed behind as he walked through the kingdom. He walked up to the minion that was in front of the others and set his eyes upon the face of the lifeless husk that stood before him, "You were a skilled caregiver in life, and now you shall serve me through darkness. You are dismissed." The group vanished instantly into the walls of the tower.<br/><br/>A few moments later, the dark king was sitting upon his throne, wondering what had happened that made his interaction with Eira go so horribly wrong. As he sat, the voice that had been speaking to Eira swirled around the room, "The darkness inside may be powerful, but it still has much to learn about how this world works. You and Eira, as the prophecy tells, are bound to each other through her ancestors ritual. Because of this, you cannot harm her with the powers of darkness alone. When the darkness took over and tried to claim her as its minion, she was able to turn it against itself. The only way for either of you to be killed is through the use of the weapon that was forged by the snow queen that performed the ritual on you."<br/><br/>Dardanos thought for a moment while staring into the darkness that began to thicken around him, "Then it seems she and I have something that we must discuss."