My whole body felt heavy... I could feel warm liquid covering me and the ground I was lying upon; blood. The world looked sideways to me, and my vision was very blurry, only able to make out blended colors of green, lighter green, and even darker green.

Where am I again? A voice came through my ears as that thought popped into my head. It sounded feminine, and urgent, and distant; as if I was hearing the sounds of the voice from below the surface of water. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't make out what the voice was saying. In fact, the harder I tried, the more I just wanted to close my eyes and drift off into sleep.

Suddenly I felt my body jerk over violently as pain shot through me, pain which brought my hearing and my sight back to their normal sharpness. A girl stood over top of me, braided brown hair which slung over her shoulders down towards me now, covered in soot and tossed from all the singes that covered not only her hair but her fair white skin among her face as well. Bright green eyes stared down at me in fear and desperation as her mouth continued to move. Finally, I could understand what she was saying.

"Danut! Get up!" Right, my name was Danut. The girl's face was streaked in tears as she slung my left arm over her shoulder, bringing me to my feet allowing me to catch a full visual of my environment. Dense jungle and flora surrounded us as countless segments of it were warped in thorns, dead vines, and even fire which threatened to swallow the rest of the surroundings whole.

Memory shot back to me in that moment as I looked between the girl, Vera, and the third figure who was crawling up beside me, a boy who looked to be in his late teen years, with brown hair that no longer showed any shape, burnt off on one side revealing deep burns on his skin, clutching the socket where his left arm used to be with his right. Aeron.

All three of us breathing heavily, I looked back forward to the fourth and final figure that stood in front of us. A monstrous feminine figure wreathed in thorn and vine, sleek and maniacal eyes stared at us through the maze of plant life which surrounded her like a blanket, seeming to move on its own, swallowing not only the separate living jungle around us, but also smothering out the torrential flames around us like it was nothing but dirt.

My body almost broken and my energy exhausted, I felt no way me and my friends could get out this adventure. Perhaps this was where our story ended? To think of all the places we had seen before this, all the people we had met, fought, and loved along this path. I know this sounds cliche, but my life really did flash before my eyes in this very moment, and it all started back in my home of Uwendale...

The morning on this day in Uwendale brought what was normally the coldest day of the year. Located high up in the northern mountains of my homeland, Demacia, this small settlement was more accommodated towards hunting and farming. My parents, both being well-known farmers of the town urged and expected I would one day carry on the legacy they were leaving behind, but I had absolutely no interest in it as I found myself walking the frost-covered paths of Uwendale.

My breath coalesced like dense mist right in front of me as I exhaled and the faintest hints of snowfall was still present in the air. Yep, winter's coming. Great. This time of the year was usually the one I enjoyed the least, since the freezing cold and deep snow always cut off most of the activities me and my few friends did.

"Danut! There you are! We've been looking for you!" Speaking of which. I planted both of my feet together, each wearing a thick, fur cavalier boot as I turned to face directly behind me at the two people I knew oh so well.

Vera stood in front of Aeron as she held his hand behind her. No doubt she dragged him here as much as he came of his own free will.

With braided brown hair that dangled past her shoulder, she wore several assortments of thick furs ranging from grey to brown. Alive and green eyes stared right into me as if she knew exactly what I was thinking about while two tiny tusk earrings dangled from her ears.

From the most that I know about Vera - or as much as she was willing to admit to me - she is not a naturally born Demacian. A couple years older than me, she grew up in the southern areas of Freljord in fact to a small tribe who she says was known for violence and brandishing a "survival of the fittest" mentality. One day, the tribe set out to raid Uwendale itself - another thing that Uwendale is well-known for - intent on stealing any supplies we had and claiming this land as their own, but they had failed and were even massacred.

Vera had been left along among the bodies in the cold with nowhere to go, at least until a Demacian female of the village noticed her as the corpses were being tossed out of the town's limits, and took her in as her own child. The woman's name was Lehen, and this is still where Vera resides to this day.

As for that boy standing behind her, sporting a stance like he has no idea what's going on or where he is, Aeron and I have been childhood friends since we were very young. We both grew up with a large fascination for adventure and exploration coming from similar households to each other, since Aeron's father acts as one of the few mountain rangers that serve the best protection Uwendale can give and expects his son to carry on his image. He lost his mother shortly after his birth from what his father's told me - strangely enough, me and that man are great friends.

Add in Vera a couple years after we and Aeron met, and our sense for exploring grew evermore infinite, as well as Aeron's beard. Now in our twenties, Vera slightly ahead of us, we now constantly venture outside the settlement, in search of new things to find. Although we've done this so much that everything around us seems recognizable now, and with this winter coming in again, I don't know if we'll be able to go out very often...

Giving a soft sigh, I wave back at my two friends, "Hey you two!"

Vera smiled brightly at me while Aeron simply gave a soft wave back at me. Well someone doesn't seem happy right now.

Freeing Aeron's hand from her grasp, she rushed over to me and clasped her hands on my shoulders. "You know what day it is right?"

"Cold?" I responded, feeling more of a need to make at least one of them laugh than really give a serious answer.

"No dummy!" She slapped the small of my back in a playful manner, leaving me to think how much stronger than me she actually was, before she continued. "Today's the day of the winter solstice! You know, the day where the night shines the brightest and the stars come out the most?"

"Oh yeah," I ruffled my hair as I gave it a thought, staring up at the sky which did indeed look darker than usual, "guess I had completely forgotten that it was coming up."

The winter solstice, also known as the Night of the Winged Stars, is in reference to a former villager of the our town named Quinn whose ferocity and determination earned her a ticket out to the rest of Demacia, and the title of Demacia's Wings. A hero of the nation, it is said she rides upon an Azurite Eagle and slays Demacia's enemies before they even know what did the slaying.

Must be nice, getting to roam around the lands of the nation and see as much as you want.

Deciding it best to pocket those thoughts for now, I met Vera's gaze before I spoke up. "So, what does this mean for today then?"

"Well actually, I've been planning on this for a while now." In that moment, she hushed her voice a little as she leaned closer to my ear. "I've already shown Aeron, and I want to show you this too, you'll love it."

Tempted to play along with this hush-hush conversation, I also leaned in to cover my voice. "Vera, if it's another hiding place just outside the town, then I'll be very surprised." Indeed, we had come across every piece of land outside Uwendale that I could think of, so I highly doubted there was anything else we hadn't found.

Aeron joined the two of us, reluctant to lean in as me and Vera were though. To this I noticed those around us in the roads moving to and from either with carts or by foot. I noticed a couple carts passing by us carrying festive colors and decorations while other villagers were dressed up more colorful than most days. Yep, it's definitely the winter solstice. Breaking that thought, I looked back toward Vera who spoke.

"It's not a place stupid!" She bopped my head with the palm of her hand playfully before she rose the index finger of that same hand up to her forehead. "It's an idea."

Instinctively, I cocked an eyebrow at this statement. "Go o~on?" I urged, curiosity beginning to take over me.

"I knew you wanted too!" She whisper shouted inches from my face, before taking both my hands in hers and dashing down the street with me in tow. Aeron was now following us a couple feet behind.

"Aeron, what's she talking about?" I shouted back at my friend, knowing Vera was in a state of consciousness that meant she wouldn't listen to anything I said. The gate to this cart just sealed and I was along for the ride if I liked it or not.

Brashly, he looked away from the two of us. "You'll see when we get there." The tone he delivered that sentence with sounded very unenthusiastic, which I knew Aeron very much wasn't, but it also posed a sense of curiosity like I felt. It was as if Aeron was still trying to decide on what he thought about what Vera had shown him.

Darting past other villagers and horse-drawn carts, we were standing in front of Vera's house before I even knew it.

"What exactly is here waiting for us Vera?" I asked, fully aware that she would tell me-

"Just wait." Predictable.

Leading me and Aeron up to the door of her home which we had been inside oh so many times, it was to our surprise that Vera's adopted mother, Lehen stepped out of the house. A slightly taller figure than the rest of us, she wore a thick black fur coat with a silver cloak draped over her shoulder, the hood up above her head. Her hair, long and blonde, was braided into a single pony tail which she wrapped around her neck in the collar of the coat like a scarf. If there was anything Lehen knew how to be, it was how to wear appropriate clothing while still maintaining a wonderful physique.

Slightly startled, she took in our presence, glancing between each of us. "Vera? What brings you and your friends to our home?" Reaching back into the doorway, she brought her arm back out holding a small shortbow which she slung over her shoulder.

"There's something I've been wanting to show Danut that I just finished today." She gave her mother a smile, who returned it, now fastening the quiver to the belt on her hip.

"Oh are you now?" She leaned in close to Vera. "Well then you might have to show me as well sometime hm?"

I saw Vera pause then for a second, as if her attention had directed to somewhere else than her mother, before she looked back in Lehen's eyes. "Of course!"

Lehen bopped Vera on the nose before giving her a hug who also returned the gesture. "That's my girl." Letting go of Vera, she began to walk past us. "I'm off to hunt down some food for tonight's feast." She stopped, glancing back towards us, specifically Vera. "Vera, you're welcome to come along if you'd like." Her voice echoed a feeling that resembled a kind of hopefulness she knew was misplaced.

Vera glanced away from Lehen back towards the house. "That's OK mom, I have things I gotta do too."

A slight pause between everyone before Lehen turned away from us and began moving again. "Very well then. I'll be back before sun down!" Glancing back at us one more time, she waved.

"It's the night of winged stars mom! It's already sun down!" Lehen laughed as she began to vanish behind the various other buildings as we heard her echoes.

"Don't go breaking anything in our home you two!"

We all looked between each other, Aeron looking like he was trying to hold back a grinning smile, which Vera noticed.

"What's so funny beard boy?" She playfully interjected at Aeron, lightly nudging him on the shoulder who responded with a light laugh. That's the happiest I've seen him all day.

Vera looked back towards me as she opened the door back up to her house, nodding in the doorway's direction. "Come on, you'll love what I want to show you."

Author's Note: Whenever I introduce a character not introduced from previous chapters, this section will contain the correct pronunciations of their names. On that note, please feel free to leave a review of what you thought about this! I'd really appreciate it!

Danut - "Day-newt"

Vera - "Veer-uh"

Aeron - "Air-in"

Lehen - "Lee-hon"