It did not take long for Carlindil to find a bow and a quiver worth of arrows as Alladhiir salvaged what little food he could find, mostly elven bread he stuffed into travel packs..

In silence they walked down the mountain, keeping off the pass, sticking to the shadows of the rocky terrain. It was slow going Alladhiir in the lead, treading carefully and keeping watch for any movement, any sign of life. The Annulli mountains was full of dangerous creatures of, they were very lucky none of them had come to see the wreckage.

Some would say it was the will of the gods, Alladhiir would say it was more likely the druchii had killed any near enough to be a problem.

It took them about an hour to reach the hills of Saphery and no word was exchanged during this time, Alladhiir never even looked over his shoulder at Carlindil. His attention wandering constantly across every inch of the scenery.

He could sense Carlindil's anger aimed at his back, but he ignored him.

Once they reached the base of the mountains and onto the road which winded around and up and down the countless hills. Alladhiir couldn't help but stop to look at the distant Tower of Hoeth which dominated the horizon, that didn't just seem to pierce the sky, but conquered it. It was like a beacon calling for all asur with the will and intellect to search for the hallowed knowledge within its walls.

Despite having a grandmother who was an archmage and a bladelord as a father figure, Alladhiir had never been inside. He may have been a swordsman, through and through but he loved to study, to learn and would've loved to delve its depths, but his grandmother would never let him. She never told him why, much to his frustration.

"Prince?" said Carlindil as he stepped to Alladhiir's side. "We must keep moving, Alladhiir."

He nodded and for the hundredth time he had to blink away the urge to close his eyes, then continued on. It was a good twenty kilometres to the city of Arlyandor, and a long the way were three small villages. Alladhiir was unable to see them through the hills. He had kept an eye on them as they had descended the mountain side. His sharp eyes piercing the darkness to see their lights below. An indication they were alive and well, or at least he hoped.

It did not take long for them to veer west, staying six metres off the road, just in case.

Alladhiir again looked to the sky and the Chaos moon, which hung far larger than its counterpart. There was barely a cloud to be seen. His grandmother had said that the entities of chaos were taking part in the invasion, fighting alongside the druchii army attacking in Cothique and appearing sporadically all throughout Ulthuan. It was said one made it even as far as Avelorn to attack Tyrion and Alarielle, the Everqueen, herself.

He gave Carlindil a brief glance, Carlindil didn't know that, he didn't need to know that and it was unconfirmed, anyway. If it was true, Alladhiir might be wrong, this invasion may be different than the others that came before.

Although there were no daemons amongst the ambushing druchii earlier,or none that Alladhiir was aware of. He was not sure what to make of that.

The thought sent a shiver up Alladhiir's spine. His grandmother had taught in detail of the gods of Chaos and their daemonic servants. Say what you would of the druchii, atleast they would die if you stab them, or blood loss or the trauma but a daemon wouldn't.

In truth, the very thought of them terrified him, but yet a part of him wished to one day encounter their kind. To go blade to blade with a daemonic champion, that would truly be a test of his skill and mettle.

"Alladhiir," said Carlindil, abruptly knocking him from his thoughts. "May I ask you a question?"

"Of course," Alladhiir stammered. "Of course you may, ask what you will."

Carlindil sighed and his attention fell to the ground, "you are our prince, our leader, are you not?"

Alladhiir's eyes widened, unsure how to reply.

"I am not," he said after some contemplation. "I was a prince merely in name, it was my grandmother who truly ruled."

Carlindil looked at Alladhiir, "so that means you will actually become a prince, then."

That was not a question, even Alladhiir could see that and the prince looked away, clenching his jaw.

"You do not wish it?" said Carlindil with a raised eyebrow.

Alladhiir's first instinct was to lie, but he quickly held his tongue, he was never a good liar, Carlindil would quickly see through it and their friendship was already strained enough.

"No," he sighed. "No, I do not."

Alladhiir did not want to elaborate any more and he hoped Carlindil would get the hint.

Carlindil did, much to Alladhiir's relief, he seemed far more socially intelligent than Alladhiir could ever be.

"You are our prince," said Carlindil. "Destined to one day rule us. But we never see you. In fact the first time I have ever seen you was when you had come to my village to get my regiment to join your army on the way north to be ambushed. I do not understand it, how can you stay cooped up in your palace and never bothering to interact with your people?"

Alladhiir gaped, shocked speechless by the bitterness in Carlindil's tone.

For a long time they walked in silence, Alladhiir struggling to contend a coherent reply.

"I am sorry," he managed eventually. "As you may have guessed social interaction isn't my strong suit."

"I have guessed," Carlindil said with a bitter laugh. "And that makes me understand your philosophy even less! You claim to dislike the gods, you claim them to be useless. But you have hardly lived! You have stayed, cooped up in your palace, avoiding the world, you have no true life experience to come to your hatred! You do not have the grounds t-"

Carlindil was abruptly silenced by Alladhiir's armoured fist crashing into his face with a clang! And Carlindil was sent sprawling to the ground.

Alladhiir glared down at Carlindil, fist raised. Alladhiir had held back or else he would've broken his jaw or more. Such was the control he had, even with an armoured hand and even in the depths of anger.

"I have studied," he said. "I have read countless books, upon countless subjects, and..!"

"That is correct!" yelled Carlindil, as he clutched his bruised, bloody jaw, his wide eyes glistening with tears. "You are book learned! You know much, that is true, it is…"

"What I have just been through!" interrupted Alladhiir. "What you and I have just been through. I would qualify that as a thousand lifetimes of 'life experience,' wouldn't you?"

Carlindil didn't reply he just lay there, clasping at his face and staring over Alladhiir's shoulder with wide, terrified eyes.

"What is it?" asked Alladhiir as he turned to see and what he saw made his heat sink.

Smoke was rising high into the sky in the south, where Alladhiir remembered the first village to be.

Alladhiir was wrong, the druchii had headed south into Saphery and he was ashamed to admit. the fact that he was wrong hurt him more than anything else.