Now that they had the Sapphire, Prince Rhys, Mieu and Lyle could now enter the cave that lead to the Helskiz Province. As they approached the entrance, the Sapphire let off a light blue glow and they could then enter. To their dismay, this cave was packed with monsters.
"What is it with these monster-infested caves?" Rhys asked.
"Seems like no-one can afford monstercide, or they can't be bothered to pay a warrior to kill 'em off." Lyle replied. Mieu suggested that they should try and get past the monsters without them noticing. They broke into a run, darting past evil-looking bird-like monsters and rats that were three times the size of your average rat.
"Oh, for goodness' sake, look out!" Rhys shouted, just as Mieu crashed into a huge monster that looked like a giant bat. The monster reared back and grabbed Mieu in its wickedly curved talons.
"That's exactly what happened to Maia!" Rhys cried, thumping Lyle on the shoulder. He winced a little.
"Well, don't just stand there hitting me! Attack it!" Lyle yelled, pushing Rhys away slightly. The prince drew his hunting knife and slashed the bat's leg. That was enough to make it loosen its grip on Mieu so that she could escape. As soon as Mieu had effected her escape, Lyle stormed forward and swung his staff at it, knocking it to the floor.
"Mieu, you do the honours. After all, it attacked you first." Lyle said, backing off. Mieu ran forward, screaming, and drove her claws straight into the creature's heart, killing it instantly.
"Right, that's that sorted. Now, we can press on." Rhys said, trudging towards the passage that lead to the Helskiz Province, with Mieu and Lyle trailing behind.
Eventually, after a 20-minute walk, the threesome had finally found the way into the Helskiz Province. The Sapphire let off another glow as Rhys approached the entrance, opening it and allowing a blast of cold air to hit them all. They climbed out of the passage. To Lyle's horror, the Helskiz Province had been turned into a frozen wasteland!
"I don't remember this province having a winter this cold." Lyle said, his teeth chattering. Since no-one had expected this, no-one had thought of packing any warm clothes.
"We'd better wrap up warm or we'll die of the cold." Rhys said, unpinning his cloak. His clothes were fairly thick, so he couldn't quite feel the cold. He handed his cloak to Lyle.
"I'm fairly warm. Take my cloak and wrap up. You really aren't dressed for the weather, Lyle." Rhys said. Lyle smiled, then took the cloak and wrapped it around his shivering body. Mieu waited patiently. She didn't have to worry about the cold, for she was a cyborg, and so couldn't feel the cold.
After warmth issues had been sorted, the threesome made their way over the freezing province, looking for any sort of shelter. The cold made it seem like the search was taking forever. Then, Mieu spotted some buildings in the distance.
"Look! Rhys! Lyle! Over there! I can see buildings! Come on!" Mieu shouted, running towards the buildings. Rhys and Lyle ran after her, and they found themselves in a village - the small fishing village of Rysel. It as still bitterly cold, yet the party felt slightly warmer because they were surrounded by buildings.
"Ah, welcome to Rysel, good travellers." one of the local villagers said to them, but his kind expression soon turned to horror as he looked at Lyle.
"Agh, the Layans, the Layans! They're here, those filthy Layan creeps!" he shouted, motioning to the other villagers to lock all the buildings up.
"I'll show you, you snivelling Layans!" he yelled, but Rhys stormed up to him and stopped him from saying any more.
"We're not Layans, you nitwit! I am Prince Rhys, from the Chalst Province!" Rhys said firmly.
"Well then, if you are not Layans, what is HE doing with you?" the man said, pointing at Lyle with disgust. Rhys explained that Lyle had come along to help him get his beloved Princess Maia back from the nasty winged creature that had taken her.
"You are one weird Orakian, Prince Rhys. She's a Layan princess." the man said, snickering slightly. Rhys had had enough. He could clearly see that the villagers were having a problem.
"Your village seems to be having a problem. What is it?" Rhys asked the man.
"Terrible problems, Prince! Our people are starving, because the lake has frozen solid! People from the town of Agoe can't visit either, because of the lake." the man replied. He motioned to the other villagers and told them that they could unlock their buildings again.
"OK, so is there any way we can bring better weather here?"
"Yes, there is, Prince. There is a Weather Station located in the Bernink Province. There should be a hidden entrance to the province, and it's located past the nearby bridge. Hurry now, the people are depending on you! If you need to rest up and buy supplies, then feel free." Thanking the man for the information, Rhys then told Mieu and Lyle about the Weather Station in the Bernink Province.
"Right, well, now that we have that information, we can go to the Bernink Province. Come on, let's go." Lyle said, and so he strolled out of the village, with Mieu and Rhys following close behind. They came up to an entrance which lead into an underground passage. They followed the passage, and they found that it lead to the Bernink Province.