Alex, Mathis, and Jezza awoke at sunrise next morning. They ate a quick breakfast of dried meat, which that they got from Jezza's father, and continued along the road toward Cithara. According to Jezza, they should reach the city by noon.
Around noon, they had in fact arrived at the city. The city was filled with people. Tenement houses lined the streets. People were everywhere.
"Welcome to Cithara," Jezza said, "one of the most densely populated cities in the Varganian Empire."
"Empire?" Alex asked.
"The Varganian Empire, ruled by Emperor Vargan, stretches across about half of Lograndia," Mathis answered.
"Everyone in Lograndia has heard about the Empire. Even the country bumpkins like Mathis here."
"Don't call me a country bumpkin!" Mathis yelled, enraged.
"I was only kidding, don't go berserk on us."
Mathis smiled and turned to Alex and said, "Vargan is a vain dog. He named the Empire and the currency after himself."
"That's right," said Jezza, "the official currency of the Empire are vargs."
Alex thought about this Vargan. It was obvious that no one really liked him that much. Over to his right he saw a throng of people crowded around a bulletin board. "What's that," he asked.
"The local bounty board," Jezza replied. "The Empire places the pictures of all the wanted criminals there along with their reward. There usually isn't that many people around there though. Must be something important."
The trio walked over to the bounty board to see what everyone was looking at. In the center was a picture of a man named Aren Rykule. He had black hair, and brown eyes. He wore glasses, and was a tad overweight. Above his head was the reward; five million vargs.
"Five million!" Mathis gasped. "No wonder there's such a commotion. I wonder what he did." Mathis looked below the poster to see what the crime was read. It read: Mass destruction artist. Caused the destruction of Tesurimy, Vovolia, Straja, and recently, Hamletia. Currently being hunted by the Fire Force, lead by General Ignis.
Mathis was stunned. It said that he destroyed Hamletia, but that didn't seem right. The dying man said- "Ignis," Alex said interrupting his thought.
"What?" Jezza asked puzzled.
"Before we arrived in Rivar, we stopped in Hamletia. It was already burned down when we arrived. There was only one survivor. When we asked who did it, he said Ignis. That was when he died."
"Are you saying that the Fire Force burned Hamletia?"
Alex nodded. "They probably burned the others too."
"But why would they do that?"
"I don't know the Empire well, but I know an evil man when I see one. I think, no, I know that Empire was responsible for the devastation. I think Ignis is the kind of man who would sacrifice an entire village to kill one man. Unfortunately, this one man is too good and always escapes."
Mathis and Jezza stared at Alex for a moment in wonderment. They knew Alex was right. Suddenly, Alex's face flushed with embarrassment as he asked, "By the way, what is the Fire Force?"
Mathis and Jezza couldn't help but laugh. Alex, who just gave this speech about how evil they were, didn't even know what exactly they were. After their laughter subsided, Mathis answered, "The Empire's elite force. It's made of three warriors that have mastered the destructive magic of fire. There are three of them: Ignis, Erif, and Blaze. Not much else is known about them."
Jezza was staring into the ground. I can use magic, she thought. Fire magic to be exact. Could I be? No! That's impossible! I was never a-
"Jezza, are you all right?" Mathis asked as he placed his hand on her shoulder. "You don't look so good."
"I'm fine," she answered, "just a little tired."
"It's all right," Mathis said, "happens to the best of us."
"Right!" Jezza said with enthusiasm. She jerked her body alive, full of spirit and energy. "Let's find a tavern, I'm starving!" Jezza led the way to the closest tavern where they ordered a descent meal and stocked up on more dried meat for their journey.
After their meal, they left the tavern to find an inn to spend the night. It was now dark for they had spent the day conversing with people, and supplying up on goods. They found out that you could hire a carriage to take you to the town of Yakiro. However, that was for tomorrow, and now all they wanted to do is go to sleep. Jezza however, wouldn't be able to sleep soundly tonight, for she was about to have one of the most terrifying nightmares of her life.
Jezza found herself in the center of town, surrounded by three men that she didn't know. One of them was short, and had a hunched back. He had long, slender arms with long fingernails that were more like talons.
The otherwas a large, and bulky man. He looked strong enough to lift an entire ton. His had no hair, and you could see veins popping out of his skull.
The third man looked like the leader. He was a tall and handsome man, with long black hair. He wore black armor, and brandished a huge sword. He turned his cold eyes toward Jezza and said, "Don't you remember your old friend General Ignis?"
"What?!" Jezza gasped.
"Don't you remember?" Ignis asked. "You're a member of the Fire Force. Don't you remember your comrades Blaze and Erif?" Ignis pointed to the men as he named them. Erif was the short one that looked like a monkey, and Blaze was the bald one.
"Impossible!" Jezza cried. "I'm not a member of the Fire Force, I'm not!"
"Ooh, hoo, hoo, ha, ha, ha, but you are sweetums, you are!" laughed Erif.
"No, no!" Jezza continued to cry, as she placed her hands over her ears. She knelt down to the ground and continued to scream.
"Noooo!" Jezza screamed as she awoke from the dream. Her pillow was covered with sweat. "I need to go get some fresh air," she said, as she got up and walked outside.
The night was cool and tranquil. The navy sky was studded with beautiful stars. Suddenly, Jezza felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see Mathis there beside her. "Can't sleep?" he asked.
"No," she answered. The two looked up at the sky for a moment; neither of them speaking. Mathis broke the silence.
"My grandfather used to tell me that it's blasphemy to sleep on a night like this," Mathis said.
"Huh?" Jezza asked.
"You see," Mathis started, "a large part of our religion is based on astronomy. It is said that on a clear, star-studded night like this, the Gods are alive to listen to our pleas. So, ignoring a night like this is just as bad as ignoring a religious ritual."
"Really? See, we never learned much about the stars at the academy back at Rivar; only about the Great War. I guess you country bumpkins really do know something."
"I told you not to call me that!"
"Heh, heh. Calm down Mathis, I was just kidding." Mathis started to calm down as the red anger left from his face. "Hey Mathis," Jezza said, "could you tell me about the stars?"
"Sure Jezza," Mathis said as he pointed to the northern sky. "See that grouping of stars? That's the Goddess Freya. And on the other side of the sky, her twin brother, Eryx. It is said that when Lograndia was in its infancy, only the twin deities existed. They created the humans and animals to dwell on it."
"However, they were always arguing. Their fights got progressively worse. They were ripping Lograndia apart with every quarrel they had. Freya and Eryx knew this, so in order to save Lograndia, they sealed themselves forever in the heavens on separate sides of the sky."
"They created the Four Phoenixes to rule in their absence. They also returned to the heavens when they perished." Mathis pointed to three constellations on opposite sides of the sky.
"I only see three," Jezza said. "Where's the fourth?"
"What's the matter Jezza, don't you know your own subject! You of all people should know that only three of them died in the Great War. The fourth is still alive somewhere."
"Oh, I see." There was another moment of silence as the two watched the sky.
"Y'know Jezza," Mathis said, "it's getting late, and we're heading out early tomorrow. You should really get some sleep."
"You're right, I will."
"Well anyway, I'm going in. Goodnight."
Jezza turned around just as Mathis was about to walk inside. "Goodnight Mathis. And thanks." When Mathis was gone, Jezza went back to watching the sky. A tear trickled down her cheek as she prayed to the deities. "Eryx, Freya, help me."