This time Harwin's surroundings were not color-less, rather he stood in the center of an endless, uneven plain as far as the eyes could see.

  The same dark and light figure, who had brought him to this world, stood in-front of him. Its face void of any features, yet one could always feel that he was grinning from ear to ear.

  "We have not talked in a long time. Have you missed me?" The figure inquired.

  "Of-course not! Can you stop popping out of no-where every-time I feel at peace?"

  "That will be no fun, do you not enjoy our conversations?"

  "I believe the answer is straight-forward. Why have you appeared once again? Do you wish to torment me once more by telling your gruesome jokes?"

  "That might have been fun, but this time I have something to show you. It is quite interesting, so follow me," he began walking after saying that.

  Harwin though reluctant at first, begun to follow him. They went over to a hill.

  "Come over quickly, you might want to see," the figure cackled.

  Harwin have had enough of his shenanigans, but as soon as he looked down the hill, he saw bodies upon bodies. A field filled with crimson-blood as if a sea of blood. There were destroyed carriages, and wagons whilst crows feasted upon the dead.

  It was an horrifying scene already, but upon closer observation, Harwin screamed as he noticed that these were the bodies of his caravan-men. He rushed down towards the blood and gore while panicking.

  The giant Farelen's head had been put on a spike. Efrion's intestines laid out of his gut on the ground, while all the bodies of youngling's bodies were mutilated and dismembered. The crafts-men were missing their arms whilst their bodies lied lifeless.

  Harwin could not even stand at the sight, but he continued, he was looking for his friends: Landel and Alisa.

  Soon he came across the body of a young man whose rib-cage laid open — organs visible. Harwin could not help, but sob and puke at the sight, but he went further to find the body of his first friend in the village, Alisa.

  It was in no condition to be seen. The hideous beasts had ravaged her to the point of being unrecognizable. Harwin was on the edge of insanity when he looked over to find someone familiar. He was in no condition to walk, so he crawled to it...it was his own lifeless body.

  The figure somehow floated towards him, and then proceeded to give the same void-less grin to Harwin whilst kicking his dead-body. Harwin was dumbfounded — confused when the figure finally spoke:

  "You should have seen your face. How did you like my presentation of the whole scene? Is it not similar to reality?"

  Harwin, furious, tried to lunge on this maniac and sociopathic being, but he was stopped by an invisible wall of sort. He tried to push through again, and again only to be repelled.

  "Now, now. No need to be so angry."

  "YOU HAVE PLAYED ME LIKE A FOOL ONCE AGAIN YOU DAMN THING! WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM FOR HAVING ME SEE SUCH DISGUSTING, FABRICATED LIES?"

  "Oh these are not lies...."

  "YOU—" Harwin thought he was being played again, so he tried to argue only to be interrupted.

  "This is not the fabricated scene, rather it is your future. You do believe that I can see it, do you not?"

  Harwin remained silent.

  "Oh well even if you do not believe, this is certainly what your fate will be if you go back to the great-forest in your current condition. Your caravan-members, the mighty Farelen and your dear friends: dear old Alisa and the prodigy Landel will suffer the same fate as these lifeless bodies. Do you wish to know why I am telling you this?"

  Harwin was skeptical at first, bus his curiosity got the better of him, so he questioned:

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  "Why?"

  "Ask nicely and I might tell you~" The figure faced the other side as if throwing a tantrum.

  Though impatient and furious at first, Harwin still could not let go of the feeling that there might be something important in all of this:

  "Please, if you find it in your heart, let me know the truth of this situation."

  The figure faced him, and with a sly smile on his face stated:

  "I am telling you this because I do not wish for you to meet this fate just yet. Do you want my advice?"

  Harwin nodded with a pleading expression.

  "Very well, whilst traveling back to the great-forest, you will ambushed by bandits, mercenaries or assassins. The details of the attackers are not important, but do know that they will be in great numbers and well-equipped. It will all happen in the third week of your traveling when all of you would have let your guards down. Most of the younglings will be killed in the first wave of attack while your captains will fight heroically only to be defeated by the sheer number of men as well as their monstrous leaders. I would not be telling you how to deal with the situation, as I believe that the information I have already provided you with, is enough."

  Harwin did not know what to say. His mind was busy thinking all sorts of strategies, situations and solutions, but when he saw that the figure was waiting for his respond. He immediately replied:

  "I suppose, I am grateful, but there was no need to show me all of this, as you could have just told me."

  "That would have been no fun, and I also do not think you would have believed my words. You owe me one, do you not?"

  "If your information is correct, then I believe, I will owe you?"

  "Glad to hear, then be prepared to repay when it is demanded."

  The surrondings of Harwin changed once again. The last thing he saw was the grin of the figure before waking up in panic. He could not catch a wink of sleep for the rest of the night.

  In the morrow, the caravan men ate break-fast, and begun preparation for traveling back. They bantered and celebrated at their success, but Harwin, on the other hand, wore a grim expression.

  At noon he headed to the city gates with his usual companions. He was supposed to meet the alchemist, Reik, to collect the potion which cured the disease that the villagers often suffered from.

  Sooner, rather than later, the intended arrived with a bag. Without any greetings, he handed over Harwin the bag and said:

  "This contains small bottles full of the cure. I also have noted down on these papers of how it is prepared, the reason for the disease and how to avoid it. If your mage is logical and educated enough, he will be able to grasp this without any problem."

  Harwin after glancing the contents of bag and the papers, handed them over to Alisa who after reviewing to the best of her abilities gave the nod of approval.

  Farelen was the one who handed over the pouch of silver, this amount was enough to keep the whole village fed for at-least a month or two, but none the less it was an important expenditure. Harwin clasped hands with Reik who just wanted to leave as soon as possible.

  The bunch headed back to the caravan after buying few items from the marketplace for their journey.

  Once everything was ready, the caravan officially bid the town farewell to the city and begun their journey back. All the carriages were filled to the brim, even more full than before due to the large quantity of flour they were bringing back.

  The journey went on rather smoothly, they were certainly in no rush. Harwin was the one who led the way this time, the reason being the trust that he had been able to win over from everyone by his successful plan for the prosperity of the village. Now, he was certainly well-respected and listened to by Farelen and Efrion which in turn made him be respected by the younglings.

  They made occasional stops while traveling. Farelen had bought large amount of spices and all sorts of other food resources for the journey so they did not have to rely on the sour plant for nutrition alone. The leadership believed that it was certainly a well deserved treat for the caravan-members as they had earned a great deal of silver.

  One more reason that the leaders agreed with it was so the soldiers did not lose morale; in a caravan or a mercenary group or a battalion, morale is certainly a major factor in achieving the desired results. A much smaller force with high morale can overcome a large force with ease and this was known by the experienced captains.

  Harwin had remained vigilant during the entire time. Even when it was not his duty to guard, he would keep an eye whilst pretending to sleep. This was noticed by Landel, but he did not say anything for now.

  Alisa was gloomy for a different reason, one could even say depressed. The reason was that she was going to have to return to what she called a 'bird’s cage' from which she had escaped from for the first time, and now had to return once more.

  Harwin (though worried himself), Farelen and even Landel tried to cheer her up by talking about all sorts of things even giving false promises but to no avail. It was just something that she would have to accept herself, but fate certainly held something else for her in store and Harwin will be the main factor in all of it. He was an anomaly in her caged life — breaking her away, but this will be perilous task, and even the man himself did not knew what future lied in-front of him.

  They traveled for days following the same path they had taken before and this time they met a few caravans coming and going. Of-course, they could not match any of their paces as each followed their own way even if the path was the same due to factors such as speed, time, or destination as a whole.

  Many of these caravans had no idea about the path that had been opened through the great-forest so Harwin and Farelen did try to spread the news as much as possible — whenever they were able to reach any caravan.

  The traveling went smoothly, and then the accursed third week arrived. This was when Harwin called aside the battle-commander and Efrion who were unsure as to what the caravan-master had in mind. The explanation would not only be difficult due to the source of the information, but it will also create many difficult questions.