Three Years Later
It was snowing heavily.
On that dreadful morning the entire land of Zolotaria lay frozen under a thick white blanket. But no one stepped outside to admire the falling snow. No children ran laughing into the streets, no families opened their doors to watch the flakes drift down. Everyone hid behind closed windows and locked gates.
It was not the cold that drove them into hiding. It was something far worse.
The war.
For two long years Zolotaria had been bleeding. A brutal war with Venograd, their old enemy, had consumed the land. Villages had burned. Families had been torn apart. Sons and fathers had been taken to the battlefield, and many never came back.
This morning, Zolotaria held its breath again.
