When we got a closer look at the stone city in front of us, we realized it was ruined. Rubble and collapsed walls covered the snowy ground.
It looked even worse than the destroyed village back in the Beastarian Kingdom—except here, there was no one in sight.
"Wilderness creatures must've gone rampant through here," Talos said.
This is why that orc woman's husband told her to leave. His intuition was right.
"L-let's get a f-fire started," Alva said, shivering.
He was right—it was bitterly cold. With his light clothing, he had to be freezing.
We took a break to light a fire, making our final preparations before moving on.
As we warmed up, I looked through the last of my spells—and finally saw some good ones.
And I mean really good ones.
There was a repel enchantment for Talos's armor—if it got damaged, the attacker would be knocked back.
Then there was a quiver enchantment that automatically replenished your arrows over time, as long as you had a few left inside.
Thank goodness I'd crafted all those arrows earlier—that would definitely make my life easier.
To be honest, I didn't even know that enchantment existed.
Then, ironically, there was a sharpness enchantment for weapons that increased the blade's efficiency. I knew exactly who that one was for—Uri.
Why were the good ones hiding from me this whole time?
I applied the enchantments using what I'd learned from my mother—who's a textile worker, in case you forgot—and when we were done, we got up from the fire and started moving again. Alva and Uri each were holding a torch.
As we moved through the ruined city, stepping over rubble with snow falling around us, we looked ahead and saw enormous stone stairways connecting the higher parts of the mountains to other cities—confirming our suspicion that the Orc King's castle was at the summit.
We approached the stairs and spotted several huge, hairy blue creatures, blocking the way.
Trolls.
Why did they always seem to hang around bridges—or bridge-adjacent structures?
We readied ourselves for a fight when a shout came from behind us.
"Wait!" someone called from behind us.
The knights had arrived.
Leading them was a familiar face—the same knight who had stopped us from fighting the troll on Loris Bridge and who we saw again later at the Flower Tavern.
When he finally reached us, he spoke firmly.
"We'll handle them. You all go on ahead."
His tone was stoic and focused—almost friendly—a sharp contrast from before.
It wasn't quite an apology, but it was close enough. Maybe this was his way of redeeming himself after stopping us and refusing to fight the troll at Loris Bridge.
We accepted it nonetheless and pressed on, slipping past the trolls as the knights drew their attention.
After climbing the stairs, we found another city—larger this time. It wasn't nearly as destroyed, and there were even signs of life.
But those signs were anything but peaceful.
Absolute chaos.
Beasts of every shape and size ran wild. Still no sign of the orcs—but this time, we'd definitely have to fight.
And if you didn't get the message before—this is why you don't try to tame Wilderness creatures.
The Orc King's plan completely backfired, turning his own citizens into victims.
We had to quell this madness.
I applied their enhancements, adding the Greater Perception spell to Uri this time.
We quenched our torches and moved into the village's warmth.
Alva immediately rushed into action, firing at the small flying creatures with wide, leathery wings and long curling tails—his arrows whistling through the air as they darted back and forth.
Talos followed close behind, eyeing a hulking gray creature with thick, rocky skin and spikes jutting from its back and arms. Its mouth was full of jagged teeth.
Several medium-sized, swift brown creatures darted around us—each with a single green eye in the center of its face. Their rough skin and sharp claws tore through the air as they landed quick strikes on Uri, forcing me to heal him again and again.
It wasn't that Uri had slowed down—but these things were faster than anything we'd ever faced. I could barely keep track of them, and without his perception spell, I doubted even he could.
The good news was that when he did connect, those newly sharpened daggers dropped them in a single, clean strike.
We kept it up for a while—Talos cutting down multiple gray beasts, Alva shooting several of the flying ones, and Uri taking out even more of the fast ones—while I stayed back, keeping everyone healed.
Then something strange happened.
The attacks started to slow… then stopped completely.
Not only that, but the creatures began…running from us.
They were afraid of us.
As we moved deeper into the city, the remaining beasts scattered until, finally, we started to see orc villagers—appearing from the places they'd been hiding.
They were still here. I'd assumed they'd all evacuated.
Gradually, they began to emerge, peering out to see what had silenced the chaos.
They all wore looks of surprise as we passed through, making our way toward the massive stone castle towering on the next mountain across the stairway.
The orcs began thanking us as we walked by.
But…
Why?
Why thank us?
That monster is still sitting on the throne in that castle, and he hates all of you.
And all of us.
Why would you just sit here and hide?
I stopped and stared at the orc citizens—then at my party, already walking ahead of me.
Then I started to question everything.
Why am I even here? Why am I even doing this? They don't appreciate me.
No one does.
I could be off somewhere alone. Instead, I'm here—in the freezing cold, thousands of miles up.
I walked toward the mountain's edge to get a better look.
Such a long way down.
"Velara?" Alva called from behind me, annoyingly.
"What do you want?" I replied, still staring out at the view.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"What does it look like I'm doing?"
"Velara, is everything okay?" Talos asked.
"Like you care. None of you do."
I took a step forward.
"You're all so useless," I said, a tear sliding down my cheek.
"Alva! Shoot me—hurry!" Uri yelled.
I turned around to see him sprinting away from us. What kind of stupidity was this now?
"What?" Alva asked, confused.
"It's invisible! Shoot me when I tell you to!" Uri shouted.
"O-okay!" Alva readied his bow.
"Now!"
Uri leapt high into the air as Alva fired.
The arrow whizzed past him, striking something unseen. The air shimmered, and suddenly, the creature appeared—dazed but hovering above the ground.
It was a floating being with a smooth, pale body and a wide, slit-like mouth at its center. Dozens of red tendrils hung beneath it, and two long stalks extended from its top, each ending in a lidless eye.
Talos ran over and struck the creature down in one powerful blow.
I immediately fell to my knees.
It felt as if a fog had lifted from my mind.
My party rushed over and helped me up.
"Vel, are you okay?" Alva asked.
"I… I think so," I said. "That creature was affecting my thoughts. Uri, h-how did you know?"
"When you started walking away from us, I knew something was off," Uri explained. "Then when you snapped at Alva, I was sure. After that, I sensed a thread of magic coming from your head to the invisible creature—thanks to the perception spell."
"Thank you for saving me. If you hadn't, I… I don't know what would've happened," I said.
"Sorry for everything I said—"
"Don't say sorry," Talos interrupted. "We know that wasn't you."
"Yeah, you'd never say anything like that," Alva added.
"You're the nicest person I know," Uri said softly. "I knew from the start it wasn't you."
"Well… thanks, guys."
That creature had reached into my deepest, darkest thoughts, twisting my logic, and turning it against me—devouring me and my party from the inside.
It had been leading me closer and closer to the mountain's edge… closer to…
The thought alone made me shiver.
The Wilderness creatures weren't just dangerous—they were terrifying for entirely different reasons.
If more like that were waiting ahead… I wasn't sure how much more I could take.
I wasn't prepared for that.
"If we lost you," Alva said quietly, "we couldn't have gone any farther."
"Luckily we didn't," Talos replied, "thanks to Uri's quick thinking."
"And Velara's spell," Uri added.
By now, the orcs had gathered, watching us in silence.
So today, I was saved—thankfully by Uri's sharp mind, Alva's bow, and Talos's halberd… but also, in a way, by something else.
Not my crafty magic or clever wits, but my… character.
We regrouped and started toward what looked like the final stairway—the last climb before the castle.