They continued walking until they reached the village. They were greeted by the angry villagers that were armed with forks and shovels. Why they needed such tools when they were surrounded by snow and agriculture was but a dream, Edhas didn't know and wasn't going to ask. Edhas put a smile.

"Hello!" 

"Who are you?" A man who seemed to be the chief of the village asked, pointing a fork at his face. Edhas slowly pushed it away from his face. The man immediately put it back.

"We're travelers. It seems that we got lost. If you would be so good as to give us some directions." 

"Then why did you attack the village?" The chief didn't seem convinced.

"It wasn't our intention. You see, this friend of mine was a little bit too excited when he created the path. No ill will, I assure you." The twins were surprised that Edhas knew how to sweet talk his way out of this situation, considering the speeches he gave before. The chief lowered his fork. 

"Travelers, you say?"

"Indeed. We've been traveling for a long time."

"Then you must be hungry. Come have a meal." One of the women in the group invited them. 

"We couldn't possibly-" Jessalyin wanted to politely decline, but was interrupted. 

"I, for one, am famished. We accept your kind offer. Let me kiss your hand." Rohan went and kissed the woman's hand. She seemed to like Rohan and was pleased by his manners. 

"Patricia, I don't know if we should invite them in our village." The chief told the woman, but she didn't listen and showed them the way. Edhas noticed the identical rings on their fingers and understood who was actually in charge of the village. 

"Shush, Robert. You heard the young man, they are famished. We'll give them something to eat and then send them away." She said, not accepting no as an answer. She was a woman in her forties with light blond hair and blue eyes. Just like the majority of the population of the Southern Isles. Because it was always cold and the sun wasn't that strong, almost all the people had light colored traits. 

The village was small, only twenty or thirty small houses. In the middle of them all, a big building made out of ice. That's where Patricia took the team to give them some food. The building was separated in two parts. In the right side of the room were some mats on the floor and sculptures and pictures everywhere. In the left side of the room, tables large enough for the entire village to gather and eat.

"This is the place where the villagers gather to eat their meals. We also use it as a school for the children."  

"It is lovely." Jessalyin said, admiring some of the sculptures. 

"Thank you dear. Please sit down wherever you want. I'll bring some food." 

The trio chose a table in the middle of the room. This way they could see their surroundings better. They waited for a while, boringly playing with the cups that were on the table. They managed to build a castle out of them. 

"Hello!"  When Rohan was supposed to put the last cup on top, a girl appeared out of nowhere and scared him, thus destroying the castle. 

"You little s-" Jessalyin gave him a look that said that if he continues that phrase, she'll kill him.

"Sweet little thing. What do you think you're doing sneaking up on us like this?"

"I was here for like ten minutes and you ignored me." She shrugged. Edhas could swear that she wasn't there a second ago. He couldn't feel any presence. The girl was easy to observe, her hair and eyes red like blood, which made the fact that they didn't notice her even weirder.

"What's your name? I'm Anastasia." Seeing that the three strangers didn't say anything she asked them and then pointed at Rohan.

"I'm Rohan. These are-" 

"I didn't ask you to tell me their names. What's your names?" Rohan raised his hands in defeat and didn't say anything. The girl pointed at Jessalyin.

"I'm Jessalyin." Anastasia only nodded, then pointed in Edhas' direction. She was kind of bossy, but you can't argue with a child.

"Edhas." Anastasia didn't nod this time, instead she got closer to Edhas by climbing onto the table. 

"You're weird." Edhas laughed. He didn't expect to be called weird by a small child, but here he was.

"Thank you, I guess."

"You're welcome." The little girl climbed down from the table and sat down on a chair in front of Edhas. She was staring at him with curious eyes.

"Anastasia, I hope you are not bothering the guests." Patricia came back with a tray of food and some tea. 

"No, mommy." 

"I'm sorry if she bothered you. The other children refuse to play with her because of her condition, so she hangs around the kitchen."

"There's no problem, really. She's a joy to be around."

"Oh, how I wish the others thought the same as you do." The mother spoke with a pained voice, thinking about how different her child was treated by the people in the village.

"What is her condition? Maybe we can help." Jessalyin offered, moved by the little girl's problem.

"You cannot. Many have tried, but failed. Do you mind if I sit down?" The trio signaled that it's alright for the woman to take a seat. Petunia sat down and started patting her daughter's head.

"When she was born, she looked like everybody else. Light eyes, light hair. But on the day we performed the ceremony for her name, red lightning stroke the wooden crib where she was seated. We all feared the worst, but nothing happened. The crib was intact and so was my daughter, but her eyes and hair changed to the color of blood. Now she says she can see people's sins. My baby was cursed. The people in the village give her weird looks, what will happen when she will become the chief?" The woman finished her story with tears threatening to fall down, but she refused to let them fall, not wanting her daughter to see her cry again.

"I'm sure we can break the curse with some kind of spell. After all, I do have this awesome magic sword. Right Edhas?" Rohan assured the woman and turned to look at Edhas that was on his left, but he wasn't on his chair.

"Edhas?" Rohan searched the room with his eyes and found him kneeling in front of Anastasia. It was the first time he had seen him without his spear in his hands. Edhas looked way too happy for someone who just heard that a girl, who didn't seem older than ten years old, was cursed. He was looking at the girl as if she was the most treasurable thing in the world.

"It's not a curse." Edhas confidently told the mother.

"What do you mean it's not a curse?" Jessalyin asked skeptically. 

"It's a blessing given to the soul since its first incarnation. The power to see the human soul." Edhas looked in Petunia's eyes. "Your daughter was blessed for her kind soul. That's why no one could do anything. You can break a curse but a blessing is eternal."

Petunia started crying tears of relief. After so many years of hearing that her daughter was cursed, Edhas' words were like a fresh breath of air.

The woman cried for a while and then left to tell her husband the good news. After they finished eating, they decided that it was time for them to be on their way. Petunia tried to make them stay until the next day, but the trio refused. Seeing that she could not convince them, Petunia offered them a map of the Isles and bid them farewell.

Anastasia followed them until they left the village. She wanted to speak with Edhas alone.

"Thank you for telling my mom that I am not cursed."

"You think I was lying." Edhas stated, seeing the little girl's face.

"Weren't you?"

"I was not. Look, I'll tell you a secret, but it has to remain between us. Alright?" Anastasia nodded. Edhas looked left and right and then approached the girl's ear.

"I know the God that gave you that blessing."

"Really?" Anastasia looked really excited.

"Really. In fact, we are very good friends. And he told me...no, I shouldn't tell you. It was a secret. But we are friends, right?"

"Yes, we are." The little girl nodded vigorously. She wanted to know the secret that the God told the man in front of her.

"Then I think it shouldn't be a problem. He told me that he only gives such blessings to truly good people. So you should be good so you won't disappoint him."

"I will, I promise."

"Then I guess I'll be on my way." Edhas wanted to leave, but was stopped by Anastasia's hand.

"Wait! Is that why I can't see your sins? Because you're friends with that God?"

"I'll let you figure that out on your own." He smirked at the little girl.

"That's not fair!"

"Life often isn't. See you, kiddo." Edhas ruffled the girl's hair and then went to the twins who were waiting for him.

Anastasia remained to look at Edhas until she couldn't see him anymore. She couldn't figure out why she couldn't see his sins. She could see the sins of a person by the colors of their soul. Rohan had all the colors mixed, but orange was the brightest and Jessalyin was the same, only that her brightest color was purple. Greed and wrath. But Edhas' soul was pure white. No color, no sin. Anastasia wondered how someone could live for so long without having any sin. It should be impossible. When she couldn't see the trio anymore, she returned to the village, determined that one day she will find the answer.

After Edhas returned to the twins, they looked at him with questioning eyes.

"What did you tell her? She looked so happy."

"Only told her the truth. Now, let's go. Our next stop is the capital."

"How did you know it wasn't a curse?" Rohan was curious as to how Edhas knew precisely that the little girl was blessed. 

"I am surprised that they didn't know. It's common knowledge that the ones with eyes and hair red as blood with a special ability are blessed." Edhas said with 'as matter of fact' voice.

"Maybe where you're from. I never heard such a thing."

"That's weird. I wonder why." 

"Anyway, what kind of God gave her such a blessing?"  Jessalyin wondered what God would give such a powerful blessing to humans. Usually, the blessings consisted in luck or love or such small things. 

"Matchitehew." 

Note: If you are wondering what these people eat when there's only snow and nothing else, I'll have you know that they are farming underground. They have huge caves under the villages and towns where is hot and they grow their plants and animals there. They use spells to create artificial Suns and they are well-known in all world for their vegetables.