Odilon and Ariela were playing in the castle garden with their wooden swords.
   They were playing barefoot on the green and freshly cut grass. Ariela swung a blow at Odilon, but Odilon deftly deflected it and tripped her; the princess fell sitting on the ground, her hands resting on the grass. He stared into Odilon's eyes. "She's not going to let that go cheap," thought the prince.
   "But what's going on here?" Asked the king, who was walking through the garden in the company of his wife.
   "Nothing," Ariela replied. "We are just practicing some moves that we saw in the soldiers' training."
   "I mean you sitting on the ground like a loser." Said Edward raising his head. "The heir to the throne can't lose even one fight. How many times do I have to repeat this? Get washed up! No, don't pick up that sword again, get in and go clean yourself up."
"But we're not done playing yet." Whined Ariela.
"Now you're done."
Ariela went away, trying to keep her tears at bay, but a few tears escaped.
"As for you, Odilon," continued the king, "I didn't let you learn to fight so you could take your sister down in battle. Your job is to protect her at all costs. Now go and remember what I said: you must protect her. Don't leave these swords here. Pick them up and put them away.
"Don't you think you're too hard on the boy, Eduardo?" Maya asked, after the prince had left.
"Odilon has to learn that his mission is to watch over the life of the future queen, if he keeps knocking her down he will never learn the meaning of his job."
"Speak for yourself. I believe our children will be great regents one day."
"Ariela. Ariela will be regent one day. Odilon will be able to serve the kingdom in other ways."
 
Odilon opened his eyes slowly, they were a little foggy.
"Aiiii what's that headache?" Said the prince slowly running his hand over the back of his head.
The room was small. There was only a bed and a bedside table that were near the window. On the door wall was a small table with two chairs, one of which had a dark-skinned, light-eyed woman sitting on it. The woman got up and approached the bed.
"Thank the gods!" The woman put her hands together as if saying a prayer. "You're awake."
"Where are Polipedes and Frella?"
"Polipedes? I don't know who that is." The brown-haired woman scratched her head."
"And Fiorella? Where is she?"
"I don't know either," The woman in colorful robes fell silent. "But you uttered her name several times during your repose." She said, breaking the silence.
Odilon turned red with embarrassment. "Great! Now a stranger knows that I have dreams about Frella," thought the young man.
"Are you by any chance an angel?"
"No."
"You fell from the sky."
"And how did that happen?"
"Don't you remember? You fell through a huge hole that opened up in the sky, the hole was dark in color, darker than the night sky. Don't get up, you're not well enough to stand up yet. I was close to where you fell, I saw you in the crater that the fall formed."
"And when was that?"
"Two weeks ago today."
"Fourteen days?" You are surprised, Odilon. "I'm unconscious all this time? I need you to help me up..."
"Niara. My name is Niara."
"I need you to help me up, Niara. I need to leave as soon as possible. By the way, my name is Odilon."
"I know. I saw it on the document he carried in his pocket. Interesting what the text said, I've never seen a servant of the emperor in these lands before."
"I was not supposed to be in these lands, I was supposed to be in Truv'hel." Odilon stood thoughtfully. "Where are we?"
"We are in the garden."
"By the gods! Is that too far from my destination?" The prince put his hand over his forehead."  
"I have already said that you are not in good condition. Rest a little longer, feed yourself, and then you may be able to leave."

...

 Doras was a small inn located in Venencia, near the desert border between Sistia, Antipopes and Caan. The small inn was on the edge of the Passos road, which connected the mainland of Az to the north to the wild lands to the south.
Polipedes was sitting at the counter eating a piece of bread, accompanied by a strong cup of coffee, when three men entered and walked towards her.
"You are a long way from home, sorceress." Spoke behind the sorceress the man in the middle.
"If you are saying so." The sorceress shrugged.
The man on the left threatened to draw his sword, but was stopped by the man in the middle.
"There is a price on your head. The King of Antiphes is paying handsomely for anyone who gives it to you." continued the tall, smelly man in the middle.
"My head has been in danger for centuries, long before you ever dreamed of being born. Now leave me alone."
"Listen well you bitch, these are not your lands so don't act like they are." The man drew his sword.
"And by any chance are they yours? An ugly, stinking man like you can't afford to have land like this."
"That's enough!" shouted the man on the right, grabbing the sorceress by her right arm.
Polypedes' eyes filled with power. The man on the left became afraid and took a step backwards. The man in the middle tried to grab Polipedes' left arm, but flew backwards when she launched a telekinetic blast at him.
"Enough!" Shouted a middle-aged gentleman, dressed in a blue gibbon and full of ornaments. He was black and stocky. He had thin black hair, and so did his beard, but both were properly groomed. He smelled like a field grass. "Gentlemen, is that any way to treat a lady? Even more so when it comes to Polypedes Yavel." I said, as I helped the fallen servant to his feet. "Forgive me for the rudeness of my men."
"The great Arkell Qebaa." The sorceress bowed. "Sistia's best advisor."
"Polypedes. Boys, you can go back outside. I am truly sorry, my dear. I asked my men to make an inspection of the place before I entered, I realized that they were taking too long so I decided to come and see what was going on. I didn't imagine I would find you here."
"What are you doing in these lands?" Polypedes sat back down on his stool.
"I am their king-general. And you? What are you doing around here?" Qebaa pulled up another stool and sat down next to the sorceress.
"Actually... I don't know." Polypedes couldn't remember how he got there, all he knew was that he had woken up in the Kaiobo desert, in the land belonging to Ham. "What are you doing on this road?"
"Returning from a meeting with the representatives of Edward, your king. Incidentally, I thought I was in jail, but I see that's in the past."
"I was, but that's a conversation for another time. What did Edward's representatives want?"
"Help, my dear. Just help. Miss, bring two more coffees, please! The constant attacks by the emperor on his kingdoms have made Edward very distressed; I would even say afraid. Ever since you betrayed him and Menetuf started attacking Sistia and now Antiphes, Edward has been asking me for all the help he can get.
"I have not betrayed him. I have always been faithful to my king." Polipedes said firmly.
"Well... someone has been selling Edward's state secrets to years. If it's not you it must be someone else. Enough about that. No no, don't charge this lady anything, let me pay for everything. I would be honored if you would come back to Donath with us. You are really the person I wanted to meet at this moment. I need help and I think yours would be ideal.
"And what is this about?"
"Well, I believe this topic would be best handled within my castle."
"As you wish, your majesty."
"Wonderful. I will have a horse saddled for you."
Polypedes was trotting along on a caramel colored mare, while Qebaa was showing off his beautiful brown horse with a large white spot on its face.
The two of them were further ahead. The king's train was further behind, but leaving no gaps in the safety of the authority.
"So... you said you weren't supposed to be here. Where should I be?"
"Truv'hel. I needed to pick something up there; for the emperor."  
"As I recall you had said you were loyal to Edward, your king. Now you tell me you were doing a service for the emperor. Your information is contradicting each other."
"I am not working for my brother, Qebaa. I have said it once before and I say it again: I am loyal to my king."
"But you are going to Truv'hel on behalf of Menetuf."
"Yes, but to help Odilon, son of Edward. Odilon was the person who rescued me. He needs help, his daughter is missing."
"And now you defend the interests of others? Before you only cared about your own."
Polipedes cast a malicious look at Qebaa.
"It is your interests that you are aiming at." Smiled the monarch.
"It goes far beyond his interests, even mine. The girl was kidnapped by the giants."
"Of ice? These creatures have been dormant for centuries. You confirmed it yourself. This sun... is too hot. I need some water so I don't melt from the heat." Qebaa took his leather wineskin and took a sip of water. "Would you like some?"
"No, thank you! I really thought the giants were asleep, but in fact they are not and once again I need to stop them."
"And what will the plan be this time?"
"It's still uncertain. Odilon is the one sorting it out." He lied. "This time I'm only under his orders."
"Well... I don't believe your words, however, I can't force you to say anything. It will take a little more than two hours to reach Donath and I don't intend to ride in the sun all the way to the capital. You may accompany me, or, you may continue riding on your horse."
"I appreciate the invitation, but I prefer to stay on the horse anyway."
"If that is how you wish it...we'll talk more in the capital then."

...

"Odilon..." Niara whispered. "Odilon!" She shouted.
"What happened?" The young man jumped out of bed startled. "What happened?"
"You were struggling, I think you were having a nightmare. Were you?"
"I don't remember. I need to find Polypedes."
"You already did that... the other time. You know... I can help you, but I need you to do something for me.
"So... I need to help you so you can help me?"
"Certainly. Are we going to help each other, or not?"
"And what kind of help would that be?"
"First tell me if you will help me."
"No. I'm leaving here alone."
"You're not getting out of here on your own. You'll never get through the gate, and even if you do get through it, what are you going to do when you get out of this garden? You don't know where to go. You have no idea where your friends are. What are you going to do? Go out into the world aimlessly."
"Maybe I'll do that. Maybe I'll go out into the world without a destination."
"Don't be a fool, Odilon. I can help you. I know how to find Polypedes, just help me."
"Okay! Now tell me what you need."
"For years I have been locked up in this garden. I don't know what it's like out there..." Niara was interrupted.
"The world outside sucks, Niara."
"But I've never been in the real world to know. All I know is this garden. I don't want to die in here, I want to live in a different way. I want you to get me out of here."
"That's it? Get out of here?"
"There is a sentry at the exit gate. I've never been able to defeat it. You'll have to help me destroy it, that's the only way out of here. This gate is the only way out.
"It's worth the risk.
"So you accept?"
"I have no other choice..."
"Good!" The sorceress hugged the boy. It was the first time someone had hugged her back for help. "We will leave at daybreak. It's late now."

...

It had been eighteen days since Odilon, Polipedes and Fiorella had disappeared. The emperor had sent out search parties to look for any trace of his subordinates, but found nothing.
It was not a case of a shipwreck, as the ship had returned to Aurora after the three disappeared, but the most intriguing thing was that none of the crew could remember the presence of the youngsters on the ship, which drew a lot of attention from both Menetuf and his sister Idris, who shared the news with Mikae.
The young alchemist did not want to leave to brave the lands of Truv'hel, instead she accepted to work at Idris' court in Aurora. Her work was that of an alchemist. She crafted various things to help the emperor's armies, as well as being part of the provincial council.
Nobody knew for sure what had happened to the missing people. Some thought they were already dead, others thought that Polipedes could have escaped using a portal, taking the other two with him, but no one had a concrete answer, but when the subject was mentioned everyone agreed on one thing: that three servants of the emperor were lost.