When 1-meter high snow dunes turned into a thousand lakes, they traveled downward and came upon a merchant. He happily got to borrow Thalgar as a guard in exchange for some pennies. And this, Thalgar agreed to, even though ‘his’ hat remained in Lucifer’s possession.

As for the now 13-year-old William? He could not provide any service as a convoy, neither could he let Lucifer be seen together with them. Thus he commanded the dino to stay hidden on the side as he tried to mingle with the troop…

Their journey with the merchant lasted for about a month and once it was over Thalgar got paid handsomely. As promised, the money would be spent on the most luxurious food they could find! Food, they would feast upon in the castle-city called Irkmane.

Everything went smoothly until they entered the city’s gates. There they were immediately greeted by hanging corpses on sticks. Beneath the dead’s feet a message read: Here is the last stragglers of the notorious bandit group: The Ravaging Shades. Thank god for his work and let peace reign again.

Thalgar noticed that William kept staring at the scribbles, so he asked, “... What does it say?”. William repeated the words out loud, finding it hard to believe that this once-thriving evil had now been completely annihilated. He mulled over the matter for a second before loudly saying, “Argh! All of this can wait, okay!? Let’s instead head towards an inn! I’m starving for some proper grub!”.

Since Irkmane was a big city with several inns, they used their noses to determine which one of them served the best food. “Here”, Thalgar said, whilst unintentionally drooling. He couldn’t get any more excited, and yet, this inner glee didn’t show on his face. Except of course for the drool that would slip here and then.

*Bang*, the doors were flung open as William entered the first-floor. They were quickly taken care of and seated in a faraway corner for Thalgar’s sake. He still didn’t feel fully comfortable being surrounded by foreign humans.

“What can I get you?”, a waiter sang out as they approached their table. “You worked for the money so you decide”, William told Thalgar, who had his head buried in the menu. A long pause came where nothing was said until William realized, “... Wait… You don’t understand what the menu says, do you?”. Thalgar peeked up from the bruised card, completely new to the experience, “?”.

“Ah… It may seem that staring on the menu is the way to go, but you know those other people are actually reading what is on it…”, William explained to the uncultured dolt, that didn’t know how to ask when in doubt. “Give me that”, he softly demanded. The card was quickly given to him and he began to read aloud every item that was on the menu, starting off his question with a, “Do you want braised dove? Or soused swine with apple-sauce?”.

The waiter, who had come hoping to make a coin, stood irritated on the side. Thinking: Who has the time for this kind of smuck!? However, their slight temper quickly disintegrated the moment they heard the words: “All of them. I want all of them”.

William’s forehead went up as he made sure, “Do you really want all of them?”. “Yes…”, Thalgar assured with confidence. “... Including the raspberry tart with blue cheese and black pepper on it?”. Thalgar found the names on the dish very amusing and nodded, “Especially that one”. The card was slowly given to the waiter that briskly went away with a big order and all of their gold.

While they waited, William went up to ask the barkeeper about the awful display in town.

“It’s true… They are the last of their kind…”, the petite man said as he hoisted a drink up to his nostrils for an interrogation. He took a deep sniff of the goods before adding, “There is no need to doubt his message, for their leaders were already captured and executed by the Blaises about a year ago, I believe... It was only a matter of time before the rest of them were brought into the light and squashed!”.

“Really…?”, William muttered in thought, “But they did manage to expand quite a lot before their downfall, I suppose? Since they’re known all the way down here?”. The barkeeper snorted, “Hahaha! We might be south compared to the Blaises territory, but don’t let that fool you! If anything, we are known for being the northernmost city under the banner of king Gorm!”. The Fake King? William thought in shock.

The big man smiled as he went through some grocery-lists, “Those bandits did spread out quite a lot just before their demise. Many were worried about their flourishing influence, but that all stopped one day… Rumour has it that it was due to a change of leadership that they croaked. Something about, somebody or someone that suddenly went mad and corrupted the whole organization from within their marrow… They made grand mistakes. Utterly foolish ones! And ka-BAM! The whole business grumbled on its own… Oh, and the Blaises and their alliances did also do quite a lot, but who cares!?... All in all, it was a really sorry sight to behold… But they deserved every bit of it!... As for what you saw in town? It was nothing but the pathetic remains of their forces…”.

The man planted a mug right in front of William’s face and roared with a hooked spine, “Now, how about a drink? Huh?... Information doesn’t come for free you know!”.

William paled and had to confess, “Sorry, but you see that person over there?... He just ordered everything on your menu… So don’t feel bad, okay?”. The man blinked, then laughed in a jolly manner, “Oh? He did? Hahaha. Good, good… Then I better give you a bit extra in return for such grandeur!”.

The barkeeper lowered his temper and signaled for the girl to come closer, “Now listen-”, he whispered, “Once you’ve eaten you must quickly leave this domain… They are on a mission, you see… They want every able-man they can get Charkel’s nails in… So, skedaddle away... Before your brother gets taken too!”.

The man stepped away back to his place and gave William a meaningful look, then he boasted, “Our food might taste glorious but you still gotta go sometime. And that better be in a hurry!”.