The search party led by Sir Jeffrey arrived in Westham before Sir Caldwell and entered trotting into the snowy plains near a village. Sir Jeffrey whilst on his horse scanned with his eyes across the snow-dumped land, until his eyes settled on a wooden entrance sign covered in snow. Beyond the village stood a large forest with snow-covered trees, stretching across the landscape view with a tall mountain that ascended into the clouds above, far behind the forest.

The group of about 23 men halted at the sign, looking ahead at the quiet village which had a narrow dirt path leading to it from the sign.

"Welcome to Westham eh. Been years since I last came here," one knight on his horse said to another beside him.

The other turned his head to him, "As I. This place is as barren as Southberry with a frosted touch."

Another knight at the back spoke, "Oh blimey I don't believe this. My armor is well nearly frozen and we just got here."

All the other knights bobbed their heads behind them to see and began to chuckle. Sir Jeffrey frowned and turned his horse around so he could face them.

"Alright lads that's enough. You know Westham is known for its numbing climate. You should have come mentally prepared," he said, then pulled the strap to turn the horse back around to face the trail leading to the scanty village.

"Come, let us move hastily. We must leave the horses in that village and trod through the white forest on foot," he said as he kicked his horse to walk and the others followed.

They went into the village causing the few people who were outside to look on in curiosity. The women who stopped to catch water at the well halted with their wooden buckets in hand, and two children who had been playing sword-fight with two sticks stood still, looking on in amazement. Sir Jeffrey and his group trotted through the snowy seas of the village, until they found a post in a small square where they could unmount and tie their horses.

A lumberjack who had been cutting logs nearby walked up to the knights with an axe. "Good day Sirs. Is there something wrong? Tis not a usual occurrence to see so many knights in one place here."

Sir Jeffrey patted his horse's back then turned to him, "Yes, good day to you as well. A girl, well, not just a girl, but many reports have surfaced of people being taken against their will, and we have knowledge they have been detained in the White Forest ahead."

The man gave a concerned frown as frosted air blew from his nostrils, "I am sorry to hear. It is not the first I have heard of criminal activities taking place in this province. I understand that ever since the Crimson Wars the military's numbers have shrunk, and I get the king wants to cover the more important areas of Altea with the amount of men he has left, but here in Westham we have very little security, which leads to things such as why you are here. I cannot help but fret for the safety of me and my family."

Sir Jeffrey looked at the clear skies above the man's head, thinking deeply, remembering his own family. "I see. I shall make account with the king about sending more men here, worry not . . . We must go now," he said and began to walk off with the rest of his knights.

Just then, the man called out to them causing them to halt.

"Just one more thing . . . I understand you must do what you may to save those people, but the White Forest is not kind to strangers, and by that I mean strange things happen there. Be very careful, as those who enter often never return," he warned them.

"Thank you, we shall bare that in mind," Sir Jeffrey replied, though inside he was annoyed by the man's delays, impatiently wanting to rush to Lea's aid.

Sir Jeffrey and his men walked through the village past the wooden huts and cottages until they reached the other end of the village, where a small patch of snow-covered land stood half an acre between the village and the entrance of the White Forest.

From their position as they walked, Sir Jeffrey squinted his eyes trying to make out the features of the forest ahead in the distance. He saw thick vapors of mist sitting on the outskirts of the forest which made it hard to see anything else beyond the mammoth of a mountain standing at the back.

The whistle of the icy wind danced along their eardrums, and their breath became visible in the cold air, with little grains of snow climbing into their armor. The mist grew as they came closer, and the skies became less and less visible with each step, yet the knights trodded fearlessly with an ultimate goal engraved deep into their hearts, unwavered by the harsh climate around them.

Eventually, after a couple minutes of dragging their metal boots through the snow, they finally stood before the entrance of the forest surrounded by the mist. The knights looked at each other with hesitance to enter the passage of darkness that stood between the snow-engulfed trees, but Sir Jeffrey dreading every second wasted in finding Lea, stepped hastily into the shadows of the forest. Seeing this, the others followed suite and entered carefully while feeding off of Sir Jeffrey's courage.

As they entered, their ears were greeted by the sound of echoing howls from off in the distance, which caused everyone to halt movement, standing on guard looking left to right across the mist-covered woods.

"It was just a wolf. Let us continue," said Sir Jeffrey as he resumed walking.

As they walked, the silence of the forest felt as if nature went to slumber and time stood still, so much that Sir Jeffrey started to feel uneasy. "(I don't like this, too much silence is never a good thing . . . Lea, I don't know where they are keeping you, but I will find you. Just please be alive, please my child, hold on until I get there)" he thought to himself.

"The mist is getting pretty thick. I can barely see ahead so be careful," said Sir Jeffrey aloud.

"It is rather thick innit? I wonder how far down could this hideout be. If there is a hideout here at all. Are you sure they could be here Sir?"

"She has to be . . . Sir Caldwell and Sir Gale have been at the forefront of these investigations and I trust their words," replied Sir Jeffrey.

Just then, they heard the snap of a twig, and everyone froze with their hands on their swords, ready to draw while looking about for any sign of a threat.

"What was that?" Said one knight.

"Relax everyone. T'was probably a rabbit or some rodent," replied another.

Suddenly, a white rabbit with glowing green eyes bounced out from the bushes and scampered across the path before them. Seeing it was a rabbit everyone stood upright and relaxed their posture.

"See, I told you lot," remarked a knight.

While the other knights failed to catch the rabbit's full features, Sir Jeffrey took note of how strange it was to see a rabbit with glowing eyes, which put him on his guard even more as he walked with his hand rested on his sword.

Just then, one of the knights walking at the back let out a scream, causing all the others to turn around in surprise.

"What happened?! Who made that sound?" Yelled Sir Jeffrey.

"It was Jonasson, but where the heck is he?" Replied another knight in confusion.

They searched among themselves for the missing man, calling out his name yet to no avail.

Sir Jeffrey frowned, "Form up and stay close!" He ordered, then went back to shouting out Jonasson's name.

Suddenly, another scream sounded from his left blasting his ears, and he turned around to realize the knight who was behind him was no longer there.

"Luther!" He yelled as he squinted his eyes to try and see through the thick mist into the forest, but could not see anything but the white mist past the trees.

"Tri-Allen formation now!! On me!!" He yelled.

The knights formed a triangular shape across the path where their backs faced each other and they stood side by side, leaving a space between their backs. Everyone spun their heads back and forth looking across the mist-covered forest.

"HELP!!!!!!! I NEED BACKUP!!!!!!" A panicked voice yelled from the trees behind the mist.

"It's Jonasson! Let's go help him!" A knight yelled and ran off into the mist, following the sound of his voice.

The other knights followed suite and jumped off the path into the bushes and snowy blankets, disappearing into the mist from Sir Jeffrey and a few of the other's view.

"You fools! Where are you going!? You'll only get lost!!" Sir Jeffrey yelled, but it was too late, as most of them had already gone into the mist.

All of a sudden, the quiet forest was now riddled with screams and clinging of steel, that the birds flew from the trees and the other smaller animals could be heard scurrying off. Now only five knights stood by Sir Jeffrey's side, who all began to panic hearing the desperate screams of their comrades.

Sir Jeffrey bobbed his head back and forth trying to come up with a plan but stood baffled, as he could not see what was attacking his men nor could he specify where it came from. They were almost blind, being picked off one by one.

Realizing the morale of his remaining squad was beginning to fall, he decided he had to do something.

"Calm down! Don't panic! Just stay close and watch each other's back! Remember your training!! We fight to the end!!" He yelled as he unsheathed his sword.

Suddenly, barrages of arrows flew from the mist toward them, and after seeing an arrow fly through the gut of a knight standing beside him, he ducked to the ground to take cover.

"Lay low!! Lay low!!" He yelled as he laid on the ground, with grains of snow on his face and hair, the sound of arrows whizzing in the air striking his ears as he heard the screams of his men from above. He smashed his fist into the ground and cursed as he heard their screams, wishing he had some sort of power to shield them.

Only one knight was able to get down fast enough and lay across from Sir Jeffrey, but the other four suffered the wrath of the arrows. Sir Jeffrey realizing one was still alive crawled over to him as the arrows continued whizzing through the air.

"Enough! Enough! I think we got 'em with them wild shots!" A voice yelled from the mist.

The firing halted, and Sir Jeffrey and the other knight laid quietly with a pile of arrows on top of them, but soon enough, they heard boots crunching through the snow. He whispered to the other knight to play dead and act like they were hit with the others. He then took one of the arrows and placed it to stand between his arm and squeezed it to look as if it impaled him.

As soon as the boots stepped onto the path and were close enough so that he could see them, he sprung up from the ground and plunged his sword into one of the bandit's chest, then slashed another across the eye, blinding him. The other knight jumped up and began to aid him in attacking the bandits.

"Two of 'em are still breathin! Kill 'em!" One bandit yelled as he dashed at Sir Jeffrey from behind with an axe.

While Sir Jeffrey was busy battling two bandits before him, he suddenly felt a sting of pain in his shoulder and saw blood trickling down his chest. He turned his head to see an axe lodged in his shoulder having pierced his armor.

"Damn I missed!" The bandit from behind yelled with his hands on the axe. He had planned to strike the head, but the mist made it too difficult to strike accurately.

Sir Jeffrey arched his arm back and plunged his sword backwards into the bandit's side, then dashed forward with the axe in his left shoulder and slashed at another bandit before him. After dispatching another bandit, he backed away to catch his breath as he was tired and weakened from losing a good amount of blood.

He looked to his side and saw the knight who had been helping him flat out on the ground, laying on red snow. He grimaced and cursed as he looked at his downed comrade.

"You all shall pay for this!" He yelled and gripped his sword even tighter.

The bandits began to circle him as he cursed under his breath, realizing just how much their numbers were. His mind then ran on Lea, remembering her birth and holding her in his arms, spending time with her as a little girl and teaching her about life, to the last time he saw her before she was kidnapped. He gritted his teeth in remembrance of these things, and began to haul all the curse words he could think of at the bandits.

He dashed at them with a loud war cry from the top of his lungs, his sword raised in the air ready to attack, running fearlessly into danger itself, determined to save his daughter, even if it was the last thing he would ever do.

The bandits stood their guard and mocked him for trying to face them alone. He managed to make some of the bandits eat their words by slaying a good few of them before toppling over in exhaustion and fatigue. Realizing he was down, they started to kick him and beat him as he laid in pain trying to get up, but his body refused to lend itself onto his command.

He was kicked and kicked until one landed in the back of his head, knocking him unconscious. After a few more seconds of beating him, the bandits halted and realized he was motionless.

"Okay that's enough, he's done. The old bastard got some fight in him. I'm not gonna lie, that was scary for a minute . . . Quick, let's get rid of the bodies before the boss finds out we screwed our cover."

The bandits searched the area for as many bodies as they could find, and dragged them off along the path leaving behind the others they could not find due to the thick mist, leaving them for wild beasts to feed on. Among some of his fallen comrades was an unconscious Sir Jeffrey being dragged off into the forest by the bandits, disappearing with them into the shadowed mist of the White Forest.

A few hours later, Sir Caldwell and the boys arrived in Westham, and stood before the entrance sign after passing through the Inglehime woods that travelers often took to go to Westham from Northwell. They walked passed the sign and went along the trail leading to the village, where they saw a few villagers dressed in long rugged cloaks looking on at them in curiosity.

Zack and Kelly's ears turned slightly red, and they folded their arms to try and cover their body from the chilled air, but Sir Caldwell and Jirell stood seemingly unbothered by the temperature.

Zack rubbed his now pink wind-burned cheeks to feel the warmth of his hands, as he looked at the huts and cottages around him, admiring the calm and peaceful nature of the village. He then looked to the chimney of one particular cottage where he saw a small puff of smoke rising from the roof. He rubbed his arms as they were folded and breathed out chilly air from his nostrils, still wondering why Jirell had interest to help Lea.

Ahead of him, Sir Caldwell looked around taking in the scenery as they walked by the huts. "My my, what a quiet town, everyone here is rather timid. Jirell, lead the way since you're more familiar with the area."

"Of course," replied Jirell.

Zack began to shiver, "I-its cold out h-here."

Jirell turned to him, "It's just a little wind and snow, stop crying."

"I-I'm not crying! Just lead the darn way," Zack snapped.

Kelly twisted his head up and down, moving his nose, "Hold up, M-my snot is frozen."

"Yuck!" Exclaimed Zack.

"First let's stop by my house," said Jirell ignoring the two.

"Hmm, I suppose. Onward lads," Said Sir Caldwell as he motioned for them to walk ahead of him.

The inhabitants of the village looked on at Jirell with pride as he walked by them, feeling proud that someone from Westham was making great strides in Altea by becoming a knight, as he wore the academy uniform. However, not everyone in Westham was fond of Jirell.

Some burned with jealousy and hate, as his aloofness gave some the impression that he thought he was better than them. So much so that the village chief's son who sat on a rocking chair outside his cottage seethed over with anger upon seeing Jirell in his uniform, believing he should have been the one to wear it. He wanted to get up and confront Jirell, but remembering the last time they tussled, he sat glued to his seat, cursing him under his breath.

Jirell and company left the village through the other side, and instead of heading straight across the half acre to the White Forest, he went to the left and up a small hilly slope of snow. He then led them to an old isolated wooden cabin not so far from the village, just on the outskirts of the white forest. It would appear that he had lived there alone.

As they walked up to the old cabin, Zack heard something and looked up, then quickly jumped to the side to avoid a pile of snow sliding off the roof. Kelly however failed to see the pile falling, and was covered with snow on his hair and shoulders. Zack began to chuckle, but his grin soon faded after Kelly accidentally sneezed on his chest, sending snow and mucus onto his uniform.

"Urgh! Cover your mouth!" He yelled.

Kelly rubbed his nose with a grin, "Oh, my bad. I can't stand the cold. Back in Southberry we aren't used to this kinda stuff."

Jirell pushed both of them from the doorway and opened the door with a key, causing Zack's mouth to twist at him.

Everyone followed in after Jirell with Sir Caldwell at the back, and stood on the wooden dust-covered living room floor. Jirell went into a dark room and from the living room, it sounded as if he was searching for something as everyone heard the sound of things being thrown about.

Zack looked around with concern, as he was troubled by the cobwebs at the ceiling corners, the dark ambiance of the room, and when he looked through a broken window behind him, he saw five graves in the backyard. Occasionally he swore he heard strange sounds under the whistling icy wind, and strange creeks which elevated his heart rate.

"This place is pretty spooky," he turned to Kelly and Sir Caldwell who stood looking at the door which had planks nailed into it, as if it was broken before.

"If you think this is spooky you should see my house ha! Ha!" chuckled Kelly.

"Jirell move hastily, time is upon us," said Sir Caldwell as he looked at a dusty poncho that hung on a deer head sticking out from the wall.

Jirell came out with an axe and began to rip open the wooden floor with it, confusing everyone as splinters of wood flew up in the air.

"The heck are you doing?" Zack asked confused.

Jirell pulled out three well-made swords and a bow and arrow from underneath the floor, and threw two of the Swords to Zack and Kelly, keeping the other sword and bow for himself. However, Sir Caldwell was not happy seeing this.

Zack brandished the sword, eyeing it from top to bottom, "Whoa it's so cool."

Kelly waved his at Sir Caldwell, "Look at this Sir Caldwell, it's amazing."

"Hold lads. I cannot permit this. It is against law for Academy students below group five to carry real weapons."

"Then what was your plan? To have us waltz in there unarmed," Jirell replied coldly.

"No, my plan was to leave you all outside while I go in and do the fighting. You lot have never experienced having someone try their hardest to kill you nor have you ever killed someone. You are not yet ready for real combat."

"During the invasion I witnessed my entire family get slaughtered in this very house! I was afraid and ran off with my brothers, but they chased us down and my brothers sacrificed themselves to save me! I refuse to be a coward and let another person I care about get hurt, so don't tell me about not being ready! I will kill ANYONE who steps foot in my way!" Jirell yelled in anger, gritting his teeth as he gripped his blade tightly.

Jirell was filled with great anger, so much so that Sir Caldwell could feel it as if it was burning away the coldness of the cabin, but while Sir Caldwell felt it on the outside, Zack felt every once of Jirell's anger deep down in his soul. Even though he had learned to control his anger over time, hearing Jirell's words stirred up the residue of what was left of it, as he promised himself to prevent anyone else he cherish from dying.

Zack turned to Sir Caldwell, "Sir Caly, let us fight alongside you. Lea is our friend and we won't go away no matter what you say," he said boldly with a serious expression.

Kelly grinned as he eyed his sword, "Plus, I've been wanting some real action anyways, so let us fight."

Sir Caldwell rubbed his chin then reluctantly agreed to bring them, but before they left, he gave them advice on combat and how to handle the mental pressure of taking someone else's life, even if in the name of good and justice. The four then made their way into the White Forest by taking a different path advised by Jirell, as he knew well enough the dangers of the White Forest.

The White Forest was a dangerous place to be and even the king warned people from going there as the icy mist was too thick to see through, making it easy for one to get lost. Great wild beasts, animals and strange creatures roamed the forest in search of something to feed upon, and it also fell on the border between Altea and their sworn enemy, Ylise.

There were also strange occurrences and incidents, as the forest held many secrets and things unknown to man. The tales of events that had taken place in the White Forest became a regular story to tell at campfires and feasts, as much of the Altean folklore consisted of the mysterious forest.