1 Prologue: “Don’t worry, I believe in her”

The trust in your partners

White snow covered everything, the ground, the trees; there were even parts of the black rocks of the gigantic cliff covered with snow, which looked even more majestic with the thin mist that surrounded them.

A slight but cold breeze was blowing, the sun nearing midday was barely visible among the gray and depressing clouds, a girl was running desperately, already on the verge of losing her breath, only the encouraging words and the pulls to her arm that gave to her by her trusted maid kept her running.

The pursuers were many and they were strong, there was no way they could escape, then despair and exhaustion made her legs give way and the girl could no longer stand up; the maid tried with her last effort to carry the defenseless girl in her arms but her strength had already left her.

She tried one more time with all her might but it was in vain, she was too exhausted, after all, she was just a trusted maid, she had been hired by some very nice people and she was only in charge of taking care of a girl, washing her clothes, tidy up her room, prepare tea and occasionally be her playmate and study companion, although it was a full-time job, it was a light one and her master was a very nice and educated girl which made the job much easier.

No way leading such a pleasant life she could develop great strength, although he knew that evil people were pointing to the life of her master she had not felt the need to become stronger, they always had an escort of young, strong, and handsome knights, who would protect them from any threat, yet he had watched with horror as those young knights were killed one by one in front of his eyes.

The anguished faces made by those young knights in their last moments had been engraved in her mind, they knew they had no chance in front of the enemies that threatened them, however, they sacrificed themselves to give them some time to escape, they had bought some time at the cost of their lives, but still, they had not succeeded, the maid looked around her and saw several figures that surrounded her partially hidden in the mist.

There was nothing she could do anymore, there was no escape, finally, her heart broke and she burst into tears hugging her young master, the girl with a broken voice said to the figures that surrounded them "Please spare her life. Eli, she has nothing to do with this fight"; but a cold and malevolent voice replied, "It's a shame but we were ordered not to leave witnesses" followed by mocking laughter, she felt helpless and despair knowing that there was no way that professional assassins would leave witnesses.

Finally, a black figure emerged from the mist, his face covered with a black hood and bandana, but it was possible to see a malevolent look in his eyes, "Be grateful! As you are just girls we will finish you with one blow! That's the greatest mercy you will receive from the Ravens!" The man yelled and prepared a thin Rapier to strike, the Rapier began to emit a faint glow, a sign that it was being charged with magic to deliver a powerful blow.

When he was about to strike, something went flying behind a tree; a deafening thunder and dazzling light stunned everyone, several screams of agony were heard and blood splattered all around when the girl and the maid recovered from the shock caused by the noise there were 5 corpses around them and a figure was squatting down on top of an old tree stump, with two short swords in his hands.

The figure stood up and jumped down from the tree stump into the snow and turned around, it was a young man, in his mid-20s, he had a brown hood and a green scarf-like fabric around his neck, a lightweight metal breastplate over leather armor, some flashy metal gauntlets, metal shin guards and knee pads, even his boots had metal parts added in strange ways.

"How lucky I could catch up with you in time my lady! Your uncle the old Ralph contracted me to save...." but he couldn't finish his presentation, he moved like lightning leaving afterimages behind him and suddenly several metallic clanks were heard as 5 bolts were deflected with blows.

"Take the girl and hide behind the fallen tree!!!" he yelled "And don't raise your head no matter what!" he yelled once more as he got into a fighting stance more akin to a boxer than a swordsman, his screams brought the maid out of her stupor and she took her young master in her arms and they hid behind the trunk as the young man ordered, hugging the girl tightly and trying to cover her with her body while screams of agony resounded from the other side of the trunk, signs of the fierce battle that was taking place on the other side.

When everything was silent a voice ordered "It is safe for the moment my lady", the maid and the girl timidly raised their heads behind the fallen log, there were 5 more corpses next to the first assassins, "But how much longer can you resist?! We were attacked by more than 50 assassins! Not even the knights had a chance!" the girl cried out between sobs, "Don't worry, I believe in my partner" said the young man with a smile, and then more screams of agony were heard inside the forest.