Chapter 44

Ayla was walking down a stone hall that she did not recognize. She looked around, trying to understand where she was. And especially how she got here. Just minutes ago, she was with Rhobart and Kerra, and then she went to sleep, and now she was in this place. She continued walking until she got in front of a door.

Ayla opened the door and entered in a big room that she had never seen before. In the middle of the room was a couple – a pregnant woman and a man. The man kneeled in front of the woman and looked into her eyes. He was in the shadow, and Ayla could not see his face. When Ayla looked at the woman, to Ayla's shock, the woman was her. But the other Ayla was four-five years older.

The older Ayla looked at the man with so much love. He placed both hands around her round belly.

Ayla saw matching bracelet tattoos on the left wrists of the older Ayla and the man.

"I love you," the older Ayla said to the man and cupped his cheek with her left hand.

"You are my heart and soul, Ayla. My everything," the man replied in a tone full of adoration. And then he kissed her tattoo. "Mine for all eternity," he whispered against her skin.

Ayla needed to know who that man was, but before she could move to get a better view, she felt as if she was flying. The room disappeared as Ayla continued to fly.

She flew across mountains and green hills, villages, and rivers until she was in front of the castle of Nordmar.

Ayla fell to her knees in the snow. She forgot to breathe when she saw the snow was red. And wherever she looked, Ayla only saw dead people.

Orcs, some around 7' tall or more, were everywhere. Short brown hair covered almost entirely their strong arms and legs. They had three sets of big fangs – two on the lower mandible and the other set on the upper mandible. They had big pointy ears, and while some had their head shaved, others had their hair braided. Armors covered their torsos and legs. And while Orcs had five fingers, they only had three big toes. Their skin color was light brown.

Some orcs had big battle axes, while others had orcish swords and were massacring the remaining knights and warriors.

Ayla saw the King's Paladins hanged by the branches of the winter oak. Crows were already feasting on their flesh.

'Oh, gods! This is not real!' Ayla thought and fought her rising nausea.

A scream of pain made Ayla look away from the winter oak until she saw Milton. A Shaman was burning him using dark fire. And the Fire Mage screamed and screamed until no sound could be heard coming from him.

"Milton! No!" Ayla screamed, but no one heard her.

Where was the King? Where was Rhobart?

Ayla looked at the castle, and her heart broke. The King! Oh, dear gods! The King! What have they done to him? He couldn't be – not the King. Not Rhobart.

She screamed and screamed until her throat hurt.

"Nordmar is ours!" an Orc said in the common tongue, with a heavy accent.

She covered her eyes with her hands. She could not look at Rhobart anymore. At what was left of him.

"Ayla," the princess heard a soft voice calling her.

Ayla looked at the person who called her, and to her surprise, it was the older Ayla. The man from the room was behind her, with his left hand on top of her shoulder and his right palm cradled her round stomach. Like before, his face was in shadows, and Ayla couldn't see him.

"What happened? What I just saw?" Ayla asked the older Ayla.

"The future. Two possible futures. In one future, you found Uzriel, and in the other, you haven't. And now you know what will happen if you fail. Hurry! Otherwise, everything is lost!"

"But I don't know where to start looking!" Ayla protested.

"In the Monastery of the Fire Mages, there's a forgotten book. Look for it behind the magic crystal."

Ayla had more questions, but she was flying away.

"Wait!" she screamed.

"Hurry, Ayla Peace-Bringer. Otherwise, everything will be lost," the older Ayla repeated.

Ayla woke up, her heart drumming in her chest. She was trembling badly. The dream she had just had was still vivid in her head.

When she looked around the little camp Rhobart set and didn't see him, Ayla panicked. She stood and looked around the cave. The moment she saw him in front of the waterfall, training with only his trousers on, she let out a breath of relief. Rhobart was alright. He was alive.

Ayla went to the fire and started preparing tea to calm her nerves. And while she made the tea, Ayla kept looking at Rhobart. After the dream she had, not seeing him made her anxious.

When her tea was ready, Ayla sat on a rock and looked at Rhobart.

'Who was that man from my dream? The one I said I loved?' Ayla asked herself.

She tried to concentrate on that part of the dream because the other part was a nightmare, and she didn't want to think about it.

'When I see Milton, I will have to tell him about the book. Maybe he knows something," Ayla thought when she remembered the Monastery of the Fire Mages.

And while Ayla drank her tea and looked at Rhobart, who kept training with his back to her, she pushed the dream to the back of her mind. She looked as his muscles shifted with each movement. Rhobart was probably the most handsome man she had ever seen.

"If I were you, I would train with him. Or just get into the pool. Naked," Daya said, appearing suddenly next to Ayla.

Ayla had to bite her tongue to stop herself from screaming.

"You have to stop appearing like that! You almost gave me a heart attack!" Ayla said in a low voice, ignoring what the tree spirit said about being naked in the pool while Rhobart was watching. What would he think of her?

"Why are we whispering?" Daya asked in an equally low voice.

"Because!" Ayla said.

Daya chuckled, "You don't want Rhobart to find out you are staring at his fine ass."

'"His what?"

"Ass! Have you seen him naked?"

"Daya!"

"I once had a snow elf lover. He had the finest ass I have ever seen. But do you know what was his best quality?"

"No," Ayla said.

"His tongue," Daya said and stared at the waterfall. "That elf knew how to use it. And he tasted delicious!"

"You ate him?" Ayla asked. Did tree spirits eat persons?

"Oh, I did eat something of his. Multiple times. He always begged for more."

Ayla didn't know what to make of Daya's words. How could a person beg to be eaten?

While Ayla was thinking, Rhobart stopped training, dropped his trousers, and got into the water.

Ayla's mouth fell open, and Daya sighed.

"That is one fine ass! Do you want to know a secret?" Daya asked.

"What secret?" Ayla asked, but her eyes were still on Rhobart.

"Do you know what boys in Nordman do when they come of age? So that they can prove they are men?"

Ayla shook her head, "No."

"They pierce their dicks!" Daya said.

"They what?" Ayla squealed.

"Pierce. Their. Dicks."

Ayla blushed. She could not believe how scandalous Daya talked.

"Do you want to know what type of piercing he has?" the tree spirit asked.

"No!"

Daya laughed, "I knew you are as curious as I am. Wanna spy on him?"

"Absolutely not!" Ayla said in a scandalous voice.

"Pity! But I am going to see," Daya said in a mischievous voice. And she disappeared.

Ayla didn't know what to make of the tree spirit. Were all tree spirits like Daya?

"Daya! What in Beliar's name do you think you are doing?" Ayla heard Rhobart shout.

Moments later, Daya reappeared next to Ayla.

"The ogre caught me staring. But I did see his dick! Should I tell you about it?

"No!"

Daya put her index finger in the air and pointed from her fingertip and then lower, "He has a metallic bar in the head of his dick."

Rhobart, who got out of the pool, grabbed his trousers, put them on, and walked over to where the women were sitting. He was furious.

"Ayla was curious about your dick!" Daya said before disappearing.