The road was longer than Liebe expected.
He had been walking for hours.
The sun climbed high, then slowly began to fall.
The sky turned amber.
His legs ached.
His throat was dry.
But he kept moving.
The road wasn’t empty.
Carts passed by.
Merchants in a hurry.
Travelers with their heads down.
Once — a group of soldiers.
They didn’t even glance at him.
Liebe watched them until they disappeared around the bend.
Knights…?
Or just guards…?
He didn’t approach them.
Not yet.
Something held him back.
Around midday — a small settlement.
Barely a dozen houses.
A well.
An old woman selling bread from a wooden tray.
Liebe stopped.
His stomach answered before he could think.
He reached into his pocket.
One coin.
Found in the ashes.
He didn’t even remember picking it up.
“…How much for one piece?”
The old woman looked at him.
His torn clothes.
Dirty hands.
Empty eyes.
She said nothing.
Just handed him two pieces — and turned away.
Liebe stood there for a moment.
“…Thank you.”
But her shoulders softened.
Just slightly.
He walked on.
Eating slowly.
Making it last.
By evening — a crossroads.
Three paths.
No signs.
Liebe stood in the middle and looked at each one.
The first curved into shadowed hills.
The second vanished into thick fog.
The third—
Lights.
Faint.
Distant.
Barely there.
But real.
That has to be it…
He chose without hesitation.
Night came fast.
The lights on the horizon didn’t seem to get any closer.
Darkness pressed in from both sides.
The forest sounds made his skin crawl.
He gripped the wooden sword tighter.
Even knowing how little it mattered.
Orvin always said — fear isn’t the enemy.
Giving in to it is.
He kept walking.
Somewhere deep into the night — his legs gave out.
He sat down against an old stone marker at the edge of the road.
His eyes closed on their own.
Just for a moment…
He dreamed of the village.
Not burning.
The smell of bread from the baker’s window.
Orvin’s voice grumbling about his footwork.
Children running between the houses.
Normal.
Simple.
Gone.
He woke before dawn.
Cold.
Stiff.
But it was enough.
Liebe stood up.
Looked ahead.
The lights were closer now.
Much closer.
And in the grey of early morning — he saw them.
Walls.
Towers.
Something vast and ancient rising against the pale sky.
Moniyan.
His breath caught.
He had known this moment was coming.
Had been walking toward it for days.
But seeing it — real, solid, enormous —
Something shifted inside him.
Not fear.
Not excitement either.
Something quieter.
Resolve.
Liebe tightened his grip on the wooden sword.
Exhaled slowly.
And took the next step.
Then another.
The city grew with every stride.
And deep within him — that light pulsed once.
Quietly.
As if to say —
You’re almost there.