The Dragon and the Diary

The streets were shrouded in mist.

The girl from the candle shop slowly made her way forward, clutching a bundle of tallow candles. Rose Avenue in the Gray Capital was stirring back to life beneath the first rays of dawn. The owner of the general store, Mapelli, was opening the shop when he saw the girl and greeted her:

"Up so early, Sethi?"

"Good morning, Mr. Mapelli!" Sethi replied with a sweet smile. "The palace was in a hurry for these, so I had to come early."

"I saw you working late yesterday, too. Isn't this too hard on you?"

"Ah, my father's legs aren't very mobile. As his daughter, it's only right that I do this."

"Old Chris is truly blessed to have such a good daughter." The general store owner grumbled indignantly, "Unlike that useless son of mine."

The girl hugged the candles and smiled with pursed lips. Just as she was about to reply, a sudden burst of hoofbeats rang out on the avenue leading to Saint Conti Palace, like a torrential downpour. Everyone instinctively fell silent, and pedestrians moved to either side of the street. Sethi stood among the crowd with the candles in her arms, frowning as she looked toward the avenue's southern end—where the mist began to churn.

A pitch-black carriage appeared like a ghost at the end of the road. Dozens of knights in gray cloaks thundered past like a whirlwind, clearing the way for it. The warhorses beneath them were black as ink, while the armor on their bodies seemed to burn like flames.

The Grey Knights of the Temple of Flames.

Only after the carriage slowly passed did the people begin discussing it again.

"Those are people from the Kirk Family." General store owner Mapelli watched the carriage disappear, then turned