That hurts—I got blown away!
Hehehe! All I can do is hope for everyone's support, so let's explode our way back!
Pighead is home taking care of the kids today—sob!
The night was pitch-black, the sky thick with storm clouds, and huge, heavy raindrops came crashing down.
The frigid wind from the Odin Icefield howled in, carrying wave after wave of bone-piercing chill. Once autumn arrived in the northern territories of the Gallic Empire, they would often suffer the onslaught of icefield storms; sometimes, blizzards even crossed the sea. Gale winds whipped the cold rain against the dense Black Pine Forest. Massive pines swayed in the wind, like the waving arms of countless evil ghosts.
In such atrocious weather, in such a desolate wilderness, no one should have been here.
Yet an ornate four-wheeled carriage was fleeing miserably down a woodland path, surrounded by dozens of guards. A levitation magic array had been engraved onto the carriage, reducing its weight to nearly nothing. Faint black flames flickered over the twin horns of the three black steeds' heads. Snorting hot breath, they dragged the weightless carriage forward at a wild gallop, swift as the wind.
The faint sound of hooves came from behind, while shrill whistles rang out without pause from the dense Black Pine Forest all around them.
Wrapped in a black cloak, Black Rose Lady Ross gripped a strangely shaped serpent-bladed sword, her face deathly pale as she peered anxiously back through a crack in the carriage window. Far in the distance behind them, a glow of fire could vaguely be seen rising. The pursuers had lit their torches and were rapidly closing in.
The pursuers alone would have been bad enough. What drove Lady Ross to despair were the elusive assassins lurking in the Black Pine Forest.