In the deep autumn morning, Kaerowel Mountain, adjacent to Leyndell, was shrouded in a thin mist. This hill lay only thirty li from Leyndell's outer city, so from its several-hundred-meter-high summit, one could overlook much of the royal capital.
A burst of urgent hoofbeats shattered the morning silence as a large party raced toward the mountaintop, mingled with several low wolf howls.
Before long, numerous knights clad in silver armor emerged from the mist. Most wore azure cloaks embroidered with silver-white star-and-moon emblems—the crest of the Carian royal family.
The party moved swiftly and soon stopped on a meadow near the summit. The knights guarding the front then moved aside, revealing several figures at the center.
The leading knight rode a towering white Dragonscale Horse. His armor was adorned with gemstones that gleamed like stars, while an azure glintstone embedded in the crossguard of the sword at his waist gave off strands of dim starlight.
This attire, which perfectly blended the styles of knight and sorcerer, marked him as a Carian Knight. Unlike the other knights of the Carian royal family, these powerful knights who bore Caria's name directly were personally selected by generations of Carian kings. Though their numbers had never exceeded twenty, they had always symbolized the dynasty's greatest military strength.
The knight's name was Moongrum, the first and strongest of the twelve Carian Knights, as well as the Queen of the Full Moon's sharp sword and sturdy shield.
Three still-youthful figures followed behind him. The three young demigods of Caria had not chosen the comfort of carriages, instead each riding a magnificent white wolf—these giant wolves were descendants of the red wolf that had guarded the royal family for more than a decade. Beyond their formidable physical strength and intelligence rivaling that of humans, they could even