At sunrise, the two came to a valley in the heart of the Central Mountains.

They saw dozens of simple huts scattered along the banks of the valley stream, surrounded by a hedge of bushes, which looked like a small village.

"Stop, who are you?"

A slightly childish voice came from behind them, and Constantine turned back to see a handsome young boy with a somewhat immature face standing beside him, wearing a sweater and holding a hunting fork in one hand, with a wary expression.

Seeing this innocent face, Constantine's heart throbbed for no reason, and his intuition told him that he had found his destination.

"Little one, is there anyone living in this neighborhood?" the young man asked patiently, his expression gentle.

The little boy opened his mouth, but quickly closed it again.

"Well, little one, help me inform the people of the village that they may come to me. Constantine patted the boy on the shoulder. "Let's just say, I'm from the Golden Clover Chamber of Commerce. ”

At the last words, the wariness in the little boy's eyes subsided a little, and he hurried towards the valley, running as fast as he could.

Looking at the little boy's back, Roland pondered, "It seems that the rebels are indeed in this vicinity, but what is the matter with this little boy? Could it be the aborigines living in the Central Mountains?"

Constantine shook his head, "The villagers of the Central Mountains don't wear Winterfell-style sweaters. ”

As soon as the words fell, from the direction of the valley, several adults came, led by a man with a beard and an ax on his shoulder, and several people behind him were all dressed in hunting clothes.

"This is the Valley of the Sunset, and we are the villagers who have lived in the Central Mountains for generations, Your Excellency the Magician, if you are lost travelers, I advise you to go back now. ”

The bearded man glanced at Constantine and Roland, saw the crystal staff in Constantine's hand, and said politely.

Obviously, he was much more cautious than the little boy just now, and did not believe Constantine's words in the first place.

"You are from the past of Winterfell. Constantine looked carefully at the bearded man's face and spoke.

The bearded man's face changed slightly, and several of the men behind him clenched the scimitars and forks in their hands that looked like they were used for hunting.

Constantine turned a blind eye to this, and he took the ring that Brillouin had given him from his pocket and handed it to the bearded man.

Seeing the ring engraved with the snow coat of arms, all the caution and vigilance on the bearded man's face disappeared without a trace, leaving only a face full of surprise, "This is ......"

"This is the ring that Vice President Brillouin gave me, and now, you should take my word for it. Constantine said lightly, "Take me to your leader." ”

With Blizzard's mage's ring as a token, the bearded man no longer had any suspicions, and his face became respectful, "Your Excellency the Magician, follow me." ”

As he walked along the stone path in the valley, Constantine asked, "How many of you still have there?"

Hearing this, a bitter expression appeared on the bearded man's face: "There are less than nine hundred people with combat effectiveness, and most of them are the garrisons and knights who escaped from Winterfell back then, and I won't tell you the truth, I am one of the officers of the Winterfell City Defense Army back then." ”

"After the defeat in that battle four years ago, we lost thousands of our brothers, and the rest have fled here. ”

"If it weren't for the Chamber of Commerce's regular annual provision of food and clothing, we wouldn't have been able to settle down and hide in the Central Mountain Range. ”

After a brief exchange, Constantine had a general understanding of the current situation of the rebels, and the last 800 people who survived were the most elite troops in Winterfell that year, and they were also the most loyal to the old principality.

In order to carry out the pride of the Winter people and their own mission, they have resisted until now without regrets.

If it weren't for the catastrophe back then, they should have lived as happily ever after as ordinary people at this moment.

Through the mountain paths, the bearded man led Constantine and Roland to the depths of the Valley of the Sunset.

Here, Constantine saw another world.

The houses are neatly arranged, and the valley is surrounded by patches of farmland, where dozens of farmers work and harvest the grain harvested in the fall

Wooden mills were erected on the open flat ground, and men could be seen grinding wheat, women erecting wooden poles and ropes to dry their clothes in sunny areas, and children stepping on the gravel by the valley stream, playing happily.

But on the surface, it looks like a peaceful and beautiful mountain village.

"What you see before you are the people of Azeroya who are unwilling to submit to the rule of the dragon lance. "At first, the leader led them to revolt against the oppression of the Dragonlancers, but after repeated defeats, we had to leave our homeland and hide in the central mountains. ”

As they passed through the village, many people turned around and looked at Constantine in the mage costume with curious eyes, as well as Roland beside him, pointing from time to time, and most of the common people of Azeroa did not have the opportunity to witness a mage on weekdays, so they naturally felt strange.

Constantine's warm smile on his face made many children feel affectionate to him.

The girls' eyes fell more on the handsome Roland, whose appearance was undoubtedly extremely lethal to a woman of any age.

"The valley of the sunset is a low-lying and pleasant climate, and because the mountains block the cold air, it should be a little later in winter than in the plains beyond the mountains, so it's no wonder you choose this place to stay. ”

Constantine commented as he observed, and while the bearded man was surprised, his evaluation of the young mage rose another level in his heart.

......

The blade of the sword sliced lightly through the weathered stone, adding another vertical line to the notched rock.

Dense vertical lines were carved on it, and they were all traces of sharp sword strokes, and there were more than a thousand in total.

The man lowered his sword and stood on the edge of the rock, stunned, looking at the more than a thousand scratches on it.

Another day passed.

Every morning, he would habitually come to this rock and inscribe the passage of time with his sword.

More than a thousand days and nights have passed in a flash, and the man has lost count of how many times he tossed and turned and couldn't sleep during these days.

After years of bloody battles, his blade was stained with the blood of countless dragon lance soldiers, and it was as hot as flames.

But in the end, it was always bitter despair, and the familiar comrades-in-arms fell one after another, while the banner of the Silver Dragon Family still fluttered coldly at the head of Sunset City.

Failure after failure, burned out in the fire of blood, not only countless fresh lives, but also his entire youth and all his passion.

"I'm sorry, Teacher, I'm not you, and I don't have the ability to use [Twilight]. The man smiled bitterly, "That's all I can do, please forgive me." ”

His mind went back twelve years ago, on that nightmarish night, standing on a snowy field and witnessing Winterfell, the city he had sworn to protect all his life reduced to ruins in the light.

Perhaps, it must have ended that night!, the man thought wordlessly.

At this moment, a voice came into his ears, "Chief, Your Excellency Brillouin has sent someone. ”

The man recognized the bearded voice, he was stunned, then turned around and saw his subordinate walking towards the hillside with two young men.

One of them seemed to be a magician, and the other was a handsome knight, and the magic aura on his body was very flat, but for some reason, the man instinctively felt a trace of unease.

The young mage raised his head and looked at the man above the hillside, with a warm smile on his face: "Brother Rhaeggar, long time no see. ”

The man's pupils shrank, and he couldn't help but exclaim: "Young Master Constantine!"