In the rime forest more than sixty years ago, the squad of the Temple Knights braved the wind and snow to rush all night, and when the sky was dark, the snow slowly diminished.

Even if they were slowed down by the wind and snow, it was time to walk to the Shiva River... but they were still spinning in the rime forest. Everyone can see that the way they walk is different from when they came.

The temple knights were not good at jungle operations, let alone in the snowy night and early morning. The dense woods obscured the view, the sky was so dark, the knights completely deviated from the correct route, and they could not even distinguish the north, south, east and west. When they came, they brought a guide, but the guide died in the mage tower.

You didn't even bring a compass, and you didn't give me time to get a compass... Burris shrank in the prison car, sighing and exhaling a cloud of white breath.

Even without tools, Burris has a way to tell the direction. But the knight asked him not to cast spells at any time, so he couldn't help. Burris was not deliberately angry, after all, getting lost is not good for him, he really didn't dare to disobey orders. He is afraid of the suffering of flesh and blood, and even more afraid of being disabled because of it...

Although he can't cast spells, he can take the initiative to give some verbal suggestions. After all, he knows this land better than the knights. The ice barbarian can walk out of the woods with his eyes closed. Burris can't reach this level, but he can sense the magical fluctuations in the air and help the knights avoid the direction where monsters may be lurking.

They succeeded in avoiding some monsters, but they were found by others.

First, the scouts discovered the anomaly: some creatures surrounded from far and near, surrounded from both sides, and rushed to the front of the team. This is obviously not a golem, let alone a beast. The beast will launch a surprise attack directly from behind.

As soon as he reported the news to the leader of the detachment, a terrifying battle roar broke out in the woods in front of the team. A large group of Frost Plains barbarians charged from the front.

This group of people is tall and strong, but the weapons in their hands are quite simple. The best is an axe, more hoes and simple short spears, and some people have shovels, iron pots, wooden sticks...

At first the knights were taken aback. Those who were too late to mount were knocked to the ground, but the experienced soldiers would not be defeated by such a rough assault. They quickly reorganized their formation and began a counterattack.

In the face of long swords, chain hammers, and brave horses, the aborigines with farm tools in their hands and wearing animal skins are not opponents at all. The barbarians were pushed back a little, and confronted the knights angrily. The leader of the detachment thought that these people would flee when they were disadvantaged, but they did not back down.

The knights have heard a little about the aboriginal people living on the north bank of the Shiva River: they are a brave hunter people, and they have been ruled like livestock ever since Yrill settled on the frost. They have their own code of conduct. For example, sneak attacks from behind can only be used on animals when hunting, and they must attack human opponents head-on, otherwise it is a symbol of dishonor. So just now they gave up the fan-shaped encirclement in the rear and had to attack from the front.

"What is that mage talking about?" The commander turned his head.

Burris leaned on the side of the prison car and shouted loudly. The noise was too loud just now and no one heard it. Now the knights could understand that he was shouting some strange pronunciation.

At first, the leader of the detachment thought it was a spell, and the knight from the riverside village quietly told him that this was a vernacular on the ice field, similar to the dialect on the south bank of the Shiva River, but it was not the same.

A tallest barbarian stood up, glanced at the knights through gritted teeth, and said something. Then, a small woman emerged from the barbarian, and translated the man's words in common language with a little accent: "The mage said, we should talk, and we should use a language that everyone understands, then let's talk."

The leader of the detachment bowed to salute the barbarian women, and then looked at the tall leader: "We executed Yylil. This should be good news for you."

The woman continued to translate for both parties: "Of course, we are very happy that he died." She pointed to the prison car, "Now, you let him go, hand it to us, and we leave immediately."

"You attacked us for him?" The leader of the detachment looked back at Burris, "I understand, because he is the apprentice of Yrel? You can rest assured that we won't let him run away. He can't hurt him anymore. It’s not for you. I can’t give him to you. He is our prisoner. We will take him to the North Star City for trial."

This passage is a bit long, and the woman has to break it into many short sentences to tell the leader. After listening, the chief shook his head vigorously, his tone was very excited, his eyes seemed to burst into flames.

The woman was more restrained in translating: "You misunderstood. We are not going to kill the mage, he is our friend. You can't catch him."

The knights looked at each other in surprise. The woman looked at the prison car: "Only he smuggled food and medicine for us. Only he was kind to us. He killed my sister..."

"He killed your sister? Is this good for you?" The leader of the detachment suspected that there was a problem with the woman's brain.

"If he doesn't kill her, she will become the mother of monsters!" The woman yelled, "Monsters will grow in her belly, torturing her for months, and then tearing her apart and crawling out! She is equally dead! "

At this time, the barbarians shouted. What they yelled out were all fragmentary short sentences. The women kept translating for them. It sounded a little messy: "He is a friend. He taught us to grow vegetables. Illil is going to die. He can't die. Give him to us, friend, no Blame you, don’t blame you for that thing, you don’t go to the North Star City, we only want him, you will hurt him, let him go, let go the mage, not a prisoner, he goes to other places, he helps us, we help He, fight for friends..."

They are getting more and more excited, and everyone is murderous, looking like they are about to rush to death at any time. The leader of the detachment tried to talk to them, but the woman stopped translating for him, and the barbarians drew closer, and the knights held up their swords and shields again.

Suddenly, the barbarians stopped roaring. Burris yelled something, his voice was weak and a little hoarse, but they all fell silent immediately.

"Axia," Burris said to the woman, "It's okay, you can leave. I'm willing to go with them."

A woman named Axia waved the small short spear in her hand excitedly: "No! They treat you as a prisoner! We want to save you!"

"I will be fine," the mage comforted. "They are going to take me to a warmer city. You see, I did work for Iriel, and I am indeed a criminal. Axia, before you join Willa Before the tribe, you stole a lot of moose from them. Then what did Willa do to you?"

Axia looked at the tall leader, probably he was the "Wila". "He... agreed to join me in his clan," Axia replied, "but I want to be a prisoner first. I want to be observed until they see that they trust me."

"Now I am like this too," Burris said. "I also have to be observed first and be a prisoner first. When those people trust me, I will be free. Axia, don't worry, I will come back to see you in the future. "

Willa couldn't understand, and was a little anxious, Axia quickly translated for him. After listening, he looked at Burris with a painful expression, and asked a bunch of gurgling questions, and the people around him also babbled. Burris could understand without an interpreter, but he had to answer in lingua franca, lest the knights think he was playing a secret signal.

"When I come back, I will bring you the antifreeze stone!" The mage shouted loudly to ensure that everyone could hear it, "You put it in a water bag, and the water won't freeze when it's cold. I will also bring you magic flints that can make fires quickly, and I promise you will each have one! What else do you want? Tell me, I will remember! When I come back, I will be very Great Master, I have brought you many gifts..."

Axia translated his words. After listening, the barbarians shook their heads and started talking non-stop. Judging from their facial expressions, they didn't care about the gifts, they were just anxious to know when the mage would return. After a while, everyone's voice weakened, and now only the leader Willa was still talking. As he spoke, tears filled the corner of the brawny man's eyes.

Burris said: "It will take a long time for me to come back to see you. I need a lot of time... You have to be patient and take care. Although there are no white towers on the ice sheet, there are still many dangers left, so be careful."

After listening to Axia's translation, the chief Willa gave a soft command. The barbarians retreated slowly, making way for the Cavaliers.

The clansmen all escaped into the jungle silently, only Axia was still standing by the roadside, looking at the prison car, looking at the tired knights.

"Are you going to cross the river? Shiva River?" Axia shouted from behind the team. The knight walking at the back looked back at her, but didn't speak up.

Before running into the forest, she finally exhorted: "Mage! You must protect them! Beware of the Shiva River!"

Burris knew what she meant, but the knights looked blank.

==========================

Now, Burris has returned to the tower of the mountain of no return, back to daily research life.

On this day, while searching for old notes, he accidentally found a red leather cord. A white stone the size of a nail is tied to the leather cord, and the symbol of "Falcon" is engraved on the stone.

This is one of the gifts given to him by the northern aborigines. It is said that it can make the wearer's ears and eyes clear, make his intuition precise, and can foresee all the upcoming dangers.

Burris left the Frostfield at the age of twenty and returned for the first time when he was approaching forty.

At that time, he had already joined the Austrian Law Federation, taught in Hilda for a few years, and formed a magic material business guild with several business partners... In addition to these, he was also indispensable in the operation of the gem forest. Few people with merit, two countries and a free city-state are willing to be his backing, so the Northern Star City, which has always hated him, will no longer trouble him.

During that journey, he took several heavy wooden boxes, filled with two carriages, and hired a few mercenaries to help guard and **** the goods. It was summer, and there was no ice on the Shiva River. When crossing the river by boat, the mercenaries said to him worriedly: Master Master, your business is not easy to do. The north of Shiva River is the territory of the Frost Plains Barbarians. Now, those people are poor and violent, and no one knows what they can do.

When they actually met the Frost Plains, the mercenaries were surprised by the scene before them: the barbarian warriors lined up in two groups and opened the way for Burris’s carriage like welcoming guests; after arriving at their tribal quarters Everyone of the barbarian children would ask "Good day" in lingua franca; a fat middle-aged woman was surrounded by everyone and walked up, holding Burris's hand and laughing and crying... Finally, they came to the biggest In his tent, the old chief who broke his leg because of hunting hugged the mage with tears in his eyes...

Their friend came back, and he really became a very powerful mage, and he really brought them a lot of gifts.

Burris arrived there in the afternoon. He stayed for one night and returned to the south bank of the river with the mercenaries early the next morning. Before leaving, the barbarians also gave him many gifts, such as pickled dried meat and preserved wild fruits, a whole piece of animal skin with good gloss, and some small souvenirs made by ordinary people.

Thinking about it today, Burris felt a little sorry for those old friends. He actually didn’t like the taste of the Frost Plains, so the food they sent was basically given to mercenaries; most of the animal skins and bone crafts they sent were also missing...After all, so many years have passed, Burris’s The residence has changed many times.

Unexpectedly, there were still some small things left, such as this "Falcon" pendant that blessed people to avoid danger. Burris stared at it and couldn't help but fall into the memory of the north.

As Chief Willa got older, his brain gradually became unusable. Sometimes he didn't even recognize his wife and children, but he still remembered the "magic friend" taken away by the knights...the petite and agile back then. Later, Xia became fat and powerful, and with his clever mind he became the chief's right-hand man...

Burris' memory was interrupted by a bark. Count Hrolf stood outside the study, wagging his tail, tilting his head, looking at Burris eagerly, his little paw making a rattling noise.

Count Hrolf is really smart. He was only a few months old, and he already knew that he could not enter the mage's study casually. Unless Burris goes out, or tells it to come in, otherwise it won't take a single step.

"Why don't you go play with Lord Lott, where is he?" Burris walked over and touched Earl Herrolf. The physique of this dog is larger than a puppy of the same breed and age, and it is covered with soft fur. The covered muscles are also very strong.

The puppy turned and twisted his **** to the floating dish, looking back at Burris every few steps. Burris knew that this was to follow by himself, so he put the "Falcon" leather cord casually on his body, and followed the dog onto the floating dish.

When he reached the floor of the living room, Count Herrolf cleverly grabbed the ground and stopped the floating dish. Burris entered the corridor with it and found an abrupt fragrance permeating the entire floor.

The door of the lounge was closed tightly, and Count Hrolf sat by the door cleverly and called twice like a secret signal.

The blessing of the "Falcon" pendant seemed to be a little efficacious—Burris suddenly had a very bad premonition.