Alfheim

XIV. The champions

Back at Timothy's cottage we opened the scroll in the living room. Sadly it didn't give us a lot of information about what we were supposed to do. The scroll said:

Follow the winds through the woods and those who are worthy will gain the knowledge he or she seeks

"Pretty vague if you ask me," I say while analyzing the scroll hoping more words will appear.
"No wonder the Queen wanted us to be her champions. The quest is impossible, so we're doomed to fail," Timothy says and sighs.
"Where did your optimism go?" I say teasing him.
Timothy sighs again.
"We're not gonna die. We'll figure something out,"I say trying to cheer him up.

To be honest. I don't have a great feeling about this quest either, but someone's gotta be optimistic right? I still don't know much about Ivy's backstory. The only thing I know is that she has a friend who lives in the other realm and I think Timothy is someone I can trust. I've got the find a way back home, so I don't have to deal with this scary stuff.

"What do you want to eat for lunch?" I say while walking towards the kitchen. (It's an open kitchen by the way)
"How can you think about food in this situation?" Timothy says with a smile on his face.
"We gotta eat to keep our spirits up, right?"
I say with a wink.
"That's true. Do you know how the stove works?" he asks.

'Of course,' I say while looking at the stove.

Interesting. It looks exactly like the stoves we have back home except the symbols are a little different.

'To your left you can get some ingredients from the cold meta,' Timothy says while pointing to the bronze large square on the left side of the kitchen.

I open the square and realize it's a fridge. The fridge is packed. I see all kinds of interesting ingredients. I see strange looking roots, fruits and vegetables and so much more. I look for some eggs and milk (or something that resembles that). Timothy already had some bread lying around in one of the kitchen cabinet, so it was pretty convenient to make some french toast.

After I finished making the toast I turned off the stove and plated the toast. I walked towards Timothy on the sofa and presented it to him.

'Ta da, French toast!' I say with a big smile on my face.

I give him his plate.

'French toast? What does that mean?' he asks with a confused face.

'It's the name of this dish,' I say to give him the most simple explanation of the words.

'I see,' he says while smelling the toast. He cuts a piece and puts it in his mouth. His eyes lit up.

'This is delicious!' he shouts while cutting another piece. 'Where did you learn the make this?"

His response made me so happy I got carried away and accidentally answered: 'My mom.'

"Gwenevere taught you?" Timothy says while questioning my answer.
I quickly change the subject.
"So, tell me about the feast. Why is there gonna be a feast tonight?" I ask him.
"You don't remember ?" he asks.
I nod.
He thinks for a moment and explains it to me.
After the war between the realms a magical creature brought us a prophecy every two years. Some say it was a message from our late king Heronimus. The prophecy is about uniting the realms and making Alfheim one of the strongest lands in the world. So every two years both realms decide to select a team of champions and send them on the quest to fulfill the prophecy. Since they see the prophecy as a way to expand their power, you could call it a competition between the Aestas champions and the Hiems champions. They have decided that the party that fulfills the prophecy first will obtain power to reign over the whole kingdom. Over the years Queen Gwendolyn had sent prisoners as her champions with no success. Many died. Last time each realm had one survivor left. Both came back empty-handed both. The survivors were attacked the day after their arrival.
"What? Really?"I ask in shock.
"So that's why I think there's no way we're gonna make it, unless we flee," Timothy suggests.
"Then we will do that, right?" I suggest.
"Impossible. She'll probably sent guards or spies to watch our every move," Timothy says.

*We hear a knock on the door*

"Champions, you are summoned by the Queen. Her majesty wants you to head to the North wing to prepare for the- ," a female voice says.
Why was the woman silenced?
I look at Timothy. Timothy quickly grabs a knife from the kitchen and tells me to slowly open the door. He follows me to the door and hides behind me for a sneak attack.

I slowly open the door and see a man dressed in black. He grins. "Well hello."