Chapter 1422 — Worth the Wait
Blade of Dawn · Page 2 of 5
"Yes, you crossed this very bridge to come home before, Berna," the tall huntress said, glancing back at her childhood companion who had been gone for so many years and had only recently suddenly returned home. To this day, Berna had still never told her former friends what she had truly experienced all these years—yet from those few scattered words and her current strange appearance alone, the huntress knew it must have been a arduous journey. "So you really don't plan to just stay here? You finally made it home..."
"...I did consider it, but there is somewhere I must go," Berna said with a gentle shake of her head. "I have already seen my mentor, and I have seen my friends. They are all doing well now, and they know I am doing well too. I think that is enough—this forest is my homeland, but I no longer belong here."
"Is it because of your... body?" The huntress frowned slightly, looking at Berna's rune-covered form. "I noticed your body occasionally runs an abnormal high fever, and you don't seem quite suited to the food back home... Is this body unstable? Or do those runes place great strain on you?"
"That is part of the reason, but the greater reason... is that I truly do need to return to the Sorin Great Tree," Berna said with a laugh. "At the very least, I have to bring these Sorin Wardens back—they were 'borrowed' from Cecil to the Silver Empire's army. Once General Lomarr has completed the handover preparations, these reinforcements will certainly return to their homeland, and I, as their 'commander,' naturally have to go with them."
"Then after you deliver them back, you can still come back..." the huntress said at once, but then suddenly sighed and shook her head with a helpless smile. "All right, since this is your decision, it seems there must be someone or something at the Sorin Great Tree that you care about. Knowing your character, you must have already made up your mind. So then—you'll be living in the north from now on?"
Berna raised her arm and looked at the faintly glowing runes upon it: "I suppose so. After all, this body of mine really is better suited to the northern environment now."
At this, she suddenly smiled and looked at her friend beside her: "But you don't need to make that face, Vi. Have you forgotten? The wasteland is no longer an impassable dead zone, and the north and south of the continent are no longer as distant as two separate worlds. I hear the three great empires will soon begin building two arcane-energy railways running east-west and north-south through the wasteland, using the current barrier walls as their foundation. And in the future there will even be direct air 'flights' connecting Cecil and the Silver Empire—then you can come find me! I want to take you to the highest observation deck of the Sorin Great Tree to see the sunrise over the Holy Spirit Plains.
"That is the most magnificent sight I have seen in my life—even more beautiful than the dawn in the forests of my homeland. I can also take you 'exploring' in the Dark Mountains; it's practically becoming a tourist attraction now. Or we could go see the snow mountains and glaciers of the Northern Marches? I haven't been there, but I hear the scenery around Winterhold is especially beautiful, and you can catch seals near Northport... Have you ever seen a seal? The dragons of the north are especially good at roasting seals! I know several dragon friends..."