Disclaimer: Not mine.

The four acquaintances sat around a table in a poorly lit pub, people milling by and about with no rhythm around them. Xak sat upright with a cup of wine nearly untouched in front of him as he waited for something to happen, while Blotch guzzled his second glass of ale and belched loudly. Tarin sat in a withdrawn state, staring at the black mage across from him, who sipped calmly from his own cup of wine before saying "I know you all have questions, and I will answer what I can."

For a moment there was silence, until finally Tarin said "Alright, I have no idea why I'm here or what I should be doing, or what cruel joke of fate has me sitting with people like you."

Xak gave the dark haired man a curious look while Blotch barked indignantly before being silenced by a hand from Zane, who answered "You are here because fate brought you here. Normally destiny allows you to reach its ends on your own, but circumstances have forced its hand."

"Okay," Tarin replied, "but I'd say that raises more questions than it answers."

Letting out an irritated breath, the black mage said "The orb, thief, the orb you have is what brought you here."

Tarin's eyes widened as Xak raised an eyebrow and Blotch looked back and forth between them, saying "Thief? You're a thief?"

"Not so loud," the dark haired man hissed, looking around nervously to see if anyone overheard.

The white mage looked intently at the man beside him for a moment before quietly asking "Have you stolen anything from us?"

Tarin looked at him curiously and answered "No. In fact I haven't taken anything since I got here."

"And we're just supposed to believe you?" Blotch growled, leaning forward threateningly.

Before the thief could respond, Xak said "Yes, we are."

Confused, the warrior looked at the white mage saying "Uh, we are?"

"I have a talent for finding the truth," Xak said politely, "and unless he could fool royal spymasters, he is not lying."

"Well," Blotch said, flustered, as he scratched his head, "what if he could fool royal spymasters?"

"Then the orb would not have chosen him," Zane said plainly.

The other three returned their attention to the black mage as he placed his now empty wine cup back on the table, saying "There is a prophecy, written by a man named Lukahn, stating that when the world is in turmoil and the elements rage against nature, four warriors of light will appear, each holding an orb to restore balance to the elements."

"Yeah, I know that story," Blotch said, causing Zane's eyes to widen beneath his hat, "but the further breakdown says that each of them will be tested first, to ensure that they are the warriors of the prophecy. I don't know about you, but I haven't faced any tests yet."

"How do you know of this?" Zane asked simply.

Shrugging, the warrior replied "I'm from Crescent Lake."

The black mage looked as if that didn't answer his question at all, but Xak replied "Ah. That explains it."

Zane looked back and forth between them before asking "Explains what?"

Xak finally took a second drink of his wine while Blotch answered "Lukahn lives there. He's the town elder."

Nodding his satisfaction, the black mage continued, "I see. Regardless, I believe that we are the 'Light Warriors' Lukahn spoke of."

Tarin scoffed a laugh before taking a drink from his mead causing the white mage beside him to ask "You disagree?"

Replacing his flagon on the table, the black haired man said "You three, maybe, but like you said, I'm a thief. How does a common cutpurse factor in to your prophecy?"

For a moment Zane remained silent as the other three looked at him, before reaching behind him to another table and taking two empty wine cups and placing them upside down in front of him, and upturned his own. Pulling out a small piece of amber, he placed it beneath the middle cup and instructed the three of them "Keep your eye on the stone."

The black mage moved the cups rapidly around in front of him for a moment, and when he stopped, he looked at Blotch and asked "Where is the stone?"

Confused, the warrior said "Middle cup."

Zane lifted the cup to reveal it was empty, then looked at Xak, and asked him the same thing. The white mage raised an eyebrow, and pointed to the cup at Zane's left, which he lifted to reveal that nothing was there, then asked "So where is the stone, Tarin?"

"That's not fair," Blotch said, "There's only one left!"

But the thief only chuckled and said "In your left palm."

The warrior and the healer looked at Zane as he held up his left hand, the piece of amber tucked in his palm.

After a moment, Blotch said "Okay, I'm confused."

Replacing the stone in his robes, the black mage explained "I am very intelligent. 'Gifted' is the word most often used. But for all my intellect, I couldn't have caught that."

"So?" Blotch prodded.

"So you have your strength and skill with a blade, I have my intellect and black magic, Xak has wisdom and healing abilities. But Tarin provides us with stealth and cunning."

Blotch looked at Tarin again, this time with a mild appreciation. The thief in turn looked at each of the mages in turn, the black impassive, the white simply smiling. Shaking his head, the cutpurse said "Whoa, ho, wait a minute, you all actually believe I'm supposed to be one of these 'Light Warriors?'"

"Yes," Xak said politely "And we are not alone. The orb you carry believes so as well, apparently."

Tarin stared in disbelief for a moment before sighing in bewildered resignation, saying "Well all right, then. So what do Light Warriors do?"

"Yeah," Blotch spoke up, "those funny feelings that got me to come here aren't there anymore. How do we know what to do?"

"One would reason," the white mage offered, "that our tests would be the next course of action, and that discovering them would be part of the test."

"Well, that's helpful," the thief said sarcastically.

"No matter," Zane said, gathering the attention of the others, "I can't say which of us is to be tested, but I believe our first trial is obvious enough. Yesterday, Sara, first born of Coneria and crown-princess to the throne was kidnapped. Today we all came together. Tomorrow we rescue her."

"Hold on," Blotch said, "Light Warriors or not, why would you need us? I mean, you're probably powerful enough to take the elements back yourself, so why all this?"

"Knowledgeable yes," Zane said, "powerful no. Though I know every spell a Black Mage can learn, I possess absolutely no practical experience."

"Yeah, but if you know every spell," Blotch continued, "can't you just whip up some mega, death, destroy-you-knaves spell and be done with it?"

"No," Xak answered, "He said he knows every spell a Black Mage can, not every black magic spell."

"What's the difference!" Blotch exclaimed, frustrated.

"Mages are only allowed to learn spells up to a certain power level," Zane said, "Only wizards may learn the most powerful of magicks, and I am no Wizard."

"Well, okay," Blotch said, slightly embarrassed, "But even a mage can rescue a princess if they have powerful enough spells, right?"

"No," Tarin said, "it requires a strong will to cast spells, and it saps their energy. Think of their magic like a well. As one becomes more experienced, his well gets deeper, and his magic stronger. But if he has no experience, he can cast one spell of low power and that's about it."

For the second time, Zane showed surprise. Xak's jaw slackened, and he asked "How do you know that?"

Smiling arrogantly, the thief replied "Cunning."

After a moment of silence, Blotch stood and said "Whelp, it's getting late, and we've got quite the task ahead of us tomorrow. You know how to find her, right?"

Zane nodded his affirmation, and the warrior nodded his satisfaction. Placing a coin on the table for his drink, he said "I'm gonna go pick up a sword and then I'm gonna hit the hay. We'll meet at the gates at dawn." turned and walked out the door.

The other three looked at each other and rose. Voicing their farewells, the men split off into different directions, Any doubts they had kept in an isolated moment in Time.