The storm was howling all around the ship. The sailors were frantically trying to furl the sails, so that the wind wouldn't tear the mast from the deck. Thunder crashed, rain poured like a solid sheet of water. The sea tossed and turned. The crew of the Sea Wolf began to fear that they wouldn't make it.

That didn't stop them from giving me the crummy jobs. Sav'ran thought to himself.

The young cabin boy was busy scrubbing down the floor of the crew's quarters. On his hands and knees, he scrubbed, all the while trying to make sure his bucket of soapy water didn't spill over.

Some adventure he thought to himself. Six months of this. I'm getting off at the next town we dock at, home or no

He finished cleaning and went up to the top deck to empty out his bucket.

"S-s-s-s-s-sahagin!"

Another member of the crew, Jasper, crashed into Sav'ran as he ran to tell the captain. The soapy water spilled all over the steps and Sav'ran himself.

"Sahagin! We've been boarded! We're under attack!"

Sav'ran regained his footing, cursed Jasper silently, and looked out onto the deck. Sure enough, three of the fish-men had just climbed aboard the ship; one of them had bright red markings around its face and fins. Sav'ran drew his dagger and ran out to meet them.

A few members of the rest of the pirate crew had already drawn their weapons. Most had only rapiers, but the captain (below deck, at the moment) carried a saber, and bo'sun had a fine cutlass, of elven make. Sav'ran knew for a fact that it was of elven make, because it was his. They'd taken it from him when he had tried to join them. Then they'd made him the cabin boy.

The pirates weren't being very successful in fighting the sahagin. Two of them were already down, bleeding profusely, and three more had nasty scratches from the sahagins' claws. Sav'ran himself didn't dare approach them armed only with a dagger.

"Are you just gonna stand there?" Sav'ran demanded of the bo'sun, who was ordering the other pirates to attack.

"Why you impertinent little twerp!" the bo'sun said in his high, shrill voice. "I'll cut you in two and feed you to them!" And he swung down hard with the cutlass. Sav'ran nimbly dodged aside.

"If you don't know how to use that thing…" Sav'ran said, ducking as the bo'sun swung again, "then give it to someone who can!" Sav'ran slashed with his dagger at the bo'sun's right hand, and lashed out with his right foot, kicking behind the taller man's right knee. As he started to fall, Sav'ran smashed his right elbow into his face, and then locked the bo'sun's right arm under his.

"I'll take that!" Sav'ran said, prying his cutlass out of the staggered man's hands.

Properly armed, Sav'ran prepared to face the sahagin. The ship rocked forcefully, hit by another wave. The rain and wind had slackened a bit, but the waves were still a potential menace. Well he thought not as hard as fighting in the tree branches

He heard a crash from the steps down to below-deck.

"Sav'ran!" he heard the captain bellow. "Where is that blasted, no-good cabin boy!"

The captain appeared on deck, pants somewhat wet with some soap bubbles clinging to them. "What do you think you're doing!" he demanded, his one good eye gleaming.

"No time, Captain!" Sav'ran said, and charged the sahagin.

He dove between two of them, as they both slashed at him. One of them hit the other, and they started to squabble. Sav'ran wasted no time. As soon as he landed, he spun on one knee and slashed at the hamstrings of one of the sahagin. It went down hard, and its companion continued to slash at it with its claws. The one with red markings screeched something at them and they both stopped fighting each other. By this time, however, Sav'ran was already on his feet and ready for another attack.

As the sahagin turned to face him, he delivered a high feint and then a low slash at the foremost one. It fell for the trick, and was unable to protect itself as he swiftly cut open its soft underbelly. Its green and white insides spilled out onto the deck, and it collapsed. Its companion charged at him, slashing furiously. He deftly parried its claws with the cutlass, and, seeing an opening, delivered a quick slash, severing the thing's head cleanly.

The rain had stopped completely now, and the seas were beginning to calm. Confident, the other pirates began to surround and close in on the remaining sahagin. Sav'ran was no exception, and he twirled the cutlass expertly as he advanced.

The thing screeched loudly and lunged at Sav'ran. He was prepared, however, and neatly severed the creature's left hand. It shrieked madly, clutching at the stump. Then it dove over his head and back into the sea. A great cheer went up from the other pirates, and they moved to congratulate Sav'ran.

"That's enough!" the captain shouted.

"Now you're gonna get it, twerp!" the bo'sun said, an evil grin on his pockmarked face. "Takin' my sword like that…"

"Sav'ran can keep that sword from now on," the captain said, slowly approaching Sav'ran.

"But…" the bo'sun objected, "but you said…that I could keep it, because I was the bo'sun!"

"That's right, I did," the captain said, frowning. "The sword belongs to the bo'sun."

Sav'ran's heart sank. So much for heroism.

"Therefore," the captain announced, "Sav'ran is the new bo'sun!"

Sav'ran looked up in disbelief. The other pirates cheered.

"You can't do that!" the former bo'sun exclaimed.

"I'm sorry," the captain said, "did ye say something…cabin boy?"

The ex-bo'sun's face fell. "No, sir"

"Good, 'cause I'm the captain, and what I say, goes. Now, thar's a mess at the bottom of the stairs, clean it up right now!"

"Yes, sir"

"Now," the captain said, catching Sav'ran in a rough embrace with one arm, "We need to break out some rum, and have a celebration!"

The rest of the crew cheered. The clouds broke and the sun began to shine through.

It was a beautiful day.

"It's a beautiful day"

Sav'ran opened one eye and looked over at Xoria from where he lay on the comfortable sofa. She was standing near one of the large windows, observing the birds as they flew in and out of the fancy birdhouses. Teraptus, as usual, was engrossed in one of the many books from the royal library.

Xoria looked over at her two companions. "Let's go outside for awhile, what do you say?"

Sav'ran closed his eyes again. "I'm comfortable, right here, thank you"

She sighed. "Teraptus? Want to join me for a little walk in the royal gardens?"

He looked up. "We're going to be leaving soon. The bridge is almost finished, and I'd like to finish this book before we leave." He saw the sad look on her face, then decided to reconsider. "You know what? I can read outside, it is a nice day."

She smiled at him. "Let's go, then"

Teraptus marked his page with a scrap of paper, closed the book, and followed Xoria outside. Sav'ran resumed his nap.

As they walked down the hallways, they happened to hear music coming from somewhere in the royal apartments. The door to Princess Sarah's room was cracked open a bit, and the music seemed to be coming from there. Xoria put her ear to the door to listen.

"Very good, Cyrus, you've gotten much better!"

The music stopped. "Really? I…I don't know…"

"No, really! You have a talent for it! With a little more practice, you could probably get better at the lute than me!"

Xoria couldn't see into the room, but she knew Cyrus was blushing. "No…I don't think so…You're so good…"

"I've been practicing for years, though. You've only had two weeks, and you've already gotten that song down."

"But…that's the only thing I can play!" he protested.

"That's okay. Once you learn one song, others come quite easily."

There was silence.

"Come on," Sarah said, "let's go outside. It's a nice day out, and I don't know how much more time we have."

Xoria and Teraptus looked to each other and ran down the hall.

Cyrus and Sarah stepped out of the room and looked at each other.

"Did you hear something…?" he asked.

"Not really," she said.

Sav'ran once again had his nap interrupted as the king's chamberlain tapped him awake.

"Excuse me, Master Sav'ran?"

He opened his eyes reluctantly. "Yes?"

"Where are the other Light Warriors?"

"A few of them went outside, why?"

"Well, we just received word on the bridge. The are still some finishing touches that need to be made, but they are mostly decorative. The bridge is functional and safe to cross. You all may want to set out as soon as possible."

Sav'ran grunted. "All right. I'll tell the others if you don't see them before I do."

The chamberlain bowed and left the room to find the others.

Later that day, they gathered in the throne room.

"You shall set out tomorrow," the king said.

"But Father!" Sarah objected, "Can't they stay a little bit longer?"

King Ren shook his head. "I'm sorry, my dear, but they have a quest to embark on, and we mustn't keep them here, no matter how much we want to."

Tears filled her eyes, and she ran from the throne room.

"Sarah…" Cyrus started.

"Let her be, Cyrus" the king said. "She needs time for herself right now."

Cyrus nodded.

"If you will, please meet here early tomorrow before you set out, so we may formally send you on your way."

The Light Warriors agreed, and headed back to their rooms for the night.

When they gathered in the throne room the next day, there were many people there to send them off. King Ren and Queen Jayne, of course, as well as Princess Sarah, and her younger sister, Tiffany. Xion was there, as well as the head of the Academy of Steel.

"Light Warriors!" the king declared. "The time has come for you to embark on your foretold journey to rid the world of the evil plaguing it. May the gods smile upon you, and fortune be with you, that you may be successful."

"And we want to thank you, Light Warriors," the queen said, "once more, for saving Sarah and bringing her back to us safely."

The Light Warriors bowed and prepared to leave.

"Wait!" Sarah said, coming forward. "Light Warriors, I have a gift for you, as a way of thanks." She approached Cyrus, and handed him a large, cloth-wrapped package. "Here," she said, "open it."

He unwrapped the cloth to reveal a finely crafted lute.

"This is mine. It's a tradition to pass it from mother to daughter here in Cornelia. This is my most prized possession, and I want you to have it to remember me by."

"Sarah!" the queen said, shocked that she was giving away such a thing.

"I don't need this to remember you, Sarah…" Cyrus began.

"Wait," Sarah said, unshed tears in her eyes. "I want you to promise me, Cyrus. I want you to promise me that you'll come back alive and play for me. Can you promise me that?"

He gently touched her cheek. "You have my word of honor, my dear princess."

Her eyes brimmed. Then she gave a low cry and threw her arms around Cyrus' neck. Then she pulled herself up and kissed him fiercely.

Cyrus almost dropped the lute.

There was a gasp throughout the court. She pulled away. "Now go," she said tearfully. "Go, or I'll break down right here."

Cyrus nodded, turned on his heel, and headed for the door. The others followed suit, and they were on their way.

"So how long has this been going on?" Sav'ran asked as they rode out of Cornelia on their newly purchased horses.

"What are you talking about?" Cyrus said, trying hard not to blush.

"Umm, well, let's see," Xoria said, "maybe he means you and the crown princess of Cornelia? Sarah? Lots of kissing? 'Don't leave me, my dear Cyrus'. Any of this ring a bell?"

Cyrus was blushing furiously now. "Well, that was the first time she's ever kissed me…"

"Have you kissed her before?" Sav'ran asked.

"No. We…I almost did, once. Earlier this week."

"How long have you two known each other?" Xoria asked.

"Well, we met a few years ago, back when Garland was still in favor in Cornelia. I must have been, let's see…about 14 or so. I guess that would have made her 12."

"You stud!" Sav'ran said. "Reeling 'em in early, eh?"

"No! It wasn't like that! Garland brought me with him to the palace because my mother was sick, and he didn't want me to get sick, too. I was playing with some of the children of the other nobles, it must have been some kind of festival or something. She was pretty shy, I don't think she spoke more than five words to me that day. But she sat by and watched as some of the other boys and I play-fought."

"When did it become serious?" Xoria asked.

"Well, when I was in the Royal Guard, she recognized me instantly. I really didn't recognize her at first, she had…filled out quite a bit since the gangly twelve-year old that I remembered. She was a beautiful young woman now. Well, she wanted for me to guard her room, and, being a princess, she was able to pull a few strings, and get me assigned there. She'd often visit me when I was on guard duty and we'd talk. She'd also invite me to come visit her when I was off-duty."

"Visit, eh?" Sav'ran winked.

"It was nothing inappropriate!" Cyrus declared. "In fact, the queen took me aside and had a long talk with me about it. I knew that I was below her station and that nothing could come of it. I told her that I cared about Sarah, and that I understood what she was talking about. I would never let any harm come to Sarah, least of all by my doing. That settled, the queen was satisfied to let me continue to guard her. Apparently she had had this talk with Sarah, too, because I remember talking with her and she brought up how her mother had told her that her relationship with me was verging on inappropriate. She decided instead, that she would resurrect an old custom, and have me declared her Knight Protector. This would mean that I was her personal knight, and under her sole jurisdiction, sworn by oath to stay at her side throughout my whole life until I could no longer do so, and guard her always."

"So what happened?" Teraptus said, suddenly quite interested.

"Well, Garland kidnapped her at about this time. I was dismissed from the Royal Guard for my failure, and the rest, as they say, is history."

"So how come she's been acting like this for the last two weeks? She hasn't been behaving like you were just her knight, she's been acting more like you were courting. And then that scene in the throne room earlier today…"

"Don't you understand?" Cyrus said. "When Garland first arrived, he was just some wandering warrior from Onlak. As far as the nobility was concerned, he was a peasant, and an outsider at that. But Cornelia was under attack at the time. The dragon was ravaging the country. Garland marched into the throne room and declared that he would slay the dragon. A few members of the court had laughed at him. When he returned some time later, with the dragon's eye, people stopped laughing. They confirmed the dragon's death, and Garland was knighted by the king…instant nobility."

"So what?" Sav'ran said.

"So…if we return to Cornelia successful on our quest…Well, I'd say this is bound to be a lot bigger than saving one kingdom from one dragon, wouldn't you say?"

"We'll be nobles?" Sav'ran asked incredulously, thoughts of great manors and servants and wealth filled his head.

"Lady Xoria…" Xoria said, "I think I like the sound of that."

"So if you'll be nobility when you return…" Teraptus began.

"She wouldn't be marrying beneath her station!" Xoria exclaimed.

"Right"

"You don't sound too thrilled"

"It's not that…it's just…I hope I don't let her down, you know?"

Xoria smiled at him. "I don't think you can, Cyrus. In her eyes, you can do no wrong."

Cyrus smiled. "I suppose that's true."

The bridge loomed up before them.

"Wow!" Sav'ran said. "It's big"

"Yeah," Cyrus said, "I came up here once with Sarah, before the kidnapping. We looked at the plans. When it's completely finished, there's gonna be turrets with pointed roofs and a lot of fancy stonework on the sides."

"Ho there! Light Warriors!" a voice called from a small shack near the bridge. A stocky man with a large mustache ran out to greet them.

"That's Burke," Cyrus told them, "the chief engineer of the bridge."

"I see you've made it here without any trouble" he said. "The bridge is stable and safe to cross, so you can go right ahead."

"Thank you, sir" Cyrus said.

"You should know, sirs, that one of the men swears he saw goblins on the other side."

Sav'ran smiled. "We can handle goblins, but thanks for the warning."

"Now wait a minute!" he cried. "These were no ordinary goblins! My man swears he saw one riding a wolf. That's a little more dangerous."

"Thank you," Xoria said.

"Goblins riding wolves?" Cyrus said as they crossed the bridge.

"Wargs, probably," Teraptus said.

"Oh, great," Sav'ran said.

The goblin clutched at the knife that had just entered its belly. It lost its balance and fell from the back of the beast it had been riding. Heedless to the loss of its rider, the warg continued to bear down on the Light Warriors, hungry for human flesh.

Xoria crouched, ready to meet its charge. She had her hands on her staff, which was against the ground, lengthwise. She never took her eyes off of the beast for a moment. Cyrus was already up to his armpits in goblins, swinging left and right. She had ordered Sav'ran to stand back, and he did so, throwing knives at any goblins he felt he had a clear shot at.

The warg bore down on her. She raised her iron shod staff at the last moment, bracing one end against her right foot, her left shoulder facing the beast, the staff raised to shoulder-height at an angle, set to receive its charge. The warg could not halt its charge in time, and crashed into her staff.

Set as she was, the warg was still bigger than her, and the force of the impact drove her back. The staff hit the beast in the chest, just below its neck. She was pushed back only a few inches, pulling up on her staff as she did so. The warg's momentum worked against it now, and it was vaulted over her head. It landed on its back, knocked breathless by the force of the landing.

Sav'ran was upon it quickly, slashing its throat with his cutlass. Teraptus quickly dispatched the wounded rider with his dagger. Cyrus, apparently, needed no one's help, as he decimated five goblins by himself, suffering only minor cuts and bruises in the process.

He cleaned his broadsword on the grass, then placed it back in its sheath. "Shall we continue?" he said, grinning.

"How much farther is it to Pravoca?" Xoria asked as they sat around the campfire that night.

Sav'ran shrugged, more intent on not burning the ham that he was cooking over their fire. "Not too far. Another day or so, I guess."

"That's not very precise," Xoria said sourly.

"Hey, I'm not used to traveling by land, okay? I know exactly how long it takes by sea, if that makes you feel any better."

"It doesn't"

"Well, I'm sorry. Here you go. Eat up, everyone!"

Everyone took their share of the dinner Sav'ran had made from the supplies provided them by Cornelia.

Xoria looked over to Teraptus as he ate. He sat on a log with his back to them, as he continued to hide his face. She sighed, and moved over to sit next to him.

"You don't have to hide it, you know," she said softly.

He was a bit startled and started to choke. She patted him on the back until he stopped. "It's not something I'm proud of," he said.

"I didn't tell them, you know," she said, "about what happened when we spoke that day…Your secret's safe with me."

He looked up at her. "Thanks," he said, looking away again.

"You can tell me anything, Teraptus," she said. "I'm not gonna tell anyone anything that you don't want me to, but you've got to open up to me first."

"Not yet," he said. "I'm not ready yet"

"All right," she said, and went to bed.

"Do you think he's seen us?" Sav'ran whispered.

"I hope not," Xoria whispered back.

The subject in question was an abnormally large humanoid. It was about nine feet tall, and it was wearing a crudely fashioned smock to cover its filthy body. Its skin was the color of a bruise, sort of a dark purple/blue/greenish combination. Its body was covered in a thick, coarse layer of hair that could almost be deemed fur, and atop its head was a long, shaggy mop of hair. It was also wielding a tree.

The thing sat in the middle of their camp, happily feasting upon Xoria's horse. Cyrus and Teraptus were trying to get on the other side of it. When in place, Cyrus would whistle to draw it out, then Sav'ran and Xoria would attack it from behind as Teraptus ran to distract it and Cyrus attacked from the front.

"Man, I hate ogres," Sav'ran said.

"That's an ogre?" Xoria asked.

He nodded. "They live around here, they-"

He stopped. The ogre had stopped eating and had its head cocked to one side, as if it were listening to something. It stood up, picked up its tree, and began searching with its eyes around the forest clearing where they had made their camp.

Sav'ran swore silently as he and Xoria flattened themselves to the earth.

The ogre approached them step by step, then it turned around and searched the bushes to their left. Suddenly, it swung its club down on some bushes on the opposite end of the camp from where Xoria and Sav'ran hid.

The attack shook Cyrus and Teraptus out of their hiding place.

Sav'ran swore again, aloud this time, and rose to his feet. "There goes the plan," he said, drawing his cutlass. Xoria stood as well.

Teraptus began to run, determined to try and continue the plan and distract it.

With surprising speed, much faster than any of them would assume it could move, the ogre lashed out with the tree and hit Teraptus. It caught the young mage in the ribs, and sent him flying into a tree. He collapsed, unconscious.

"Teraptus!" Xoria shouted. The ogre turned to her.

"Great, now he's seen us," Sav'ran said.

The ogre yowled as Cyrus attacked it from behind. It swung at him with its huge club, but he ducked under it. Sav'ran delivered a quick slash at the back of its legs, attempting to hamstring it, but was unable to deliver such a crippling blow through its thick hide.

The ogre took a step back, attempting to stand where it could see all of them. Xoria thrust with her staff, attempting to take the ogre in the groin. It swept her staff aside with its left hand, and raised the club to strike.

Cyrus delivered a savage swipe at its unprotected flank, and scored a deep wound. Sav'ran wasted neither time nor advantage, and threw a knife at the ogre's ugly face. Only a scratch was delivered, and the ogre swung the club down and hit Cyrus solidly in the chest.

Cyrus was knocked to his back.

"You okay Cyrus?" Xoria asked, not taking her eyes off the ogre.

"I'll be all right," he said, coming to his feet.

"Hold on guys," Sav'ran said, and leaped up into the trees.

"What is he doing?" Xoria asked, annoyed.

The ogre advanced on them, hulking over them, club raised.

"Bocho Othra Legato Turel!"

A bolt of lightning from out of a clear sky struck the ogre. Shocked, it dropped its club. Xoria and Cyrus fell to their behinds in surprise.

"Teraptus?" Xoria said, looking around.

The next thing she saw was a flash of red as something leaped out of the bushes behind her and Cyrus and landed in front of them. All she could see of the stranger was that he wore a red cloak and a red, wide-brimmed hat with a large white feather in it. She saw from behind as he raised a broadsword two-handed, and swung it over his head into the ogre's midsection, there was a great spray of blood, and the ogre doubled over. The stranger, however, was already out of the way.

Just then, something fell out of the trees onto the ogre's back. It stiffened and fell forward, dead as a stone, with Sav'ran on its back, his knife embedded in its spine, right underneath the skull.

"Well," the stranger said, turning to face them with a flourish of his cape, "I guess that makes the world one monster safer, doesn't it?" He winked. He was a little bit taller than Sav'ran, but not quite as tall as Cyrus, maybe 5'9" or so. He looked close to Cyrus' age, maybe a year older. His hair was pale, almost white, and so long that it fell to his shoulders underneath his hat, and he wore on his face a triumphant and confident smile.

He bowed with a flourish of his red cape. "Allow me to introduce myself," he said, "I am Vincentio Florentine Valentino, adventurer." Xoria was obviously impressed.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Xoria," she extended her hand to him.

"The pleasure is all mine," he said, taking her hand and kissing it, causing her to blush.

"Thanks for the help there," Cyrus said. "I'm Cyrus, and this is Sav'ran…"

Sav'ran grunted as he attempted to pull his knife from the ogre's body. He fell as he finally did so, and began examining the blade. "Chipped, great," he swore and placed the knife back in its sheathe and began searching for his other one. "That was my favorite, too…"

"Nice to meet you all," Vincentio said. "Lucky thing…I was on my way north from Pravoca and happened to hear the commotion."

"Was that your spell?" Sav'ran asked.

"Yes, it was," he replied, "I-"

"Teraptus!" Xoria burst out. "Oh no, I thought it was him! Where is he?"

"Who is he?" Vincentio asked.

"Our other companion," Cyrus replied as they all began looking for where Teraptus fell.

"Found him!" Sav'ran announced.

They all rushed over. "He'll be fine," Xoria said, and knelt beside him, preparing to cast a spell.

"Allow me," Vincentio interrupted her. He lay his hands over Teraptus' prone form. "Cantos Ulinov Reytha Extat!"

Healing magic spread from his fingertips, and bones began to knit beneath Teraptus' skin. He slowly awoke.

"Hmmm? Oh, my head" He sat up. "Thanks again, Xoria" he said, without even looking up."

"Don't thank me," she said, "thank Vincentio here, he's the one who healed you."

"Huh?" he said, confused, looking up at the newcomer.

"Come on," Sav'ran said with a smile, helping Teraptus to his feet.

"Where are you headed?" Vincentio asked.

"We're going to Pravoca," Xoria supplied as they cleaned up the camp. "Wanna come with?"

"Why are you going there?"

She explained to him about the prophecy and the crystals as they rounded up the horses.

"Sounds like quite the adventure!" he said, excited. "You can count me in! That is…if there are no objections…"

Xoria looked to the others, her eyes hopeful.

"The prophecy said four Light Warriors…" Teraptus began.

"But it didn't say that was it!" Xoria protested.

"Another sword would be useful…"Cyrus mused.

"As well as another healer," Xoria pointed out.

"True," he admitted. He smiled, "Well, he gets my vote!"

"Mine too," Sav'ran said. "We never know if we might need him."

Teraptus looked about, and saw that even if he protested vehemently, that he would be outvoted. For some reason, he felt uncomfortable around the vibrant, flamboyant young man. And he definitely felt that he was getting too familiar with Xoria. He felt distinctly jealous on that note.

"Well, we're down one horse," Cyrus said, "four of us are gonna have to double up."

Teraptus realized that this would be an opportunity to get Xoria away from the newcomer. But before he could speak Xoria chimed up.

"I'll ride with Vincentio," she offered. "That is, umm, if someone else doesn't mind giving up their horse…"

"Sounds good," Sav'ran said. "Hey, Teraptus, why don't you come and ride with me?"

Teraptus was about to object that she could ride with him and the newcomer with Sav'ran, but he realized that he was being foolish. He sighed and handed over the reigns of his horse.

"Are you sure?" Vincentio asked, "You look kinda upset."

"No, no problem," Teraptus said, and allowed Sav'ran to help him into the saddle behind him.

They set out at a light canter until they were out of the forest.

"Pravoca's only a few miles south of here," Vincentio announced.

"So you're from Pravoca?" Sav'ran asked, making conversation as they traveled. "I've never seen you there before"

"I never said I was from Pravoca," Vincentio replied. "Only that I had just come from Pravoca. I hail from Crescent Lake, further south."

"Oh, really?" Xoria said, interested. "What's it like?"

"Kinda boring, really, unless you're interested in the advice of a bunch of old guys."

"Old guys?"

"Yeah, a bunch of sages from all over started gathering there about a few years ago. All kinds of prophets and wise men."

"Prophets?" Cyrus asked. "Was Lukhin there?"

"Lukhin? Hmmm, I don't know…" Vincentio thought for a moment. "Oh yeah! Him! He showed up, and the others all treated him like he was some kind of leader. They sit in a grotto just east of the town, having all kinds of deep philosophical discussion. They act like they're waiting for something to happen."

"Like what?"

"Search me"

When they left the forest, they began moving at a faster pace. Within a few hours, they saw the walls of Pravoca. They rode into town, noting how many of the houses had their windows and shutters closed, as if they wanted to be cut off from the town.

"What's going on?" Cyrus asked, "What's with the houses?"

A woman hurriedly ran down the street, chased by a thin man wearing a red bandanna on his head. He had a rapier drawn and was chasing the woman with an unmistakable gleam in his eye.

"Help me!" she cried.

Cyrus drew his sword, rode up and hit the man with the flat of his blade, knocking the man from his feet. He started to get up, and found himself looking at the point of the blade.

"I don't think the lady wants your company, friend" Cyrus said, a dangerous note in his voice. "I suggest you find some other playmates."

The man scrambled back, picked up his rapier, and stood up. "You'll regret this, stranger!" he shouted, and ran off.

"Are you all right, miss?" Vincentio asked, dismounting.

She started sobbing. "Oh thank you sir!" she said to Cyrus. "They're back in town again, the no-good bunch…"

"Who's this?" Cyrus asked.

"Bikke" Sav'ran said, also dismounting. "He's a privateer from the war-turned pirate. Most of the men hanged in the war came from his crew. His numbers are up again, though, and he comes into town from time to time to make trouble and have a bit of fun." This last word was said with disgust.

The woman looked over to Sav'ran, gasped, and began to back away.

"Don't worry, ma'am, we're here to help" he said. She ran off anyway.

"What was that about?" Vincentio asked.

"I'll tell you later, for now, let's go take care of Bikke."

"Are you sure?" Xoria said, dismounting, "If he's so feared…"

"Bikke's a coward," Sav'ran said with disgust. "He lets his men do all the fighting for him, but when it comes down to a fair fight, he backs down."

"I know the type," Vincentio said, frowning. "Just a bully, then."

"Well, then," Cyrus said, also dismounting, "let's give someone his own size to pick on."

They led the horses to the inn, and tied them there. Then they heard a shout from down the street.

"Figures he'd be at the bar" Sav'ran said.

"Will all his men be there with him?" Vincentio asked.

"Probably, he likes to keep a close eye on all of them. He doesn't really trust anybody, not even his own bo'sun. They all think that he could break them at any time, but he's really only a mediocre fighter at best." The grin that came to Sav'ran's face was absolutely vicious. "He really makes a much better runner."

They all laughed, and proceeded to the bar.

When they entered, all noise in the bar stopped.

"It's them!" the man from earlier cried. "Them's the ones, captain!"

The captain turned. He was a large man, not so much powerful as somewhat overweight. He had a full black beard, an eye patch covering one eye, and as he stepped forward, he did so with a slight limp. "So, you're the blokes who attacked one of me men?" he demanded. "Do ye not know who ye be messin' with? I'm the dread pirate, Bikke!"

"Some dread pirate!" Sav'ran said, stepping out from behind Cyrus. "You're just a fat old man with a bad temper. And your man Jasper there," he indicated the man they saw earlier, "is just as much of a coward as you are!"

"Sav'ran! Why you thieving little wretch! Ye dare to come back here?"

"How's the leg, Bikke?" Sav'ran taunted. "Ache when it rains?"

"That does it! Men! I want the little scalawag's head on a plate, and what he stole from me returned!"

The pirates drew their rapiers, grinning. One of them, a thin, pockmarked fellow with a high, shrill voice, said, "I'm gonna be takin' that sword back, twerp!"

"Over my dead body!" Sav'ran said, adopting a low stance, with the blade held out before him.

"That's the idea"

Cyrus and Vincentio came up to stand beside Sav'ran, broadswords drawn. The pirates, 11 in all, had begun to spread out.

"Why don't we take this outside?" Cyrus suggested, noting the bartender's fearful expression.

"No chance landlubber!" Bikke cried. "Attack, men!"

Sav'ran darted forward, parried a rapier thrust and slashed at the face of the foremost pirate. The blade bit deeply into his face, and he fell to the floor, unconscious. The pirate from earlier, Jasper, tried to attack Cyrus. Cyrus easily knocked his blade aside, and spun, swinging his armored left arm into the man's ribcage. He heard a satisfying crunch as the man's ribs broke. Then he hit him over the head with the flat of his blade.

Another pirate, rapier in one hand and dagger in the other, attacked Vincentio. He made a wide lunge with his rapier, which Vincentio easily dodged aside. Then he slashed at Vincentio viscously with his dagger, cutting across his midsection.

"Vincentio!" Xoria cried out, alarmed.

He appeared to be unhurt, however, and quickly responded with a slash from his broadsword that removed the pirate's left arm at the elbow. The pirate cried out and dropped his rapier, clutching at the stump. Vincentio kicked him in the stomach one, two, three times, and then followed with a kick to the head. The pirate slumped, out of the fight.

One of the pirates jumped past the three of them, leaping onto a table right in front of Teraptus. Teraptus barely had time to dive under the table to avoid the slash of the sword. The pirate then stepped onto a chair and grabbed Xoria from behind, pointing the rapier at her throat.

"Drop your weapons!" he cried. "Or the whore gets it!" Xoria's eyes flashed.

The others all paused and looked over at him. Vincentio held out his sword, ready to drop it. "Don't harm her!" he yelled.

Teraptus, under the table, reared back his leg, and kicked the chair out from under the pirate's feet. With a yelp, he fell to the floor, landing on his knees. He looked up to face an angry Xoria.

"Whore!?"

She set her staff between his knees and pulled up violently. His eyes bulged as she hit him in the groin twice, then she whipped the staff around and clubbed him in the head with it.

"Thanks," she said, helping Teraptus to his feet.

As soon as the pirate fell from the chair, the others sprang back into action. Sav'ran faced off against the pockmarked one, and they began to circle each other. Vincentio reached up with his left hand and untied his cape. He swung it out, and caught the rapier of another pirate. Then he quickly followed up with a slash at the man's shoulder. The man cried out and went down. Vincentio drove his knee into the man's chin and he passed out. He picked up his cloak and looked for his next opponent.

Cyrus was facing off against two at once, parrying and blocking their offset blows. Then he stepped forward, coming directly between the two. He delivered a spinning slash that cut open the thigh of one and slashed the other's chest as he tried to leap back. Then Cyrus grabbed the head of the one he had struck the leg of, and pushed him towards the other. The second pirate dodged out of the way, but his companion slammed headfirst into a table edge. The second pirate lunged at Cyrus. Cyrus spun, his back now to the pirate, and stepped back, catching the man's sword arm under his own. Then he reached back, grabbed the back of the man's shirt, and flipped him over his head. He landed hard on a table, wheezing to catch his breath. Cyrus rapped him over the head with the pommel of his sword, and that was it for him.

"You're getting sloppy," Sav'ran observed as the pockmarked man lunged again. Sav'ran had already delivered several painful and humiliating, but not debilitating, cuts all over his body.

"Stop toying around and fight like a man, twerp!" the man said, and lunged again. Again, Sav'ran dodged aside and nicked his elbow with his cutlass.

"Aren't you having fun?" Sav'ran said, grinning evilly, "I know I am"

The pockmarked man raised his sword above his head, foolishly leaving himself open to attack. Sav'ran lunged forward and smoothly ran him through. The man gasped, dropping his sword and clutching at the blade now protruding through his belly.

"Got the sword back, huh?" Sav'ran said. "Wrong end, though" And with that, he pulled the blade out sharply.

Two more pirates went after Xoria. Teraptus kicked the fallen chair in front of one of them, tripping him. The other leaped at her. She dodged aside and took a ready stance as he stood to face her. He thrust with the rapier. She hit it with her staff from the left, knocking both his arm and her staff to the inside. She pulled back sharply, and hit him on the left side of his face, and heard the crack as his jaw broke.

Teraptus, meanwhile, was holding off the other pirate with the chair, using its legs to deflect all of the pirate's rapier thrusts. The man was becoming more and more angry.

"Put that chair down, and fight, little coward!" he shouted. Then, "Urk!" as Xoria brained him from behind. Teraptus lowered the chair. She smiled at him.

"Teraptus look out!" Vincentio shouted.

Teraptus spun, with the chair raised. The pirate ran right into it, the legs hitting him in the mouth and stomach. Teraptus hit him again and again in the same spots, knocking several teeth loose. Finally, he swung it around hard, taking the man in the head, knocking him out.

"Now, now, let's not be hasty!"

The others turned to see Sav'ran advancing on Bikke, his cutlass already covered in blood.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just gut you like a fish!" he demanded.

"Sav'ran, no!" Cyrus shouted, and grabbed his wrist from behind. "We're not going to kill him!"

"He deserves it!" Sav'ran shouted, struggling.

"Not in cold blood!" Cyrus said, disarming him.

"How'd we do?" Vincentio asked. Xoria had run over to him, examining his red tunic where the dagger had slashed him. To her surprise, she found that he was wearing a chain mail shirt underneath.

"Looks like we're all unhurt," she said. "They've got one fatality, one or two that need medical attention, and more than a few broken bones."

"Look here…" Bikke was saying, as Cyrus continued to attempt to restrain Sav'ran. "I swear I'll be good from now on! Yessir! Just as good and clean as can be, no more piratin' for me!" He carefully stood up one of the fallen barstools and brushed it off, a nervous smile coming to his face.

"How do we know you'll keep your word?" Cyrus asked, distrustful.

"Ye…ye can have me ship! The Sea Wolf! She's a good ship, she is! Please! Anything! Just don't hurt me!" There were actually tears in his eye.

"Aww, lemme go," Sav'ran said, "he ain't worth it." Cyrus let him go.

Sav'ran cleaned his blade on the tunic of one of the fallen pirates, then sheathed it. Vincentio did likewise.

"Who's gonna clean all this up?" the bartender cried. "Not that I'm not thankful to you strangers, but I got a business to run!"

"I think you've got a volunteer," Sav'ran said with a snicker, pointing to Bikke.

"That's right," the bartender said, standing over him with a club, "He's got a lot more to answer for, too."

Bikke cringed.

They all went out to the docks to inspect their new ship. The Sea Wolf was not a large ship, and Bikke's crew of 11 probably filled it to capacity.

Sav'ran jumped up and grabbed hold of one of the ropes that tied down the sail. "We should be able to man this with five people," he said, a smile on his face.

"You know how to operate this?" Teraptus asked, sounding a little trepidatious.

"Of course," Sav'ran laughed.

"How did you know Bikke?" Vincentio asked.

"Everybody in Pravoca knows Bikke," Sav'ran answered evasively.

"Knock it off, Sav'ran," Xoria said, "it's pretty obvious you two used to know each other."

"All right," he said, jumping down, "I used to be part of his crew."

"You were a pirate?" Cyrus said.

"I wanted adventure, and Pravoca is so boring," he said, "Joining a pirate crew seemed like just the thing. But it turned out not to be too much fun after all."

"How so?" Vincentio asked.

"Well, they made me the cabin boy first, that wasn't a whole lot of fun. I had to clean almost the whole ship, and pirates aren't very cleanly people. Then one day, I got promoted to bo'sun, just like that!"

"What's a bo'sun?" Xoria asked.

"The bo'sun is the captain's second-in-command."

"That's quite a promotion."

"No kidding. Anyway, after that, I learned a lot about how the ship works. I didn't care much for the carousing that the others did when ashore, so I stayed out of that. But one day, after we took a ship, I just started feeling wrong about all of it. I didn't like being a pirate anymore. So one day, when we were in port, I took some things and hopped on a merchant vessel that was headed for Cornelia."

"How long were you a pirate?" Vincentio asked.

"Let's see…I was a cabin boy for about 6 months, and then the bo'sun for a little more than a year."

"It took you a year to realize piracy was wrong?" Xoria asked.

"Look, it was just adventure at first. No one got hurt, people usually surrendered. It only took one time of having to fight for it that made me realize it, okay?"

"All right, Sav, I didn't mean to judge you"

"Anyway, since I'm the one who knows how to do everything, I'm the captain, okay? At least, as long as were at sea. Once back on land, Cyrus can go back to being the leader."

"Who says I'm the leader?" Cyrus protested.

"You're a natural leader, Cyrus," Xoria said, "I'd say that if anyone was our leader, it'd be you."

"I agree," Teraptus said. "Cyrus definitely took a leadership role in the beginning, I don't see why that has to change."

"Okay," he said sheepishly, "if you guys say so"

"Cyrus!" Sav'ran called from further up the deck. "I'm going to need someone strong to man the wheel, especially if we run into bad weather."

"Sure!"

"Vincentio!"

"Yo!"

"You're going to learn how to rig the sails. This'll take some time, but it shouldn't be too hard."

Vincentio smiled, "I'm a quick student"

"Is there anything you can't do?" Xoria asked ironically, with a smile on her face.

"I can't swim wearing armor," he said with an absolutely straight face.

She doubled over laughing.

The sea breeze felt good to everyone. Well, almost everyone.

Teraptus leaned over the rail, violently retching over the side of the ship.

"Is he going to be okay?" Xoria asked, "I don't know what's wrong with him."

Sav'ran smiled. "Seasickness, it's fairly common"

"It's not that…"Teraptus started, then retched over the side again. "It's just…it's just…I hate sea travel."

"Why?" Sav'ran asked. "I thought you said you built a boat to get here from Melmond?"

"I did…my friend and I, we…(gag)…a storm, I told you. That's why…that's why I hate…(gag)…sea travel."

"Hey Cap'n!" Vincentio shouted from the crow's nest. "Where we going?"

Sav'ran thought for a moment. "West!" he called up. "To Melmond!" He helped Teraptus to his feet. "Here. Xoria, you take him below deck and get him in a bunk. We're gonna help Teraptus find out what happened to his friend."

"Thanks, Sav'ran…(gag)…"

"Well, what do you make of it?"

They all stared at the narrow pass through the cliffs, and the dangerous rapids in the water.

"I don't understand!" Teraptus said. "It didn't use to be like this! There was a wide canal. We used it to trade with Cornelia and Pravoca all the time!"

"Hmm," Vincentio said, "I wonder, perhaps, if the dwarves would know anything? We are near Mt. Duergar, yes?"

"Wonderful idea, Vincentio!" Xoria exclaimed. "The dwarves are sure to know what happened. And even if they don't, they can help us cross the mountains to Melmond."

"I believe the port closest to Mt. Duergar isn't too far from here" Sav'ran said, consulting a map.

The port near Mt. Duergar was little more than 2 docks. And near it was a small trading post that only looked mildly permanent.

"Yeah," Sav'ran said, "The dwarves usually keep to themselves at Mt. Duergar. A few of them, though, the merchants, they stay here, or at least have some temporary shops here, when it's time to ship out goods. When merchant vessels show up here, then the dwarves all come out."

"So Mt. Duergar isn't far?" Cyrus asked.

"As I recall, it's only a few hours away" Teraptus replied.

Mt. Duergar, as it turns out, was not just a city on a mountain, it was a city inside a mountain. The city guards welcomed them, and led them down a long passageway into an enormous cavern. It was almost as if the entire mountain were hollow.

"Welcome to Mt. Duergar," an elderly dwarf greeted them. "Oh! Teraptus! It's you! You're back!"

"Yes, Tordek, I'm back, and I've brought a few friends with me."

The old dwarf pulled a pair of spectacles out from a pocket and looked at them. "Ah, and are these the other crystal-bearers?"

"Yes," Cyrus answered.

"Well, then, welcome to Mt. Duergar!"

"Tordek…" Teraptus started.

"Yes?"

"What happened to the canal that connected the Great Inner Sea to the Gulf of Melmond?"

The smile fell from the dwarf's face. "The Earth…" he replied.

"The Earth?"

"Yes, my child. It rots away. Crops don't grow as well anymore."

"We were having the same trouble in Melmond…"

"Yes. The rot comes from the west and has been spreading. The cliffs on either side of the canal collapsed, and now it is impossible to travel westward. We sent one of our experts, Eberk, to the west to find the source of the disturbance, and he hasn't returned."

"Can we still cross over the mountains?

Tordek shook his head sadly. "No, it is unsafe. There have been multiple rock slides and avalanches, and I'm afraid all of the roads have collapsed."

Teraptus' shoulders sagged. "Is there no way?"

"Talk to Nelic. Ever since the canal collapsed, he's been working on a way to build another one. Eberk is his brother, you see…"

"Where can we find Nelic?" Sav'ran interrupted.

"Come with me"

They followed Tordek until he led them to another dwarf.

"So," Teraptus said as they walked along, "has old Smythe gotten ahold of any adamantine yet?"

"Not yet," Tordek said, smiling, "The old fool…that's all he talks about nowadays. Any time that anyone asks him to make something he always manages to mention how much he'd like to make something out of adamantine, and then he gets out that little chunk of ore that he has and tell that story about how he found it."

Teraptus laughed, and the others looked at him. "He's the blacksmith," he explained. "He's getting a little older, and his life goal is now to work in adamantine, the most rare metal, at least once in his life."

The dwarf that Tordek led them to also had white hair and a white beard, but he didn't look as frail as Tordek.

"The canal, huh?" He scratched his beard.

"When will it be done?"

"Never"

"What?"

"I'm building a new one. I've got a tunnel built that'll make the canal wide enough for ships to pass through, but I need some Nitro Powder to blow up the rock above it."

"Why don't you get some?"

"My brother Eberk could have made some…but apart from him, the elven alchemists are the only ones who could make some"

"Where did your brother learn to make it?"

"From the elves. But right now the elves aren't doing anything for anybody."

"That doesn't sound like them!" Sav'ran protested, "The elves are a generous people!"

"True, but their prince is ill, and all of their scientists and alchemists are devoting all of their energies to find a cure."

"Do you know what's wrong with him?"

"Well," Nelic said, "I didn't see the prince myself, but the people of Elfheim seemed to think that he been put under a curse of some kind."

"The prince is under a curse?" Sav'ran said. He turned to the others. "We have to go and help him!"

"But what about my friend?" Teraptus complained.

"Look, if we can help the prince, the elven alchemists will make some Nitro Powder for us, I'm sure. Then we can have Nelic here blow open the canal, and go to Melmond to find out what happened to your friend, how's that?"

"All right"

"What's the hurry?" Cyrus asked. "I don't think I've seen you so worried about something before?"

"It's…complicated"

"I don't think so" Vincentio commented.

"What do you mean?" Sav'ran demanded.

"I think you have a personal reason to want to save the elf prince"

"Like what?"

Vincentio peered at him. "I think you're an elf"

Sav'ran's face hardened. "Wrong on that note, Vince"

"Really? Then why do you hide your ears under that thing?"

"I don't hide my ears" Sav'ran said, his hand going subconsciously to his bandanna.

"Then take off the bandanna"

"I don't feel like it"

"Why not, Sav'ran?" Xoria asked.

"Yeah, what's wrong?" Cyrus asked.

"Oh, all right!" he said, exasperated. He removed his bandanna, to reveal brown hair that went past his ears. He pulled the hair back to reveal ears that were slightly pointed.

"You are an elf!" Vincentio exclaimed.

"No!" he barked. "My father was…my mother was human."

Nelic blinked. "A half-elf? That's pretty uncommon, elves aren't very fertile with other races."

"Yeah, well…" he said, putting his bandanna back on. "Shall we go? My prince may need our help."

The others nodded, and they left Mt. Duergar.

Once out at sea again, Sav'ran and the others consulted a map inside the cabin. Cyrus didn't take his eyes off the helm, but listened attentively.

"We're going here," Sav'ran said, pointing to a spot on the map along the coast of the Inner Sea.

"Isn't there a closer port to Elfheim?" Xoria asked.

"Afraid not, and with the crisis in Elfheim, we're likely to find the port town even less populated than the one near Mt. Duergar."

"Wonderful"

Cyrus gave a startled cry.

The others looked up. "What is it?" Teraptus asked. Cyrus pointed to the deck, where several fish-men were crawling aboard.

"Sahagin!" Sav'ran exclaimed. "Everyone, spread out! They're nasty, but not too tough, or bright. Cyrus, leave the helm, we won't go far off course, and we're gonna need you."

"Right!"

Cyrus and Vincentio shrugged into their armor, having removed it for sea travel.

There were six of them on board, and two of them looked different than the others. They each had red markings on its face and fins, and one of them was missing it left hand.

"I know that one!" Sav'ran said.

"Really?" Xoria said sardonically, "What's its favorite color?"

"Very funny. I mean I'm the one who took its hand."

The sahagin in question noticed Sav'ran, too. Its nostrils flared for a moment as it attempted to recognize him. Then it screeched a battle cry and charged him. The others prepared to attack Teraptus and Xoria.

"CHARGE!"

Cyrus and Vincentio charged out of the cabin, swords drawn. The sahagin were momentarily taken aback by the cry. This offset them enough that Xoria was able to get in a strike with her staff, stunning one of the creatures. Teraptus followed up with his dagger, plunging it into the creature's heart.

Cyrus and Vincentio each barreled down on a sahagin and delivered lethal blows with their broadswords. There was a cry from the side as Sav'ran and the sahagin he was fighting went overboard.

"Sav!" Teraptus cried as he rushed to the side.

Xoria was distracted for a moment by Sav'ran's plight. She was pulled back to attention by Vincentio's shout.

"Look out!"

She raised her staff in time to catch the creature's jaws. It bit down on the staff, then reached up with a claw and swiped at her face. She cried out in pain. The sahagin reached back for another swipe, but then stiffened and fell, falling limply off of Vincentio's blade. He pulled out a potion, uncorking it with his teeth, and fed it to her. The cuts healed instantly.

"As beautiful as ever" he said smiling.

She smiled back and was about to reply, but Teraptus' cry brought her back to her senses.

"Sav!"

They rushed over to where Teraptus was watching Sav'ran continue his fight in the water. There seemed to be a lot of splashing and thrashing about, and Xoria couldn't tell who was winning. Then they both went under.

For a few moments, there was nothing. Blood began to spread through the water, but whose it was, they couldn't say. Then Sav'ran rose to the surface, gasping for air. The sahagin's body rose shortly thereafter.

"Hey you guys! Are you going to help me up, or what?"

They all breathed a sigh of relief.

Xoria turned to her right, and saw the other sahagin's face right next to hers, mouth gaping wide.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Then she heard laughter. She opened her eyes, not even realizing that she had closed them. Cyrus, Vincentio and Teraptus were all laughing. Cyrus had the thing's head skewered on the end of his sword.

"Very funny, jerks" she said indignantly. "Hey, Sav, want some company out there?"

Cyrus and Vincentio stopped laughing. "That's not funny, Xoria, we're wearing chain mail."

She advanced on them nonetheless, while Teraptus continued to laugh. She was ready to push him in instead, then she heard him gasp.

"Shark!" he cried.

They all looked out, sure enough, a large fin was advancing towards Sav'ran.

"The blood must have drawn it!" Xoria said. "Get some rope!" Vincentio dashed off to get some.

"He won't make it in time!" Cyrus cried. Then he threw the sahagin's head into the water to distract the shark. The distraction worked, and the shark temporarily swerved aside to gobble up the head. It jumped out of the water slightly as it did so, and it was easily big enough to swallow Cyrus whole.

"Bocho Othra Legato Turel!"

Teraptus extended his arms, and a lightning bolt came from out of nowhere to strike the shark. Unfortunately, the shark and Sav'ran were both swimming in the most conductive substance in the world.

Sav'ran screamed in pain and looked ready to pass out. Teraptus fell back, horrified. Cyrus wasted no time, and chucked off his armor and dived in to grab Sav'ran before he sank. Vincentio arrived just then with the rope. He threw it to Cyrus, who caught it and began to climb up the side of the ship, with Sav'ran under his arm.

"Help me!" Vincentio cried, and Xoria grabbed some rope and helped him pull Cyrus and Sav'ran to safety.

"Teraptus! You too!" Xoria yelled. But Teraptus just sat there, horrified by what he had done.

They managed to pull Cyrus and Sav'ran to safety, for the shark became more interested in the floating corpse of the sahagin. Xoria immediately moved to Sav'ran's side.

"Cantos Ulinov Reytha Extat!"

Sav'ran coughed as he woke up.

"That was close!" Cyrus said.

"You're lucky to be alive!" Xoria said.

"Yeah," Vincentio said, "Sorry you got zapped by that spell, though."

"Was that you?" Sav'ran asked.

"No," Teraptus said quietly, "it was me. I'm really sorry Sav'ran, I didn't mean it." He sounded about ready to cry.

"Hey don't worry," Sav'ran said, smiling, "If you hadn't cast that spell when you did, that shark would have gotten me for sure!"

"But…I hurt you!"

"You hurt the shark, too, didn't you? And you bought me some time, which is what ultimately saved me. Remember what I told you before? It's the result that counts!"

"Good thinking, though," Vincentio commented. "Aquatic creatures are weak against lightning. If you had cast a fire spell it might not have worked as well." He chuckled. "It's just too bad water also happens to be conductive."

"I don't think that's very funny" Sav'ran said.

"Me neither!" Teraptus shouted. "You think I wanted to hurt my friend?" He got up and ran below deck.

"Hey-" Sav'ran started.

Xoria put her hand on his shoulder. "I'll talk to him, you three get us back on course to Elfheim"

"Right"

They had expected the port town near Elfheim to be somewhat deserted, perhaps even abandoned. They were surprised to find it quite alive and bustling with activity. They steered the ship into port and dropped anchor, going ashore.

The port town was populated by humans and elves in relatively equal amounts. It still wasn't very big, perhaps only a few hundred people or so.

"Excuse me," Sav'ran said, stopping by one of the merchant counters, "have you heard any word on the prince's condition?"

All conversation around them stopped. There was an air of unease in the air.

"Uh…" Cyrus began.

"We don't like to talk about it," the elven merchant said seriously. "We try and have faith that he'll get better, but we just don't know."

"I'm sorry," Sav'ran said, "it's just that I've been away for some time, and I didn't know what was going on until recently."

"Well, then," the merchant said, "if you don't hear it from me, someone else will tell you. You see, it only started a couple of months ago. The dark elves said that they finally wanted peace between us and them…yeah, right. The only peace a drow wants is eternal peace, for every surface elf. Well, as it turns out, the messenger was Astos himself, in disguise!"

"Astos?" Cyrus interrupted.

"Astos, king of the dark elves. Well, he put some kind of curse on the prince, so he'd never wake up. Then he retreated to the old castle, to the west, and challenged King Solonor to come after him. The king took up the challenge, hoping he could get a cure for his son, but he hasn't returned either. We all fear the worst."

"And you're just going about your daily business?"

"It's all we can do. The best physicians and alchemists are doing everything they can to help Prince Erevan, and there's nothing the rest of us can do."

"Well, couldn't you-" Sav'ran was cut short as a bell started ringing urgently from somewhere near the edge of town.

"Ogres!" the merchant said, and began closing his shop up quickly. "Best get to safety as fast as possible!"

"Safety?" Cyrus said. "Ha!" He drew his sword.

Vincentio drew his as well. "We shall drive the beasts back!" he said dramatically.

"Oh boy," Sav'ran said, rolling his eyes, but drawing his sword, nonetheless.

They ran to the edge of the town to see the ogres arrive. There were four of them, and they were driving a pack of about five wargs. Cyrus quickly directed Sav'ran and Vincentio to attack some of the wargs while took on one himself. Xoria went after another warg herself, with Teraptus close behind her.

"What are you doing?" she yelled.

"Helping you," he replied.

Before she could respond the warg was upon her. She hit it in the head with her staff, and it lashed out and bit her leg. She held back a scream and pounded it on the head again. Teraptus slashed it in the side with his dagger, and it let go, turning to snap at him. Teraptus dodged, and it returned its attentions to Xoria. It lunged at her a few times, but she backed away and avoided it teeth. Teraptus went in to stab it again, but it turned on him, and he backed off. Xoria took advantage of the opening, and jabbed at its ear with her staff. It yipped in pain, and turned, snarling. Xoria still held the staff in a thrusting position, and when it snarled at her, she thrust the staff down its throat. It immediately began choking, and backing off to get the staff out, but Teraptus was already there, cutting its throat open with his dagger.

Cyrus had already dispatched one warg, and was now facing off against the foremost ogre, trying to avoid its swinging club, but looking for an opening. Vincentio and Sav'ran, having each dispatched a warg, and ganging up to finish off the last one, ran over to help Cyrus.

"Teraptus!" Xoria said, "Cast a spell on one of the ogres, they're gonna surround the others!"

"I told you, I don't know how to, unless it's an emergency!"

"Yes you do!" she looked at him seriously. "Just think about how you were feeling when you cast those spells, let that build up in you, then direct it at something and let it go!"

"I'll try," Teraptus said, unsure.

He gathered his will, trying to let anger and rage build up inside of him.

"I don't think it's working!" he shouted between clenched teeth.

"Try harder!" she coached him.

He looked up to see another ogre approaching the others from behind, it didn't seem as if they had noticed it yet; they were too preoccupied with the first one. No! he thought. I can't let it He began to feel something inside him building. As it gathered, he began to feel his hair feel like it was standing on end.

"Let it go!" Xoria shouted.

"Istrae Centa Extol!" he shouted, when it seemed as if it would be too much. He felt drained, exhausted. He looked up to see if there had been any effect.

The ogre did not seem bothered by whatever Teraptus' spell had done to it. It reared up and prepared to attack, then it stopped. It screamed and dropped its club, clutching at its arms. It looked almost as if its lips were turning blue, but hard to tell from the distance they were at. It screamed again as its blood began to freeze in its veins, bursting the vessels. With its arms bleeding profusely, it sank to its knees. The others had noticed it just before the first scream, and they wasted no time. Sav'ran and Vincentio were upon it quickly with their swords, and they dispatched it in no time. They turned back to the first to see it drop to its knees. Cyrus took off its head with one mighty blow.

"You did good," Xoria said, patting Teraptus on the back.

He smiled wanly underneath his cloak.

The battle was not over, however, as the two remaining ogres roared in anger.

"Hey!" Vincentio shouted, "Does the ogre on the right look a little bit bigger to anyone else?"

Cyrus looked. He was right. The ogre on the right was a little bigger. It also had longer tusks and a slightly more greenish cast to its skin. "Must be the chief or something!" he called. "Let's take it out first, it might demoralize the other one!"

"Come on Teraptus," Xoria said, "we still have work to do"

"I'm too tired to cast any more spells for awhile," he said, not rising from his knees.

Cyrus, Sav'ran and Vincentio ran to meet the two remaining ogres, who were currently charging towards them as well.

"Let's hit it with everything we've got!" Vincentio shouted. Then, "Bocho Othra Legato Turel!" The lightning bolt crashed from the sky and struck the ogre chieftain full in the chest. Its charge was slightly broken, and it stumbled, attempting to maintain its balance.

"I'll distract the other one!" Sav'ran shouted, running towards the other ogre, which was now closer to them. "Hey ugly!" he yelled at it, then took off at a sprint. The ploy worked, and the ogre began to chase after him.

By the time Cyrus reached the ogre chieftain, it had already regained its footing. Not exactly what I had in mind… Cyrus thought as he attacked the thing head-on. Vincentio caught up with him a few moments later, and began to harry the monster from the other side.

A blow to the chest knocked Cyrus back a bit, and he struggled to maintain his balance. He failed, and fell hard onto his back. The ogre smashed down with it club, but he rolled aside. Vincentio took advantage of this, and swung his sword upwards, into the ogre's armpit, as it struck the earth. The tendon in its arm was severed, and the ogre was unable to pick up the club again. Cyrus regained his footing and charged at it, delivering a grievous wound to its shoulder, near the neck. The ogre began to back away, preparing to flee.

"Bocho Othra Legato Turel!"

A lightning bolt came out of the sky, striking the ogre chieftain dead. It fell forward. Cyrus looked at Vincentio. Vince shook his head. They both turned to see Xoria, half-supporting Teraptus, who still had his arm outstretched. He fell again, but Xoria was still holding him up, and she lowered him to his knees slowly.

"Look out!" came a shout from the side.

They looked, and Sav'ran was running their way, with the ogre only twenty feet behind him. He leaped forward, landing on his hands, vaulting himself into the air, twisting as he did so, and landing gracefully atop the dead ogre chieftain's back. Cyrus and Vincentio turned, ready to face the ogre.

The ogre stopped, and looked first at the five humans who faced it, one of whom seemed to be down on its knees. Then it looked at its dead chieftain. Man-things call lightning from sky like shaman. Kill chief. Tribe need new chief. Thinking these thoughts, the ogre backed away from the humans, then ran around them and back into the forest.

When it left, the Light Warriors cheered. Sav'ran, especially, went to congratulate Teraptus for using his powers intentionally. After a few minutes, the bell from the port town began to peal again. The warriors looked to the town to see the people in the streets, rushing out to meet them.

"Great!" the merchant from before said. "You chased them off! And you killed their leader! They probably won't be back for a long time!"

There were other cheers from the crowd as well.

"Way to go!"

"That'll show 'em!"

"Great job!"

"Heroes of the town!"

"Hey," the merchant said, "I'll give you a big discount at my shop, so you guys can buy some fresh supplies. And its almost evening, I'm sure some of the townspeople here will put you up for the night. It'll take too long to get to Elfheim on foot." There were mutterings of agreement from the townspeople.

The Light Warriors agreed, and headed back to town.

The next day they set out for Elfheim, encountering very little, other than a large nest of spiders, which they had prudently decided to go around.

"We're almost to Elfheim," Sav'ran announced as they walked through the woods.

"How can you tell?" Cyrus said, peering through the forest ahead, it didn't look like it was going to end anytime soon.

"Trust me, I can tell. Now, Elfheim's a tree town. All of the buildings are incorporated into living trees, with walkways connecting them."

"All the buildings?" Xoria asked in wonder, looking up at the huge trees around them.

"Yes. And…one more thing…"

"Yes?"

"I'm…kinda not supposed to come back here anymore…"

"What?" Cyrus said.

"Picked a fine time to tell us," Vincentio said.

"Why not?" Teraptus asked.

Before he could answer, they found themselves surrounded by elven guards with bows drawn.

"Don't move!" a voice from somewhere in the trees commanded.

They all raised their arms above their heads.

"Wait!" Sav'ran said. Then he began rapidly speaking in Elven. The voice in the woods began speaking in Elven, too. The only words any of the rest of them understood were "Light Warriors" and "Lukhin".

The warriors lowered their bows. The unseen speaker stepped out from hiding, seemingly stepping out of a tree itself.

"My apologies," he said sincerely, once again speaking the human tongue, "but we are very cautious about unannounced guests."

"I can imagine," Cyrus said.

"Follow me, please," he said, leading the way to a completely camouflaged grove that they wouldn't have found otherwise. In the grove was an elevator of sorts that worked by pulleys, apparently operated by magic. They stepped onto the elevator, and soon found themselves looking at a wooden walkway that connected several treetop "buildings" together. They stepped out, looking about in wonder.

"Welcome to Elfheim," the elf guard said, smiling at their awestruck faces.

"We need to get to the palace," Sav'ran said.

"Of course," he said, "follow me"

"He believed you right away?" Vincentio whispered to Sav'ran as they walked along the wooden walkways to the palace.

"Of course," Sav'ran answered, looking at him quizzically, "why wouldn't he?"

"Well, what if you had been lying?"

Sav'ran looked at him as if he didn't understand. "Elves don't lie," he stated simply, and turned his head forward.

Vincentio thought to remind him that he wasn't exactly an elf, but decided to drop the subject. Obviously, when in Elfheim, he considers himself an elf, and outside it, he considers himself human

They reached the palace in no time. It was easily the largest tree in the forest, and after their escort conferred with the palace guards in Elven, they were admitted into the palace. When they entered, it became apparent that the inside was magically larger than the outside, as the first room they walked into was at least several hundred feet square.

An elderly elf in fine robes approached them, and dismissed their guide. He introduced himself.

"Greetings, Light Warriors. My name is Zacasmus, and I am Lord High Seneschal here in the palace. I welcome you in the name of his Majesty-" He stopped, looking at Sav'ran. "Savlas Ferathan! What are you doing here? You are forbidden from entering Elfheim! You know that! You leave me no choice. Guards!"

"I'm a Light Warrior, Zac," Sav'ran said, holding up his crystal from about his neck. Zacasmus stopped, thought it over, and waved the guards away.

"Very well," he said.

"Now, what's wrong with Erevan?"

"A curse," Zacasmus lamented, "Astos put a curse on him. And then King Solonor went after him, leaving the Advisory Council, including myself, in charge. We've tried everything, even appealing to the witch Matoya, to the North, but she has refused us."

"Really?" Cyrus said, frowning, "She's usually very helpful, albeit at a price"

"Well, she refused to give us any aid whatsoever"

"Has anything been heard from His Majesty?" Sav'ran asked.

"Nothing. Perhaps you can help, Light Warriors. Perhaps you can find a cure."

"We wouldn't know where to look" Cyrus objected. "I mean, we'd like to help, but…"

"Removing a curse is beyond our capabilities currently," Xoria said.

"May we see him?" Sav'ran asked.

"I suppose so…" Zacasmus said reluctantly.

As they walked down the corridors, Teraptus stepped up to walk beside Sav'ran. "Savlas Ferathan?"

Sav'ran blushed a bit. "It's my full name. Savlas Ferathan Tar'Ki'En'Sharan. Sav'ran, is a shortened version of my first name."

"I see"

They entered the chamber in which the prince was sleeping. It was a large, white room, with several windows along one wall, open to let the outside air in. There was a large bed in the center of the room, in which the prince lay sleeping. As they entered, a physician, who had been sitting alongside the prince's bed, stood up.

"Don't get up, doctor, the prince just has some visitors is all." Zacasmus said

"Visitors?" the doctor asked. "I don't think-"

"They're the Light Warriors, from Lukhin's prophecy"

"Really?" the doctor asked, interested. He walked up to them and began inspecting them all. "Human, mostly…" he said, then approached Sav'ran. "I say…have we met before?"

"This would be the young prince's brother," Zacasmus said, a slight note of disgust in his voice. "Since he's a Light Warrior now, we're permitting him to break his exile."

"Brother?" the others said incredulously, looking at Sav'ran.

He nodded, looking almost embarrassed to say it. "My father…is King Solonor. He…when the queen died, shortly after Erevan was born, he took a human lover for awhile…that was my mother. Erevan and I grew up together, well for awhile anyway. The king's advisors wanted to avoid a scandal, and they didn't think that my lineage could be kept a secret for very long…so they convinced my father to send my mother and I away." Sav'ran gave Zacasmus an unforgiving look.

"How is it that your mother was here in Elfheim?" Vincentio asked.

"My mother's family had been declared elf-friends several generations ago. That happens when a non-elf performed such a great service to the elven community, and it means that they are basically honorary elves."

"I see…so you still have family here in Elfheim?"

"Yes…my grandfather still lives here." He turned to Zacasmus, "How is my grandfather anyway?"

Zacasmus sighed, looking very sad. "I regret to say that your grandfather died a few months ago. He was staying in the palace, working with some of the other town planners on a proposal for a new protection system for the town, and…well he tried to interfere with Astos as he was leaving after cursing the prince…" his voice trailed off. "I'm very sorry."

There were tears in Sav'ran's eyes, and he clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white.

"If it's any consolation, he was given a hero's funeral, and His Majesty himself spoke at it."

"It is…a little bit…thank you"

Zacasmus bowed his head respectfully, then, "How is your mother faring in Pravoca?"

"She's okay," Sav'ran said, seemingly relieved to talk about something besides his grandfather, "She's now the most prestigious seamstress in Pravoca. All that training she received from the elven ladies, you know…"

Zacasmus actually laughed. "That's good to hear"

There was a moment of silence.

"You know," Zacasmus said, "that after all this time, its very unlikely that King Solonor is still alive…" He had a far-off tone in his voice.

"Yes?" Sav'ran said, not understanding what he was getting at.

"Well, if the prince gets better, and it turns out that the king is gone, then he will be crowned king."

"Right," Sav'ran said, still not understanding.

Zacasmus sighed. "He has made mention before, that when he becomes king, one of his first acts will be to revoke yours and your mother's exile…"

"Really?" Sav'ran said, interested. "And you, of course, object to this?"

Zacasmus sighed again. "Not really. You see, if the king is gone, then the damage to his reputation wouldn't be a danger, as no one would try and tarnish the memory of one who has passed on. You must understand, scandal was really the only reason we sent you both away. We all saw how much happier the prince had been when he had you as a playmate, and many of us were very fond of your mother as well. I myself still have one of the robes I commissioned from her. I only wear it for truly special occasions and I tell people quite proudly that a human made it for me."

"I know," Sav'ran said ruefully, "you don't have to worry, my mother isn't angry at anyone…except perhaps my father, she kind of feels that he should have stood up for her more. But she well understood the reason."

Zacasmus nodded, "She was always very wise…beyond her years, really."

Sav'ran nodded.

"Well, what are you going to do?" Zacasmus asked.

"I think we'll spend the rest of the day here," Sav'ran said. "I have some places I'd like to visit, if everyone else doesn't mind, and I'd like to check up on my grandfather's old home, see how that's faring…"

"Nobody has moved into it," Zacasmus told him, "The prince wanted your old home to be available to you when you moved back to Elfheim."

Sav'ran nodded. "I'll show you guys where the house is, we can stay there tonight. Until tonight, then…enjoy yourselves, I guess. Visit some of the shops, have fun."

Everyone left the palace and explored Elfheim. Vincentio and Xoria walked hand in hand through the walkways connecting the majestic trees. They took in the beautiful sights, and Vincentio bought Xoria an intricately wrought necklace. As evening approached, they headed to the treetops to watch the sunset together.

Teraptus, wanting to be around Xoria, but not with Vincentio, decided to spend some time with Cyrus. Of their little group he was closest to Xoria and Sav'ran, and he decided that now would be a good time to get to know Cyrus better. They talked a lot as they wandered the town. That is, Cyrus did most of the talking, Teraptus still didn't feel comfortable revealing everything just yet, but he was interested in what Cyrus had to say. They also visited some of the elven craftsmen, and Cyrus traded in his chain mail for a suit of plate mail, wrought from finely crafted mithral steel. The armorer also attempted to get Teraptus to purchase some magical bracelets.

"They have a defensive spell on them!" he said. "As good as if you were wearing armor!"

Cyrus and Teraptus were both skeptical.

"Don't believe me?" he said, "Watch" He placed a small log on top of two supports and commanded Cyrus to chop it in two. He didn't see what good it would do, but he did it anyway. Then the armorer put a similar log on the supports and slipped the bracelet on it. "Now try again," he said smugly. Determined to wipe the grin off the elf's face, Cyrus slashed down hard with his sword. He was dumfounded when it only made a small cut in the wood.

"How?" he said, inspecting the wood.

Teraptus inspected it for himself. He whistled in appreciation. "I'll take two," he said, then turned to Cyrus. "Can we afford two?"

"I think so, but I think only one works at a time, right?" The armorer nodded.

"I wanna get one for Xoria"

"Oh," Cyrus said, a twinkle in his eye, "you wanna outdo Vincentio with a nice gift, eh?"

"Well…I just thought…you know…we might want to protect our healer better"

Cyrus nodded. "All right, we can afford it. But I'm not gonna buy it unless you admit that you want to impress her."

Teraptus looked at him for a moment, and saw that he looked almost serious. "All right," he said, defeated. "You win, you're right"

"Ha! I knew it!" Cyrus gloated, and paid the armorer.

They all met at Sav'ran's family's house as night was falling. Sav'ran was seated in a big chair, reading a book as they entered.

"Hi guys," he said softly.

"Are you all right?" Xoria asked.

He smiled wanly. "I'm fine. I guess it's just that…there's a lot of memories here, you know?"

They all nodded. Teraptus approached Xoria.

"Xoria, I…I wanna give you this" and he handed her the copper bracelet. Cyrus had insisted that he give it to her in front of everyone. He knew that Cyrus was trying to help him with Xoria, but he still felt embarrassed, and kind of resented Cyrus for it a little bit.

"Teraptus, you shouldn't have!" Xoria said as he put it in her hands.

"It's magical," he supplied, showing her his own. "It will protect you, like armor"

"Oh, so it's more like equipment than a gift," she said. She seemed almost…relieved?

"Go ahead and show 'em," Vincentio nudged her.

She nodded as she put the bracelet on. She held up the necklace from her neck and showed it to everybody. "Look what Vincentio bought for me, isn't it nice?"

Everyone gathered to admire it. Sav'ran whistled in appreciation, "Elegant," he said. Teraptus mumbled something nice about it, but inside, he felt his hopes crash. Vincentio had one-upped him. He had hoped to point out that he and her now wore matching bracelets, as Cyrus suggested, but now…now she just thought of his gift as him sparing her the time to go equipment shopping.

They all prepared to go to bed. Teraptus sighed. Cyrus came up and patted him on the back. "Hey, don't sweat it, pal"

"Easy for you to say, you got a girl waiting for you back home," it came out more bitter than he had intended.

"That wasn't very nice," Cyrus reproached him. "Look, it's a setback, but nothing worthwhile is easy, right?"

"I should just give up," Teraptus despaired.

"Hey, none of that! If you give up, then you'll never get her! If you give up now, then Vincentio's already won, right?"

"Why are you helping me?" Teraptus asked. "I thought you liked him"

"I do like him. He's a good fighter, he knows some magic, and he's a great asset to the group. But hey, you, me, Xoria and Sav'ran…we're the Light Warriors, we gotta stick together, right? Didn't I tell you when we were headed out for Garland, that we'd always be there for you?"

"Yeah…" Teraptus said, his voice thick.

"And maybe…" Cyrus said, "maybe I think Vincentio's moving in on Xoria a little too fast. I really thought you two had something going there, at first. Especially with how drawn in you get sometimes, well…she really seemed to bring you out of the shell, got you to open up more, and we liked that. The he comes along, trying very hard to sweep her off her feet…"

"And it worked," Teraptus said sullenly.

"Now don't get down now. You never know, maybe she's just doing it to make you jealous."

"Make me jealous…?"

"Yeah, I've heard of girls doing this before. When they feel that the guy they want isn't paying enough attention to them, they start flirting with some other guy to get the first one to pay more attention to them."

"You think so?"

"Hey, maybe," he cocked his head, "In which case, though, I actually would have to feel sorry for Vincentio…"

Teraptus couldn't help but laugh. Cyrus soon joined him.

"Come on, let's get some shuteye"

They set out from Elfheim in the morning, heading west. Before they left, Vincentio purchased a mithral steel broadsword from one of the elven master weaponsmiths. Cyrus declined purchasing a similar sword, preferring to keep the one that had been a good-bye gift from Garland so many years ago.

Elves had little need for horses, so once again they had to travel on foot. Vincentio admired his sword as they traveled. It shined brightly, even in the shade, and in the sun it positively gleamed.

"Isn't it magnificent?" he said for about the third time in the past hour.

"Yes, Vincentio," Xoria said wearily. Even she was getting sick of him talking about the sword non-stop.

"Elven craftsmanship is the best," Sav'ran said proudly.

"There is something to say for the dwarves," Teraptus chimed in. "They have at least as much pride in their work, and as much skill, as the elves."

"Yes, but you see elves…"

And so started a debate on craftsmanship that lasted for the better part of an hour until finally, Xoria snapped.

"Will you guys shut up!" she said, exasperated.

They all looked at her, wide-eyed in surprise.

"I'm sorry," she said, "but I'm getting sick of all this 'my stuff is made better than your stuff' garbage!"

They continued west, turning north through a pass through the mountains, but remaining in a forest the whole time.

"How much farther is it?" Cyrus asked as they made camp for the night.

Sav'ran consulted the map. "At this rate, I'd say another two days."

The others groaned and went to bed.

They were awakened some hours later, when Sav'ran, standing watch, shook them all awake. They all groggily stood up and reached for their weapons, straining to see through tired eyes what was attacking them.

"Look there!" Sav'ran said, pointing to some shapes only a little more than a hundred feet from the fire and moving closer.

They all peered into the darkness, their vision not as good as his.

"Ghouls!" Teraptus exclaimed.

"G-ghouls?" Vincentio asked, visibly shaking.

Teraptus went to the fire and pulled out a small log, burning at one end. He moved to the edge of the light, brandishing his firebrand. "They don't like fire!" he told the others. Cyrus grunted and moved forward, sword in hand. Sav'ran grabbed a few more burning sticks and threw them at the oncoming ghouls. The ghouls didn't flinch and continued to advance.

"Gentlemen, allow me," Xoria said politely, stepping forward. "Desa Inca Absol!" She spoke a mystic incantation, her right hand raised. The wizard mark on her hand, Teraptus noted, glowed when she cast the spell.

Does mine as well He wondered. A light began to fill the area of the forest in front of her, originating where he did not know. He could now see the ghouls quite clearly. There were four of them, and they reacted to the light as if it were painful. Smoke started to emanate from their putrid bodies, and three of them dissolved entirely. Cyrus ran forward and chopped off the head of the last one, ending the threat.

They went back to their blankets. Vincentio, Teraptus noted, was white and visibly shaken by what he had seen. Teraptus smiled to himself. Imagine, the mighty Vincentio, afraid of something after all. He went to sleep.

In the morning, as they were walking again, Teraptus decided to bring up what he had seen the night before.

"So, Vincentio," he began, "You seemed to have a little bit of trouble with those ghouls last night."

"I hate those things," he said, shuddering. "Pirates and bad guys, I can handle. Monsters, fine. But those things…" there was an abstract look of horror in his eyes.

"Problem with the undead, huh?" Sav'ran asked sympathetically. "I don't like them myself, either. A perversion of nature, if you ask me."

"It's not that," Vincentio asserted. "I can handle skeletons, or even shadows and wraiths, but…those things…they look so human, but they're not! They still have human faces…dead ones…those human faces…decaying…and walking right at you…" he shuddered again.

Cyrus looked at him. "Did you have some kind of bad experience with them or something?" he asked.

Vincentio nodded. "I lost a good friend of mine to some zombies when we were kids. We were playing where we shouldn't have been, and…"

"Ah," Xoria said, "So now you have a fear of cadaverous undead because they remind you of how you lost your friend."

"Not exactly…"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, that wasn't the last time I saw him… He…he came back…as a zombie. The whole town fought against them. I…I was the one to take down my friend."

There were sympathetic looks from everyone else in the group, including Teraptus, who had not meant for his teasing to arouse such deep pain.

"One of the wizards in town…she cast fire spells on them and destroyed most of them…from then on I began studying magic as well."

"Do you have…?" Teraptus began, but stopped himself.

"A wizard mark?" Vincentio offered, finishing Teraptus' sentence for him. "No, unfortunately, I don't. I had to study the spells I know, and I'll have to spend a little bit of time, and/or money to learn any more."

"I can teach you some spells," Xoria offered. "But I can't teach you that undead-killing spell, that one was actually more like a prayer to Ysgard."

Vincentio smiled at her, "Thanks"

"How do you learn more spells?" Sav'ran asked, interested.

"Well, once you have the theory of magic down, it becomes a lot easier. You see, magic can basically be divided into White and Black Magic…"

"What's the difference?" Cyrus asked.

"Well…let me put it this way: Xoria is a White Mage, Teraptus, here, is a Black Mage."

"So…White Magic is helping people, and Black Magic is hurting them." Teraptus said, a note of distaste in his voice.

Vincentio's brow furrowed. "Not exactly, Teraptus, although there are people who see it that way, which is why White Mages are often more accepted into society than Black Mages. It's terribly unfair to assume that every Black Mage out there is evil. I know of one in my hometown who's just the nicest person ever. She always makes cakes and pies and shares them with everyone."

"Back to the point, Vincentio," Sav'ran said a little bit rudely, "we're not discussing baked goods."

"Umm, right, sorry. Anyway, the difference has to do with the way the spells are cast. You see, White Magic is almost exclusively made up of conjuration spells."

"What about healing?" Cyrus interrupted.

"I can answer that one," Xoria chirped up. "Healing spells actually conjure positive energy from a higher plane. When in contact with living flesh, this positive energy has a restorative effect. As I get stronger, I'll be able to channel larger amounts of positive energy, healing more."

"Right," Vincentio said, trying to collect his thoughts, "Now Black Magic, as it is called, is a little more complicated. Mostly they are evocation and enchantments."

"Evo-what?" Sav'ran asked.

"Evocation. The manipulation of raw energy, turning it into some other form, like fire or electricity. This energy usually comes from within, but this can be very exhausting…"

"Tell me about it," Teraptus muttered.

"…but an experienced mage can cast them as invocation spells instead." He held up his hand to ward off the questions. "Before you ask, invocation means manipulating energy outside the self. For instance, creating a fire spell by using the heat already in the air. Enchantment spells are also common, I once saw a wizard put an entire pack of wargs to sleep. And I've read tales about wizards who could make enemies turn on each other!"

"Wow!" Sav'ran said, impressed. "Do you think that I could learn to cast a few spells?"

"Sure, if you worked at it hard enough. Hell, I'm sure Cyrus could too, if he wanted."

"What do you think, Cyrus?" Sav'ran said. "Should we try and learn some spells of our own?"

"I don't think so," Cyrus said doubtfully. "I trust my skill with a blade more. If I were to learn any magic, I'd learn a few healing spells, and that's about it."

"So…you never did say how one goes about learning how to cast spells," Sav'ran said, "you just talked about the theory of magic."

"Oh, right, sorry. Anyway, once you have the theory down, you need to learn the actual incantation, that's very important."

"How do you learn those?"

"Well, you can get them from another wizard, who might train you, or might make you pay them in some way. People born with wizard marks seem to be born with the knowledge of some spells, but even they can benefit from training from a more experienced individual."

"Wizard mark?" Cyrus asked, bringing up the topic that Teraptus had hoped to avoid, "What's that?"

"Well, some people are born with a certain mark somewhere on their body. It usually looks like some kind of tattoo, kind of like a stylized flame."

"Like this," Xoria said, pulling back her sleeve and revealing hers.

"Yes, like that. What it means is…the person with that mark is a natural conduit for magic. They make the best mages, and only they can cast the most powerful magicks. They usually, however are restricted to either White or Black Magic. These people have power that they can't necessarily control, and if they don't train it, or at least accept it and learn to control it, it comes out of them anyway…sometimes with disastrous results."

Teraptus tried very hard to act normal, and look interested in what Vincentio had to say as if it were new to him, too.

"Anyway," Vincentio continued, much to Teraptus' relief. Never had he been so glad to hear the man talk. "Anyway, once you learn those incantations, you need to sort of let the eldritch energy build up inside you, and release it with the incantation. As far as learning more spells, once you know a few and know how magic works, well, the more advanced versions of each spell are very similar to the basic ones, just a little bit more complicated."

"More advanced versions?" Teraptus asked, actually interested.

"Sure, like a fire spell that would strike an area, taking out multiple enemies, rather than a single-target one."

"Ah"

"Let's talk about something else," Xoria suggested, realizing that the topic could go in a direction that would make Teraptus uncomfortable.

Later that evening, as they were all preparing to go to bed, Sav'ran sat high up in a tree branch, ready for first watch. Cyrus approached him from below as the others bedded down.

"Sav, are you okay?"

He looked down. "I'm fine, why?"

"You're not fine. You've been acting a little funny the past week or so. An when you think nobody's looking, you have this sad, far-off look in your face."

"I've been thinking about my family," Sav'ran said, just a little bit too quickly.

Cyrus caught the slip. "Bullshit, I know when someone's lying to me. Get down here and talk to me eye-to-eye, I don't want to wake the others."

"Yessir, Leader, sir!" and he jumped down. As he did so, Cyrus noted that his crystal was on the outside of his clothes, something unusual, since they had all agreed to wear them inside. Sav'ran noticed him staring at it, and quickly put it away.

"What's wrong with the crystal?" Cyrus asked.

"Nothing's wrong with it"

"But what's wrong has something to do with the crystal"

"…"

"Right, I knew it"

"Cyrus…I have a confession to make"

"I'm listening"

"I'm…not supposed to be a Light Warrior…Vincentio is"

Cyrus looked at him for a moment, trying to ascertain whether or not it were true, as if the answer lay in Sav'ran's eyes. "Bull"

"No, really, I…"

"I don't believe you, Sav'ran, and I don't think you do either"

"I wish I didn't, but I do"

"Why?"

"Well…remember when I told you all I was a pirate? And how it only took one attack on another ship to make me sick of it?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, that ship was carrying this crystal. The people defending it mentioned Lukhin's prophecy…before Bikke had them killed."

"That wasn't your fault…"

"It was…but that's not the point"

"Go on"

"I couldn't let that happen. Taking money is one thing. I didn't mind stealing, I've always had a talent for it, and when you get down to it, they're just little pieces of metal. But this was the fate of the world, here. I couldn't let the prophecy fail because some selfish pirate got in the way. The ship had been headed for Cornelia, so I stole it from Bikke, and got onto a ship to Cornelia as fast as I could, to give the crystal to the people who were expecting it. But when I arrived and showed people the crystal, they automatically assumed that I was the one who was supposed to bear it."

"Why did you go along?"

"I guess…I'm kind of selfish. This was exactly the kind of adventure that I really wanted, not piracy. I couldn't pass up the opportunity. Besides, nobody came forward expecting the crystal."

"So where does Vincentio come in?"

"Cyrus, the ship bearing the crystal, it came from Crescent Lake"

"So what?"

"Vincentio's from Crescent Lake"

"So what?"

"Well…I figure…"

Cyrus laughed at him. "Look, Sav'ran…if Vincentio were supposed to be a Light Warrior, I think he would have showed up in Cornelia with a crystal. He was nowhere near Cornelia when we met him, and didn't the prophecy say that the Light Warriors would show up there?"

"Maybe," Sav'ran said, beginning to feel a little it better, but still not sounding convinced.

"Right, now take it easy. I know you're a Light Warrior, and so do Teraptus and Xoria, that's what counts?"

"But what if-"

"Don't start on the 'what ifs', Sav'ran, you'll just give yourself a headache"

Sav'ran smiled. "Thanks, Cyrus"

"No problem. Now, I'm going to bed, wake me for my watch"

In the morning they set out again, traveling through the forest. Sav'ran periodically climbed a tree to get a better view of how far along they were. It was a few hours after noon when he came back down from a tree with an excited grin on his face.

"Hey guys! I saw the castle, we can make it there before dark if we hurry"

"Well then," Cyrus said, "let's hurry"

They picked up the pace and it wasn't long before they found themselves leaving the woods. They entered a clearing several miles wide. There were gardens everywhere, overgrown with hundreds of years of vegetation, and in serious disrepair. There was a hedge maze off to the west, but the bushes were long dead, one could easily break down the hedge maze walls. The castle itself wasn't that big, and it, too was in a state of disrepair. The stone walls, once white, were crumbling, and entire wings of the castle appeared to have fallen off. There were several walls that had come down, hallways open to the outside, and the main doors to the castle were off their hinges, one of them completely flat against the ground. As they approached the massive doors, evidence of termites was apparent.

"How long has this been abandoned?" Xoria asked, looking about in wonder.

"Only about three hundred years," Sav'ran answered.

"Then what did all this damage?" Vincentio asked, examining the rubble all over the floor as they walked in.

"War with the dark elves," Sav'ran answered, his voice dropping to barely above a whisper. "We have to keep quiet now, I don't know if Astos is still here. If he is, we need to find him before he becomes aware of us."

"Where do we start?" Vincentio asked quietly.

"The throne room"

"Should we split up?" Cyrus asked.

Sav'ran shook his head. "No. If we do meet Astos before we find the king, he'll be more than a match for any one of us, we should stick together."

Sav'ran lead the way to the throne room, led by a map that had been taken from the palace library in Elfheim. The doors, surprisingly, were not only intact, but closed. And when they tried to pull on them, they found that they were locked as well.

"What the…?" Sav'ran said as he failed to open the door.

Suddenly, the doors began to open of their own volition. Everyone drew their weapons and prepared for combat, but nothing came out of the room. When the doors were fully opened, they heard a voice from the other end of the throne room.

"Enter, please"

They walked towards the throne, where there were two torches on either side, providing light. On the throne sat an elf with fair hair of about middle age. There were lines of worry deeply creasing his face however, and as they looked at him, it did not appear as if he had smiled in some time.

"Father?" Sav'ran said tentatively.

"Yes, my son?" the man on the throne said.

"What happened here? Where is Astos?"

"Astos has vanished," the king replied wearily.

"Why haven't you gone back to Elfheim, then?"

"It's not that simple. You see…Astos wanted my crown."

"Your crown?" Cyrus said, confused.

"Who are these humans?" the king asked of Sav'ran.

"These are my friends, we are all Light Warriors. We're fulfilling Lukhin's prophecy."

"Ah, yes, the prophecy," the king said, a strange tone in his voice that Sav'ran couldn't quite identify.

"Sav'ran's been a great help to us," Cyrus said proudly.

"Sav'ran?" the king asked, somewhat confused.

Sav'ran seemed to blush a bit. "It's a nickname," he said, "most humans find it tiring to say my whole name."

"Ah, yes, well…as I was saying…Astos wanted my crown. As you know, the crown is an object of great power. It is enchanted to protect Elfheim, and if it were to fall into the hands of the dark elves, then they could turn it's power against Elfheim, and we would all be lost."

"Right"

"Well, I came here to fight Astos, and we had a great battle. To prevent him from getting the crown I used a contingency spell that teleported it to the Marsh Cave, where the old wards are still strong enough to keep Astos at bay."

"What happened to him?"

"I told him that it was where he would never reach it, and he left in disgust, swearing that he would find a way to retrieve the crown from the Marsh Cave."

"We can't let that happen!" Sav'ran said, alarmed.

"Why are you still here?" Xoria asked, a suspicious note in her voice.

"The battle with Astos has weakened me. His spells were powerful, and I will need the aid of the palace physicians to recover. I cannot make it to Elfheim on my own, the forest is too dangerous. But first, you must go and retrieve the crown from the cave! Bring it back here with you, that I might know that it's safe, and then you can help me travel back to Elfheim. With a group of protectors such as you, I'm sure I can make it back to Elfheim unharmed."

The Light Warriors agreed.

"Where is this cave?" Vincentio asked.

"It's right here," Sav'ran said, pulling out the map and pointing to it. "To the southwest."

They all left the castle, and left the king to his loneliness, as they started their trek immediately to get as much of a start as they could. That had been the king's suggestion.

"Why couldn't we have stayed at the castle and set out in the morning?" Teraptus complained.

"I don't know," Sav'ran said, scratching his head. "He was acting awfully strange, but I can't quite put my finger on it."

It took them another three days to reach the Marsh Cave. They encountered little more than an occasional ogre, but with teamwork they learned to dispatch them easily. Cyrus began hunting for a little extra food, and Vincentio fished in any rivers they came across, while Sav'ran and Xoria collected edible plants. Teraptus, as it turned out, was actually a fantastic cook. This surprised everyone, while the compliments embarrassed Teraptus to some degree. He was further embarrassed when they asked him to cook a meal for them when they got back to Elfheim, when he'd have access to a proper kitchen.

The Marsh Cave was situated in the middle of a large swamp. Xoria despaired of ever getting the stains out of the bottom of her cloak, but the men didn't seem to mind it so much.

"Anyone bring a torch?" Cyrus asked as he looked into the dark cave.

"Simple," Vincentio said, and held out his hand, palm up. He spoke a few words under his breath, and blew into his hand. A small globe of light appeared, floating gently above his hand. As they watched, it grew bigger, until it was about 7 inches in diameter. It floated up and stopped when it was hovering directly above his head.

"Show off," Xoria said, and cast a similar spell that created a glowing ball of light above her head as well. Thus equipped with light, they strode down into the cave.

The floor was flat, and surprisingly smooth. When it was brought up, Sav'ran explained that this cave was only partially natural. It had been carved out in places, and there were rooms and corridors that existed in various places throughout the cavern. The room that they were looking for would be at the bottom of the cave, he explained.

Xoria shrieked when she saw an enormous spider, bigger than her. Cyrus quickly lunged forward and skewered it on his sword. "Thanks," she said, "it just jumped out at me, and…"

"It's okay," he said smiling, "I don't like them either."

They continued on through the cave. It was eerily silent. Sav'ran's nerves were on edge, as he constantly looked this way and that for any sign of dark elves, or any other creatures, for that matter, but dark elves in particular. They found a stone staircase going down, and proceeded to the next floor.

The next floor contained a series of rooms. Vincentio couldn't resist looking into them. Most were empty, as the whole complex had long ago been abandoned. But in some abandoned rooms he found a few bits of money lying about. In one he found an old, rusted suit of armor, and atop it a metal helmet that was still in reasonably good shape. He offered it to Cyrus.

"No thanks," he declined, "you found it, you should wear it."

"I can't," Vincentio said, offering it again, "It would interfere with my ability to hear, which in turn would affect my spells."

"Okay," Cyrus said, donning the helmet.

"You look like a knight," Xoria said, smiling.

"Sav'ran," Teraptus asked, examining one of the walls of the room.

"Yes?"

"What's this green goo on the walls?"

Sav'ran turned to look for himself. "There shouldn't be any green goo…"

Just then a pseudopod lashed out from the goo and wrapped around Teraptus' hand. "It burns!" he screamed. The others quickly went to his aid. Cyrus slashed at it with his sword. It severed the pseudopod, but the ooze seemed unharmed. They backed away from the walls, and Teraptus managed to get it off his hand.

The ooze was on several walls, and it all came down to creep across the floor towards where they huddled on the back wall, which was ooze-free. The oozes collected into three separate puddles and slowly creeped towards them. Cyrus and Vincentio ran forward to strike at them, but their blades passed through with no effect. The oozes crept closer. Xoria tried to hit one with her staff, but her staff just clung to it, and it began to try and creep up her staff. With Vincentio's help, she managed to retrieve her staff.

"What are we gonna do?" Sav'ran asked, his voice rising in panic.

Teraptus stepped forward, his hands held before him, palms facing each other. He was letting the energy build inside him, more than before. He held out his hands slightly. A glowing orange ball formed between them.

"Fithostra Ignusious Rajakan Eklusul!"

He pushed the glowing ball out with his hands. It quickly snaked out, and struck the floor near one of the oozes, sinking in like a stick into water.

"Get back!" he shouted.

They all backed up against the wall as the floor turned slightly red. The oozes stopped, briefly. Then, columns of fire shot up underneath each one, scorching them all. They shriveled into small, crispy blackened husks, and there was a smell in the air like a burnt compost heap. For a moment there was silence, then…

"Hey! Great job!"

"Way to go Teraptus!"

"I thought we were done for!"

Xoria came up to him and embraced him in a warm hug. "I knew you could do it," she said, smiling her most dazzling smile at him. Then, on an impulse, she kissed him on the cheek as they prepared to leave the room.

After that, they decided not to explore any more rooms. However, they had only traversed two hallways more when they heard a strange rumbling behind them. They turned to see a section of the cave ceiling collapse, and upon it, were more ooze creatures! They began to crawl forward, pseudopods stretching forth from puddles of both gray and green oozes.

"I think they're angry about their friends," Sav'ran said as they backed away.

"Umm, what do we do?" Xoria asked, not taking her eyes off them.

"Well…we…RUN!" and Sav'ran quickly turned on his heels and fled they way they had been going, with the others hot in his heels. They could hear the oozes behind them.

"There's the stairs!" Cyrus announced, pointing up ahead.

Just then, a giant spider jumped down onto the path in front of them.

"Keep going!" Sav'ran said, and leaped up, landing on the things back, pushing it to the ground. The others either trod right over it, or ran around it as they ran for the stairs. They ran down the stairs and crossed several hallways before they decided to stop.

"Do you think…(huff huff)….we lost them?" Teraptus asked, out of breath.

"I think so," he replied, and looked around. "Hey, I think we're almost there! It should be in one of these rooms!"

They explored the rooms on that hallway, finding most of them empty. It was, of course, in the last room that they decided to look in that they found what they were looking for. The crown was placed upon the head of a small statue of an elf. Surrounding it were several statues of some menacing creatures that stood some six feet tall. They were, for the most part, humanoid, except for their heads; their heads looked like squids. Each of them appeared to wield a staff, atop which was a strange, faceted rock.

"Why is it always in the last room we check?" Sav'ran grumbled.

"Because," Xoria said sagely, "when you find it, you stop looking." Sav'ran glared at her, but she returned his look with an innocent face and a sweet smile. "Was there something?" she said in a deceptively mild tone. Sav'ran said nothing and looked at the crown.

"Ugly things," Teraptus commented, looking at the four statues.

"Well," Vincentio said, approaching the crown, "this is what we came for." He reached for the crown.

"Wait!" Sav'ran yelled. Too late.

When Vincentio touched the crown, the eyes of the statues flashed. The stone became flesh; a gruesome, slime-covered flesh, and the creatures began to move.

"Now you've done it," Sav'ran said as he drew his weapon.

Cyrus wasted no time and immediately struck one of the creatures. It was a solid blow, and left a deep gash, but the creature did not even flinch, nor did the wound bleed. The rest of them had backed away to the other end of the room when they had started moving.

"Well, they look like aquatic creatures," Vincentio said, and began some incantations. "Bocho Othra Legato Turel!" Lightning struck the one that Cyrus had already attacked. It fell to the ground, dead.

One of the others leveled its staff at Vincentio. A white bolt shot out and struck him in the chest. He flew backwards and collided with the wall. He was staggered, but managed to get to his feet. Another fired a bolt at Xoria, which she barely managed to dodge aside.

"Bocho Othra Legato Turel!" Teraptus fired off another bolt of lightning at the one that hadn't attacked yet. Its flesh seemed slightly cooked, but it gave no indication that it felt any pain. It leveled its staff at Teraptus.

"No you don't!" Sav'ran said as he lunged forward and slashed at its face, severing many of its tentacles. It didn't react, however, and fired the bolt at Teraptus. He was unable to dodge, and was sent flying against the wall, much like Vincentio had been.

Cyrus, for his part, had engaged another one of them in close combat. It repeatedly raised its staff in time to block his attacks. He struggled with it now, his sword held against its staff. Vincentio took this opportunity to swipe at its arm with his broadsword. The elven-made weapon sliced right through its arm, severing it. With only one arm to hold the staff, Cyrus' sword pushed the staff aside and then slid smoothly into the creature's head. The thing fell limply to the floor.

Xoria had closed to melee with the one that had attacked Teraptus, and was doing everything in her power to block the creature's staff with her own. Sav'ran was sneaking around behind the other one, which was preparing to fire a bolt at Cyrus. Sav'ran stabbed it in the back, sliding his cutlass into the creature's midsection. It paid him no heed and sent a bolt at Cyrus. The bolt merely glanced off of Cyrus' plate mail armor, and he only barely seemed to feel anything. Sav'ran pulled his sword from the creature, but before he could strike again, a lightning bolt shot out from the ceiling, killing it. Sav'ran looked in surprise over to Teraptus, and he couldn't be entirely sure, but he thought he saw the hooded young mage wink at him.

Xoria was still having trouble with the last one. It had hit her twice already, and she was close to passing out. Before she did, however, Vincentio swooped in to pick her up and carry her out of harm's way, and then he turned and severed its head with one swing of his broadsword.

"As I was about to say," Sav'ran said, breathing hard, "only someone of elven royal blood can take the crown or else the guardians will awaken.

"What were those things?" Cyrus asked.

"Guardians," Sav'ran shrugged as he picked up the crown and put it in his pack, "They say that those creatures used to a big threat underground, that they were the allies of the dark elves, but these ones were ensorceled, and forced to be guardians."

"Piscodemons!" Vincentio exclaimed, snapping his fingers. "I've heard of them. Supposedly there's a big city of them far underground, but fairly close to Crescent Lake."

Sav'ran shrugged. "Whatever, shall we go?"

"Can we get some healing first?" Teraptus complained.

"Here," Cyrus said, opening his pack, and offering him a few healing potions. "Let's conserve magic for the journey home, eh?"

"And pray we don't run into those oozes again," Xoria said with a shudder.

They managed to make it out of the cave without any further attacks. The journey back to the castle took another three days, and they ran into almost no trouble whatsoever. A pack of wargs had tried to attack them in the night, but they had all woken up and decimated the pack without suffering any wounds, sending the survivors yelping into the night.

"Let's make camp here," Sav'ran said when they were about a mile from the castle.

"Why?" Cyrus asked, "We're almost to the castle, and then we can reassure your father, rest there, and get going with him in the morning."

"I don't know, Cyrus…There was something strange about him last time. Now that I've had time to think about it, I'm almost sure that there was a counterspell back in Elfheim that would have retrieved the crown, and he was just a little too cold towards us, it wasn't like him."

"What do you think is wrong?"

"Nothing I can confirm. But just in case, I want us all to be well rested and prepared for the worst tomorrow. If it turns out that I'm wrong, well, we really wouldn't have wasted any time, since we would have had to rest anyway. Agreed?"

They all agreed and went to bed. When they woke up, they went straight to the castle and right into the throne room. Once again, it opened from the inside, and the king's voice beckoned them to enter.

"Did you get the crown?" the king asked, a gleam in his eyes.

"Yes…" Sav'ran said cautiously.

"Give it to me!" the king demanded.

"What's wrong with you, father? This isn't like you!"

"Foolish boy!" the king roared, "Your father is dead, and I, Astos, remain!" With that, the illusion surrounding him dissolved, and in his place stood an elf with jet-black skin, pale white hair, and red, glowing eyes. "Incompetent fools!" he sneered. "I shall take the crown from your lifeless corpses, and with the crown and this crystal under my control, Elfheim shall crumble and the dark elves shall rise again!" In his left hand he held a strange crystal, about the size of a walnut, and perfectly round.

They all had their weapons ready and prepared to attack. Before they could, however, Astos extended his right hand and pointed towards them. The crystal in his left hand glowed. "Fithostratus Ignusioustan Rajakanulka Eklusulshi!" A ball of fire leapt from his extended finger at touched down at Sav'ran's feet. A massive explosion followed, a huge globe of fire forming with them in the center. They all screamed as the heat seared them.

Cyrus immediately leaped forward, but Astos dodged surprisingly quickly, and he was only able to inflict some minor wounds. Vincentio tried his luck next, allowing Astos no respite, but to similar effect, he only managed to inflict a flesh wound. Sav'ran was a little bit quicker, but his light sword only seemed to graze against Astos' fine mesh armor, seeming to have no effect.

Xoria meanwhile, was healing Teraptus, who had probably suffered the most from the explosion. Teraptus, for his part, was thinking as fast as he could, how to defeat this villain.

"Too fast," Cyrus panted, "he's too bloody fast."

Vincentio grunted, and then stopped as he decided which spell he should cast on him. It came to him quickly. "Dodge this!" he yelled, followed by, "Bocho Othra Legato Turel!" The lightning bolt struck home, but Astos seemed unconcerned with the effects, he was already muttering another spell.

"Cyrus!" Teraptus called, halting the warrior's charge. "Come here!" Cyrus ran over to him, and Teraptus laid his hands upon Cyrus. "Hathran Actina Sorchak Tentia Ewulvia!"

Time seemed to slow for Cyrus. He watched as everything seemed to slow down. As he looked at Astos, the dark elf's lips seemed to be moving slower. He grinned as he realized that instead of slowing everyone down, he had become faster. He was at Astos' side almost before the dark elf could react. His first attack struck the elf's shoulder, disrupting his concentration on the spell he had been casting. Astos, Cyrus noted, was not dodging so well anymore. He followed up quickly with two more slashes that bit deeply into Astos' flesh and tearing through his light armor.

"Wow!" Vincentio said as he watched Cyrus become a blur of motion and attack Astos like a madman.

"Some spell!" Sav'ran said, equally impressed.

The burst of action had tired Cyrus, however, as he realized that even though he could act twice as fast, it was taking twice as much effort to do so. He backed off for a moment to catch his breath. Sav'ran and Vincentio prepared to lunge in as well, when Astos fired off another spell.

"Idiots! See how well you can hit what you can't see! Feyla Okranos Gamof!" A black fog filled the room.

"I can hardly see anything!" Vincentio cried.

Cyrus couldn't either, but he had been trained to use his other senses in a fight. He attacked Astos again, but only felt one of his strikes hit home.

"It's an illusion!" Xoria called out. "The fog's just an illusion, once you realize that, you can see right through it!"

"Not that easy!" Vincentio called, and then grunted as Astos struck him hard in the stomach.

Thanks to Xoria's outcry, Teraptus was able to throw off the illusion's effects. He quickly looked about the room, and noted Sav'ran trying to creep up on Astos. He decided to provide a distraction. "Hey!" he yelled, "Over here, freak!" Astos turned towards him, and if it weren't for his dark skin, Teraptus would have sworn that he was turning red with rage. He decided to continue with more of a distraction "Bocho Othra Legato Turel!" The lightning bolt struck Astos, but again, seemed to have little effect.

Astos again raised his right hand and pointed his finger at Teraptus. "Insolent wretch! Prepare to meet your demise! Regina Ukyo Bant-" he was cut short as Sav'ran thrust his cutlass into Astos' side. The spell he was casting fizzled, unfinished. He looked up at Sav'ran as he fell. "H-h-how?" he stammered. The illusionary fog began to dissipate. "How could you see through that?"

"Idiot," Sav'ran spat Astos' own words in his face, "surface elves can see in the dark, too." Astos made some strangling noises, unable to speak further. Finally, he fell to the floor with a gurgling sigh and the crystal in his left hand rolled across the floor, stopping at Xoria's feet. She picked it up and examined it.

"Well that's that," Cyrus said, collapsing to the floor.

"What do you suppose happened to the real king?" Vincentio asked, looking about the ruined throne room.

"Dead, most likely," Sav'ran said. "But how is what bothers me."

"That spell…" Teraptus began.

"What was that?" Sav'ran asked.

"The spell, the one he was about to cast on me. I don't know what it was, but when he started casting it, I couldn't move, and it was like I saw a shadowy figure, like Death, approaching me."

Vincentio's brow furrowed. "Are you sure?"

Teraptus nodded. "Yes. It could be that it was a spell powerful enough to instantly sever a life. Perhaps he used that on the king and then disposed of the evidence if anyone ever came back here."

Sav'ran nodded, and bowed his head. Vincentio walked over to him and put his hand on his shoulder. "Come on," he said softly, "we still got work to do. We've got to get back, now, right? Your brother is the king now, and maybe now that Astos is dead, the curse will be lifted."

"Probably not," Xoria said, still inspecting the crystal. "Most curses need some kind of counter-curse to be lifted. But you're right, we do need to get back to Elfheim, and it's possible that it will be easier to lift the curse with Astos gone."

Sav'ran nodded, and they all prepared to leave. "Wait," he said, noticing something in the corner. They all went over and found a few chests, both locked.

"These must be Astos' things," Teraptus mused.

"I think I can pick this," Sav'ran said, and set to work on one of the locks with a set of tools taken from a hidden pocket in his vest. After a few minutes, the lock clicked open. Before he could open it, he jumped at the sound of Cyrus breaking the other lock with his sword.

"Well, that was much faster," Cyrus said, grinning. They opened the chests to find a large amount of Gil, most likely used by Astos for bribes, and a bracelet nearly identical to the ones worn by Teraptus and Xoria. Sav'ran decided to forgo wearing the armor he had on, and instead wore the bracelet, preferring the added mobility.

They set out back to Elfheim and reached it in two days.

They were immediately admitted to the palace, where Sav'ran told Zacasmus what had occurred, and he agreed with Sav'ran that the king was probably dead.

"The royal diviners have not been able to locate him, which means he is either dead or being hidden by another wizard. If Astos is dead, as you say, then that means that the king must be as well, for they still have been unable to find any trace of him."

Xoria showed him the strange crystal that they had found with Astos, asking if he knew what it was. He turned it over in his hands examining it. "Hmmm. Concentric circles on it, like an eye…" he thought for a moment, "That's it!" he exclaimed. "This must be the crystal eye that supposedly allows Matoya to see! If Astos had stolen it from her, it was no wonder that she didn't help us, she would have been unable to!"

"Oh yeah," Cyrus said, "I heard she was blind."

"How did you know?" Vincentio asked.

Xoria giggled. "Around Cornelia, mothers scare their children into being good by telling them 'Matoya the witch will come after you. With her magic eye she can see anything, and she loves to kidnap bad little children!' She's actually a rather nice person. Xion knew her better than I did, but when I met her, she was actually very hospitable."

"Light Warriors," Zacasmus said, returning the eye to them. "You must return this to Matoya, and as a boon ask for a cure for Prince Erevan! If anyone can do it, I'm sure she can."

"All right," Teraptus said, "But in return, can you make us some Nitro Powder?"

Zacasmus frowned. "Nitro Powder? That's some pretty destructive stuff. Might I ask what you want with it?"

"The canal that connects the Inner Sea with the rest of the world collapsed," Sav'ran explained. "Some dwarves are trying to build a new one, but they need the powder."

"Oh, all right then. Dwarves definitely know what they're doing when it comes to that stuff. If not used properly, it can be very dangerous. Yes, I'm sure that once the prince is better, it would be no problem at all to make a shipment for the dwarves."

The Light Warriors stayed only one more day in Elfheim before setting out north again for their boat. Matoya, Xoria and Cyrus revealed, lived in a cave north of Cornelia. Not only that, Xoria had added, but her mentor, Xion had a two-way portal that led to her cave; they needed only to travel to the Temple of Ysgard.

The trip back to Cornelia was rather boring. They almost encountered another ship that Sav'ran identified as privateers, but he raised Bikke's flag up on the mast, and the other ship turned away.

When they reached the Temple, which was not far outside of Cornelia, they found Xion less than eager to let them use his portal to Matoya's cave.

"But we have her eye!" Xoria objected.

"You do?" Xion said, surprised. "How did you get it? It was stolen from her a few months ago!"

"Astos had it," Cyrus informed him.

"The dark elf?" Xion asked, confused. "What would the dark elves want with her crystal?"

"They also wanted this," Sav'ran said, pulling the crown out of his pack.

"I see, with both items, he would be able to not only see past, but disable the wards around Elfheim."

"You still have that?" Teraptus said in disbelief.

"I…kinda neglected to give it back. Don't worry, I will when Erevan gets better."

"The elven prince is sick?" Xion asked.

"Under a curse," Sav'ran corrected him, "We think Matoya could help if we gave her back her eye."

Xion nodded. "She very well could. Very well," he sighed, "you may use the portal." He spoke some strange words, and his full-length mirror began to glow. "Step lightly, it won't be open all day." They all stepped through.

They found themselves in a hallway in a cave of some sort. There were torched in sconces along the wall that burned with purple fire.

"Pretty," Xoria said, examining a torch.

"Olleh," came a voice from ahead, startling them.

They looked around, but all they saw was a broom, apparently standing straight up of its own volition. It swept its way towards them and a voice came from it. "Yam I pleh uoy?"

They all looked at each other quizzically. "Uhh…we're here to talk to Matoya," Cyrus said.

"Ayotam si ton gniviecer srotisiv won. Emoc niaga."

"We…uh…have…uh…her eye"

"Uoy od? Tnellecxe! Wollof em, esaelp." The broom began sweeping away from them until it came to a door. The door opened for it. "Retne"

They entered the room. It was a large, well-lit room with plenty of candles. Sitting at a table was an old woman with a kindly face. She appeared to have absolutely no eyes, however, and she was fumbling about the table for a teacup.

"Xion?" she called, "Is that you? Come for some tea?"

"It's not Xion," Xoria said. "It's me, Xoria."

"Oh," she said, a smile coming to her wrinkled face, "Xion's adopted daughter, of course. And how are you, my dear?"

"I'm fine, thank you, ma'am"

"I'd love to offer you some cookies, honey, but I'm a bit indisposed at the moment, I don't know if Xion told you."

"Yes, he did, we found your eye"

"You did! Where was it?"

"Astos, the dark elf, had it"

"Can I have it back now dear?"

"Of course," and Xoria walked over to her and put the eye in her hand. Matoya immediately put the eye in one of her empty eye sockets.

"Oh, that's much better! I can't thank you enough my dear! Oh, my how you've grown since the last time you came to visit old Matoya! You're quite the pretty young lady."

"Thank you," Xoria said, blushing.

Matoya looked at the rest of them. "And are all these fine young men your suitors?"

"Umm, no," Xoria said, blushing further. "these are the other Light Warriors."

"Oh, that's right! Xion told me you were a Light Warrior. So, the time of the prophecy has come, has it? Oh, I had hoped that I would live to see it! Sit down, all of you, I'll make some cookies!"

They all had a seat, as Matoya began giving commands to several items near her oven. Eggs materialized and shelled themselves, going into a bowl where they were beaten and mixed with other ingredients without any hands touching the kitchen utensils. The Light Warriors were amazed as the dough made itself and began plopping down onto the cookie sheet and entering the oven of its own accord.

"Well, my dear, since you don't want all these young men for yourself, mind if I have one?" Matoya giggled as all the guys' eyes got wide.

"Help yourself," Xoria said, smiling as she reached her arm around Vincentio. "This one's mine, though. And I'm kinda partial to that one," she indicated Teraptus, "so don't hurt him too much."

"I've got a girlfriend," Cyrus said quickly.

"Uh…uh…" Sav'ran started looking around like he was looking for an escape.

Matoya laughed. "I'm just kidding sweetie, I'm a little too old for you. Now, is there anything that I can do for you, since you've all helped me out so generously. Aside from the cookies, that is?"

They explained the elven prince's condition, and by time they had finished with the story, the cookies were done.

"Well, I'm pretty sure I can help. Curses are a witch's specialty, you know. Have as many cookies as you want, and whatever you don't eat, take back to Xion, you can use my mirror to get back."

As they ate, she went to her shelves and mixed some ingredients together. "Here you go," she said, presenting them with a potion, "This could wake up a stick"

They thanked her, for everything, and headed back to the temple through her mirror. They gave Xion his cookies (which were quite good), and headed back to Elfheim.

Once back in Elfheim, they immediately administered the potion to Erevan. For a moment nothing happened, and then his eyes fluttered open.

"Wha…what's going on?" he said sleepily.

The doctors rejoiced, as did Zacasmus. He turned around and actually hugged Sav'ran, who seemed very surprised at this show of affection from him.

They waited a few days for the prince to recover fully before they were admitted to see him. When they entered the room, he sprang from his bed and leaped into Sav'ran's arms.

"Sav! You're here! I knew you'd come back! I just knew it!"

It turned out that everything had already been explained to him, and that a message had already been sent to Sav'ran's mother in Pravoca, letting her know that she could return to Elfheim, along with a boat to help her move. Erevan then dismissed his doctors, and all servants, revealing that he wanted to be alone with the Light Warriors.

"I have something for you," he said quietly.

"For who?" Sav'ran asked.

"All of you, the Light Warriors. Lukhin revealed that we elves had a part to play in the prophecy, too. I'm supposed to give you this." He held out a strange icon of some sort. It looked like a three-inch thick, four-pointed star with a hole in the middle.

"What is it?" Cyrus asked, accepting it.

"I don't know. I only know that my father told me about it a long time ago. Nobody else in the palace or the city knows about it. Only father and I know. It's a key of some sort; but a key to what, I have no idea. I only know that you're going to need it. It supposedly has something to do with 'challenges untold, and pacts forgotten but not undone'"

"Thank you"

"Now," Erevan said smiling, "do you guys think you can stick around for another week until my coronation ceremony? I'd kind of like my brother here to be present."

"Well, I don't know…" Cyrus began.

Sav'ran nudged him in the side. "It'll take at least that long for the alchemists to make the Nitro Powder, we might as well."

"All right"

They stayed in Elfheim for another eight days, bearing witness to the elven priest crown Erevan King of Elfheim. There was a huge party afterwards, and the Light Warriors were guests of honor. They all each found themselves awarded the title of Elf-Friend for their deeds, titles which they all gratefully accepted. With the celebration over, they continued on their quest.