Well, second chapter... It's been pre-written and I'm too damn lazy to bother re-writing it. 'Sides that, I was very happy with it.

Well, this is where the story STARTS. Past the prologue, first combat and first quest. ofcourse its more than one chapter a quest.

With this change also comes a change in writing style. This was my first drabble with an first person perspective, and I quite liked it.

Onwards. Enjoy. Reveiw. Flame. Criticise. Whatever, just do something other than nothing.

Chapter one:

Wizard and a Shiny Man

(A.k.a.: The Rift-Keeper's Sword)

Yes, you've guessed it. I am Shreik. The Misfit, The Totemist, The Tree-Huger… The names go on.

Now you know how the gang formed, and how I started my second adventure, my only worthwhile endeavor. The Knight-now known as "Lady Rift-Keeper"-and me got on well… sometimes. The Paladin was surprisingly apathetic, and wasn't at all thrilled by the events that followed.

Anyway, I expect you're anxious to get on with the story.

We walked through the woods for hours, and hours more. I was on the verge of asking "are we there yet" repeatedly just to see my companion's reactions. Night fell over the sun of day, and I noticed the usual change in the raging spirits of the souls of the wild.

"Its getting dark, should we stop or continue on?" Queried the paladin, shaking me from my reverence.

"We're already half way from the tower, we shouldn't take long. I say we go on" Stated the knight. If I were anyone else, I probably would have agreed from the authority in her voice.

"But you haven't seen what lurks in these woods! I say it's too dangerous!" I defied her, as per my usual. I was young then, and cowardly, although in reflection I just wanted to have an excuse to sleep under the stars.

"We're almost there and that's that, onwards to the tower." The knight said in a commanding tone. The paladin nodded in agreement.

Being the child I once was, I grumbled, naturally. I grumbled on the way there and grumbled as I saw the tower, although inwardly I was impressed at the height of such a structure.

Of course back then I was so very innocent, and so very anxious. I was raised in the manner of a normal human, my mind still in its fifteens. I stopped the paladin from knocking.

"What are you doing?" asked the paladin in a curious tone. I released my grip on her wrist.

"I do not believe it is wise to knock on the wizards door this time of night." I said quietly.

The knight turned to me. "Why not?"

"Well… it's a wizard isn't it?"

"Your point?"

"Well… a powerful one probably, seeing the tower and all…"

"Go on…"

I swallowed, nervous. "Well… people get angry if you wake them up in the middle of the night don't they? And I don't really want an angry, powerful wizard opening that door and shooting us with a fireball or something." I hated arcanists back then… I still do. They are mockery's of creation given power through grant of a goddess. Most who enter the arcanists profession are snobs who shouldn't deserve the right to wield creation through the weave of the world

I hadn't realized my voice was rising as I ranted. I must've woke the wizard by accident, as a pile of slop, muck, filth, and brown solids I wished not to identify, fell on me from an above window.

I turned to the door to see an aged man in flowing robes. He was balding and had a long white beard. From the stereotype, I guessed he was the wizard, and I kept my mouth shut in a vain attempt to avoid detection.

"Well, you've awoken me now, what do you want?" If I knew a curse back then, I would've sworn from fear.

"There was a… Unique situation in the village, and it was suggested to us that we may seek you out." Replied the paladin. Mell always had a way of being polite to everyone but Maeia.

The wizard glanced us over, nodding thoughtfully. "Aye, you can come in. put your weapons in the umbrella pot. You-" He pointed at me. I gulped nervously, fearing the worst. "-There's a bath up-stairs, clean yourself, I don't want my house smelling like Shit." I sighed, relaxing visibly. Even if I didn't know what the word meant, I got the gist of it. Treading quickly up the tower, I soon arrived at a washroom, and proceeded with what was now the familiar routine of bathing. I relaxed into the warm water, magically cleaned, as an unseen-servant washed my clothes. I must've dosed off, as I awoke sometime later to a scream. I leapt out of the bath and, dried by the magical water, dressed quickly in my armour, racing down the stairs.

I burst through the cellar door, scanning the room. The Paladin was leaning against a wall, panting. The Knight was in a defensive stance next to some puddles of blood, and the wizard was talking to a large figure in some plate-armour. I approached the knight, knowing the paladin was probably too tired to give some advice.

"What happened?" I enquired curiously, panting slightly from my multi-floor run.

The knight pulled me aside into a corner. "Be quite, your gonna ruin our face."

Not knowing the metaphorical statements meaning, I persisted. "What happened? Whose the shiny thing?"

"Be quite!"

"WHAT HAPPENED!?" I shouted, growing impatient. I regretted my choice of action immediately as the shiny man approached me. I backed up, trying to look small instinctively. "Err… Mr. Shiny man… Sir…?"

"I have a name, small one. It is Azriel"

"Erm… Yes… Azriel… Err… W-what happened?" I stuttered in fear. This large metallic figure was easily eight inches taller than me, and looked very strong.

"We were attacked by imps, who stole something of importance. Your knight should be able to fill you in on the details. I must make preparations." He walked off, moving into the main castle to 'preparations'.

I shot a glance at the knight. "Well…?"

She sighed, raising her new sword to my view. "See this sword?" I nodded. "This is the sword of the Rift Keeper. He kept the planes of The Abyss and Hell from interfering with this one. He had seven magical artifacts and this sword, which he used too keep them sealed. If all seven of these items fell into the hands of an evil greater in power to that of the previous, then we are thoroughly and irrevocably screwed."

I caught all of that back then. The seven layers of hell kept lord over the devils, organized, evil creatures of darkness. They had twisted senses of honour and played to certain rules. The Abyss, however, was infinite. A hole in the planar map, as big as can be conceived, and then made slightly bigger, ever so slightly, just to boggle the mind. Demons inhabited its lands, creatures not to dissimilar to the devils, but at least devils have a sense of the rules. If a devil would enter your house, threaten you, and then usurp power to rule over the land, a demon would set the houses on fire, rape everyone, skin the, eat them, and then burn anything left behind, before eating that. Most of the time theyd do it in that order, but the chaos in them makes them unpredictable. Still, back then one thing bothered me.

"One question…"

"What?"

"What does 'irrevocably' mean?"

She sighed in frustration. I had a lack of vocabulary in the common tongue back then, a major one. "It means: 'cant be undone'"

Satiated with this knowledge, I nodded. "And… the imps?"

"They stole the artifact the wizard was guarding."

I nodded, only just letting this knowledge sink in. "So…. We're gonna die?"

"If we don't get that artifact back, then yes"

I nodded again. "So… We're gonna die."

Maeia slapped me, later saying I should keep a more positive attitude.

"The wizard is giving us help in locating it. He's given me the sword, The Paladin-" She spat the term with venom. "-A strange looking helm, and he gave me this to give to you." She concluded, handing me a flute.

As soon as my hand lay on the flute, I felt a surge of energy flow through my veins. I felt my hair grow slightly, and my eyes became very itchy. With the lack of my glasses, I saw the now bright blue glow of my eyes reflect out of Maeia's eyes. I felt my head throb with the now familiar dull ache of my souls strength. Sometimes incarnum had its disadvantages, it would take a few days before that died down.

I staggered slightly, the rush taking me by surprise. I could feel my avatars form being harder to surprises, and obviously it was now slightly visible as Maeia looked at me with a concerned glance, before diverting her attention to the wizard. I wondered how many people would notice the visage of a Grey Render in the next town we visited.

Now a lot of you must be puzzled. "Grey Render? Visage? Flute? Energy? Incarnum? Of?

I will fill you in later. Some things need some background information.

After an hour of suspenseful silence, broken by the sounds of our collective breaths, the wizards quiet chanting, and my footsteps as a paced impatiently; the wizard sat up, his eyes flashing.

One of his invisible conjuration came down the stairs of the cellar, carrying a map and a torch to discern its location. Handing the map to the Knight, who by now had assumed command of the party, it returned upstairs

"Here is a map of the town of Fareth'Tan, the place where the imps have taken the artifact. There is a house marked on the map, there should be the artifact. Good luck o your travels, you'll need it."

We left after that, exchanging farewells with the short-term ally.