III

As the sun rose, Zach and Rhiannon started to dig down the dirt walls. "Rhiannon, are you good at magic?" Zach asked wearily.

"Well, I don't want to brag, but yes, I am quite good at magic." Rhiannon answers.

"Would that make you, like a wizard, or a witch?"

"WHAT?" Rhiannon snapped. "I am not a witch. Or a wizard. I am a mage!"

"Oh... sorry..." Zach apologized. "Well, could you teach me to be a mage?"

"What? What would you want to do with magic?"

"Well, I don't know, but wouldn't it be cool? Firstly, I need to know of your good enough to teach and if you'll teach me."

"I am definitely good enough to teach, and yes, I suppose I could teach you."

"Yay!" Zach screamed.

"IF! If..." Rhiannon adds. "You are willing to pay attention."

Zach nodded "I will. I'll pay attention."

Well, Rhiannon thought to herself, This will be a big challenge. "Zach, I will start Lesson one with this" She told him, placing down a strange-looking chest.

"This isn't an ordinary chest." Zach mumbled, looking into the chest. "What, exactly, is this?"

"This, my friend, is a condenser."Rhiannon explained. "It changes things into other things. You see, everything has a value, called EE, or Equivalent Exchange, some items have a higher EE value than others. For instance," She said, taking out a ruby and a wooden log. "This log has a low EE value, around 4, but this ruby has an EE value of 1,024. So, If I put the log in the top slot, and the ruby in the bottom, I lose the ruby, but I get it's EE value in logs. So, for one ruby, I get 256 logs. Which means, if I put the ruby in the top, I would need 256 logs in the bottom to get one ruby. Understand?"

"I think so. So, if you put a log in the top, and a ruby in the bottom, I get 256 logs? And if I put a ruby in the top, I need 256 logs to make a ruby?" Zach said, nervously.

"Yes! Well done!" Wow! How did he do that? He must really want this! This may not be as bad as I thought. "Lesson one complete."

"Zach, I had some house plans, but I want to check them over with you, to make sure that you're ok with them." Rhiannon told him.

"What're you waitin' for?" Zach asked, excitedly.

"Well, I was thinking of building a magnificent castle, with a peak that soars the skies. Something that shows the others that I am not to be messed with."

"Feelin' it, feelin' it. Wait, what others?" Zach wondered.

"It's a long story, one I'll tell you when we finish our castle."

"Ok. What'll the castle be built of?"

"Hmm... I'm not sure..." They both sat on the ground for five minutes before Rhiannon saying "Oh yeah! I remember seeing a volcano earlier, not far from here, we could use the Basalt from it!"

"Great idea! Now, The quest for Basalt begins!" Zach said, making the two of them chuckle. Oh' Zach. Crazy, crazy Zach. Rhiannon was thinking.