After he was well away from Kaladim, Kandiian stopped running. The young dwarf had been making good time behind him, but was now wearing out. He still would not let go of the spear and Kandiian was not about to try taking it from him. He knew he had to get the two of them somewhere safe with someone he trusted, fast. Those dwarves had come out of nowhere and they might be searching in Butcherblock for them as he stood there.
He figured Silverwing and his guards would still be looking for him in Kelethin, so returning to Nulweas was out of the question. The only other person that might help was Tulanas, the high elf paladin from his parent's adventuring party. Making his mind up to go to the high elf city Felwithe, the two started walking again.
He tried several times on the journey to get the kid to open up, but without success. The dwarf just stared ahead vacantly and after a while he gave up and traveled the rest of the way in silence. As they passed out of the mountains and into the familiar forest, Kandiian tried to relax. He had made it out of there safely, yet those dwarves had died while he fled. Sure, the kid would have died too if he hadn't done anything but he still felt like a coward. Not at all how he had imagined he would be if he ever got a chance to go on an adventure. He couldn't even bring himself to call this adventure, there where no songs a bard would sing about a cowardly rogue who ran when innocent people where being killed.
They walked in silence until they reached the entrance to the high elf city. The building of the city of Felwithe was an intricate marriage of dwarf earth shaping with Elvin magic that brought out the best of the two races skill. Solid building structures at the main entrance and small shops further in start to become more delicate the closer a traveler gets to the great high elf magic academy. Tulanas would be at the paladin guild, not far from the entrance to the city.
Kandiian led his companion through the city. The guards gave the small dwarf a curious glance but kept to their posts without raising any questions. Wood elves and dwarves where always welcome inside despite their situation. After a quick walk they made it to the paladin guild and up to Tulanas' office. Without hesitation, Kandiian knocked on Tulanas' door.
"Yes yes, don't bother knocking, just come in," Tulanas' voice came from inside the room, "I hope you have some good information."
Confused, Kandiian opened the door, "Tulanas?"
The high elf Tulanas sat behind a desk littered with papers. He was a tall, slender elf with long golden hair that fell to his shoulders and crowned by a silver band with the emblem of the paladins emblazoned on the front. When Kandiian poked his head into the room, the older elf looked up from the desk and blinked at him for a second, "Kandiian? Kandiian! Yes! Sorry, thought you were someone else. Come on in."
Kandiian came the rest of the way in and ushered the dwarf inside. "You look busy, am I interrupting?"
"Perhaps, but I could use one. We're currently investigating some strange events across Faydwer right now and its confusing to say the least." Tulanas glanced at the young dwarf, "Who is your friend?"
Kandiian left the dwarf standing by the door and found a seat next to Tulanas' desk. "I don't know, and that is why I came to see you. I'm not sure what to do." He told the older elf of his experience in Kaladim. Everything the group said to what happened after.
When he was done, Tulanas sat back in his chair thinking. After a moment he picked up a piece of paper from his desk and stared at it. "You said there was the sign of Prexus on the knife they found?"
"That's what the lady said...before..."
Tulanas leaned forward and showed him the paper. It had an image of a small knife sticking out of a tree with wavy lines on the hilt. "There are other daggers that our scouts have found, all bearing the mark of Prexus. None so out in the open like that though. I wonder if they are taking the extra risk to step up their plan."
"Who?"
The paladin sighed, "We don' t know. We do know that these daggers are enchanted however and cannot be removed. But as to what they are for, we don't know. Your story of the Kedge sheds new light though, and might explain the sign of Prexus. He is, after all, the god of the sea."
"When that was mentioned, though, they said that the Kedge where extinct except for one, I can't remember the name."
"That would be Phinigel Autropos, he is the last known member of the Kedge race. The story goes that he was trying to cast a spell of such magnitude it would forever label him as one of the most powerful spell casters in Norrath. However, something went wrong with it and it killed every one of his kind in Kedge Keep. Now he stays there mourning the loss of his people."
"That's horrible..." Kandiian wasn't sure what to feel for Phinigel. It was sad he was alone, but it was his own fault for it too.
Tulanas just nodded and stood up. He came around his desk until he stood next to the young dwarf, then knelt down so he could look the dwarf in the face. Before he could say anything however, the door opened and a young girl slipped into the room. She was a young, petite high elf with long, golden hair that hung to her waste. A golden band circled her head with the symbol of the king marked her as royalty. Tulanas quickly stood to face her, then just as quickly knelt again. "Princess?"
"Oh, get up Tulanas...I so hate it when people do that," she said, however the look she shot at Kandiian made it clear she had noticed his failure to kneel.
Tulanas got to his feet and returned to his desk. "How may I serve you Princess?" he asked calmly. Kandiian reached out and grabbed the young dwarf by the shoulders and lead him along the wall out of the way. He could not say why, but he felt on obligation for the kid, as though getting him out of Kaladim had introduced something he had not felt before. He stopped thinking about it and started observing the newcomer. He knew who she was, of course, he had been trained on all the royalty of Faydwer by Nulweas. She was the Lady Amiynn, the younger daughter of the king. As she entered the room, her long skirts made an unattended train across the floor.
Amiynn crossed the room and sat on Tulanas' desk, crossing her legs and arranging her skirts in a dignified manner, despite the extra material. "Faldar is supposed to be back today, but nobody will tell me when."
"Forgive me princess, but nobody knows. Lieutenant Faldar is returning from an important mission right now, however his return is left open. Shall I send for you when he comes in?"
"No, he will want to talk to you when he gets in, so I am staying right here. That way he will have no choice but to speak to me when he returns." The princess leafed through some of the pictures on the desk, but it became clear she didn't know what she was looking at. With her eyes on the papers, she dismissively waved at Kendiian, "Just keep doing what you were doing."
With a quiet nod to the princess, Tulanas returned to kneel beside the dwarf. He placed a hand on the youngsters face and began chanting a spell. As he finished chanting, his hand glowed for a brief second. The only reaction was the kid grasping the staff tighter and shrinking against Kendiian. Without realizing it, the wood elf had laid a hand reassuringly on the young dwarf's shoulder.
Tulanas got to his feet with a thoughtful expression on his face. Amiynn still looked to be reading a report, but her eyes where focused on the paladin. "There is nothing physically or magically wrong with this child, his current situation must be solely caused by whatever traumatic event he has experienced. With time we could probably cure him of even that and hopefully get him to speak again. He can stay here for the time being and I shall send his description to some contacts inside Kaladim, finding his family should speed his recovery."
"What about those two killers? What if they find out where he is through their looking and come for him?"
"We will keep him well protected. If they were after him then he must know something, however you must realizing they might simply have been thieves or assassins and not for him specifically."
"They where, I saw a look on their face. I can't really describe it, but I know they were trying to get to him. Why else would they have hunted us down?"
"Neither thieves nor assassins like witnesses, Kendiian." Tulanas returned to his desk and took out a fresh sheet of paper. He began sketching on the paper and occasionally looking up at the dwarf. Amiynn set her paper down and was watching Tulanas fill out the report. Kendiian was happy to know that the boy would be well looked after, and that he might even have helped Tulanas with his investigation. Maybe it would make a decent story to tell Nulweas after all.
Just as Tulanas finished his writing, a knock sounded at the door. A firm voice accompanied the knock, "Lieutenant Faldar reporting for debriefing sir."
Without waiting for Tulanas to respond, Amiynn leapt to her feet and ran to the door. She flung it open to reveal a tall high elf covered from the neck down by a highly polished mithril coat. He bore his head nobly with his eyes focused in front of him in a soldier's attention stance. Amiynn immediately grabbed the newcomers arm, "Welcome back! I've missed you so much! I'm sorry I yelled before you left..."
She trailed off as Tulanas gently coughed behind her. "Welcome back lieutenant, I'm sure the princess and yourself have lots to discuss but I want to go over what you saw out there first."
Faldar stepped into the room and before speaking his eyes glanced at Kandiian and the young dwarf. His steps faltered and he stopped, his eyes locked on the dwarf.
Tulanas blinked in surprise, "Don't worry about them Faldar, they can hear whatever you have to...Faldar?" Faldar had taken a hesitant step toward the dwarf and the look on his face changed from firm and noble to a strained look as though he were in pain.
Amiynn began looking concerned and slid in front of the soldier, "Faldar, what are you-" she began, but he pushed her aside and continued to advance. The look on his face was confusing, his eyes still looked kind but scared, but his face bore a mask of fury. He tried reaching for the dwarf but Kendiian dragged him away, towards Tulanas. Faldar tried making another grab, but by then Tulanas had come from around the desk and put himself in Faldar's way. Faldar's eyes glanced from the dwarf to the paladin with what might be taken as a look of regret except for his face, and he began to draw his sword.
"Faldar!" Amiynn grabbed his sword hand, but he struck her with his backhand flinging her against the wall. She fell to the ground, stunned. Tulanas reached for the sword hand and had more luck, keeping him from drawing it completely.
"Stop this Faldar, the dwarf is not your enemy!" By then guards had heard the commotion and where running to the room. Kendiian was pressed against a wall trying to keep both himself and the dwarf behind Tulanas. Faldar reached his left hand past the paladin and grabbed the dwarf's shirt. He screamed and tried to bat it away with his spear but to no avail. Kendiian just stared at the hand, he noticed a ring on one finger with a black skull emblazoned with runes. Tulanas, noticing the lieutenant's grasp on the boy brought his elbow down hard on the stretched out arm, causing Faldar to drop his hold. As Faldar was being cornered by Tulanas, guards started entering the room. They saw the princess on the floor and immediately went to aid Tulanas.
Two of the guards grabbed Faldar from behind and forced his hands well away from the body. He managed to free one and reached under the mithril collar of his chest piece. He drew out a small gem attached to a string, and before anyone could stop him he squeezed it tightly. A burst of blue light blinded Kendiian and when he looked again, the gem and Faldar had completely vanished.