January 25th, the following year
A small dot appeared on the horizon along with the sun. The view was, as always from the Ellinia station, splendid. Seas stretching far across, but still revealed the small chain of islands to the south-west. Florina was still asleep at this hour.
Time passed on and the dot before the sun came closer to the station. After enough time, the dot was large enough to be described as one of the vessels that takes and brings travelers to the town Orbis. The large wooden vessel uses special engines to stay afloat in the air and travels with the wind. Soon enough figures could be distinguished, but that was all, because most of them were cloaked, or donning longcoats.
The first people responding to the call for aid were on their last journey.
While the ship's captain was trying to anchor the ship, the passengers waited patiently for the plank to be placed. Although, that was not the case for every one of them. Several jumped off as soon as the ship was close enough to the wooden station and sped off towards the city.
"Oooi! That's not safe ya know!" yelled, Cherry, one of the crewmembers when she noticed. The boarding plank was put into place. "Now this is the way to disembark a ship." she continued.
When one of the uncloaked people was halfway the plank, he explained the behavior of his friend.
"You must forgive her; she's always a bit edgy after traveling by ship." his calm voice said, "Something to do with extreme heights.. I can't say for the others."
He left after Cherry said she understood. The crew started to unload cargo as soon as the last passenger had departed the station. In all, at least two dozen strong adventurers must have agreed to go to Sherania.
Once the adventurers had all arrived in Perion and gathered by Dances With Balrog, he briefed them. It was quite different from the briefing he gave during the Christmas days.
"Between the writing of the situation and the coming of all of you, the situation has changed." he started.
"For starters, the odd weather in El Nath has returned to normal, as there is now a thick layer of snow again."
This new caused several people started to mumbling.
"Then why are we here then?" shouted one of the warriors. He was in full Dragon armor, including the helmet, but strangely, there wasn't a scratch on it.
More mumbling occurred, but Dances continued.
"I am here to update you on the situation and to explain the new goals of your coming, Drake." he said. "But I see your behavior towards me hasn't improved much."
Dances continued to explain the situation, starting with the situation around the barrier.
"It's been updated since it was raised, so the Crystal earrings will once again be necessary. Though the design has changed a little to suit more people. They are now clip-ons, rather than replacements, so any enhancements on your current jewels will still be in effect."
Loud cheering was the direct result, as many people were now able to keep their powerful earrings on.
"However, they still need to be attached to the ear."
The cheering noise lowered, because people's expectations were not lived up.
"But on to more important issues, ahem. The castle ruins have been restored by our enemy to their original state, meaning that the maps you had drawn yourselves from extensive exploration may no longer be accurate. Therefor, your first objective is to find the throne hall. Any traps, locks, seals or tasks must be taken care of before facing your enemy, so it will not be a clean enter-exit mission."
"Your second task is to find and destroy Ergoth. His location, actions and plans are unknown as there have been no reports on him for the past three weeks. Your last task is to report every finding back to me. I want to know the situation, the state of the castle, the state you found and left Ergoth and the actions you had to take before facing him. Furthermore, I want a list of creatures he is able to control."
Dances waited for the adventurers to calm down.
"Now get your rest, your team leaders will be responsible for fresh and able fighting forces for tomorrow."
The night fell as final preparations were made. The camp that had been set up at the bottom of Perion was only lit by the remains of the warm fire. But there was still a shadow moving through the city, slowly making its way to the top and entering the chief's house.
"Ahh, you've arrived." Dances said from his seat.
The fires in his home were lit and cast a light on the shadow that had entered. Three faces were made visible, two male and one female.
"I guess we've been expected, eh?" said the priest among the three. "That's something we should have expected ourselves. Oh well. Let's just get this over with and be on our way."
The female stepped forward and removed her hood, showing her black hair and allowing light to shine directly into her brown eyes. Eyes that revealed a determined look and a face to match it.
She said nothing; she stared at Dances With Balrog with that determined expression.
"I see you've brought your friend along, Iucounu." the chief eventually said. "Grendell is eager t' know what your experiences are with that badge he gave you."
The girl looked behind her and saw that the priest removed his hood as well, revealing his grey eyes and short white hair. The look in his eyes hid a large part of him, while also showing an easy character.
"Oh, that. Yeah, well, it's been great y'know. He outta-" Iucounu answered before being interrupted by the chief.
"I'm not asking you to tell me, I'm simply telling you Grendell is curious. Oh, and Fury, you know my answer. Have you learned nothing about me during your visits here?"
The third person had removed his hood, showing his chaotic hair and deep blue eyes.
"And haven't you learned anything of my visits here?" he said. "Or have you been ignoring certain aspects?"
"You know enough to know my answer to your question. So be off and tell the others what I've told you." Dances replied to the fellow.
"Fine.. but don't expect me coming again anytime soon." Fury said as he turned around and signaled the priest and the bandit to come with him.
Once outside and a fair distance away, Lokima couldn't keep it to herself anymore and asked Fury what all that just now was about.
"Past, present and future." the crusader simply responded. "But that's really all you need to know."
"O..kay.. whatever. So why again didn't we ask if we could join that bunch of other people?"
"Quite simple, actually. He thinks we'll be fine." Fury said.
The priest agreed, adding his findings to it.
"You and Loki went in before and got us out the dungeon. Then we faced Count Bony and were able to get out afterwards. The three of us ain't exactly the least experienced in battle, so, should we really want to enter again, who is he to stop us? Not too far off, right?"
He smiled, but did not get that smile returned.
"For such a naive person, you're pretty sharp. Why the show?" asked Fury.
"Ghehe, past, present and future.. past, present and future." Iucounu answered, giggling a bit.
"Bah, shoulda known you would pull a trick like this."