Chapter 5:  The Elder

'Dear Palom and Porom,

            I've gone away on a trip and will be back shortly.  In the meantime I've written up a list of things that must be done while I'm away.  Keep up with your studies, as I'll expect to know of your progress when I return.  Please let the other members of the temple know of my whereabouts.  I'm sorry that I can't be specific about where I'm traveling, but I fear that you would follow me if I did.  Please don't fret over this.  I'll be fine.  May the light shine upon you two always.

                                                                                    Love,

                                                                                    Your Elder'

            "I believe I've packed everything," the Elder says to himself.  "All I need now is the rock."

            The Elder picks up the rock that Palom and Porom had retrieved for him, and stuffs it into a black pouch.  Then the Elder straps a pack around his shoulders, clips a small water jug to his belt, along with a few pouches of magic dust, and laces up his hiking boots.  After laying a small, clay figurine on top of his note to Palom and Porom, the Elder slings his black pouch across his back and leaves the temple.

            As he walks towards the outskirts of Mysidia, the Elder retrieves a compass from his pants pocket.  After opening it, he looks towards the stars in the sky while pulling lightly at his black cloak absentmindedly.  Now with a bearing on his direction, the Elder takes one last look back into town.

            "Your time will come my children."

            With that, the Elder puts his compass back into his pocket and begins his walk down the dark road ahead.  The night is eerie, and the darkness is all encompassing.  The black void surrounding the Elder gives way to the noises of the night.  Yet the Elder is not bothered by it.  He has lived too many years and has survived too many battles to let a little bit of darkness bother him. 

The Elder has fought through countless tribulations in his long life, many of which are unbeknownst to Palom and Porom, such as the loss of his wife and children during the War of Bengis Ridge, a battle that occurred long before the heroes of the Zeromus War were even born.  That was also the same year that he lost his mother to a dreadful plague that spread across half a continent.  Back then the Elder was known as Ghilwood Llewelyn, an amateur archer who, at the time, had no interest in magic and religion.  The War of Bengis Ridge changed his perspective on things.  That time was an enormous chapter in the Elder's long and glorious story; a story that may or may not be told.

            Now the Elder must take on this new chapter in his life.  For contrary to what he had written to Palom and Porom, this outing of his is one fraught with grave peril.  Never has he faced such danger by himself.  But he is headstrong, and the Elder knows that if he doesn't do this, all of the world may suffer for it.  So, with good will and even greater faith, the Elder pushes onward down the dark, and seemingly endless night; a courageous plight, a spotlight on valor, that in the end will cause the Elder to lose his life.