/* Summary: Kylus recounts events that brought him to a town south of his
* homeland. His encounter with a bunch of shady individuals leads him
* to question the path his teacher set him on, and awakens some odd
* abilities from within himself. As always, the standard disclaimer
* applies:
*/
#ifdef COPYRIGHTED_STUFF
#define DISCLAIMER "DragonLance is owned by Wizards of the Coast, Margaret
Weis, and Tracy Hickman. RhyDin is owned by America
Online Incorporated. I don't claim to own any of these
settings or the characters within them. My character
just passed through. ;)"
#endif
/* Thanks for reading :) --pjb */
Chapter II: Clouded Vision
"Fine jewelery for sale!" I called from the corner of the street. The town
of Treasnar was much smaller than my home--former home--but the people
were of roughly the same cut as those I once knew. I was three days south
and east of my shattered life, but it seemed like eons ago.
After I departed my home town like a thief fleeing the dawn, I ran for an
unrecalled amount of time, mechanically placing one leg in front of the
other until I collapsed from sheer exhaustion, both physical and mental. I
had fallen into a nook off the main town road, one that would keep me
hidden from view from the ordinary passers-by. Placing my bundle under my
head, I settled in for a brief rest, judging that it was better to travel
later in the day and by night in case some of the townsfolk decided to
look for me.
I slept like a dead man for only a couple hours, before the crackling of
twigs and rustling of leaves around me jarred my senses back to the real
world. I groaned as the light of day assaulted my eyes and voices, faded
and only vaguely intelligible, came to my ears.
"...not dead..." I thought I heard.
"...yet..." came another, followed by a dry chuckle.
"...enough crap." came a distinctly female voice. I sat up, looking around
and placing one hand in my cloak to give the appearance that I was armed.
My eyes came into focus and I saw two men, one bearing a cudgel and the
other a shortsword, crouched and ready to defend the woman behind them,
who did not look ready to fight but instead looked at me with pure
amusement in her grey eyes.
"What do you have in there boy?" she asked me calmly, "A dagger, a dirk,
or perhaps just your fist?" I felt the blood rush to my face quickly at
her words, and pulled my hand from the folds of my clothing. The two men
each gave a short sigh and relaxed, and I couldn't help but give a slight
satisfied smile that my ruse had put them on guard. The grin did not last
long though; the realization that I was at the mercy of these obvious
highwaymen was enough to put amusement out of my mind.
"What do you want?" I managed to blurt out with a realtively steady voice.
As if I did not know what they wanted. Instinctively my hand clutched the
bundle that served as my pillow and carried the remnants of my life in its
folds. The two men gave me toothy grins and the woman just smiled
pleasantly.
"Now that's no way to make introductions, kid." the woman said. Kid?
Surely I didn't look as young as my blood made me to be. Or did she have
insight into what I was? It was then that I noticed it: the fine hair
tied back off her neck, exposing delicate pale ears that rose into perfect
points along her skull.
An Elf. To her it was likely the eldest in my town was a 'kid.'
My staring must have been noticed, because she gave an annoyed huff and
pushed past the two burly men with her, heading towards me and saying,
"Didn't your parents teach you not to stare?" The mention of my parents
caused my face to screw up as anger flared anew in my heart. I slid back,
away from her approach a bit and clutched my bundle even tighter,
repeating my question, "What do you want?"
"Just a bit of conversation with a fellow traveler." she replied. Her
words hit my ears and--though I can explain it now I could not then--they
caused my stomach to twist in a small knot, and for some reason the backs
of my hands began to itch incessantly. I scratched at them, knowing
somehow that she was lying outright or only telling half a truth. I eyed
her warily, unsure of her words and more than a little wary of her
actions. She merely sat down a few feet from me, and regarded me with
amusement in her violet eyes.
"What're you doing out here, kid? They finally cast you out?" she asked.
The question was so direct that I dropped my defenses and gaped at her,
oblivious to the musical laughter that escaped her throat.
"I'm an Elf, boy." she said, "I can smell a half-breed like you had it
branded on your head. You don't have my ears, but you're plainly one of
them. I'm amazed ya lasted that long in that place...what are you? 19
winters? 20?"
"Twenty-one," I blurted, her words stinging me to the core.
"Keepin' you as a pet and you escaped or what?" she asked. I gave her a
puzzled look and shook my head indignantly, the very thought of such a
thing completely foreign to me. It was then that I began to realize that
life could have been far crueler to me than it had been; of course that
did little to quell the anger I still felt in my stomach, but it was the
beginning of some establishment of perspective on my part. I lowered my
guard a bit and with one hand still clenched on my travel sack I explained
my situation to her with as few details as I could muster..I was young but
not completely naive. They -were- highwaymen afterall.
"Bloody bastards," she muttered as I finished my brief tale. Her eyes
regarded me with a look that conveyed both pity and--for some
reason--amusement. "Well you talked me into it." she said suddenly.
"Talked you into what?" I stammered, my blood running cold. Were they
going to beat me senseless and take the last remnants of my life away?
"We'll let you travel with us." she blurted out, causing not only my jaw
to drop, but those of her two guards as well.
"Yer kiddin' Ajoara." the one with the cudgel said incredulously with only
a slightly delayed repeat from his partner with the shortsword. She gave
them both a defiant look as she stood up.
"Last I checked -I- was the boss of this party here, gents," she said, her
voice changing from oddly compassionate to icy-cold in the blink of an
eye, "and since -I- am in charge of this show, -I- say he's comin' with
us! That clear?" she eyed one, who nodded quickly and was aped by the
other just as fast.
I swallowed hard; who in the Nine Hells was this woman that she could beat
two large thieves into submission with just her words? My musing about that
question was short-lived, for she turned her eyes back to me and the icy
expression in her eyes melted once again, replaced in an instant with that
amused pity. "Where are you going?" I blurted out.
"North to Palanthas." she said simply and I shook my head mustering as
polite a response as I could, "I'm sorry, but I must go south. There is a
temple there.."
"Temple? You a priest-to-be, kid?" the man with the club asked with only a
slight sneer. I shook my head again in denial.
"No...no. There is a temple to the South," I repeated myself, much to
their annoyance, "I hope to go there and learn. I...I study things." I
said feebly, trying to convey to them what I'd spent the greater part of
my life doing in the town. All I received for my efforts were smirks of
course, but I didn't really expect much more than that; it was common
knowledge that burglars did not really value something intangible like
knowledge.
"I think you'll be best off with us, kid." the woman said to me, a grin
on her face that did little to mask the edge on her voice; she wasn't
about to take 'no' for an answer from me, and I dared not ponder what
would happen if I insisted.
"Alright.." I said, trying my best to sound enthusiastic. Despite my own
lack of confidence in my voice, it seemed to be enough for her. She nodded
and clapped me hard on the shoulder before standing up and jabbing one of
her thumbs into her chest.
"As you've already heard, m'name is Ajoara. The two lumps that walk behind
me are Cliv and Rhis." she pointed from herself to the men with the club
and sword respectively. "What's your name, kid?" she said, her eyes
falling on me suddenly.
"Kylus..." I blurted, "Kylus Dragonsbane." that seemed to amuse them all.
"Dragonsbane eh?" Ajoara said with laughter in her grey eyes, "With a name
like that you're destined for great things, don't you think little Kylus?"
"I'm not that little." I said, indignation clear in my voice and revealing
my actual immaturity. She only giggled in an almost girlish manner before
waving a hand as if to draw me to my feet, "Get your things kid. We don't
dally about when we've got a job to do."
"Job?" I asked as I rose to my feet, my hand still clenched around my
travel satchel. I swallowed hard as Cliv and Rhis eyed me, tough grins on
both their faces as they waited for me to pass so they could bring up the
rear. I did not know why but I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand
on end as I moved past them, but I figured it was best to show as little
fear as possible with that lot.
"Aye a job. We're headed to Palanthus to relieve a library of one of its
books. A collector South of here will pay us a fortune for it! And how
will they notice one book gone anyway?" she asked with another small
giggle. I swallowed again, feeling a coppery taste in my mouth as the
itching on the backs of my hands returned.
What had I gotten myself into now?
***
We traveled for hours, skirting the borders of the town to avoid any
confrontation with its people. I certainly did not mind and I gathered
that Ajoara did not relish the contact either. I wagered she knew what
type of reception she'd get there, but discussing the matter did not seem
the wisest course of action. Though my senses were a bit muddled (I'd
never traveled outside the town I was born in), I managed to figure by the
stars that we'd gone almost completely West. We stopped at what seemed to
be a common crossroads, which had a small grove of forest and grazing
grass that fed itself from a sort of oasis-spring that I guessed was an
above-ground appearance of the underground river that fed my former home.
We made camp quickly. Cliv and Rhis gathered firewood under their leader's
order, much to their disgruntlement. Apparently now that I was with them
they'd assumed I was to do the labor. To be frank I would not have minded,
simply to get away from them all for at least a few moments and collect my
thoughts on how to get away permanently. Part of me truly wanted to
believe that Ajoara was being kind to me out of genuine compassion and
caring for what I'd endured and what she suspected I had ahead of me, but
another part of my being seriously questioned her motives; was she using
me as the townsfolk wanted to as well?
I was given a job after all though: I was sent to the pond to fetch some
water for cooking, a task I gladly accepted. I took a pot from Cliv's pack
and carried it with little effor to the edge of the clear pool. The moons
were just coming out of their cloudy veils and shed a bit of light upon
the oasis we were stationed at. The light of Solinari dominated the
evening, with Lunitari being obscured by the Black Moon Nuitari. As I
knelt by the pool and filled the bucket, I paused and looked at myself in
the water.
The light of the White Moon made my reflection bright and bathed it in a
pale glow that caused me to grin ruefully, for I looked like some saint or
holy man, though I was far from it considering my newfound company. I
peered at the youth in the water: skinny and tall, my face was pale and a
bit drawn. My brown hair was touseled and fell down past my shoulders in a
dishelveled mess. I grinned sheepishly to my double; my father had always
been yelling at me to "cut that mop" and I always put it off in favor of
studying.
My father.
My double blurred then, his dark-ringed brown eyes shimmering in the water
with tears. I blinked once and felt the warm wetness spill down my face,
leaving trails in the travel dust that caked my skin. My mind screamed at
me, berated me for acting like a child at a time like this, and in the
company of hardened folk like Ajoara and her companions. The more I told
myself to stop, however, the faster the tears fell, and it was not long
before they turned into a flood that I could not hope to prevent. The
bucket fell from my hand into the water as I drew my legs to my chest and
cried softly into my knees. In the light of pale Solinari, the horde of
events of the last two days--the pain, the loss, the anger--finally had
found release from the place in my heart that I'd locked them, and I let
them free willingly now, half-unaware and not at all caring about who or
what may see me. I cried softly to myself, for my father, for the life I'd
lost, for the unfairness of it all, and I looked up at the sky, at the
constellations of the heavens, my eyes passing over the Many-Headed Dragon
and the Book of Knowledge and coming to rest on that of the Platinum
Dragon Bahamut. I sniffled once, one hand rubbing under my nose as I gazed
at the twinkling group of stars with red-rimmed eyes.
"Why?"
"Because they have a cruel sense of humor." A gentle voice said behind me.
I felt a soft touch on my shoulder and looked up to see Ajoara's grey eyes
looking down at me. I smiled weakly despite the chill I felt in my spine
and the itch that flared again in the backs of my hands.
"I don't think that's it..." I said feebly. She gave one of her girlish
giggles and sat down uninvited next to me.
"You're a kid, Kylus." she said quietly, her hand still resting on my
shoulder. "And kids never know how bad life is until it crashes down on
their heads and gives them a thumpin' they don't forget. You're just
getting your thump on the head, my boy. Best to make yourself strong,
watch out for yourself and thump back when you have the opportunity."
"What about taking care of others?" I muttered, finding it odd that I
should even broach the subject with her; very few ever took care of me,
and as it stood now I had no one else to care for save myself. Ajoara
giggled again and said, "It's everyone for themselves, Kylus. You think
they care--" she pointed to the stars above our heads, "--what happens to
us? They cared so much they dropped a mountain on our heads! They cared
enough to let your father die and let you get run off eh?"
I scratched at the backs of my palms idly while my head processed her
words. She did have a point. Why -did- the Gods drop the mountain and
cause the Cataclysm so many centuries ago if they claimed to love us. I'd
always read that all the Gods had committed that horrible act. Surely
Takhisis, the Queen of Darkness, took great pleasure in the suffering
caused by the Cataclysm, but why would Paladine, the Father of Good,
consent to such an act? I looked at the Elf, who grinned a bit as she
watched me process what she'd told me. The words of my teacher came back
to me, telling me that I was a good boy. Then the words of my father came,
drowning those out.
"...show them what you can become..." maybe I could become someone strong
enough to avenge the wrongs that were done to him, to me, and to my mother
so many years ago.
I looked up at Ajoara and said timidly, "Every..every man for himself
huh?" as I wiped my eyes with the sleeve of my tunic. She grinned at me
and I felt disarmed by the look and could only grin back at her.
"That's right, kid. Now get the bucket and lets cook some food and
tomorrow I'll teach you a few tricks.
"Tricks?" I asked, unable to contain my curiosity.
She only grinned at me again and nodded, "You'll see."
I grinned back and fetched the bucket, then followed her back to our camp.
We ate in relevant silence. Ajoara had won me over, but her two companions
still disturbed me a great deal. When it was time to sleep, I further
earned their ire when the Elf announcedt that I would not have to take a
watch that night. She told me not to get used to it though and to expect
to start working the next day like a regular member of the crew. I barely
heard her as I crashed to the ground and found sleep seconds after my head
hit my travel sack.
***
The next day was just as Ajoara had promised me: I was one of their band
now. I was awakened at dawn by a kick in the arse from the Elf, who,
despite the grin on her face, barked at me to get up with the same edge on
her voice that she'd used with Cliv and Rhis right after we met. Needless
to say, I did not hesitate to rouse myself quickly. The entire day was
spent walking from the oasis to the northeast, towards our destination in
Palanthus. Cliv and Rhis made up the vanguard of our troupe, while Ajoara
and I stayed behind, with her lecturing about slight-of-hand and trying to
impart to me the finer points of picking pockets and using a dirk. We
stopped on occaision so she could see if I was listening (which meant of
course that she would attack me out of the blue, and I was expected to not
get myself gutted).
I went to bed that night with more than a few cuts and knicks, and
countless bruises. The Elf had only one on her arm, but I was indeed proud
of it. She seemed a bit proud as well, both of the fact that I'd scored a
hit on her and managed to relieve her of her coin purse without her
noticing only after one day of instruction (much to my shame I admit to
still being nimble with my fingers, though these days I usually entertain
children with 'magic' like this).
The night found us entrenched in a rocky outcrop on the edge of a small
cliff. Solinari was once again looking down upon us, but this night it was
joined by its sister Lunitari. The Black Moon was not shrouding the Red
tonight, but I could make it out by the noticeable absence of certain
stars in the sky. I once again crashed to the ground and my sack-pillow,
barely hearing Cliv's grunting about waking me in a few hours to take the
watch. I grunted something that he assumed was an acknowledgement, and
that was all I remembered of the night.
Tonight would not be like the last two I spent on my new journey. I could
tell I was dreaming by the presence of the mist around the edges of my
line of sight...that was the sign of a dream, wasn't it? I walked a bit,
wondering idly what this place was, and why I was here. Dreams were
usually bits of memory put together, but I did not remember this place.
Some said dreams were teh attempts of the Gods to talk to mortals, but I
was not sure of that. They didn't care, so why would they wish to speak to
us?
"Of course they care.." a grizzled voice said behind me, causing me to
jump as it countered my unspoken argument. I turned, my brown eyes
squinting as I beheld an old man clad in mouse-grey robes and a beaten,
floppy old hat that rose from his white-haired head and stopped at a
point. He looked at me with knowing blue eyes and only smiled as I reached
for the dirk Ajoara had given me, only to discover it missing.
"Who are you?" I asked angrily, my helplessness in this dream causing my
ire to rise up childishly. He snuffled a bit and said, "Who am I? Who am
-I-?? Why, dear boy, I am..." he paused then, a puzzled look coming to his
face as he rubbed his chin beneath the great white beard that adorned his
face. "...oh blast it all, now who am I again?" I heard him mutter. I
blinked then and scratched my head, wondering if the old codger was off
his rocker just a little bit.
"I am not!" he snapped at me and I couldn't help but jump once more.
"Anyway it will come to me eventually, but who I am isn't as important as
who you are, Kielthanas." I froze then as I felt my blood run cold and my
knees buckle. How could have known that name? My Elven name that was given
to me by my mother, it was something that was never uttered by my Father
or me to -anyone- else. I stared at the old man as I fought to remain
standing. My mouth moved, but no words came out. He just smiled and took a
step towards me, using a gnarled wooden staff to keep himself steady. I
wanted to back away from him, but I found my legs inattentive to the whims
of my brain at that moment, and so I remained rooted to the spot as the
old one hobbled over to me and set a bony hand on my shoulder.
He was a mage. That was the only way to explain it.
The moment his hand came to rest next to my neck, I felt the fear vanish,
the anger subside, and a sense of peace descend so quickly that I thought
I would burst into tears as it wrapped itself around my being. I swallowed
hard and looked at the old man, who was still smiling gently to me. "Who
are you?" I asked again softly.
"Fizban the Fabulous, my boy," he said and I hadn't the drive to question
how he remembered so suddenly then (I'd learn many years later it was
safer not to ask), "And I'm here to have a little chat with you."
"Chat with me? But who are you?" I repeated, my shock melting away slowly,
"Have we met? Did you know my father? If it's about work he did for you,
I'm sorry but I've--"
"--been cast out of the town, yes yes I know...terrible thing, terrible."
he interrupted me, tsk'ing and shaking his head as his eyebrows and
moustaches drooped sadly, "Ignorance is nearly as powerful a force as all
the Legions of the Queen of Darkness, my boy."
"How do you know all this?" I stammered, "And how did you know my True
Name? I've never told anyone that name before."
"Your father told me, son." he said. I opened my mouth to call him a liar,
but he raised his hand and looked at me sharply. When my jaw clapped shut
he continued, "He didn't betray the promise he made with you about not
revealing it son, so just trust me a bit, eh? If you're going to trust the
Elven thief with your future then surely you'll put a little faith in an
old man eh?" he cackled with a bit of laughter then and after a moment I
nodded...he did have a point after all.
"Well then," he said as he sat on a rock that appeared out of the mist
from nowhere, "Let us talk then. Why don't you tell me why a bright lad
such as yourself is about to throw his life away, abandon all the things
he's learned, and follow a rabble to relieve Astinus of one of his books?"
I gaped openly then. Who was this man and how did he know so many things??
I regained my composure and swallowed once before answering resolutely,
"Because what she said makes sense. Why should I go all the way south
where they'll likely spit on me again like home when I can stick with her,
learn how to take care of myself, and--"
"--and what?" he interrupted me again, his voice gentle but firm, "Go back
one day and take revenge on the ones who cast you out?" I nodded
stubbornly and watched his eyebrows and moustaches droop once more.
"Kylus my lad is that what you'd want to do your whole life? Work long and
hard to harm the lives of others? What after that is accomplished? You do
realize you will outlive them all by 50 years at least, aye? What will you
do then?"
"I don't care." I spouted, "They deserve it. I never did anything to them
and they...they..."
"They are fools, lad." the old mage said to me simply, "And they'll get
theirs when they see the Gods. But your job isn't to arrange the meeting.
That's for Fate to decide, not you." My blood was boiling then. Gods this
and Gods that. I'd read about the Gods and their benevolence and wisdom
for years before all this happened. Yet Ajoara's comments about them
seemed so...right...so easy to believe. I looked at Fizban and said, "Gods
this and Gods that! If they care so much why'd they let this happen to
me?! To the Hells with the Gods!"
Fizban looked at me as if I'd struck him across the face with a club. His
moustaches wilted like a plant in the noon sun and he shook his head, "Oh
dear oh dear, my poor child." he said softly, "Don't you think the Gods
had a plan for you from the start?" I was not sure if the sadness in his
voice was due to the insult I'd apparently delivered to him, compassion
for my situation, or because I did not seem to understand something he
considered basic. I shook my head as stubborness once again overwhelmed
the lump I felt forming in my throat and said, "What kind of plan is
this? I don't understand!"
"Of course you don't." Fizban said, his voice soft and even, "If They
spilled the beans now it wouldn't be a Life for you now would it? They
have a plan for you, lad, just like they do every other person on this
earth. The trick is taking the right roads to get where They want you to
go. The roads aren't always easy, but at the end is something worth the
trouble."
"WHAT could be worth all that's happened, old man?" I asked again, angry
that his words made me feel better and that, unlike many of Ajoara's
diatribes, did not fill me with the uneasiness or chill I usually got when
speaking to the Elf.
"I can't rightly say, lad," the mage responded to me, "It really depends
on what roads you take down the way. I will tell you this though...the
road you're on now leads to a dead-end." I hung my head and kicked
absently at the 'ground' of the dream pocket. I knew he was right of
course; maybe this old man was the part of my conscience that had been
nagging me ever since I'd started along with the Elf and her friends. I
did not fully understand all his talk of Godly plans and Life paths, but
something within me was screaming for my attention, trying to tell me to
pay attention to the old man's words. I swallowed once, taking my
stubborness and pride down into my gut and looked up.
"What should I do?" I asked him, looking up at his face with its warm
smile and eyes that extruded nothing but understanding. He cleared his
throat and puffed out his chest a bit.
"Go South, young man!" he said, pointing a bony finger behind me, "Go to
the temple you were told about, and don't dawdle. Your future awaits you
there. It's not an easy road, lad, but the end will be bright for you if
you stay the course."
I turned and looked behind me in the direction the old man pointed, seeing
in the mist a strange building of white stone surrounded by trees and a
small stream. I squinted as I strained to look at the small figures that
walked the ramparts.
"Is that the temple, Fizban?" I asked as I turned back to the mage. But he
was already hobbling away, and I thought I heard him muttering about
losing his hat (which I found odd at the time since it was on his head). I
stepped after him quickly, but he seemed to be gaining speed.
"Wait a minute old man!" I called out in frustration, "What about this
plan you were babbling about?! I don't understand!"
"Of course you don't, Kylus," he answered without turning to face me, "The
Gods are the beginning and the end...you're just the middle. Mind your
head." and then the mist consumed him.
And he was gone.
"Mind my head?" I asked myself, puzzled. I turned around, intent on
looking at the building once more but instead I was knocked to the ground
as a beam of metal hit me in the side of the skull. I groaned, one hand
coming to rub the spot and the other again reaching for Ajoara's dirk. It
was then that I saw my attacker, and it was no metal beam that had hit me.
It was a great silvery claw.
My jaw dropped and I looked up to see the underbelly of a magnificent
beast sliding through the air above my prone body. Its scales gleamed with
their own inner sheen as they slid through the mist with ease. I gaped as
its tail passed over me, the very tip dangling down to brush the top of
my head.
"Dragon..." I whispered to myself in awe. It was then that the creature
let out a huge bellowing roar, and I felt the very earth beneat my body
tremble. I closed my eyes and covered my ears and...
...I blinked, looking up and seeing Lunitari gazing down at me
impassively. Something prodded me in the shoulder and I shifted my eyes to
the right to find Cliv poking me with his foot."
"Yer watch." he grunted. I nodded faintly as I sat up and shook the fog
from my mind. My head hurt and I began to wonder if the grunt had
clobbered me in the skull once or twice. Then I recalled the dream, and
the old man and most certainly the dragon! But that was a dream...I
couldn't have a headache from being clobbered by a dream-dragon.
Could I?
"Get goin'" Cliv muttered. I muttered something in reply and went to stand
my watch. I stationed myself on a particularly large boulder in our
outcrop and watched the night silently. Cliv muttered something that I did
not make out and then found his bedroll. I listened carefully for what
seemed an eternity for any signs of consciousness from any of the group of
thieves. When I was certain they were all asleep, I climbed down from my
perch and retrieved my travel sack.
I paused a moment, taking a look at Ajoara's sleeping form. I nodded to it
and whispered "Thank you." softly before taking Fizban's advice.
Once again I ran like a thief fleeing the dawn.
***
And so four days of running and barely sleeping had brought me to the
town of Treasnar, half starved and almost completely dehydrated. I was
amazed that the Elf and her troops had not tracked me down. Perhaps they
tried and failed, or perhaps the drive for money from robbing the library
in Palanthus was more important to them than avenging my lack of good will
for their hospitality.
When I first arrived I found the nearest well and all but jumped into it.
Some thought I was a raving lunatic but I did not care. I felt like I
drank my body weight in water before I was sated. Afterwards I found food
and then set to work peddling some of my late father's last wares. I would
need the coin to get supplies that would carry me South.
As I hocked the delicate chains and other meagar things my teacher had
salvaged from my inheritance, I had ample time to ponder all that had
happened since meeting Ajoara. The temptation to use what she taught me on
some passersby was always present, but I supressed it and focused my
thoughts on my dream.
Who in the world was that old man? Was he the piece of my conscience
brimming up to point me in the right direction when I was straying? Or was
he something more? And what did the great Dragon I saw mean? Where had
that come from? I was left with more questions that I liked, but something
within me told me that the old man wasn't lying when he said my future lay
to the South.
I'd been tempted with a vision of 'easy peace,' but it was an illusion.
Like Fizban said, the road wasn't likely to be easy, but I'd been set in
the right direction once more, and this time I'd remember to stay the
course, and find whatever it was that awaited me at the end, and hopefully
some answers to the myriad questions the confounding old man had left me.
-- To Be Continued...
* homeland. His encounter with a bunch of shady individuals leads him
* to question the path his teacher set him on, and awakens some odd
* abilities from within himself. As always, the standard disclaimer
* applies:
*/
#ifdef COPYRIGHTED_STUFF
#define DISCLAIMER "DragonLance is owned by Wizards of the Coast, Margaret
Weis, and Tracy Hickman. RhyDin is owned by America
Online Incorporated. I don't claim to own any of these
settings or the characters within them. My character
just passed through. ;)"
#endif
/* Thanks for reading :) --pjb */
Chapter II: Clouded Vision
"Fine jewelery for sale!" I called from the corner of the street. The town
of Treasnar was much smaller than my home--former home--but the people
were of roughly the same cut as those I once knew. I was three days south
and east of my shattered life, but it seemed like eons ago.
After I departed my home town like a thief fleeing the dawn, I ran for an
unrecalled amount of time, mechanically placing one leg in front of the
other until I collapsed from sheer exhaustion, both physical and mental. I
had fallen into a nook off the main town road, one that would keep me
hidden from view from the ordinary passers-by. Placing my bundle under my
head, I settled in for a brief rest, judging that it was better to travel
later in the day and by night in case some of the townsfolk decided to
look for me.
I slept like a dead man for only a couple hours, before the crackling of
twigs and rustling of leaves around me jarred my senses back to the real
world. I groaned as the light of day assaulted my eyes and voices, faded
and only vaguely intelligible, came to my ears.
"...not dead..." I thought I heard.
"...yet..." came another, followed by a dry chuckle.
"...enough crap." came a distinctly female voice. I sat up, looking around
and placing one hand in my cloak to give the appearance that I was armed.
My eyes came into focus and I saw two men, one bearing a cudgel and the
other a shortsword, crouched and ready to defend the woman behind them,
who did not look ready to fight but instead looked at me with pure
amusement in her grey eyes.
"What do you have in there boy?" she asked me calmly, "A dagger, a dirk,
or perhaps just your fist?" I felt the blood rush to my face quickly at
her words, and pulled my hand from the folds of my clothing. The two men
each gave a short sigh and relaxed, and I couldn't help but give a slight
satisfied smile that my ruse had put them on guard. The grin did not last
long though; the realization that I was at the mercy of these obvious
highwaymen was enough to put amusement out of my mind.
"What do you want?" I managed to blurt out with a realtively steady voice.
As if I did not know what they wanted. Instinctively my hand clutched the
bundle that served as my pillow and carried the remnants of my life in its
folds. The two men gave me toothy grins and the woman just smiled
pleasantly.
"Now that's no way to make introductions, kid." the woman said. Kid?
Surely I didn't look as young as my blood made me to be. Or did she have
insight into what I was? It was then that I noticed it: the fine hair
tied back off her neck, exposing delicate pale ears that rose into perfect
points along her skull.
An Elf. To her it was likely the eldest in my town was a 'kid.'
My staring must have been noticed, because she gave an annoyed huff and
pushed past the two burly men with her, heading towards me and saying,
"Didn't your parents teach you not to stare?" The mention of my parents
caused my face to screw up as anger flared anew in my heart. I slid back,
away from her approach a bit and clutched my bundle even tighter,
repeating my question, "What do you want?"
"Just a bit of conversation with a fellow traveler." she replied. Her
words hit my ears and--though I can explain it now I could not then--they
caused my stomach to twist in a small knot, and for some reason the backs
of my hands began to itch incessantly. I scratched at them, knowing
somehow that she was lying outright or only telling half a truth. I eyed
her warily, unsure of her words and more than a little wary of her
actions. She merely sat down a few feet from me, and regarded me with
amusement in her violet eyes.
"What're you doing out here, kid? They finally cast you out?" she asked.
The question was so direct that I dropped my defenses and gaped at her,
oblivious to the musical laughter that escaped her throat.
"I'm an Elf, boy." she said, "I can smell a half-breed like you had it
branded on your head. You don't have my ears, but you're plainly one of
them. I'm amazed ya lasted that long in that place...what are you? 19
winters? 20?"
"Twenty-one," I blurted, her words stinging me to the core.
"Keepin' you as a pet and you escaped or what?" she asked. I gave her a
puzzled look and shook my head indignantly, the very thought of such a
thing completely foreign to me. It was then that I began to realize that
life could have been far crueler to me than it had been; of course that
did little to quell the anger I still felt in my stomach, but it was the
beginning of some establishment of perspective on my part. I lowered my
guard a bit and with one hand still clenched on my travel sack I explained
my situation to her with as few details as I could muster..I was young but
not completely naive. They -were- highwaymen afterall.
"Bloody bastards," she muttered as I finished my brief tale. Her eyes
regarded me with a look that conveyed both pity and--for some
reason--amusement. "Well you talked me into it." she said suddenly.
"Talked you into what?" I stammered, my blood running cold. Were they
going to beat me senseless and take the last remnants of my life away?
"We'll let you travel with us." she blurted out, causing not only my jaw
to drop, but those of her two guards as well.
"Yer kiddin' Ajoara." the one with the cudgel said incredulously with only
a slightly delayed repeat from his partner with the shortsword. She gave
them both a defiant look as she stood up.
"Last I checked -I- was the boss of this party here, gents," she said, her
voice changing from oddly compassionate to icy-cold in the blink of an
eye, "and since -I- am in charge of this show, -I- say he's comin' with
us! That clear?" she eyed one, who nodded quickly and was aped by the
other just as fast.
I swallowed hard; who in the Nine Hells was this woman that she could beat
two large thieves into submission with just her words? My musing about that
question was short-lived, for she turned her eyes back to me and the icy
expression in her eyes melted once again, replaced in an instant with that
amused pity. "Where are you going?" I blurted out.
"North to Palanthas." she said simply and I shook my head mustering as
polite a response as I could, "I'm sorry, but I must go south. There is a
temple there.."
"Temple? You a priest-to-be, kid?" the man with the club asked with only a
slight sneer. I shook my head again in denial.
"No...no. There is a temple to the South," I repeated myself, much to
their annoyance, "I hope to go there and learn. I...I study things." I
said feebly, trying to convey to them what I'd spent the greater part of
my life doing in the town. All I received for my efforts were smirks of
course, but I didn't really expect much more than that; it was common
knowledge that burglars did not really value something intangible like
knowledge.
"I think you'll be best off with us, kid." the woman said to me, a grin
on her face that did little to mask the edge on her voice; she wasn't
about to take 'no' for an answer from me, and I dared not ponder what
would happen if I insisted.
"Alright.." I said, trying my best to sound enthusiastic. Despite my own
lack of confidence in my voice, it seemed to be enough for her. She nodded
and clapped me hard on the shoulder before standing up and jabbing one of
her thumbs into her chest.
"As you've already heard, m'name is Ajoara. The two lumps that walk behind
me are Cliv and Rhis." she pointed from herself to the men with the club
and sword respectively. "What's your name, kid?" she said, her eyes
falling on me suddenly.
"Kylus..." I blurted, "Kylus Dragonsbane." that seemed to amuse them all.
"Dragonsbane eh?" Ajoara said with laughter in her grey eyes, "With a name
like that you're destined for great things, don't you think little Kylus?"
"I'm not that little." I said, indignation clear in my voice and revealing
my actual immaturity. She only giggled in an almost girlish manner before
waving a hand as if to draw me to my feet, "Get your things kid. We don't
dally about when we've got a job to do."
"Job?" I asked as I rose to my feet, my hand still clenched around my
travel satchel. I swallowed hard as Cliv and Rhis eyed me, tough grins on
both their faces as they waited for me to pass so they could bring up the
rear. I did not know why but I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand
on end as I moved past them, but I figured it was best to show as little
fear as possible with that lot.
"Aye a job. We're headed to Palanthus to relieve a library of one of its
books. A collector South of here will pay us a fortune for it! And how
will they notice one book gone anyway?" she asked with another small
giggle. I swallowed again, feeling a coppery taste in my mouth as the
itching on the backs of my hands returned.
What had I gotten myself into now?
***
We traveled for hours, skirting the borders of the town to avoid any
confrontation with its people. I certainly did not mind and I gathered
that Ajoara did not relish the contact either. I wagered she knew what
type of reception she'd get there, but discussing the matter did not seem
the wisest course of action. Though my senses were a bit muddled (I'd
never traveled outside the town I was born in), I managed to figure by the
stars that we'd gone almost completely West. We stopped at what seemed to
be a common crossroads, which had a small grove of forest and grazing
grass that fed itself from a sort of oasis-spring that I guessed was an
above-ground appearance of the underground river that fed my former home.
We made camp quickly. Cliv and Rhis gathered firewood under their leader's
order, much to their disgruntlement. Apparently now that I was with them
they'd assumed I was to do the labor. To be frank I would not have minded,
simply to get away from them all for at least a few moments and collect my
thoughts on how to get away permanently. Part of me truly wanted to
believe that Ajoara was being kind to me out of genuine compassion and
caring for what I'd endured and what she suspected I had ahead of me, but
another part of my being seriously questioned her motives; was she using
me as the townsfolk wanted to as well?
I was given a job after all though: I was sent to the pond to fetch some
water for cooking, a task I gladly accepted. I took a pot from Cliv's pack
and carried it with little effor to the edge of the clear pool. The moons
were just coming out of their cloudy veils and shed a bit of light upon
the oasis we were stationed at. The light of Solinari dominated the
evening, with Lunitari being obscured by the Black Moon Nuitari. As I
knelt by the pool and filled the bucket, I paused and looked at myself in
the water.
The light of the White Moon made my reflection bright and bathed it in a
pale glow that caused me to grin ruefully, for I looked like some saint or
holy man, though I was far from it considering my newfound company. I
peered at the youth in the water: skinny and tall, my face was pale and a
bit drawn. My brown hair was touseled and fell down past my shoulders in a
dishelveled mess. I grinned sheepishly to my double; my father had always
been yelling at me to "cut that mop" and I always put it off in favor of
studying.
My father.
My double blurred then, his dark-ringed brown eyes shimmering in the water
with tears. I blinked once and felt the warm wetness spill down my face,
leaving trails in the travel dust that caked my skin. My mind screamed at
me, berated me for acting like a child at a time like this, and in the
company of hardened folk like Ajoara and her companions. The more I told
myself to stop, however, the faster the tears fell, and it was not long
before they turned into a flood that I could not hope to prevent. The
bucket fell from my hand into the water as I drew my legs to my chest and
cried softly into my knees. In the light of pale Solinari, the horde of
events of the last two days--the pain, the loss, the anger--finally had
found release from the place in my heart that I'd locked them, and I let
them free willingly now, half-unaware and not at all caring about who or
what may see me. I cried softly to myself, for my father, for the life I'd
lost, for the unfairness of it all, and I looked up at the sky, at the
constellations of the heavens, my eyes passing over the Many-Headed Dragon
and the Book of Knowledge and coming to rest on that of the Platinum
Dragon Bahamut. I sniffled once, one hand rubbing under my nose as I gazed
at the twinkling group of stars with red-rimmed eyes.
"Why?"
"Because they have a cruel sense of humor." A gentle voice said behind me.
I felt a soft touch on my shoulder and looked up to see Ajoara's grey eyes
looking down at me. I smiled weakly despite the chill I felt in my spine
and the itch that flared again in the backs of my hands.
"I don't think that's it..." I said feebly. She gave one of her girlish
giggles and sat down uninvited next to me.
"You're a kid, Kylus." she said quietly, her hand still resting on my
shoulder. "And kids never know how bad life is until it crashes down on
their heads and gives them a thumpin' they don't forget. You're just
getting your thump on the head, my boy. Best to make yourself strong,
watch out for yourself and thump back when you have the opportunity."
"What about taking care of others?" I muttered, finding it odd that I
should even broach the subject with her; very few ever took care of me,
and as it stood now I had no one else to care for save myself. Ajoara
giggled again and said, "It's everyone for themselves, Kylus. You think
they care--" she pointed to the stars above our heads, "--what happens to
us? They cared so much they dropped a mountain on our heads! They cared
enough to let your father die and let you get run off eh?"
I scratched at the backs of my palms idly while my head processed her
words. She did have a point. Why -did- the Gods drop the mountain and
cause the Cataclysm so many centuries ago if they claimed to love us. I'd
always read that all the Gods had committed that horrible act. Surely
Takhisis, the Queen of Darkness, took great pleasure in the suffering
caused by the Cataclysm, but why would Paladine, the Father of Good,
consent to such an act? I looked at the Elf, who grinned a bit as she
watched me process what she'd told me. The words of my teacher came back
to me, telling me that I was a good boy. Then the words of my father came,
drowning those out.
"...show them what you can become..." maybe I could become someone strong
enough to avenge the wrongs that were done to him, to me, and to my mother
so many years ago.
I looked up at Ajoara and said timidly, "Every..every man for himself
huh?" as I wiped my eyes with the sleeve of my tunic. She grinned at me
and I felt disarmed by the look and could only grin back at her.
"That's right, kid. Now get the bucket and lets cook some food and
tomorrow I'll teach you a few tricks.
"Tricks?" I asked, unable to contain my curiosity.
She only grinned at me again and nodded, "You'll see."
I grinned back and fetched the bucket, then followed her back to our camp.
We ate in relevant silence. Ajoara had won me over, but her two companions
still disturbed me a great deal. When it was time to sleep, I further
earned their ire when the Elf announcedt that I would not have to take a
watch that night. She told me not to get used to it though and to expect
to start working the next day like a regular member of the crew. I barely
heard her as I crashed to the ground and found sleep seconds after my head
hit my travel sack.
***
The next day was just as Ajoara had promised me: I was one of their band
now. I was awakened at dawn by a kick in the arse from the Elf, who,
despite the grin on her face, barked at me to get up with the same edge on
her voice that she'd used with Cliv and Rhis right after we met. Needless
to say, I did not hesitate to rouse myself quickly. The entire day was
spent walking from the oasis to the northeast, towards our destination in
Palanthus. Cliv and Rhis made up the vanguard of our troupe, while Ajoara
and I stayed behind, with her lecturing about slight-of-hand and trying to
impart to me the finer points of picking pockets and using a dirk. We
stopped on occaision so she could see if I was listening (which meant of
course that she would attack me out of the blue, and I was expected to not
get myself gutted).
I went to bed that night with more than a few cuts and knicks, and
countless bruises. The Elf had only one on her arm, but I was indeed proud
of it. She seemed a bit proud as well, both of the fact that I'd scored a
hit on her and managed to relieve her of her coin purse without her
noticing only after one day of instruction (much to my shame I admit to
still being nimble with my fingers, though these days I usually entertain
children with 'magic' like this).
The night found us entrenched in a rocky outcrop on the edge of a small
cliff. Solinari was once again looking down upon us, but this night it was
joined by its sister Lunitari. The Black Moon was not shrouding the Red
tonight, but I could make it out by the noticeable absence of certain
stars in the sky. I once again crashed to the ground and my sack-pillow,
barely hearing Cliv's grunting about waking me in a few hours to take the
watch. I grunted something that he assumed was an acknowledgement, and
that was all I remembered of the night.
Tonight would not be like the last two I spent on my new journey. I could
tell I was dreaming by the presence of the mist around the edges of my
line of sight...that was the sign of a dream, wasn't it? I walked a bit,
wondering idly what this place was, and why I was here. Dreams were
usually bits of memory put together, but I did not remember this place.
Some said dreams were teh attempts of the Gods to talk to mortals, but I
was not sure of that. They didn't care, so why would they wish to speak to
us?
"Of course they care.." a grizzled voice said behind me, causing me to
jump as it countered my unspoken argument. I turned, my brown eyes
squinting as I beheld an old man clad in mouse-grey robes and a beaten,
floppy old hat that rose from his white-haired head and stopped at a
point. He looked at me with knowing blue eyes and only smiled as I reached
for the dirk Ajoara had given me, only to discover it missing.
"Who are you?" I asked angrily, my helplessness in this dream causing my
ire to rise up childishly. He snuffled a bit and said, "Who am I? Who am
-I-?? Why, dear boy, I am..." he paused then, a puzzled look coming to his
face as he rubbed his chin beneath the great white beard that adorned his
face. "...oh blast it all, now who am I again?" I heard him mutter. I
blinked then and scratched my head, wondering if the old codger was off
his rocker just a little bit.
"I am not!" he snapped at me and I couldn't help but jump once more.
"Anyway it will come to me eventually, but who I am isn't as important as
who you are, Kielthanas." I froze then as I felt my blood run cold and my
knees buckle. How could have known that name? My Elven name that was given
to me by my mother, it was something that was never uttered by my Father
or me to -anyone- else. I stared at the old man as I fought to remain
standing. My mouth moved, but no words came out. He just smiled and took a
step towards me, using a gnarled wooden staff to keep himself steady. I
wanted to back away from him, but I found my legs inattentive to the whims
of my brain at that moment, and so I remained rooted to the spot as the
old one hobbled over to me and set a bony hand on my shoulder.
He was a mage. That was the only way to explain it.
The moment his hand came to rest next to my neck, I felt the fear vanish,
the anger subside, and a sense of peace descend so quickly that I thought
I would burst into tears as it wrapped itself around my being. I swallowed
hard and looked at the old man, who was still smiling gently to me. "Who
are you?" I asked again softly.
"Fizban the Fabulous, my boy," he said and I hadn't the drive to question
how he remembered so suddenly then (I'd learn many years later it was
safer not to ask), "And I'm here to have a little chat with you."
"Chat with me? But who are you?" I repeated, my shock melting away slowly,
"Have we met? Did you know my father? If it's about work he did for you,
I'm sorry but I've--"
"--been cast out of the town, yes yes I know...terrible thing, terrible."
he interrupted me, tsk'ing and shaking his head as his eyebrows and
moustaches drooped sadly, "Ignorance is nearly as powerful a force as all
the Legions of the Queen of Darkness, my boy."
"How do you know all this?" I stammered, "And how did you know my True
Name? I've never told anyone that name before."
"Your father told me, son." he said. I opened my mouth to call him a liar,
but he raised his hand and looked at me sharply. When my jaw clapped shut
he continued, "He didn't betray the promise he made with you about not
revealing it son, so just trust me a bit, eh? If you're going to trust the
Elven thief with your future then surely you'll put a little faith in an
old man eh?" he cackled with a bit of laughter then and after a moment I
nodded...he did have a point after all.
"Well then," he said as he sat on a rock that appeared out of the mist
from nowhere, "Let us talk then. Why don't you tell me why a bright lad
such as yourself is about to throw his life away, abandon all the things
he's learned, and follow a rabble to relieve Astinus of one of his books?"
I gaped openly then. Who was this man and how did he know so many things??
I regained my composure and swallowed once before answering resolutely,
"Because what she said makes sense. Why should I go all the way south
where they'll likely spit on me again like home when I can stick with her,
learn how to take care of myself, and--"
"--and what?" he interrupted me again, his voice gentle but firm, "Go back
one day and take revenge on the ones who cast you out?" I nodded
stubbornly and watched his eyebrows and moustaches droop once more.
"Kylus my lad is that what you'd want to do your whole life? Work long and
hard to harm the lives of others? What after that is accomplished? You do
realize you will outlive them all by 50 years at least, aye? What will you
do then?"
"I don't care." I spouted, "They deserve it. I never did anything to them
and they...they..."
"They are fools, lad." the old mage said to me simply, "And they'll get
theirs when they see the Gods. But your job isn't to arrange the meeting.
That's for Fate to decide, not you." My blood was boiling then. Gods this
and Gods that. I'd read about the Gods and their benevolence and wisdom
for years before all this happened. Yet Ajoara's comments about them
seemed so...right...so easy to believe. I looked at Fizban and said, "Gods
this and Gods that! If they care so much why'd they let this happen to
me?! To the Hells with the Gods!"
Fizban looked at me as if I'd struck him across the face with a club. His
moustaches wilted like a plant in the noon sun and he shook his head, "Oh
dear oh dear, my poor child." he said softly, "Don't you think the Gods
had a plan for you from the start?" I was not sure if the sadness in his
voice was due to the insult I'd apparently delivered to him, compassion
for my situation, or because I did not seem to understand something he
considered basic. I shook my head as stubborness once again overwhelmed
the lump I felt forming in my throat and said, "What kind of plan is
this? I don't understand!"
"Of course you don't." Fizban said, his voice soft and even, "If They
spilled the beans now it wouldn't be a Life for you now would it? They
have a plan for you, lad, just like they do every other person on this
earth. The trick is taking the right roads to get where They want you to
go. The roads aren't always easy, but at the end is something worth the
trouble."
"WHAT could be worth all that's happened, old man?" I asked again, angry
that his words made me feel better and that, unlike many of Ajoara's
diatribes, did not fill me with the uneasiness or chill I usually got when
speaking to the Elf.
"I can't rightly say, lad," the mage responded to me, "It really depends
on what roads you take down the way. I will tell you this though...the
road you're on now leads to a dead-end." I hung my head and kicked
absently at the 'ground' of the dream pocket. I knew he was right of
course; maybe this old man was the part of my conscience that had been
nagging me ever since I'd started along with the Elf and her friends. I
did not fully understand all his talk of Godly plans and Life paths, but
something within me was screaming for my attention, trying to tell me to
pay attention to the old man's words. I swallowed once, taking my
stubborness and pride down into my gut and looked up.
"What should I do?" I asked him, looking up at his face with its warm
smile and eyes that extruded nothing but understanding. He cleared his
throat and puffed out his chest a bit.
"Go South, young man!" he said, pointing a bony finger behind me, "Go to
the temple you were told about, and don't dawdle. Your future awaits you
there. It's not an easy road, lad, but the end will be bright for you if
you stay the course."
I turned and looked behind me in the direction the old man pointed, seeing
in the mist a strange building of white stone surrounded by trees and a
small stream. I squinted as I strained to look at the small figures that
walked the ramparts.
"Is that the temple, Fizban?" I asked as I turned back to the mage. But he
was already hobbling away, and I thought I heard him muttering about
losing his hat (which I found odd at the time since it was on his head). I
stepped after him quickly, but he seemed to be gaining speed.
"Wait a minute old man!" I called out in frustration, "What about this
plan you were babbling about?! I don't understand!"
"Of course you don't, Kylus," he answered without turning to face me, "The
Gods are the beginning and the end...you're just the middle. Mind your
head." and then the mist consumed him.
And he was gone.
"Mind my head?" I asked myself, puzzled. I turned around, intent on
looking at the building once more but instead I was knocked to the ground
as a beam of metal hit me in the side of the skull. I groaned, one hand
coming to rub the spot and the other again reaching for Ajoara's dirk. It
was then that I saw my attacker, and it was no metal beam that had hit me.
It was a great silvery claw.
My jaw dropped and I looked up to see the underbelly of a magnificent
beast sliding through the air above my prone body. Its scales gleamed with
their own inner sheen as they slid through the mist with ease. I gaped as
its tail passed over me, the very tip dangling down to brush the top of
my head.
"Dragon..." I whispered to myself in awe. It was then that the creature
let out a huge bellowing roar, and I felt the very earth beneat my body
tremble. I closed my eyes and covered my ears and...
...I blinked, looking up and seeing Lunitari gazing down at me
impassively. Something prodded me in the shoulder and I shifted my eyes to
the right to find Cliv poking me with his foot."
"Yer watch." he grunted. I nodded faintly as I sat up and shook the fog
from my mind. My head hurt and I began to wonder if the grunt had
clobbered me in the skull once or twice. Then I recalled the dream, and
the old man and most certainly the dragon! But that was a dream...I
couldn't have a headache from being clobbered by a dream-dragon.
Could I?
"Get goin'" Cliv muttered. I muttered something in reply and went to stand
my watch. I stationed myself on a particularly large boulder in our
outcrop and watched the night silently. Cliv muttered something that I did
not make out and then found his bedroll. I listened carefully for what
seemed an eternity for any signs of consciousness from any of the group of
thieves. When I was certain they were all asleep, I climbed down from my
perch and retrieved my travel sack.
I paused a moment, taking a look at Ajoara's sleeping form. I nodded to it
and whispered "Thank you." softly before taking Fizban's advice.
Once again I ran like a thief fleeing the dawn.
***
And so four days of running and barely sleeping had brought me to the
town of Treasnar, half starved and almost completely dehydrated. I was
amazed that the Elf and her troops had not tracked me down. Perhaps they
tried and failed, or perhaps the drive for money from robbing the library
in Palanthus was more important to them than avenging my lack of good will
for their hospitality.
When I first arrived I found the nearest well and all but jumped into it.
Some thought I was a raving lunatic but I did not care. I felt like I
drank my body weight in water before I was sated. Afterwards I found food
and then set to work peddling some of my late father's last wares. I would
need the coin to get supplies that would carry me South.
As I hocked the delicate chains and other meagar things my teacher had
salvaged from my inheritance, I had ample time to ponder all that had
happened since meeting Ajoara. The temptation to use what she taught me on
some passersby was always present, but I supressed it and focused my
thoughts on my dream.
Who in the world was that old man? Was he the piece of my conscience
brimming up to point me in the right direction when I was straying? Or was
he something more? And what did the great Dragon I saw mean? Where had
that come from? I was left with more questions that I liked, but something
within me told me that the old man wasn't lying when he said my future lay
to the South.
I'd been tempted with a vision of 'easy peace,' but it was an illusion.
Like Fizban said, the road wasn't likely to be easy, but I'd been set in
the right direction once more, and this time I'd remember to stay the
course, and find whatever it was that awaited me at the end, and hopefully
some answers to the myriad questions the confounding old man had left me.
-- To Be Continued...