Within a little town called Tarshir, Leo and Rain arrived at the front gates, which were open. In the town were townsfolk bustling about from shop to shop, going in and out of bars, libraries, houses and a school. Leo and Rain stopped at a nearby by trough to tie up the horses.
"Let's go on foot." said Rain, climbing off his horse and tying it to the post.
After Leo tied his horse to the post he and Rain headed for the bar to see if anyone could tell them about the scholar. But on their way there an elder looking man in a hooded cloak walked between them, bumping into Rain.
"Sorry about that." said Rain, as the elder looking man walked off "Wait a minute."
Rain looked down at the bag on his belt, and felt that it was now empty.
"He just stole the pendant." said Rain.
"After him!" said Leo, starting the chase after the young man, now without the cloak.
The man, after placing the pendant in his pocket, ran through the nearest alley as Leo and Rain followed far behind. In the back of the buildings the thief climbed quickly up the nearest ladder, leading to the top of the wall and pulling the ladder up so Rain and Leo could not climb up.
"Where is he?" huffed Rain, looking around the back alleyway.
"Up there." said Leo, pointing to the top of the wall, that the thief was running along.
"Now what do we do?" asked Rain.
Leo, noticing the back of one of the houses nearby, saw that the house's chimney was close to the wall. Leo ran to the chimney and hopped on the side of it, jumping off of the wall and jumping from wall to chimney to get up on wall.
"Stop thief!" shouted Leo, starting his chase after the thief.
The looked back to see Leo running after him and began running faster. Rain followed from down below, jumping over fences to get to the wall. The thief ran through the doorway of the corner tower as Leo ran in close behind.
"Ha!" shouted Leo, coming through the other side of the tower, but with no thief in sight.
"There!" yelled Rain, spotting the thief coming out of the same doorway he went through.
Leo turned around and began chasing the thief the other way.
"Oh for..." complained Rain, turning back around to jump over the fences he just jumped over.
At the corner tower on the end the thief held up his hand with the pendant in it, throwing it to someone who had been standing on top of the tower the whole time.
"Huh?" said Leo, stopping to look at the tall, robed turtle-like creature with a wizard hat, twirling the pendant he caught in his fingers "Give that back!"
"Hmm." the turtle thought "I think I might keep it actually."
Before Rain or Leo could do or say anything the turtle disappeared in a cloud of smoke, along with the other thief.
"I can't we lost it." sighed Leo, taking a drink of his ale.
"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find that guy again." Rain assured.
"You don't understand, there's something about that pendant. Something important. I just know it."
"There had been legends involving water. The real question is, which of them involves a pendant?"
"Oh yes. I won it a game."
Leo and Rain lifted their heads, recognizing the voice coming from the other side of the bar.
"Is that...?" started Leo, spotting the wizard through the crowd of drinkers and waitresses.
"It's him." growled Rain, getting up and heading in that direction.
"It was pretty difficult, but I was able to beat the beast and win my pendant." chuckled the wizard.
"Really? Tell me more." spoke Rain, towering above the people around the wizard.
"Yes, well, I would but I must be going."
"You're not going anywhere." demanded Rain "Not until you tell everyone here that you stole that pendant."
"He's obviously crazy." laughed the wizard "I am no thief."
"Then I suppose you wouldn't mind a arm wrestling would you?" said Rain, cracking his knuckles and sitting at the table beside the wizard.
"What?" asked the wizard, nervously.
"Come on. You and I. One on one. Winner gets the pendant you wear around your neck."
"I don't know..."
"Don't tell me you're afraid to lose. And after you've beaten a fowl beast."
"Very well, if that is you want." chuckled the wizard, placing his arm on the table and his hand in Rain's "But I must warn you, I'm very well trained."
Rain smiled and began to push the wizard's arm back. The wizard however kept up his strength and began trying to push Rain's arm the other way. Surprised to see the wizard had any power in his arm, Rain gritted his teeth and started pushing harder. Sweat poured from the brow of the wizard as Leo noticed what was happening under the table.
"Cheat." whispered Leo, seeing the wizard's other hand under the table, conjuring a spell to help him win.
Leo, trying not to grab attention to himself, slowly inched closer to the table. Beside the wizard, he saw half drunken mug of beer, aimed perfectly at the wizard's other hand. Leo, as innocent as he could look, placed his hand on the table with the beer, and "accidentally" knocked it into the wizard's hand, causing the match to pause.
"I'm terribly sorry." Leo apologized, trying his best not to laugh "It was an accident."
"It's okay..." the wizard said suspiciously.
"Come on, let's start over." said Rain.
"I'd rather go straight home to wash myself up." said the wizard, leaving his table and heading for the door.
"He was using a spell." whispered Leo.
"Had that figured." answered Rain "What do you say we follow him?"
"Sounds good to me." agreed Leo, following Rain outside to grab their horses.
In the woods near the town there stood a wooden cabin. Outside of it was a cauldron full of bubbling spells.
"Wick!" yelled the wizard, approaching the cabin.
"Yes sir?"
"There are two behind me, one large, carrying a club, one smaller, carrying a katana."
"What would you have me do sir?"
"I need that one spell to hide everything."
"I have the spell right here sir." said Wick, picking up a bottle from the table beside the cauldron.
"Yes, perfect." cheered the wizard, grabbing the spell and rushing into the cabin.
"Where is he?" huffed Rain, stopping at a clearing in the forest.
"He couldn't have gotten far." said Leo "Let's look around."
Leo and Rain searched in two different directions. Rain searched around the nearby trees as Leo searched around the big rocks nearby. Neither of them finding any trace of the wizard.
"Great, now we're never going to find that thing." complained Rain.
"I'm sure we will, we just have to keep looking." said Leo, trying to calm Rain's anger.
"This is too tricky! How are we going to FIND HIM?!?"
Rain, as angry as he could, lifted his fist and swung at the tree behind him, but before his fist could come to the tree his hand was stopped in midair.
"Huh?"
"What happened?" asked Leo.
"It felt like I've hit something." said Rain, confused "Wait a second."
Rain began feeling around the air. He took two steps to the left and felt something against his hand.
"Aha!" laughed Rain, before punching through the air, breaking an invisible door to reveal a room full of magic and spells.
"Drat!" complained the wizard "Now I must fix that damned door again! Wick, bring me my book."
"Yes sir." said Wick going into the next room.
"We want the pendant thief!" growled Leo, unsheathing his katana.
"This old thing?" said the wizard, taking the pendant off his neck and throwing it to Leo "I didn't really want it."
"Then why'd you steal it?" asked Rain.
"Because I'm the one you're looking for."
"So you were the scholar we've been trying to find?" questioned Leo as Wick poured him a cup of herbal tea.
"I was the scholar you were looking for, but you're not looking anymore now, are you?" said the scholar, taking a sip of his tea.
"Why did you steal the pendant?" asked Rain, taking a sip of his mushroom stew.
"To you lead you here." answered the wizard.
"And why'd you appear in the bar soon after?" asked Leo.
"To make sure you didn't lose me." answered the wizard.
"Why'd you make your house invisible so we couldn't find it?" asked Rain.
"I had to have a little fun." chuckled the wizard.
"So the pendant," started Leo "can you tell us what it's about? There's writing on it and I'm afraid we don't understand what it means."
"That pendant was used by the water imps a long time ago." explained the wizard "They would usually set the pendant in their sacred pond and receive the blessings of the water spirit, Ari inside of the pendant."
"So where can we find this sacred pond?" asked Rain, hesitantly.
"You don't believe in it do you?" asked the wizard.
"I'm... not sure." sighed Rain.
"Worry not my big friend, for the sacred pond cannot be found."
"What do you mean?" asked Leo.
"You cannot find the sacred pond. It must find you."
Within the Shadowlord's hideout, Ixnus bows to his master.
"Shadowlord, the Nightmare Bugs proved no match for the warrior in blue." said Ixnus.
"Then you will lead them astray." answered the Shadowlord "Their next destination should lead them to a fork in the road. Be sure to make them take the road less traveled."
"Yes, my lord."
Ixnus raised from the ground and entered into a dark portal taking him back into the forest where his shadow assassins await him.
"What next sir?" asked one of the assassins.
"We ride ahead." answered Ixnus.