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The Gem
In the year of the red dragon, while peace dwelled over the valleys, a young maid gave birth to a boy in one of the scattered villages in the lands of Lapragth. Not that this was something worthy of greater notice, as people prospered and spread throughout the lands. It was later events that made the birth of young Lendear an event that should alter the destiny of many. One day, shortly after the little boy was given his first hunting bow and he was finally allowed to the woods without company, he was huddled up behind a set of lower branches, concentrating on his first to be bounty in form of a lone little rabbit, when all of a sudden he noticed something terribly wrong.
At first he was unable to grasp what had changed, but soon realized that the entire forest had gone absolutely still. The birds had stopped their chirping, the wind no longer rippled at the leaves, no hooting, not even any distant barking of a dog from the nearby villages could be heard. Highly alerted, Lendear turned and slowly started to scan the vicinity. But nothing out of the ordinary reached his eyes. Still confused, he remembered his task at hand and turned back to look for the rabbit.
At the spot where the rabbit had been just a moment ago, a strange man covered in black robes stood. Lendear couldn't make out the mans features as his head was covered by a hood. All the little boy could see was a set of reddish glowing eyes staring at him. Terrified, Lendear jumped up and started to make a run, when the stranger addressed him. "Have no fear, little Lendear for I have come to hand you a gift and reveal to you the destiny that has been laid out for you." Lendear, despite his fears stopped in his tracks, curiosity ruling over the urge to flee and turned to face this strange appearance. An odd calmness settled over him as he began to walk towards the hooded man.
"Sit", the stranger invited him and lowered himself on a stump, letting out a sigh as he did so. Lendear sat on the soft, mossy ground cross legged and watched him. For a while the man only looked at him, his blazing red eyes emitting countless age. Finally he spoke again. "For many centuries the destiny of men has been guided by my people, the wellbeing and prosperity granted and guarded by us. You will have heard the tales and songs of the Gemlats, I'm sure?"
Not waiting for an answer, the man continued.
"Well, well, I know all these tales and I know that in these days your folk no longer believes in our existence. For we failed to choose a messenger for a very long time, this is of course no surprise. But it has been decided to change just that and the time has come to once again establish this direct bond between you and the Gemlats.
Great danger is upon these villages and we must prepare for what is to come. Your mother is a very special person, her ancestry related to a common root of both men and Gemlats. Solely out of this line a messenger may be chosen."
"What are you saying about my mother, I don't understand", interrupted the boy.
Raising an eyebrow, the man fixed Lendear with his stare.
"Please - don't interrupt me, son. It is of the greatest importance that you hear me out. You need to fully understand what is at stake. I know, you are of very young age, but I also happen to know that you are way ahead of your times. Did it ever strike you funny that the boys and girls your age somewhat fail to raise your interest, that you therefore seek the company of the elders?"
Eagerly the boy nodded and was about to respond, but a quickly raised hand stopped him. "Now, now, remember what I told you. You have to hear me out." Smiling, the man lowered his hand again and continued.
"So you have realized that there is something about you that discerns you from other children your age and even elder children. You are indeed a very special person and that is why I have come to speak to you. An enormous decision lays ahead of you, great responsibility is laden on your still small shoulders."
The man went quiet, still fixing young Lendear with his eyes, studying, probing, but not in any threatening way. Lendears head was swirling, he was full of questions, yet he restrained from blurting them out. He found it very hard to concentrate on any single thread of thought as there were so many of them, some very faint and more like uncertain feelings, some very strong and demanding. 'Slow now. Breath deep', he said to himself, somehow sensing that this was what was expected from him. When his head finally gave in and a deep calmness settled over him, the stranger smiled as if he knew exactly, what was going on in Lendears mind.
"You are very brave, young Lendear."
Still smiling, the man produced a small golden bracelet from somewhere within his robes and tossed it over to Lendear, who swiftly caught it out of the air.
"It might look a bit ordinary, but let me assure you that this is indeed a very special item." Lendear took the bracelet and studied it. Apart from a oddly shaped little dent it was just a plain, matt golden band. He was about to put it on his arm, but halted in his move, sending a questioning look towards the man who merely nodded and so Lendear continued the motion and put the bracelet on his arm. It felt as if it had been scaled to the circumference of his arm. It was such a perfect fit that Lendear almost had the impression that this strange artefact had moulded around his arm to this perfect fit. Puzzled he faced the man again, still holding back the wave of questions burning in his head. Pleased, the man produced another little item from his robes and motioned Lendear to get up. Lendear did as he was told and got up from the mossy ground, brushing off little debris and some leaves from his lower back. The stranger too raised and stepped forward until he was a mere hand apart from the little boy.
"Open your hand, Lendear", he commanded and the boy immediately obeyed. The man let drop a tiny little gem that caught the rays of the sun shining through the leaves of the surrounding trees. Sparkling in red colours, it looked so beautiful to Lendear that he forgot all about the needs of breathing at this spectacular sight.
"Now, Lendear, I want you to take this gem and hold it at the bracelet."
Needing no further instructions, Lendear directed the gem exactly to the little dent he had noticed in the bracelet earlier. An instant before the two items would have connected through the motion of Lendears hand, the gem sprang from his fingers and attached itself firmly to the bracelet. The next thing Lendear saw, filled him with utter awe. A reddish glowing aura began to emit from the gem, engulfing both him and the man. It felt unearthly, total calmness settling over him, a great feeling of ease streaming through his veins. Time lost its meaning, everything lost its meaning, he was bathed in warm tranquillity. He had no way of telling for how long he had stood there in the forest, surrounded by the light emitted from the gem, when all of a sudden he was thrown back to reality. The stranger had picked the gem from its mounting on the bracelet and turned it in his fingers, transfixed, but with an expression of great relieve on his face.
"All is well", he muttered under his hood and smiling at the young boy he continued. "We must not loose any more time now. Come with me, we must see your mother", and turned towards the village.
"Come", he addressed Lendear again who had given up trying to grasp all the strange happenings of lately, but made no attempt to leave the sport where he was rooted.
"May I...", he started, but was again interrupted by the stranger.
"No time, Lendear. Now come, please", he urged. Reluctantly, the boy started to trot behind the strange man who now increased his pace seeing that the boy indeed followed him.
As winter neared the trees had begun to relieve themselves of their leaves, the path winding from the forest, down the hillside to the village was slippery, but the man never failed to keep his foot. Lendear however skidded often on the wet leaves and was only saved from falling by his extraordinary reflexes allowing him to stay afoot.
Finally they arrived at the gates of Gheenteld, the guards positioned on either side ignoring their presence, despite the fact that they were well-known for their alertness and strict denial of any admittance of strangers. Lendear had given up wondering about the strange happenings and merely recorded this fact. Eventually he would find some answers, that he was sure of. Having learned though that these were not yet to come, he commanded himself to patience.
Rather than been guided to Lendears home, the man seemed to know exactly where he was heading, so the boy decided to follow rather than to lead the way. As he had predicted, the stranger found his way directly to the small hut where Lendear lived with his mother.
He had never known his father and his mother had refused to tell him anything. For a long time this had bothered him and it was years before he finally gave up on the matter with his mother, however he never ceased to ponder on it.
It was common between the villagers to announce ones presence before entering any house, but the man ignored these customs and went straight inside.
Upon his sight, the maid let out a shrill cry, but quickly got hold of herself and straightened.
“So the time has finally come”, she said.
“My dearest Lynveeda”, replied the man, “regretfully so, but you knew that this day was to come. Time is precious and we cannot afford any delays. The obligations are high and the tasks ahead require drastic steps to be taken. As much as I wish to stay with you and young Lendear here in Gheenteld the matters at hand will not grant this pleasure.”
“Thealdi, I beg you, there must be more time, Lendear is not of age and he is far from ready for what you want of him”, pleaded Lynveeda. Lendear had never witnessed his mother so flimsy. At all times he had experienced her as strong, firm and determined. Not without love for him, but always in command of the situation. With the latest events however he had run out of surprises and merely followed the developments.
“Again, my deepest apologies, Lynveeda, but my word is final. Please arrange for the journey swiftly as we will be departing before sunset”, countered Thealdi. And so Lendears mother, reluctantly accepting the facts, started to collect the few things from Lendear possessions he would find to be of use for his journey to come. Out of her stock of bottles she selected a few, rummaging through her collection of strange artefacts she found some she also considered to be helpful and added them to the pile.
During these preparations, Thealdi spoke:
“Lendear, I know you are full of questions, the latest events must have given you some unease and you must feel great fear at what is to come. I will tell you a little about the gem while your mother prepares the things you will be taking with you.
This gem, as you have had the pleasure of witnessing, is indeed a very special one. Countless years ago it was found by one of our ancestors in the great mountains of Thari Cees. The energies within were tamed by a group of High Archmages from Bemlyr K’haa. They forged the bracelet you are now wearing and created a bond between the two, so whenever they are united, the powers of the gem are released. The nature of these powers I shall reveal to you in due time, all I will say now is that they are better not tampered with and great damage can be inflicted through their use. Handled properly though, the benefits are way beyond your current imagination. We will be practicing the use of the gem while we travel to Bemlyr K’haa for this is the destination of our journey.