• Main Page

First Encounter
The next morning, shortly before sunrise, Thealdi was already preparing for their departure while Lendear was still fast asleep. The green light, still emitting from the ring Thealdi had placed between them during the night, surrounded the two travellers.
“Wake up, Lendear!”, Thealdi said aloud and blinking, reality sinking slowly in, Lendear woke from a night full of disturbing dreams. Every inch of his body ached, not being accustomed to the ways of travel Thealdi had chosen for them.
“Get ready quickly. I shall give you a few moments to collect your thoughts and you may ask freely away while I finish the preparations for our departure. But I must again insist on absolute silence once we continue our travels.”
Of course, Lendear was still full of questions, but the most pressing one had to do with the repeated and once enforced demand from Thealdi to keep total silence while they were on the road. He stated so and Thealdi answered,
“The sphere I conjured with this little gem” and he pointed towards the ring, “ensures our privacy. Unfortunately I cannot establish it while we move. As long as we are within the perimeter of its power however, we are safe from any ears dropping or other means of spying activity. You will learn more about the gems and their powers in due time. For now I can tell you that the invading armies have their spies all over the lands and they come in shapes and sizes way beyond your current imagination. It is imperative that my presence as well as your destiny is kept save from their awareness as I am sure, if they so much as get the tiniest glimpse of what we are about to do, they will be putting enormous efforts into the task of stopping us. Their means of stopping are final and that we don’t want to happen now, do we?”. He paused, looking at Lendear and added,
“anything else, I might shed some light on for you?”.
Smiling at the boy he headed to the spot where he had placed the ring the previous evening. As Lendear shook his head with a returning smile, sympathy for the constraining situation Thealdi undoubtedly was in, outweighing the longing for some greater understanding, he watched Thealdi picking up the ring and detaching the malachite gem from the socket. Immediately the green aura faded and the early morning sun bathed the travellers with a hint of warmth. Without further delay they mounted their horses and continued their journey to the lands of Bemlyr K’haa. At midday they could make out the outlines of a village to the east. Thealdi directed his horse away from the village in the attempt to avoid contact with the inhabitants for he feared the enemy spies. Dismayed, Lendear kept his eyes in the direction of the town for as long as he could make out the outlines. He had been there often and longed to see his friends, remembering the shooting contests and how good it had always felt as he never failed to win any tournament. Thealdi sensed yet again the thoughts occupying young Lendears mind for he turned to face the boy, pointing at a rabbit, which hopped between some bushes nearby. Lendear immediately understood and swiftly produced his bow, mounting one of the brand new arrows. An instant later the meal for the night was conquered and satisfied, he collected his trophy. Every time they made out other travellers, it was either leaving the path to avoid an encounter or if the landscape wouldn’t allow it, Thealdi would make them stop, producing his gem, for the protective sphere rendered them invisible to the unaware eye.
Twice Lendear had thought he had glimpsed a shadow, moving alongside their direction, but the notion was too faint and he could not make out its source. Not troubled by this, he let his thoughts wander, recollecting the information Thealdi had given him the previous night and tried to picture what training of a messenger meant. He had always been very eager at learning whatever he could, sucking up information here and there, talking to the adults, watching the black smith, the carpenters, the farmers and merchants. He would always try to get involved, to help and learn by doing so. It was such a natural habit to him, he never questioned it, even though his friends often teased him for this behaviour.
For the third time he was derailed from his thoughts by the shadow and speeding up his horse came alongside of Thealdi, sending out a questioning look and received a brief nod that told him that Thealdi too had noted the shadow. A moment later, Thealdi motioned Lendear to halt his mare and the party came to a stop. Thealdi dismounted but motioned Lendear to stay in the saddle. He stood quite still, sensing the surroundings, raising his head slightly, flaring his nostrils as if he was trying to catch a certain scent. Lendear dared not breathing, gently stroking the mare behind the ears for she had started to show some unease, nervously scratching her hooves on the gravel on the path. Something was in the immediate vicinity, that Lendear was sure of. He had no way of telling where this certainty came from, but he had no doubts that they were no longer alone.
Thealdi seemed to have come to the same conclusion for he started to trot off the path to the left. Again he paused, sampled the air and then he slowly reached to his back inside his robes. Lendear could make out a faint click of metal disconnecting and in the next moment, Thealdi got to action. With a swift movement he threw something with great force straight ahead. Where Lendear had seen nothing but the barren lands of Lapragth, a silhouette suddenly appeared with something sticking out of its chest, black smoke escaping from the point where what had to be a weapon, so much Lendear had realized, had found its target. An unearthly scream exploded in Lendears head, the source of it in form of this strange appearance toppling over and landing in the dust with a loud thud. With blinding speed, Thealdi ran to the body, kneeled on its back and thrust another metal weapon of similar make between the creatures shoulder blades. The screaming figure on the ground tried to wiggle its way out from under Thealdis knees, but he kept it firmly pinned to the ground. Terrified, Lendear watched as Thealdi unsheathed a small sword and with a deft movement cut the victims throat.
Silence fell, but the echoes of the creatures screams were still in Lendears head. He dismounted and walked over to the horrible scene. But where a moment ago the smoking creature had lain, he could only make out its silhouette, burned into the ground. Two metal objects lay within, twinkling in the late afternoon sun.
Thealdi reached down to pick them up and with a warning glance put his finger to his lips, making certain that Lendear would keep his silence. They walked back to their horses, mounted and continued on the path that would eventually lead them to Bemlyr K’haa, but more alert than ever, constantly scanning the surroundings for shadows.

When the sun finally set, Lendears body was aching so much, the pain was unbearable. But he gritted his teeth and knowing that they would soon stop for the night he mustered the energy to continue. When they had found a proper place for the night, all preparations finished, the fire lit and the gem producing its green shield, Thealdi rummaged in Lendears backpack for the bottles, Lynveeda had provided.
He unknotted a kettle from the saddlebag of the brown mare, carried it over to the fire, filled it with water and added a few drops of clear liquid from the bottle. Just before the water reached boiling temperatures, he withdrew it from the flames, poured the content into a cup and after he added some leaves he had produced from within his robes, handed the mixture over to Lendear.
“Drink this, my friend. It will help to ease the pain. Then I shall explain the latest happenings.”
Silently Lendear accepted the cup and began to sip the strange content. It had a slightly bitter taste, but interesting nevertheless. Soon he felt his body relax, the pain levelling, and after a few more moments, it left his body for good. Drugged as he was, the urge to find more answers dimmed and he just let go, savouring the moments free of pain.
“I see the brew is working”, Thealdi said and began to explain the horrors of the afternoon. “Grinhaks were created during the early times by the Yakhath, who started out as a secret community from beyond the seas not known to man in these lands. The Gemlats did have some encounters with them in the past for we travelled the worlds on our quest to gain greater understanding. We were able to learn quite a few things about them, but we paid a hefty price. Confronted with their hostility and their aggressiveness, eliminating every living being that crossed their path, we choose to withdraw back to our own lands, making sure they would not learn about our origin.
As it was their nature, they tried to hunt us down, but good riddance, they failed. After many unsuccessful attempts they changed plans and rather then sending out ordinary scouts, they created the Grinhaks, for they were – and I’m sure they still are – great wizards, skilled in the dark arts. The Grinhaks have the ability to become invisible to the ordinary eye, however very few are gifted and able to glimpse a shadowy outline if they happen to be so unlucky as to have an encounter. These encounters quite often end with the death of the unaware, but as you have seen today, it must not be so. Our High Archmages forged the counter weapons which were able to penetrate the bodies of these vicious spies, for any ordinary weapon would do no damage to them, being blocked by their magical hull.”
Thealdi produced one of the metal objects, he had put to good use a while earlier and showed it to Lendear. Five curved blades were connected so they formed a star. The middle section bore a hole, seemingly designed to allow the handling without getting into contact with the blades and neatly arranged in a circle, Lendear could make out five black gems.
What was it about these gems, he wondered. Why were they holding such enormous forces? He yearned to learn more about them, but first he wanted some additional intelligence on these terrible Grinhaks and decided to wait for Thealdi to pick up the subject of the gems when it suited him. This was something he had learned back home. If you want so know something, you often get there faster when you allow the other one to make the pace. ‘Patience pays’, he said to himself and while he was waiting for Thealdi to continue, studied the star weapon some more. The enormous speed Thealdi had demonstrated when he was using it against the Grinhak still filled Lendear with awe. He would have never put it past the man considering the number of years Thealdi must have seen already. Another aspect he made a mental note of to bring up at a later time.
He handed back the weapon and for the first time, Thealdi took off his robes. What a surprising view he gave for he was wearing a full armoured suit, made of the strangest materials. Strapped over his chest were two cross-aligned belts, each holding a variety of objects. Thealdi turned his back on Lendear and now it became plain, where the weapons were usually stored. One of six mountings attached to the belts was still empty, the other five were staffed with stars of apparently the same kind. Reattaching the last one back to its mounting, it made the same clicking noise Lendear had heard a while back when it was put to use by the skilled hand of Thealdi.
“You will have noticed the black smoke coming out of the entry point from the star, when I hit the Grinhak”, Thealdi continued.
“This is a clear evidence of their origin; forged with the powers of the dark art, they exceed the powers of man not only due to their superior physics, but through these powers they are capable of things beyond your current imagination. The invisibility trick is only the weakest of their abilities.
Another of their power is the ability to enter ones mind, but fear not, for I shall teach you some counter methods that will allow you to close your mind and render it impenetrable to them. They are also capable of moving with blinding speed, so having a quick hand does help tremendously when you are forced to fight. But without the proper weapons you stand no chance against them. In due time you will also learn the use of the stars and once you master this art I shall ask our High Archmages to provide you with a set.”
Briefly, excitement hit Lendear at the revelations of training issues and he pictured himself handling these wondrous weapons, but the brew was taking its toll, drowsiness swept over his battered body and with a yawn he glanced over to Thealdi who beamed at him, clearly impressed by the boys endurance.
“Now rest, my brave boy. We will be getting up early again and although I know you will hate the aspect, we will be increasing our travel speed even more tomorrow.”
The last words didn’t reach the young boy, he was already fast asleep. Thealdi smiled at the sight, put another log into the fire and made himself comfortable as best as he could, making good use of the precious few hours they had to rest their tired bodies before the journey would continue.