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Summonings
Finding the shop empty wasn’t too big a surprise for Khozo Mas. If they were quick however, they’d have a chance to prevent the shop owner from leaving the city. The only way in and out of Brougoth being through the gates, the two didn’t loose any time and ran.
Thealdi paced the main hall, trapped and helpless. If he would leave the Brigshack to look for the boy, he would probably miss him and wouldn’t be there to help. If he stayed, he was doomed to idleness. If only the search party returned, at least he would gather some news. An hour later he was exempted by the arrival of Khozo Mas and Miglim. The good news they brought were that the shop owner hadn’t been spotted near the gates, the guards had been briefed to have a look for him and put him in detention should he appear. The bad news of course concerned Lendear. The successful retrieval of the skean however didn’t help much to soften the mood of Master To. They briefly wondered about the whereabouts of Turglind but the destiny of the boy was much more pressing. Turglind knew how to look after himself, but the possibly injured boy was another case altogether.
Thealdi left a note for his cousin and the three left the Brigshack again to search the streets. They were debating whether it would be wise to involve the High Council and seek some help there, but the old man decided it best not to raise an alarm yet. If it became public that the new Messenger had gone missing, the outcome was unpredictable and so the three continued their search unaided.
The screech of an eagle summoned the head librarian and the old man to a grizzly site. They found Miglim bent over the boy with the broken nose laying in a poodle of blood, his throat slit.
“Dead”, was all Miglim would offer.
“Poor lad, no one deserves that”, replied Thealdi.
“I only hope Turglind is all right”, he added with a frown. Indeed, where was Turglind? This was very disturbing. Had he fallen victim to yet another hold-up? Couldn’t have been the boys own gang, the state of their leader clearly contradicting such a conclusion. More likely it had been a rivalling group or had the shop owner anything to do with it? Had Turglind survived the assault and managed to escape? But why hadn’t he shown up in the Brigshack? Back home Thealdi hadn’t been too concerned about his cousins whereabouts, but now he started to worry.
“We better split again”, suggested the head librarian.
“Why don’t you concentrate on Turglind and Miglim and I will continue to look for the boy?”
“One of us will have to go back to the Brigshack. There is a chance that either of the two will appear there and it will be best if they don’t find the house empty. Miglim, would you be willing to go, I’m afraid I can’t put in another round of idle waiting”, Thealdi asked the bow master who immediately agreed. He knew that he’d be of more use if involved in the search, being an experienced hunter who spent most of his time in the Thari Cees, but he sympathized with the old man and his reluctance on the prospect to spend more hours with idle watch.

Malda was sure she had seen the boy before, but couldn’t place him yet. More pressing was his current state, still pale and seemingly closer to death than life, she tried to best comfort him. Even though he was not quite her age, he was already too big and heavy to be carried by her alone and he was undoubtedly in no state to walk on his own. Clothes still drenched in icy water she realized that they were in great jeopardy. Starting a fire was no option, everything was wet and not anticipating the need she hadn’t brought any flint.
Frantically she searched for a solution. Her knowledge on plants wouldn’t help much in this situation she came to realize. Her practices with the gemstone she wore around her neck had always suffered in favour of her preferred tasks in herbology. Now she regretted her flaws and finding nothing else that might help them out of their situation she took the gem in her hand and concentrated hard. Caldatha Mas once had told her about the connections between the gems that every member of the Order possessed. Used properly, the gems could be used for a summoning call. Unfortunately the abbess hadn’t gone into more details at the time and Malda didn’t know how she could possibly make her gem issue such a call. Desperately she wished for help and much to her surprise, the gem in her hand started to emit a low pale light. When Lendear got sight of this, he instinctively fumbled in his robes to retrieve his own gem and attached it to his bracelet. Still weakened from the fall and his close call to drowning, his aura wasn’t much brighter and together the two gems radiated a feeble pinkish mixture. Maldas initial surprise gave way to the cognition of the boys identity. What on earth was the new Messenger doing on the grounds of the Order, wasn’t he supposed to be in Brougoth to receive his training? No matter, what they needed now was a shelter or someone who would be able to carry the boy to safety and pushing aside these questions, the girl intensified her efforts. Lendear, not needing encouragement likewise put all his remaining strength into intensifying the spheres. His vision already began to swim and he was sure their efforts were in vain, still he clung to this last straw of hope.
The members of the Order had assembled in the refectory, silently sharing their evening meal when all of a sudden each and every gem began to glow. It had been a very long time ago when this had last happened, but everyone immediately understood the significance and the entire congregation rose, awaiting orders from the abbess. A quick scan revealed two members of the Order missing, one of course being the head librarian, the other the white girl Malda. After a brief consultation with the druggist, the entire Order left the refectory to search for the girl.

Khozo Mas was highly alarmed, when her gem began to glow.
“Something is wrong with the Order. I will have to leave immediately”, she explained, committing the old man’s search party to deprivation by yet another member. Thealdi quickly calculated his chances of finding the boy on his own after they had scanned the streets repeatedly and decided it to be fruitless to make another round in solitude. He’d rather accompany his old friend and see if he could be of any assistance, a new task at hand granting him some distraction and so the two headed, quite to Thealdis surprise, to the library. He had expected them to take the known route through the dungeons from below the Great Hall, but apparently there was a quicker way. Khozo Mas led the way to her private rooms, being the head librarian she had found it more convenient to lay camp within the walls of her dealings and with the building having many unused rooms in the attic that option had been put to practice unhindered.
Thealdi mused that there must be a secret portal installed and rightly so, as Khozo Mas approached a framed mirror, fumbling with her gem. The images of the old man and the head librarian began to smear, cross-fading with what looked like a cloister. Soon the mirror no longer represented its original nature, but had turned into a passageway to what must have been the grounds of the Order. Quickly they stepped through and were greeted by curious looks from a group of women. Never before had a man set foot on the grounds and Thealdi sensing that he probably wouldn’t receive a warm welcome, prepared for the worst.
“Greetings, Ladies. This is Master To”, the head librarian introduced the unusual guest and without elaborating this further, she continued:
“What happened? Who conjured the summoning call?”
Apparently her ranks within the Order were of such a nature that none of the women questioned the fact that she had brought an outsider along. Quickly the news were relayed and they started to scan the grounds. When they approached the east perimeters of the cloister, Thealdi felt something heating up within his robes. Puzzled he produced his gem which had begun to glow in the usual warm green colours. Quickly he attached it to his ring and immediately the glow intensified. How was that possible? The only connection of his gem he was aware of was that to the red gem he had given his pupil. Impossible! Unless somebody had gained possession of the gem and whoever it was, would most likely know of the boys whereabouts.
“The boy’s gem is somewhere in the area”, he informed the head librarian.
“What? I can only think of one person that had the opportunity to acquire it: The shop owner”, she concluded, but then contradicted the assumption.
“But that’s impossible. I mean, yes, he could have snatched it from the boy, but there is absolutely no way he could linger here on the grounds of the Order.”
“That leaves only one explanation then!”, Thealdi fell in triumphantly.
“The boy must be here – quick!”, and increasing their pace they intensified their search. When Thealdi looked in the direction where he heard the thundering waters of the cascades, he thought he had glimpsed something shiny. Pointing in the direction he motioned the others to follow and the party ran towards the light’s source discovering two bodies, sprawled near the banks, motionless, bathed in a rapidly dying pinkish glow.