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Revelations
The meeting with the abbess hadn’t gone too well or so Malda thought. Even though she hadn’t fully recovered, she had insisted to be released from the ward and see Caldatha Mas. Her wish to be assigned to duty and aid the druggist with her efforts of bringing the boy back to strength had been declined however. Instead she had been given an all too strange task, its purpose quite unclear. Of course she had obeyed and went straight to work, but she held a little grudge nevertheless. It had been her after all who had found and rescued the Messenger, she felt like she had the right to participate actively. With this mixture of disappointment for not being allowed to help, pride over her achievements from the previous day and reluctance towards what was expected of her, she began her work.
Khozo Mas hadn’t left Lendears bed ever since the boy had come to. Slowly, bit by bit she had extracted the story of the happenings which had led to the boys escape. She would have to talk to Thealdi soon. The opposition between being a little boy from a nondescript town, who had led an quite ordinary life to the obligations, the possibilities and the abilities of a Messenger had to be considered and attached much greater importance. Certainly the training was of utmost importance, but the boy behind the Messenger must not be forgotten, the head librarian was resolved to keep in mind for all future meetings. She even considered moving to the Brigshack for the time being, but the implications on her relations with the master of the house were quite uncertain. She was jerked out of her world of thought by Malda, who had sneaked into the ward to have a look.

Thealdi had lost no time, now that he had the key to finding his cousin and headed back to fetch Miglim, resuming the search. The gem he had received from the abbot had indeed started to glow as soon as soon as it was taken out of the little casket where it was usually stored. Thealdi could even feel the pull when he held it in his hand. Together the two were directed towards the area of the city which housed the shop. When they passed the fateful place, they exchanged a curious glance, but continued to trust in the gems lead, its pull now a lot stronger, indicating that they were nearing the skean.
“What the…”, the shop owner wondered as all of a sudden, something within his robes began to pull away. He grabbed for the skean and indeed, there was a growing force, pulling at the weapon. He tried to pull in the opposite direction, but a sudden piercing pain shot through his arm and he quickly gave in, however he wouldn’t let go of his possession, but rather decided to follow its apparent will. He left the house, that was used by him and his street gang as a hideaway, and entered the streets where he was greeted by two men he had no desire to be near at. Too late for a retreat, he was forced to give in to the encounter with very mixed feelings.
“You?”, was all, Thealdi could muster when he got sight of the shop owner emerging from the house, skean outstretched and clearly displeased on discovering whom he was facing.
“Hand it over straight away and no funny things, I may suggest”, the old man ordered and reached for the skean. The shop owner was still puzzled about the strange behaviour of the weapon, but he wasn’t ready just yet to let go of it. His reluctance earned him a heavy blow, dealt with blinding speed, sending him straight to the ground. Thealdis patience had finally run out and he had administered what he felt had been due for a long time. Snatching the skean from the shop owner, he said:
“I’ve had enough of you. One more lie and you’ll regret you were ever born, that I will make sure of. Now tell me how you gained possession of this item. Spare nothing and stay with the truth!”
The shop owner, sprawled on the ground, rubbing his chin, took a moment before he answered.
“All right then, I’ll tell you what I know. But let me get up first.”
Deliberately slow and seemingly shaky, he got to his knees, shaking his head as if trying to get back some focus and started to raise. He was almost fully up, when he practically exploded, making a run, but before he had made his second step, he was lifted off his feet and went flying across the entire street, right through a window of a nearby building. Unfortunately for him, the window had been closed and with a rain of shattered glass, he landed hard on the floor, painfully spiked with shards. The pain inflicted by the broken glass however was nothing compared to what he suddenly felt within his head. As if a thousand needles were being tucked in his brain, he was deprived of any clear thought, the pain almighty. Screaming, he held his bleeding hands to his temples and albeit he had his eyes tightly shut, he experienced a blinding, burning light. As sudden as the pain had attacked him, it vanished. The agony however lingered and taking a deep breath, the shop owner attempted to fight a nausea. He had already regained some steadiness when he was hit by a second wave of maddening pain. Eyes bulging, spitting, shaken by uncontrollable spasms, his agony even intensifying, the shop owner was sure his head would explode any time soon and in his tormented mind the prospect was quite welcome for it would bring an end to his sufferings from the excruciating pain. Next came – nothing. No more pain, no more screams, total silence, no spasms, no trace of movement. Eternal void.
“This was only the beginning.” He heard the words, but their meaning was lost to him. ‘Where am I? Who am I? Someone speaks. Father?’ His mind wandered, finding a thought, loosing it again, images appeared but it was beyond him to apply some sense. ‘I’m dead. Is that good?’
Then reality snapped in again and he found himself face to face with the old man.
“Very well, I see you have come to again.”
He smiled at the bleeding man, but there was no warmth in it.
“Enough…”, the shop owner managed, “…please don’t do this again.”
“That depends entirely on you, now give us the story!”
“Right then, you win. I’ll tell you what I know.”
He paused again, desperately trying to focus. He couldn’t reveal the entire truth, so much was clear as long as he cared for his own life. Never could he have imagined what he was letting himself into when he had his first conversation with the strangers. The little display of their powers they had then shown still sent shivers down his spine. But the old man here wasn’t much less of a threat so he had to give away just enough to satisfy him while withholding the most vital parts.
“A couple of days ago a group of outsiders came to my shop. They showed some interest in a specific weapon, well apparently the weapon you are holding right now. Promised a good sum of money for it they did, these cunning bastards. Threatened me and used some quirky magical tricks, braking some very valuable items in my display. They told me that someone would be coming to my store and give me the information of the weapons whereabouts. So I sent my boys out to have a look for this young lad who was in apparent possession of it.
Failure was not acceptable and they threatened not only to end my life but that of all the boys I take care of. If I managed to provide them with the skean however, they promised me an entire town, can you imagine!”
“Who was the informant they had announced?”, inquired Thealdi.
“No idea, haven’t seen him before and never after, assume he was an outsider too. But not belonging to their party, I think. He came by and told me about the boy and that was the only occasion I ever saw him.”
“What about the strangers?”
“Can’t say, might have been some Beakil Khum people for all I know. Who else could have offered me an entire town?”
“All right then. This will be all for now. You will follow us to the High Council for I’m sure they will have their own set of questions for you.”

Malda had gone out again in search for some rare plants she would be needing in order to accomplish this all too strange task the abbess had given her. Making a gem grow was such a strange concept she kept puzzling over and her spirits were low as she had no idea how she could make something like that happen. She knew about plants that would make your hair grow and others that would substantially speed the growth of other plants when mixed in a fertilizer, but altering something that was apparently not alive was a different matter all together. At least she was determined to give it a try with those plants she had already identified in her mind having the capability to help something else grow and so she collected a variety of plants and herbs which grew in the surroundings of the cloister.
When she returned to her room she was greeted by Khozo Mas. The head librarian felt sympathy for the girl who had been declined helping young Lendears recovery process. Malda told her about the abbesses orders which earned her a quizzical yet appreciative smile by Khozo Mas.
“Ah… the growing of a gem. What a difficult yet rewarding challenge that would be. It has been done before, but there is no straight formula or prefabricated tutelage for it as it is a combination of ones own character, the gem used and the proper ingredients as well as their correct appliance. I’m afraid I cannot be of great assistance on the matter, but I can tell you at least how it has been done before. As a matter of fact, this task was given to me when I was about your age and without intending to spread any discouragement, it took me well over a year before I mastered it.”
She smiled at the girl who’s expression had faltered to hopelessness. “Fret not – I’m sure it will take you a lot less time. I was always very dull when it came to herbs and at the time I was given the task, my mind was on other things and it remained just a side-project for a long time. You will be able to accomplish it in a fraction of the time, I’m sure. Tell you what, I shall return to Brougoth shortly and I do know about a couple of books we have in the library that will greatly help you. I will see to that they will reach you as soon as possible.” With an encouraging smile the head librarian left the girl behind and made her way back to the ward to look after the boy before she would head off to the city.