• Main Page

Strange Acquaintances
After Thealdi had handed over the shop owner to the High Council he made his way back to the Brigshack where he hoped to find his cousin. To his great dismay however, the house of course stood empty. It dawned on him that the story of the shop owner had yet again not fully stood by the truth. Miglim had been in the possession of the sheath, but how had the shop owner gained ownership of it? Had his boy-gang really managed to take it off his cousin? Unlikely, he mused as he knew about the combat skills, after all it had been him who had taught Miglim most of what he knew. Had the strangers returned and helped the shop owner to retrieve the weapon? Unlikely again, as they certainly wouldn’t have entrusted it to the shop owner, except if they didn’t want to keep it at that point and rather have it at a safe place until some or the other circumstances changed. His mind spinning, Thealdi found it harder to concentrate by the minute, his worries drawing shadows over his thoughts and the pain he had inflicted on the shop owner had cost a lot of his strength, taking its own toll.
Finally, the old man reached the conclusion that he needed help if he were to explore the whereabouts of his cousin. As he was still pondering on how to proceed, he heard a knock at the front door and was quite pleased to face his old friend Khozo Mas. As if she had known, her presence was exactly what the old man needed in these moments of anxiety. She made a quite strange appearance as a falcon was perched on her shoulder.

The ward was deserted, except for the young boy who had, thanks to the skilled hands of the druggist, recovered at an astonishingly rate. Despite her loving care, he was quite eager to leave the hospital as soon as possible. Khozo Mas had promised to be back soon and Lendear was fervently awaiting her return. What if Thealdi showed up before the head librarian was back. He dreaded the thought of having to face and answer the old man without some comforting backup. He’d been silly beyond description, he hated himself for the foolish actions that had almost cost his life, but there was no escape this time. There would be never again an run away of any sorts, so much he promised himself, some bravery was called for. Wasn’t he supposed to play a quite special role being appointed Messenger after all. He had to concentrate on his duties, like it or not. If only Thealdi would not rant too much.

The two apprentices Lillyveen and Myrtha had taken seats in their little chamber. Exhaustion from the labour of the previous days showed in their faces. Right after they had had their initial meeting with the abbess they had been taken down to the dungeons of the cloister to receive their introduction training lessons. They hadn’t seen the sun since and so the two of them were quite ignorant of the latest happenings. Myrtha had shown extraordinary skills in all subjects, while Lillyveen had been totally hooked to the secrets of the gems, neglecting most other subjects. This had of course been noted by the teachers, but apparently hadn’t raised any concerns. The initial trainings main purpose after all was to explore the individual strength and interest in the various subjects that were to be learned. Most members of the order sooner or later specialized in certain areas and it seemed that Lillyveen would become a gem master whereas Myrtha would receive balanced training in all subjects until such a time where she would decide on a specific skill. Basic training was mandatory however and it would be springtime before they were ready to be tested by the abbess and upon her approval be allowed to be introduced to the higher levels.
Lillyveen was excited as ever upon the revelation by a teacher that they would now be allowed back to the community. Albeit their tiredness and after sharing a small meal, the two got up and made their way to the main hall. Malda greeted them at the stairs and soon the three were engaged in vivid conversation, both apprentices wide-eyed upon the story of Lendears appearance at the grounds of the order.

“Tell you what”, Khozo Mas began after the two had made themselves comfortable near the fireplace.
“We need to get everyone back to the house. Oh, I forgot – may I introduce Parvilmus the falcon. He is indeed a very special one. Received his training from Groonhark Minh himself many moons ago and he agreed to help us in our quest.”
“Agreed to help?”, Thealdi inquired, eyebrows raised not hiding his scepticism upon the head librarians last remark. But he’d seen many strange things in his days, so he was willing to accept the last comment, but eager at the same time to have it explored further.
“Absolutely”, she smiled at him, “he can very well understand what is being said, isn’t it so, Parvilmus?”
The bird expressed his assent with a loud screech, fixing the old man with his stare.
“Very well, please excuse my lack of manners. I’m delighted to make your acquaintance. Your willingness to assist us in our search for my dear cousin is highly appreciated. I can only hope that we will succeed soon…”
He trailed off, images of Turglinds dead body appearing in his mind, but with another screech of what almost sounded like an acknowledgement, he was pulled back to reality. Khozo Mas looked at him, full of sympathy, but helpless as she dared not to reach over and at least offer some bodily comfort. The awkwardness of the moment lingered and was only broken when Parvilmus issued another of his screeches, turning his head towards the main entrance.
Thealdi understood and got up to see who was outside.
“Master Mot, what a pleasure! Please come in.”
With a brief nod, Miglim followed the house master to the great hall and another nod was all he offered to Khozo Mas.
“Parvilmus! What a great pleasure to see you. I hope you’re well. It has been a long time, old friend. You must have arrived just recently, let me look at you.”
Miglim reached over and gently stroked the birds head, who in turn issued a soft hoot. Both the head librarian and Thealdi stood wide-eyed, not only had they never witnessed the bow master issuing such a large amount of words in such little time, even whole sentences, but realizing that Miglim apparently knew the falcon left them both amazed and wondering what else this man had in store for them.
“Master To, Lady Mas, I have disturbing news”, Miglim continued his unaccustomed speech.
“I’ve spotted a group of strangers outside the grounds of Brougoth during my hunting trip to the Thari Cees. They were quite a distance away, but apparently they were neither Henveds, Gemlats nor Beakil Khum people, so much I think I could make out. If they are what I think they are, we are in great danger.”
“Yakhaths?”, both listeners shot out simultaneously.
“I’m afraid so, but we need to verify this before we raise any alarm.”
“Quite right, Master Mot. We can’t have a panic now. Have you told the High Council about it?”, Thealdi inquired.
“Not yet. I wanted to talk to you first.”
“Well then, I think we must get some prove.”
Turning to the falcon, the bow master said:
“Parvilmus, would you happen to be able to clarify this for us? Of course I had intended to start a search for the lost cousin of Master To, but this intelligence has to come first. Needless to say, if what we suspect is indeed true, we don’t have much time to loose.”
The falcon screeched in assent and took off to the nearest window. The old man immediately understood, raised and opened the window for the falcon who took off with another screech and was quickly high up in the sky, vanishing in the clouds.
“I think we should get the Ladies and our dear asinine sapling, who should have recovered well enough by now.”
“Thealdi, please, don’t be too hard on the boy”, Khozo Mas offered. She had promised Lendear to speak to the old man as he was anticipating quite some ranting from the old man.
“He is still so young…”, she added with a sigh.
“Of course, you are right, dearest Khozo, but I’m afraid I will have to speak to him nevertheless. What he did and the potential implications of his actions cannot be left unspoken, but I promise to do it gently.”
He winked at his old friend and the old Thealdi smile appeared.
“Very well then, I shall go and fetch them all. Why don’t you prepare dinner in the meantime, old friend?”.
She blinked back at him, now too carrying a warm smile on her face.
Miglim had just stood by, having returned to his usual sparseness of language, but couldn’t help a smile either. If it weren’t for the circumstances, the little group at the fireplace would have probably spent an tranquilly joyful evening, but such a pleasure was not in stock for them.
Khozo Mas got up and went to the great library in order to fetch the remaining inhabitants of the Brigshack, while Thealdi did as suggested and went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.