"The morning dawned slowly above the forest of north Sosaria. It was a
beautiful sunrise with the morning fog rising from slowly from the sea. In an hour the fog would disappear when the
sun warmed it up but Dardan still felt the chilly dampness of the air. He sat in front of his little house, sleepless,
thinking about what had passed. He could still feel the cold emptiness from the staff inside. It had been there for
a couple of days now, bound in a field of energy to keep its powers locked and others from disturbing them. It had
been a good tool. It would have engulfed his magic powers and stored them completely. It would have been a burning
torch full of life to burn the festering wound that the undead had opened. It would have been the change that was
needed.
"But I can nay use it."
He glanced back at the open door.
"I can nay use 't if 't will harm her and as 't seems 't will do that for sure."
He placed the large orange hat on the stairs and stood up. Once more he glanced back at the radiating blue field
of power that surrounded the staff and then he nodded. He undressed his orange robe and put it beside the hat.
Then he removed his boots and the rest of his clothes and walked to the brink of the water. When he entered the
water he could feel the chilly embrace of the water for every step. Dardan swam quickly towards the large waterfall
and could feel the current push him backwards to the sea again. He tried three times to reach to the waterfall but
the current was too strong. He chuckled and turned around and followed the current towards the sea while floating
on his back. Smiling he followed the current towards the sea and felt it slow down as it reached the salt water of
the sea.
"There 'tis."
He got up from the water and walked on the brink towards the waterfall. The misty fumes from the streaming water
rose thick and a thick layer of droplets covered everything. When he reached the lake above the waterfall he drank
heavily from the sweet and cool water. Laughing loudly he stood up and ran back to his cabin. He ran inside and
dressed quickly, jumping into a couple of boots and putting on a new red shirt. Then he walked out to the stairs,
picked up the orange clothing, and folded the robe neatly into a little package. He reached down into a little pouch
and concentrated on the rune he found there.
Nujelm was quiet and calm. Nothing moved and the only sounds that was heard was the transportation ship that brought
fresh goods and luxurious food that would be brought to the palace. Melinda was very tired since she had been awaken
all night. The bidding was that the bank should be open throughout the night and it could never close but the morning
hours seemed always as the longest. She stood up and stretched, walked through the room, opened the front door and
looked out over the ocean. When Dardan appeared two feet from her she gasped and jumped back.
"Darn you magicians! You can never warn when you are arriving, can you?!"
She frowned and put her hands firmly at her side, now fully awake and furious.
"Oh I am sorry MiLady, did I startle ye? 'T was surely not my intention. Could I mayhap see my bank box?"
She turned around quickly and walked inside with her nose held high. Dardan held the orange clothing in front of
him when he followed her and was given access to his little metal chest. He smiled to her and placed it neatly inside
the chest.
"There ye go and there ye stay. Mayhap I will wear ye some other time. There is still evil in the world but for now
I will have no use for ye 'cause there is another path I can choose."
Stories
