Knightfall's World of Kulan: Many Beginnings, One Fate (Last Update: Feb 22, 2008)

[Knightfall]

Dabuk waited impatiently for Mesik to arrive at the entrance to the guild labyrinth. He knew the old hairfoot was late just to unsettle him. Dabuk would have none of it, however. He was positive that he had it right this time.

“This better be good,” Wheezy complained. “I have nearly a dozen baskets of potatoes to peel before dinner, and I’m going to be at it all afternoon.”

“Stop you’re whining, Wheezy. If Dabuk has it right and we are all there when he reveals the truth, then we won’t have to figure it out ourselves.” Bella often stood up for Dabuk, which made the teenage half-elf more irritated than embarrassed.

“He hasn’t been right before, Bella. What makes you think he’s right this time?” Minx was Bella’s roommate and the two of them were two of the oldest trainees in the group.

“At least he’s trying to figure it out.” Bella sniffed. “That's more than the rest of us can say. When was the last time we tried to figure it out without him? Out of all of us, he’s the only one coming up with new ideas.”

Dabuk was sure Bella (and maybe Minx as well) was put with the group of boys to keep an eye on them in order to make sure that the group stayed out of real trouble. Most of the others deferred to the two girls' suggestions, not because either of them were great leaders but because they were pretty, especially Bella.

All Bella was to Dabuk was “pretty” annoying. He didn’t have time for girls or the games that went along with adolescence. Sure, he respected Bella’s strength and speed and Minx’s sharp wit and guile, but he didn’t see either or them as intoxicating beauties. Besides, his father had always taught him to be suspicious of a beautiful face that always smiled and winked.

“You cannot trust such a face,” Dabuk mumbled the words under his breath. None of the others heard what he said or if they had, then they said nothing.

“Where is he?” Snyder paced back and forth. “I can’t wait here all day! They give us so many chores to do and not enough time to do them!”

“If you didn’t take the extra hour of sleep they allow us, then you’d have time to finish most of the hard chores before breakfast.” Dabuk hated the human boy. Snyder was lazy and opinionated. He grew up in a noble family and hadn’t done a real day’s work in his life before his father forced him to try to win a place in the Tiger Guild. “You can leave if you want, Snyder. I’m staying right here until Mesik arrives. Remember, if I’m right, then our initial training ends today and full apprenticeship starts tomorrow.”

“Dabuk’s right,” Lyle spoke up. “If we finish this, then no more low-end chores. That is why we’re all here together, and why we should have started out working together in the first place. Even if Dabuk is wrong, then, at the very least, his idea might help generate some new concepts none of us have considered before.”

“I still say you should tell us now,” Minx didn’t mind Dabuk as a fellow trainee, but she often tried to manipulate him into helping her. “If we all know your idea now, then we can plan better. You’re being very tight-lipped about this.”

“No. You have to wait and see. It’s too good to give away just like that.” Dabuk’s catlike grin made Minx squirm.

“All right,” Mesik appeared out of nowhere. “Let’s get this over with. I have more important things to do with my time than cater to your prattling tongues.”

All but Dabuk and Minx jumped out of their skin at Mesik’s arrival. Dabuk had become use to Mesik’s stealthy footfalls and low voice. To the point that Mesik rarely startled him anymore when the hairfoot walked out of the shadows. Minx, however, had turned before Mesik had even spoke. She has ears like a cat and had heard him coming.

Mesik looked the trainees over with a mixture of pride and disapproval. They were the best candidates for membership in the Tiger Guild in over a year yet most of them lacked focus and discipline. Minx and Dabuk would likely make it through to apprenticeship without too much difficulty, and the others might make it if the group stuck together. Mesik knew that Dabuk suspected Bella of being a spy and did nothing but smile inwardly at the boy’s lack of perception.

Bella was indeed spying on Dabuk but not for the Tiger Guild. Bella suspected that Dabuk was the plant placed by the guild amongst the trainees. Mesik could tell that she despised the boy for his heritage and his birthright. She stood up for him so often because she wished to undermine his authority with the others.

She wanted to be where he was now. He had the respect of the others and not because of who his grandfather is but in spite of that. She’d never get it, however, she was too cold and calculating. She’d likely wash out before her apprenticeship ended.

“This is your show, boy.” Mesik pointed at Dabuk. “It better be good this time or you’ll be pulling double duty in the kitchen with Snyder.”

Dabuk grinned again knowing that spending time with Snyder would be a suitable punishment if he failed and wasted Mesik’s time in the process. Yet, he was as confident as ever that he knew the secret of the guild labyrinth.

“Then let’s begin for the last time.”

* * *

 

[Knightfall]

Jeddar waited silently as the elders of Silverdawn chanted around the outskirts of the large series of stones forming a U-shaped henge. The Druid of Silverdawn stood near the center of the henge near an arch of stone that rose up nearly ten feet.

The stones of the henge were more than twice Jeddar’s height and so broad that it would take four elves with their hands clasped together and arms stretched out just to reach around from one side of a stone to the other. They were old. Some tales said that the henges had existed on Harqual from before the time of Cronn’s arrival.

Jeddar watched in fascination as the old druid began chanting old elven words that not even he understood. It was at that moment that Jeddar realized that he might be making a huge mistake. He could still back out, and no one would think less of him.

“No, I’m going to do this,” He thought.

The Druid of Silverdawn beckoned him forward.

Jeddar didn’t hesitate. He knew that even being here willing to risk the Silver Gate would make him famous throughout the Great Forest. Well, at least infamous. The gate would likely do nothing, but if it did activate for him, then who knows where it might take him.

Anywhere was better than back in Silverleaf.

“The incantations are done,” the Druid of Silverdawn looked at the young half-elven boy with admiration and a little fear. Even seasoned elven warriors quaked at the mere thought of being this close to the Silver Gate. “Speak your destination, young Jeddar Silversun.”

“The Eastern Shores, the Kingdom of Thallin, the City of Fruen.” Jeddar spoke the words clutching at the fine mithral charm that had been discovered with him as a babe. His one possession he prized more than anything. It was his only connection with the mother he’d never known.

Jeddar’s thoughts strayed towards his mother and the man who had raped her. The man was said to have been born in one of the towns or cities scattered across the Wind Plains. Most believed it had been Ciros or Baermos. The former was more likely than the latter, as his father had been more infamous along the edge of the Great Forest along the Wind River.

“I don’t believe it.”

Jeddar snapped back to where he was and what was doing. He turned to the old druid in puzzlement, but the Druid of Silverdawn didn’t see him. His eyes were transfixed on the arch of the Silver Gate. Jeddar looked at the gate and his jaw dropped.

The gate stood open.

“Wow,” Jeddar forgot his melancholy and smiled. “It actually opened for me.”

The young half-elven bard grabbed his gear and headed toward the gate. Only the Druid of Silverdawn noticed the light radiating from the half-elf’s charm. It glowed with a white brilliance that matched the color of the light, which glowed around the edge of the portal of the arch of stone.

“The charm,” the druid understood the boy’s true heritage immediately. “Jeddar, the charm is the key!”

“What?” Jeddar turned his head just as he crested the edge of the portal. He felt his body urged through the portal as if someone nudged him through. In a flash of light he was gone and the portal was closed.

“He has the key,” the old druidic spirit turned his ancient mind towards the City of Fruen. He hoped he could find the boy before his trinket got him in real trouble. “Nothing, he’s not there. Where could he be?”

* * *

 

[Knightfall]

Jeddar came out the other side of the gate with a bout of vertigo. He was on solid ground, but his head was spinning as if he were standing on the highest beam of one the red fir forts surrounding the Elven City of Treestead in the southern half of the Greystone Mountain Range.

“Uh, I think I’m going to be sick,” Jeddar could feel the harsh packed dirt of a well-worn road under his feet. It sounded like thunder was pounding in his head. He looked up just in time to see that the thunder was a large pony-drawn wagon coming right for him. “Oh, oh!”

“Get out of the way, you damned pointy-eared lout,” Jeddar could hear the driver yelling at him, but his vision was too blurry to make him out.

Jeddar stumbled to one side hoping it was in the direction of the roadside. The wagon veered away from the dazed half-elf just in the nick of time. The wagon went up on two wheels for a spilt second, which dumped some of its cargo and several passengers off.

The wagon fell back to its normal position at the same time Jeddar tripped and fell in the mud. Several angry wagon patrons began howling for the wagon to stop. But the dwarven driver was unable to get the ponies back under control. They veered off the road and into a dense copse of trees, which caused the reins to snap and the harnesses to break.

The wagon came to a stop against a tough cedar pine splintering as it crashed. Gear, tools, and merchandise went everywhere.

“Beard!” Dvalin Thunderstone couldn’t believe his luck. “I’m going to wring that scrawny tree hugger’s neck!”

* * *

The Druid of Silverdawn spent the rest of the day and night scrying for the boy’s location. He couldn’t sense Jeddar or the key anywhere within the confines of the Great Forest and knew it was pointless to attempt scrying throughout the human lands as his powers were limited beyond the edge of the forest.

“He will come home eventually,” the Druid of Silverdawn sat waiting in the center of the Silver Gate under the arch of stone. “And then I will be able to end the dark era that has befallen Harqual and unlock the Ways.”

* * *

 

[Knightfall]

“I hope you know where we are Bactra because I’m lost.” Farley couldn’t see a thing as his boat neared the other side of Silver Bay.

“Do not worry so much,” Bactra’s eyes were able to make out the edge of the waterline. “We’re almost there.”

“Yes, I see the bank too,” Joshian was soaked. “And I’ll be glad to get our of this boat and someplace dry.”

“We have to find Jax first, but I can cast a simple cantrip to dry off our clothes. Besides, the mist is only ankle high here.” Bactra scanned the bank for the dock that made up the other side of the Ferry of Silver Bay.

They had been on the water almost all night. The journey had been difficult, as the mist from Broken Spout had been so heavy that they had to backtrack twice. All were soaked to the bone and Farley’s breathing had become labored. Joshian had cast a minor cure spell on the old man to ease his winded, moisture-laden lungs.

“He’s got a huge head start, Bactra. And there is no telling where he is truly headed.” Joshian wiped the condensation from his eyes and wrung out his hair as best he could. He was very tired, a real rarity for one of his kind. He wanted to enter the Reverie so bad it made his head hurt. “We should dry off and wait until morning. I’m sure Jax is held up somewhere, asleep.”

“Joshian speaks wisely,” Farley rowed slowly waiting for Bactra to give him directions towards the location of the dock. “You can stay with me, in my secondary hut, in Silver Bay. It is on higher ground and is usually dry.”

“More to your left, Farley.” Bactra finally picked out the dock, which was in much better shape then the dock on the other side of the bay. “And I think Joshian and I should head towards the old mill leading towards Brawley. I think Jax is heading for the Town of Bourne, and the mill would be a safe place for him to hide.”

“Why Bourne?” Joshian wondered what could be so enticing about such an unremarkable town.

“Bourne isn’t his final destination. He’s hoping to gain an audience with the Elders of the High Forest. He wants to learn more about the wilderness without having to worry about his mother watching over him.”

“That’s insane,” Farley made a sign against evil. “The High Forest is haunted and controlled by evil spirits.”

“Fey are not evil spirits, Farley. Well, not all of them.” Bactra reached out for the dock as they neared it. He deftly grabbed onto the stone dock while Joshian tied up the boat to a nearby stone pillar.

“You sound certain that he is going that way.” Joshian helped Farley out of the boat. “You’ve discussed this with him already, haven’t you?”

“Last summer,” Bactra sighed. “He promised me that he wouldn’t try to go there alone, but Verlain’s stupid decree has obviously spooked him. He wants to learn the druidic way of life and well as the wood lore of the Elders.”

“Will they accept him?” Joshian asked.

“Not without the approval of a powerful druid or ranger, and I’ve yet to find anyone willing to speak for him. In truth, he would likely make a good ranger, but becoming a druid is very difficult. Especially since he’s determined to be apprenticed by one of the Fey Lords of the High Forest.”

“Farley’s right, Jax is crazy! The Fey Lords don’t take apprentices anymore. Well, at least, they haven’t in my lifetime.”

“I know. That’s why we have to get to him before he reaches Bourne. Otherwise, he’ll be dead the moment he enters the High Forest, or worse.”

“Madness, I tell you,” Farley shakes his head. “I’m going to Silver Bay. If you’re smart, you’ll forget about the boy and head for Raln to meet this uncle of yours. Jax is mad, and as good as dead.”

“I cannot do that,” Bactra made sure he hadn’t lost any of his gear on the crossing. He shouldered his pack and grabbed his staff. “He’s my friend. I won’t let him just throw his life away in some stupid gambit to become greentouched.”

Bactra walked away in the direction of the old mill. Joshian sighed in resignation, shook Farley’s hand, gathered his own gear, and hurried to catch his cousin.

“The ee’aar will have to wait,” Joshian thought. “As will the Reverie.”

Then the elven woodsman did something he’d only done twice before in his lifetime. He yawned.

* * *

 

[Knightfall]

Dabuk led the way through the Tiger Guild labyrinth. He already knew he was right, but the moment of the reveal had to be done at the point specified by Mesik. The walk there was simple enough, and would have been even simpler if Dabuk had been allowed to reveal the secret of the labyrinth at the entrance.

“All right, this is the spot.” Mesik held up his hand and the trainees all stopped. “We’re at the start position. Go ahead Dabuk, put forth your theory.”

“Yes, we’re all ears Dabuk.” Lyle still couldn’t figure out how Mesik always led them to the starting point. The labyrinth was so twisted and convoluted. “And you better be right because I don’t want to come down here ever again.”

“I’ll tell you the secret, but you have to see it for yourself.” Dabuk ran his hands along the nearest wall smiling to himself. Mesik caught the meaning of the boy’s words, and he knew Dabuk had figured it out.

“It took you long enough,” he said mockingly. The two just stood there grinning at each other.

“What? I don’t get it!” Wheezy banged his hand on the wall where Dabuk had been examining it.

Dabuk looked from one face to another and then to another until he was sure he had everyone’s complete attention. Then he spoke the words that shattered the trainee's entire perception of the labyrinth.

“None of this is real.” The boy spoke in that matter-of-fact way of his. “Well, at least most of it isn’t real.”

“What are you babbling about?” Bella didn’t understand. She looked to Minx who had this look of awe and disbelief on her face. “Minx, what is it?”

“If I didn’t see it with my own eyes, then I wouldn’t believe it.” Minx looked at Dabuk with a newfound respect.

“What?” Bella stood there confused. “What do you see?”

“The labyrinth, it isn’t real.” Minx could see the outline of the false walls where only moments before real ones had been. “It’s an illusion!”

“No way!” Snyder wore shock on his face like a second skin. He walked over to the wall and placed his hand along the rough stone surface. “It feels real to me.”

“Of course it does. That’s because your mind tells you it is real.” Dabuk walked up to the same portion of the wall and easily put his arm through the wall. “You have to disbelieve that the labyrinth is what they make us assume it is.”

“Wow, if I didn’t see it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe it.” Lyle’s mimicked Minx's words as his perception changed with Dabuk’s action. “I can see it.”

“I still don’t see anything.” Snyder was becoming frustrated. “How can it be an illusion? Mesik climbed up to the top of over a dozen of the walled corridors with us when we started to think three-dimensionally. He couldn’t have done that if he knew the labyrinth was an illusion.”

“Ah, that’s the trick. Not every wall in the labyrinth is false. Some are real in key locations, which Mesik used to demonstrate how we couldn’t dig through or find our way by climbing over the walls. Plus, every time he’s brought us down here he's worn the exact same gloves and boots. I’ve never seen him wear them anywhere else but here, and he never wears anything else down here. I suspect they are magical and allow him to stay within the boundaries of the illusionary walls.”

“Thus, he could walk on the top of the illusionary walls like they were real ones as well as place his hands against such walls as to make them appear real. Sneaky.” Wheezy put his hand through the wall as the truth collided and overwhelmed his brain.

“And where he knew the walls were real, he would lean against them to help with the deception.” Minx smiled at Mesik. She had a newfound respect for the hairfoot’s guile and could now see why so many in the Tiger Guild respected him. She noticed the concern on his face directed towards Snyder.

The rogue walked over to the young boy and placed a hand on his shoulder. The boy had walked around from wall to wall testing them. Now he stood with his head hung low and his fists balled against the illusionary wall that Dabuk had put his arms through.

“Not everybody can see it, Snyder.” Mesik tried to console the boy. “It’s not the end of the world.”

“Yet, it is the end of my training, isn’t it?” Snyder couldn’t help but cry. This meant so much to his family, to his father.

“I’m afraid so,” Mesik could feel the boys pain. Over half of the trainees he had started out with had washed out in the labyrinth. It would be hard for the others too. Regardless of the trainees’ differences, they had become friends for the most part.

“No!” This time it was Bella’s voice ringing out in frustration and anger. “This can’t be!”

“Bella,” Minx turned to see her friend curled up against the corridors opposite illusionary wall. “Y-you can’t see it either.”

“This isn’t fair! I’ve worked so hard to get to this point! It can’t end like this!”

“I’m afraid it has to be.” Mesik wasn’t surprised that Bella couldn’t see the illusion. She wasn’t very perceptive. That is why Bella couldn’t see past Dabuk’s family tree or his racial heritage. Bias and a lack of imagination clouded her mind.

“How did you figure it out, Dabuk?” Bella just couldn’t understand how he could have beaten her to the solution, let alone that he could see it and she could not.

“Like everyone else, I started out by seeing reality as the walls that hold us back from where we want to end up. I saw only the physical, even if I did consider the third dimension of life eventually. The solution was simpler than I could perceive. I failed to take into account the world I live in. I forgot that magic and mysticism are also factors that I will have to deal with on a regular basis. In the end, I began to examine the labyrinth as I believed others would see it. Eventually, I considered how my cousin would approach the matter, and then it hit me. Magic was obviously involved. It didn’t take long to figure it out after that.”

“Damn,” Bella still couldn’t see past the limits of her own mind. “It never even crossed my mind that the solution was anything but physical.”

“You and Snyder can always reapply to the guild’s training program after you’ve gained some more maturity in the real world.” Mesik’s words were final and without much hope.

“My family doesn’t have the resources to pay the entry fee again. This was my only shot. It’s so unfair!” Bella was the one whining like a child now.

“No one said life was fair, young lady.” Mesik had had enough of her prattling. “Try to show some dignity!”

All Bella could do was sit and sulk. In her mind she had already decided that the Tiger Guild would rue the day they rejected her. She would become its greatest enemy; she swore it to herself. Her eyes bore into Mesik’s like daggers through flesh.

“Fine,” Mesik turned to Snyder who was gaining a semblance of control over his emotions. “What about you, Snyder? Are you willing to face the world outside for a few years and then reapply?”

“It becomes a question of whether or not my family will let me reapply or if they’ll just try to marry me off to some horrible nobleman’s daughter. But whatever happens, I will face it.”

“At least you don’t have to worry about working in the kitchen anymore!” Dabuk found some respect for the other boy, in Snyder’s words and hoped his joke would lighten his mood.

“Hey, you’re right. I hadn’t considered that.” Snyder laughed.

“All right, that’s enough. Time to get out of here. Last one to the entrance takes over Snyder’s shift in the kitchen tonight. Move it trainees! Bella, Snyder, you both walk with me.”

Dabuk was the first to dash through the nearest illusionary wall. Minx was close behind him. Lyle reacted a moment before Wheezy, who had begun to run down the illusionary corridor. He realized his mistake a moment too late. He wouldn’t catch the others before they hit the entrance.

“Good, he can use the extra work,” Mesik thought.

 

[Knightfall]

Chapter Two
Jeddar rose to his feet slowly with a bit of a wobble. The trip through the Silver Gate was still wreaking havoc on his senses. His vision was clearer but everything was spinning, as if someone had hit him on the head. He could smell a horrible stench and hear muffled voices. The voices seemed angry, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying.

“Well, get up you,” Dvalin approached the elfin boy with anger and suspicion. Many highwaymen were known for pretending to need help or be sodden internally.

Jeddar shook his head and groaned. He felt like he was going to be sick and the thought spurred the action to its smelly conclusion. He’d already churned out half of his last meal moments before, but he’d never remember that it had happened, even years later.

“Disgusting, just let him rot on the road, driver. I must get my niece to Fruen as soon as possible.” Lord Sans Windson, a portly, stuffy human passenger that Dvalin had agreed to take on in the City-state of Ciros, complained.

“Begging your pardon, sir, but that is my wagon and it’s not going anywhere until it’s fixed. As for this elf, he owes me for the damages, or at least his kin will if he turns out to be broke.” Dvalin pulled Jeddar up to his feet, looking at the half-elf boy intently for any signs of deception. “Beard! This elf is just a boy and he’s either drunk as a day old badger or he’s sick.”

One moment later, Jeddar passed out.

“By the Gods, the smell.” Lord Windson stepped up next to Dvalin. “My vote is that he’s nothing more than a drunken wanderer.”

“Nay,” Dvalin noted Jeddar’s fine clothes and full pouch. “He’s sick for sure or he wouldn’t be carrying all this coin and have such fine gear.”

Dvalin began stripping Jeddar of his valuables.

“I say,” Lord Windson put his hand on Dvalin’s shoulder and tried to pull the dwarf away. “I may not agree with this young lad’s behavior but that doesn’t give you the right to rob him.”

“Bugger off,” Dvalin grabbed the man’s arm staring him down. “I’m not robbing him. He owes me and until he agrees to pay me what he owes then he’s my prisoner, sick or not. There, all done. I trust you’d be willing to mediate the dispute, eh? You can even take charge of the boy’s belongings, if you think it best.”

“Hmm, that sounds fair.” Lord Windson gathered Jeddar’s belongings in the half-elf boy’s cloak. “But what if he’s contagious? I don’t want him anywhere near my niece, agreed?”

“Aye, I'll keep him with me and see if I can help him. I likely won’t be affected by whatever is ailing him.” Dvalin picked up Jeddar, cradled him in his arms, and carried him back towards his wagon. “All I can say is that he’d better have a good reason for appearing out of nowhere like that.”

“D-do you think he could b-be a wizard?” Lord Windson carried the bundled gear with both hands, barely able to lift the weight, huffing all the way.

“It’s possible, but I think he’s more likely to be a wandering minstrel.” Dvalin continued on to his wagon while Lord Windson went to check on his niece.

* * *

 

[Knightfall]

Bactra and Joshian walked all night in order to reach the old mill before daybreak. Joshian was learning what it was like to become exhausted. He needed the Reverie and soon. If Jax turned out to not be at the mill then Joshian would insist that they rest there before continuing on. The elven woodsman looked at his cousin with admiration. Bactra was almost as tired as Joshian, but he seemed resilient.

The mill came into view just as the light of the sun began to radiate the darkness of the night’s sky in the distance. The mill was a mess by human standards but was still used by the human citizens of Brawley. The windmill’s sail-fans were tattered and stained by ages of use and its brick and mortar was crumbling.

Joshian took one look and decided he didn’t want to rest inside the structure. “That is the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. How can humans let something like this happen? It’s ready to fall apart.”

“Actually, this old mill has been standing here for over five-hundred years. It has stood the test of time including the Ogre Wars and the machinations of grasping warlords and kings. It’s tougher than it looks.”

“It’s still uglier than a bugbear.”

“I never said it was beautiful.” Bactra laughed.

“So do you think that Jax is really here?” Joshian looked around for any signs of tracks or a fire. “It’s not like you’re the best tracker in the world.”

“True, but I know Jax and how he thinks.” Bactra quickened his stride as they neared the mill. “I just hope there isn’t anything living in there. The humans only use this mill when their crops are overflowing and it has been a lean year.”

“Great, just what we don’t need. What are you thinking? Wild animals or something more sinister?”

“Well, what do your senses tell you, cousin?” Bactra stopped one-hundred feet from the mill and waited for Joshian to give the area the once over.

The elven ranger scanned the surrounding countryside studying the fields of grain intently. He took a few steps closer sniffed the air and then bent down to study the path they were following. He jerked his head around and whispered to Bactra.

“This is bad,” Joshian stood up slowly. “Some kind of vermin-like creature has passed by here recently.”

“Spiders?”

“Let’s pray it’s only that for Jax’s sake.”

The two forest elves approached the old mill as slowly and quietly as possible, their weapons ready for anything. As they neared the structure they both realized that the mills sail-fans were covered in some sort of strand-like substance.

“Definitely spiders.” Bactra said nervously. “I hate spiders.”

* * *

 

[Knightfall]

I'm looking to update this story hour over the next week with a couple posts. I already went back and fixed a view errors from the beginning of Chapter Two, and I'll likely do the same for the rest of it before continuing on. (Man, there are a lot of bad errors.)

 

[Knightfall]

Dabuk walked slowly through the winding side-streets of Fruen looking for Mesik. The canny hairfoot was hiding somewhere nearby; Dabuk was sure of it. Minx, Lyle, and Wheezy each had a different vantage point than the half-elf initiate, but hadn't found the hairfoot either. It would have been better if they had all worked as a team but an intense growing rivalry had begun to divide them soon after their street training began.

The division was based on Minx.

Lyle and Wheezy were both crushing on the girl really hard and neither one of them believed for an instant that Dabuk wasn't attracted to her also. It didn't help matters that ever since Dabuk solved the riddle of the guild labyrinth, Minx had gained an attraction for him. It was making Dabuk's life miserable, and Mesik hadn't been any help regarding the matter.

Dabuk did like Minx but only as a colleague. Friendship was a possibility but not while she was playing games with his mind. The young half-elf managed to keep his mind on what he was doing, while also trying to think of a way to let Minx down without pissing her off too much. Dabuk had an ability to think in many layers and his memory was perfect. He never missed a thing and could remember details even months later.

Dabuk watched as Lyle climbed a storm drainage pipe up onto a nearby rooftop. It was a sound idea, but Dabuk had his own idea of where Mesik was hiding. In truth, he believed that Mesik wasn't hiding in one particular place at all but that hairfoot was sneaking past them back and forth, while they walked around in circles. He made a mental note of every nook and cranny he could see and his low-light vision gave him a distinct advantage over the others, which was another point of contention in Lyle's mind. The two of them weren't close friends, but they had always managed to keep out of each other's way in the past.

Now, things were a lot different. Lyle had designs on Minx and on a place of distinction in the guild. The human boy felt that Dabuk had one too many advantages and that he needed to bring “grandson” down a notch. It was a strange shift in Lyle's personality that Dabuk hadn't foreseen, which made him wary of Lyle in a whole new way.

Minx crossed the street silently as the sun set behind the warehouses of the district. The Docks were only a coin-throw away, and the sights and sounds of drunk sailors, rocking ships, and other things better left unmentioned was overpowering. Minx sidled up next to Dabuk and whispered in his ear, right where the other two boys could see.

“Do yo have any idea where he is?” Minx's voice was melodious in Dabuk's ear.

“No.” Dabuk refused to play her game; he would not let her distract him.

He couldn't see Lyle and Wheezy's faces but knew they'd be watching, so he could imagine the look of scorn they'd be giving him and Minx. Dabuk moved like a cat and disappeared up an alleyway and back down another side-street faster than the others could move or watch. Yes, his low-light vision was definitely an advantage for him over the others. However, it wouldn't give him an edge over the hairfoot who could also see in the twilight of dusk.

That was why Mesik had picked this game of “Cat and Mouse”, as his people called it, to test the initiates' stealth skills. Dabuk had already learned a great deal from his father, but he was quickly discovering that stealth in the wilderness and stealth in a city didn't always work the same. It was because of this reason that Dabuk was having so much trouble figuring out where Mesik was from moment to moment. He knew he was close, but he had yet to spot the hairfoot even once.

Mesik was toying with him; the others weren't even a factor at this point.

“Where in the Nine Hells are you, you sneaky little bastard?” Dabuk thought the words but did not speak them.

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Up next... Garth Tigerstorm.

 

[Knightfall]

Garth Tigerstorm was a patient man, but he was starting to wonder what was taking Bactra so long. His elven nephew wasn't known for being late, which concerned him. He had promised the boy's father that he look out for him on this journey. Minonus had contacted him shortly after Bactra had left Woodknot. There conversation had been terse as Minonus had accused Garth of leading Bactra astray. Garth tried to explain to him that Bactra had decided to make this journey with or without Garth's help, so he was, in fact, doing Minonus a favor.

The argument got really out of hand after that, but Garth remained calm while his old friend ranted. He understood Minonus' concerns; he had the same concerns about Dabuk joining the Tiger Guild. He would never have admitted it to the old elf, but Garth was hoping to convince Dabuk to leave the guild and travel with him north to the Greystone Mountains. He had promised his son several years ago that they'd visit the dwarves of those mountains someday. He hoped the enticement would pull Dabuk back towards the ranger way of life.

Garth felt that if he could get Dabuk to travel with him, then he could convince Bactra to come with them. The two were almost as close as if they were brothers. It was that fact that was causing him to worry about the young elf so much. If something happened to him, then Dabuk would be angry and heartbroken. It would be like Eiithinia's death all over again.

Garth shifted nervously in his chair as the barmaid refilled his mead. The Arrant Repast was nearly empty of patrons, and if Garth hadn't been such a good customer in the past, then Delvin would have asked him to leave an hour ago. The fireplace was down to embers, and his plate was scraped clean and had been for hours. He tipped the maid a golden lake and asked her for another plate of food. He would eat his fill and then begin his search for the tardy young elf.

“That boy had better be in real trouble, or I'm going to send his skinny ass back to Woodknot in a splint.”

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