The fog was thick outside the Citadel; the constant and unrelenting noises from the forest seemed to grow louder by the minute as the silence between the three persisted. Izzar noticed both of his new companions were slightly alarmed by the environment around them. The early morning fog covered the deep jungle enough for them to not see much; the deep forest was a mysterious place waiting to be explored. Izzar was used to being thrown out into the wilderness unprepared; he had anticipated Thanatos to do this, considering their last meeting didn’t go too well.

Izzar felt that he hadn’t been properly introduced to his companions and felt the urge to do so; he knew very little about them other than their names and where they came from. As for their traits, he was unsure.

“My name is Izzar Velix, as you’ve already learned. I am told that one day I will replace Grand Master Thanatos as the Epsimus upon his death as the leader of the Order. The scale of responsibility is not yet known to me, but I’ve been led to understand that you would be sharing that load of responsibility with me.”

“First of all...” Viha interrupted Izzar, not something he was used to. “You people came to my home and took me away from the life I knew, and from what I can understand, I’m never going back there ever again.”

Viha’s eyes were flaring, a vein on her temple was visible, and her hands were shaking. Izzar could tell that her mouth was also dry, her speech was very slurred.

“What is the ‘Order’ in any way? I’ve never heard of you guys.”

She continued her rant without taking a breath; the skin on her face was turning red with anger, her teeth seemed to grow sharper with every word that flowed from her mouth. Finally, her anger peaked, and she drew her sword from behind her; Izzar stood back as he did not have any weapon to defend himself with.

“Aargon Lexius, son of Luther Lexius, Grand Keeper of the Lybrarius Order.” Aargon intervened just in time, somehow worming himself between the two; Viha stood back; she had no qualms with him.

“And Viha Remit, champion of the Gandron Champions or as they are better known to the civilized societies as the Gandron Thieves Guild. Your father, Victor Remit, is wanted by at least three thousand systems.” Aargon now turned to Viha, which sparked a wave of new anger within her.

“I am flattered.” She replied with a sharp glare.

The Champions were a proud group of people who disliked being called thieves; they believed their purpose in the galaxy was to stand up for those who did not have the voice or resources to do so. More than often, and without Viha’s knowledge, the Champions were at odds with the Order of the Ipsimus. Thanatos made a deal with Allan Remit, the father of Victor Remit, which secured the Champions a contract to see through certain very delicate operations that no other body or organization in good standing would attempt.

“We are now part of the Order of the Ipsimus, a clandestine Order that has been in existence for over nine thousand years. Though a few days ago, I was still under the impression that they were a myth, and yet here we stand.” Aargon turns to Izzar with a bow. “I am here to serve as best I can; I am to your disposal.”

Though Izzar was flattered by him, he remained curious. Something gave Izzar reason to be cautious. Viha returned her weapon; she was still breathing heavy, there was still much that needed to be explained before the oceans within her heart would be tamed.

“Aargon is correct. I am sorry you were taken from your world; I had no part in it. However, you are here now, and sadly, there is no escape. If you wish to leave, you are welcome to do so, but know this: You will live to regret your decision.”

Izzar was sincere; his heart grew soft for the young girl. She only exchanged a nod and turned away from him with her hands crossed.

“What is it that Master Thanatos requires of us?” Aargon’s soft voice nearly disappeared into the loudness of the forest.

For a moment longer Izzar stared at Viha; he had never seen anyone act the way she did. She had a fire burning deep within her that drew him closer.

“Right…” Izzar nodded at Aargon, acknowledging his question, shaking his head.

“I know what Grand Master Thanatos requires of us. We are to work as a synchronized trinity. Once we can work together, he will start the true mentoring of our roles; until then, he will not train us as he should. Although these stones are scattered across the land, and he has been searching for them for decades, and we’ve only managed to find a few, this task is by no means easy, and we should work together.”

The myth of the exploding mountain. Aargon knew exactly what Izzar was talking about. Many eons ago, it was written of an individual who fled civilized space to a faraway planet to be exiled with his followers. There the individual discovered a truly horrifying power that he harnessed for a short period; the power overwhelmed him so much that it exploded and consumed everything in the land, including the mountain he was on. As a result, all his followers perished, including this act's actual location and leaving it a mystery for millenniums. Aargon had studied this in detail and found nothing in the official records of it being true or just a myth. However, he understood that he was finally standing on the planet where the myth had originated, and if they worked together, they could solve the mystery and possibly uncover the true nature of this myth.

“Does Thanatos venture out on his own sometimes in search of the stones?” asked Aargon, trying to figure out more details about what the task entailed. Viha remained silent.

“Grand Master Thanatos…” Izzar emphasized the words, Grand Master, realizing that Aargon did not wholly comprehend the office his master held. “...does venture out sometimes in search of the stones, but he would be gone for days not to return until he had found a large enough piece to his liking. It is not easy tracking down these stones. They leave no form of signature on the terrain for drones or orbital scanners to sense. They can only be found by us humans.” Izzar added with a muse.

The other two listened intently; they found it truly fascinating, especially Aargon, as he had never read about any substance in the galaxy that could not be detected by conventional scans.

The sky above them turned blue, bringing in a thick blanket of clouds in the far distance as the morning passed; the time they had to search for the stones was running out. It will take them all day to find a single stone if they find any; the task was for all three of them to bring one individually. Knowing his grandfather, the task would involve them working together and not separately, though he had never been in a situation where he was forced to work with anyone else other than his grandfather or Tarium. He had discovered that the stones were scattered in a very distinct pattern; the sketches he made revealed them to be scattered in a star-like way, the same way a meteor would spread when it hit the surface of a planet. Unfortunately, he had not been lucky enough to figure out exactly how this pattern worked and how it was spread out over the landscape.

Izzar looked around him, unsure what he was searching for. He moved some plants and looked around nearby trees.

“What are you looking for?” Aargon was eager to help, Izzar remained silent as he continued. Viha turned her head slightly to see what Izzar was doing.

“I need something to draw with; a stick or any pointy object will do.” Instinctively Izzar stretched his hand out as Viha’s sword flew towards him; he caught it quickly.

“You’re welcome.” She said, not looking his way even for a moment.

Izzar did not respond. This was good enough for him; he held it for a moment, admiring the weapon's craftsmanship. The blade was made from a black metallic substance, retractable and extremely light. The hilt was simple, minimalist, with only one engraving of the Gandron Champions Crest to give it an identity. He began drawing on the ground with it. Aargon and Viha looked at him curiously; the lines on the floor made no sense to them. First, it seemed like random lines on the floor, then it seemed to form a landscape but was destroyed by an illustration of a star.

“If my theories are correct, the stones should be distributed within the valley in a star formation. These…” pointing at spots within the star’s shape “…are where I have found stones before supporting my theory.”

“It is possible.” Added Aargon. “If these are the places you found them in, we should be somewhere in the epicenter of what would have been ground zero of whatever disaster took place here years ago, which means we will only find small pieces of the stones around here. The more we move away, the larger the stones will get.”

“However…” added Viha; Izzar lifted his brow at her sudden break of silence. “…if you strike a large stone with an ax, the larger pieces will remain in the middle, and the smaller pieces will scatter to the outside.”

“Both of you are correct; we have found small and large pieces scattered equally in the valley. It almost seems like they were scattered for us to find them.”

Izzar was frustrated by the thought of going out once again and tracking these elusive stones; the last time he was sent out, he hadn’t found anything. But, by now, Izzar had learned that Thanatos had found every significant piece there was in the depression. So, the parts they had to find were manually placed in the usual spots. He sighed and continued.

“Grand Master Thanatos wants us to find stones unique to our different abilities. He has hidden pieces he had found long ago for us to find. He would not send us to find a stone in a single day. I know where they are.”

“Then why didn’t you say so in the first place.” Viha’s frustration was visible; Izzar brushed it off but found it pleasing to see such an attitude coming from this girl.

“If we bring him a stone he had not seen yet, I believe he would be impressed by all three of us; this is why I am trying to show you how they’ve been scattered within the valley.”

“Well then, what are we waiting for?” Although Aargon’s question came with an excited smile, Izzar did not share his excitement.

The three walked off into the thick undergrowth of the valley, searching for a new stone that they had not yet discovered. Izzar was sure in his heart that his grandfather would be pleased with their extra effort and might reward them with the commencement of early training conducted directly through him. However, the valley hid many obstacles, things he was aware of and ready to face; his new friends were not prepared for what lay ahead of them.