Tukai took a few steps toward Erik, smiling all the while. Then he turned at a sound off in the trees. Erik followed his gaze and out from the forest came Dimwater’s wolf. It charged in with blinding speed. Its gray and black fur was little more than a blur as it raced through the open area. Tukai turned and stretched his hand at Erik. Three green fireballs erupted into life and were sent toward him.

Somehow Erik managed to dodge each of the magic fireballs, though he was grazed on his right ankle by some of the flames. He looked up, expecting another ball of fire coming at him, but the wolf was already at Tukai, biting and snapping. Tukai roared in anger. A crack of thunder boomed through the area and a bolt of lightning streaked down for the wolf. The wolf jumped away just as the bolt of lightning crashed through the ground and ripped a hole in the dirt. Tukai summoned his staff into his left hand and continued to call forth lightning bolts to kill the wolf.

Erik didn’t know what he was going to do, but he had to use this moment of distraction before the warlock regained the upper hand. He first thought of running, but then what good would that do? If the wolf was killed the warlock would pursue him. Erik gritted his teeth and ran toward the warlock. If he could get to the sword, and then attack Tukai, he just might win.

He sprinted for all he was worth. His body still ached from the warlock clap, but he forced the pain out of his mind. Silverfang seemed to know what was happening. The wolf advanced on the warlock from the opposite side, keeping Tukai’s back to Erik.

Lightning scorched the ground, thunder assaulted the clearing, but Erik kept his eye on the sword. He ducked his head as the hairs on his neck rose to stick straight out. He swore he could smell the stale scent of the lightning in the air. Smoke rose around him as the ground groaned under the magical assault. Then, without warning he was flying backwards through the air. The wind was gone from his lungs and his eyes stung. He landed hard, but barely made a sound. His ears rung so badly he clutched his head with his hands and wailed at the pain.

He heard a yelp off in the distance and knew that Silverfang had finally gotten struck by the lightning.

When he was able to open his eyes he saw Dimwater’s wolf lying on its side, several yards away from Tukai. Tukai had turned and was heading toward him now. His eyes shimmered with delight as he approached.

“It will take more than the sorceresses’ dog to beat me, boy,” he hissed.

Thunder rolled across the sky and the moon was covered by the sudden arrival of an intense, black cloud. Tukai stopped cold in his tracks and looked up. The smile disappeared from his face as a hail storm broke out. Hail the size of oranges fell from the sky.

Tukai raised his staff and yelled something that Erik didn’t understand. A shield of light, similar to the one Erik had seen Dimwater use against Be’alt, appeared over Tukai’s head and protected him from the icy assault.

A hand slipped under Erik’s arm. He jumped, but relaxed when he saw Master Lepkin lifting him up. “Is it you?” Erik asked in a daze.

“It is, Erik,” Lepkin replied grimly. “Get behind me.” Lepkin pushed Erik behind him, similar to when he had argued with Orres, but with more force and purpose. “Tukai, why have you come for Erik?”

Tukai growled and sent a fireball hurtling toward Lepkin and Erik. Erik had not the strength to move. He watched the ball advance. In a flash, Lepkin drew his sword and it burst into bright red flames. He took three steps forward and made a simple slash through Tukai’s fireball. The green fire was quenched instantly. Erik watched in wonder as his master stood with the bright sword in his hands. The fire was more than enough to make up for the darkened moon. The entire clearing was bathed in warm, red light that danced along with the shadows.

“Warlock, answer my question, and I will be merciful,” Lepkin ordered.

Tukai clenched his fists, but let his arms hang at his sides. His staff was level now, parallel with the ground, its head aimed at Lepkin. “You can not withstand all of my magic, Keeper of Secrets,” Tukai yelled. “Stand aside.”

“He has no need to withstand your magic, Tukai,” a thunderous voice boomed from the sky.

Erik looked up to see a woman floating down on a silvery cloud. The hail stopped as she descended. Her dress was blue, with gold trim around the hem. Her hair was black. Erik knew it was Dimwater.

“Ah, so the sorceress has come to fetch her dog,” Tukai growled. “If you know of the prophecy, then you know that Lokton’s son will slay him if he is allowed to live through this night. Can you live with that Lepkin?” Tukai hissed.

“I do not fear your prophecies, wretched snake,” Lepkin said evenly.

“But a warlock’s prophecies always come to pass,” Tukai countered. “Are you willing to watch Lokton die at his son’s hands?”

“Why do you want Erik?” Lepkin asked again.

“Is it not obvious?” Tukai yelled. His pure white eyes took on an orange hue in the light of Lepkin’s sword. “I said that if Lokton’s son is allowed to live this night, then Lord Lokton will die.”

“So you keep saying,” Lepkin said. He looked up to Dimwater, who now floated ten feet from the ground on her cloud. “What do you say?”

“I say we toast him, he will not give us the information we wish to know,” Dimwater replied. Her voice echoed as it left her mouth, giving it an ethereal quality that frightened Erik. “It is true that the prophecy of a warlock will come to pass, but I have yet to see a warlock explain all of the prophecy. They always twist it to suit their own purposes. This one uses this prophecy to hunt Erik. We can not allow him to succeed.”

“You fools!” Tukai howled. “You know as well as I that Lord and Lady Lokton can not bare children. What other son could the prophecy speak of?”

“What other son indeed,” Lepkin said.

“It is true,” Erik said. “Lord Lokton told me himself that the reason I was adopted was because they could not have children. It must be me.”

“Listen to the boy, Lepkin,” Tukai warned.

“Your hypnosis will not work on me,” Lepkin replied. He turned to Lady Dimwater “Toast him.”

Tukai’s eyes went wide. “No!”

Dimwater stretched out her hand and a tornado of fire extended forth, devouring the warlock’s magic shield and enveloping Tukai in its fiery death. Erik watched the scene, stunned.

When everything was done, Dimwater stepped from her cloud and glided down beside Erik. “Silverfang has taken quite a liking to you,” she said. “If not for him, we may not have found you in time.”

Erik looked over to the wolf’s body. It lay limp and lifeless on its side. “I’m sorry your wolf is dead,” he whispered.

Dimwater laughed and rustled his hair. “You have a lot to learn about magic, my boy,” she said with a smile. He looked up at her with questioning eyes. She returned his gaze with a wink that assured him all was well. “Silverfang, though he looks like a wolf of Terramyr, is not actually from this plane. His wounds are significant, but as long as I send him back to his plane, he will heal and be ready again for action very soon.” She waved her hand and Silverfang disappeared from the clearing. “He is a most loyal companion. He called to me from his plane, alerting me to your trouble. I of course allowed him to come immediately to help, and then I went to find Master Lepkin before we caught up.”

“The warlock tricked me,” Erik said sheepishly. “I thought he was you.” Erik pointed to Lepkin. He expected a harsh reprimand, but he saw only a smile on Lepkin’s face.

“Erik, it is very hard to break a warlock’s hypnosis spell. I am very impressed that you were able to do it. I don’t think I have ever been prouder of you than I am now.” The sword ceased to glow with fire and Lepkin slid it back into the sheath hanging from his belt.

“Really?” Erik thought about that for a moment.

“Erik, a warlock uses fear as a way to control people. He controls what they see, hear, and think. Most victims caught by this spell are found dead afterwards. It is a most terrifying magic, and one that warlocks use often when their lesser tricks fail them. How did you realize that it wasn’t me?”

Erik thought about his conversation with Tukai. “I patted him on the shoulder, and he winced in pain because that was where I stabbed him with a fork when he came into my father’s dining hall earlier tonight. I knew it wasn’t you because you could withstand anything. You wouldn’t have winced.”

Lepkin looked up to Dimwater and the two exchanged glances for a moment. Master Lepkin looked down with an arched eyebrow and stared at Erik for a long time. “You stabbed the warlock?”

“Uh huh,” Erik confirmed. “Sir Duvall had tried with a sword first, but I was able to get him.”

Master Lepkin nodded and looked back to Dimwater. “We should camp here until the dawn. It’s only a few hours from now.”

“Then what?” Lady Dimwater asked.

“We will return to Lokton manor and explain what happened here tonight. Then Erik and I will travel east. I have some business for the king, and then I will take Erik to Valtuu Temple. It is time he learned some things.”

“Lord Lokton will be worried about his son all night,” Dimwater commented. “I could send a bird with a message saying he is safe.”

“Very well, but don’t give our location. I don’t want to inadvertently alert others. Remember what I told you about Orres.”

“I will be careful to be discreet,” Dimwater replied.

Erik wondered what the two were talking about. What had happened with Master Orres, what was Valtuu Temple, and why had Lepkin looked so surprised when Erik talked about stabbing the warlock? Suddenly he felt very tired. His eyelids hung low and he let out a long yawn that seemed to take the rest of his energy away. He lay down on a blanket that Lepkin stretched out beneath him and clasped his hands beneath his head. He barely felt the weight of the blanket over him as Lepkin wrapped it around, and then there was complete calm.

“He will sleep well,” Dimwater said.

“Yes, well, your sleeping spells seem to have that effect,” Master Lepkin replied with a grin. Lepkin sat on the ground cross-legged next to his apprentice and laid his hands over his knees. “Did you hear him say that he stabbed Tukai?”

“I did,” Dimwater replied solemnly as she held her left arm out in front of her, parallel to the ground. “I told you he was strong.” An owl came down from the sky and rested on her arm. She looked to the owl and locked eyes with it for a moment. Then she pushed the owl up and it flew off in the direction of Lokton manor. “He will deliver the message for us,” she said.

“The Order of the All Seeing Eye is not a low level band of warlocks,” Lepkin said. “We will have to stay alert.”

Dimwater nodded her head and sat next to Lepkin. She gently slid her left arm behind him, grazing his side. Lepkin’s heart jumped, but he tried not to show it. She pointed her right hand out to the ground and lit a small fire to keep them warm. The flames danced above the ground, needing no fuel to burn other than the spell that had created them. “You will take him to learn of the Ancients?” Dimwater asked.

“I will,” Lepkin replied with a nod.

“Not a moment too soon, either,” Dimwater said. “He looks peaceful, doesn’t he?”

Lepkin looked over to Erik and smiled. “Yes, he does.”

“We could have started a family of our own, Lepkin,” Dimwater said wistfully.

Lepkin shook his head slowly. “We should not talk about this.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” Lepkin said as he turned back to Dimwater. Her eyes captivated his and the two gazed at each other for a long while. He felt his heart pound in his chest. Her beauty was so intense. He wished he could reach out and hold her, but he did not move. Instead, he broke the gaze and looked back to the campfire.

“Did you want to duel Orres for my hand?”

“You know I did,” Lepkin replied softly. “But my duty prevented me from returning. There was nothing to be done about it.”

“You could have abandoned Gelleirt monastery,” Dimwater replied.

“Let’s not talk about this,” Lepkin said through teary eyes.

“Alright,” Dimwater said. She reached around and gently pulled Lepkin’s shoulder back so that she could lay her head down on it. “Then let me ask you something else.” She waited for a moment before continuing. Lepkin found himself wishing that they could stay by the campfire for the rest of their lives as she snuggled into him and got comfortable. “If Orres is a traitor, then you can duel him now. You would have the right to call him out.”

“I can not call him out until I have proof,” Lepkin replied. Lepkin pushed her back from him and looked into her sad eyes. He wanted to tell her of the journal that Janik had given him, but he couldn’t. He knew that in order to preserve the integrity of the journal, to be sure it was Orres’ own hand that wrote it, he could not tell Dimwater about it. Any help she could give in unlocking the journal would present the possibility of her tampering with the contents magically. Lepkin had to find the answers on his own. “I will figure it out. There must be proof of his misdeeds somewhere.”

“Yes, there must be,” she said softly. “I wish I could help you find it.” Dimwater laid her head back down and sighed. “Lepkin, if times were better could we win? I mean, if Orres wasn’t a traitor, if Janik wasn’t crippled, if the lords of the major houses all united with us, if you had several years to train Erik, and we had both of the books, would we stand a chance against what is coming?”

Lepkin breathed in and sighed heavily. He thought carefully about the dangers, the darkness, that approached and was threatening the realm. “No.”

*****

Erik shifted in his saddle for the thousandth time. His mind was wracked with worry over his father. The prophecy hung over him like a dark cloud that even the bright morning sun couldn’t vanquish. He had asked Lady Dimwater about it before they left the manor this morning. She had told Erik to ask Master Lepkin, but Lepkin never explained much, especially not today. He seemed quieter today than he had ever been. Erik figured that he was lost in his own thoughts. A lot had happened the night before, and the brief conference with Erik’s adopted father back at the manor didn’t seem to ease any of the tension.

At least Lord and Lady Lokton were safe. That relieved Erik quite a bit. Braun had been there too, though he had a few more bandages than Erik had seen last night. The fight at the manor had been hard, according to Braun’s own words. In addition to the three Blacktongues that attacked Erik in the briars, there were seven more slain around the manor. It was this news that seemed to bother Master Lepkin the most. All he said was “I see,” and then he never said another word. Dimwater had gone back to take care of some things at Kuldiga Academy, though no one told Erik what those things were. And now, Erik and Master Lepkin were riding east.

“Look over there,” Lepkin said, yanking Erik from his thoughts. “If you look down the road a ways you can see the walls of Buktah. We’ll stop there and see what we can do about getting some proper equipment.”

Erik looked and saw gray walls jutting up from the ground, with a tower at each of the four corners. “Do you think there will be more warlocks?” Erik asked.

Master Lepkin drew his horse up beside Goliath and patted Erik on the back. “I don’t think they will come after you for a while now, my boy.”

“Why not?”

Lepkin arched an eyebrow and smiled slyly. “Because, they are afraid of you,” he said.

“Afraid of me, why would they be afraid?”

“I can not explain everything right now, but soon I will. I promise.” Lepkin leaned in a little closer. “I will even tell you all about Gelleirt monastery.”

Erik looked back at Master Lepkin. He could tell by the grin on Lepkin’s face that that last bit had been meant to cheer him up. It didn’t. Erik was too worried about his family, and what he might do to them, to care about Gelleirt monastery right now.

“It’s because I could hurt Tukai and no one else could, isn’t it?” Erik asked after a bit.

“It is,” Master Lepkin confirmed. “There is a power in you, Erik that can overcome the dark arts. That is what enables you to hurt warlocks with normal weapons, and even to defeat Dimwater’s ghost and wolf. Tukai was no ordinary warlock either. He was one of the three chiefs of the Order of the All Seeing Eye, an especially powerful group of warlocks consumed by their lusts for power. Your father has dealt with Tukai before.”

“He has?” Erik asked.

“Yes,” Lepkin said. “Tukai trained at Kuldiga Academy at the same time as your father, though he was known by a different name then. His talents far surpassed the skills of the other wizard apprentices. He had visions come to him in his sleep. These visions always came to pass, just the way he had seen them. So, he started to tell people of them in an effort to help people. Some of the people listened, and others said that he was mad. Tukai felt that his gift was taken for granted, so he started to demand payment for his help. Some people paid, others didn’t, but when the headmaster found out that he was selling his gift like a street vendor he expelled Tukai from Kuldiga Academy. Since then Tukai has twisted his gift the way that all warlocks of his order do. He pronounces a prophecy and twists the meaning to further his own agenda.”

“So he lies, then?” Erik asked.

“No, the words he says are true,” Lepkin replied.

“So I will kill my father, because I was not killed last night,” Erik muttered.

Master Lepkin placed a hand on Goliath’s neck and the beast stopped instantly. Lepkin reached up and turned Erik to him. “No. That is not necessarily the case. As I said, the warlocks of his order twist the meanings of their prophecies. The words he speaks are true, but they do not always mean what you think they do.”

“How can it mean other than what I think it does?” Erik asked. “I am Lord Lokton’s only son.”

“Perhaps,” Lepkin replied with a shrug. “Perhaps there is another son somewhere.”

“My father can not have children, he told me so.”

“Did he tell you that he couldn’t, or that they couldn’t?” Lepkin asked with an arched eyebrow. “Think carefully, Erik. What did your father say?”

Erik paused for a second. “He said they couldn’t have children.” Erik scrunched up his face. “But my father would not dishonor Lady Lokton.”

“Well, think of all the possibilities, Erik. How could there be another son without dishonoring Lady Lokton?”

Erik ran his fingers through his hair as he thought. “Well I suppose there is some chance that they could still bare a son in the future, or maybe my father had another son before he married Lady Lokton.”

“You see?” Lepkin said with a grin. “There are too many possibilities to decide that the prophecy must speak of you. Besides, what would Tukai gain by killing you? The fall of House Lokton would only help him and his order gain more power, so why would he try to strengthen House Lokton?”

“So, he twisted the prophecy to make someone kill me?” Erik asked.

“That is my guess. I bet that he and his order fear you and your power. So, when he had this vision he saw an opportunity to exploit other peoples’ fears and eliminate you. That is why I have tried to teach you to listen, and to judge carefully what is right and what is wrong. If you cannot discern the truth from the lie, you will fall prey to the designs of evil men.”

“That has made me feel better,” Erik said with a nod. “I felt deep down that the prophecy couldn’t be talking about me. I could never hurt my father.”

“You judge too quickly again,” Master Lepkin said with a frown.

“What do you mean?” Erik asked.

“There are other possible explanations. Perhaps your father will end up joining the wrong side, and you will slay him because he turns evil.”

“That won’t happen!” Erik hollered.

“Erik, calm down. I am only suggesting that it is possible. If your father aligned himself with Tukai’s order, for one reason or another, then that would give Tukai a reason to kill you before you could stop your father.” Lepkin patted Erik on the back again and started down the road once more. “I’m just showing you that there are many possibilities.”

Erik huffed and tapped his heels to Goliath’s side. He didn’t believe that his father could turn evil any more than he thought he could slay his father. Neither option seemed natural. Erik decided that there must be another son somewhere. Either in the future, or from the past, but he was somewhere. “If there is another son, what do we do?” Erik asked.

“I can’t tell you the answer to that Erik,” Lepkin replied. “That is a mystery that only time will unravel for us.”

Neither of them spoke again until they reached the gates of Buktah. Erik watched the walls seemingly grow as the two of them came nearer. The towers loomed over them, with guards inside each one. The gatehouse was simple, but formidable. Large spikes protruded out from the center of each iron door that closed the city walls. After Lepkin identified himself the doors were drawn open by teams of oxen, attached to long, thick chains that creaked and groaned at the strain of the heavy door. Once the doors were open Erik saw a heavy iron portcullis being raised by chains connected to even more oxen on the inside of the walls.

“Do they always keep the gate closed during the daytime?” Erik asked.

“Not always, but they have been doing it increasingly more often in the last few months,” Master Lepkin replied.

Erik nodded and followed his master into the city. He could smell the ox dung as they passed through, but the odor quickly gave way to the smells of the market. Dust, sweat, and other animal scents mixed in with the fragrances of sweet breads, fruits, spices, and roasting meats. Several vendors approached holding out handfuls of jewelry or flowers, but they were quick to back away once Master Lepkin slid his cloak back to reveal his sword. Many of the vendors bowed their heads and apologized as they walked back to the side of the road, others just turned and ran.

“Do you have that effect on people often?” Erik asked.

“I do,” Master Lepkin replied evenly. “Follow me.” Master Lepkin turned his horse to the left and Erik fell in line behind his master. They rode for a few minutes down an old, dusty road. It was narrower than the main road and was flanked by short, brown wooden buildings. The doors were simple and there were usually one or two windows facing the street, but occasionally there were buildings without windows. Erik marveled at how close together everything was.

A short, fat woman came out into the street from one of the buildings on the right. The sour look on her face and the way she threw the dead rat into the street made Erik decide to give the lady a wide berth as he rode by.

A road of cobblestones crossed the dirt road they were on. Lepkin turned his horse onto the cobblestone and beckoned for Erik to keep up. Lepkin sped his horse to a light trot. The horses’ hooves danced across the road with a pleasant clippity-clop as they rode by several inns. Erik saw many signs. Some were ornate with fresh paint or elaborate engravings. Each sign was cut in a different shape and hung above the front door of the respective inn. There was the Rosewood, the Midnight Traveler, The Spotted Owl Inn, and then there was one plain sign that simply had the word “Inn” etched lightly into its side. Lepkin stopped in front of the inn with the plain sign and secured his horse to the hitching post.

“Are we going to stay here?” Erik asked.

Lepkin looked up at Erik with a grin. “What’s the matter, doesn’t it look good enough for a lord’s son?” Erik shrugged and climbed down from atop Goliath and hitched his horse to the post. Lepkin tapped Erik’s shoulder and motioned for Erik to follow him around the back instead of going in the front door. Erik followed without a word. The two of them had to turn sideways as the space between the inn and the building next door was very narrow. As they came around the back of the inn Lepkin pointed to a blacksmith shop that was joined to the back of the inn. “That’s where we’re going. It’s time to get you some equipment.”

“From here?” Erik asked, puzzled. He wondered what kind of a blacksmith could work here, in this small shop. He followed Lepkin into an open area where the coal for the furnace was piled higher than Erik was tall. He could feel the heat coming from the open door of the shop, but what surprised him was that he could smell the heat. It made the air heavy and somewhat difficult to breathe in, but it had an alluring quality to it as well. Erik followed Lepkin inside, and then his mouth fell open.

“Top of the mornin to ya, or, what’s left of the mornin at least,” the blacksmith said as he turned around.

Erik eyed the blacksmith with wonder. He was only a little over three feet tall, with a red beard that swept the tops of his boots as he walked. His long, red hair was put into a single plait in the back. He wore a black apron and held his massive hammer in his left hand.

“You’re a dwarf,” Erik said without thinking.

“Hey, looks like you have a genius for a companion, Master Lepkin,” the blacksmith said, poking his hammer at Erik. “Only took him one look to figure it out.”

“Sorry,” Erik said quickly. “I didn’t mean anything by it. It’s just that I’ve never seen a dwarf before.”

“Don’t worry about it lad, I’m more than used to it. I’ve spent the last three hundred years above ground with you tall folk, and it’s always the same. Someone walks in and sees me and they always say ‘it’s a dwarf’ as though they expected the best blacksmith in Buktah to be a pygmy goat or somethin.” The dwarf laughed heartily and shook his head. “The name is Al,” he said as he stuck out his right hand to Erik.

“That doesn’t sound like a dwarf name,” Erik said as he shook Al’s hand.

“Well, another thing I know about tall folk is their tongues don’t work well enough to pronounce my name, so I shortened it.”

“What’s your full name?” Erik asked.

“Aldehenkaru’hktanah Sit’marihu. Would you like to try to say it?”

Erik shook his head. “I think I’ll just stick with Al if that is alright with you.”

Al laughed and looked up to Lepkin. “I have it ready. It’s in the back. Wanna take a look at it?”

“Why don’t we send Erik back there with your apprentice,” Lepkin replied. “I’d like to talk with you a bit.”

Al eyed Lepkin keenly and then called out over his shoulder. “Hey, boy, come ’ere.”

A tall man emerged from the back wearing a white apron, or at least that’s the color Erik thought it was supposed to be, and black breeches. “I’m not a boy, Al,” the man chided. “I’m thirty-four years old.”

“Exactly, that’s just the age of a wee lad back where I’m from,” Al countered. “Why, take Master Lepkin for example; he has done some amazing things in his time, but he’s only forty-seven. That’s still a child by my reckoning.” Al shot Lepkin a wink and then turned back to his apprentice. “Take this lad back and try on the armor I made for him. Make sure it fits nice and tight, and don’t screw it up!”

“I know what I’m doing Al,” the man replied sharply. “I’ve been working with you for over twenty years now. Why, with anyone else I’d already be a journeyman, or possibly even a master by now.”

“Bah, stonebubbles boy!” Al gruffed. “It takes hundreds of years to become a master in this trade.” Al pointed his hammer at his apprentice and squinted his left eye at him. “If you don’t like the way I work, perhaps you should go and be someone else’s apprentice, though they wouldn’t be able to teach you a fraction of the things that I can. Smithy work runs through a dwarf’s blood boy, and if you want to learn my ways, then you need to behave and do as I say.”

The apprentice huffed and pulled Erik into the back room.

“I see your apprentice is as impatient as ever,” Lepkin commented with a smirk.

“That’s the problem with you tall folk,” Al quipped. “Always have to have everything done right away. If you can’t do something the first time like a master, you go off and try something else. That’s why you tall folk never master anything. You’re too busy scurrying around for the next thing instead of sticking with what you’ve started ‘cause it takes too long to work at something. That’s why I gotta keep that boy in line. He’s got a good head on his shoulders, and his hands are fit for the work but…” Al stopped and looked up at Lepkin. “I don’t suppose you really came to talk about my apprentice.”

“No,” Lepkin said as he leaned back on a work bench.

“Sorry, sometimes my tongue gets away from me,” Al said.

“No problem,” Lepkin replied. “Erik is the one.”

“The one what?” Al asked with a scrunched up face. Then it dawned on him. “It can’t be,” Al said. “You mean that little boy in there is the one?”

“He is.” Master Lepkin crossed his arms over his chest. “Already he has faced down magical beings, and a warlock to boot. The power runs strong through him, but he isn’t quite ready for what’s to come yet.”

“How much time do you think you have before the others find him?”

“Not long. Tukai already found him and prophesied about him.”

“That could not have ended well,” Al said. “Where is Tukai now?”

“He is dead, by Lady Dimwater’s hands.”

Al smiled from ear to ear at the name. “I always said you two would make a fine pair.”

“Save it, Al. That’s not what I want to talk about.”

“Suit yourself, but you may as well take the lass and be done with it. By my reckoning we don’t have much time left on this plane before the magic wipes us all away to the underworld. Why not live happily in the meantime?”

“Erik was able to stab Tukai,” Lepkin said, deliberately changing the subject back.

“Well, now that is something,” Al said as he stroked his beard. “What else can he do?”

“I’m not sure,” Lepkin replied. “I’m taking him to Valtuu Temple to finish his training as best as I can, but there isn’t enough time I’m afraid.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know the state of the kingdom, Al. It won’t last much longer like this. I suspect that even some of my old friends have turned to the other side too. Sooner or later something will break. The kingdom will crumble because of the nobles’ greed and the others will swoop down and take control before anyone knows what is going on.”

“Have you gone to Roegudok Hall yet?”

“No, but I must stop in Livany and I thought I could go to Roegudok Hall on the way to Valtuu Temple after I left Livany. I was going to ask you to come along.”

“No,” Al said.

“What do you mean no?” Lepkin asked. “Your people know the Ancients better than mine, and you know the Ancients best.”

“True as that may be, my brother is not in favor with the Ancients. He and my people have turned their backs on the Ancients. That’s why I left.” Al turned and threw his hammer onto the workbench and went to the pile of coal. He grabbed a shovel and grunted as he heaved the black substance into the furnace.

“You could reason with him,” Lepkin pressed.

“No one can reason with that fat toadstool,” Al snipped. “He’s never listened to anyone, least of all me.”

“So you will refuse to help, and let the others gain the upper hand because you don’t want to face your brother?” Lepkin grabbed Al’s hammer and threw it at the dwarf. Al dropped the shovel and plucked the hammer out of the sky simpler than an apple from a tree. “I see your reflexes are still sharp. It’s too bad your will and spirit have dulled over time.”

“Watch yerself,” Al warned. “I would cross the whole of Terramyr, bashing in troll heads along the way, if you asked me too, but I refuse to go back to my brother. It will do no good. You’ll see the truth of this when you go for yourself. My people have abandoned the Ancients. There is no honor in Roegudok hall anymore.”

“So, you won’t help,” Lepkin sighed.

“I didn’t say that,” Al snapped. “I just said I won’t go and try to talk sense to that moving bit of stone that my mother calls my brother. All it will do is waste my time and you already said that we don’t have any of that to waste.”

“Then, what will you do?” Lepkin asked.

“Let me take the boy to Valtuu Temple,” Al started. Master Lepkin held a hand in the air and waved the notion away. “Hear me out, ya tall bean pole,” Al said. “Let me take Erik to the temple and start him on his training. I assume you want him to study the history of the Ancients, right?”

“Among other things,” Lepkin said.

“Well, you already said that I know the ways of the Ancients better than anyone else alive, so let me start tutoring him. Meanwhile, you get up to Livany and do whatever it is you have to do up there. On the way back, if you feel like talking to a wall and beating your head against a post for a few hours, then stop off at Roegudok Hall and speak with my brother. Then come down to Valtuu Temple when you can and resume your training of the boy. After that, I can help with whatever needs doin’ around the temple, or anywhere else for that matter.”

Lepkin looked at Al for a moment, thinking it over in his head. The dwarf’s steely gaze never broke from Lepkin’s. “Alright, but the road may be more dangerous than you think,” Lepkin warned. “If Tukai has already come after Erik then there is no telling what else may come for him before you can get to the temple.”

“All the more reason for me to take him now while you go and finish your other business,” Al insisted.

At that moment Erik came out from the back room in a full suit of plated armor. “Well, what do you think?” Erik asked Master Lepkin.

Lepkin turned and looked at Erik for a moment. He walked over and inspected the suit. It fit the boy perfectly. It provided maximum protection while affording almost complete mobility. “I think it’s exactly what we need,” Lepkin said, turning to Al.

Al nodded, knowing full well that Lepkin was not just talking about the armor.