My Weapon

I’m going a little backwards, if you’re reading these in the order I post them. See the blog section on the first page to see the order. Most likely, you don’t know these are out of order.

But, it’s time to talk about my weapon. I’ll let your mind wander as much as you’d like.

You may have seen that I really carried several weapons in my career. I was in the military for a short time, so I had to use just about anything with an edge. But, there was only one weapon that was made for me and responds only to me. I’ll describe it first, then let you guess who designed it.

Technically, it’s a mace. But, it doesn’t look like any mace you’ve seen. At least, I don’t think it does. You may realize I’m not talking about the past here. No, I don’t have my mace with me at this time, but I have a feeling it’s still around. Somewhere.

I’ll describe the business end first, then we can get into the magical aspect. The spherical part of the mace looks like the moon of my world, which isn’t too different from the moon around Earth. At least, that’s what my memory is saying. Then, there’s the eagle’s claw grasping the moon, three talons on one side, and the other two talons on the other. The outer two claws on the three-talon side are curled around either side of the moon, holding it on the inside of the talon. The claws for the other three talons look like they are slightly digging into the moon’s surface.

The handle, as you may expect, looks like the leg of an eagle. The moon does appear to rest the in palm area of the claw. Almost like it’s getting ready to toss a ball. And that will foreshadow one of the more interesting features of my mace. It’s a magical effect, of course, but with the right motion and thought, the moon will leave the claws and fly toward the target. When it hits, it does so with a freezing splash. Think of filling a water balloon with liquid nitrogen and tossing it against something. Don’t really do this, of course, you’ll likely get some nasty burns. But, the effect would be similar, but much weaker.

In one use, I was able to freeze and break through a relatively thick wall. Most walls were similar in thickness to modern Earth homes, but some people would build exterior walls two times as thick. These were usually people that had much to hide, and they weren’t thieves.

The most interesting part was that the moon would return, typically at the same time as it was blasting a target. And, yes, the talons could move. Another magical affect that I could control. Sometimes, it was just to give a kind wave to a friend, but could also expose the claws to my opponent.

A minor magical affect was that it could act as a torch, but the moon itself would glow to illuminate the area. For me. You couldn’t see it. It was awesome, and slightly annoying at the same time. It was a flashlight that didn’t have an off switch.

The last major magical effect that I could control was the ability to project weight or a lifting force to an area. How much? Much more than I could personally lift. I would expect it could lift a modern car, or flatten it. Very useful.

As for the design, that was purely my father. My mother infused the design with magic, as dragons are really not interested as much in the magical realms.

That’s a description of my weapon. As fun as it was, finding it was much more fun. Just after my military career, a message showed up in my leather bag. The first part was congratulating me on my career, and the second part was a small picture of the beach. The one I was standing on. As I walked to where the picture was pointed, it changed to show the path. Step by step. For reference, the picture stayed about ten steps in front of me. If I turned the wrong way, the picture would fade.

Thinking back, I probably looked a bit of a goof, focused on a piece of paper walking into the woods. With no armor or weapon outside of a dagger. Goof may be kind, as the woods weren’t known for being particularly friendly. No, I hadn’t found my nice set of armor, yet. I was wearing just normal clothes made of something similar to leather. The snow season was starting.

I can’t tell you how far I walked, but I could no longer smell the ocean. I could feel the crunching of snow beneath my feet. Shoes. They would have been nice in the snow. I strapped on some wooden branches. I should have sharpened my dagger before I left. And maybe bought shoes. And an axe. And food.

By now, you may be curious as to why someone that could become an eagle would choose to walk so much. Well, it hurts. A lot. I have to change from time to time, just to make sure I don’t lose the mental aptitude, but I hadn’t learned the secret to removing the pain from having my face pulled into the shape of an eagle, skin growing from my arms to my body, talons ripping through my skin, and growing feathers. Feather shafts are not small for eagles my size.

The snow kept getting deeper, as depicted in my picture. There were times the snow was heavy enough the picture seemed to fade behind the snowfall. But, it kept changing as I walked on. Hungry. Why didn’t I bring a bow or javelin? There are some leaves that make a good soup, but they were under the snow.

I finally came to a running river, and the picture expanded. There was a cave on the other side of the river. That was my destination. Ice bath. Or go through two transformations, as the cave didn’t look quite big enough to fly in. Worth a shot, though. Feathers are warm. Or maybe the pain is warm.

I did have to be careful about what I was carrying when I transformed. It would become part of me. Literally. If I was carrying a log and transformed into an eagle, that mass would become part of my body. Making me larger in that case. You don’t want to know what it’s like becoming one with a large boulder.

I did manage to fly in the cave for a short time, but forgot to lay the map down. It was a good time to take a nap, it does help with the pain. When I woke up, I wasn’t alone. It appears there were other furry creatures that were cold. Big furry creatures. I was definitely warm now, but I wasn’t sure if they would like part of the heat ball leaving. The map showed the furry creatures, but it also showed my path. I took my chances.

There was a small groan when I got up, but it didn’t sound dangerous. I walked farther into the cave. It wound up being a large cave. It took a lot of concentration to keep a light shining in front of me. No idea how far or long I walked. Normally, you could tell by when you got hungry after eating. I didn’t have any food with me. My wood shoes were still on the river shore.

I finally came to a well-lit part of the cave. I could stop weaving my own light. It was almost blinding. Then, there were voices. I could here three or four men. But, above them, I could hear two large voices. Almost booming. They belonged to my mother and father. My father was describing the beauty of the object in the middle of the room. My mother was more of a chant. Descriptions seemed to combine with the chant. Almost like a song. A very enchanting song. In more than one definition.

I stopped hearing the other men. They were still there, but their voices stopped. Then all the voices stopped. I looked around. There were many eyes looking at me. And they didn’t seem friendly. Then, another voice broke the silence. I voice I would become quite accustom to. My weapon talked. It called my name. The other men were closer than I was. They were definitely treasure hunters. You don’t interfere with treasure hunters. I did. Starting at that moment.

One thing I learned in the military was how to weave a fireball. Not a big one. Just enough to make the crew of a wooden boat distracted. Useful. Especially now. As the fireball exploded behind the men, they took their eyes off of me as I ran towards the mace. Shoes would have been nice. Ever walk in a cave?

The voice was now getting loud. Almost frantic. It wasn’t concerned with my feet, but it was with my armor. Or the lack there of. You see, using magic takes practice, even if it’s infused in an object. All those magical effects in my mace? Didn’t know how to use them at this time. It was just a nice, heavy mace.

One thing you can say for treasure hunters, they prepare for long journeys. And have nice shoes.

After eating and finding a pair of shoes that fit, I looked at my map. It was just an empty piece of paper now. At least the walk out of the cave was less painful and better lit.

As for the furry creatures. They were still there. Welcoming. I hadn’t slept that well in years.

From Cave to Temple

After a nice nap with the furry creatures, I had an urge to wander west. I knew I didn’t have many seasons before I had to be at the ocean, so I had decided on a more direct route. Through a forest of living trees.

Normally, this isn’t something you want to do. But, I wasn’t feeling normal. And, I had a few furry friends that had decided to follow. I had no idea why, but there were five of us. And, trees tended to like these particular furry things.

So, through the living forest we traveled. I had plenty of steaks and other items for food, so I didn’t have to worry about hunting or foraging. Both of which are things better not performed in this forest.

The furry creatures did play and run most of the time. Making large, sweeping arcs from my more direct path. At the edge of the forest, I came across a small town. I thought this was an odd place for a town. Not only did the trees not really care for wooden structures for some reason, they also didn’t mind walking through someone’s house if it was in the way. Even if it was made of stone.

As we walked into the town, my mace shuddered. The furry creatures also stepped in a little closer to me. My feet hurt.

After looking in almost every building, I decided to venture into what looked like the smith’s house and look for something to mend my shoes. It was a veritable gold-mine of tools and material. But, no smith. There was a layer of dust that would have taken many seasons to accumulate. Maybe the trees were migrating and the people left before they got trampled?

After fixing my shoes, and grabbing a few extra pieces for future repairs, I decided to search each of the buildings a little closer. They all told the same story. All the people left, but the things stayed. There was no food, but some cellars did have dirt where there may have been food stores. Same with some kitchens. The more I looked, the more I didn’t like it. Night was falling, and I wasn’t sure if it would be safer here or in the forest. I chose the forest.

I kept the town within sight, just to see if the night was different. Instead of being near the floor, we chose a rather large tree that made its branches into a nice nest near the top. This wasn’t my first night in this forest, and the trees had determined I was more of a friend. I also didn’t carry an axe, or any sharp edge. They were hidden in my leather bag.

The furry creatures awoke sometime during the night. There was no moon, just a black sky. You may be wondering what kind of stars we had. The answer would be few, if any showed for the night. At times, there were some stars that would show themselves, but most nights were pure black if the moon wasn’t out. The moon and sun were on their more normal cycles, no gods interfering.

The sky may have been dark, but the land itself did glow just a little. About the same as a star-filled night on Earth. Enough to make out shapes and silhouettes. Not enough to know if the silhouette was friend or foe. Not that I had to worry this night. Furry friends could see much better in the dark. They didn’t mind daytime, but they were usually more alert at night.

And, they were quite nervous on this night. Normally when I sleep, I would keep my mace covered to have more darkness. I decided I didn’t want darkness this night. The furry creatures did seem to notice my mace’s glow, which was a bit surprising. I was supposed to be the only one that could see the glow.

As I brought out my mace, I could see why the furry creatures were so nervous. The town was filled with several silhouettes. They seemed to be looking for something, but wouldn’t cross into the forest. It seemed like a brick wall to them. I watched more than one run toward the forest, only to be knocked backward. And it wasn’t the trees.

I asked my mace if it knew the silhouettes. He only wanted to go back to sleep in his bag. That wasn’t comforting. The trees didn’t seem to mind, but they also didn’t move this night. That was a normal game they would play for travelers in their space. When the traveler sleeps, the trees move around. What looked like a straight path out, would suddenly turn into dense forest while the path moved somewhere else. If you didn’t know where you were, it could become quite dangerous. The trees were carnivores, after all. Well, the roots were. The branches were usually safe.

This is also the time in my life I made questionable decisions. This was one of those. I thought it’d be a good idea to get closer to the town. See if the silhouettes were solid or spectral. I told myself I’d stay in the forest as it seemed safe.

The silhouettes were solid. Very solid. Rock hard, you might say. Some may call them golems, others have other names. But, they were creatures made of rock. They had been there when I mended my shoes, but the sun subdues them. They can only move at night.

That dust I thought I was cleaning? Oops. I learned that oops later. After my next bad choice. After realizing what they were, I thought I’d offer payment for the supplies I used for my shoes. This may be why my mace was a little scared. It knew better.

I approached the boundary that seemed to be flinging them back. I stayed a short distance back. Close enough to talk, far enough to be out of reach. Sounds good, doesn’t it?

When I got within range, I asked if I could pay for my shoes. That was met with an angry scream. I think that was a no, but they weren’t using any words. I really didn’t know what rock-people liked for money, so I asked. What could I do to pay them back. It seemed the answer wasn’t anything I was going to be willing to give up. Just a hint when one of them ran head first into the barrier. Again. And again. And again.

My mace was now saying we should go. A normal person at this time would understand this meant to return to the forest. I didn’t. It was the same words he used when we had fought bandits.

When I grabbed my mace, it sighed, but held onto the leather bag I had wrapped it in. The furry creatures were also by my side, and the trees had started moving. For size reference, the furry creatures were much bigger than the rock people. As was I. They were about half my size, give or take. If you were thinking of massive golems that were several feet taller than humans, I forgot to give you the right impression.

The one that had been repeatedly running at me finally had the chance to hit me. I jumped over him, and tried to pick him up at the same time. His arm turned to sand as he wiggled free. Then, he ran at me again. I decided to leap to the side and offer him a slap from my hand. Again, I hit what felt like beach sand as he ran by.

The third time was my mace’s turn. He complained about sand in places that shouldn’t have sand, but the little rock-man was still moving around, unabated. Finally, a furry creature sat on him.

This gave me time to attempt to speak to a different rock to try and understand why he was so mad, and how I could help.

Short answer? Return his kids. Two were on my feet.

Oops.

A Quaint Little Cave

Leaving the town of sand people was easy enough. I did lose my shoes and supplies. Who would have thought children would make comfortable shoes. I did stay an extra night to make sure the children were back to normal.

The furry creatures stayed in the living forest. It seemed they wanted me to stay, but it’s hard to really know without diving into their minds. I never did learn that spell.

But, west was my journey. I was basically heading to the western temple, but that didn’t seem like my destination. I really didn’t know about the temple at this time, only about the mountain range the temple sat on. I was heading that way, but not to the range itself.

By now, you’ve figured out most of my home was covered in trees. Most were normal trees, but there were the living ones as well. There were also giant, living hills that disguised their tentacles as trees. They were mostly harmless, unless you tried to eat the grass or chop down the trees. As you just read, we also had living rocks. Kinda. Most were sand-like, but some were actual stone. I found these.

What made the rock and sand living? I have only legends to talk about. My mother and father offered no explanation, even though the legends said the gods created living rocks. Some would say it was a way of rearranging the land to make it more efficient. Others would say it was to keep an eye on the other living beings. There were other opinions, but the overall general rule was to not anger the stones.

That last part wasn’t always true, and rarely possible. It was very difficult to see the difference between living rock and normal rock. I’m sure there were some mages that could see the difference, but I preferred my normal vision. This is probably how I ended up kicking the wrong rock down a hill. In my defense, they were just lying in the path. In the middle.

I was starting up mountain side on a path when I noticed a cave slightly hidden off the side of the path. Hidden meaning some vines had grown over the entrance. Side of the path meaning more off the path than I normally traveled. It wasn’t so far that I had any thought of being the first one, but I was still curious.

If you’re curious, I have no more curiosity left for caves. Or any other hole in the ground that has a roof. That curiosity has completely left my being.

As with this entire adventure, the day and night cycles remained relatively normal. I would say it was unusual, but it did happen for small stretches of time. What was unusual was the complete lack of the moon. Not just a dark ring like the new moon on Earth, but a complete lack of a moon. Sometimes I could see a star or two, but most of the sky was just dark.

My plan was to make a small camp in the mouth of the cave and spend a day or two seeing where it would lead. I had no more urge to venture west, or even climb the mountain. I was beginning to miss my furry creatures that first night. And was even starting to wonder why I didn’t have anyone traveling with me.

My mace was mostly silent. At this time, that wasn’t abnormal. It would chatter from time to time, but it wasn’t as chatty as it would be later. I tried to ask it where we should go, but all it would talk about was food and being hungry. If I’d only understood.

I didn’t sleep a lot that first night. Every time my eyelids would become too heavy, there would be a sound in the distance to catch my attention. Mostly rustling leaves, but the occasion branch breaking as well. By the time light had returned, my eyes were still heavy. So, I slept after the first meal.

When I woke up, my cave no longer had an opening. The vines were still there. But they were now on the inside. Luckily, I had my mace to light up the area. It was completely dark otherwise. The air didn’t smell bad, so I packed up my gear and headed farther into the cave. Why I wasn’t concerned about an exit is beyond my aged comprehension, but I simply shrugged off the new wall.

I would like to say the cave was interesting, but it was just a cave. A big cave. Town big. In fact, as I wandered deeper, I started to notice benches carved into the walls. Then there were tables. Then buildings. Stone buildings and a path made of crushed rock. It was light outside, but not in here. This is important.

In a cave, you don’t hear the normal forest sounds you hear outside. Everything echoes a little, and in some parts of some caves, you can hear yourself breathe. This town-like opening was one of these places. As I walked, I could hear my wooden shoes grind on the rock. It almost sounded like the rocks were uncomfortable. I know my shoes were.

This is the time my mace said it was starving and we should eat. I didn’t know what maces ate. I’m sure most people would fail that test as well. What does a mace eat?

There is also a disadvantage of having a mace as your source of light. If you think about it a little, the mace is shaped like a torch, but is definitely not a torch. And, holding up a weapon like a torch may seem a little, how should I say this, aggressive.

Now, I did say the cave was boring. And it was. But, the town was less boring, while still being boring. The footsteps that appeared behind me were quite interesting. Or, they should have been. I had started thinking that all those weird sounds were just my shoes on the crushed rock.

This does spook you a little when you’re by yourself in such a chamber. I did finally convince myself to look behind me. Nothing. Just the cave and smooth path I was walking on.

Yes. Smooth. Path. I didn’t see anything, and that smooth path didn’t quite register immediately. I just kept walking. When I made it to the first building, I began to get a sense of déjà vu. Dust covered everything down here. I ran my fingers across a railing. It was about this time my mind decided to let me know about the smooth path. It was all smooth now.

I really can’t explain how something so large that you can’t see it can make such tiny sounding footsteps. It matched the sound I thought my feet were making. The path was indeed clear. But, on either side of the path were some large feet. I would like to say I could see over the arch of the foot, but I wasn’t quite that tall.

You may be asking if rocks can talk. Well, yes, they can. If they choose. This one chose otherwise. Unless you count body language. Or, foot language in this case. Those weren’t buildings in a town, they were body parts. This guy was quite huge, and missing a few rocks. And it must have been painful, because he didn’t seem to have any intent on listening.

Thankfully, being the ant does have some advantages. I was able to avoid the feet, and make my way back to the smaller part of the cave. He was too big to fit, but he was also a shifty guy. As I was catching my breath, he was making a wall. Between me and the exit. I tried again to talk, but the only reply sounded like more rock walls being built.

So, it was time to get out. Before I even took a swing, my mace was saying yum. A giant spark blew out with each blow to the wall. I would hear my mace enjoy the blow, while the large voice behind me howled. The rock wall didn’t seem phased. This was until my mace asked for a break. And burped. That burp blew down the wall, and made a terrible crashing sound behind me. I looked, but my feet didn’t turn around. They took me back to the mouth of the cave, and the vine door.

See. Just a boring little cave.

What son?

By now, I had gone to two different homes for golems. Or sand people, whichever you wish to use. The latest in the cave was definitely a more dangerous entity, especially since there were many people that would use a cave as a home. Usually, this was temporary while they built, or rebuilt, their house, but many times it would be more permanent.

As you may guess, living in a cave is both useful and a hazard. The usefulness comes in the cave’s nearly permanent existence. The hazard is the lack of light and other inhabitants. The latter of which required constant maintenance. When those would-be residents are built upon magic, that becomes a bit more than most people can deal with.

Normally, it wouldn’t take someone like me to rid these magical creatures, but at this time, I really needed all the experience I could find. Most adventurers had little issue with golems, as they only form during the night. One of the many things that go bump in the night that seem to have no cause when investigated at night. Maybe this is why it’s a good idea to always clean the dust out of your house. Not that I’m trying to sway any new fables.

This seemed to conclude my current training, as my leather bag began to vibrate. There was no note, but I knew what it meant anyway. It was time to head back toward the eastern temple. This time, I took the more common path through the center of my world. I did happen across a nice tavern with a very sweet elf tending to the tables. It felt like a comfortable place, but the elf said it was time for me to go. I never did figure out how Leyan and Elisha were able to know everything about me and my travels. Maybe there was a shadow I didn’t know about at the time.

A stranger in the tavern asked where I was headed. When I told him about the temple, he stated coarsely that was a bit more than he asked. He only wanted to know the direction, he was heading east to the ocean. The elf mentioned something to him, and he spoke up that it was settled and we’d leave at once. Once being in the morning after packing a bit of food. I slept on the tavern floor that night. In the corner. My corner.

You maybe noticing that I haven’t wondered into a new thought that has little relation to the story. That time is now. Space. Some call it a frontier, I call it clarity. You may have noticed I use extra space between sentences. I like it better, it splits up the paragraph. Think of it as a breather for your eyes. Now, back to the story. For now.

My companion for this trip was fairly quiet. I would say I tried my best to create conversation, but that would be a lie. I tried, but didn’t push very hard. Half the time he walked in front, half the time in back. You’ll notice that doesn’t really leave a whole lot of side-by-side time. There wasn’t any.

We did stop at most towns for rest and food. Most of our eating was in the forest, perched in a tree. Occasionally, food would happen to drop on people passing below. I can say for my part that it was purely accidental. There was no intent of creating humor. None. How much humor would someone have if they saw someone a few feet above their heads? Well-armed someones.

The seasons changed as we traveled. From warm to hot to frozen. Isn’t that an overused phrase? It’s frozen outside. Of course it is, most shoes don’t work very well on a lake of lava. And you certainly wouldn’t have a snow season.

If you don’t get that joke, read on. If you do, skip a bit. Or just read for entertainment. Brief entertainment. The term frozen indicates that a substance has created a solid, as in it is too cold for that substance to melt into a liquid and much too cold for it to be a gas. Melted ground is basically lava. I haven’t heard of gaseous rock, but I’m sure it’s been done.

About halfway to the ocean, we did acquire a small bounty. Our food was needing replenished, so it was time to work. So said my companion. I had a feeling he didn’t really need coin, but I didn’t quite know who he was either.

We didn’t pick up an especially hard bounty. A group of men had stolen a farm from a young family. They had left the farm for supplies, and the lady’s unborn baby decided that bouncy ride would be better on the outside. The couple spent some time in town to make sure the baby was healthy before heading back to their farm. It was snowing, and their only crops were grains. Or something very much like grains. In a more simple tone, their crops didn’t like snow. And there was enough to pass my knees easily. Babies in my world very similar to Earth babies in a comparative sense. About as long as from the bottom of the father’s foot to the top of his leg when bent ninety degrees. Give or take. They were almost always just over half that height on my leg. In human terms, there was over two feet of snow. Everywhere. Plus some drifts from the wind. And, of course, we have no idea how tall I was compared to a human. Maybe my people were midgets, maybe we were giants.

So, our bounty was to return the farm to the rightful owners. We didn’t ask how they had planned to defend their home when they returned, as it seemed the group of men were more powerful. But, that question doesn’t pay a bounty, only a salary. I didn’t want a salary.

There were six people there. Three women, three men. They claimed they had come together to build the two-bedroom house. The one with a single bed, and what looked like it used to be a crib. There was no food in the house. Or pans. Or anything. I was still asking questions that never get an honest answer. It was something I’d outgrow as I aged.

Mister conversation finally spoke more than a word about this time. He said something about seeing what I was made of. The last word spooked me just a little. Son.

The six decided this was a good time to remove us. My mace was already in my hand, and a dagger in the other. Gruffy just moved out of the way. From here to there. Avoiding all contact. You may think this was a bit mean, but the six were really not equipped well. They had daggers and clubs, but nothing most military commanders hadn’t been against. To put the point here, I didn’t have to catch my breath and didn’t bother with a chase. The home only had to be vacant for the rightful owners.

Who happened to show up about this time. They thanked Omar for his heroism, with a slight glance in my direction. He, of course, offered to stay with them, for a really modest fee.

Omar wasn’t my birth-dad. Nektyr was his name. I know who Omar is now, but I wouldn’t know that information for a few more seasons. So, you get to wait as well.

What you get to know now is that my next stop was the temple. Read about that below, if you haven’t already.

Back at the Temple

Temples. Not the ones on your head, the ones dedicated to things that are worshipped. Like goddesses. Or gods. I’m sure someone built a temple to a dog at some point as well.

I’ve really only visited a couple temples. Both were my mother’s, one on either end of Drak-Bahr’s Boulders. You’ve read about the one near the ocean, there’s also one on the western interior mountains. I’ve described them before, and there is an eastern version of those mountains, but facing the opposite direction. Like a spiral. The eastern ones don’t get as much attention since they’re engulfed by the ocean.

The two lunar temples posed a mild problem for a promise a group of us made. Five survivors to meet at the lunar temple in ten seasons. Eastern or western didn’t seem to percolate in anyone’s mind. I showed up at the eastern temple nine seasons after that promise. I had more training to do.

The temple itself is fairly quiet on the outside. It looked like a collection of trees. Except these trees were made of a stone that was the color of the moon. Multiple spires raced up from the ground, each looking quite slender. In reality, the base floor of a single spire could house most Earth shopping malls. They were immense when you got close. And there was a building in the middle of these spires, just not quite as small. If you’re picturing a modern city transformed into a building with a ring of spires around it, make sure the city is a sprawling one in the United States. Not one like New York City.

The eastern temple housed quite a large number of priests. For a temple. There were a couple thousand people that called the temple home at any one time, though most would stay only a season or ten. When I arrived, a handful of priests recognized me from my earlier days. I’ll skip the part about how much larger I looked than when I left. If I wrote a sentence for each of those comments, you’d turn this off and read an encyclopedia.

Luckily for me, my room was as I’d left it. Plus a layer of dust. I quickly found a new room that was clean and had a larger bed. I’m using that term lightly. Most people slept in what would be better called a nest. An over-sized bean bag would be similar. Just a bit smoother.

By the time I’d settled in and set my mace on my hip for a much needed workout, one of the priestesses came running up to me. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one that couldn’t count to ten.

I’m not going to make up names for my four friends that survived our first battle. They are a collective group. But, you can call them Jimmy, Frank, Tom, and Harry if you’d like. You can also say they arrived in that order, but you’d be wrong. Only three of us went to the eastern temple. How do I know the others went to the western temple? Mother, of course.

For all the grandeur of the eastern temple, the western temple was nearly the opposite. A flat building with only a single spire. A much smaller spire. The base of this spire would be a decent house, but not a nice house. The rest of the temple wasn’t a lot bigger. If I had to guess, I would put it about the same size as a football stadium. At a smaller college. There was another problem with this temple. It didn’t house my mother’s priests. They’d all been killed.

This is how we know the other two were there. They wondered into the temple after all this desecration. Being worshippers of my mother, they began to clean and give the bodies their proper burials. By the time Jimmy, Frank, and myself had arrived, the temple was as clean as it had ever been. But, it still carried a bad smell. Or feeling. This wasn’t a place that invoked comfort. And, we weren’t the right people to create that feeling. So we left. The five of us.

We looked up the mountain, and decided down was a better direction. This was better left for another day when I could gather the right group of people. My mace disagreed. But, it didn’t have legs. So it kept silent for quite some time. I enjoyed that silence. I shouldn’t have.

Just another season later, that same temple would be crawling with shadows and other non-living types. They multiply quickly when left alone. I was still making many big mistakes at this time.

The reason for our meetup was to pursue a quest together. We refrained from anything having to do with military, but we were able to free some wondering trees as we walked back toward the ocean. We took the northern route to endure the snow.

The wondering trees had found themselves on a river shore. Normally, they would wade through the water. But this river was solid ice. It was a good contest for the five of us. Who could clear the most ice? Two of us resorted to magic, while the others used a more direct approach.

Have I mentioned just how cold the northern winters are? Flame melts ice rather efficiently. And it did here as well. The problem was in how much magical fire was needed to keep the fire melting the ice. As soon as you stopped weaving fire, the water would freeze. As soon as.

Eventually, the direct approach created a small path. We then used some fire and force spells to expand the ice valley. Just enough for the trees to wander across. On my way back through these parts later, I would notice they didn’t stay there very long.

We eventually made it back to the eastern temple. My friends stayed, while I was called away. It would be some time before I would meet up with them again.