Flodius

Kyjus exited his tent and noticed that everyone was already sitting around the fire. There was a plate and an open seat between Skarnum and Kelsee, so he sat down.

They were having cod served in some sort of orange sauce, seasoned greens with carrots, a pasta in some sort of white creamy sauce with a hint of a garlic taste too it and some bread. To wash it down Syrus had summoned some apple cider that was quite delicious.

Kyjus vowed he would have to learn that spell someday. He also thought he might find out what other summoning spells could be at his disposal if he were too only take the time to learn them.

Now was not the time however, as he had far more important things to learn and do. Things that would help to keep them all alive perhaps and that ranked far higher than learning how to summon apple cider, danish, or anything else for that matter.

It was getting late, several hours after dark he had noticed, and he had thought he would turn in, but Magus Shepplin was heading toward something that had caught his eye when he was eating, and he had felt the urge to go investigate.

"Hello sir, what are you about this evening," he said to the tall gangly Gnoll.

"Why master Kyjus how are you this fine evening. Enjoyed your dinner I hope," his instructor responded. It was more a rhetorical question than anything else, but Kyjus nodded all the same.

"Excellent, I am glad to hear it. As to what I am doing I brought my small alchemy lab just in case things got a little rough for us and we needed more potions brewed. I dare say with only one day under our belt we have already exhausted several potions. We are not even to the difficult part of our journey young master," the Magus said while holding his hands up in feign disgust.

Kyjus smiled knowing full well that the Magus enjoyed the thrill of battle and the rush of adrenaline. It was hard not too why as he himself a novice to all of it found himself overwhelmed by the excitement of the events from earlier on that afternoon.

"At any rate I found several herbs when I went down the trail and out in the woods to forage. I found some Blackthorn leaves and needles, some anise verum and some fennel. Since potions are so much more potent when the herbs are freshly dried, I sat them on a rock near the fire and let them dry out so I could brew them after dinner. Except for the fennel as I have no Hekate salve to brew into the potion. You cannot make an elixir of courage or potion of bravery without Hekate salve," the magus said as he ground some of the anise verum up into his crucible.

"Is there any chance that I can help you sir," the young mage asked of Magus Shepplin.

"Why of course you can. An alchemist can always use a young apprentice. Besides being an alchemist is always a good side profession for a mage," the Magus said with a chuckle.

It was clear to Kyjus that he had just remembered something funny about either being a mage or an alchemist or both but since Kyjus did not want an hour-long dissertation on the subject he decided not to ask.

"Ok young master the first thing we are going to make are elixirs of frost power and protection. These will help protect users from the effects of frost spells and also heighten their ability to cast frost spells depending on which elixir they consume," clear so far the magus asked of his new acquired alchemy apprentice.

Kyjus nodded.

The magus continued, "The difference between potions and elixirs is in the dilution in the brewing stage. The herb is severely diluted when making a potion and you typically do not use any oils. This allows them to be clear almost water like while elixirs are foggier and have more of a slimy feel. It is also the reason why a potion has an almost instantaneous effect where an elixir is a long-term enhancer that can often last an hour or more depending on the alchemist and the quality of the herb," the magus said somewhat out of breath from his long winded explanation.

Kyjus did not have the heart to tell his professor that he had already read all of that information in a herbology book from his library, so he just smiled and nodded his understanding of the explanation.

"So, what is it you need me to help with," the curious young mage.

"Cultivation", the magus said with a smile as he handed him the pestle and cubicle.

"Cultivation," the young mage repeated somewhat confused.

"Yes, sir young master and an important step this is. As I said the first step after you find the herbs is to immediately dry them out. You can't burn them, but you can dry them in the sun or near a fire. Please understand that long hours under the sun would be the preferred method.

Most herbologist and alchemists prefer to hunt for herbs in the early morning before the dew even dries on the plants. They then cut the herbs very near the stems and place them in a container or herb pouch as they are most often called. Then they will let them sit on large flat stones called sunders, for the entire portion of sunlight.

When the sun goes down the good alchemist will pestle or cultivate the herbs as soon as they bring them off the sunder. Once pestled the herbs should either be frozen via a good ice spell and placed in an ice vacuum or immediately brewed into potions and elixirs," the magus said as he produced a variety of the items from his alchemy satchel.

He then noticed that Kyjus was not using the pestle correctly, 'If I may young master," he said as he nodded toward the pestle and crucible.

"The correct way to pestle an herb is to grind five times. This means you turn as you place the pestle on the herbs and as you push the pestle against the herbs and crucible you then turn the pestle one rotation in a clockwise manner unless of course you happen to be left-handed and then you would turn it counterclockwise.

"What happens after the fifth turn," Kyjus asked interrupting the magus' explanation.

"I was about to get to that young master. After you pestle the herb five times you then tilt the pestle and scrape the crushed herb into a pile, and you begin again. You continue this process until the herbs are a fine powder. That is one of the reasons that the leaves must be dried out. If they are not completely dried, they will never turn to dust and no dust means they won't dissolve and that means your potions will fail and your elixirs will only retain a minimal portion of their effectiveness," the magus said with some finality and emphasis.

"So, I take it dried herbs and proper pestling is considered to be an important process of alchemy," Kyjus said with a definite lack of enthusiasm as he suddenly understood why he got shafted with pestling. The job appeared to be lame and boring.

"You are quite right master Kyjus, without a good start to the alchemy process even the best alchemist would be wasting his time in the dissolution process," the magus responded missing the young mages sarcasm entirely.

Well, he offered to help and who knows maybe it won't be so bad and learning a new skill would be great fun and could be very beneficial.

Kyjus smiled back to the Magus as he began his pestling duties. He was somewhat happy and relieved when the magus pulled another pestle and crucible out of his satchel and then another.

"Well, Syrus and I did not intend on letting you have all the fun," the magus said with a smile.

"Quite right young master we certainly were not," Syrus said as he approached the two of them and removed one of the pestles and crucibles from the makeshift bench in front of him.

More than an hour went by before they had got all of the herbs pestled. The magus took the entire crucible of crushed fennel and placed it into some sort of metal container. He then enacted an ice spell upon it.

"To keep it fresh," he said to Kyjus. "Of course, I will have to reapply the spell daily since I do not have an ice vacuum handy,' he said further explaining the process to his young apprentice.

"Alright with all of that let's get on with the fun stuff before you go boring the young lad to death," Syrus said with a chuckle.

"Alright, alright keep your blooming shirt on will ya. Will get to all of that but first I believe we should explain what we are doing what we need to mix etc," the magus said to Syrus.

"If you mean the basic alchemy lecture, I gave him that a month ago back on Desmonia. Didn't the lad tell ye that," Syrus asked of the magus.

The magus shook his head indicating he did not. He seemed somewhat hurt by that revelation.

"So, you knew most of what I told you then," the magus asked of the young mage.

Kyjus nodded.

"Then why did you not stop me when I was blathering on about the entire process," Magus Shepplin asked.

"To be honest it was awhile back, and I could have forgotten some of it. I thought some refresher training would be nice. It certainly couldn't hurt," Kyjus said with an apologetic smile.

The magus nodded his agreement with the young mage, smiling again at the young mages pursuit of knowledge.

Kyjus asked to be excused momentarily to retrieve his spell book. He explained that in the back of the book he had written many of the processes and recipes for alchemy and he wanted to make sure he could utilize the book to brew potions and elixirs and to add any recipes he did not already have.

Opening his book, he realized he had not gotten much of a start with the recipes in alchemy. So far, he had learned only elixirs as potions were too volatile for him to mix and of the hundreds of elixirs available, he had only managed to learn four.

Elixir of frost power

Elixir of frost protection

Elixir or fire power

Elixir of fire protection

He walked over to the makeshift bench and watched as the two master alchemists began their preparation.

"Ok young master are you ready," the magus asked.

Kyjus nodded.

"As I said before first, we are going to make elixirs of frost protection," he said to the young mage to which Kyjus unintended response was a groan.

The magus misinterpreted Kyjus' response. "I can assure you this is a very important elixir to this party especially with three mages in our party. Our warriors will most definitely want these running through their veins in case we forget to cast the appropriate protection spells. And then of course they will also help absorb some of the cold chilling air of the ice planet Mylok. I am betting you won't be groaning then…"

"I don't think it was and lack of interest in the elixir that had him groaning was it young master," Syrus questioned the young mage before Magus Sheplin could finish he rather long-winded banter.

Kyjus indicated that not to be the case.

"Well then why did you groan, young master," the magus asked.

"He groaned because he already has been taught that recipe," Syrus responded in kind.

Kyjus nodded his agreement to that statement.

"Well then so I guess if I were to inquire of you what kind of herb you would crush to use in the brewing of this potion you would tell me," the Magus asked hoping to show the young mage that he did in fact not know everything.

"I would reply to you Blackthorn," the young mage responded with a slight smile.

"Bah, that was a lucky guess we only ground up three herbs you had a thirty three percent chance to get it right," the magus said clearly not impressed.

"If I were to ask you…

Kyjus however did not bother to wait for the questions that he knew to be forthcoming but went ahead with his alchemy lesson on making Elixir of Frost protection. "You would use sandarac salve, pure spring water and oil made from the sanctuary rose. You would first take the salve and the pure spring water and combine them in a beaker and place it upon the burner, stirring until it is thoroughly mixed. You would next take oil and add it to the flask stirring until it is thoroughly mixed. Lastly you would add the crushed blackthorn stirring until the powder is fully absorbed. It will turn a milky white color when the potion is finished brewing, usually near ten minutes. Since it is an elixir we place the liquid, that is typically somewhat oily in nature, in six-inch thin flasks," the young mage said, this time grinning ear to ear.

"No one likes a know-it-all young master," the magus said clearly not impressed with all of his ranting of the alchemy process.

"No, they don't, however I think in this instance we could perhaps brew one of the potions with which he is not familiar, and we could then brew this one once he retires to his tent," Syrus said to the magus. Of course, it was much more in the form of a respectful request and not like he was trying to tell the magus what to do.

The magus took it as such but still nodded that is how they would proceed. He fully agreed that teaching the young mage a new alchemy recipe would be must more beneficial than simply reiterating an old one.

"Ok then how about we try an elixir of intellectual superiority. You haven't learned that one yet have you young master," the magus asked somewhat condescendingly.

Kyjus shook his head indicating that he had not learned this this recipe yet, so the magus proceeded.

"Ok we are brewing an elixir so as with all elixirs we will use the six-inch skinny flasks. We will need approximately six flasks for the amount of herb plants that we have so see if you can fetch those out of my blue satchel on the cart," young master.

Kyjus did as he was instructed not liking of course that he was relegated to lackey but knowing full well there was a price to pay for knowledge and in this case, he was more than willing to pay that price.

"Excellent young master," the magus said to Kyjus when he returned with the agreed upon elixir flasks.

"Now I have set out the ingredients in front of you. For this elixir we need the green leaves and yellow flowers of the anise verum plant. Those you so diligently pestled earlier, and I have placed said crucible bowl here," the magus said as he gestured toward the bowl in front of them.

"We will also be using the salve from the stems of the carabe plant, I have brought some of what I prepared a few weeks ago. These should suffice for the amount of brewing we are taking on this evening. They are in the wooden jar here," the magus said as he pointed to the jar on the table next to the pestled herbs.

"We will also be using pure spring water and Kyphi oil. The water is in the canteen in front of you and the oil is in the blue carafe and is appropriately labeled. You now know all the materials needed so let us begin," the magus said as he pointed toward the spare set of goggles on a nearby makeshift chair.

Kyjus noted all of the items necessary to brew the elixir down in the back of his spellbook and then fetched the goggles and placed them over his eyes.

Since you already are aware of the processes in which you so eloquently explained I will let you take the lead on making these elixirs.

Kyjus gulped as he now realized that his arrogance came with a price. He was quite nervous be he was confident he could do this, so he made his way up to the makeshift lab.

* * * *

An hour had gone by, and the process was nearing its completion. Overall Kyjus had done quite well, there were a few minor problems with not stirring the salve and water mixture enough and then with stirring to much once the oil was added and of course we can't forget that he was going to add the oil a couple of minutes too soon which would have ruined the entire mixture. None of this made the young mage feel remotely satisfied with his performance but in the end both Syrus and Magus Sheplin agreed it was a notable performance for a first-time brewer.

Syrus took notes in Kyjus spellbook of the entire procedure so that the young mage could refer back to them on the next occasion he attempted to brew this elixir.

The elixir neared its completion as Kyjus grabbed a mitt and placed it on his left hand. He then grabbed the metal tongs and secured the beaker of elixir. The smaller flasks were on the table lined up in a flask carrier cart.

Kyjus grabbed the funnel handle and placed the small tip within the first beaker. He then poured the elixir into the flask, stopping when the mixture was about one inch from the top of the flask.

Kyjus repeated this five times until the beaker was nearly empty. There was enough for six flasks, just like the magus had said there would be.

He smiled knowing he still had a lot to learn in all of this. Not just the alchemy but in his spell casting as well. Both the magus and Syrus were pleased with his progress as was he so all he could do now was to continue, hoping that time and lady luck would be on his side.

The young mage smiled at the irony of his newly structured life.

After his successful brewing and stopping of the elixirs, Kyjus went to bed leaving the other two mages the task of brewing the second group of elixirs and any potions they saw fit to brew.

It was not long after his eyes shut that he was fast off to sleep dreaming of dragons and other creatures of evil until his thoughts rested finally upon the princess. They had conversations, in his dream that would have made him blush in reality as she stripped away her old ill-conceived thought processes making room for a new set of beliefs that would have 'made her mother proud'.

Kyjus was confused about the dream when he awoke the next morning. It was still quite early as the sun had not yet crested the expanse of mountains; they had traversed a day earlier.

Shaking his head to orient himself Kyjus could hear the birds chirping and the wind blowing ever so gently as the smell of flowers wafted upon it. Kyjus also now clearly made out the sound of horses. They became louder as they got closer until the sound stopped. Peeking out the front of his tent Kyjus noticed there were about ten to twelve soldiers, he guessed from their attire.

One of the soldiers was dismounting. The soldier then made his way toward Syrus and Magus Shepplin.

Quickly the young mage dressed and exited his tent as his curiosity had gotten the better of him and he needed to know what these strangers were about.

Kyjus' review of the situation once he had exited his tent was far less dismal than his original assessment. It is true that there were a dozen or so horses but more than half of them were rider less.

Had the patrol of men come upon some bad luck in a meeting with the Eerikye? Kyjus dismissed that thought as soon as entered his mind. These were most likely soldiers of Borensia given their close proximity to the city.

From everything Kyjus had heard Borensia was a major city or perhaps the major city in this region. It's true its proximity to the scorched earth territory may have made it a target but the city itself was said to be a fortress and its army would have been ten times that of entire Eerikye nation.

Kyjus did not think these men had been attacked by the Eerikye for that reason alone. If you also considered that the men that were alive and present were not hurt or injured in any way that told Kyjus all that he needed to know. These guys were a normal patrol.

That left only one question to be answered, why were some of the horses without riders. Only one way to find he thought to himself as he advanced toward the riders.

The apparent leader of the patrol had already elected to dismount but the other riders decided to stay perched upon their horses. Another good sign Kyjus thought as if they had elected to fight most certainly all would have dismounted and drawn their weapons. The fact that they did not only reinforced Kyjus theory to himself, in that these men meant them no harm. Yet his curiosity still got the better of him as he edged closer to hear what was going on.

"Good morning to you," the leader of the soldiers said as he extended his hand to both Syrus, Magus and Hawk who joined the others as the stranger approached.

"And to you my good sir," Syrus said as he was taking the lead in this encounter since he was very familiar with the Borensia Army and its soldiers. The others knowing this had no qualms about it and therefore offered no resistance.

Perhaps this was another time that the elders of the group had planned ahead. Kyjus could not be sure, but he would not have been surprised by it should that turn out to be the case. Smiling he strained to listen from behind a nearby tree.

"My name is Captain Theodius Skye. I am a good friend of Flodius. I am the commander of his portion of the Borensia army. He sent word of your arrival into these parts and requested that we help extricate you to Borensia," the Captain said with an extremely disciplined tone.

"Is Flodius worried for our survival," Syrus asked. There was concern in his tone for if the Eerikye were so powerful that they had Borensia back on its heels then there was little this band could hope to accomplish against such a dangerous adversary.

"Hardly," the captain responded quite smugly. "The great mage simply is aware of your desire for speed and has therefore instructed me to personally see to your swift delivery," the captain replied.

Syrus nodded his understanding and then looked toward the horses.

"Yes, you are correct in your assessment, the horses are meant to help in that expedition process. Although truth be told we did not know how many to bring as Flodius' informant is not known for her counting ability.

"By the looks of things, you have brought us six horses, in truth we have eight members to our party," Syrus responded in kind.

"Well, it looks like two of our horses are going to get a work-out," the captain said in a joking manner.

Syrus and the Magus both responded with a slight chuckle, Hawk ever the warrior showed no response at all.

"Very well captain, let us pack our things and we can be on our way," Syrus said to the captain who nodded his acceptance of the situation.

It took a little less than an hour for the band of adventurers to collapse their tents and pack up all of their belongings into backpacks and carts.

Kyjus stoically went about his business; he appropriated two of the elixirs he had made last night, with the Magus permission of course. He was also handed all of the frost protection elixir potions and was instructed that all except for the mages needed to get one of these. Since only five of the potions were brewed, this worked out splendidly.

Kyjus then made sure both his alchemy/spell book and his book about the Eerikye were in his robes front pocket. He then double and triple checked his area to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything. Once this was done, he proceeded over to be with the rest of his group.

"Well, I think it's quite simple, we have eight riders and six horses, this means two of the horses will need to carry two riders. Since Weemus and Deemus are the smallest I feel, they should get paired up with the two smallest of the rest of the group. That would be Kelsee and Kyjus by my estimations," Kyjus overheard Syrus say as he made his way over to the group.

The rest of his party and Captain Skye nodded their agreement.

"Well, I will go with the boy and my brother can ride with the Princess," Weemus said with an energetic smile.

Kyjus cursed his luck. It's not that he didn't like Weemus as he most certainly and very much did like the little gnome. He would have however, preferred to have been paired up with the princess. To have her wrapping her arms around his waist, her long flowing blond hair resting upon his back and shoulders as she gently nestled up to his back. The scent of her perfume wafting by, he could almost smell the beauty contained within that imagery.

Kyjus stood there dumbfounded, smiling at nothing, and looking quite the goof until Weemus broke him from his trance.

"Master Kyjus, are you OK," Weemus asked as he gently shook the young mage, awakening him from his daydream.

"Oh yes my apologies friend I was just thinking about something," Kyjus responded with a somewhat sheepish grin.

"Uh huh, and I wager I know what or who," the little gnome said softly so that only he could here. "Perhaps the prophets really did know what they were talking about all those thousands of years ago," he said with a grin again to no one in particular.

The riders of Borensia led the way down the mountain trail with the Captain riding next to Syrus chatting as they went. The rest of the chosen followed with Magus Shepplin and Hawk bringing up the rear.

"So, my good captain you had stated that you were told by my friend Flodius to come retrieve us and get us to Borensia, which in truth was our destination, but what had it not been. Flodius must understand that we are operating under a significant time restraint given our current situation what if we had elected to not come with you, hypothetically speaking," Syrus asked with a smile.

"I cannot pretend to understand the ways of mages and wizards but all I can tell you is that he emphasized your lack of available time to me, and I was suggested, that if you refuse to come with us, I should tell you that Master Flodius would be available and very much interested to help your current expedition," the Captain replied.

"Would he now," Syrus responded in a somewhat pleasantly surprised tone. "And what kind of help could we be anticipating from Master Flodius," the old mage asked of the captain.

"Now Master Syrus you of all people should know that mages are a secretive lot. The details of his plan for your operation were not made available to me, in fact at no point was any information pertaining to your operation made available to me," the captain replied.

It was interesting to note that there wasn't any sarcasm in his tone, although he was indeed a proud soldier, he did not appear to have any regrets in regards to his current station as being a messenger boy.

Syrus believed him completely in his position that he knew precious little about what Flodius had planned for his group. He also felt the captain was unaware the prophecy was being fulfilled right before his very eyes.

The only question to entertain was what information he should tell the captain. While he believed in a person's right to know the events that are unfolding around them, he was not however, privy to the relationship with which Captain Skye and Flodius shared.

He fully believed it was not an issue of trust as there was little doubt that a mage of Flodius decree would work with someone they did not trust. Without understanding the complexities of the relationship, he decided it best if he kept things about their adventure to himself.

So, the old mage decided to switch gears in his conversation with the captain. "I was wondering if you might know how it was Master Flodius became aware of our whereabouts," he asked of the captain.

"Yes, that information is known to me and as luck would have it for you and yours, I was not forbade to parlay it to you," the captain responded with a smile. You could tell he was enjoying this cat and mouse information game with Syrus.

"And the answer would be," Syrus followed up without showing a hint of irritation in his voice.

"Although the answer is known to me and even given that I was not specifically instructed to relay this information to your group so if it is all the same to you Master Syrus I believe it best that you find this information out directly from Master Flodius. My apologies sir," the captain responded.

Syrus took the information or rather the lack there of, in stride. Most likely it was due to the fact that he half expected the answers that he received. Deciding it was best not to pursue questions of this nature any longer he resided himself to conversations of weather, government, and the status of affairs in Borensia, how Master Flodius was doing in general and anything else that he could think of to discuss. All of the types of information that a Captain of an army would love and be permitted to parlay.

Very few other conversations sprung up on the more than near hour long trip to Borensia. Weemus and Kyjus talked about the gnomes book. Kelsee and Deemus said not a word other than to discuss birds or flowers they encountered on the journey.

Skarnum and Hawk being ever vigilant surveyed the land keeping an eye out for ambushes and the like, which left Magus Shepplin feeling very bored and all alone. It was safe to say that he enjoyed this leg of their trip the least.

It was a short trip and an uneventful one as that as the group of adventurers now saw the city as the path ended and the copse of woods subsided. The green grass of the open prairie shifted to and fro as the winds blew ever so slightly.

The pathway from the mountain opened up not far from the road. In a few short minutes the travelers arrived at the main road to Borensia. It was made of small two toned grey colored bricks placed side by side in a decorative pattern. It was smooth compared to the rough and bumpy texture of the ground, so the adventures were grateful for the presence of the pavement.

With the Borensia guard, specifically Captain Theo, the group had absolutely no problem entering through the protective gates of the city proper. They headed toward the castle at the far end, not deviating from the main street.

They passed modest housing, inns, decorative cathedrals, a statue of a wizened wizard holding a staff, a flower garden, and other scenes of sheer beauty.

Kyjus was awestruck that such beauty was to be had in such a far-off place as this. He reveled in the people of Borensia and its scenery as they slowly trotted down the street.

At first Kyjus had thought they were going to the large castle, but they were about a block away when the group of soldiers leading them turned left down a street that took them away from the castle.

The street was lined with small houses that were all nearly identical in size, style, and color. The street ended in a cul-de-sac. At the end of the cul-de-sac was a much larger different style of house.

There were horse tethers in the front of the house but not enough for all of the horses. It did not matter as several of the soldiers ended up escorting most of the horses off to the left around the large house.

"Master Flodius is awaiting your arrival. Go ahead and knock on the door and his attendant will see to announcing you," the Captain said as he took the reins of Syrus horse.

"It's been a pleasure Captain Skye," Syrus said as he extended his hand toward the captain.

The two shook hands and parted ways as the Captain and his men left to address the needs of the horses and the adventures went to meet with Master Flodius.

Magus was making his way toward the porch as he had just tethered the mule and cart to the stock posts, when Syrus knocked on the door.

"Just a minute" came a small, sweet voice from within. It sounded a lot like a gnome would sound only female.

Moments later the voices owner opened the door. It was in fact a young female gnome. "How may I help you folks," she asked in an extremely pleasant tone.

"We are here to meet with Master Flodius," Syrus responded in kind as he removed his hat and dipped his head ever so slightly following the local customs of acquaintance.

"Ah, you must be the group of adventurers he was expecting. Well come on then let's not waste time dawdling out here where everyone can feast their eyes upon ye. Come on inside, quickly now," she said as she waived the group of adventurers in the door.

After the last one entered, she peered out the door to see if anyone was minding business that they should not have been. When satisfied they were not, she shut the door and escorted her guests up the steps into the back part of the house, into a parlor of sorts. It was well lit with many shelves of books. There were two large wooden tables with chairs, ample room for everyone to sit.

"Please have a seat. I will inform Master Flodius of your arrival, he will be here shortly. My name is Lilmck, please give me a shout if you need anything," she said as she made her way toward the parlor exit.

"Do we really have time to waste here waiting for the ramblings of some addle brained old coot," Skarnum said with a hint of distaste.

This of course did not go over well with any of the party and Syrus most of all was in no mood to deal with the likes of this young whelp.

"First of all, Master Flodius is not addle brained or at least he wasn't when I last laid eyes upon him several years ago. Second of all this is the best place in all the realms to come to gain knowledge about the Eerikye as this cities proximity to scorched earth keeps them ever apprised of the Eerikye's comings and goings. Lastly it is my belief that Master Flodius intends on being a help to our adventure not a hindrance so if you have nothing to say of benefit to this expedition kindly sit your arse down and keep yer trap shut," Syrus responded clearly upset at the young Hybonian's lack of manners.

The young prince was about to issue a retort when Master Flodius made his entrance most likely saving the boy from further chastising and pain.

"Well, it's good to know your spirits ain't improved much," he said with a chuckle as he entered the room pulling the double doors closed behind him.

Kyjus smiled as he hadn't even noticed the doors were there as they were recessed into the wall.

"Flodius, my brother it's good to see you and thank you for seeing us on such short notice," Syrus said as he extended his hand towards the newcomers.

"You are most welcome, but it is I that should be thanking you. My den of hobgoblins can be quite crotchety when they are on the prowl for food. I was so very glad to hear that you were able to calm them. You even managed to kill the beast that ravaged their home and slayed parts of their family. I am truly in your debt," Flodius said as he took an empty seat at one of the tables.

"You know the hobgoblins from the caves within the mountain," Syrus posed the question curiously.

"Yes, I dare say I know Lyla for you see it was I that rescued her pups from the beasts that your group managed to slay. I should say I am very curious as to how that happened but in the interest of time let me just say there was something not right about that male. I sensed it from the moment I laid eyes upon him. It was as if he was not what he pretended to be. Lyla reported to me that on many occasions he would leave the tunnels at night for the open air. I am sure you are aware that Basilisk are not known for their love of the great outdoors yet this one frequented the out of doors quite often. At least that that was the story reported to me several months back," Flodius said in a very unassuming yet questioning manner.

"As you suspected it most definitely was not a Basilisk, as we fought the beast and killed its mates. When focusing our efforts on the beast itself, it changed from the form of the Basilisk into that of a deep purple Wyvern. It was all we could do to destroy the foul beast for it was old and strong. I guess you could say it seemed ancient even by the standards of dragon kind," Syrus responded.

"A Wyvern and purple you say. Well admittedly that explains much. It coincides with what I am about to tell you now and to be honest it is one of the reasons that I have sought your presence in this meeting," Flodius said to the group.

It was now his turn to weave his tale. "It was not long after the events at Aberdeen that I become frustrated with the Eerikye. Admittedly they had never been an overly peaceful colony of humanoids, but they typically respected the rights of other people and their property. They were content to dwell within the area we call scorched earth and if you left them alone, they would leave you alone," Flodius stated to which Syrus nodded his agreement.

"It all changed about eight to ten years ago when Chief Macaw instituted a plan to unite the tribes of the Eerikye. There were small pockets of resistance at first but then his clan, the clan of the Black Unicorn, became so powerful that very few tribes would stand against them. Of those that did he picked out the talent he desired and eliminated the pockets of resistance. Once the members of the tribe started to disappear its remaining members started to believe that Chieftain Macaw was picked by the gods and that to defy him was to defy the gods. It was at that point the tribe would fall victim to the Black Unicorn and would join their ranks," Flodius paused as Lilmck entered the chambers with drinks for the entire group.

"I will bring your lunch shortly Master Flodius," the gnome said with a smile.

"Excellent work Lilmck, thanks so much for your help," Flodius responded as the gnome hurried out of the room with her pink hair bobbing up and down in her pigtails. She was already off to fetch the rest of the groups lunch.

"Now where was I, oh yes let me see the rounding up of the tribes. It has been rumored that the leader of the Eerikye, Chieftain Macaw, has been seen in the presence of a very large black unicorn on the nights of the full moon. Although some swear the beast had an almost purplish hue to it. If you put that fact and the fact that we know the basilisk was an ancient Wyvern with the ability to shape change I think it is pretty easy to see that the Wyvern is our legendary Black or shall we say deep Purple Unicorn." Flodius said as he addressed the group.

Syrus nodded, "the only question is who is pulling whose string in all of this mess. It's obvious that the Chief gains much by this arrangement as all of the tribes believe him to be the one true leader as a child of their god has paid him homage. However, I doubt seriously that the chieftain would have the brawn to force the wyvern into action. In fact, after facing, it I am sure he would not so I think we can safely rule him out."

"Perhaps but I suspect as I am sure you do also that the chief is not really the chief but rather is something else posing as Chieftain Macaw. It is my belief that the real chief has long since been disposed of. Rumors have it that even the Chiefs brother keeps at a distance, so he is not subjected to his brothers ire so that I think takes us back to square one," Flodius said to a now confused group.

Most did not have enough knowledge of the Eerikye to comprehend the entire conversation, of the group only the Magus and Syrus fully understood the events that had just unfolded.

"At any rate I think we are going past the scope of this meeting. Mind you we have uncovered some interesting discussion here and I will look into it you can be sure of that but let's get to the business at hand," Flodius said to Syrus, and the rest of the group gathered in his study.

As he was about to start the rest of his conversation Lilmck walked into the room with a large tray full of food. A smile beaming from ear to ear such a joy she was to view with her extremely pleasant attitude. There were a certain pair of brothers that were not afraid to do any viewing as they two were smiling brightly as the little gnome entered the parlor.

Of course, it could have been the tray of several types of breads from rye to oat to white and wheat or perhaps it was the buns, croissants, bread, bagels, or the ciabatta type bread.

Or it could have been various types of meats piled high upon the tray, everything from ham to turkey to some type of spread with red and green specks in it. There were various types of cheeses as well some white and some yellow and some a combination of the two.

Maybe, just maybe it was the several small bowls of different types of fruits, some that Kyjus recognized some that he did not. Or was it the large bowl of some type of orange potato chip that had the gnome brothers unequivocally enthralled.

Most likely it was the extreme beautiful small feminine creature bearing the promises of lunch Kyjus mused to himself as he smiled. This he figured was the reason for Weemus and Deemus sudden change in demeanor.

The young mage smiled as he looked at the two brothers and then over to the spread that Lilmck sat in front of him. It all looked delicious, and truth be told he was quite hungry as he ate very little of the fish last night as he typically did not enjoy fish of any kind. And since this morning's breakfast consisted of a juice and some jerky and cheese to say that he was hungry was somewhat of an understatement.

After everyone had their food Flodius began again. "To say that the birdmen are dangerous to this area and quite possible the entire region is something I have found to be true over the past year. I have been inclined to wonder on many occasions just how far the Chief is willing to try and spread his sovereign reign. I have also given great thought as to what this new chief actually is and what he is capable of. It is for those reasons I had decided to send a group of men to find out exactly what is going on with the black unicorn clan and to put a stop to it if the opportunity presents itself. Since learning from Syrus several weeks ago that your objectives are essentially the same I postponed my mission as I think we can most likely help each other out, hopefully to the mutual gain of all involved," Flodius said with a smile.

Syrus too smiled as he now understood the reasoning behind this visit. In truth that is one of the reasons that he had been in contact with the old mage more than a week ago. He had long ago given a com device to Flodius, despite the council's ramblings of appropriate political concealment.

Searching for help and hope against the Eerikye he contacted Flodius nearly two weeks earlier, not long after the council had decided they could visit this region to exact revenge upon those that harmed the innocent villages scattered throughout the scorched earth.

The little group of adventures was going to help Borensia find out just what the birdmen were up to and put a stop to it. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement for both parties, to say the least. The last thing that Kyjus had heard before he left the parlor was Syrus talking to Flodius. He had told him that he would contact him when it was done. He would provide further information and instruction at that point. Flodius nodded his understanding.

Syrus noticed the ever-observant nature of the young mage and smiled. He had been counting on Kyjus overhearing that part of his conversation.

* * * *

In the end nearly fifty of Borensia's best soldiers, many of whom where Flodius' personal guard, would accompany the small group of adventurers. They would all be outfitted with horses and several carts stockpiled with food and water, enough for at least ten days of travel.

They met later that evening near the towns outer gates, Syrus had noticed that none of the soldiers bore any of the colors of Borensia. He surmised this was to keep the city from being retaliated upon, there was no sense in calling attentions where it need not be drawn the old mage thought to himself.

"A most excellent play old friend," Syrus muttered as he mounted his horse. Issuing his thanks, he and the other adventurers exited the city.

Most of the little group of adventurers did not know it yet but they were about to embark upon the first part of the final battle of the prophecy. One they would soon not forget.