Jaek

Jaekel discussed his dream with Kaldrek for a while. It always made the young prince feel better to talk about these dreams of his. Well, most of them anyway. There were a few dreams he had had that he did not feel comfortable talking about with anyone. At least not yet. Perhaps there would come a time when he would feel comfortable discussing it with someone else but for now he would keep it to himself.

After a while though he left the older man and went to go see what else he could get into. He wondered what Rune was doing right now. But he decided that it would probably be a good idea for him to brush up on his swordsmanship.

Jaekel was not the best with a sword, but he could hold his own in a fair fight. And in an unfair fight, he had an ability that did give him an edge. He could sense what was about to happen in those circumstances. In a friendly duel this did not happen, only when there was an actual threat of danger.

But that would only get him so far if he truly got into a real fight with a worthy opponent. So he tried to learn sword techniques to aid him if he ever had need for it. After all, the world might seem to have peace but that was a happy illusion. True all the kingdoms were at peace, but there were two lands that had no kingdom and there was always a chance that they would gain one and that it would be hostile.

Nix'Ryl might not be likely as it had been dormant for eons, but the land where Dormiz had once stood was teeming with people who really did not like the civilized kingdoms. After all, they had razed the entire kingdom to the ground during the war.

As much as people felt uncomfortable about Nix'Ryl, no one liked talking about Dormiz and what had happened. Because it was truly frightening just thinking about how close its king had come to actually putting everyone in subjection to him.

So yeah, the young prince considered that a kingdom suddenly arising in Dormiz would be more likely to be hostile, while one rising in Nix'Ryl had a fifty percent chance either way. And it making a civilization might actually improve relations, as its chief problem was that it was too anarchical. No rules meant nothing to stop people from doing whatever they wanted. Nix'Ryl was a good reminder of exactly why it was necessary to have government.

So Jaekel spent the rest of the day, practicing what he usually just ignored. And when nighttime fell, he dragged himself off to bed, feeling exhausted. He hoped that he would not have a dark dream tonight, they always seemed to make it harder for him to sleep.

"Several Months later, in the ruins near the middle of Nix'Ryl:

'Stones covered in moss. Tangled vines growing up the walls. Torchlight flickered. Two indistinct shapes on the wall.

A female voice rang out, echoing in the silent halls, "This would make a nice base, don'tcha think?"

"Of course. But first we must find what we seek, my dear Jemma." A man's voice, soft spoken, with a hint of underlying cunning.

"Are you sure they even exist?" The woman sounded a bit petulant. "I mean, c'mon. A staff that can control the elements, all the elements? And the crown as well? They seem a little farfetched and fantastical. Can we even trust that Gormik fellow? I mean, sure it's all well and good that he seems to want to help us, but what does he get out of it?"

"You ask too many questions. Of course, he wants to be our right hand man once we force all the world at our feet."

The corridor ended at a door, a small wooden one, that was not entirely ruined. A few stones lay in the way, but it did not take too much effort for the man and woman to move them.

After they unstuck the door they entered a room that was grand, and open to the sky. A tree grew in the middle of the room, its roots digging around the crumbling stones and going into the ground. Old skeletons littered the floor, giving a sense of death.

The two were quiet as they entered. As they searched the woman suddenly let out a soft note of delight, "The crown! Hackeros! I found the king's crown!"

"Delightful! Bring it here, we still need to find the staff." He frowned, and then paused in front of a stone man, "And here I think I found it. Now how to get it out -?" '"

That was when Jaekel woke up with a sense of dread creeping up his spine. Something deep inside him told him that these people were up to no good and that it was imperative to stop them.