Book Excerpt 1

            

Raven reached up and wiped the gore and sweat from his eyes. The remaining goblins had scattered into the forest and were currently running as fast as their stubby legs would carry them. Eight or so corpses littered the ground around him, some still twitching out their final death throes. He heard a noise behind him and spun around, staff twirling, only to see Necros still trampling the body of goblin into the ground.

“I think you got him” Raven remarked with a smile.

Necros looked up shook out his mane and stepped on it one more time for good measure. The horse was a very imposing sight. Sixteen hands high at the shoulder. jet black from head to hocks with hooves dark as coal, as sharp as daggers. Born and bred every inch a war-horse, eyes as black as onyx and frighteningly intelligent. Approximately four or five bodies were on the ground around the stallion, maybe more, it was hard to tell. Most so thoroughly crushed into the forest floor it looked as though he was standing in a patch of green mud sprinkled with broken white twigs.

“You seemed to make a good accounting of yourself” Raven said as he walked over to the horse. Necros whinnied with a great show of teeth and a snort, Raven could feel the horses pride and satisfaction. While still a few feet from reaching the saddle Raven saw a goblin that was still alive off to his left slowly crawling towards the underbrush on the side of the trail. He casually tossed the staff from his right hand to his left and continued the movement around into an almost negligent backhanded swing. The deceptively powerful stroke caught the goblin on the back of the head slamming its face into the dirt and crushing in the back of its skull like an over ripe melon. It twitched a few more times like it was still trying to make it to the safety of the bushes before it finally expired.

Raven thought about rifling the bodies, but then looked at the poor pathetic little creatures wearing uncured hides and rusted armor scavenged from gods knew where, and decided it wasn’t worth the effort.

“That’s enough fun for today” the warrior said as he walked up to the horse and patted him on the neck. “It’s time to get moving again.” As Raven was preparing to swing himself into the saddle Necros snaked his head around to take a nip out his riders’ leg. Raven backhanded him across the nose with out even looking and with such practiced ease it was obvious this was a game they played quite often.

He continued his casual journey down the trail, watching a falcon ride the air currents amid the back drop of a clear blue sky. The bird folded its wings and went into a steep dive, seeing something on the ground it wanted to become a little better aquatinted with. Raven watched it fall from the sky till he lost it behind the trees, wondering if he had caught his meal.

 Looking down at himself he felt disgusted, and in desperate need of a bath. His black knee high boots, tan leather leggings, and black, tooled leather vest were filthy. Covered in blood and chunks of things he chose not to dwell on.  His scale mail shirt would need some attention as well. Gods he thought, the inside of a goblin smelled almost as bad as the outside. Foul little creatures. Even in his current state though, there was still something regal about him. 

 He was a six and a half feet tall give or take and weighed well over 250 pounds. His hair was jet black worn in a braid that fell to just between his shoulder blades. It was held with a silver clasp that looked like a Raven in flight, claws extended, and sapphire chips as eyes. Almost the exact color of Ravens own eyes. His were a very deep, striking blue, like the sky just before twilight, but with flecks of silver that sometimes sparkled in the light. He also had a corona around the pupils of his eyes the color of steel that seem to swell when he was upset or angry. His was the kind of stare that could look right through you or pin you to the wall. The eyebrows were thick and black, his lashes long. His jaw was square and strong, cheek bones high but not angular, a straight aquiline nose split his face and a wide mouth with thick red lips and white teeth sat below it. His skin was deeply tanned, almost golden in color. His chest was as wide as two men and his arms and legs were thick and corded with muscle. He looked to be somewhere around 30 winters old.    

 

The only thing not covered with gore was his staff. Not one drop of blood or piece of flesh stuck to it, nothing ever did. It was beautiful, a work of art. It was six and a half feet long and three inches thick at the moment and black as the darkest night except that the grain in the wood seemed to be made of platinum. Like every small line was inset with precious metal by a master craftsman, but such was not the case.  Not a scratch, not a chip, it looked exactly the same as the night he was first given it, the night it was forged. And it had seen a lot of use in the intervening years.

 He settled back into the saddle and let the sound of the returning wildlife lull him a little. He kept his senses tuned to the world around him but let his mind wander back to his time with the Elves. It was many years ago and yet every detail of that time was still fresh in his mind, like it happened just yesterday, Indelibly etched in his memory, in a way that no amount of time would ever have the power to dim.

He was walking through a forest not unlike this one but many leagues to the west and north. Strolling actually is a better word. He was in no hurry. He heard of a tribe of elves living in this part of the world, and was hoping they might be able to help him where everyone else he’d seen had failed. He had had it, traipsing all over the known world and some parts yet to be discovered by “civilized people”. Having his hopes dashed at every turn, seeking out wizards and sages. Now he just wandered for the sheer fun and adventure of it, no longer driven by the maddening loss and loneliness he sometimes felt. But if there was someone near by that might have answers to his many questions…..he figured what the hell? 

   There was the sound of a creek up ahead and he thought it might be a pleasant place to spend the night. He dropped his pack and other supplies by the water and was just finishing his fire pit when a woman’s scream cut through the air. Without thinking twice, or even once for that matter, he grabbed his sword and went flying in the direction of the yell.

The vambraces on his forearms were taking a beating as he tried to protect his face from the branches that were whipping past his body as he ran. He came up over a small rise and saw a woman and her children about to become lunch for four of the biggest bugbears he had ever seen. They were over seven feet tall and weighed at least six hundred pounds. They were covered with dark, matted hair, had small black eyes sunk into their faces and large teeth, with two lower teeth curved up from the bottom over the upper lip, like a boar. Their arms hung down almost to the knees, where they ended in giant paws that had four fingers ending in sharp claws nearly 5 inches long. The woman was standing over some children with a sword in her hand and seemed to be holding them off, or maybe they were just playing with their food. Whipping the sword back and forth, not randomly, it was clear she knew how to handle it. It didn’t look like the stalemate would last much longer though. They were circling around her very cautiously, showing her some respect, and one was limping with blood running down its side. They would have her surrounded in moments. He was seriously regretting leaving his bow back by the stream, but there was no help for it now. Raven yelled at the top of his lungs to get their attention for it seemed they were about to rush her. He pulled two silver daggers with eight inch blades and hilts that seemed as if they were woven, in an eye twisting pattern, from the inside of his arm guards, one from each, and let both fly from each hand. One of the missiles sunk up to the hilt in a monster’s eye piercing its brain, killing it instantly. It fell to the ground with a tremendous crash, twitched a little then lay still. The second one caught the bugbear with the wound in its side right in the throat. It started gagging and coughing up blood trying to get a breath, hands scrabbling at its neck,  before its eyes rolled up and it finally fell over with a crash and kicked out the last of its life. The daggers reappeared in the sheaths in his guards, one of their most useful attributes, but he was too close to his adversary to use them effectively now and whipped out his sword. It was a beautiful bastard sword, or hand and half, as they are sometimes called because it can be wielded with one hand or two. It had a slightly pointed tip and was razor sharp on both sides of the blade, good for a thrust or hacking and slashing. The cross piece was wide and made of a silvery metal in the shape of dragons wings with the ends bent upward toward the blade, excellent for trapping an enemies weapon and wrenching it from his grasp. The handle was made of wire wrapped leather and the pommel was in the shape of a dragons head. Solid and heavy making the blade perfectly balanced. 

The woman engaged one whilst the other one came shambling toward Raven roaring out a challenge. It swung one claw at him the size of his head; he ducked the blow and swung around bringing his sword across his body slicing across the animals’ stomach. It didn’t do as much damage as he’d hoped though, the beast had stepped back quicker than Raven had expected, the thick hair and tough hide of the bugbear also served to blunt his stroke some. He heard one of the children cry out behind which distracted him for just a moment as he looked to the side to see what had happened. A rookie mistake, he knew better, he pulled his eyes back but the monsters other hand caught him in the back launching him ten feet into the nearest tree trunk.

He hit it with a dull thump and slid to the ground. He slowly got to his feet with lights exploding behind his eyes and the feeling he’d been hit in the back by a blacksmiths hammer. Only his mail shirt kept his back from being shredded. He swung his sword in front of him to keep the bugbear at bay until he could get his bearings. It didn’t work. Again he was flying through the air to crash to the ground across the clearing. He felt his ribs break and the way it was hard to breathe he thought may be he had punctured a lung.  His whole body was screaming in pain but he fought through it,  crawled to his feet and brought his sword to the fore. The bugbear slowly stalked forward excitement in its dark piggish eyes, already relishing the kill that was to come. Raven locked the pain away in the back part of his mind. He had no time for it now. He could feel himself starting to heal anyway, which on occasion was sometimes as painful as the injury itself. He parried the first swipe with the flat of his blade but it knocked him back a few feet, raised his sword to parry the next, but it was a ruse, he suddenly dropped to his knees below the next swing and slashed from left to right with all his strength. The blow caught the animal on the inside of his left thigh and the superbly sharpened blade sliced all the way down to his knee cap. It stumbled backward grabbing its leg and howling, but it wasn’t as hurt as it tried to appear. Raven hoping to press his advantage charged, with his sword up over his right shoulder. He brought his sword down with all his strength but the bugbear lower its shoulder and stepped into him before he could bring his sword around. Again he was flying through the air, he hit the ground rolling and was hoping all the cracking he heard was from the deadfall beneath him rather than the bones inside him. He healed remarkably fast, but he didn’t want to find out when that ability might become too overtaxed to keep him from the brink of entering the long sleep. He came to a stop at the base of a tree, then, slowly levered himself to his feet.

Blood was bubbling from his lips and he was finding it difficult to draw in air. His lung was definitely punctured now. The beast was on his way towards him again, dragging its injured leg behind it but still coming on pretty fast.  He raised his sword over his shoulder in a two handed grip and started forward to meet the charge, but he was extremely disoriented, and his foot caught in a root and he fell flat on his face. He rolled on to his back, looked over and saw the woman slicing her sword through the other animals neck just before the one he was fighting blocked his view. He raised his arm and blocked the first blow on the brace of his left arm, it absorbed much of the force, but still smashed his arm back into his face crushing his nose and bringing tears to his eyes . He tried to bring his sword around but the bugbear batted it aside and  he lost his grip on it, off it went, flying into the bushes. The other claw was coming in on him and he had nothing to block it with. He knew he was dead. His head to be cracked open like a vallen nut, his body ripped apart and consumed. Out of nowhere an arrow suddenly materialized into the beast’s throat, Raven thought he was almost as shocked as the bugbear at this surprising turn of events. Then five more thumped into its chest in rapid succession. Its eyes glazed over in death and it toppled forward, crushing Raven beneath it. Whether it was the arrow shafts sticking out of its chest or more of Ravens own ribs making that snapping sound he wasn’t sure.  He tried to move, tried to breath, then he did the only thing he could do at that point, he blacked out.     

He awoke some time later not sure where he was or what was going on. There was a very exotic, beautiful face hovering above him. Almond shaped eyes the color of amber, a rather angular face, but not harsh, that was framed in honey blond hair. He tried to speak but nothing came out but a gurgle and a bit of blood.

“Save your strength” she whispered wiping the blood from mouth with a torn off piece of her sleeve. “You are seriously injured and shouldn’t move.” Her voice was very melodic, like water bubbling over pebbles in a brook.

He saw some people standing around them then, but they were just shadows, he couldn’t make them out.  “Just let me rest here” he croaked trying to sit up “ I’ll be fine in a little while”

She looked at him doubtfully, chuckled at his bravado, then gently pushed him back on to the ground and spoke to someone squatting next to her in a language he understood, but at the moment couldn’t quite seem to grasp. The man reached forward laid a hand on his brow and said “Tahavanah”  sleep. That was the last Raven knew for quite sometime.

He awoke  hours later by the position of the sun. He was laying on a litter made of dead branches and woven grass. There was an elf at each end of it carrying him so smoothly he thought for a moment that they weren’t moving at all just standing there holding the make shift stretcher.

“He is awake” the one walking behind called out to the rest of the party. They stopped and lowered him to the ground. He propped himself up on his elbows and looked around. They were in the middle of the forest still on a medium sized game trail heading west. A very tall and regal looking elf knelt down by his side, they all seemed to have that regal look to them but this one looked, well, majestic. His eyes were the color of amethysts and they sparkled the same way. As if the iris’s of his eyes were indeed crafted of the precious gem. His hair was almost pure white with streaks of silver through it, his face was angular, beautiful, perfect, but there was a slightly alien cast to his features. Raven had seen very few full-blooded elves in his travels and this one made them all seem ordinary. He exuded a confidence and power that was captivating but it seemed as though he didn’t realize this effect.

“it’s nice to see you wake, although with the extent of your injuries I didn’t expect you to wake for sometime.” He spoke in the common trading tongue that most people used but there was a melodious singsong quality to it that was beautiful almost as though he were speaking a different language.

“Who are you ?” Raven finally asked after a few moments had passed “and where are you taking me ?”

“I am King Althalanon king of the elves of the western reach” he replied “ and we are taking you to our city Sylvanara . The woman and children that you saved are my wife and heirs.” He said grasping the hand of the woman next to him. “I may never be able to repay you for what you have done but I can see you healed and that you are taken care of while you recover. To be perfectly frank I had feared you would not wake at all, your injuries were severe and we had no healers with us. We field dressed up the most serious of your injuries the best we could and hoped you would survive the journey to our home where we could have our healers repair the damage you sustained.”

“I would appreciate the hospitality but I think I can walk from here” Raven replied climbing to his feet. The elves tried to keep him down telling him he would injure himself even worse if he did not lay still. He waved off their concerns and climbed to his feet. He raised his arms over his head and clasped his hands and stretched. He groaned slightly under his breath as he moved, bending forward and back, side to side, loosening his cramped, over taxed muscles . His ribs were still a little sore but that would pass in a few hours.  He pulled the poultices of leaves, herbs and bark they had applied to his wounds. There was only light pink new skin where before there had been jagged wounds, soon even that would turn to the same deep gold tan as the rest of him and there would be no evidence he had ever been wounded.

Althallanon looked at him with a slightly surprised expression on his face. “How…” he began but Raven for stalled him with a raised hand. “I’ve always been a quick healer” he said

“yes I can see that” the king replied “ well if you will follow us we will be at the city in a short time. Just over the next rise.”

            When they were over the ridge that had been pointed out to him all he saw was a forest. He was in a huge valley and could see the mountains surrounding it on all sides. As they traveled down the ridge he looked more closely at the forest around him. The trees were ancient, and huge. The smallest was perhaps 15 feet wide and the larger ones dwarfed it. Some were tall enough that the tops were lost in the passing clouds, hundreds of feet overhead He just stopped, mouth agape in wonder when he realized what it was he was seeing.  The trees themselves WERE the city. He was farther away then he had first suspected because the trees were so huge. Woven into the canopy of the forest was a myriad of bridges and streets. Not so much as carved out of the woods but looked to be grown that way. As they continued down the road, and the closer they came, the more awe inspiring the city became. The roads of the city were tree limbs wide enough for 10 people to walk side by side with room to spare. There were bridges and ladders and other types of conveyances he had never seen before. Homes and shops were built into the boles of the trees themselves. Again not carved out but some how the trees were coaxed to grow into the necessary shapes that were required of them. It must have taken thousands of years and a tremendous amount of magic to create something on this scale for it went on as far as the eye could see. The elves living with nature, in perfect harmony.

            Raven turned to the king, his mind still reeling from the sights his eyes were trying to take in. “this is astounding” he said feeling his words completely inadequate for what it was he was he was trying to convey. The sheer majesty of the wood made him exhilarated and yet very humbled at the same time.

            The King smiled at this. “Wait” he suggested “  you will see things that no other human ever has. I will show you to a place where you can rest then I must confer with the council to explain your presence. There will be a few who will object. Of that I have no doubt. Be at ease though nothing will happen to you while you are here under my protection. “

            He showed Raven to a tree near the edge of the city and stepped on to platform. He didn’t see him do anything but it slowly rose up into the trees and stopped on one of the landings at least fifty feet from the forest floor. From there he took him down a path on one of the limbs to the bole of the tree that had a door that was almost seamless, still a part of the tree, yet not.

            “Here is where you will rest I will be back for you tomorrow. Food and drink will be brought to you. Please stay here for your own protection. Until everyone knows who you are things may become… complicated. Rest well and again I thank you for the lives of my family.”

Raven entered the room and found it to be very comfortable. It was a fair sized room with a desk in one corner and a table with chairs across from that. There were windows all around and a room in the back with a bed that had a heavy down mattress and blankets that seemed to be made of silk but much thicker. After the rigors and excitement of the day he simply undressed and collapsed into it. He was out a soon as his head hit the pillow.

            It was several days later that he was called to meet with Balatoran the High Druid of the elven kingdom. Raven was a little nervous because he had no idea what to expect or what was expected of him. Althalanon came to collect him that morning with another elf in tow.

            “This is Alazian an acolyte in the temple he will be your guide from now on. I have pressing business and do not have the free time and that I would like. He will show you to your meeting this morning and if all goes well you will be able to go anywhere you like and Alazian will be your escort. “

            “It’s very nice to meet you “ Raven said and reached out his hand. The young elf grabbed his forearm and shook in the warrior’s form of greeting.

“ It is my pleasure he responded”

            Raven walked through the city getting a variety of  looks from all he passed. Some mildly curious to some that were outright hostile.

            “ Don’t let them bother you” the young elf said, “ They are only curious most have never seen a human before and for those that have, well for some it was not a pleasant experience”

            “No offense taken. I’m sure I’m quite the novelty.” He said sardonically

            The young elf gave him a sheepish grin“ I am an apprenticed druid for now. But when my training is complete I wish to spend my time out among the other races, traveling, seeing the world at large. That is why I requested this assignment. I hope you don’t mind but I have many questions for you. “

Raven smiled “I will do the best I can to answer them”

Before long Raven was led to a giant tree that stood off by itself in the center of a field. They walked up to a door Raven wasn’t sure he would have seen without help. It swung open as they approached and they went inside. It was much bigger inside than the outside would have implied. They went through the foyer; every available space on the walls was carved. Plants, vines, animals, birds covered every inch.  He stopped and stared his mouth agape. The workmanship was exquisite. The birds seemed as if they would simply fly right off the walls. It was as if each animal were magically turned into wood and then placed in the wall. It was the same with the plants and trees. Each leaf must have taken many hours to craft. Every vein perfect, every leaf different. There were thousands of them.

            Alazian smiled at him “This entire building is covered with every species of animal and plant that has ever been cataloged . I’m sure there is a goodly portion of the carvings you have never seen before. I come here every spare moment I get, and still I only have knowledge of a small percentage of the plants and creatures on these walls. Raven. RAVEN!!

            “What, Oh sorry I was lost in thought for a moment there. Some of these creatures and plants look very familiar but I can’t place where I have seen them”.

            Looking intrigued Alazian decided to ask him a few questions. “What is this here? “ he said pointing at a creature on the wall. It looked like a scorpion but with 4 claws and 2 tails.

            “ A scorfian. Native to the deserts in the south it is about four and a half feet long. The stinger on the right can kill a large horse in a few seconds but the left one only paralyzes. Although I can’t recall ever running into one“

            As they walked down the hall Alazian would at random point something out. A carving on the walls, floor and ceiling. Most were mundane creatures a lion, an elephant, or penguin. Some were a bit more exotic. There were chimera, griffons,and dragons. Sometimes he didn’t even know if what the answers Raven was giving were true but Raven answered with such conviction he really didn’t doubt it.

            “And this one?” He asked

 “Bunyip” replied Raven” They are a freshwater Sea-Monster. They are large in size, usually topping at about a ton, and have a green fur-like hair on their bodies, usually marked with black spots. They have a bulldog-like face, large teeth, two powerful forearms and a walrus-like tailfin. The adult bunyip grow large brown horns from the top of their heads. “

            “And here?”

            “Terrasques, in essence, are large tortoise-beasts, their shells lined with spikes. From snout to tail-tip they can measure up to 20 feet. This natural armor offers them phenomenal protection, which is quite useful for them since they are not an aggressive animal by nature.

            “You are certainly not short on surprises. For good or ill it is for sure that life will be more interesting with you around”

            They finally came to a door at the end of the hallway and right as they stepped to it, it swung in. Inside there was an elf sitting behind the desk that must have been extremely old. He was just starting to show signs of age, which meant he had to be at least a few thousand years old.

            “You’re late,” he said without preamble.

“My apologies master as Raven and I walked down the hallways he was kind enough to point out the names of some of the creatures I did not know.”

            “Interesting, some of those creatures have been extinct for thousands of years, how did you manage to pick up such knowledge?”

            “I have no idea” Raven replied simply.

            “Really” he replied raising his right eyebrow “I am sure there is a story behind that but for continuity sake why don’t you start at the beginning”           

            “ As you wish. Right around a hundred and fifty years ago, give or take a few, I was found by a merchant vessel floating in the Darkening Sea clutching a log to stay a float. They said I slept for close to a week after they pulled me from the water. They thought I was dead and almost didn’t bother. When I awoke I had no memory of who I was or where I had come from. I remembered nothing at all of my past” he sighed When i woke up the first time that captain asked me my name. Apparently I mumbled Raven and lapsed back to sleep. When I finally awoke for good I didn’t remember saying anything, but I needed a name and while Raven didn’t feel quite right, like a too tight shirt, it stuck though, and I have used it ever since. Other than that nothing, who I was where I was from, not a single thing but a name spoken in a delirium , a true blank slate. Like a babe fresh from the womb. Although the skills from my former life remained intact, such as speech, reading, writing, fighting etc. I could do any job on that ship as well as any seasoned sailor. Sometimes it would take a bit of a jog to get the memories to surface. We were attacked by pirates a few weeks after I was up and around. I disarmed one of the brigands bare handed, Then snapped his neck before I realized what I was doing. I then picked up his cutlass and proceeded to lay waste to any of the men in range. If someone had asked me if I knew how to fight the day before I would have said no, but with my adrenaline pumping and my blood singing I became death itself. I’ve no idea how many men died by my hand that day but to hear it from my shipmates I drove the pirates back almost single handedly.”

When we were just walking down the hallway just now I had no Idea that I knew the names of all of those creatures and plants but when I was asked a question it just came to me. Whether it is sailing, fighting, wood craft, herbs the list goes on. There are some thing’s that I have learned over time in my travels but quite a few I find I already know when the need arises.”

            “But nothing of who you are or where you originally came from”

Nothing and before you ask. Yes. I have been to soothsayers, wizards, hedge witches, fortune tellers, sages and priests of most of the Gods both light and dark but no one has been able to tell me anything about who I was before I awoke on that ship. After 80 years of searching I decided it is not as important who I was as whom I wish myself to be so now I just travel. If I happen to find out whom I really am a long the road so much the better, but it is no longer the all consuming quest that it once was”

            “Well if you don’t mind I’d like to give it a try and see if there is anything I can tell you. “

            “I was hoping that you would. Finding you was one of the reasons I was traveling up this way in the first place”

“Before we get to that I have another question for you. The braces on your forearms, how did you come into possession of them ? ”

“Well” Raven replied “That is actually a fairly interesting story. This was a eighty or so winters back when I was still driven to find anyone who might be able to break through this mental/magical block or whatever it is to the mystery of my origin.   I was in the jungles in the east in search of an old tribal medicine man I’d heard about in a local village. I was traveling along on foot when I was caught in a terrible freak storm. It blew up out nowhere with no warning. Crashing thunder, jagged streaks of lightening and rain falling so hard it stung the skin. The trail I was on suddenly washed away beneath me and I went careening down the side of a steep hill, almost a cliff. I slid down on a wave of mud and water, bouncing off of trees and boulders. Whenever I got a finger hold a fresh wave would swamp me and I was off again sliding out of control. Finally after what seemed forever I flew off of what must have been a 30 foot cliff into deep pool of water. I fought my way to the surface and wearily swam to the edge. As I lay with my head on the ground gasping for breath,  I spotted a cave entrance grown over almost completely with plants and vines. I dragged myself out of the water and I went in to get out of the weather.

I pushed my way through the vegetation and crawled into the cave. It was maybe fifteen feet to the ceiling and twice that wide. At the back was a tunnel that stretched maybe 20 feet before it curved out of sight into the blackness of the hill. I was exhausted and sore from my little trip down the cliff so I went  far enough back from the entrance for cover from the storm, and hoping it was not currently occupied by anything hostile, I curled into a ball with a rock as a pillow and shivering slightly fell asleep. I was awakened the next morning by a shaft of sunlight that found its way through the vines at the cave’s entrance to bathe my face in its warmth. My clothes were a little worse for the wear, muddied and torn, but any scrapes and bruises I sustained in my fall had healed during the night. I stood and stretched then noticed a light coming from around the corner in the back of the cave. I felt a compulsion I could not resist, to see what was back there. As if in a daze I stumbled down the tunnel and around the corner into a giant cavern.   It was filled with treasure. Gold, gems, platinum and silver, weapons and armor. More wealth than I had ever seen, a kings ransom and then some, but what immediately caught my eye was the pedestal in the center of the room where sat these braces. They were the most beautiful things I had ever seen. They floated inches above an ornately carved column, glowing with an inner light.  There was a very large pile of bones around the pedestal but for some reason that just didn’t seem register at the time. I had to have them, I had no choice. So I walked up to it, crunching through the skulls and bones of those who had gone before me. The skeletons were of numerous races, men, orcs, goblins and more I did not recognize.  I must have been under some sort of spell, for I knew that the dead surrounding the dais had been killed by touching the works of art that rested upon it. But I couldn’t stop myself, I had to touch them, posses them.  By the time I reached the pedestal the remnants of the dead were up to my waist and I had to use my hands to push them out of the way to continue my way forward. As I stood there before them I knew it would mean my death to grab hold but my hands rose of their own accord and grasped beautiful silver vambraces.

As soon as I touched them it was as if I had been struck by lightning. A light shot down from the ceiling bathing me in a blinding white brilliance.  My whole body convulsed and my hair stood on end. There was a sound of a large bell or gong. I didn’t know if it came from the outside or the inside of my head. As quickly as the light and sensations came they were gone and I held the braces in my hands. I slid them on my forearms and they fit perfectly, like they were made for me. The electricity, the power , it’s hard to explain but it seemed to envelope me then slowly the warmth entered me. It sank into my skin, then my muscles and finally deep into my bones. That warmth, that energy stayed with me for a long time after. I don’t know if it dissipated or I simply became so used to it I didn’t notice it anymore.  I’ve rarely had them off of my arms since. I then explored the rest of the cave. I found this scale mail shirt that felt as light as a cloth shirt but has never failed me, and more treasure than I could spend in a lifetime.” There were actually quite a few things he took but he didn’t feel the need to disclose everything he found. Especially the pouch he kept on his belt. That little tidbit he shared with no one.

“May I see them?”

Raven felt a little uncomfortable with the idea, but he just shrugged took them off and handed them over to the old Priest. He studied them turning them over in his hands. They were made of some type of mithril alloy. The design was masterful. As if it had been one straight piece and then bent and twisted into this design of swirls and loops that was impossible for the eye to follow. He in turn handed them to Alazian and asked him to step outside for a moment. Raven stood and began to say something but the elder raised his hand to stave off any objections so he stopped and sat back down.

            “Now”, said the priest “ look at your forearms. Picture the braces. Every detail of them, the swirl of the metal, the weight of them. Everything you can remember and picture them on your arms.” At first he didn’t see the point and only did it half-heartedly. “Concentrate!” the druid barked. Raven closed his eyes and brought the image of them to mind.  All of a sudden he felt a small trickle of power building inside him. Then a tendril of that power seemed to quest out from him, as if it were seeking something. There was a sudden jolt as it found what it was looking for, the power inside him began to grow stronger. The magical tether began to pull like it was trying to snap back into place.   There was a small pop of displaced air in the room and the braces were back on his forearms. Raven sat there with his mouth hanging open, stunned. There was a howl out in the corridor the door swung open Alazian came through waving his hands around and putting them under his arms. His face was contorted in pain and rage.

            “What in the hells just happened?” he demanded “ Why didn’t you tell me what to expect. Look at my hands “ He held them up and they were blackened with small blisters beginning to show.

            “  My apologies, I didn’t know that would happen but remember who you are addressing apprentice” The old druid snapped

            “ I am sorry master I was just startled, that’s all”

            “It is all right young one come here” The young elf knelt before the old one putting his hands in the others. The priest uttered a short spell and the blackness faded to be replaced with new pink skin.

            “Thank you master”

            ‘I had no idea they could that.” Raven said still stunned “ How did you?”

            “Just one more questions, what else have you found they can do?”

“Well there are throwing daggers in each one that sit on the inside of the forearm that reappear when I call them. As you can see” he said pulling out the dagger from one brace “they are the same looping design as the braces and when replaced they blend in so perfectly you cannot see them, and they rarely miss the intended target.  Now will you please explain, what do you know of them?”

            The old priest looked at them longingly. “I’m afraid I don’t know much” he said tearing his eyes away. “They are extremely old. Workmanship like that has not been seen for thousands of years, only before the breaking of the world was the ability to make art like this known. And these were made by the best armorer of that time. Not many texts survived that but I read in one about armor made by a dwarven master, imbued with ancient magic during the forging process. The looping, eye bending design is indicative of his work, as well as the way the knives blend in so perfectly with the braces as to be undetectable. Only one dwarf has been able to work the hardest metal in the world into such an intricate, delicate design . The transportive property was a guess, he incorporated that in many of his works, the experiment was just to prove what I already suspected. You are up and around really quickly. From what I heard you were in pretty bad shape, now you look in perfect health. Do the vambraces have a healing factor as another one of their benefits? ”

            “ I have always healed very quickly, even before I found them. I honestly don’t know. I suppose it is possible”

            “That maybe why you have lived so long. Much longer than humans are supposed to as far as I know, that have not been wizards or used magic to extend their lives. I found mention of them in an old manuscript. Translating ancient dwarven can be a little tricky. A lot of our written works were destroyed during the Gods War”

‘With a life span that is longer than is normal for most, I’ve often wondered if I was completely human at all. It does not explain everything though. I didn’t find these until ninety winters after I awoke aboard that boat and I look the same now as I did then.”

            “Maybe you are of a mixed bloodline. I see no Elven features about you, yet that does not mean you did not have one as an ancestor, I will need to do some research and prepare to see if I can help you discover anything. Please go with Alazian and we will speak again soon.”

            The priest was never able to find out anything more about his past than anyone else had, to his unending frustration. All he saw when he scryed or cast divination spells was indistinct. Some flashes that told him nothing, but mostly just a gray haze. So Raven spent his time hunting and fishing and learning the elven way of fighting. Practicing with a bow, which he soon mastered, and found that he was very proficient with a staff but he still preferred his sword. It was the best time of his life. He went on patrols after a while, fighting orcs, goblins, bugbears and any other creatures that threatened what he now considered to be his home.

             Alazian and Raven became the best of friends. Even those who first objected to his being there soon accepted him, at least most. He was always willing to help wherever he was needed and was a ferocious fighter. Saving someone’s life is a great way to earn their respect.

He’d been with them exactly ten years. It went by so fast. He had fought beside them against more than a few orc and goblin tribes, even a firedrake at one point. He had always acquitted himself well and saved more than a few of his companion’s lives. One spring evening, an hour before midnight, one of the elves came for him. He had wanted to leave some months earlier and return to his travels. As much as he loved it here he was beginning to get restless and wanted to get back on the road. This was the longest period of time he had spent in one place without his wanderlust getting the better of him.

Althalanon and the High Priest talked him into staying for a few more months. They wouldn’t explain why just to trust them. Raven was just settling in to sleep when Alazian knocked on the door and then proceeded to poke his head in with out waiting for a response.

“Good your’e still up. Put your boots back on and be quick about it we’ve got to get going” he said with out preamble as he sprang through the door.

“What’s got you so excited ?” asked Raven with a slightly amused look “and where are we going?”

“The King has decided to give wondrous gift. Something that can only be given once every 500 years.”

“What is it “ Raven asked automatically.

“I wish I could tell you “ the Elf said “but I don’t know.”

Raven stopped putting his other boot on and looked up “What?” he asked with a puzzled expression. “How can you not know? If you give out one of these every half a millennia or so, there are people in this village that should have seen at least two or three by now.”

“Ah” smiled Alazian as he slid into to the chair by the door ”I said it could only be given once every 500 years, not that it was.” His smile grew wider as the confused look on Raven’s face grew deeper. “There are certain things that have to happen in the celestial realm for the casting to be successful and those things only on a certain night of the year. There is not always one around who merits such an honor. The culmination of the rite is the giving of the object from the hands of the elven high priest to a person deemed worthy of the honor, I do know that a human has never received one before.”

“No offense intended” Raven said “ but why me ?”

“ The High priest saw something in you, and you saved the King’s wife and son, it is their decision alone to make. There are some who protested vehemently against it ”

“I’ll bet I can guess who those were” Raven chuckled.

“You might be surprised, anyway they overruled them all and here we are. Come on let’s go, don’t want to be late.”

The elf got up from the chair and was out the door in a blink. Raven followed after and closed the door behind him. Alazian was already on the ground. Raven dove from the bridge and snagged a vine with his hand and slid expertly toward the ground, dropping lightly to his feet next to his friend. He looked up at the house he’d been living in for the last few years and was still amazed. You could walk through the forest on the ground and not even know there was a city above you. These elves existed in a symbiotic relationship with the forest on a level that was beyond intimate.

They headed east through the forest traveling at a fairly decent speed. Raven flowed through the forest as easily as any of the elves. He thought himself a good woodsman and tracker before he came here, then he had seen how badly mistaken he was. He learned very quickly though and before long he moved like he was born to it. Many were amazed at how adept he became. It was said that it is impossible to sneak up on an elf in the forest. Raven had done that more than a few times much to the chagrin of a few of his friends.

It was a beautiful night. The air was crisp and clean and the stars shown like diamonds in a bed of black velvet. They’d been traveling for three quarters of an hour when Raven felt a sudden change in the forest around him. Nothing readily perceptible, the sounds of the forest night life remained the same, as well as the trees and bushes surrounding him. It seemed as though there was a slight shift in reality. Then he began to feel  power in the air around him beginning to build. Like the buzzing electricity you can feel pregnant in the air when a truly spectacular lightning storm is brewing. But the sky was clear. He grabbed his friend by the shoulder to ask what it was that he was feeling. Before he could say a word Alazian turned his head around smiled and put his finger to his lips, turned back and continued on.

A few minutes later they entered a large clearing. It was a few hundred yards across of completely open field, with one exception. Standing directly in the center was the most striking, majestic tree he had ever seen. It was 150 feet tall and with its network of leaves and branches was nearly half that wide. Three people could have stood around the trunk, arms outstretched and barely been able to touch hands. It was somewhat similar in shape to an oak but there was no possibility of mistaking the two. It had a color bark so dark brown as to be almost black. The leaves had veins of gold running down the centers then branching out into a star shaped pattern on a background of white more pure than glacial snow. They were glowing softly in the light of the full moon, which stood almost directly over head. Standing around the tree in a perfect circle were at least one hundred elves all perfectly still, not a noise was made. Raven and his friend approached the circle. There was a small opening in the circle Alazian motioned Raven through then stood in the empty place completing the circle.  A solitary figure was standing by the base of the tree and as Raven approached he recognized the Arch-druid. He was wearing an emerald green robe with mystical runes sewn in gold that seemed to slide past your eye if you stared to long. On his head he wore a crown of mithral with a giant emerald in the center shaped like an egg that glowed from the inside. When he was within a few yards of the Ancient priest he came to a halt. And there he stood waiting for the next few minutes in total silence. He some how knew that to talk would be highly inappropriate.

When the moon was directly over head, a shooting star ripped across the sky bisecting the moon perfectly. Then the elves began to sing. It was low at first, barely audible. Then the volume began to rise, the music flowing from their throats, pouring out their hearts and souls into the night. Raven felt a tear come to his eye in absolute wonder. As the music went up the glowing motes of light left from the passage of the star came down. Alighting on the leaves of the tree then sinking into its flesh so that the tree itself began to glow with an inner light. The leaves shined so brightly it seemed like mid-day. Then it slowly sank into the limbs then down into the trunk of the tree. It began to pulse, almost as if the tree’s heart were beating. With each beat the light became brighter and the song of the Elves louder.  The elder Druid glided toward the trunk and placed both hands against the rough bark. He began to move his hands in a very complex series of passes and a chant began to issue from his throat. It became louder and louder as he droned on, his voice not in competition with those of the singers, but rather the perfect counterpoint. His voice became, not so much loud, but more powerful. It was as if Raven could feel the vibrations of his voice in his bones, and it was slowly growing stronger. If his chanting was only sound then he was sure that it would be the only thing that he could hear. As it was, he could still hear the elves singing perfectly clear.

 The air was fairly crackling with energy. The old elf’s arms slowly sank into the trunk of the tree. When his hands were completely engulfed it looked as though he tried to stop there, but something kept drawing him in. He didn’t seem concerned but his eyes did widen slightly. Crying out his arcane words, the elves in the circle were swaying and lifting their voices, his arms sunk in to the flesh of the tree all the way up to his shoulders. With sound and light almost overwhelming all senses he slowly began to draw his arms back out of the tree. It seemed to take forever, or maybe no time at all, but finally his hands were once again touched by the night air.

 In his hands he held a staff of wood six feet long and three inches thick, the same deep, dark brown as its parent. The druid stepped forward and solemnly handed the staff to Raven with a bow. He gripped it in both hands and felt a shock through his entire body. At the urging of something he didn’t understand he held the staff out at arms length, the music reached its crescendo, and a bolt of lightning flashed down out of the clear night sky. Splitting the air and striking the staff directly at its mid point. The old druid shoulders sagged a touch,  a smile started to form on lips but it changed, almost instantly, into open mouthed shock. For an elf who rarely showed his emotions on his face it was though he would fall over from a heart attack.

It was not the typical stroke of lightning. A quick stab and then gone, nor even several in a row in rapid succession,. This was an uninterrupted river of power flowing down from the sky.  Then two more jagged bolts of white light streaked down from the heavens, slamming into either end of the staff. Slowly the staff began to glow, brighter and brighter, till it seemed he was holding the lightening itself in his hand. Small arcs of energy began to play down his wrist to his forearms.  When it reached his bracers it began to flow into them as well. They too began to glow as the power from the sky continued to pour into the staff. When they were as bright as the staff itself the energy continued to crawl its way down his arms and into his body. Then he too started to glow.

Raven’s mind was completely blank. There was no room for conscience thought, only feeling. He felt as though he were trying to swallow a river. It was the most intense pain he has ever felt in his entire life, but at the same time, it was also the most wonderful sense of well-being. Like being ripped apart into tiny pieces and then healed in the same instant.

 Like dying.

 Like being born.

 He wasn’t sure he could take it, it was overwhelming him. He threw back his head and a primal scream blasted from his very soul. 

His body was almost as bright as the staff, his clothes had long since turned to ash. As the scream tore from his throat the pent up energy in his body erupted from his chest and slammed back into the center of the staff.

The staff grew so bright the elves standing around it in the circle were afraid they would all go blind, but they could not look away. The air was so pregnant with power that the hair on their bodies was practically standing straight up.  Tears streamed down their faces and they continued to raise their voices in song, but the music had taken on a more desperate tone. It was like the words being sung were being pulled out of them. They could not have stopped singing even if they had wanted to, though that thought had not crossed any of their minds. They knew what they were witnessing, what they were a part of, was something unique. Something that had never happened before and never would again. So there they stood, singing. Opening their hearts and souls, giving all of themselve’s to whatever maybe necessary to see this rite to its successful conclusion.

From the sky to the staff, the staff to Raven and then back into the staff. The cycle continued for a second….a year…..forever ? It no longer mattered. Everyone was on the verge of breaking. The elves throats were raw and Ravens mind felt as though it had been shredded. When they literally could not take it for another moment another shooting star crossed over head. When the glowing dust from the passage of this star alighted upon Raven there was a violent, silent explosion. It made absolutely no sound. It was felt but not heard. Animals a half mile away heard nothing, but the concussive force of the blast radiated out from Raven in a powerful wave. The arch Druid, who was still standing there with his mouth open, was thrown for fifteen feet before he landed and rolled to a stop in a heap of  robes and protruding limbs. The elves standing in the circle were not as close to the center of things so they were merely knocked flat onto their backs.

Raven stood there, naked but for his braces, still holding the staff above his head and a look of sheer wonder and unadulterated joy on his face. He looked over at the Druid, who shaking his head and trying to regain his feet, and lowered the staff to the ground. He continued to stare and had a dreamy, sort of vacant look in his eyes. He started to open in his mouth and then his eyes rolled back, his knees turned to jelly and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Staff still firmly in his grasp.

Raven awoke the next morning feeling better than he could ever remember. Alazian was sitting in the chair across the room. He had a very strange look on his face, somewhere between excitement and being scared to death. “Sleep well? “ he asked.

“Yes very well thank you” Raven replied stretching and sitting up. It was then that he noticed he was holding the staff and he felt his heart leap. Everything from the night before came rushing back. It was smooth to the touch, almost like glass, yet his grip on it wouldn’t slide. It felt wonderful, perfect, an extension of himself. He spun it around in his hands and he could feel it thrumming with power. “ This is amazing,” he said with a glimmer in his eye and awe in his voice.

Alazian stood up and poked his head out the door and spoke to someone on the other side for a moment and then closed the door and returned to his seat.

“The others will be here shortly and all your questions will be answered. At least those we are able to. We are hoping that you will be able to answer some of ours as well”

“like what ?” Raven asked “can you tell me anything at all while we are waiting ? and what happened to my braces ?” He said in shock. They had changed, they were still the same bright silver as before, at least on the upper side. But as the metal curved toward the inside of curlicue design the color grew steadily darker, it was hard to tell where it started, like trying to find the edge of a blurred shadow. The slivery brightness slowly changed to a smoky grey then by the time it reached the inner loop it was totally black. The design on the tops of them had changed as well. He couldn’t quite tell how, the design was always sort of eye twisting, Like a piece of wood twisting around itself but It only had one end. Now directly in the center at the top of each was a black oval with the ends coming together in a point, almost like an eye. It was hard to explain but now the design seemed somehow more complete for lack of a better term. When looked at before there was no feeling of incompleteness in the craftsmanship. Now it was as if the bracers looked as they were meant to from the beginning. Raven had a nagging feeling he should have known , that he just couldn’t seem to shake

He grabbed for the dagger hilt on the inside of the left brace but it was no longer there. His fingers probed all over but could not find it. He looked at the design of the brace but it hadn’t seemed to have changed from before except for the coloration. Extremely disappointed he dropped his arm to his side and wondered where the daggers had gone. Suddenly he felt the weight of the dagger in his palm and looked down expectantly. There in his hand was the knife he had used so often. It looked exactly the same except it too was black around the inside of the whirls. He dropped it and it stuck point first into the floor, then after a few moments disappeared as it had before. He looked at the brace again and just thought about the need for his dagger now, it slid out the bracer point first extremely quick, and then the hilt stopped directly in the palm  of his hand . Almost like now there was a spring loaded catch in it activated by his thought.

He looked at Alazian and grinned. “That’s a nice upgrade.”

“Last night” Alazian began while Raven was still staring at his bracers and playing with the new feature “was extraordinary. Nothing like that has ever happened before. Never in the history of my people and we have a very very long history. The last time this ritual was done do you know what was created? A brush. A paint brush. His name was Beltowen Allhoomean and he was one of the greatest artists in our history. He was exceptional before but with that brush in his hand he could do remarkable things. His paintings were breath taking. They could actually move. His brush is still used by our artists but no one has been able to create the amazing works of art he did. The one before that was a pen for a poet. Before that was a wand for a mage of great power but even in that instance, a gift for a person of magic, never was there a display of such power as there was last night. Are you noticing any similarities in these gifts?”

“Not particularly. ” Raven replied

“They were all small, never has the Tree given so much of it’s self before, ever. The High Druid usually only takes a small piece and his arms don’t normally go in the Tree past his elbow sometimes less. Last night he was pulled in until his nose was smashed against the bark. What you hold in your hand is a piece of Heart Wood, the most ancient and powerful piece of a tree.  And all lightening strikes. Wow. From what I understand there was to be a brief fork of lightening to compete the connection  to your new tool. That is how it went before, no more than a split second . No one knows how long that went on last night or why or well anything ”

Raven had sat back down on the bed and was running his hands along the staff. “this can be a formidable weapon. I have trained with the staff quite often. You can walk with a staff and not be bothered by some guardsman or the young foppish nobility.  Yes I can use a staff to devastating effect, smashing someone over the head, taking out a knee cap can make a person lose interest in fight rather quickly or blows to the body can do some serious damage but there are times when a blade is essential by the gods…..”Before Raven had even finished speaking his thought a blade had shot forth from the end of the staff. He let go of it and it stayed up right. Another blade had come out the other end as well and was now buried in the floor. He pulled on the staff and it slid out of the floor smoothly, like the ancient seasoned wood was butter. The elf was staring at him in opened mouthed shock. “How……?” he slowly said.

“you’re asking me ?” he replied incredulously. He looked at the blade closely, it was the same black color of the staff the same silver inlay, double sided, ten inches long and there was no seam between the blade and staff, still one solid piece, as if it had been carved that way. There was an empty metal serving tray on the counter and Raven walked over and picked it up. “Would you mind ?” he asked. The elf shook his head mutely and took the tray. He held it out in front himself with a hand on either side. It was a heavy tray about a half of an inch thick and Raven slowly swung the staff at it. He was only going about on eighth speed maybe less, when the blade hit the tray it slid right through it like wire through cheese, no resistance at all. Raven grinned. It was thus that Raven was given a last name by the elves. After over a century of being just Raven, he was now Raven Blackstaff.

Raven stayed for another year learning the powers of the staff and how to control it. It was a hit or miss kind of training since it was such an unknown and unique object.  While the daggers simply reappear in the guards, the staff would fly through the air to his hand when called. He also found that he could reconfigure the staff when he wanted. Just a thought and it would split in the center so he could fight independently with each hand. He could shrink it down to fit in a holster on his thigh, even smaller if he chose or turn it into any bow he chose, recurved, hunting, long bow etc……... That was really interesting. There was no need to string it as the staff produced the string itself, the same black color with a shaft of sliver running straight down the string. He fired several arrows from it getting the feel. It was by far the most powerful and accurate bow he had ever used. He could shoot almost twice the distance of the elves best archer and that was an amazing feat. The elves were considered the best bow makers and archers in the world.  He had a feeling he was just scratching the surface of this new weapon, which was exhilarating and just a little terrifying at the same time.

Balatoran sent for Raven one spring day and asked him to come to his office. When he arrived the druid closed the door and then uttered a spell to keep from being over heard or scryed upon. He had never done that before.

“I can tell you have been a little anxious lately, you feel the need to leave us now, yes?” Raven nodded in agreement. “Then there are a few things I would tell you now. You are a mystery to me still. I have tried everything that I can to help you find your past and have been frustrated at every turn. What I have to tell you now does not concern that but your future.” Raven leaned forward listening intently. “ The gray that shadows your past, shadows your future as well. Foretelling is a hit or miss proposition at best, but I can usually see something whether in turns out to be true or not and have spent a great deal of time and effort on trying to discern yours”

“ May I know why?”

“ I have been alive for several thousand years and you are without doubt the most intriguing being I have ever met. And believe me that’s saying something. That staff you carry is a wonder. Never did I think that the Tree would create something that powerful. To be honest I think you had more to do with that than I, or anything else. It was made for you and I have tried to find out what that reason might be. You will be a force to be reckoned with. I know you have a great destiny before and I wanted to see if I could find some hint of that. Something clouds that though, it is as if you are in this world but not quite a part of it. Some don’t believe this but I for one do, all beings have a destiny, whether they fulfill it or not, it is there. I’m not so sure you do. I think that you will be a great force of change for this world and it is up to you to decide what that will be.” “

“I’m not quite sure I understand”

“I’m not sure I understand, at least not yet. Let me put it to you this way. Some people choose to believe in fate. That each person is fated to do something, to make the world a better place or at least leave a lasting mark. I believe that to a certain extent, but I don’t think the guides are as rigid as some do. You on the other hand I believe are without a fate. You are not written. You are an unknown and that my friend will be your greatest strength. No one can see you coming. There has always been evil in the world but of late it seems to be stirring to greater degree. We did not always hide ourselves away like this. We were once much more apart of this world. When we first moved to this valley I was against it, I understood it, but I did not agree. Now I am not so sure anymore. I feel there is a great evil coming and we won’t be able to hide here forever. You will be instrumental in fighting this. Am I sure ? No, it is merely a “gut feeling” but my point is the only way I know this is because I have spent so much time with you.  You cannot be scryed or magically tracked I have tried. You are an unknown quantity to any calculation and one that I hope will tip the balance in our favor. I only tell you this because I believed you should know. The council left it up to my discretion. “

“I appreciate that, but if anything it made me even more confused.”

“You are not alone in that feeling, one more thing before you go” he reached into a drawer and removed a very old looking box and set it upon the table. He opened it up reached inside and pulled out a ring made of a strange alloy. It was silver in appearance almost white. With a large black stone set in the middle and a silver symbol barely visible beneath the stone. “ This is made from platinum and mithril. It is mithril that your vambraces are made of. The stone in the center is a black diamond, very rare,  it is only one of a very few I have ever seen. Do you see the symbol in the center?”

“Vaguely but not clearly”

The druid nodded his head as if a different question had been answered “This is the symbol for Elf Friend only an elf will be able to see it clearly and all will know what it means even if they have never seen it before. Wear it proudly my friend you have earned it.”  He slid it on to the middle finger of Ravens left hand and it seemed to stretch and then shrink to fit perfectly.

“Thank you” Raven said feeling very touched “Thank you for everything” He stood and clasped the old elf’s hand and then turned and left the room.

When he was ready to leave a few days later the Elves outfitted him well. A cloak woven of spider silk that would keep him dry and warm in the harshest winter storm but was very light and would keep him cool in the sun. It would also blend in his forest surroundings making him almost invisible if he stayed still. He was also given a pair of soft leather boots that magically softened footfalls. The most impressive by far was a horse, Necros by name, even though he wasn’t exactly given to him. He often wondered if the elven high council had known what would happen if they would have ever made the offer.

 He was taken out to the where the elves kept their horses in a large field and was told to sit in the middle of the herd. It wasn't’ him that chose the horse it was the horse that would choose him. He sat in the middle of the field all night. Closing his eyes and opening his mind to the nature and world around him as he had been taught. The elves called it reverie. It is what they did most of the time for rest instead of sleep. Legs crossed hands on his knees and his mind emptied of all thought. He could feel the horses moving around him. Not just the sounds they made the whuffing and neighing, the thump of their hooves on the grass. He could feel their LIFE for lack of a better term. Almost like spheres of energy floating just beyond his conscious mind. He could feel the birds flying through the sky and the vermin burrowing below ground. Even the grass glowed faintly. It all flowed into him and then he let his mind flow out encompassing all that was around him. Time lost all meaning.   Just as dawn was breaking he felt another mind brush his. A light far brighter than all the others was moving towards him. Raven opened his eyes and stared as the horse walked toward him through the other animals, he knew it was not one of the horses that were part of the elven herd, but it didn’t look like it had been running wild either. Not that he was tame, but there were no tangles in his mane or tail and his coat and hooves too glossy.  As he walked through the herd the other horses backed away and dropped their heads, almost as if they were bowing to him. He was the type of horse that would buy a kingdom, start wars, set brother against brother. All in vain though, this was not an animal that could be owned.

As the magnificent horse came to a stop before him Raven he lowered his head and stared him in the eye. He felt an instant recognition; a connection very deep like the animal had read his soul and vice versa. He was astounded at the intelligence and sheer power he had felt in that brief contact. Not to mention the annoyance and the fact that the horse was pissed. Raven stood and walked forward to greet the beautiful horse. It backed up a little still shaking its mane and radiating discontent. Raven opened his mind and let the animals emotions wash over him. “Why have you called me here” was the general gist of it. “My apologies” raven said “It was not my intent to call you here against your will. I merely sent out a call to see if an elven horse would answer. If you do not want to travel with me then go ahead and leave and I will try again.” All of a sudden there was a tickling at the back of his mind. He laid his mind open as much as he was able and let the horse read him. It was a strange feeling having another consciousness rummaging around inside his mind. That this animal could do what no other person he had met could was disturbing on many levels. He couldn’t even tell what it was the horse was seeing, but it felt as though his soul was being laid bare. Whatever the stallion found must have satisfied him because the presence began to recede with the name “Necros” echoing as it left, but not totally, he could still feel him there at the back of his head and figured now he probably always would. “Small price to pay for such a magnificent traveling companion”. He patted him on the neck and turned to walk across the field when Necros bent his head down and took a nip out of Ravens thigh.

“Ow, what the hell” he screamed and spun around. Necros was standing there with an innocent look on his face but through the connection he was saying “That was for disturbing me and now we’re even, maybe. We are NOT horse and rider, we are partners. NO ONE OWNS ME ” “I wouldn”t have it any other way” Raven thought back rather sardonically but sincerely.

“I think he like’s you” his friend called out to him. Raven turned to see Alazian and a few others laughing.

“What makes you say that” Raven winced rubbing his leg and limped over to his friends.

“He is an amazing horse’ Alazian said “ I wonder where he came from. Have you any of you seen him around”? The others shook their heads in the negative.

 “Lets find out” said Alazian put his fingers to his lips and blew a complicated bird call. A few minutes later Sylanthenia rode up on a beautiful white mare. He was the master of the herds and knew everyone down to the forelock. He looked to be in his mid twenties by human standards so he could be anywhere from two hundred to two thousand years old. He was wearing the standard elven leather pants but he had on knee high boots. His shirt was gold embroidered tan leather. He was staring at Necros in astonishment. “Where did this beautiful creature come from ?” Necros preened and danced a little causing Raven to chuckle.

“Raven did the standard call to the herd for a mount to take with him when he leaves and this big black brute showed up” the horse gave Alazian a flat unfriendly stare causing Raven to chuckle again.

“Well he is not from our herd. If he were I would have a difficult time in letting go of him, even if he were called” The other elves looked a little shocked at his statement” Oh close your mouths you look stupid, I was just making a point.”

The horse master slid down from the bare back of the mare and walked up to the black stallion. He walked a little bow-legged from all his time spent horse back, and his long golden hair was in a pony tail hanging down his back. He looked Necros right in the eye for a few moments “No your not from around here are you ?” he slid his hand down the heavily muscled neck of the horse and over its shoulder and down its side. He then stepped back and slowly walked around, studying the animal from all angles, as if to impress every detail in his memory. He ran his hand longingly down the mane one more time and then turned and strode directly up to Raven.

The fighter was at least six inches taller and weighed over twice what the elf did but for some reason he felt the need to take a step back, but stopped himself, just barely.

The elf stopped a foot a way and stared up into his eyes “You called this horse to using our ritual ?”

“I did”

“Explain to me what happened.” Raven looked at the others a little exasperated but launched into his tale. Explained how he had emptied his mind and felt the world around him and everything else until he opened his eyes. Even the argument he had with the horse from the beginning.

Sylanthenia looked at Raven, smiled ruefully and then stepped up and hugged him. Raven thought his head would explode. What in the hells was going on here ?

The elf stepped back, “you are the luckiest man in the world. I have been breeding the most beautiful and intelligent horses in the world for the last thousand years and I have never seen the perfection that is this stallion. And the intelligence, this horse maybe even as smart as we are” Raven fought to keep a straight face as he felt the indignation coming from the horse in waves at that last comment.

“You are not leaving for a few days, yes ?” Raven nodded not sure where this was going. “Well I have a few mares in heat and I was wondering if I could borrow him to stud.”

Necros looked at him with a twinkle in his eye and thoughts that almost made Raven blush, which the horse found profoundly funny. “Oh I think we can spare a few days for a good cause don’t you ?” he turned addressing the horse but found he was speaking to the wrong end.

Necros had taken off and the horse master was on his mare trying to catch Up with him. He was trying to think if any of the mares were close enough to their time to be magically helped along. They left a few days later than planned. Necros was in a really good mood. Prancing along as Ravens friends lined the street to shout and wave their goodbyes. He knew that leaving was the right thing to do but still felt heart sick. He knew he would be back to visit but leaving was the hardest thing he had ever done.

So it was after 15 years Raven rode out from the only place in the world he had ever called home…………………………….that he could remember.

Raven came back to the present from his reverie as Necros stopped in front of the lake. It was a little more than a stones throw across and roughly three times as long. He unsaddled Necros and brushed him down then dove in to the water fully clothed. He stripped in the water washing each piece of clothing as he did so then hanging it in a near by maple tree to dry while he finished his swim. It felt great to be clean again. When he was done he stood in the water up to his waist and didn’t move staring at the water intently. After ten minutes or so his hand flashed into the water like a striking snake and came up with a three pound bass. He flipped it on to the shore and then climbed out to make a fire and cook his dinner. Necros was just down the trail cropping some grass and grubbing some blueberries off a nearby bush.

The sun was setting as he got dressed and ate his dinner accompanied by some bread and cheese from his pack. He rolled his blanket out by the fire and stared at the stars as he drifted off to sleep. He knew Necros would wake him if anything or anybody came to close to their campsite.  The small waves lapping at the shore and the crackle of the fire put him to sleep almost immediately.

He was at peace. Slowly drifting, he could feel the earth above him, below him, all around him. Then he heard a voice, a low rumble he understood it but couldn’t remember what it said or who was behind it. He found himself agreeing to go with it, to help it. Slowly he was lifted up taken from his home, to a place of light. The visions started coming quicker, his mind filled to overflowing, a raised sword, a splash of blood, lightening flashing across the sky. Armies crash together in a thunderous clap, limbs flying in all directions, people and animals screaming in pain. An explosion to dwarf all others then blackness.

Raven awoke, his heart beating like a humming birds, sweat was pouring down his face. It had happened again. The nightmare. He could almost remember it, the last few stray images floating through his mind but as he reaches for them they slip away, like sand through his fingers. They started sometime after he was given the staff. Almost as if the ceremony kicked something loose in his mind. Only in his sub-conscience mind, he could never hold on to them when he awoke. He got the feeling he didn’t want to. He rolled over went back to sleep and thankfully the rest of the night was dreamless.

                  Chapter Two

Lord Baltoroc descended the stairs of his tower into the lower basement. He was beginning to feel old, gray hair had started to show at his temples and his joints had started to ache. He hated this feeling, every time a little bit more, oh but he was looking forward to the cure. His black eyes sparkled at the thought. He was a little under six feet tall but looked taller because he was so gaunt. His clothes hung on him like a scarecrow no matter what the best tailors in the kingdom could do, nor how much he ate. He was very strong for someone so skinny, stronger than men four times his size. A large hawkish nose dominated his face set above thin, cruel lips and a jutting lower jaw covered by an expertly groomed goatee. Dark bushy eye brows rode above his black pitiless eyes. His black hair hung down to his shoulders in ringlets, as was the style at court, but looked almost ridiculous on him. Not that anyone would tell him that to his face. The shadows flickered in the light of the torches set in the walls of the stairwell, not that he needed them. He could see as well in the dark as most people could at mid-day.

It had only been two months since he had last walked these stairs. Time was growing shorter between each trip, and that was making him a bit edgy. His new shipment had better be in soon. He was becoming a bit impatient and when that happened anyone near him either wound up dead or wished that they were.

He finally reached the bottom level and continued down the hallway. There were four doors on each wall and one at the very end. This was where he kept his study, laboratory, storage and workrooms.  That was not where he was headed tonight. Two guards stood outside the door at the end of the hallway, neither moved or said a word as he approached.

“Is all in readiness?” he growled in a deceptively deep voice.

“yes milord” They replied in unison. They had worked for the councilor for two years now. Much longer than anyone else had lasted. They did as they were told, never asked questions, and only spoke when spoken to. The pay was excellent but the nightmares and chance of being killed or worse at anytime made it more than a little stressful. Not really worth it, but it is not as if they could just quit.

“Excellent” He said and glided past them to the heavy oak door. He pushed it open and walked through  then waived his hand to make it swing close behind him.

He entered a stone chamber that was lit by two large braziers on either side of a large stone altar, which stood in the center of the room. It was six feet by four feet with runes covering every inch of it. Iron shackles were attached to each of the corners.  The stone walls were bare and stained black from the many rituals and experiments conducted in the room. There was a large table made of iron against the left hand wall, the surface pitted and stained.

On the altar, with a shackles attached to her arms and legs was a nine year old girl. She had stringy blonde hair and big brown eyes that were red from tears. She was covered in dirt, obviously another orphan abducted off the streets. When the councilor came in she started screaming again. He let the sound of her terror wash over him like a balm, soothing his nerves. He strode over to the table and picked up an ornate silver dagger, the hilt was in the shape of a serpent with  rubies for eyes. Its tale became the blade covered in a swirling ancient language.

He walked back to the altar and looked into the screaming child’s eyes, with no change in his expression he sliced open her wrists. He closed his eyes and savored the sound of her renewed fear. He then sliced open the veins in her ankles, waited a few moments savoring it and then began to chant. The blood that was pooling on the altar began to sink in, as if the rock had suddenly become like a sponge. The girl had quieted down as the loss of blood made her to weak to speak. On he droned his voice croaking out words that a human tongue was not designed to speak. The surface of the stone started to become black and viscous, like it was covered in oil. As the child breathed her last breath her spirit lifted from her body, completely visible it shown like a cloud being hit by the sun. Golden and beautiful it began to rise, then the black surface of the altar sprouted tentacles and they lashed up grabbing pieces of her soul and pulling them back into the stone. As some held her essence in place the others ripped it apart yanking them down for the stone to devour. Her body melted like wax and sank into the stone as well.

It then stared to glow, a sickly green glow, like moss on decaying wood. His chanting grew louder and the stone grew brighter until nothing of the child remained. As his voice reached a final crescendo a bolt of energy shot out of the side of the altar and struck him in the chest. It was the same putrid green color with veins of black shot through it. As his body soaked up the energy the gray in his hair disappeared, his aches and pains vanished. His head tilted back and a scream of ecstasy ripped from his throat.  He stood straighter felt his muscles harden and then the light was gone. He felt twenty five again. There would be a woman waiting in his bedroom when he went back up stairs, the guards knew his routine. Just as they would dispose of her body in the morning.

He ‘d lost track how many time he’d performed this ritual over the last few hundred years. The first time it had lasted an entire year. Now he was down to a month sometimes two. He needed some one with more energy, more power to sustain him longer. Children worked the best they had so much life left in them. He tried another wizard once, figuring the power would be enormous. He had been very wrong. The wizard had used magic to extend his life so there was really nothing left for him to feed on. If he didn’t use any magic, this little tidbit may last him a whole season, she was strong. He knew that wouldn’t happen though, he loved his magic if it could be said he loved anything at all, he also needed to keep the King in line, his suppliers had better deliver him the elves he’d been promised, and soon.

            Necros wended his way down the trail to where it met the main road to Shadow vale, the largest town in these parts. It was midday and the sun shown down warmly occasionally obscured by the clouds that were slowly drifting across the sky. Spring was on the way out but the heat of summer had not quite come yet. The trees had all but lost their blossoms and Raven could hear the chirping of young birds above, letting it known to the world that their bellies were empty.

            It had been many years since he traveled down this road but still looked the same as it had then. A dirt path wide enough that three wagons could comfortably travel down it side by side. The earth was hard, packed tight from the years of traffic down it, almost as hard as stone. Even the spring rains had not done much to turn it to mud. He heard the scrabbling of small animals in the brush around him, looking for nuts and roots to feed to their young.

            They had been traveling for a few hours when some thing in the forest around them changed. It was subtle, most would have missed it, but Raven felt it. The sounds had changed, a little quieter than before, almost hushed but still there. Then he heard the buzzing of flies, not the normal forest sounds but a large cloud of them off behind the bushes up on the left. The horse whinnied and blew air out through his nose, he smelled blood. Raven pulled Necros to a stop and dismounted, grabbed his staff from its holster on the saddle and headed of towards the sound. The horse shook out his mane as he watch Raven walk it to the forest, two steps in it was like he vanished. Necros shook his head again and then leaned down to crop some of the grass of the side of the road as he waited.

            Before Raven reached the trees he noticed that someone had tried to brush the ground to hide any tracks or signs as to what had happened. He slid into the forest taking in everything around him. His feet found just the right place to put down without him even consciously thinking about it. He became apart of the woods around him not an intruder as most were. He saw some blood smeared on a leaf just a head, more a little farther along and then he saw the drag marks. The assailants must have thought they were far enough in and became lazy. There were four furrows in the ground that came from the heels of two bodies. He followed the tracks to a small ravine and that is where he found them. His breath caught in his throat, he knew these people. 

            He met them a week earlier at Bevrils Landing, a small town situated on the left bank of the Crystal River. They were standing in line waiting for the ferry to reach their  side of the river then take them across to the city. He’d complimented Raven on his mount, which never failed to get Necros to preen a little. He was a very vain horse. The horse snaked his head back to let Raven know he’d heard that but rapped him lightly on the nose before he even got close. So he and the trader struck up a conversation. His name was Caltor and his wife’s name was Behlia, he was trader bringing wine east and then picking up goods he thought would sell well in his home town back west. He made a comfortable living but it was lonely on the road so they had left their children with his brother and she had accompanied him on this trip, as she usually did once a year. They were halfway done with their circuitous route, hitting two more towns before heading back. Now it looked like they would never make it.

            Raven’s blood boiled, what had happened to this place. He was attacked by goblins yesterday and then he stumbles across this. These roads had never been exactly safe but never had he heard of them being this dangerous. Normally the King’s men would patrol the roads and keep this sort of thing down to a minimum. Even if he hadn’t met these poor people he probably would have gone after the whore’s sons who did this, now there was no doubt. He whistled and Necros came galloping through the forest to his side.

            “Ready for a little more fun ?” He asked as he swung up into the saddle. The horse reared back on his hind legs then started forward through the trees. 

            He caught up with them a few hours after sunset. They were camped in the middle of a shallow ravine, it was one hundred feet wide and 10 feet deep. The wagon of the wine merchant was parked a few dozen feet from the fire, the horses still in their harnesses. There were five of them sitting around the fire drinking deeply of their stolen wine. They were the normal dregs of society he was expecting, he hid behind a bush and studied them as they lied to each other about feats of bravery and skill.

            The largest of them was leaning against a log and drinking from a chipped clay mug. He was a little less than six feet tall, once he must have been a very strong man but his muscles were turning to flab and he had a giant gut hanging over his sword belt. Sitting to his right was a small man with the look of a ferret about him, eyes close together, a small pointed nose sat in the middle of his pinched face and a chin that seemed to blend right into his neck. On the other side of the fire from him was a disgusting, filthy looking bandit. His hair was long but terribly matted with pieces of wood and leaves stuck in it. He had a long dirty brown beard that stuck out every which way with pieces of old food still hanging in it, and a scar that ran the length of his cheek that stood out in white contrast to the rest of his face. The other two had their backs to Raven.

            “We’ll drink our fill tonight boys” said the big one “ Korath will take whatever is left once we make it back to camp. We’ll split up and stash some of the gold as well. This was a pretty good haul considering.”

            “I think Bellar should give us part of his take to use at the brothel” said the ferret.

            “Over your dead body you little get” replied one facing the other way “ why should I give up any of what’s mine?”

            “If you wouldn’t have whacked that lass so hard in the back of the head we’d all be havin a little fun right now. Now we’s gotta pay fer it when we gets back to camp.”

           

            Raven felt the bile rise in the back of his throat. What they were saying was nothing new to him but it still made him sick. He slowly drew the blades from the bracers on each arm and got to his knees with the staff resting on the ground next to his foot.

                        “ Well it didn’t seem to bother Klobert none, he still had him a time.”

            They all looked over at the filthy man with the beard who simply shrugged and said “What ? She was still warm.” Then he picked up a jug of wine to take a long pull at it. They all started laughing hysterically and laughed even harder when it seemed that Klobert was choking on the wine he was trying to drink. As if he’d laughed half way through the draught. The crimson fluid was pouring down his chest, it was at that moment that Korath saw the hilt of a blade sticking out his throat, by then it was too late. He never saw the second blade that pierced his right eye and skewered his brain. Then Raven was in the midst of them twirling his staff in a blur that couldn’t be seen in broad daylight let alone by the light of a fire. One went down with blood leaking from his eyes, ears, nose and mouth before Bellar stood up and drew his sword.  He took a few wild swings before the end of Ravens staff came spinning in from the left and crushed in his skull.

            Raven turned to the last bandit who was standing across the fire from him. The man had a crossbow in his hands aiming it at Ravens chest.  Raven started his staff spinning in front of him, so fast it made a slight whirring sound as it cut the air. If the bandit fired there was a good chance that the staff would knock it aside and then he would  be on him. Before he could fire he heard the sound of hoof beats behind him. He turned with crossbow still on Raven and saw a large black shadow coming at him. At the last second Necros whipped his hind end around and caught the thief in the chest with both of his rear hooves. He went flying through the air after the initial crunching sound of bones breaking, the bolt from the crossbow flying harmlessly off in to the night. His chest was completely caved in so he couldn’t even scream before he slammed into the side of the ravine and slumped to the ground like a rag doll.

            Raven stopped spinning his staff and in an instant it had shrunk down to a little over a foot long and he slid it into the holster at his hip. “Nice timing my friend” he said as he went to the first of the bodies to rifle through his pockets and pouches. The horse just whickered and walked over to some grass on the side of the old river bed and started shuffling his rear hooves through it to get the blood off.

            Raven didn’t find anything of much value on the cut throats except the money they had stolen from the merchant. He then picked up the full kegs that were on the ground put them back in the wagon and drove it down the ravine away from the bodies. He drove down a mile or so where the edges of the ravine were lower and there was a place to get the rig up and out. He camped there for the night after un-hitching the horses and picketing them in a small field of grass.

            The next morning he drove the wagon back to where the bodies of the merchant and his wife lay, put them in the back of the wagon, and then covered them with a tarp. He wished he hadn’t of killed those whore-sons so quickly.   When he’d met Caltor the merchant had mentioned where he was headed next. A tavern called The Golden Gargoyle in the town of Belgar. Raven knew the town, though it had been many years since he’d been there, it was a good seven or eight days away in the wagon. He thought it right to make Caltors last delivery and have the money and the bodies sent home to his family. So he slapped the reigns onto the horses rumps to get the wagon moving with Necros trailing behind.

            The next day as Raven wound the wagon through trees he spotted travelers coming from the other direction. He slowed as they approached. There were four priests in the brown robes of the god Sospito, The Preserver. He is the god of knowledge and history. The priest mandate was to find and preserve any and all texts. Some stayed in the vast libraries and others traveled the world in search of lost manuscripts or verbal history. Their main focus was finding information about the world before the Gods War. So much was lost during that terrible time. It was almost ten thousand years ago but there were still scars. Ruins of cities dotted the landscape of most kingdoms still. These were treasure troves for the priests, if they could find one that had not been found before or picked over to badly by scavengers.

            They had a few soldiers with them as well. Raven came to a stop as they approached. The soldiers eyed him warily, as was their job, but a priest ambled up to the side of the wagon. He was in his mid thirties but had already lost most of his hair. His eyes were squinched a little as most scholars were from reading by candle light into the night. He was broad shouldered and had no belly so he must have been on this pilgrimage for sometime. Each brother in the order must spend at least a few years on the road looking for lost knowledge.

            ‘Good afternoon brothers, how fares the day for you ?”

            “We are well thank you for asking. I see you are coming from where we are headed. Is there anything we should know about the road ahead ? “

            “I ran into a small group of goblins a few days back but they should be no trouble now. They are probably still running. We gave them a little more than they had bargained for. And you ? Anything interesting on the road before me ? “

            “No a few caravans and local travelers. There are rumors of bands of highwaymen roaming the hills. We poor priest don’t offer much of a target but a man traveling alone with a wagon load of merchandise may be of interest to them. Well travel safely and watch your back and may the gods watch over you.”

            A thought occurred to Raven, this was a very fortuitous encounter. “Brother I wonder if I might prevail upon you for a little help ?”

            “Of course. What is it that a servant of the Preserver can do for you ? “

            Raven leaped down from the bench of the wagon and walked the priest around to the back. There he let down the gate and pulled the tarp back from the bodies of the merchant and his wife.

            “Gods help us what happened to these poor souls” he asked

            “They were set up on by bandits a few days back. I tracked the scum down and they won’t be bothering anyone anymore. I had hoped to send this man and his wife back to their family but as you can see by the time I reach the next town and arrange for shipment and the trip back the bodies of these poor people will be long past recognizable. Would you place a blessing on them so that their family will still recognize them when they are returned home ?”

            “Of course, of course, brothers ?” he yelled to those still at the front of the wagon “ I can use your assistants back here” The other three walk to the back and gasped at what they saw. The lead priest explained the situation and each pair laid their hands on one of the bodies and began the prayers to their god. It took around fifteen minutes of prayer and chanting before a warm golden light enveloped the corpses and then sank down into the bodies.

            The head priest wiped the sweat from his brow turned to Raven “It is done” he said “may whichever god they prayed to find mercy on their souls”.

            Raven reached into his vest and pulled out five gold coins. “Here” he said pressing them into the palm of the priest “ I appreciate your help and may this small donation help you along on your pilgrimage”

            “That is not necessary” the priest replied but Raven would not take no for an answer. The priest thanked him and then he and the rest of their party went on their way. Raven climbed back on to the riders bench of the wagon and slapped the reigns against the horses tails to get them moving and off down the trail they went.

            The next morning found Raven leaving the confines of the forest and out onto rolling hills of grass. The road wound its way between the hillocks which were anywhere from ten to fifty feet in height. He saw rabbits and other small animals running through the tall grass under a clear blue sky. The sun was a few hours from being directly overhead, still plenty of time to make good progress this day. Necros was gone, out running among the hills. After being trapped behind the wagon in the forest he was very restless to say the least and Raven could feel the joy emanating from the horse as he ran at full gallop, stretching his muscles after days of plodding along. Raven was feeling that same restlessness and envied his horse. He wished he were stride him, the full gallop eating up the miles instead of the slow pace set by the wagon. He never appreciated the freedom of just a horse and rider as much as he did right this moment.

            Just before noon the wind picked up and he could see dark clouds gathering on the eastern horizon. Unless the wind shifted they would be in for a miserable night of it. His bad luck held and before two hours had past the sky was dark, roiling with black thunderheads. He supposed this was as far as they would get today, the so called road would turn to mud foundering the wagon so he decided to make it a day. He pulled the team off the road, stopping between two small hillocks, and set about preparing for the storm that was to come. He climbed into the back of the wagon to grab some tools when a crack of thunder exploded overhead. He hadn’t had a chance to un-hitch the team and the horses spooked and took off like there were wolves snarling at their heels. Raven went flying, slamming face first on to the wine casks then bounced out of the back of the wagon, almost. His right leg slammed against the back of the closed tailgate directly on his shin. He heard the crack of bone before he felt it, then his leg hit the ground and pain exploded through his entire body. He laid there moaning, semi-conscious in the grass until he felt the first few drops of rain hit him in the face. He sat up looked around for the wagon, expecting it to be long gone. But Necros had headed off the team before they went too far and was now leading them back. Who knows how he did it but Raven was very grateful, until he felt the amusement from the horse and a flash of him flying through the air to crash to the ground. The appreciation he felt for his mount dimmed dramatically which caused Necros even more amusement at his rider’s expense.

            Raven pulled his staff from its holster and lengthened it to use as a crutch. Cuts and bruises healed very quickly, even smaller bones like ribs and fingers healed very fast, but a bone in his leg could take several hours before he could use it and several more for it to be back to full use and a day for full strength. Using one hand and a very impressive repertoire of curses he un-hitched the team picketed and hobbled them in case they spooked again. By this time the rain was coming down in sheets and Raven was soaked to the bone. He figured he’d be spending one very miserable night beneath the wagon. As he hobbled his way over to the wagon, wind and rain lashing him. There was an explosion directly over head and Raven instinctively dove to the side,  a bolt of lightening struck the ground to his left and sent him flying through the air. He smashed to the ground cursing and swearing anew from pain that lanced through his leg as he sat up wiping mud from his eyes. He planted the staff in the ground to lever himself to his feet when another streak of lightening flashed down out of the clouds, but this time it struck the top of his staff. It lasted only for a moment and Raven was blinded by the momentary brilliance but he felt something new. The staff was pulsing with power. Now there was always a power lurking inside the warriors weapon, the transformations etc. It always felt as though the staff was just another appendage for him , the two inextricably linked. Now it radiated a power all its own, a deep thrumming, it had the feeling and the sound the current makes in a deep river. 

He was flat on his back, again, and began the laborious process of trying to stand up.  He wished his leg would heal a little faster so he could get up and felt a tingling in his palm that quickly grew to a pleasant warmth. It poured into his hand and down through his torso then into his leg. He felt a pain like his leg was being re-broken but only for a split second and then a feeing like a cascade of warm water flowing down his leg. It engulfed the entire limb in a healing blue nimbus, then slowly suffused the entire leg. There is no feeling in the world better than the cessation of blinding pain He stood up and tested the leg. It was as completely healed. This could come in extremely handy. He guessed, like any normal person, he tried to avoid being outside in a thunder storm, especially when he was the highest point around. The thought of purposefully trying to get hit by lightening had never occurred to him, or  he suspected ,any other sane person. Now the situation had changed.  He lifted the staff above his head, another strike hit it and then another and another. He just stood there in the pouring rain as blast after blast slammed into his staff. Then it abruptly stopped, whether the staff was full or that part of the storm moved off to the west he wasn’t sure.  The staff was glowing, pulsing with bright blue light then slowly it sank into the staff. The staff looked as it always had, except the silver grain of the wood seemed to not quite glow but seem more visible,  and Raven could feel the energy trapped within, raging beneath the surface,  just waiting for him to unleash it. It felt like now he had another muscle. When his bicep bulged that’s because he is flexing his arm. With this it was the opposite, conscience and un-conscience mind both knew it was there. It was just that this muscle’s natural state was to be clenched closed. The energy from the staff could only be used by Raven willing that muscle to relax. There was no telling how much power the staff now held. One blast at full strength could knock down a tree or blow the top off a mountain. This was going to take some very careful study and training, just as he would with any new weapon. Who knows what else he may be able to do with this power beside instantly heal himself. It remained to be seen whether this was really a change for the better. Before, while it was a deadly weapon, it was as a sword or mace. Not violence held in check but still the potential. Now it was more akin to holding a loaded crossbow. Violence unleashed at the smallest of gestures. The calm normal looking surface of the staff belied the deep vortex of power swirling just below the surface.

            Raven walked back to the wagon and pulled his elven cloak from the saddle bags in the back of the wagon wrapping it around himself. He then grabbed an extra tarp  and strung it under the underneath the wagon. Each corner tied to an axel, higher in the front and lower in the back to get in and out. If he needed out quickly he could just slash the bindings on the tarp.  Comfortable, suspended above mud and warm in his cloak, he lay back to think and wait out the storm, the staff cradled in his arms almost purring.

           

The nightmares came again this night, this time they were a little different more real somehow. There just flashes of him in different places and situations. Flashing from one to the other in a random  sequence, definitely not chronological. One moment he is surrounded by love and family though all the faces were a blur. Next he is training, one second sword, next hand to hand and knife fighting, archery, and then the images speeded up all weapons practice, some he recognized some he didn’t. In the dream all this was nothing new. Then he found himself in the middle of a battle. Not just a battle but a war. The sky was a swirling vortex of energy as magic was thrown around like rolls at a food fight. Raven was in the first wave, stabbing, cutting and slashing. A bastard sword in one hand a long dagger in the other. Both works of art, in craftmanship and magical spells. Screams of men and horses echoed across the field in one unending death throw. Almost drowned out by the gigantic explosions from over head. Then a flash of intense light and Raven woke up in a cold sweat as the storm still howled outside his little enclosure. As soon as his eyes opened all he had dreamed slipped away. As always he could remember nothing but the feelings. Love, Rage, pain, and fear. Which was more than he had ever retained before. It was at that point he realized he was not in complete darkness. The staff and braces were glowing a soft but intense blue light. He could still feel the after effects of the dream which in times past after being awake for this long, trying to hold on to anything from his dreams was like trying to hold on to a gossamer spider web, which slipped through his fingers or dissolved in his hand.

The next morning dawned bright in a clear blue sky. He didn’t remember falling back to sleep but the feelings he had gleaned from the dream that had haunted him since he woke up in the sea, were still there. He crawled from under the wagon, stretched and looked out at the lands around him. The grass looked as though it were a field of diamonds from the light refracting through the water clinging to the stems of grass. He fed and watered the horses but left them picketed where they were. He sent out a call for Necros and the horse came galloping up a few minutes later. “I know you have been restless plodding along for the last few days how about a nice wild run through fields” The horse reared back on his on his hind legs then came down and whinnied. Raven vaulted on to his bare back and they were off like a shot. They ran hard for a half hour or so before Raven reigned him in . “I have a few experiments to perform so you might want back off a little ways” Necros gave him a sidelong glance, eye lids half closed “I know I know I’ll be careful just step back a bit.

            This was it, time to see what the staff could do now. He pulled it from its holster

And lengthened it from eighteen inch rod to it normal six foot length.  There was a small hillock a quarter mile off that reached around fifty feet above the plain. Raven point the staff at hill and very slowly and carefully he released his control over the energy. Energy started crackling around the staff then crept down to the ferule on the end. It soaked it up then spit out a bright blue ray of light surrounded by crackling fingers of electricity across the ground which slammed into the side of the small hill. Raven cut the flow and was shocked to his core. He had barely released much energy, maybe ten percent, but there was a smoking hole in the side of the hill. It was probably eight feet wide and six feet deep. Rubble was still raining from the sky. From the feel of the staff it had not expended much energy at all. He shivered slightly as realization of the power he held in his hands began to sink in.

            After a few more blasts he decided another experiment was in order. He pulled an arrow from the quiver on his back. By the time the arrow was in his hand the staff had already transformed itself into a long bow. He spotted a boulder a few hundred yards off, knocked the arrow and very carefully trickled some power into the arrow. As soon as it grew a brilliant blue he smoothly released arrow. It flew across the distance, a streak of light with blue sparks trailing behind it exploded against the boulder and blew a chunk from the rock the size of his two hands,  He reached back for another arrow and noticed his left arm was covered with a fine white ash. This puzzled him for a moment but then the answer came in a flash. Instead of knocking another arrow he simply drew the bow to his ear as if he were firing the bow with no arrow. Again he slowly released power from the staff and an arrow of pure energy began to form. He let it build till the light started to just sting his eyes then let fly. Again the arrow flew with blue sparks leaving a trail behind it but when it struck the boulder it cracked it in half. Raven whooped like a little boy and proceeded to pepper the hill and surrounding rocks, pulverizing everything.

            He let the staff revert to its original form and he set it spinning. From hand to hand, around his back, flipping from one hand to the other then he released a little more power. Now he was swinging a glowing staff of light. The normal buzz of the instrument as it cut the air took on a deeper note. He flipped it around his back one last time then brought it up over his head in a two handed blow and struck the earth. The blast knocked him back a few feet but still standing none the worse for the experience. The same could not be said for the patch of unoffending ground he had just smote. Now there was a smoking hole a foot and a half wide and the grass around the hole was on fire. He held his beloved staff above his head and gave an exultant yell. He could feel that much of the stored energy had been expended in his enthusiasm. It wasn’t probably the best idea to have used so much of the energy just playing round but he just could not help himself. He assuaged his guilt by reminding himself it was necessary he know the full potential of these new powers. He knew it was a partial truth but it helped. From the feel there may have been somewhere around twenty percent of the original charge.  He had the answer to some of his questions and decided it was time to get back on the road. He knew from this day forward he would be spending much more of his time standing on a roof or a hill in the pouring rain. He reminded himself in the next town to buy a top notch set of oil cloth covers.

 Necros came galloping around the side of a small hill behind Raven with a slightly wild look in his eyes. “I am sorry my friend if I didn’t know what was going to happen, it’s why I sent you away” Raven was gracious enough to lower his head a little as he said  “I did try to warn you.” But that also  may have been to hide the smirk on his face.   The horse gave him an accusatory look and a flash of irritation. Raven chuckled to himself and vaulted onto the horses back. As soon as he was settled Necros quickly snaked his head back and took a nip out of his rider’s leg. Ravens chuckled turned into a yelp followed by a few choice curses, but if it made his companion feel better, he was in to good of a mood to make an issue of it. Even though the stallion nipped him a bit harder than usual . They say animals take on aspects of their owner’s personality over time so maybe it’s not entirely the horse’s fault he was such a surly bastard with a twisted sense of humor. But then again the horse was pretty much like that when they met. Maybe he was rubbing off on Raven. “I was just an innocent when we met” he thought and burst out laughing.

            They made it back to the wagon and horses in good time. Raven hooked them up and climbed into the driver’s seat. This far out of any populated place he figured letting Necros run free would pose no problem. Once they approached a town he would need to tie him up to the back of the wagon. That was not something Raven was looking forward to. They were on the road a little before the sun was at the high point in the sky before it would begin  its inevitable daily decent. Raven settled back in the bench as comfortably as possible and dropped into a half doze. His mind and body were resting but he was still fully aware of his surroundings, attuned to any changed in his proximity that may require his attention.

            He rode this way for the next several days. he was enjoying the ride as much as was possible until a far off sound caught his attention. It was at the limit of his hearing but he’d swear he heard the ring of steel on steel. It was then that Necros came galloping at him from the same direction as the noise that has roused him.

            Raven could tell by the fiery look and the excitement in his horses stride that there was indeed a battle ahead. Raven jumped from the bench in the wagon on to Necros bare back as he came thundering by. The stallion reared up on his hind legs, spun around, and was off again in the direction he had just flown in from.

            Raven clamped his legs around the horse’s sides and wrapped his hands into his mane. He leaned over the horse’s neck and gave the stallion his head. He actually preferred to ride bare back, the saddle felt like a barrier, when he rode like this it was if he and Necros were one being. The saddle and stirrups were necessary to fight from horseback effectively though. It was nearly impossible to get the leverage needed to swing a powerful blow at an adversary without them. But for pure pleasure and speed nothing beat bareback. There bodies moved in perfect harmony and economy of motion. He raised his face to the wind, he couldn’t tell if the exultation he felt was his or Necros spilling through the link. Not that it really mattered, Raven whooped and urged his mount to greater speed. It was almost as if his hooves didn’t touch the ground as they raced down the road.

            The ground eating pace had them down the road and up the hill in mere moments. They crested the tree line then plunged into the valley on the other side, down the slope, and right into one hell of a melee.

            Raven took in the scene in an instant as he galloped toward the fighting. A caravan of 15 wagons was under attack by a group of highwaymen. It was difficult to tell numbers in the chaos, it appeared as though the caravan guards and every able bodied man were fighting off the attackers. There numbers may have been even to start with, maybe thirty on each side, but there were more bodies of the caravaners on the ground with arrows or crossbow bolts in them than bandits. The fight was slowly but steadily leaning in the attackers favor. This was his sort of fight. No need to guess on whose side he would be fighting. It was really cut and dried, save the merchants, kill everyone else.

            So frantic was the fighting that no one noticed Raven until he was less than thirty feet away. At full gallop that distance was covered in mere moments. It was just enough time for two of the enemy to try and line up on him. They separated so that one would be on each side as he rode in. They cocked their swords back behind there shoulders ready to slice him from horseback as he crashed in.

            A huge smile spread across Ravens face and his eyes were the color of a storm torn sea. He had his staff in one hand with the end in his armpit like he was going to use it as a lance.  The two men bent their legs so they could leap up at him as he stormed past. At the last instant Raven leaned all the way back so his head was almost resting on the horse’s tail. He turned his staff sideways across his chest and lengthened it a bit. The swords sliced through the air where he used to be just as the ends of his staff slammed in to each of the men, the one on the right in the chest, on the left in the throat. At the moment of impact Raven through his legs up and over his head. He smoothly rolled backwards of Necros back, flipped through the air to expend his momentum, and landed on his feet perfectly balanced, staff spinning in his hands. The two men he had struck lay on the ground fifteen feet away in crumpled piles. Unconscious, dead or dying it didn’t really matter they were out of the fight.

            Necros continued on and ran one man down, crushing him beneath his hooves. He veered slightly and bore down on another bandit. The man saw him coming but was hemmed in by his compatriots on either side and from the back. He frantically tried pushing his way through them but at the moment press of men was too tight, he had no where to go.He raised his sword stared at the huge black stallion rushing at him. His eyes wide with fear and panic he thrust his poorly maintained sword out in front of him hoping to deter the brute from running him down as it had his friend. It worked too, well sort of, he wasn’t run down. A foot or so from the end of the extended weapon Necros slammed his front legs into the turf going from a fast sprint to a dead stop. His hind end swung around impossibly fast, his onyx hooves gleamed black in the sunlight, then red. He had almost turned a full circle when his back feet finally returned the spongy ground. Necros had caught the man on the right in the back of his head, crushing in his skull and launching him sideways through the air to crash into a group of thieves, taking them all to the ground in a boneless heap.

            The one holding the sword never knew what hit him. It was as though his head had just exploded. Necros caught two more on his way back around, one in the forehead and the other in the chest in a spray of blood and bone, neither one would be getting up again. 

            Necros reared up and shattered another skull with his front hooves. He came down saw an opening in the fighting and sprinted clear, raced away for a hundred yards  or so, then turned and galloped back into the fight.

            Raven watched his companion for a moment then swung into action himself. Spinning his staff in an array of dizzying patterns he waded into the fray. He knocked aside a sword thrust with one end and stove in the mans temple with the other. Balanced on the balls of his feet he danced through the ensuing chaos leaving a host of broken limbs and shattered skulls. It was then he saw the leader of this ragtag bunch of human castoffs, or so he assumed. He was easily 8 feet tall and half that wide, probably a half-human half-ogre crossbreed. It came marching across the field swinging an enormous double bladed ax as if it weighed nothing. Occasionally connecting with a caravan guard and sending him flying through the air, but his eyes never left Raven. It was on a mission to kill the man that was turning the tide of the skirmish. Raven began slowly spinning his staff, faster and faster it went until by the time they stood within striking distance of each other it was just a blur.

            The brute facing him was bigger than raven initially thought. He was at least a foot and a half taller than him and out weighed him by at least two hundred pounds. A black iron helmet, that looked as though it had been beaten from a kettle,  sat atop a thick mane of black greasy hair that hung limply past his shoulders. Bloodshot, bulging eyes, with a sparkle of intelligence in them, were nestle beneath a sloping forehead and above a bulbous nose that looked strangely like cauliflower. A mouth so wide it seemed to split his face in two and a set of canines that jutted 3 inches below his lower lip and into a long straggly beard.

            He wore a pair of leather breast plates stitched together, with cobbled together chain mail underneath. With a grunt he launched and over hand attack intended to split the warrior right down the middle. He was incredibly quick for someone of his size, but Raven stepped nimbly aside and slammed his staff into the head of the ax sending it wide. He continued the swing and the other end put a good sized dent in the kettle atop the half-breeds head with a satisfying “bong”. He then changed the angle and went for his knee but the axe was there to block the strike just in time. He shoved Raven back raised his axe in one hand while shaking his head and holding it with the other. His eyes cleared too quickly for Raven to take advantage but they were much more bloodshot than before, almost entirely red. 

            Raven leaped in staff spinning and set the monster back on its heals, though the axe was there blocking every blow. Back and forth they went, the beasts strength was enormous but he was no weakling either. After ducking a swing he stabbed in end first right at the left eye, but the half-ogre caught it in its enormous hand and stopped it an inch from his eye. Grinning he held the staff firmly and began to bring down his axe for the killing stroke. Looking him right in the eye Raven winked at him, “huh ?” was his last thought as a blade burst from the end of the staff  and slammed into its skull. . It pierced his eye, slid through his brain and blew a hole the size of fist out the back of his head.

            Raven retreated a step and his opponent was still standing, not realizing he was already dead. He finally dropped to his knees and fell over sideways never knowing how he been beaten. At the sight of this’ some of the raiders ran back off to wherever they had come from

            The battle was over shortly after that. Raven left the blades out on his staff and ran for the center of the fighting. He spun and flipped and used his staff to a devastating effect, there were now five corpses on the ground in as many seconds. That was it for the rest of them they all broke and fled as fast as they could go, some killing each other just to get a horse. No one from the caravan chased after them, they were all tired and bloody and they still had work to do. They did however walk among the highway men on the ground and stabbed them three or four times, just to make sure.

            He looked around for Necros, the horse was helping dispatch the wounded by stepping on their heads. Raven shook his head and sighed, sometimes he didn’t know about that horse. He was normally pretty easy going, a surly brute no doubt, but over all good natured. But when he sees innocent beings being hurt things change, he is utterly ruthless, Raven has never found out why and Necros refuses to discus it. More than once Raven has found himself riding into a skirmish without knowing how it was they came up on it, Necros definitely has his own way of doing things. If killing a few of these bastards keeps him happy, well, small price to pay. It’s not like I don’t derive a certain amount of satisfaction from these encounters, keeps me in shape.

            He spun and jumped back bringing his staff down in an overhand arc and stopped in mid-swing. There was man of average height and weight with brown hair and eyes and of middling years. He had an open face but shrewd eyes, he was wearing a white linen shirt covered with tears and splashes of blood, and finely made trousers tucked into black calf-high boots. He had a sword in one hand and the other was stretched out in front of him, palm up.

            “Well met sir, yes well met indeed” he said with a surprising mellow baritone. “I am Master Kinsworthy, Crandle Kinsworthy and that is my caravan that you just saved. I would like to thank you with all my heart and may the blessings of all the gods be upon you. Please come with me to my wagon where we can sit and talk, oh where are my manners and you sir, who have I the honor of addressing ?” he asked and then finally took a breath.

            “Blackstaff, Master Kinsworthy, I am called Raven Blackstaff. And this big brute” he said turning as Necros trotted up” is my Traveling companion Necros”

            The merchant stared, mouth opening and closing , then finally sputtering” a pleasure to meet you too” The horse bowed its head. He appreciated courtesy.

            The man shook his head as if trying to clear his head then said “Crandle, please call me Crandle, my wagon is the one up at the front. Follow me” and began the trek to his wagon. Stepping over bodies or parts of them on the way and bellowing out orders to everyone in sight.

           

           

           

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