FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 2, A step back

It had been a particularly cold winter night that night but the person found inside the metal container had managed to survive somehow. A group of farmhands had stumbled upon the strange device while clearing a path for the farmer's wagon. At first they thought it was some sort of quickly constructed tomb but then realized the strangely dressed male on the other side was breathing. One of them had run off to tell the landlord, who in turn sent someone to see the crazy old coot up on the hill. Once the message had been received by Master Jorian, Merelda had quickly donned a thick wool coat and hurried back with the messenger the kilometer back to town. Upon arrival at the sight, she had figured out that the cracked glass surface was in fact a lid and so with a few groans and grunts, the more muscular of the Gaishean farmhands had managed to pry the lid off the device and heave it to the side in the deep snow.

Merelda gestured to a male who had a slight layer of coarse fur along his arms and up to his cheekbones with a series of stripes visible among the hairs to tear through the straps holding the man to the seat. When this had been completed Merelda then instructed that same worker to carefully lift the man out and sit him down on a makeshift stretcher. When this was done she reached sat next to the stretcher and looked for the pilot's pulse, once found she checked it and let out a sigh of relief that this man had survived. She had a feeling inside her gut that this was due to the ritual she and her mentor had performed the night before. Merelda looked up and nodded to the farmer who was approaching out of curiosity.

"So, what's going on over here, one of the workers came and told me this morning they found something with a man inside."

Several of the workers nod and the one who had relayed this information opens a path for the farmer who then steps up close and looks over the guy on the stretcher, instantly noting his lack of any visible patterning.

"Is the man alive?" The farmer whose name is Jedge steps even closer and studies the person lying there and notices the shallow breathing.

"Yes, Jedge, he is alive, also very fortunate that the snowfalls did not kill him." Merelda looks up to the farmer and back down to Rick and studies the tanned skin that she can see. As if reading the young lady's mind Jedge asks a very smart question," is he one of us?"

Merelda shakes her head, not in saying no but in the manner of showing that she isn't sure at all. She reaches her fingers forward and lifts the plate with his military title to study it more closely.

"Lu... ten ant, I think that's the word," she runs it through her mind, thinking of the languages that she knows of and thinks that it must be close enough, then continues trying to make out the words, " Ric shard May veen, I think, maybe we will learn when this one's sleep ends."

The farmer is there staring at her and just shakes his head. Even though he did not know it, visitors from centuries before had left well detailed documents on a foreign language, closely based to the human English tongue, so there were records of this and those were studied by a few folk, but taught to many. Merelda's mentor was one of those who knew of this language.

Soon a carriage arrived; with great care the workers loaded the unconscious form into the back of it. Merelda nodded to them all and thanked them for their help and the climbed up into the carriage, settling next to the form there, embracing the man to provide warmth with body heat and her own wool coverings. Rick made a soft sound at the warmth and moved just a bit, he was deep in a dreamless state, but did sense the warm and knew it instinctively for what it was. The snow had decided to come down even harder now, so Merelda particularly needed to help provide some extra heat. She soon realized this man wasn't the worse person to be embracing; he didn't smell odd or have any strange obtrusions that she would have to worry about. The trip back to Jorian's place was fairly uneventful.

When the woman and her patient had arrived at their destination, Jorian had already been out there ready to help Merelda and Rick in. Together they had carried Rick inside and into a guest chamber. Merelda had grabbed a few pillows, and then she fluffed them a bit and laid them out for the man's head. Then they laid Rick down and layered a few blankets over his still form. Merelda headed off to get a soup, fresh from the kitchen. When she returned, some more color had returned to Rick's skin and his breathing was becoming normal, aided greatly by the comfortable bed surface.

Rick had been dreaming for only a bit, most of the time, his body was simply so pushed beyond its limit that his mind simply was not active. The dream had been one of those where you are running forward because not only is there something behind you that you're running from, the ground ahead of you is also slanted downwards. Oddly with all the snow in his dream he had not slipped at all.

As his eyes opened for the first time, there was a large spoon of some kind of delicious smelling soup. Instinctively he let the spoon slip into his mouth and felt the warm concoction slide down his throat. Rick closed his eyes and took a deep breath once it was on its way down the hatch. It tasted of what he thought was chicken but it had a much different texture to it, something akin to a piece of lamb. It had vegetables that his senses could not decipher; all Rick knew about it is that it was mighty tasty. Rick fell asleep again soon after the second spoonful. In his sleep Merelda had given him the rest of the soup, helping him swallow it down without choking on it.

It was in the middle of the night when Rick came to again, at least that's what it seemed to be when he looked out the window nearby. Rick sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes. He looked around expecting to see his alarm clock about to go off, there was no such device at all visible. He rubbed his temple, trying to recall what he had last been doing. His mind was refusing to call up what had previously happened. Rick did remember a white light filling his field of vision. He turned around in bed and slipped both legs off the edge and touched his feet to the floor. Rick realized then he was actually quite nude. His clothes were draped over a nearby chair. Due to this, Rick pulled one of the covers and wrapped it around his waist. Then he moved over to the window and stared out. The sky was dark and the while clouds filling it shown with the celestial light from above. Rick noticed it was clearly winter time from the thick layering of snow on the ground.

Rick was still standing at the window when Merelda was just outside the door. She peered in, not hearing his breathing at all. Her eyes widen seeing the young man standing up. Her eyes start by themselves to roam over Rick's bare torso, her heart picks up a bit seeing how well toned his form is.

Rick looks over hearing a difference in the air now as though someone nearby is suddenly breathing hard. His eyes instantly focus on those eyes of hers, some form of recognition clicking in his mind. He doesn't quite realize though where he has seen this lady in front of him.

Merelda looked up to his eyes and suddenly blushes at the realization that he caught her eyes roaming over him. She turns away and tries to compose herself before returning her attention to Rick.

"I see you're up and awake." She smiles up at the man in front of her and then continues, "Let me go get you some clean fresh clothes.

He nods and watches the lady run off and then thinks out loud, his lips bringing sound to his thoughts.

"Well she looks human, and she sounds human."

Rick takes a closer more observant look at his surroundings, he lifts an eyebrow taking in the fact that everything seems to be somewhat lacking in the modern department. He looks down at himself and realizes just then and there, that shape of the sheet in front of had a more profound bulge to it. He blushes and tries to think of a subject that would lower his member. It didn't take long for such a matter to be resolved.

Soon Merelda had made her way back with an armful of fresh clothing, a sleeveless tunic, a pair of shorts and a good set of soft leather pants. She stepped into the room, and then she laid down the clothing on the bed. She curtsied and backed out of the room leaving Rick to change.

Rick studied the clothes upon the bed and his thoughts led to Roxy. He wondered if her face would ever been in his view again, at least in in person and not just in sleep. Rick slipped out of the sheet he was wrapped in. He slipped on the shorts and pulled the pants up next. He pulled the draw strings tight and snug, then reached for the tunic and slid that on. Then Rick stepped over to the mirror and gazed over himself. Actually it didn't look all that bad on his lean 6 foot nothing frame. Rick quickly ran his fingers through his deep brown, slightly wavy hair, trying to make it look at least presentable.

When he was done, Rick went to the door and peered out into the hallway. He doesn't see anyone so he calls out.

"Hello, I'm all dressed now."

Merelda steps from her room down the hallway and smiles at Rick.

"Good, you are dressed." She smiles and walks over. Hearing all of this, old man Jorian makes his way downstairs, each step creaking as he descends. Both Rick and Merelda turned their attention to the staircase at the end of the hall on time to see Jorian setting his the end of his cane to the floor. Jorian looks up to them and smiles seeing that the young man is awake.

"Ah, young man I see you're awake now." Jorian steps forward, clearly favoring the cane which seems to be more of a staff. Then he continues speaking, "My name is Jorian, this young lady who you seem to have met already," he gestures towards Merelda," her name is Merelda, she's my apprentice here." Then he waves his hand towards the surrounding structure and smiles. "This is my home; I hope things are comfortable here for you."

Rick nods and lets his gaze move around. "My name is Richard Mayven, and might I ask where I am." Jorian looks to Merelda and then Rick before responding, "My boy, you're on the outskirts of Fairhaven"

Rick looks at him and tilts his head curiously, having absolutely no idea where that is. Jorian picks up on his expression and goes on, "We call our world Teroomia." Seeing Rick's continuing confusion, he just shakes his head. "I wouldn't be able to explain anymore, young man, I'm sorry."

Later in his room, Rick is sat by the window looking out at the world. Running through his mind is his knowledge of star charts. Teroomia is not connecting with anything he knows of, which leaves him only more confused. He takes a deep breath and looks outside at the night sky.

In the woods, something large and moving on all fours leaps over a fallen tree, the snow muffling its footsteps. The only sounds that came from its prey were a muffled scream. The poor woman was trying to fend off her dark attacker and didn't do so well considering her lifeblood was flowing from too many cuts. The beast looked up from its meal; an almost human face looks around and sniffs something different in the air. The beast grins a wide fang-lined grin and decides while in its next bite that it will inform the others when it sees them again.

Rick thought he saw something slipping through the dark snowy forest beyond the property and just shook his head thinking it was some sort of large woodland animal. He turned and crawled into bed, not even thinking of undressing. After a bit of lying there under the blankets, he falls into sleep, a comfier sleep this time around.

That morning, many miles away, the creature from the night before was conferring with its fellows about what it had discovered the night before at Fairhaven. The discoverer had long muscular legs, clearly made for running on. Its hide was dark and leathery with spikes and horns protruding from the joints. Its arm looked much like five fingered versions of its legs. The largest creature stood out among the others in the fact that it stood up on two legs and seemed comfortable doing so. The creature had a series of gears sticking from its back, always spinning with a hellish light emerging from between them. He stood easily at 7 feet even though he walked around with a hunch to his shoulders. He grinning at the news and stroked the goatee it wore on its chin and thought about what its masters had mentioned about the being that they had discovered. Jergal was his name, but he didn't bother to speak it to the others around him. They knew who he was and what he was capable of. When the gathering had dissipated back into the shadows of the frosty woods Jergal was left alone. His thoughts raced about the best way to deal with this intruder into the world. A smile spread across his lips and he spoke to himself but out loud. "Maybe, if I remove the old man from the picture, everything shall lay itself in place"

He nods in agreement with the assessment. Jergal bent over, fighting the pain as the flesh under his wide shoulders rippled leading to a pair of wings sprouting, things of steel and bone, a thin membrane lining the space between the ribs. When Jergal stood up again he spread his wings and gave them a good flap, thus launching himself off the ground and into the sky.

Merelda had prepared breakfast that day for the three of them. Eggs, sausage and toast seem to be a very reasonable combination for their guest. Rick had politely cleaned off his plate as Jorian and Merelda couldn't help but watch him. He looked up at them and the two of them got back to eating their food and soon they were just as finished with the plates set before them. Merelda looked to Rick and then to Jorian.

"Master, I think I will go to town this morning and I think I should take Rick with me, give him an idea of what life is like here." Jorian nods and thinks about it for a second. "Yes that sounds like a good idea." He looks to Jorian and continues," I'm sorry lad; you may be here for a while, so you may as well learn how life is here." Jorian nodded in full acceptance, not really understanding how he would even get back.

The demon, Jergal, had been there watching from a shadow when the horse drawn wagon had headed off for town carrying a young girl and the equally young human. A wide grind spans his face as he looks back to the structure, looking for an entrance that wouldn't be noticed right away from the inside. He smirks as he finds one and slips across the yard, up a wall and through a balcony door. Jergal looked out the window and down the path, waiting for the wagon to go out of sight.

Jorian was in his storeroom looking through a list of materials when the demon's shadow fell around him. The old man slowly reaches forward to set his notepad down and turned around to face the creature. Jergal grinning and rubbed his hands together, as he looked over his prey, the old frail Wizard, he never did noticed that when he forced Jorian against the wall, that Jorian's hand had moved back to a shelf, this was hidden by the old man's robes.

"Leave me alone demon!"

The old man lifted a pile of a powder from an open jar and lifts it as fast as he can to be out in front of him. The demon looks down at the man's hand and turns to flee when all of a sudden a fireball blasts into the far wall and through it taking out much of the wall itself. He lay there for a just a bit amidst the burning rubble. As soon as his senses were regained he slipped away and around the side of the building.

Jorian stood up there, he was panting a bit from the blast, and he had blown a good portion of the wall away and took the demon with it. He looked down at the remains of the wall in the snow, unable to spot a body. He clutched a hand to his chest, the fingers grasping his flesh, his old heart pounding hard underneath those ribs. He took gathered up a few more materials and lifting the powdery substance to his nose, he inhaled and boy did it make him feel better, at least ten years younger. He turned to the door and stepped out of the room. Upon walking past the last window in the hall, the window shattered inwards as Jergal broke through. The demon crashed into the man, wrapping him in a tight embrace and dragged the old man down the staircase with him. Bouncing off every few steps, the man and the beast finally landed on the floor in a pile of robes, shattered railing and a mass of flesh.

Jorian managed to take one of the pieces of glass, he grasped it while the demon was regaining his senses, he slashed it with as much might as he could across Jergal's face drawing a deep gash through one of the demon's eyes and down through the bridge of its nose, straight to his chin. The demons howled and dragged its claws through the old man's throat. The last thing Jorian felt was the hot blood of the demon washing over him. His eyes closed forever before Jergal started eating.

Rick and Merelda had been traversing the town's marketplace for a few hours. She's been pointing things out to Rick as they looked over the different items. He had a fairly good idea what the workers were up to, the ones in the heavily vented buildings were part of teams of smithies. The ones tending the stalls were craftsmen while the ones standing behind tables of head were clearly farmers. He paid attention to history of ancient earth back as a child so this was immediately recognized. After spending the afternoon in the market the two of them decided it was time to head back.

A few miles away at the edge of the woodlands they could see smoke rising above the treetops. Merelda urged the horses into a hard run, for fear of what could be causing the smoke. When they got to the site, there were flames leaping from the building.

Wearing a face of pure panic Merelda jumped down from the wagon, landing on her feet and rolling forward to keep her senses, she came up to her feet and looked to Rick who was parking the vehicle. "Rick c'mon, we need to see if Jorian is ok!" she said on the verge of breaking apart. Rick nodded and hopped down too, he quickly tied the horses to a post and went immediately for the front door of the building and dived through the open door way. He looked around and noticed a series of dark drops on the floor that headed out the door behind him; he didn't have time to think it over so he followed the drops into the house. Down the hall he went to the side of the house and there he saw a hand still clutching a shard of glass that looked like it'd been dipped in something halfway between the looks of oil and chocolate.

Outside Merelda was screaming Jorian's name in such shock now that this was happening. She was also worried that Rick had just rushed into the flames. This was her home now; her brother still lived where he did. She had stayed with him for some time. But this was just unbelievable to her, seeing the place she had been learning magic in up in flames. She looked at the doorway and hoped her two friends would be ok.

Rick had managed to clear the fallen beam aside only to discover the ravaged form of Jorian ling there amongst the embers. He moved in and wrapped what was left of Jorian's robes around the form and lifted the old man out of the place.

Merelda was breathing hard now, rushing back and forth in the yard with not a single idea what to do when a hole opened up as a beam came crashing through. She gulped and then noticed Rick pushing his way past the rubble and out into the open, she noticed the robed mass held in Rick's arms and gasped, her hands lifting up to cover her mouth, then her eyes rolled back into her head her knees gave out on her. Rick rushed over and gently laid down the corpse he had retrieved and then he had gone over to Merelda, he reached down and checked her pulse and sighed with relief that she had only fainted. He slipped out of his woolen coat that she had gotten him at the market and draped it around her shoulders. He sat next to her and gently slipped his arm under her shoulders and held her close; he rocked back and forth trying to comfort her. Merelda came to and looked up to the young man next to her. She turned into him and buried her face into his chest sobbing. Rick looked back at Jorian and the house, his eyes brimming with moisture. His own words were rushing through his head, 'Why did this have to happen, why damnit.' Rick sighed and turned his gaze back to Merelda, she was staining his shirt with her tears but he didn't care, she had all the reason to be unhappy, he slipping arm tightly around her and slipped his fingers through her hair, really gently rocking her now.

After a while Merelda was having a hard time finding any tears to let loose, she looked past Rick's chest at Jorian and whispered in despair, "where was he, please tell me where he was Rick." Rick's gaze went back to Jorian's still form and replied, "He was at the bottom of the stairs, and it looked like he had tried to fight something off. What could do this?" Merelda hardly noticed his question as she was slipping from his arms over to Jorian. She pulled back the robe and looked at Jorian's face, she closed his felt his cheek, the still intact one, and the other having been what seems to be gnawed on. She could hear his voice in his mind, like a distant thing but slowly coming clearer.

'Merelda, don't weep for me, I will always be here', Merelda nodded her head, being the only person to hear these words. She closed her eyes and could see Jorian there in her mind, she thought about rushing forward to hug him tightly and realized that was truly all in her mind.

'Don't worry my dear, I am dead, I know I am but I am here'

In her thoughts he stepped forward as if to embrace him, she then felt something warm around her and looked down opening her eyes and seeing the jacket she had gotten Rick. She let out a soft smile and closed her eyes once again, Jorian wasn't there anymore though.

"Look at me Merelda, please just look up"

Rick had looked up already, he had seen an image of Jorian leaving thru where the front door of the still burning house had been, it had walked over to Merelda and was looking down at her. Merelda pulled back from the corpse and looked up, expecting to see Rick. She gasped again but didn't faint this time and finally found her tongue." Jor....ian...... is it really you?" She moved up and took to her feet, she moved forward and went to wrap her arms around Jorian, she stepped through him and blinked, she started to sob heavily when she knew what had happened. She just stood there, her arms dropped to the sides, her shoulders were heaving, her heart beating rapidly under her breasts.

Jorian's apparition stepped toward and slipped his arms around Merelda, trying to comfort the poor girl. He whispered into her ear, a warm breeze brushing upon her ear, an actual sensation he was providing her. Merelda relaxed visibly in the ghost's still warm arms. She buried into the sensation as Jorian started to speak, "Please, take Rick with you and pull the spell books from the vault this evening, and take care of him ok, for me Merelda and for yourself" She nods and looks to Rick who then comes over and stands nearby watching her and the ghost. Jorian steps through Merelda and walks forwards towards the woods, as he vanishes into the snowy mists his last words form in the air" Rick my boy, take care of her."

Rick could only nod as he watched the old man finally disappear. He looked down to the body and then returned his attention to Merelda who only nodded at him before speaking up" let's bury him Rick, let his body be at ease and then we shall wait for the fires to go down." " I know what vault Jorian was talking about."

The demon was easily a mile away, deeper into the woods. He was the embodiment of frustration at this time. It could no longer see out of one of its eyes and the bleeding refused to stop. He had snuck into town and been barked at by a few dogs but remained unseen by the villagers in a successful attempt to steal some sewing supplies. Now he was in the heart of the woods, setting the needle and string to work, it did hurt but it was best that he close up the gash of his face. He wished he could have gotten more in trade for what the old cat had done to him, but at least his hunger was sated.

When the wound had been as closed as possibly can be, Jergal reached his hand back towards his shoulder, he rubbed the bruise there from being thrown through a wall. His back ached from the landing, he felt it was a wonder the gears weren't jammed up. He really did think at that moment of what a force the wizard could have possibly been. He wasn't sure how it would sound coming from his lips , but what he did know is he was glad that not only was the old man so frail, that also the demon had had the advantage. He could only imagine what punishment would be visited upon if he had failed. He though back to the procedures that made him as he currently was. It was a common thing for demons to experiment.

He looked around and set himself up on his feet. Jergal spread his wings and took to the sky. As the forest was moving past down below he was smiling at the thought that everything should be finished. Jergal would live to know otherwise though he didn't know it yet.

When Merelda had finally calmed down enough to even begin to multitask, Rick decided it was time to look for shelter till the fires went down. He had looked around only to see there was no obvious shelter, than he had looked off into the nearby forest seeing what looked like a dark shadow in the brush. Rick made his way to the underbrush and pulled some of it aside, tearing a bush from its roots to reveal a small cave in the ground. Merelda wandered over to see what Rick had found and nodded when she noted the passage.

"Be careful Rick, and don't get stuck please."

Rick nodded and slid down into the opening head first and made it a good 10 feet in and noticed there was actually a small chamber in there, wide enough to hold a small scout craft. He looked to Merelda and she understood, she went to gather what pieces of fur she can from the tiny storage shed and returned with them. While she was doing this Rick had gone and collected some firewood for the night. Together they made the cave livable and settled in and waited for nightfall.

During the night, Rick had put a few logs on the fire about every 4 hours, trying to keep the air inside the cave warm. The smoke from the burning material floated out the entrance. Early in the morning hours a loud crash startled the two awake. Rick went and looked out the cave entrance and saw that the second story of the building had collapsed completely. He sighed and walked about reminded that it was not a nightmare that he was experiencing.

"Rick, what happened? What was the crash? She studied his expression and went to look out towards the house. She only nodded and turned back. She sat down where she had been sleeping and just sat there watching the fire, quite awake now. Rick yawned and slipped back into the warm materials he had been using and drifted onto sleep.

Rick woke up when dawn's rosy fingers were just starting across the sky. He went out and found a stick, he looked at it and reached for his knife which he had transferred to his person from his old outfit and fashioned a point out of the tip. He looked back towards the cave towards where Merelda was sleeping and then returned his gaze forward and snuck off into the shadowy undergrowth.

Merelda had woken up after having a dream of the night before Rick arrived. She looked around and noticed Rick was gone and she sighed but quickly realized Rick should be fine. She went about preparing the fire again; she tossed a few logs onto the embers. The so slight extension of her forward facial features leaned close to the circle of ashes and she breathed heavily upon the embers, causing them to flare up some, catching a few stray slivers of wood to catch fire and some of the moss on the logs.

Rick was stalking the undergrowth having seen something small and furry dash away ahead of him. He paused a bit and held his position; he took a few deep breaths and held his crude spear in place. The small little thing peered out of the brush its snouted nose sniffing the air and it looks both ways, it doesn't sense any motion and steps out even further the long ears on its head laid back in pure nervousness. It was only too late when it noticed the pointed stick racing for it, it turned to run off and was suddenly caught through its side.

Rick looked at the creature and felt sympathy for it seeing it was still struggling to survive. He pulled out his blade and delivered a quick and clean blow thus putting the small rabbit-dog thing to rest mercifully. Rick sat down there in the quiet of the woodland life, he went to work on the bloody deed of skinning the creature and then cleaning out what should be cleaned out. When he was done he rolling the pelt up with a piece of vine and buried the non-desirables in the earth using a flat stone as a shovel. He returned back to the cave in due time and smiled upon seeing Merelda sitting outside in wait for him. Rick nodded and set the pelt aside and she reached over to feel the fur and instantly knew what it was. She smiled and nodded his way and watched him enter the cave and approach the fire.

Rick had slid the spear through the meaty form and laid it out on top of two piles of rocks that were opposite each other across the fire. He set the animal up and sat nearby tending to the slow turning of the spit. His father had taught him how to hunt and kill for survival if he needed to do so.

After a while Merelda arrived by his side, drawn in by the alluring scent of roasting meat. She smiled and couldn't help but lick her lips as she studied the food. After a few more minutes of rotating the Sladget, at least that's what Merelda said it was, Rick lifted the spit from the heat and used his knife again after having cleaned it as much as possible in a puddle of water. He sliced a few sections of meat and handed a piece to Merelda who smiled gratefully and took it.

Rick watched Merelda start to munch on the food and nodded seeing how she eats the meat, he had no desire to disgust her so he proceeded with his own food very much the same way. Seeing as the creature didn't seem to hold all that much meat it was nearly gone after a few servings each. Rick wiped his lips and licked the remaining juice from his fingertips and watched Merelda blush as she did the same. Merelda gazed at Rick and the outside.

"Seems the fire has gone down, we should go bury Jorien and then go look for the vault." She said all of this and shed a few tears over all the pain, but then sorted herself out visibly and sighed. Rick only nodded in agreement.

"Yes, let's do this now."

The two of them walked off towards the sight and saw to their relief that the fires had gone away and there was a thin layer of snow on all the rubble. Rick grabbed a metal shaft and started hewing into a patch of earth. After a number of hours and Merelda's help a grave had been dug out of the cold earth. The two of them proceeded to lay Jorien to rest in the ground and erected a small monument to the old mage. A few short hours later, nearing noon the hole had been refilled and padded down softly. Then a loose pile of leaves and more dirt was laid down to make it seem more natural. Rick wiped his brow with the back of his hand, wiping some sweat away. He listened to Merelda voicing a string of prayers to the old man and kept his own head bowed in respect. After some time of silence Rick looked up to see her watching him intently. He nodded understanding it was time to look for the hidden vault. He let her guide him to the side of the building and she spoke a small incantation at in front of a larger stone in the ground, it then rolled to the side revealing a stairway down into the foundation. Rick watched from a bit away." What did you say, that wasn't technology."

She smiled at him warmly" no it isn't some gadget like your craft seemed to be, it's a gift some of us have. We call it Magicka." She smiles noting his confusion before continuing. "It's a spiritual connection to elements around us."

Rick nodded only understanding some of what she told him. He figured understanding the basic idea was all he needed to understand really. "A most interesting gift, but for now I'll just let you lead the way." Merelda nodded and led the way into the darkness, she whispered a single word and a few candles lit up in the tunnel beyond. At the end of the tunnel was a wooden door. Merelda pushed it open and the two of them entered a chamber with a few shelves along the walls, each holding some mysterious items; a skull bound in leather straps, a large incandescent blue stone sat in a small cradle, and a stack of tomes on a wooden desk, upon a pedestal sat an open book. The skull was clearly human looked yet it had natural looking runes engraved in its surface. Even the bone was undamaged where the runes lay. Rick found a carrying pack in a closet and held it open for Merelda as she carefully set some of the books in it, she was never sure that the skull or the crystal had any useful purpose so she left them be. She looked to Rick and nodded. It was time to go.