FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Alright En, are you ready?" Richard asked the dragon laying beside him. Ensiderik was a blue dragon not much larger than a horse. He had four sharply spiraling horns that swept back from the back of his head. His underbelly was a much darker shade of blue, almost black in fact. His claws and horns reflected that same color.

Richard was a man just turned twenty. He was an average height but very lean. Years of finding his own food had done that to him. He had dusty blonde hair and blue eyes. His hair was long but he kept it tied up in a queue to keep it out of his eyes. He wore a simple non dyed wool shirt and leather breaches.

Richard and Ensiderik had been friends for as long as both of them could remember. Both were outcasts of their own kind. Richard was an orphan of a farming family that had died in a fire. Ensiderik wasn't an orphan but he had been cast out when he was young. He never understood why but he no longer cared. He had found Richard after a few months of wondering and the two were quick to help each other out. Now they were inseparable.

"More than ready," Ensiderik replied. They were both looking over a pasture with various animals roaming about. The majority were sheep and goats but there was also a few cows and several horses. The farmer's house laid on the other side of the pasture along with a few outbuildings. The house itself wasn't very large. It was just a one story log construction with a large chimney on one side. The barn was larger and was of an A-frame construction with the roof going all the way to the ground. There was a few other smaller buildings one of which was the smoke house. That one was of a greater importance to Ensiderik and Richard.

"So we're clear that once and only once I have collected what is owed us will you collect the interest," Richard said.

"Yes, yes, yes. Hurry up so we can eat," Ensiderik said.

"En, I know how you're stomach likes to get in the way of things," Richard said.

"Shut it Richard and that happened only once... when I was ten!" En countered.

"And I still feel hungry when I think of it," Richard said. He didn't give En a chance to reply. Instead he climbed over the fence and into the pasture.

Richard began making his way slowly towards one of the horses. It was a tan horse and just barley a yearling. Richard and En had paid for it with hides. The farmer had left with the hides but never returned with the horse. Richard moved slowly to try and not spook the creature. It was suppose to be broken but the farmer may have very well lied.

The horse didn't spook even when Richard put his hand on its flank. He moved to its head and petted it a few moments to make sure it was calm. When he was competent that the horse was calm he quickly hopped on its back. The horse was startled a moment but quickly calmed down.

"At least he wasn't lying about that," Richard mumbled to himself. Richard then turned and waived towards En. En quickly took to the air.

The horse bucked at the sight of En but Richard was able to hold on. After a moment Richard was able to gain some control and direct the horse out of the pasture. The horse more than willingly jumped the fence and ran into the tree line.

Once in the air En made a beeline for the smokehouse. He didn't slow when he approached it but instead landed against it at speed. The small building cracked like and egg. Timbers and clay mortar flew everywhere. There were several smoked items on the inside the largest of which was the entire ham of a cow. En quickly grabbed it.

"What are you doing!" the farmer called from his house. The man had met En before and quickly recognized him.

"I'm just collecting interest. Richard has already taken the horse you owned us," En told him. The farmer looked out towards the pasture.

"You..." the farmer shouted at En but he never heard the rest. The wind stole the words as he took back to the sky.

Ensiderik began searching for Richard, trying not to laugh in the mean time. The old man had it coming after all. It only took Ensiderik a few moments to find Richard. The trees were thin in the area, concentrated more in clumps with small strips of grass land in between. Ensiderik landed in one of the strips of grass and walked into the clump of trees that Richard had hid himself it. En walked to Richard and the horse. The horse nickered and bucked but couldn't go anywhere because Richard had tied its halter to a tree.

"You didn't go too far," En said.

"The horse calmed down right about here so I figured I best not waste the chance. Do you think that he is going to come after us?" Richard asked.

"Nah, he is going to be far to busy picking up all the meat of his smoke house," En said.

"What no fire? I thought for sure that you would take the chance," Richard said.

"I was tempted. But no, I thought that burning his house down was a little excessive for cheating us. This nice side of beef on the other hand..." En said holding it up.

"That is going to be some good eating as long as you don't eat it all at once," Richard teased.

"I'm not that big Richard! Half of that would probably hold me over for a week. Of course that horse would be some good eating. It would be a lot fresher than that smoked meat too," En said eying the horse.

"After all that you just want to eat the horse now?"

"Works for me. I still don't understand why you want a horse. I can take you anywhere you want to go. I always have," En said.

"We've been over this En. I don't want a horse to ride, I want one to breed. You know that place we found far out in the forest with the waterfall and the large clearing?"

"Yes."

"I want to take it out there. We could make ourselves a home there En and raise enough horses and other animals so that neither of us would ever go hungry again. We could bring the horses into town to sell and then we would be the ones respected rather than scowled at and cheated," Richard explained.

"I know Richard but I still don't know why. We've been well of for a long time now. We don't need anyone besides ourselves. We both find more than enough food for ourselves and what we don't have we can easily trade for in furs," Ensiderik said. What really bothered him about the situation was that he was afraid he was going to loose his friend. En thought that if they went out and did what Richard was talking about that he would no longer need En. Then, soon enough after, they would end up parting ways.

"I know we don't need anyone else En but maybe I would like to want other people. I would like a wife and maybe a family someday En. I can't have that with the way we live now. People either laugh at us or curse us. I don't just want this for me but the both of us. In all the years that I've known you En I've learned that dragons aren't all that different from humans. Wouldn't you want to find a girl too?"Richard asked.

"Yes..."

"This would give you a place to go to and a way of life and a way of providing for others," Richard said.

"The sky provides for me Richard," Ensiderik said.

"I know En but I don't have wings like you," Richard said. Both were quite for several minutes after while they waited on the horse to calm down. They took the time to eat some of the beef that they had acquired. Both got more than there fill.

Once it stopped bucking and pulling at it's rope Richard stood up and approached it. It was sill wild eyed and skittish but Richard was able to mount it. "Well, if I want to be able to get a saddle we best be going," Richard said.

"It's going to take forever to walk all the way back to Estel. Worse, it's going to take a month to get it out to our spot," En complained.

"Come on En, it won't take that long. It might be thirty miles out there. It won't take more then two days," Richard said.

"It takes less than two hours to fly out there," En said

"Stop bragging," Richard said.

The two began making their way back towards Estel. It was slow going at first. En was determined to walk alongside Richard but the horse would have none of it. Richard was never thrown off. He was use to riding En everywhere and was more than capable of staying on a horse because of it. Making the horse go the direction Richard wanted was much harder. It tended to bolt at random times, ignoring all kicks and yanks of its mane. Only after a great deal of prodding did the horse return to their path. Because of this the five mile journey to Estel which would have normaly taken under two hours drug on well into the afternoon. By the time the town came into view the horse had grown too tiered to protest En's presence any longer. Richard was happy because he was nearly too tired to hang on any longer.

They approached the town from the north. The path that they followed slowly grew from a muddy track to a small road. They began passing houses and small farms along the way. Animals of all manor ran from En's presence. People yelled and cursed them as they passed for it but the two were so use to it that they didn't pay it any mind.

Not all the animals were truly terrified. They did come regularly to Estel to trade furs. There were other dragons as well that came from time to time on similar business so the sight of them wasn't wholly uncommon. The other dragons that came didn't tend to walk into town though.

The small road crossed the small river Ristine and ended against the main highway that followed the river east and west. The town market sat just on the other side of the intersection with most of the important shops and buildings around. The town hall laid on the far side of the market. Blacksmiths, bakers, cobblers, saddle makers, herbalist and so on ringed the edge of the market with proper shops and buildings for their craft. Estel was on the edge of the kingdom Arderian which laid mostly to the east. Misdural laid in the lands to the west. The lands in between were mostly wilderness. Lands east and west were more fertile grass land or lush forest that were perfect for farming or harvesting. The land near Estel didn't yield quite as fair crops nor the hearty trees that lands elsewhere did. The dragon lands were also just across the narrow seas to the northwest. Most people were truly terrified of dragons so most that didn't grow up near Estel didn't come there. In a lot of ways they lived apart from Arderian even though the kingdom laid claim to them.

Richard made his way to the saddle maker and tied his horse off to the banister. It still eyed En uncomfortably but didn't try and get away. Richard walked into the shop. "Hello Andrew, I need a saddle," Richard said to the shop keeper.

"I thought you two would be long gone from here," Andrew replied without even looking up.

"And why is that?" Richard asked cautiously. Richard had conversations like this before and they didn't usually end well.

"So you haven't heard than? War is coming here. The armies of Arderian are less than a days ride away and those of Misdural aren't much further," Andrew explained.

"Why on earth are they coming here? There's nothing here but a few trees and mountains. The main road to Misdural is far south of us. There is nothing out here," Richard said.

"I know boy but roomer has it that they're looking for something and they think that it is near here. They say that there was a powerful wizard in these parts long ago..."

"Yes, I've heard this story and how his great and might power allowed him to rule all the lands around here and that even dragons feared his might," Richard said.

"Correct but _they_say that he had a crystal ball, a sphere of mighty power that all of his power stemmed from. There is something about old records found talking about it and now both kings want it before the other can find it," Andrew explained.

"So you're telling me that they came here to wage wore over a fairy tale?" Richard asked astonished.

"It would seem so. If I were you I would leave here while you can. Runners have come ahead demanding conscripts. They'll likely throw you into their army weather you like it or not," he said.

"Why haven't you left then?" Richard asked.

"Because the runners told me they'd hang me for treason if I did right after they made off with all my saddles. They're demanding that I make more as well," Andrew explained.

"So you don't have any saddles as well?"

"Not a one," Andrew replied.

"Well isn't this just wonderful!" Richard said as he turned and walked out.

"What's going on? Where is the saddle?" En asked Richard as he walked out of the shop. Richard explained everything to En just like Andrew had.

"Lets just go to our spot and wait it out," Richard said.

"But if they are truly looking for this sphere then they'll be combing the countryside. They'll find us there," En said.

"Then where are we suppose to go En?" Richard asked.

"Well..."

"Don't even think about it," Richard said. "And why not?" En asked.

"Because we've been through that place a dozen times and found nothing more than a copper penny. The place probably didn't belong to the wizard anyways. I don't think that he ever existed," Richard said.

"Come on Richard, you've seen that place. It's like someone grew it out of the mountain. Besides, where else would he have he been. The legends says that he commanded forth the river Ristine and what does it flow out of?" En asked.

"I know En, it comes right out of the ruins but there is nothing there!" Richard countered.

"If we find this thing we can use it to make them go away. Do you have a better idea?" En asked.

"We could just leave it all behind," Richard offered.

"Do you know how far we would have to go to get away from Arderian, Misdural and the dragon lands? We're not welcome in any of them" En asked.

"At least a thousand miles, I know. You could do it though!" Richard said.

"I know Richard but I don't want to leave my kind completely behind. Isn't it at least worth a try?" En pleaded.

"Alright but if we don't find anything then we leave, agreed?" Richard asked.

"Agreed," En said reluctantly.

Richard looked at the horse and sighed before saying, "It figures that as soon as I get the stupid thing I would have to leave it behind."

"Don't worry Richard, there will be plenty more horses for us to steal," En said and Richard smiled. "Now hope on before they do come and take you away."

Richard did and said, "We're not going to make it up there before nightfall."

"I know but it is better than being caught in town when those armies arrive," En said before taking to the air.

Richard was right; they didn't make it to the ruins before nightfall. The mountains shot up just outside of town going from flat land to high peaks in less than five miles. The mountains were tall and exceptionally rugged. Some of their peaks were snow covered all year round and their sides were steep and jagged. The river flowed between the peaks in a narrow ravine that was far too narrow for En to land in. Between the ravine and the jagged mountains it was no wonder that the ruins hadn't been found by anyone but a dragon. Even then it could be sometimes dangerous. The air was thin that high and hard for En to fly in. The peaks often cast up strange up drafts and down drafts that if he wasn't careful could send him into the mountains. En didn't know of any dragons that flew the mountains besides himself. There was no reason. There was no food or place for shelter or anything of the like. En and Richard had first came into the mountains looking for the home of the ancient wizard when they were younger and although they had found the ruins, never found anything if interest.

There was one particular place where the river doubled back on itself leaving a flat outcropping on the ridge above. There was little on the ridge besides rocks and a few scrubs but nothing worth making a fire out of. That was were they landed just after sunset. There was no other place to spend the night and the place was still exposed, winds whipping up out of the canyon at random times.

"Well this is going to be a miserable night," Richard said.

"I know but I won't dare fly in this place at night," En said.

"I know En, I know. At least it's not raining," Richard said as he climbed down from En.

"Nice Richard, now it is definitely going to poor down the rain on us," En said as he laid down. Richard leaned up against his side.

"Well that is how our luck goes," Richard said. En spread a wing over him just for good measure.

It was late spring and the air wasn't freezing but it was cold in the mountains and the wind made it far worse. En new he would be alright even though. The cold didn't affect him as much as it did Richard. He had slept several times out in the open while it was snowing and was perfectly fine. Richard, he knew, needed to be out of the wind and so he made sure that he was throughout the night.

The night was rough and neither managed much sleep. They had spent most of it waiting on the light of day. As soon as the sun was up they were both ready to go. The ruins weren't far, maybe another thirty miles, but En had to fly slow and fight the winds. It was always a hard journey that left him tired afterward. It was noon before they arrived at the ruins.

The ruins were at the end of the ravine. The ravine itself abruptly stopped at the foot of one of the many peaks. The mountain there had been carved into a sheer cliff face that stretched several hundred feet into the air. The face itself was perfectly smooth without a blemish or crack anywhere that could be seen. At the base of the cliff there was a sharp angle were the face turned into a steep slope that stretched from one side of the ravine to the other. The slope was no small feature either, rising two or three hundred feet up the cliff and perfectly smooth as well. It would have been impossible for anyone to climb.

At the center of the cliff face where the slope met the cliff a triangular ridge protruded out of the mountain. It stretched out as far as the slope and all of its sides were sheer and smooth just like everything around it. At the top of where the triangular ridge came to a tip a square formation of rock extended just a few feet onwards. The formation was hollow and the river Ristine flowed forth into open air and falling to the bottom of the ravine below.

On top of the ridge sat the body of the ruins. There were several buildings, all tall and narrow. Many along the edge of the ridge were triangular in order to meet the profile. Those towards the center were square and often larger. The further back and further in the building was the taller it stood. The one furthest back and at the center was the tallest. They all had sloped roofs and were all made entirely of stone. What had always astonished Richard and Ensiderik was that the buildings were not made out of blocks. They were each one giant piece of stone without a seam anywhere to be found. The two couldn't decided if the ruins had been carved from the mountain or grown.

En landed at the end of the ridge just above the waterfall. Once on the ground he collapsed in a heap of dragon, exhausted. Richard gingerly climbed down from him. "I'd forgotten how tiring that trip was," En said.

"Or how lazy you've been lately?" Richard offered.

"Shut up Richard! Give me a minute," En said. Richard roamed around nearby a few minutes while Ensiderik caught his breath.

"You ready yet?" Richard asked.

"Yes, yes. I'm coming. Give a dragon a break. I was the one that had to do all the work to get here. Where do you think that we should start looking?" En asked.

"I really don't know. We've been through every building twice at least and we don't have very much supplies with us. We're probably going to have to start back tomorrow," Richard said.

"What about the wizard's palace?" En asked referring to the tallest building.

"You mean the one we've been through a dozen times every time we've come here? There's nothing in it but a fancy chair, a few painting and thousands of books that no one can read," Richard said.

"We have an idea of what we're looking for now though. Do you have a better place to start?" En asked.

"No."

"Alright then," En said and the two of them made there way to the palace.

They entered and began their search. The building had seven levels to it. The first was set up like a throne room with a raised chair and was a mostly empty room for receiving subjects with various painted carvings on all the walls. The second was filled with broken and rotten barrels and looked to be the store room. The remaining five levels were filled with books and little else. The books were in a hand and language that the two had never seen before. They had took a few back before thinking that they may be of some value but no one was able to read them. None of them that En and Richard could find had any artwork in them so they couldn't even be sold for aesthetic value.

Every room, including those in other buildings, was lit despite not having any windows to be seen. There was no source to the light, no lamp, fire or magical orb. The light came from no where and everywhere all at the same time casting strange shadows or worse, no shadows. It had amazed the two the first time they had came but now they paid it little mind.

The two searched from bottom to top and back again not seeing anything that they hadn't before. They gave the throne room one last look around before starting to walk out. En stopped and sat down instead.

"En, what are you doing?" Richard asked.

"I don't know Richard. I just think that we are missing something," Ensiderik explained.

"There is nothing to miss En. We've been though this building so many times I know it like the back of my hand. If it is here it has to be in one of the other buildings," Ricahrd said.

"But the other buildings are kitchens, storage houses and servant quarters. It wouldn't make any sense to be anywhere else other than here," En said and began looking around again.

"I don't think that there is any sense to it," Richard said. En ignored him. The carving on the wall behind the throne had caught his eye. It was of a large armored man covered head to toe in plate armor. At his side sat a huge war hammer. It was a large carving and was almost as tall as En if he stood on his hind legs. The thing that had caught his attention was that both of the man's hands were in front of him holding onto an orb about the size of a melon.

"Do you see that carving?" En asked Richard.

"Yes. What about it?"

"Do you what he is holding?" En asked him

"See wha... oh!" Ricahrd said. They both approached it slowly to get a better look. "Well there is a picture of it. I wonder where it has gotten off to."

"I don't know" En said absent mindedly as he got closer. He raised up slightly on his hind legs, setting on his tale, and felt the carving of the sphere on the wall. " Maybe it is right here," he said just before hitting the carving on the sphere. Nothing happened so he hit it a couple more times. The carving cracked. One more hit and the stone gave way to reveal a small tunnel and an eerie blue light. En reached in and pulled out the Sphere of Power. It was about the size of a melon like the carving. It was perfectly smooth and round. It was a strange glowing translucent blue.

"I don't believe it!" Richard declared.

"Richard, we've found it!" En said happily as he hopped down from the wall and began walking towards Richard, hobbling along on three feet. "Do you know what this means? We don't have to leave!"

Just then the ground shook and there was the sound of cracking stone. The two whipped around and looked back at the carving. Cracks had spread all over it and continued to spread. They began backing away out of fear but were unable to turn away out of astonishment.

The carving shattered all at one and the man that the wall depicted jumped out of the wall. He was huge and covered in iron just as he had been in the carving. The only thing that could be seen besides his armor was his face but it didn't appear to be made of flesh. It looked more of stone and expressionless. The monster was weaponless only a moment. After bursting out of the wall it reached back in and pulled out its giant war hammer that was made of solid iron, handle and all.

The two were terrified. There is one thing that all dragons tend to do when frightened enough. En bathed the monster in fire. There was nothing on it to be burnt though and it didn't even seem to notice.

"I think I might just have made it mad," En muttered.

"Run En!" Richard yelled, tugging on him and having a little more sense in the moment.

The two ran out the door, Richard quickly jumping onto En because he was faster. En ran towards the waterfall and the edge of the ridge. The streets were too narrow for him to fly in but he knew if he could get into the air he would be alright. The monster didn't exactly have wings after all.

They didn't make it very far before the creature literally burst from the palace not caring to use the door. It ran after them at an incredible speed. "It's going to catch us!" Richard yelled as he watched terrified. It didn't care to catch them though. Instead it threw its hammer at them. It just missed the two of them and impacted a building in front of them. It was one of the smaller buildings and the hammer must have hit something important because it collapsed before they could get past, blocking there way. Some of the rubble tripped En before he could get stopped. He fell on his side and the both of them went sliding into the rubble. Thankfully neither of them were hurt.

The monster didn't go for them first. Instead it went for its hammer giving Richard time to scramble to his feet. En was slower to rise though and the thing had pulled out its hammer and raised it to strike En. Richard threw a rock at it hitting it square in the face. "Over here!" Richard yelled. It seemed to work because the monster stopped its swing and turned to look at Richard.

En was able to scramble to his feet and, not knowing what else to do, launched himself into the monster. His claws did nothing against it but he flew into the thing high up on its chest. His weight was enough to push it over. It landed hard on its back. The impact was enough that Richard could feel it though the ground. En quickly scrambled off of it before the monster could get a hold of him.

The monster scrambled about almost like a turtle turned on its back. En didn't stay to watch though. He grabbed Richard and threw him on his back despite Richard's protests. In just a couple of hops he was over the rubble and heading towards the edge once again.

The ground shook and the two stopped to look back. The monster had managed to get up and leapt into the air. It made it clean over the rubble and stuck the ground with such force that the solid stone cracked around where he landed. It took a moment for the thing to stand upright.

En realized what he had to do. He took only a moment to look about. They were at an intersection of a side street En grabbed Richard and sat him down. "Get out of the way, I know what to do," En said.

"But..."

"I don't have time Richard!" En said and turned and roared at the monster. It had stood back up and ran after En and his roaring. Richard had no choice but to do what En had said and ran down the side street. He only went a little ways. He wasn't about to abandoned his friend.

En ran for the edge. It wasn't far and he knew he could make it to the edge before the monster caught him. He also knew that if he jumped into the air that it would be close enough to jump after him and they both would fall to their deaths.

When En made it to the edge he didn't jump; he had a much better plan than his suicide. He turned to face the monster. It had its hammer raised as it ran towards him. Once in striking range the monster swung. Before the giant hammer made contact En jumped up, using his wings to throw him higher into the air. The strike had forced the creature forward and En had been right on the edge of the ridge, setting on the low stone banister. When En came back down he kicked the top of the monster as hard as he could. His weight knocked the creature forward this time and right over the cliff. En had just enough time to look over and see it smash into a hundred pieces on the rocks below.

Richard was at his side just a few moments later. "You did it!" Richard said in astonishment. En turned to Richard with a giant dragon grin.

"I bet no one in Estel has ever killed a monster before!" En said ecstatic.

"Or found the Sphere of Power... wait, the Sphere!" Richard yelled when he realized that at some point they had dropped it. It took them almost till dark to find it again. It had rolled of to a remote corner of the ruins.

As night fell the two retreated back to the palace building. There was a lot of havoc on the bottom floor now so the two went up a couple of levels to one of the library rooms. While most of the buildings were lit the palace was the only one to stay heated. There was no rhyme or reason to it just like there wasn't for the light. After their adventuresome day the duo were more than happy to just lay around. Too tired to do much else they just laid in the middle of the room and waited for the next day to arrive while pondering the Sphere.

"You know," Richard began, "with this we never have to worry again. We can make everyone bow down to us and never make fun or try and cheat us again. With it they can no longer make us outcasts. We could make both those armies bow down to us."

"Why?" En asked.

"I don't know... because we can. Why not En?" Richard asked back.

"Because I don't want to treat anyone like we've been treated, do you?"

"No," Richard said solemnly.

"If I was going to use it, beside just using it to make people leave me alone, I would want to make it so that people like us don't end up outcasts. I don't think that is too much," En said. They were both quiet a moment

"You're absolutely right En. Lets do that if we can," Richard said.

"Deal," En said.

The two spent the rest of the afternoon trying to discover any mysteries that the sphere might reveal. When night fell they went to sleep early knowing that they had a long day ahead of them.

As soon as the sun was up the two were crouched at the edge of the ridge looking out into the ravine. Richard quickly climbed onto En's back and he launched into the air beginning their journey home.

The day was clear and the winds were calm, unusually so. En had little trouble navigating the ravine because of it and was almost able to travel at a normal speed. It was not yet mid morning when they passed the bend in the river where they had slept just two nights before. They were all together clear of the mountains before noon when normally it would have taken Ensiderik to nearly dusk to complete the journey.

Ecstatic about their luck they quickly made their way towards Estel. As the town came into view at almost noon so did a giant dust cloud just west of the town. "You don't think?" En asked.

"I'm sure of it. That's a battle," Richard said.

"What do we do?" En asked.

"I'm not sure," Richard said. En circled where he was as the two tried to figure out what they were going to do. "I've got it!" Richard declared and quickly explained his plan to En.

"I don't know. It sounds crazy," En said.

"Crazier than jumping on that monster's back to knock it off a cliff? Trust me, it will work," Richard reassured En.

"Alright," En said and began flying straight for the two engaged armies.

As Ensiderik neared the battle he flew lower until he was flying not much higher than the trees near by. En didn't hesitate to fly right over the center of the battle where they were both the most visible. Richard held up the Sphere where everyone could see at as they flew over. Faces quickly turned skyward as soldiers and commanders saw the Sphere. By the time the two had crossed over to the other side the fighting had stopped.

When En circled around a divide had formed at the front. En landed gently in the divide directly at the center of the two armies. Soldiers backed away from them leaving a ring around the two.

"We hold the Sphere of Power and we are not afraid to use it!" Richard called out across the men. What muttering there had been quieted leaving a strange silence in the middle of so many people. "This is our land! We don't want war. We don't want death. All we want is peace. Both armies will turn and go home but first you will restore anything that you took, rebuild anything that you've tore down and pay for anything that can't be replace," Richard declared.

There was nothing but silence. In the silence they both nearly lost their nerve. Before they did En bellowed, "Now! What are you doing! Get to work or you're all going to die!"

En's announcement brought everyone to their senses and both sides scrambled back to their camps. Soon after things were being returned and several houses were being rebuilt. As the sun set and the two were watching the work En asked Richard, "What happens when they realize that we have no idea how to use the thing?"

"We throw it at whoever's head that is accusing us and run. Until then lets just roll with it," Richard replied.