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Chapter 1:
The Shadowlord's Hope
The Shadowlord was furious!
Again he had been defeated by the King of Deltora! He had lost his
precious shadowlands and the slaves he had kept within it, was he cursed
never to triumph over Deltora? Maybe, he thought, but there may be one
other way...to claim the death crystals...
D espair E nvy A rrogence T reachery H ate
Maybe then Deltora will be mine... he pondered.
*** At the palace, there was still rejoicing of the lost shadowland
slaves returning to the arms of their loved ones even after the few
months that had passed. All was well Jasmine thought as she passed along
the palace's rich corridors to her room. When she arrived there she saw
a letter, with no wax seal or senders notice on the outside of it.
Jasmine picked it up, puzzled. It looked rather battered and ripped, but
she opened it none the less. As she read it, a many different
expressions chased each other across her face, puzzlement, disbelief,
anger, joy and curiosity. As soon as she had finished she ran to collect
Doom, Barda and Lief and then took them to the empty kitchen to discuss
her letter. When she had done just that she showed them the letter, a
letter which read of the Shadowlord, revenge, the DEATH crystals, fear,
FAITH crystals and Faith, the sister that Jasmine had once believed
existed.
It read:
Dear Sister You may wonder who is writing to you, with no seal of
marking on this letter. It is me, you sister, Faith. Before the
Shadowlord was defeated by the Pirran Pipe (By the by, I was very
pleased to hear that you defeated him) the Shadowlord stole my form and
used it to trick you into thinking I was but an image. I do exist
Jasmine, I do. I have also learned that the Shadowlord has a new plan to
take over the whole of Deltora without thousands of slaves at hand. He
will get revenge with gems he calls 'DEATH crystals'. Tales have been
told about Doran the Dragonlover and these crystals too... but I fear
the tale may be hard to find. The only thing I remember about the enemy
of the 'DEATH crystals' is 'FAITH'... could this be that there are
'FAITH crystals' also? I am not sure. Please help dear sister, I hope
father is well, give him my regards.... Doom is he called now? I heard
speak of a man named Doom and his daughter, Jasmine, who could speak
with the birds, during the Shadowlords wraith. I knew that had to be you
and father. I have had Miko, my Raven, like Kree, bring you this
message. I could not send you note of my existence for he had his wings
broken by the Shadowlord earlier. Once again, please help. There are a
few prisoners with me who did not escape when the Pirran Pipe saved
everyone else. Faith, your loving sister.
"Well now..." Barda said calmly "Are we to trust this 'Faith' again? Or
are we to discard this letter now?" Lief looked sideways at Jasmine
who's eyes were glittering hopefully
"I...I would like to think that Faith is real...but I am unsure of what
to think, I would like to believe you"
Doom nodded. "I agree with Lief about wanting to believe Jasmine. But I
cannot remember much of my past before I was taken into the Shadowlord's
hands, so, therefore, I cannot remember having another daughter aside
from Jasmine. Maybe we can search for this tale that Faith speaks of, If
we cannot find it, we shall not search. If we do however find it, we can
try to find Faith and stop the Shadowlord from taking Deltora. If he do
intends to get the DEATH crystals..."
Jasmine bowed her head "I'm sorry if this sounds like a childish thing
to do, trying to find my sister again after we discovered that she was
just an image of the Shadowlord's work.... I just... She seemed so real,
and if there is, or was hope of finding her again, it feels like I must
take another chance in finding my own flesh and blood"
It pained Lief to see Jasmine this way so he reached out for her hand
under the table. "I will set Josef to the task right away Jasmine, of
finding information on the 'FAITH crystals' tale. I promise you..."
Chapter 2:
Tales that are Told
Josef sighed as he pondered
through some old files, what was the King thinking? The tales from the
FAITH and DEATH crystals were probably lost in the fire's ashes. He
looked anyway, not wanting to upset the person who had given him back
his job as Palace Librarian and Keeper of Files. Or his friend, poor
Jasmine, the Wild Girl who was desperate to find the files of the FAITH
crystals. I wish that Ranesh were here, but I was happy to see him off
to Tora to be married to that Marilen girl. I do need help here in the
Library though, Josef thought to himself. His thoughts were disturbed
when he reached down to pick up an old, discarded piece of paper with
only 3 words on it:'FAITH crystals, Doran' Josef got down on his hands
and knees excitedly, hoping that he might find more scraps of parchment.
Sharn quietly opened the Library door and saw Josef on his hands and
knees "Why, Josef, what ever are you doing?" Josef looked up "Why ma'am?
I'm looking for pieces to the FAITH and DEATH crystal tales, I... I
believe I have found a scrap of it" Sharn looked at him, trying to
decide if he was lying or not. When she realised that Josef never lied,
like him, she got down on her hands and knees to look for parts of the
FAITH tales. After the two had searched for what seemed like hours they
showed the others the scraps of parchment. The other read:
I, Doran have discovered of another world above us, not heaven, but a
place quite close to it. This land rests on the clouds and holds by
them, what they call FAITH crystals. I believe these crystals hold much
power and can destroy all evil in their presence. On my earlier
discoveries, I have found that the FAITH crystals have an archenemy, the
DEATH crystals that contain pure evil. The Keepers of these good
crystals (The Flurons and their different tribes) have a little poem to
describe their wonders:
F riesnship A dmirable I ntelligence T rust H ope
Dear traveller(s), I hope that if you somehow find a way to the place of
the Flurons that you will not disturb them or hurt them, they are timid
people. If you do decide to go up there, you may want the help of the
Ruby Plumes, the Rainbow Aurons and the Emerald Kerons. If you know what
I speak of then you are definitely worthy of visiting the Flurons.
Signed Doran the Dragonlover.
Sharn frowned "That's all we found, there was a lot more...but the rest
was burnt in the fire..." Josef nodded "I hope this helps to foil the
Shadowlords plan" Barda frowned also "Some of the palace knights and
guards have heard rumour of a plan of death from the Shadowlord, it
seems he is not quite dead and has a few slaves we did not manage to
free. I wonder if the plan the Shadowlord has is the one that Jasmine
speaks of?"
"If Jasmine, Barda and Doran speak the truth...then I think we should
stay alert of what is happening around us. We should try to contact
these Flurons also, to see if Jasmine's sister, Faith was right about
them. Doran said that the Kerons, the Plumes and the Aurons knew hoe to
get there, so we should give them a visit" Lief said, rolling the soul
stone around in his pocket.
"I agree with Lief, I think we should visit the Plumes, the Kerons and
the Aurons." Jasmine said, her eyes then lighting up "We should gather
them all at the Kerons home, the Kerons should still have the pipe with
them? Should they not?" There were murmurs of agreement came from the
crowd around them. Jasmine turned to look at Lief and their eyes met,
Lief gave her an encouraging smile then turned to talk to Doom when Doom
tapped him on the shoulder. Lief nodded then turned to everyone
"Doom has offered to deliver a message to our underground friends, one
message to each, if the Kerons accept to meet on their island, I will
take Jasmine and Barda with me. We may not come back after the meeting
for we should be up with the Flurons if all goes well. Agreed?"
"Agreed" Everyone replies.
***
After the Plumes and the Aurons received their requests, they set sail
to the Kerons home to discuss the matter at hand. The Pipers sat in a
circle on the meeting mat.
"I think we should help our friends Jasmine, Lief and Barda" Nols said
"After all, they helped us unite back together again and destroyed 'The
Fear' for us"
Tirral wasn't looking joyful at this idea "But...they, they took my son,
my only son, and the pipe, can I trust them up with the Flurons?
Besides...this, could take up too much of our magic!"
"Come now Tirral" The Auron Piper spoke "We will only lose the caverns
light for a few hours if we send our friends up to the land of the
Flurons, as we once did with Doran"
"But! What if something terrible happens while we have no light?" Tirral
said, flustered
"Tirral! Nothing bad will happen! The Plumes and us Aurons are willing,
but we need the Kerons help too if we are to execute this task, please,
Tirral. I know your son was harmed because he was taken into the above
world of the longhairs because of our friends...but Emlis ended up
saving the whole of Deltora! Your son!" The Auron Piper said, a little
sternly.
Nols nodded "Please, Tirral you are acting childishly. You must help
us!"
After some discussion, Tirral decided to help, still a little annoyed.
"I just hope that nothing bad comes of this... for if it does, I am
surely the one not to be blamed..."
Chapter3:
Arise to the Heavons
Lief sighed, at last, they
had arrived at the land of the Kerons. He could see all of the tribes,
united, they looked so happy. He thought as Barda, Jasmine and himself
landed on the Kerons shore in one of the Plumes boats that they had left
behind. He saw the excited face of Emlis, push through the crowd as he
stepped out of the boat.
"Lief! Jasmine! Barda!" Emlis cried, "You came! I knew you would come, I
knew you would visit again"
Barda laughed "And its very good to see you too, Emlis. Have you been
well?"
Emlis nodded "I just wish that I could travel up with you to see the
Flurons.... But mother will not allow it... She says that 'you have
dragged me off to another world one too many times'" He said, imitating
his mother.
"Obviously, you have grown up a little since we last saw you, my, my,
What a strong little Keron you are turning out to be" Barda said,
grinning. Emlis blushed, but held a proud smile.
Soon after, Nols, Clef and Azan approached, leading them to the meeting
mat. "I'm so happy to see all of you again" Said Nols, Piper of the
Plumes, "We are to receive the Pirran Pipe shortly, you should visit,
and come to the festival that the Kerons are hosting. It is sure to be
grand."
"That sounds lovely Nols, but I am afraid we will probably be paying the
Flurons a visit when the festival of the passing of the pipe comes
around to you"
"Oh, yes, that is true... But I'm glad to see that you are still
travelling the path that Doran once did"
"Hmmm. Yes, it will be quite an adventure Nols, and its very kind of you
to use the Pirran magic to get us there"
Nols smiled warmly "It is no trouble at all... Think nothing of it"
The Piper of Auron and Penn then pushed through the crowd around the
meeting mat and sat down with Nols, Jasmine, Barda and Lief.
"I'm so happy to see you all again. You were right, Barda. We will live
on to share more Molisk patties together again."
Barda grinned "Yes, and I hope to be enjoying them with you when its
your turn to hand on the pipe back to the Kerons. It will be a very
grand festival"
The Piper of the Aurons smiled "Thank you for your encouragement,
however, it will be a long time until the Aurons get the pipe-"
Tirral, the Piper of the Kerons cut in "I'm sorry to disturb you, but
don't you think its high time we started with the sending process?"
"Calm down Tirral, we have not seen Jasmine, Lief and Barda in some
time. We are just seeing how they are getting on in the land of the
longhairs and asking if fate serves them well. There is no rush." The
Auron Piper said sternly.
"Well...hurry it up..." Tirral huffed, and returned to the crowd.
Jasmine sighed, "I see that Tirral's mood has not improved since we were
last here..."
"Ah, you must feel for Tirral, she is still quite sad from the time you
took Emlis up into the Shadowlands and he was greatly injured"
"But still, that is no way to treat someone who has brought back the
light and reclaimed the Pirran pipe" Jasmine scowled.
"Tirral is right though, we must make haste. The FAITH crystals aren't
going to collect themselves up" Barda muttered
"I suppose you're right, come, let the sending begin" Nols sighed. "Now,
close your eyes, and think of nothing, just like when you went to the
Shadowlands, remember?" Lief gulped, screwed his eyes shut and tried his
best to think of nothing. From what he could hear, the Plumes, Aurons
and Kerons had gathered more closely around them, they began to chant in
a lovely chorus of voices, almost as heavenly as the Pirran pipe. As the
song grew louder, the more Lief felt light-headed and as the song became
more heavenly, the lighter Lief felt. As the sound of the voices left
him, the voices were replaced with the notes of a harp. He opened his
eyes and gave a shout of joy. They were there; they were in the land of
the Flurons, finally. He looked around at the fluffy white clouds that
surrounded him, instinctively, he grabbed for Jasmines hand and held it,
she gave a little squeeze.
"Well Lief, we're here, we're in the land of the Flurons" Jasmine said
happily.
Barda laughed "I can't believe the Pirrans actually got us here, I
thought this whole thing was a tale of Cock and Bull"
"Well, at least now, we can start out journey, and rescue Faith" Lief
said, his heart happy.
Chapter4: The
Crystal of Friendship
Lief stood up and looked
around, if he could picture heaven, this is how it would look, he
thought. Jasmine slowly clambered up too. Barda followed just behind
grinning.
"Well Lief, where shall we go first?"
"I'm not sure, Barda. Doran left no maps of his travels. Probably to
hide the Flurons from harm"
"Well, he could have at least left one map of the Fluron home..." Barda
grumbled
"Who speaks of our names, What strangers are you? Do not lie to us!
Strangers! We sense the doubt in your voices, we know when you lie!" A
strange whispery, throaty voice cried out. Jasmine clutched at Lief's
hand.
"I am Lief, King of Del, my companions are Barda and Jasmine. We mean
you no harm, we only came to gain the Crystals of FAITH"
"Ah, I see, you have come to steal our crystal then?" The voice
questioned
"No, not at all, we have come to borrow your crystal so that we might
defeat the Shadowlord in his newest plan to take over the world below,
Deltora"
"In that case, you must prove to us, win from us the gem you desire...."
The voice finished in a whisper. Suddenly, after the voice had spoken
those last words. In front of Jasmine, Barda and Lief appeared a village
built from a material that you could not tell the colour of as it kept
changing. The buildings were triangular, suggesting the effect of a
prism so the building reflected a rainbow light everywhere. There was a
gentle feel to this place that made the strangest of strangers feel
welcome.
Suddenly, a creature, looking much like a stalk but with hands still
covered in feathers walked up to them. Lief then realised that she had
lavender coloured feathers and eyes of a deep blue that resembled a
human eye.
"I am Lady Rheid, of the Naimen tribe. As you probably know, we are part
of a big tribe called the Flurons, but each fifth as their own smaller
community. You are searching for the FAITH crystals, are you not?"
Lief tried to smile "Yes, Lady Rheid. Jasmine, Barda and I have come
seeking the crystals to try and stop the Shadowlord once and for all, we
hope. We think that the Shadowlord will counter-attack with the DEATH
crystals"
Lady Rheid shuddered when she heard the death crystals being mentioned
"Ah, the DEATH crystals... The crystals that our underworld brethren
hold... You have done well, Lief You speak the truth. But you need to
prove not to me, but to our Master, Lord Berin, that you should have the
crystals. I am merely his advisor, I shall take you Lord Berin now" Lady
Rheid nodded then motioned for them to follow behind her.
"Lief, can we trust this bird?" Barda mumbled.
"Of course we can! Can't we Lief?" Jasmine blurted out after Barda.
"I think that it is best to follow Lady Rheid, after all, we do not know
where to go, and we need the Friendship crystal from Lord Berin, let us
follow her" He said, then hurried off to follow Lady Rheid, with Barda
and Jasmine behind him.
****** They reached the Naimen temple where the Friendship crystal was
kept. They found Lord Berin standing, looking at it. He was not exactly
lean but was not overweight. His feathers were a light blue and he wore
a tall head- dress of red and white cloth. He sighed as he saw Lady
Rheid approaching with Barda, Lief and Jasmine.
"I knew this time would come eventually" Lord Berin said when Barda,
Lief and Jasmine were close enough. "I knew that one day, we would have
to fight the Keepers of the DEATH crystals. It seems that time is now"
Lief hurriedly spoke "We will return the gems, you will not lose them, I
swear by it"
"I trust you will bring it back, but you must defeat one of the
Shadowlord's beasts to prove you are against the DEATH crystals and the
Shadowlord. This will also test your teamwork and strength. Please, Lady
Rheid, take them to the Pit"
Lady Rheid nodded fearfully, then beckoned to Jasmine, Barda and Lief to
follow again.
***** When they were outside, Lief asked Lady Rheid "What did Lord Berin
mean by 'The Pit'?"
"The pit is where we keep the Shadowlord's beasts that accidentally fly
onto Fluron grounds. It reminds us of our enemy. If you have managed to
defeat the Shadowlord twice before, this should be quite easy, I would
imagine"
Barda sighed "Its just one battle after another..." *****
They reached the pit and heard a moaning sound.
"It... It will light in there, will it not be?" Jasmine asked worriedly.
Lief took her hand.
"We will light the Pit for you, but you must do the battle. Are you
ready?" Lady Rheid asked. The three from Deltora nodded. Then, the
clouds from underneath them disappeared. *****
Chapter5: The
Pit
*** The three from Deltora
landed on a soft damp floor. There was light in this 'Pit' but it was on
the borders of dimness and light. The room they were in was quite large
There was a scratching that echoed around the dank cloud walls
unpleasantly. Jasmine gave a whimper and Lief reached for his sword,
peering around the dim cavern. There was a blast of hot, putrid air and
then, a loud shriek. Out of the darkness loomed a beast with large wings
folded over its back, its back was covered in hard scales but its
stomach was soft and feathery. It had three long tails like matted rope
with sharp spikes on the ends. It had a long neck and a head rather like
a bird's, or an Ak-Baba's.
Barda cursed under his breath and fumbled for his sword. Jasmine hopped
up and grabbed her daggers. The beast gave another roar and lunged at
Jasmine with its large beak, Luckily for Lief, she managed to easily hop
out of the way. Kree squawked at the beast and it hissed back, the beast
lunged for Kree, but Kree easily dodge that too. Lief had still not
realised that while Kree was distracting the beast, Jasmine had crept
round the back, looking for a weak point.
Where shall I strike? Where is it weak? Jasmine thought to herself. It's
stomach, of course! It has no protection I'l-. She was cut off by one of
the beast's tails as it came silently around and caught her on her
shoulder; she gave out a cry and Lief's head instantly snapped over to
where he had heard Jasmine's cry.
"Jasmine!" He cried out, looking around for her.
"Lief! I am here!" She cried. Lief spotted her, but so had the beast it
gave another roar, finished with Kree who lay breathing quietly on the
floor.
Barda looked around, not sure what to do. He could not attack the beast
back, nor the beast's head. He thought, the stomach! The only place with
no protection! Why had I not seen it before? He quietly crept around to
the beast's side and rammed his sword into the feathery stomach. The
beast let out a stale cry and lunged at Barda. I can not get out of the
way; Barda realised as he looked for an exit. So, he ducked the beasts
lunge and was knocked out by the Beast's beak as it came down on him.
"Barda! Lief cried, feeling helpless. He looked back to Jasmine, who had
succeeded in tying the beast's tails together, making one end
vulnerable. Lief grinned, and looked back over at Barda.
"Jasmine! Distract the beast if you can! I will try and save Barda" Lief
cried. He looked to her dim outline and it seemed to nod. No sooner had
she done that, she gave the beast's tail a mighty pull. It gave a
sickening roar and whipped around to face Jasmine.
Quickly, Lief moved Barda to a safe corner. He turned to the beast, it's
behind now truly weak. He ran up and rolled under the beast until he has
positioned by its neck. The beast saw him, but only after Lief plunged
the sword into its large neck. It gave a murderous cry and Lief
scrabbled out of the way before its body hit the ground. Lief rushed
over to Barda, not soon after, Jasmine joined him, breathing hard.
"Is Barda still living? Does he go well?" Jasmine asked, panting a
little. "He is still breathing, He was probably knocked out. We must get
him out of here" Lief said, then called up "Lady Rhied, we have finished
the task you set upon us" Lady Rhied fluttered down carefully and
cautiously. She looked around "Why yes! You have killed the Pit Beast,
come, let us present to you, the Friendship crystal and take your friend
under care" Lady Rhied gave out a sharp whistle and some of the cloud
floor below them rose up to the light again. Jasmine looked around and
grinned at Lief, which made his heart jump. "Lief, we are now one step
closer to our goal and one step closer to Faith, thank you" She said,
then followed Lady Rhied and some of the workers carrying Barda to the
rest house.
Chapter6: The
Admirable Crystal, is it safe has it been found?
Lief held the little crystal in his hand,
rolling it about. The Friendship crystal was a bit smaller than a human
eye in size and had a faint pink glow to it. Jasmine watched over her
shoulder
"Do you think it is true, what Lady Rheid said?" Jasmine asked, looking
at the one she loved most.
"...I am not sure Jasmine... She said 'The Friendship Crystal can turned
the worst of enemies into trusted friends...'" Lief said, mesmerised by
the tiny gem.
"We should try it on you and the Shadowlord Lief "Barda chuckled
"That is a nice thought Barda, but Lady Rheid said that we would need
all of the gems to do something like that" Lief said, smiling.
Jasmine looked around them, sensing something was different about their
surroundings. And indeed there was something different. Around them, she
could now see, were small pond Reeds dotting the cloud floor.
"Lief, I think we are nearing a pond... or lake of some sort," Jasmine
said in hushed tones.
"How can you tell that Jasmine?" Lief said, giving her a warm puzzled
smile.
Jasmine pointed out the pond reeds
"Well, I believe Jasmine is right" Said Barda peering at the reeds. He
touched one and it quivered, almost animal like. Barda shrugged it off
and told himself 'it is not possible'.
******
The bush started to grow denser and the damp smell grew stronger as the
three began walking nearer to what they thought was a swamp. They
rounded a corner and in front of Lief, Barda and Jasmine was a large
swamp. It was eerily quiet and held no visible life.
Jasmine murmured something to Kree, who sat on her shoulder, then flew
off. Filli chattered away nervously at the silence.
"This is rather odd..." Barda said awkwardly as he viewed the swamp.
"Surely there should be some forms of life around, right Lief?"
"...Barda, you are right... it is too quiet... I hope we are not
lost..." Lief said quietly, finding the whole scene rather worrying.
******
Kree landed back on Jasmine's shoulder after some time searching and
shared the news he had found.
"Kree says he can sense life... but he cannot see it" Jasmine said
seriously.
"Where is this life then? This whole situation is rather frightening...
even for a trained soldier like myself," Barda said gruffly.
"I-" Lief was cut off by a faint rustling and then some faint laughing.
Jasmine flicked her head over to where she had heard the noise. "Over
there..." She pointed and began to move closer to where the rustling had
been, Lief and Barda followed. A small head popped up and Lief gave a
jump.
The head had slimy royal red hair with one or two sticks of 'pond reed'
on it. It's eyes were a murky green colour that kept changing to a murky
blue and back. It had scaly green skin that shone beautifully in the
light. The head quickly disappeared, to Lief's disappointment.
"Did I see that? Or was that the sun playing tricks on these eyes of
mine?" Barda asked, confused.
Lief licked his lips "I do believe that what we have taken for pond
reeds have been the residents of this swamp Barda" He said slowly.
"Lief is right. What timid little beasts they are too" Jasmine snorted.
"Jasmine, if we are to borrow the Admirable gem from these... people...
we must not provoke them, or make them unwilling to give us the crystal"
Lief said, sighing
"Once again, Lief, you are right... We do not mean you any harm, people
of the swamp..." Jasmine said, trying to calm down.
"I am Lief of Del, the world below. And these are my companions, Barda
and Jasmine. We are seeking the Admirable Crystal and the People of Lord
Berin have already lent us their Friendship crystal" Lief said, then
held his breath. Waiting for a reaction.
There was a long pause. Then Barda spoke
"Lief, we are talking to a bunch of plants, there are no creature's
here. We must have imagined that... last... one..." Barda said, slowing
down at the end of his little speech as hundreds of little creatures
like the one from before came out from underneath the ground.
Jasmine gasped as the creatures rose up. They came up to about Lief's
shoulder, the younger ones a low as his knee.
A large creature approached Lief, Barda and Jasmine. It had a necklace
on with a large jewel on it that looked rather like the Friendship
crystal.
"Greetings" It said in slow, melodic tones "I am Lord Merinko, Leader of
the Terwa people.
Chapter7: Metting the Terwa
Lief watched as a large
group of the Terwa people gathered around Barda, Jasmine and himself.
"Ah... I see... You are from the land that Doran came from... How
interesting..." Lord Merinko said calmly.
"Yes... we have come for the Admirable Crystal. You have it with you? I
gather?" Jasmine said, rather hotly and received a glare Barda.
"Yes... We do but we cannot give it to anyone... May I ask why you are
in search for the Admirable Crystal?"
"We need to gather the 'FAITH' Crystals so we can properly defeat the
Shadowlord and stop him from using the 'DEATH' Crystals on Deltora. May
we please borrow the crystal so that we may have a chance against the
Shadowlord?"
"Hmm... I guess we could lend you the crystal... but you will have to
prove to us that you have the courage and wits to defeat such a foe..."
"If there is a challenge, I shall gladly accept it... when have we ever
not succeeded in challenges of courage and wit?" Barda murmured to
Jasmine and Lief.
"I was thinking the same thing Barda, besides, we will have to acquire
the crystal somehow" Lief said in the same low tones as Barda.
"Well? Will you accept the challenge we shall place upon you?" Lord
Merinko
"We accept the challenge, Lord Merinko..." Lief said.
"Alright... We shall test you with wise riddles from our wisest members
of Terwa Council... Is that alright with you?"
"Of course it is Lord Merinko, we would have accepted any challenge
thrown upon us"
"Then, follow me to the trials of wisdom" Lord Merinko said and then
motioned for them to follow behind him.
******
The small group approached a doorway, hidden with swamp vines. Just
before Lief, Barda and Jasmine were going to enter, Lord Merinko stopped
and turned to face them.
"I cannot lead you any further... The Masters of the Wisdom Trial lie
ahead. I wish you luck.... Though I'm sure you will do well..." Lord
Merinko said and then bowed.
"Enter...." A voice called from beyond the doorway. "The Trail
awaits..."
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