Whatever had transpired between Dase and Tamy, Valhorek couldn’t begin to understand, but he did realize that suddenly the two youngsters seemed a bit confused and bewildered, as if something had just frightened them. He turned to Sai’a before going over to the youngsters, where Torbin was already checking them out. Val thought he had seen a glow, if ever so briefly, encircle the two youngsters, before Torbin had rushed to their aid. Something very abnormal, perhaps not an appropriate word, had just transcended their very group, and the only thing Valhorek could possibly do was to help Torbin, if she even needed the help.
“Am I imagining things or did I just see a brief glow engulf our two young adventurers?” The question or statement, depending on how one viewed the statement was left unanswered as Torbin briefly looked at Val before turning her eyes onto Rhngeylor, who simply remained seated, staring at the two youngsters as if he himself had viewed the gods.
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For the life that had existed for the ranger, Ratal was fortunate to have learned his trade exceedingly well, and was held in extremely high esteem by his associates. As a youth he had studied from a very early age, and by the time he started to adventure throughout the lands, he had learned practically everything about the known lands, the animals that inhabited them, along with almost every form of plant life that existed. His life was fruitful, and filled with experience, gaining knowledge on every quest he endeavored on, and soon was requested by any party seeking the experience of such a man or woman. Rangers were few in those days, and finding one that wasn’t constantly busy was difficult.
And so it came to pass that a man, simply known as The Mage came to hire Ratal for an assignment. He handed him a medallion that would help the ranger in finding a rare artifact that he needed, giving him explicit instructions on what to do and what not to do. Ratal adhered to the “Mage’s” wishes, and went in search of the item in question. After several months the item was found, and as expected, Ratal followed every order to the letter. Unfortunately the group he traveled with didn’t. Somehow they ignited several magical runes, which nearly killed them all, and in the end, only Ratal and one of the fighters’s managed to escape alive. A few days later the fighter met with a horrible accident while Ratal was hutting. When the ranger returned he noted the look of fear in the man’s eyes, a man who was a seasoned adventurer and knew how to take care of himself, mutilated almost beyond recognition, and with that knowledge Ratal believed that something was very wrong. He buried his friend, and quickly rode for days on end, sometimes only stopping to a brief rest, before returning to The Mage.
Although pleased with the artifact, The Mage was not pleased with the end results, which were only proven when the ranger returned the medallion as well. After asking what had transpired on their journey, the Mage finally spoke. “You are being followed,” The mage had stated to Ratal. “Somehow some form of magic, other than mine, has entered the medallion, and is now following its current owner in search for retribution.” The Mage thought hard, and tried to dispel any magical entities from the medallion with ill effects. “Even I cannot change this item,” the mage whispered to Ratal as if thinking he might be overheard. “It has embedded itself with you, and now considers you its owner.” After looking at some very old tomes, the mage finally came up with an answer. “You must relinquish your hold on the medallion, and find it a new owner. It will simply remain a medallion, and nothing else, but in time it will eventually awake, and what form of magic that might be imbued within it is anyone’s guess. Simply make sure that whoever you entrust it to, is of good nature and of good will.”
And so Ratal had to leave. He traveled far distances before deciding on whom to entrust this medallion. His thoughts went back to the youth he had been training, a youth who had lost his parents, and was now being raised by his foster parents, Marka and Berene, close friends of his who had asked him about guiding the youth in the arts of a ranger. He had agreed, and anytime he wasn’t adventuring, spent his time with the youth, passing down to him everything he had learned. And now the youth had grown into a young lad, and now was the time to pass on the medallion to the youth.
The Mage continued to research the possibilities of what had transpired, and eventually stumbled onto a cryptic passage regarding the runes that had been triggered. Vague at best, the mage could only perceive that somehow the medallion had been imbued with something akin to traveling, but the words were so cryptic that even his best guess could have been erroneous. After sending a magical messenger pigeon to Ratal, the two men met. Ratal explained who should receive the medallion, and where he could be found. The Mage suggested that Ratal leave for a far away place, while he delivered the item to the youth. And so in the dead of night, he arrived at Marka and Berene’s home, presenting the youth with the medallion, which had belonged to Ratal, along with a parchment, which to this day still remained obscure. The Mage instructed his foster parents to book passage on the next ship for the youth. Although the parents plied the man with questions, none of them had been answered. Knowing Ratal, and how trustworthy the man was, they followed the old man’s bidding, booking a passage for one youth wearing the medallion with the triangle surrounded by a circle. They bid farewell to Rhngeylor hoping that no harm would come to their foster son.
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Rhngeylor wasn’t sure what he saw, only that he did in fact see it. It was something he had not seen, and yet he had managed to witness the one known as Airy. But then something else happened. His medallion seemed to blaze for a moment as he witnessed the glow surrounding Tamy and Dase before it suddenly disappeared. Even now, Torbin was administering to the two youths while the ranger remained motionless. He was suddenly subjected to a multitude of questions in his own mind, none of which he could answer. Why had the medallion suddenly decided to…to….he didn’t know what, only that now it wasn’t an ordinary object any longer. His association with Torbin was the only preserver he had. At first he suspected that her stone and his medallion had a common bond, but now, after seeing the elemental, he wasn’t so sure. Tamy’s voice put him deeper into a confused state after hearing her cryptic words: “So that’s who you are.”
Who am I? the ranger thought to himself. He had thought he was but a common man with the knowledge of a ranger and tracker. Now, he wasn’t quite sure of anything anymore. It was bad enough that the parchment his foster parents had given him was cryptic enough, Beware of things that crawl in the night, and see with eyes of red slightly gilted, those of which do not resemble animal. But now Tamy suddenly knew who he was? The questioning look that Torbin gave him made him stop, silently pleading with anyone or anything for a sign. He handled the medallion absently, watching as it’s light source started to fade when suddenly an image assaulted his mind, causing his neck to snap back suddenly in pain. His hands quickly dropped the item as he struggled to force the image out of his mind. He found himself staring at the ground in bewilderment with only the realization of an image, that of a very old man. For the first time in his life, Rhngeylor was actually afraid, of what he didn’t know, but he didn’t particularly enjoy the feeling.
