• The quiet wind rustled the leaves as he walked past the entrance. Slowly he strode deeper and deeper into the black abyss of the sleepy forest. In the distance the sound of rushing water echoed. He moved toward the sound until it surrounded him. He stopped in the black and raised his right hand. With a snap of his finger, fire rose from his hand, illuminating his surroundings. He had stopped at the edge of a cliff, in between two massive waterfalls that fell into oblivion. He was only steps away from falling.
    “Hmm,” he laughed to himself. “Well, I’ll try again tomorrow.” He turned around and headed back the way he had come.
    As he walked toward the edge of the forest, the sun cut through the old trees, almost blinding him as he emerged from the darkness. In the violent light a voice yelled out.
    “Hey! You! Stop by the king’s command! Stop!”
    As his vision returned, he stood back a little, shocked at the figures that appeared before him. The King’s Royal Guard was mounted on horseback, pikes raised.
    “Are you Youcaska? The zone ender?”
    Youcaska changed his posture to a more defensive stance, ready to deflect any attack.
    “Why do you want to know?”
    “We have a quest,” the captain said.
    “If you wish to end me, you will not do so here.” Youcaska stared at the captain.
    A short time passed before the captain spoke again. He chose his words carefully.
    “You misunderstand, my friend. We come not to kill, but to give summons,” the captain explained.
    “Summons to what?”
    “The old king is gone and a highly skilled assassin is the cause.”
    “Well, good luck with finding whoever killed the king. I’m sure you don’t need my help.” Youcaska turned and started to leave. The rest of the guard raised their pikes.
    “Halt! You cannot walk away from this. You have a duty to the kin-“
    “To the king? My duty was to the old king and I paid my debt a long time ago. I owe you nothing!”
    “The assassin was Sayroksho!”
    Youcaska stopped.
    “You play to my intrigue. I will come, but if you lied about Sayroksho none of you here will survive!”
    “Good,” the captain replied as he dismounted from his steed. He reached into his saddle bag and pulled out an old parchment scroll tied with a blood red ribbon.
    “Once you open it, we will all be transported to the castle gate.” Upon handing the scroll to Youcaska, the captain climbed back onto his steed. Youcaska grabbed one end of the ribbon and pulled hard. As the knot came undone a bright flash of light surrounded everyone and they appeared in front of the towering castle gate. The scroll was gone – only the ribbon remained. Youcaska simply let it go. As it fell, it faded, dissolving into the air. Only a split second passed and it was gone. The captain of the guard rode up beside the gate and with his left hand pounded on the gate.
    Boom! Boom! Boom! The sound echoed through the surrounding forest like a drum. The door moved with a horrendous creak as it slowly opened to greet the returning group. As they entered a wave of silence came over them. The gate moved to close and again a horrendous noise came from the weathered metal hinges. Then silence. As they moved forward not even the slow pacing of the horses could be heard. The silence irked Youcaska.
    Of course I walk silently. But the horses should be making some noise.
    He quickly dismissed his curiosity for he had no time to dwell on unimportant matters. The captain stopped and called one of the others to his side. They exchanged words and the second broke away from the group and came toward Youcaska. The guard mumbled something. Youcaska couldn’t make it out, but he understood the gesture of the guard which was to follow him. They took a left and broke away from the main group. As they got further from the main hall Youcaska’s hearing started to return. He now heard the steps of the steed the Royal guard rode. They came to a door. The guard opened it and gestured for Youcaska to enter. As he stepped in, he realized why he was there. This was the barracks for the mercenaries.
    “Take any bed that’s open. We leave at dawn tomorrow.” The guard closed the door as he left.
    Youcaska walked over to a bed by a window. He looked over at the person sharpening his sword on the next bed.
    “Anyone sleeping here?”
    “Nope.”
    “Good.” Youcaska flopped down onto the bed and let out a yawn, closing his eyes. He would need some rest before morning.
    “Hey - you!”
    “I hope you’re not talking to me,” Youcaska said with his eyes still closed.
    “Yeah – I am. Now get up, ya lazzy buggar. You’re in my spot.”
    “He said no one was here – so now it’s mine.” Youcaska pointed to the person on the next bed.
    “Yeah, well, I’m here now – so move!”
    “You want to fight over this?” Youcaska was now leaning forward, staring at the man, hand on his sword.
    “Yeah – I want to fight!” The man reached behind his back and pulled out a large two-sided axe.
    SWOOSH!
    An arrow passed in front of the man, so close it cut the bridge of his nose.
    “Son of a…! Who did that?” the man grabbed his nose and tried to stop the bleeding.
    “Walk away now. I won’t miss next time.”
    “This isn’t over!”
    The man ran out the door calling for a medic. A thin trail of blood followed in his wake.
    The man who shot the arrow walked over to Youcaska.
    “Kaytes, you little . . . ” Youcaska reached out for a high five and Kaytes slapped his hand.
    “What?” Kaytes sat on the bed beside Youcaska.
    “Did you have to shoot him? If you would have missed, I think he would have gotten the point. Now you invoked his wrath.”
    “Yeah. But it was a good shot!”
    “You were probably aiming for the side of his head.”
    “Yeah, I was,” Kaytes said jokingly.” But if I didn’t stop you, you were going to take his head off.”
    “So? That would have been fun.”
    “You are so morbid.”
    “So why are you here?”
    “They needed a good shot. So I’m here.”
    “I thought they wanted a good shot.”
    “Ouch… that’s not nice.” Kaytes pushed Youcaska.
    “I’m just joking… so you’ve heard, right?”
    “About Seroksho? Yeah. That’s the other reason I’m here.”
    “Thought so.”
    Kaytes lowered his voice, “Is this how it starts?”
    “Not the way I planned, but yeah.”
    “Wow. Do you think he meant to start it?”
    “No. He’s smarter than that. He’s probably being framed.”
    “Hope he did it, cuz then the prophecy wouldn’t come true.”
    “Yeah. Same here.”
    “Well… we best be sleeping now. We have an early morn to wake to… Night Youcaska.”
    “Night,” Youcaska rolled over. Kaytes took an arrow from his quiver and struck it, like a match on the side of his leg. Youcaska could feel the magic flow from the activated arrow. kaytes stuck it into the ground in between the beds.
    “Wow. Isn’t that, um, a little too much?”
    “Naa. That should keep anyone away.” Kaytes flopped down and went to sleep.
    Youcaska lay on his bed, lost in deep thought. The time seemed to fade away as thoughts turned to sleep.