From a vision of the prophet Jacob in 119 Starfall
Kronstedt, capital of the Radvorian Empire, Radvoria (later called Rhalgard)
With the permission of our great lord in the skies above, I'm writing down the next vision I dreamt of.
In my sleep, I'm dreaming of something that I am no longer aware of. Suddenly, my sight gets blurry, just to sharpen again, sitting on a chair in a small wooden hut.
Inside of the hut, I saw a man and a woman, hermits most likely. The man carved something that looked like it would become a wooden statue when it was ready. When I looked around, I saw more of those statues on a wooden table, but all of them seemed to be quite polished, indicating that they were all made in the last few days. A hiss made me look to the woman, who just threw some herbs into a great iron pot heated by a small flame beneath. Many vials stood around the pot, half of them empty, the other half filled with some orange tincture.
"Do you think they'll work?", the man asked without looking up from his carving.
"Does it matter?", the woman asked back. I could hear hopelessness in her voice. Then, there was silence for a while, a long while. Despite their continous work and the tension that filled their minds, it felt quite cozy in the hut. Every now and then, I would again hear the pot hiss when new herbs were thrown into the mixture. And there was this calming noise of the male hermits' carving knife together with the flame on the pot.
"Delara...", the man said an eternity later.
"Aramir?", Delara replied, a bit surprised about being called with her name.
"I'm scared.", Aramir said.
For a short while, the carving sounds stopped. Then, he continued, just to be interrupted again by heavy knocks on their door.
"Open up, quickly! The royal elite demands entrance!"
Aramir looked to Delara for a second, laid down his knife and the wood, and opened the door.
"So you are...", Aramir began, but the guard who knocked was faster and began to shout:
"May I introduce Tythos of Thannenveid, High Commander of the royal garrison. We are looking for an alchemist called Delara..."
"...who is obviously here, no need to disturb the peace.", Tythos said loud while he stepped before the guard who knocked. I could see him calmly smiling: "My apologies for the rude intrusion. You don't need to bow.", he added when Aramir and Delara tried to pay him the tribute a high commander deserved.
"I see you are preparing yourself. May I ask what you plan to do?", Tythos asked peacefully. It was Delara who found her breath first:
"My Lord... Commander, we will protect ourselves. And we'll protect Dengenfield, and Denmill, too, if that... thing comes."
"You should flee!", one of the guards next to Tythos said, "better to loose a home than your head." There were four of them, four guards and the High Commander, who would one day become the savior of humanity. He asked again, ignoring his comrade:
"What will you do? I see the potions, and...?", Tythos looked to Aramir and over the wooden table.
"Ahh yes, the t..totems", Aramir stuttered. "They are a..ancient magic. Don't you know the tales of the old race, how they trembled when their all-distinguishing eyes saw the totems? The ancient bond between them and us?"
"And if they'll visit us regardless, Lord Commander, those potions will keep us safe.", Delara added, "And you too, I bet?". Even in this time of fear, I could see in Delara's eyes that she would be more than happy to sell some of her freshly brewed goods.
Tythos walked a few steps toward the hermits. I could see that he thought about his words carefully. Then, he looked at Aramir.
"I know the tales, but I'd like to prevent bringing them to a test. Too many lifes depend on it.", he said and his worried look slowly turned to Delara. "Regarding your potions, I indeed have an interest in them, as you might have guessed. It is one reason why we are here. But make no mistake to throw your life away, being fireproof alone won't make you survive. If it wants to kill you... it most certainly will."
"You talked about one reason why you're here. What is the other one?", Aramir asked.
"It is part of our duty to stay in your house for the next one or two nights.", one of Tythos' guards said while looking straight forward, "any inconveniences will be excused and repaid. But the mission of our commander is of utmost importance and can't be delayed any longer."
"And... what is the mission?", Delara asked, but her widened eyes told me that she already knew the answer.
"I'm going to slay a dragon.", Tythos answered calmly.
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