Sarah kept her gaze locked onto the halfling, conscious that the elves had reached for their weapons. She willed Stanley to remain calm, and for his part, the lanky man had the presence of mind not to move.

Gareth held up a hand and closed his eyes as he swirled the water with his feet, creating ripples on the surface. At length, he opened his eyes again and looked at the elves. “Tell Captain Avariel that the orcs have entered Nat Rihis. I have already instructed the garrison at the Western Watchtower to fall back and join us here.”

“How many of them, Water Speaker?” one of them asked, turning pale.

“Thousands,” the halfling replied, “Holding Findendor against them will be challenging, but achievable.”

One of them turned to leave, but Gareth added, “Give us some privacy., please.”

The elves looked at Sarah with concern. “But…”

“I’ll be fine,” Gareth assured them, “Agni’s Chosen will not harm me.”

“Go,” the halfling ordered when the elves didn’t move, “Or I will inform the head priestess of your obstinance.”

“Our obstinance is only out of concern for your safety,” one of the elves protested.

“And I’m telling you there is no threat to my safety at the time,” Gareth replied, allowing a measure of irritation to creep into his voice, “Please leave us.”

“You will find an arrow through your throat if you so much as raise a hand in the Water Speaker’s direction,” one of the elves warned before excusing themselves.

Once they were alone, the halfling lifted his feet out of the water and rolled down his trouser legs before beaming up at Sarah. “Agni’s Chosen, the one who reclaimed control of her body after Agni had claimed it for his own.”

“You seem very well informed,” Sarah remarked.

The halfling’s grin widened. “Varuna is the God of Water and Wisdom, after all, and I am His Chosen.”

“So He told you all this?” Sarah asked, “Agni has not been as generous with His knowledge with me.”

Gareth shook his head. “No, one of my powers is that I know anything that happens close to a body of water that I touch... within reason.”

He looked around the city and continued, “Most of the rivers and streams in the Enchanted Forest flow into this very lake, making it an ideal monitoring station.”

“Is that how you spoke to me, through the water?” Sarah ventured.

Gareth nodded. “Hence my title.”

“You’re being awfully open with me,” Sarah remarked, “Aren’t Agni and Varuna meant to be at odds?”

“Perhaps,” Gareth allowed, “But I’ll let the gods worry about their own feuds. Me, I’m just happy to see someone who isn’t…”

He looked around before lowering his voice, “One of them.”

“And you know what I’m after?” Sarah asked.

“I do indeed,” Gareth declared brightly, “You seek a way to prevent Agni from taking control, and it just so happens I know just such a way.”

Sarah looked at the halfling suspiciously. “You do?”

The halfling grinned. “Walk with me, would you?”

Without waiting for a reply, Gareth climbed a crumbling spiral stair that was made from white stone. Not wanting to be alone when the elves returned, Sarah and Stanley quickly followed him.

“Findendor was founded by the Drow,” Gareth explained as he led them down the city’s empty streets, “And in its heyday was a fountain of knowledge.”

“I thought this city was destroyed,” Sarah remarked.

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“It was, in a sense,” Gareth replied.

“For a destroyed city, it sure does look pretty,” Stanley observed, craning his neck to look up at the towering spires that surrounded them.

“By destroyed, I meant the population, every man, woman, child and beast, died at once from unknown causes thousands of years ago,” Gareth explained as they followed him down a broad avenue that led them into the heart of the city.

A chill went down Sarah’s spine. That sounded all too familiar. Gareth looked at her and his mood darkened. “It seems that you have an idea about how that happened.”

“Do you?” Sarah asked.

“I have my theories,” the halfling replied cryptically. “The long ears keep much about this city secret, even from me, so I can’t be sure.”

Sarah nodded as she looked around, taken in by the haunting majesty of their surroundings, and tried to imagine what it must have been like in its heyday. “Still, to be in this condition after thousands of years… Remarkable…”

She paused before continuing, “So, what brings you here?”

“Findendor is the cornerstone of Effulian’s Western defences,” the halfling replied, “We’ve been here fortifying the place ever since we heard the orcs were rising up in what you call the Southward Expansion.”

Sarah nodded thoughtfully. “Why are orcs on their way here?”

Gareth shrugged. “We discovered traces that they had been here during one of our patrols. That was one of the reasons we came to fortify this place. Perhaps they are seeking new lands to settle now that they have been driven out of your Four Kingdoms.”

Sarah gave the halfling a dubious look.

“As to your situation, I discovered a spell that might help, quite by chance I might add, when I was exploring these ruins,” Gareth continued.

He came to a halt at the shore of a small pond that was fed by canals coming from all directions. In the midst of the pond, connected to the avenue by a modest bridge made from pure white wood was a small, circular stone building. Sarah didn’t reply and waited for him to continue.

“It was in here,” the halfling said as he entered the windowless building. Inside, light streamed in from the open ceiling. Channels carried water in from the pond outside, flooding the shrine. They were able to keep dry by standing on raised flagstones that lined the shrine’s outer perimeter. In the centre of the shrine was a wooden altar. Sitting on it was a carved wooden statue of a long haired elf holding a vase in one hand and a book in the other.

“This is a temple to Varuna,” Gareth explained as he bowed his head to the statue, “It’s small because the Drow didn’t much care for Him when their empire was at its zenith. I’m honestly surprised it remained standing in the heart of the city.”

Sarah felt animosity from the other presence as she looked at the statue of the God of water and knowledge. His face was more serene than Agni’s mask of fury. She could feel compassion emanating from the statue, its eyes seemed to bore into her, as though looking straight at the presence of His rival within her.

“I found this here,” the halfling said as he produced a bark covered tome from his satchel. "Varuna guided me to it.”

Sarah could feel a strange energy radiating from the book. It felt warm, and a little melancholic.

“This is an elvish book,” Gareth said as he studied Sarah carefully, “Do you know what that means?”

When she nodded, the halfling produced a loose sheaf of papers from his satchel, “This tome contains the details of a spell that can banish a god from its Chosen,” Gareth continued as he took a sheaf of loose papers from his satchel, “The tome is, of course, written in elvish runes. I have prepared a translation in case you can’t read them.”

“Let’s continue this discussion outside, eh?” Stanley suggested, “This place makes me uneasy.”

“Yes, let’s. I don’t enjoy spending time in here either,” Gareth said as he flashed Sarah a knowing look.

Sarah nodded in understanding and gratefully left the temple. Once she was outside, she found that she could breathe more easily. And also that she had been sweating profusely.

“The magic behind this is sound,” Gareth stated.

Sarah studied the halfling. “Why would Varuna guide you to this book?”

Gareth shrugged and smiled. “Perhaps He knew you were coming.”

“And what will this spell do?”

“It will sever your connection with the God of Fire,” Gareth replied.

“That’s all?” Sarah asked as she studied the halfling carefully, who for his part, merely looked back at her without a trace of guile on his youthful face.

“That’s all,” the halfling confirmed. He handed the tome and the papers over to Sarah, “Please treat them with care.”

“What’s in this for you?” Sarah demanded as she accepted the halfling’s offerings suspiciously. The tome was warm to the touch, and it felt like she was holding a living creature. She quelled her excitement of holding a legendary elvish book in her hand and forced herself to devote all of her attention to Varuna’s Chosen.

The halfling shrugged. “Maybe I’m just a helpful, kind hearted guy who’s heard of your plight and knows of a way to help.”

Sarah eyed him dubiously.

“Look,” Gareth continued, “The choice is yours. I’m merely telling you this is what I can do for you. At any rate, isn’t this why you’re here?”

“I’ll need to think about it,” Sarah conceded at length.

“That’s understandable,” Gareth smiled, “It’s no skin off my nose if you decide not to go through with it, but you’d better come to your decision quickly. I fear this place will soon become a battlefield.”

With that, the halfling began walking away. “You can stay anywhere in the inner city, just stay away from the walls. The long ears will be touchy about you getting near the walls with the orcs on their way. I’ll see to it that food is sent your way.”

“How do we get in touch with you?” Sarah asked.

“Touch any stream or pool in the city and I’ll get back to you,” came the halfling’s reply.

“You can’t seriously be thinking about taking him up on his offer,” Stanley hissed.

Sarah watched the halfling disappear around a corner and sighed. “I don’t know.”