Although it is blasphemous to speak ill of the all-mother, I must stay true to what I learned while reading the scriptures of the great unification, a period in which all the four elemental realms were temporarily fused into one realm. This must have happened before the great species were born. Hence we derive our heritage from the same foundation. No small amount of evidence suggests that it was the All-Mother who divided the four elemental realms again. I propose the cosmos is constructed like this: we have four old elemental realms, the central old realm and the new realm, all bound together by a force that is unknown but hostile to the All-mother. Is this force sentient?

-Note from Benedict Emberquill’s found in his cell before his trial.

Marcus was on the verge of tears. The warmth he had gotten when Mama sent him off had left him entirely and now he was alone in the royal woods; alone apart from the strange dog that was. He thought back to what happened earlier that night. He had seen his mama leave for the stars, hadn't she? Marcus couldn’t comprehend what was happening. “Why would she abandon me? Did she send me away because I did something wrong?” He had been walking for hours, stumbling over exposed roots, shivering from the cold breeze, seeing naught but what the moon could reveal, and left alone with his thoughts - fear and anxiety tainted thoughts which kept spiralling into ever darker places. Dawn was still far away but Marcus was restless. He would not, could not sleep now. Not with the royal soldiers so close by and whatever had summoned those flames was. It must be a powerful artefact or even a conjurer well-versed in the ways of magic. He took a moment to take a deep breath and compose himself and to see where the dog was. That dog may have saved his life …multiple times, but Marcus was still wary of the animal. After all, it also had almost killed him when the wave had come. The dog was scouting the environment ignoring Marcus entirely. The royal woods were an easy place to travel as the forest was made for one thing only: hunting. Trees stood aligned and shrubbery was kept to a minimum to avoid bigger animals from surprising anyone on a horse. Marcus could see the dog circling and yelled with some restraint: “Come here, do as I say!” Marcus was well aware of how close-by the burning town still was and did not want to be slain by the Royal knights, or suffer one of the darker fates his mind had come up with during his escape. The dog upon hearing Marcus immediately sprinted towards him. The animal moved without any elegance but instead trampled everything and even made a bit of noise. As it got close to Marcus it made a very non-animal movement; tilting its head upwards and to the back, indicating Marcus to follow it. Marcus frowned and looked in the direction that the dog was ‘pointing’ toward; it was definitely away from town and it wasn't like he had any better ideas. “Alright then, I’ll follow your lead.” said Marcus with some reluctance. It felt weird to follow the guidance of a dog; weren't animals supposed to be the ones following the instructions of humans?

As the two travelled through the night, Marcus tried to make sense of it all. Why would this presumably magical dog stay with him for so long? And what did Mama know about it that she never revealed? Why did the soldiers come? They'd usually never come to such a secluded place. Marcus spoke to the dog: “I take it that you also have no idea why I lost everything on the day of my rite of passing?” The dog didn’t stop, but Marcus thought he saw the muscles tense up. He knew better than to put pressure on a dog and decided to leave his guide to his business. "Figures that you, too, wouldn't tell me anything." Marcus muttered bitterly to himself, before he could stop himself. Thinking about the capricious nature of the dog Marcus held his breath - nothing. Marcus was relieved that he didn’t need to deal with having his arm savaged again. Although that made him think. “I presume you almost killed me for a reason?” Marcus curiously said to the dog. Again, the dog seemed content to ignore Marcus but now he noticed something in the corner of his eye. Marcus felt the soothing warmth coming from his belt again. but as soon as he instinctively moved his left hand to make contact an ethereal voice spoke in his head: “DON’T!!” The unfamiliar sensation of a foreign voice in his mind shook Marcus and he brought his fists up ready to protect his life and sanity. The dog had already started to bolt away and Marcus saw it was going in the direction of a peculiar tree. It looked ancient compared to all the other trees that were obviously planted. The dog started barking loudly at the ancient tree and as Marcus cautiously neared it he started to make out more details. The weathered trunk was thick and multiple branches had sprouted in all directions; swirling in a manner that seemed unnatural until Marcus realised that it was the same movement that roots of trees made while growing underwater. The tree's bark sported a multitude of the water god's symbols, but something seemed off. He stared at the great tree for a while trying to puzzle out what was wrong, until it suddenly hit him. It seemed as if the symbols were part of the grown texture of the bark instead of carved! Marcus took a step back in bafflement and thought aloud: “What form of miracle could shape such a tree?” Again, the ethereal voice spoke: “You can just wait a moment and ask me in person.” Marcus looked around, bewildered. This voice again, where had it come from? Aside from the tree and the dog nothing stood out from the environment, and since trees obviously couldn't talk this must have something to do with the dog. The animal had a twinkle in its eyes and showed a grin with all of its teeth. Marcus was not amused and locked eyes with the dog: “Don’t push me!” The dog responded by gesturing with its head to look at the tree again. Turning back to the tree, Marcus’s eyes became wide again. Something, no someone was floating in front of the tree. Some sort of spirit. It floated in front of the tree and save from its ghostly features it actually looked quite normal. It was missing its feet but Marcus guessed a floating creature wouldn’t need such things. It was difficult to make out its other features as its ‘clothes’ and ‘face’ were constantly changing slightly. The spirit reminded Marcus of stories that his friend Akim and others would tell. These beings are made out of air and hard to pin down. It seemed that this time, no metaphor was intended as Marcus witnessed the spirit change clothes from a fisher to Marcus' tunic to that of a soldier and to other more exotic clothing that Marcus didn’t even recognize.

When Marcus and the spirit locked eyes, nausea took hold of Marcus and the voice spoke again. “Apologies for the changing appearance but I see you aren’t versed in the basic lore of air magic.” Marcus just barely suppressed a retort asking what magic had to do with that. The spirit's mouth was moving, but the voice was out of sync and came telepathically. “Avert your eyes for now so that we can converse without further delay. Until you have learned the basics of air magic it will continue to nauseate you.” As soon as Marcus looked away he saw that the dog had turned away and started to slink into the darkness. The ethereal voice filled Marcus head: “You two shall meet again but for now say your farewells to your guardian beast. They will find you when you are in danger again.” It seemed as if the dog had also heard the words of the air spirit because it turned to Marcus and tried its best smile, lifting the corners of its mouth. Then a bright flash blinded Marcus and his guardian beast had left him. Only some smouldering grass could be seen as evidence that something had been here. Marcus turned to the spirit and spoke while looking at the ground in front of the spirit to avoid nauseating eye-contact: “What’s the meaning of all this? I am still in danger, am I not?” The spirit was amused and filled Marcus' head with jovial laughter: “Guardian beasts are preoccupied and not bound to time like the rest of beings bound by flesh or spirit.” Marcus didn’t know anymore to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all or to turn to anger at the lack of concrete answers. Since his apparent guardian beast saw fit to leave him to this jovial spirit he must be alright. Perhaps his new protector would not hurt him? “Okay I’ll bite. Are you the one that my mother spoke of?” The spirit stopped shifting forms as much from what Marcus could see and spoke with a solemn tone: “Yes, and I wished that she could have spent more time with you. I deeply regret what happened to her.” Marcus felt tears flowing down his face and turned away from the spirit. "If you regret it happening, then why didn't you stop it?"

The spirit spoke softly: “It’s okay Marcus. Losing your mother like that is cruel and unjust, but do not linger on those thoughts for too long.” Marcus felt a touch of chill air on his shoulder but it wasn’t uncomfortable. It reminded him of the seabreeze. “Come with me Marcus. There will be a time to mourn but your safety is at stake and this tree won’t stay around forever.”

Marcus hardened his heart and took a deep breath. He had known about masters of the four elements - fire, water, air, and earth - but he had always thought that this mastery was but a crude thing of violence, much like what he had witnessed in town. But the tree seemed of a different kind of magic. Perhaps a more ancient type of magic. He dared not ask because he knew he was a wanted boy, or maybe a wanted man? No time to think as the tree turned in place and revealed an opening in its trunk just large enough for a fully grown human to pass through. Marcus ignored the nausea and looked the air spirit in its eyes and asked: “What awaits me?” “Your future young Marcus. After you.” The spirit stepped aside so Marcus didn’t have to walk through its ethereal presence. Before Marcus stepped fully into the opening he asked a final question: “And what is your name, air spirit?” The spirit took a moment to consider its words but then responded: “Humans call me wanderer, Elves and Dwarves have different names for me but it is not my place to give those names to you, not until-” The spirit paused. “Until what?” Marcus asked with great curiosity. He had heard about these mythical creatures that seemed like humans but were not the same but he and the rest of town thought of them like mermaids. A story to keep you entertained. Glancing at the spirit he wondered if maybe those other species he had heard about were real? Meeting a Mermaid would be so interesting. The nonchalance that this air spirit mentioned elves and dwarves with was astounding. The air spirit spoke to Marcus' mind with a jovial voice again: "Well, you shall see very soon what I mean by that.” Unsatisfied but filled with curiosity Marcus entered the tree.

For a moment he first needed to adjust his eyes to the darkness but then he was astonished. The Tree didn't contain a narrow passage as he had expected, but rather its inside was somehow much larger than the outside. The air was heavy with the smell of mushrooms filling his nostrils. He had stepped into a tunnel, or was it more off a cavern? It seemed as if the tunnel’s walls were shimmering, like Wanderer. In the distance Marcus saw a flickering light. When the light came close Marcus recognized it as coming from a torch. The light allowed him to see that said torch was being carried by someone who was much shorter than the average human. When the person got closer Marcus was amazed. He turned to the air spirit, almost vomiting from the nausea it's shifting induced but not caring and shouted: “Dwarves are real!?” The small figure was getting closer and apparently Marcus had shouted loud enough for them to hear and respond: “And not even did you have to explore the depths of the earth to find one, did ya boy?” When the dwarf reached them Marcus could not contain his excitement. “With a dwarf we can avenge Eldenbrook. Surely you have some magical armaments that would wreak havoc among the king's soldiers?” The dwarf now was close enough for Marcus to notice the stone helmet it was wearing. Marcus couldn't help himself, and asked: “Why a stone helmet?” “To protect my head just like my ancestors did. I am a proud descendant of the granite clan, great stonemasons.” Upon further inspection, Marcus saw that the dwarf bore no weapons aside from a maul hanging on his back. When Marcus made eye-contact with the dwarf he thought he spotted some disappointment but it disappeared the next moment, making him question whether he had just imagined it. “Well, it’s an honour to meet you, novice conjurer. My name is Baldrick Granitehelm from the great clan of granite. My father was Baldr Granitehelm and his father was Baldur Granitehelm. We trace our ancestry to the great splitting of the blue mountains where-” The sound of soft thunder filled the tunnel; Wanderer had started mockingly snoring, which was producing the odd sound. “Tsk, no respect for the ones who laid the groundwork.” Baldrick said with true disappointment written all over his face.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Wanderer snapped out of their boredom and apologised: “After a few thousand years of listening to the same three to five names being repeated I do wonder if Dwarves could learn a thing or two from Elves about names.” Insulted, Baldrick lashed out: “How about we see which of the two aren’t enslaved by a human king.” Marcus was overwhelmed, but before he could respond Wanderer did: “Keep your tongue in check Baldrick. We are here for the same cause and there is no need to scare our fledgling conjurer already. He is drained right now.” Baldrick’s face got red and he was ready to start a tirade about it but the final words of Wanderer sinked in. Baldrick turned to Marcus and spoke quickly: “You’re drained? What did you do?” Marcus heard the fear in the question of the dwarf and didn’t know how to respond. For the All-mother's sake, he didn't even know what being drained entailed. Wanderer stepped in: “The both of us can protect him for now.” Baldrick seemed unamused and Wanderer was also as serious as one could expect from an air spirit. Marcus' earlier excitement from meeting someone who wasn’t human had faded now entirely and he felt mournful again. But he did not want to leave a bad first impression on the Dwarf. With a shaky voice Marcus implored: “Surely a dwarf and a spirit are strong together? And I have my tri-.” That’s when Marcus remembered that the trident was left somewhere in Eldenbrook and they surely weren’t returning. It was lost to him, like everything else. He took a quick look back but the ‘door’ was already shut.

“Let me see if I can provide you with a weapon.” Baldrick said. How dangerous could the upcoming journey be compared to a flame monster and a contingent of soldiers, Marcus wondered to himself? Baldrick took out his maul, exposing the many engravings the maul had. Before Marcus could ask, the stone dwarf smashed the maul into the wall. Sparks flew off the maul upon making contact. “Best to leave Baldrick to it.” Said Wanderer in Marcus’ mind. Baldrick smashed the wall a few more times until Marcus understood what was actually happening. Every time the maul hit the dirt wall, bits of some kind of ore magically attached itself to the side of the hammerhead that was facing away from the wall. After just a few swings the maul had a bulky end of ore that should make the weapon impossible to swing around. Instead Baldrick shook the maul gently and the attached hunk of ore fell to the ground. The Dwarf picked it up and turned to Marcus: “I take it you haven’t learned proper melting techniques?” A gust of wind hit Baldrick on the back of the head. Marcus almost burst out laughing if not for the severity of their predicament, but mastered himself and shook his head. Baldrick smirked: “What are the humans teaching their young? I suppose we are joined for some quest, you and me, Marcus. To receive a Dwarvish weapon made from ancient chaos ore without a hundred years of questing is a token of our trust in you.” The ‘chaos’ ore in question was black with red impurities. Baldrick took a deep breath and then he grabbed the hunk of ore and started speaking in a tongue that was utterly foreign to Marcus; it sounded much deeper and harsh than anything he knew. The ore morphed as he chanted and first took the form of a long piece of metal before it stretched out to the shape of a spear. Baldrick inspected the metal spear with an indecipherable grunt and offered it to Marcus. “It’s lighter than you would expect.” Gripping the spear Marcus indeed was surprised. The spear was lighter than a stick. Marcus and Baldrick locked eyes and Marcus immediately kneeled and spoke: “My deepest gratitude for this wondrous gift. I shall treasure it with my life.” Baldrick let out a thunderous laughter and the tunnel shook for a moment. When the rumbling of the ground stopped and Baldrick composed himself he said: “That spear might not even last until we reach our destination. It’s meant for thrusting so don’t throw it.” “Why won’t this spear last?” Marcus asked. “I still need to have some energy left for whatever we will encounter and since you’re already drained, what good does it do to have another drained?” Marcus now had to know: “What does it mean to be drained?” Baldrick sized Marcus up; “Your mother shouldn’t have kept you so sheltered.” Wanderer intervened before Marcus could test out his new weapon on the Dwarf: “Cease your torment. Baldrick. It’s not our place to explain… ‘it’.” Marcus could have sworn there was a weird delay in Wanderer’s words. “What is ‘it’ then, Wanderer?” “We have faith in you Marcus and we should continue on our journey. None of us should pry- with ‘it’. We have given you much, Marcus, to trust us. Now follow us and we should soon arrive in our haven.” Marcus felt lost but Wanderer was right. They and Baldrick had been nothing but kind and generous to him. And so the trio made their way deeper into the tunnel.

*

At first the tunnel seemed to go on infinitely. Just an endless corridor of dirt with protruding rocks illuminated by the light that came from Baldrick’s torch. After a while Marcus took note of his lack of hunger or thirst but didn’t want to press the matter with how tense Baldrick and Wanderer had been. After an even longer walk in strained silence they came upon a door. The tunnel had become narrow again. As if this door would be like the opening in the trunk at the entrance. Marcus could feel Wanderer and Baldrick tense up, ready for a clash. Wanderer spoke to Marcus’ mind: “We are near Haven. When we pass through this door we will pass a boundary. During our crossing of the old realm monsters will be attracted to our magic. Baldrick will stay close to you and you must follow his every move. I will scout ahead to warn you of anything that should make us abandon sneaking and start running. If Baldrick or I fall, you must not wait for us.” Marcus could not mask his astonishment that a Dwarf and Spirit would sacrifice themselves for him and his fear about something that something could force these mythical beings to do so. “Fear not, Marcus. I have not been bested in combat once in my life!” Baldrick boasted. Marcus took solace in the Dwarf being entirely ready for what would face them. Wanderer continued: “It will only be a very short walk through the old realm. Now are both of you ready?” Baldrick and Marcus nodded in union and Wanderer phased through the door. With dread Marcus started pushing the door. In silence, Baldrick joined him. Only together they were strong enough to push open the door.

Waves of heat hit them as soon as the door was opened and for a brief moment their eyes had to adjust to the intensity of the light. Before them was a massive fiery landscape with magma pools dotting the landscape and blackened rock with red veins coursing through them. The door itself had opened on a small ridge that continued into a thin archway that went down to the floor of this realm. Baldrick moved and spoke swiftly: “Do not dawdle.” With a nod to Baldrick, Marcus followed the dwarf down to the barren landscape. As they were making their way down Baldrick explained their path to Marcus; “We are looking for an archway, exactly like the one we descend now. It too will have a door. If that door doesn’t budge, knock on it two times and then again two times and then a single hard knock. With luck, we will only see critters around here. If something ambushes us while we are ascending, don't try to fight it.” Marcus saw that the Dwarf didn’t look as sure as when they were at the door. “What has you so distracted, Baldrick?” Marcus asked. Baldrick looked around at the sky and answered: “Wanderer is preoccupied. Let’s hope that Wanderer will stay preoccupied, I do not wish to ever come here again.” “But, Baldrick. You came through here to meet with Wanderer and me, right?” The dwarf tried to muster a grin but didn’t quite manage. “I went through the old dwarven realm, this is the old human realm.” Marcus took another look around the hellish, inhospitable landscape that the two of them were crossing and was dumbfounded at how this represented humanity. Noticing the confusion on Marcus’ face, Baldrick explained further: “All of the four realms gravitate towards chaos and violence. A volatile increase of chaos in the human old realm was slated to happen once your king ascended the throne.” By now the two had traversed the terrain far enough that an ascension could be spotted. “How do we know this is the right archway?” Marcus asked and Baldrick quipped: “I am not acquainted with old Archmagic but there is only ever one archway for entrance and exit.” Satisfied with the answer, Marcus kept up the spear in front of Baldrick. “I suppose we never-" Searing pain interrupted his ability to speak as something swept Marcus up from the ankle. “Gharzrumnûn mâlzaar, bîrkon ulvathulzum!!” While upside down Marcus saw Baldrick shouting and jumping up high. Although Marcus was already far from the ground the diminutive Baldrick managed to jump all the way up and brought down the hammer on whatever had snatched Marcus. With relief and fear running through him, Marcus fell to the ground. ShakingI he held onto his father’s belt for reassurance and for a moment Marcus felt as if the air had gotten gelatinous and he crashed to the ground with only a few bruises. “Grab the spear!” came a shout from above as Marcus dazedly took in what was happening. Freakish creatures surrounded Marcus. They had bat wings and a body that almost resembled a dog with thick fur smeared with blood. Their heads were small with disproportional mouths that opened up to reveal fangs. Deformed mistakes of nature were these creatures; if nature had even had a hand in the creation of these deformities. Marcus snatched the spear that he dropped just a few seconds ago and suppressed his fear: “Nothing to worry. They are just fish.” One abomination lunged forward, Marcus braced his spear and pierced its left wing. It turned out to have been a distraction, as two other ones jumped to attack. But Marcus wasn't so easily bested - in one move he dislodged the first monster off his spear and threw it at the other two, sending all three tumbling in front of Marcus. Blood spewed forth as Marcus swiftly jabbed all three. “These are either scavengers or they are playing.” Marcus thought as he noticed that the other monsters were backing off. Then, Baldrick crashed down next to Marcus. He was standing ready before Marcus could even react. Reunited with each other they stared at the critters. “You were up there for a long time.”

“Their mother is a larger foe than the three spawn you killed combined.”

“They are not fully grown?”

“These pretty things keep growing as long as there is blood to drink.”

"Where is their mother then?”

"A family trick. We can pulverise more than just granite.” A roar nearly deafened Marcus. He saw the blood critters jolt away in silence, his ears ringing from the roar. Muffled shouts from Baldrick and then, finally, Marcus' hearing came back. “We are blessed with a short scuffle, Marcus. Now, we won’t be staying here to have a look at the beast we woke.” “And what off Wanderer, then?” Marcus shouted. Baldrick retorted: “Heed his commands. We do not wait for him. Wanderer is not like us. We will meet them again in the future.” The two sprinted up the archway and broke through the door, entering the mysterious Haven.