Meanwhile, those who had been given the task of apprehending Ismarus and his mother, one by one, all of them returned to the castle empty handed. Finally, Eumoplus learned about the cave in the forest from one informer. To the informer, it seemed like Ismarus and Calysto had used the cave for quite some time. From the cave, the informer brought a tangled bunch of human hair and some dry leaves as evidence. Taking the bunch of hair in his hand, Eumoplus gave it a close inspection. It was comprised mostly of light brown hair, albeit it had some grey hair as well. Eumoplus could tell whose hair he was looking at. He placed the sample in a container before focusing on the dry leaves. They looked like tobacco. Such leaves were not produced in the area. Eumoplus often saw the royal jester smoking this kind of tobacco from his hookah. The evidence acquired from the cave pointed to the fact that the royal jester had joined Ismarus. Eumoplus tried to speculate Ismarus’ next move. He ordered his generals to increase the scope of surveillance along the border areas, and then retired to his private quarters.

Before heading for Dacia, Ismarus said he wanted to visit the spot in the forest where his father had been killed. It sounded peculiar to the jester, nonetheless, Calysto understood her son’s curiosity. Hence, she did not raise any objection to the idea. The usurper might have his men guarding the spot, this is why the jester was reluctant to go back. As he expressed his apprehension, Ismarus argued that more than three months had passed since the assassination of the late King. The usurper would have no reason to deploy his men at the spot for indefinite period. The chances were, the late King’s entire entourage had returned to Seuthopolis with Eumoplus. Nonetheless, as a precautionary measure, Ismarus suggested to the jester to lead their way as a scout. If he observed anything unusual, he was to retreat and warn Ismaru and Calysto.

On their way, they stopped at a place with gigantic rock formations. It looked like the rocks had popped up from beneath the ground. Each rock was at least hundred feet tall, with a base spanning fifty to hundred yards. The shade of the boulders depleted the soil of large plants or shrubs. The ground was mostly covered by a thin layer of grass. Between those massive boulders, the ground was strewn with smaller rocks. The distance between the boulders would not allow more than two horses to pass abreast at ease.

At the entrance of one of those passages, they noticed a hermit sitting on a rock with an apple in his hand. On the ground next to him, a net and an earthen pitcher attracted the attention of the weary and hungry travelers. The hermit was about to have his next bite from the apple when the appearance of the strangers froze him in his act. Neither the hermit, nor the travelers expected to find human presence in such an unlikely place. Nevertheless, they had to come to terms with their discovery. The hermit returned the greetings conveyed to him by Ismarus. After the exchange, Ismarus asked, “What are you doing in this godforsaken place, old man?”

“Rocks that know no grudge are far better proposition than the palace that speaks evil of the bricks it stands on.”

The implication of the hermit’s statement shocked the travelers. Ismarus said to the hermit, “What, if I say I’m the clay which was used to make the bricks in the first place?”

“I figured that out.” The hermit continued, “For a while there have been no visitors.”

The jester asked curiously, “What do you do for a living old man?”

“I offer herbal healing to the afflicted.”

Ismarus asked, “For medication, who comes to you at this remote place?”

“Those who seek cure, somehow they find their way to my dwelling. The last visitor came more than three months ago. Since then, I witnessed only passersby, but no visitors to my humble residence.”

Ismarus could not help asking, “Who was the last visitor?”

“The emissary of darkness,” the hermit replied.

The jester chuckled before asking, “Now, what did this emissary of darkness want from you, old man?”

The reply was swift, “The most lethal toxin I could provide for his dark scheme. He said he was going to lace his arrows with this toxin.”

All this time, Calysto had been silently listening to them talking. Now she intervened, “By any chance, do you know us? You sound like you know a lot about us.”

Now the hermit began smiling at them. With humor in his voice, he said, “No, I do not know you. My intuitions tell me, you guys must be the ones they have been looking for.”

“Who are you talking about?” Ismarus snapped.

“The horsemen in royal robes,” came the reply.

By now the travelers had no doubt, Eumoplus and his men had come to this spot. With greater curiosity, Ismarus asked, “What did they tell you?”

The hermit finished the apple before saying, “Twenty of them came riding to my joint. They said they had been searching for the assassin of the King. The assassin was somewhere in the forest, living with his mother.”

The travelers were in no mood to be there any longer. Before riding away, Ismarus said to the hermit, “Old man, we thank you for the information. We would be glad to visit your dwelling. But as you can see, we are travelers. We have no time to waste. We have to reach our destination before sunset.”

The hermit did not show any sign of disappointment in him. He yawned, as he said, “You will not be able to make it to your destination before sunset.”

Ismarus responded, “It’s summer, the days are pretty long.”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“So what, the sun tells me you are late.”

Ismarus added, “You do not even know where we are heading.”

“River Hebrus is a long way from here.”

“How do you know, we are heading for River Hebrus?” Calysto asked with signs of surprise in her countenance.

The smile from the hermit’s face disappeared. Somberly he said to the travelers, “The kingdom of Odrysia is no more. Righteousness or justice has no place where the emissary of darkness reigns. I have already provided the answers you seek, young prince. So, hold your horses. Stay the night at my place. The mother of the righteous is weary of the long journey. She could use the rest.”

When the hermit stepped down from his stony seat, and beckoned to them to follow, they complied. Soon afterwards, they came to a sunny spot with bare ground underneath. The hermit drew the attention of the travelers to a bizarre diagram on the ground with a three feet long stick impaled at the center of it. The visitors were intrigued by the device. They had never seen anything like it. The hermit pointed at the shade formed by the stick. It fell on one of the markings, indicating the time of the day. The hermit explained to the visitors how the device helped to tell the time. He said, within two hours, the sun would go down. The travelers were free to proceed to their destination. However, the hermit warned, it would be dark way before they could possibly reach their destination.

By then the visitors were convinced, the hermit knew about their misfortunes. Subsequently, they accepted his invitation. The jester gestured to the hermit to lead the way. As they returned to the place with massive rock formations, in a single file, through the rocks, they proceeded to the hermit’s place. At the end of the narrow passage, they could see a shack in a small opening. The wooden structure was not larger than the cave in the forest. However, it was large enough to be comfortably used by three people as residence. It had fairly small windows made of rectangular boards all around it. The hoisted boards rested on sticks, extending upward from the base of the windows at an angle.

In front of the shack, a black cauldron sat on a pile of dry woods ready to be lit. The host requested his visitors to take their seats inside the shack or on the rocks outside, whichever pleased them. Calysto’s curiosity focused on what the hermit was about to cook. She chose a two feet high block to sit on, only a few feet from the cauldron. Ismarus and the jester followed what Calysto did and kept their eyes fixed upon the hermit. When the hermit took a pale and went behind the shack. They were puzzled for it seemed to them, there was no way out other than the track they had trodden to come to the spot. It took only a few moments before the hermit returned with pale of water. He was smiling at them, because he knew his visitors had been taken aback. He poured the water into the cauldron, and lit the dry woods with the help of a flint and a piece of thin bent iron. From inside his shack, he brought a live chicken and decapitated the bird with his knife. For a while, he held the dismembered chicken upside down in order to let the blood drain out of it. Dressing the chicken was completed in no time, indicating he had done it numerous times in the past. As he headed back to the spot behind his shack, holding in his hand a bowl with the chopped chicken, he whistled to the visitors to follow him. He wanted to show them the source of his water.

The hundred feet high cliff surrounded the hermit’s shack from three sides. At first, it appeared as if there was nothing between the rear of the shack and the cliff. When they approached the cliff, to their surprise, they discovered a twenty feet high rock just before the cliff. Because of their similar composition, the rock and the cliff behind it created a visual illusion that they were together. On the other side of the rock, they found a cave at the base of the cliff. The entrance was large enough for a man to easily get inside. One by one, as the visitors followed the hermit into the dark cave, very close to the entrance, they could see a tiny stream flowing from the ceiling of the cave. The stream ran down only a few feet and disappeared into a hidden flow underneath the base of the cliff. The hermit informed his guests that the cave was most probably formed by this stream millions of years ago. It came all way down from the very top of the cliff with a hidden reservoir underneath. The hermit used the cave as an alternative entrance or exit from the spot where his shack was.

The hermit washed the chopped chicken in the stream. By the time they returned to the cauldron, the water in it had already been boiling. He threw the pieces of chickens into the boiling water, chopped some vegetables and herbs like carrots, potatoes, onion and ginger, and washed them before adding them to the broth which was being prepared. He sprinkled some salt in it before removing the cauldron from the fire with the help of his guests. However, he did not let the flame completely die out. Perhaps he was going to keep the fire burning the whole night. As he finished pouring salt in the broth, Calysto asked her host, “How did you manage salt in this deserted place, old man?”

“There’s a Viking village a few miles from here. Once in a while, I visit the village to get what I cannot produce,” the hermit replied.

“Vikings, so far south!” the jester exclaimed.

“Yes Vikings, so far south from the northern regions. They are always searching for lands to establish new settlements.”

Soon afterwards, the hermit served the visitors the hot broth in small wooden bowls. Clear signs of surprise in the countenance of his guests made the host smile with satisfaction. Even in their royal abode, the queen and his son had not tasted a broth as delicious as this one. It filled the hungry stomachs of the travelers, driving away their weariness and discomfort. The jester took the horses for grazing in the forest before night fall, while Calysto and Ismarus discussed with their host in details their misfortunes. The hermit said, he speculated, something horrible was about to happen the day the prince of darkness had visited him for the poison. The arrival of Ismarus and Calysto confirmed what he had suspected. He advised the young prince to carry on with his mission to avenge his father’s death, and never to lose hope. He farther reassured the prince, if he maintained righteousness, in the end, he would prevail over his tormentors.

At night, the hermit gave Ismarus a special ointment which would keep his energy from sapping during strenuous work. In her right leg, Calysto had sustained injury caused by the thorns while traveling through the forest. The hermit administered a specially made herbal medicine over the wound and secured the place with a large leaf of unknown origin. The hermit informed Calysto of the leaf’s healing properties. Hence, she was not to remove it until the injury was completely healed.

The visitors insisted on spending the night outside instead of sleeping in the congested shack. Their host provided mats to rest on. The visitors lay on the mats around the fire, and fell into a deep sleep as the host retired back into his shack. Very early in the morning, upon waking up, they found the hermit working frantically to prepare another round of the broth for his guests. At the time of departure, the sun was already high up in the summer sky. As the hermit bade good bye to his newfound friends, Calysto could not suppress her emotions. She felt blessed for having such a benevolent subject in the most unlikely place of all. Her expression was mingled with both sadness for the misfortunes of her son, and pleasure for coming to know that they were not alone in their struggle against the prince of darkness. From the hermit, a warm farewell followed as they were about to resume their treacherous journey. If destiny allowed, Calysto promised, one day she would have her son return the favor in the most generous manner possible. In the meantime, she would try to keep in touch with him. It did not matter from where.