Friedrich, Marina and Teleri continued their arduous journey across the island of Kai’roh, following the winding river as best they could along the way. To stray too far meant no guarantee of fresh water, something especially crucial as the sun felt like it was burning more harshly than it had the entire time they had been on this sand-ridden island.

All three had had their fair share of complaints, not only Teleri, who of course felt particularly scorned by the trek. The sooner they could get off the island, the better. It was not that they had outstayed their welcome, it was that the intense head had outstayed its.

“I’m so tired,” sighed an utterly spent Marina as she flopped onto the ground in the shadow of a tree. “I don’t think I can keep going for much longer.”

“We’re a couple of days away at most,” said Friedrich, upon turning into a human from his fox form. “Just keep pushing for a little longer.”

“That’s easy for you to say when you can skip along on your four spindly little legs.”

“Spindly?”

“That isn’t the point! You can traverse the terrain much more easily than the rest of us. And when we get to the Temple of Valskythe, we’re going to be too tired to complete whatever trials await us. I think we’re going to find ourselves in a big pile of trouble if we don’t take the time to recuperate.”

“There is a coastal town a day to the west,” said Teleri, examining the map closely. “If you would like to rest for a while, we can be there by early tomorrow. We can perhaps find some decent food instead of our rations. And I would not say no to a comfortable bed the night.”

“What about up there? asked Friedrich, pointing to the top of a series of staggered cliffs.

Sitting at the top, almost hidden by the dark shadow cast by a rocky peak, was a pillared temple of yellow sandstone. It looked abandoned, but he supposed it would from this distance. Marina and Teleri gazed towards it, neither having noticed it before now.

Teleri raised an eyebrow. “The last time we went to an old temple, we were attacked by a stone golem and barely lived to tell the tale.”

“I’ll take anywhere we can rest that doesn’t involve another day of walking,” said Marina, taking off her boots and pouring the gathered sand out. “I say that we go. If there’s another golem, we’ll just blast it apart like we did last time.”

“Very well. I will stand back so that I am not dragged into yet another one of your decisions. Is it all humans that make a habit of wandering into dangerous situations or is it just Mercians?”

“You do it too, you’re just less obvious about it,” said Friedrich, making Teleri wrinkle her nose at him. She knew that the best reaction to his jabs was to say nothing and simply make a face at him. It gave him less fuel to fire back with.

The trio made their way across the hot sands slowly. Travelling mostly as a fox as he was, Friedrich was also feeling the exhaustion. Travelling for so many days to reach the far side of the island was a daunting prospect, but in practise, it was draining, and the drain occurred quickly, especially as he was not a native to the island nor accustomed to his climate, even after having spent weeks here.

As the trio wandered in a zig-zagging motion across the cliffs to each the temple, they saw the swathes of desert stretching out before them. There was a stone peak many miles in the distance that they knew to be the site of the last stone temple they had visited on Namavar’s orders. That must have skirted past it two days ago.

There was a sudden rumbling behind them and the cliff face shook. An avalanche? Surely not. These rocks must have stood here unchanging for centuries. Yet, they were indeed moving. The stone wall started to fold away, but the rocks did not fall, they simply moved. A section of the wall crumbled away, revealing a rough staircase that led straight up to the base of the temple, but that was not all it led to. There was a man standing at the top, dressed in robes of white and gold, and holding a staff made of a shiny black stone.

He took one step, and then another. Slowly, he walked down the stone staircase, a look of both seriousness and curiosity on his bearded face. The trio did not move as he grew closer and closer. He did not have the shifty appearance of an untrustworthy man, nor the brutishness of a low-level thug. From the way he carried himself, it was clear that he was a powerful man of importance, but bore them no ill-will.

“Good day, travellers,” he said in a deep, gravelly voice that shook the pebbles on the ground. “What is it that brings you here?”

“We’re seeking somewhere to rest before travelling onwards,” said Friedrich, believing that truthfulness was the best course of action when dealing with a man like this.

“And you thought that our temple was a suitable place to come?”

“We did not know if it was abandoned. It has been a long journey from Port Balsia, and we would very much appreciate somewhere to sleep until tomorrow. We have kupons, if that—”

The man held up a hand and Friedrich fell silent. “That will not be necessary,” said the man calmly. “Follow me.”

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Teleri looked uncertain, but Friedrich and Marina stepped onto the staircase. Before he had gotten further than the fifth step, the robed man turned around and looked at Teleri.

“Is there a problem, Alaurian?” he asked. “I thought hospitality was what you wanted.”

“It is because it is what we wanted that I am suspicious,” she said. “An oasis in the sand is rare, especially when there is a welcoming hand beckoning you forward.”

The man stared at her silently, letting her say her piece.

“You are a mage, are you not? What would a mage have to gain from us? It does not make sense to me, and I would like you to explain why you would accept us. If I have offended you and you wish to send us away, that is fine, but I would rather have an answer to my question before I put a foot forward.”

Friedrich looked to Marina, who desperately wanted him to intervene, but he knew Teleri was right. He said nothing.

“My name is Grephor,” he said, stepping past the Mercians and walking towards her. “It is not that I seek something from you and your companions, it is simply that you asked for help and I am granting it. Did I try and lure you inside with hopeful promises? No, I answered a request. Do you see this as a crime.”

“No, I do not,” said Teleri, looking him in the eyes, “but we have been crossed too many times for me to take anyone at face value.”

“That is understandable,” said Grephor quietly. “If you would rather leave, you are free to. Kar’thay is to the east. That is the nearest place you may safely rest comfortably.”

Grephor walked back up the stairs and continued on, while Teleri looked uncertain. Marina shook her head at the elf and followed Grephor, but Friedrich was torn. He did not know whether to follow or to stay, but he knew that he should at the very least speak to Teleri.

“What do you think?” she asked him. “You are a good judge of character, even if you intentionally choose to ignore your own judgement.”

“I’m undecided,” said Friedrich, “but there’s something about him that seems…powerful. If he wanted to force us towards the temple, I suspect he could. Did you see how he parted the stone with such ease?”

“That is not untrue,” said Teleri, looking distressed. “We have had so many setbacks and I fear that one of these days, a setback will take us to an early grave.”

“You’re right,” admitted Friedrich. “I make a lot of rash decisions…”

“They are not simply rash,” said Teleri, putting her hand on his cheek. “You make incredibly stupid decisions knowing that they are stupid. That is why I say you are a good judge of character and ignore your own judgement.”

“Can I ask you to be stupid again?” said Friedrich, nodding towards the stairs. “If things so badly, I will do as I normally do and find a way to get us out of it.”

Teleri sighed and shook her head despondently, taking her hand away from Friedrich’s face. “Fine,” she said, “but once we are off this island, I would very much appreciate it if we could find a way to put a limit on our foolishness, the same way that the masks limit your ability to lose control for too long.”

“Agreed,” said Friedrich, smiling and walking up the stairs. “Let’s go in case Marina is being murdered right this second.”

“That is not funny,” said Teleri angrily, thumping him in the lower back as she followed him. “Your human humour is horrid.”

Friedrich chuckled as the pair hurried up the stairs to the flat ground before the temple. Grephor and Marina were standing a few feet away, waiting for the pair.

“You have decided to come, have you?” asked the mage.

“Yes,” said Teleri, bluntly.

“That is pleasing to hear. I am sure you will see that my people have no ill intent.”

“And who are you and your people?” asked Friedrich.

“We are mages dedicated to the furtherance of earth elemental magic,” he said. “We study it, we practice it and we harness it in many powerful ways.”

“Is that why you’re hidden out in the desert?” asked Marina. Curiosity filled her voice. She longed to learn from other mages and was very much frustrated that the majority of her knowledge came from self-study of old tomes. It had pained her to leave behind her magic tutor, Hansel, who she had spent an unfortunately small amount of time with, when he still had so much left that he could teach her.

“I would not say that we are hiding,” said Grephor, gesturing towards the grand temple behind him. “If we were hiding, we would not have this, the Temple of Sand and Stone. It stands tall upon the cliffs, does it not?”

“In the shadow of a peak,” said Friedrich.

“Would you have us boil alive?” chortled Grephor. “It is cooling to do that. I am a Heartlander, and much like you Mercians, I do not always find the heat pleasurable.”

“Will you show me some of your magic?” asked Marina.

“You are a lightning mage, young lady, is that correct?” asked Grephor, pointing towards her staff that bore the electrically enchanted amethyst.

“Yes,” said Marina, twirling her staff around and making it fizzle with sparks. She held it high and shot a lightning bolt straight into the air. “My name is Marina.”

“I see,” said Grephor quietly.

He had a powerful look in his eye as he took his own obsidian staff in two hands and slid one foot back along the ground so that he was in a strong stance. He muttered to himself and lifted his staff high before slamming it onto the ground.

The small coating of sand on the stone twisted and twirled as the ground rose up. It was a large cube, the same height as Friedrich, at least at first. The corners suddenly cracked and the cracks proceeded to run across the entire surface of the stone before crumbling away, leaving a burly humanoid-shaped stone man standing on the ground.

“That is very impressive,” said Marina, clutching her hands together excitedly. “And you did it with such precision!”

“It is a spell that takes time to perfect, but it was not always so seamless. It took hundreds of repetitions to ensure that the elemental was not simple a tiny clay figure.”

“What if there’s a clay shortage where you are?” asked Friedrich, not intending to sound as snarky or simple as he had done.

“While it may look as though I drew it from the ground, the elemental was brought forth from the elemental plane of earth.”

Friedrich walked around the elemental, examining it closely. It didn’t look as powerful as the golem from before. He thought that he could best it in a fight much more easily than he had done his previous foe.

“Is it combat ready?” asked Friedrich pointedly, eliciting a laugh from Grephor.

The earth elemental punched its jagged fists into each other and turned towards Friedrich. Its expressionless face was looking right at him, as though relishing the challenge, however the young man suspected that it was Grephor’s willpower shining through the stone being that gave him that impression.

“Of course it is ready,” said the mage in amusement. “Do you think you can defeat it with those two pieces of metal you carry with you?”

The young Mercian smiled at the mage slyly before drawing his sword and raising his shield. “Let’s see, shall we?” he asked confidently while Marina and Teleri exchanged an exasperated glance.