David West was stunned - a full day had passed with the only complication being the rat faced man reminding him that the bribe to leave had again decreased and that it would all be moot in two days.

  As he arrived in the dining hall for breakfast, he was surprised to see Thellissandra and the Aelfor Vel eating together. Thus far he had not seen an Aelfor eat, and was fascinated to see her pte was full of fruits and berries and nothing else.

  He asked if he could join them, and Sandra nodded, and then said “One thing I miss about your world, Thengarian, is the coffee. It was both better and more common than it is here. At least Vel found these, for me,” she added, holding up a small golden fruit. “Very simir to what you call apples. Try one,” and handed it to him.

  He accepted it, took a bite, and looked thoughtful for a minute. “Reminds me of something called a ‘grape apple,’” he replied.

  Sandra’s eyes went wide: “There are more kinds of apples? We must go back some day!”

  Vel’s musical voice chimed in with “If what I hear is correct, you have found your World Walker. If the Trickster and the Healer appear, then we will have proof you are…”. Vel suddenly stopped speaking for a moment, then: “Do you hear that hum?”

  David had not been aware of it until Vel said anything but now he knew he had been dimly aware of it for a few minutes now but had not realized he was sensing anything. Sandra looked puzzled, as if she sensed nothing unusual.

  Vel began singing in a beautiful, utterly alien nguage, and looked as if she were in a trance. Then, as suddenly as it began, the song ended, and David noticed the hum was gone as well.

  Vel gnced in turn at each of them before speaking: “I doubt you perceived the message?” Vel asked. Sandra still had a bnk look on her face and David nodded that indeed he had not. “It seems Emperor D’Gar has died, and his son Jaryd will be formally given the crown this evening and will begin seeking his consort this week.”

  All David could recall from the game was that D’Gar was an evil, repressive ruler of a dark kingdom with apparent ties to a “devil realm” of some sort. He felt that there were a few other details he should recall but that was all that came up in the moment. “So will this be a good or bad thing?”

  “Possibly good. Jaryd has met with us in the past, the first of his line to do so, and seems far kinder than his father. Though their grandmother, the only woman to ever rule the nd, became a horrible monster after taking the throne, but had been much loved by her people before that, so only the days to come will show.”

  Something about that stirred something David only partly remembered. He would have to have Malcolm and the others research D’Gar the next time he talked to them.

  The Aelfor looked thoughtful for a moment. “We had pnned to depart today. I wonder if this will change things? Excuse me, I must confer with the others,” Vel stood, bowed politely to each of her tablemates, and hurried off.

  “What a fascinating way to send news. If this were a science fiction setting, I think that would be a sub-etheric resonance system…” David mused.

  “You are a very strange man at times, David West,” Sandra said quietly.

  He simply smiled at her in way of response and returned to his meal.

  He was almost done eating when Sandra rose, walked around to his side of the table, and hugged him.

  “I am not compining but what was that for?”

  “I have to go train for a bit and a kiss seemed inappropriate. Maybe after tomorrow I will be able to do more than hug you in public, Thengarian,” she added with a wink, and then left quickly.

  David had two hours of being left to his own devices. He had just returned to the little library he was guaranteed access to and had chosen another scroll to read, when a young man he had never seen before opened the door and called out “Mage Thengarian? Are you here?”

  David turned and said: “I am the one you seek.”

  The young man did a double take: “What! But you are not much older than I! Surely you must be joking!”

  “No, I am not joking,” he replied, but then could not resist adding: “and do not call me Shirley.”

  “Why would I call you ‘shirley’ if your name is Thengarian?”

  David barely kept from ughing at this reaction: “Sorry, bad joke that seems to lose something in transtion. Where are we going?”

  The young man bowed before answering: “I am Novitiate Gyarihk. I was sent because I can only access one Fundamental Force, but, according to my teachers, I am the best they have ever seen with it.”

  “Novitiate? I am not familiar with this term?”

  “It means I cannot access enough power to Apprentice to a Healer or a Magister and am of the wrong gender to become a Warrior. I can only tap into Air, sadly.”

  David nodded sagely. “Well, lead on.”

  “Please just pce your hands on my shoulders and hold on. Do not let go, please, sir.”

  Daved shrugged and complied. He felt Air swirl up around them, and then everything blurred. He had a sensation that made him think of riding a roller coaster, and then Gyarihk stopped in front of a very ornate door. “We are there, sir.”

  “Your masters may be wrong. Or I am, but I do not think so,” David said as he released his grip.

  “What do you mean, sir?” the other replied, confused.

  David replied: “I mean I felt you tap more than just Air during that run. Or at least it seemed like it. After the dining hall closes for lunch, come and find me and we will see if we can prove either your teachers or myself in error.”

  “Really, sir? You mean that?” Gyarihk replied, excitement in his voice.

  “Of course, I do. If it looks like I’ll be tied up, I'll send someone to let you know and see if we can reschedule.”

  “Thank you very much sir! I have other duties to attend to so I must be off, but I look forward to our meeting ter.”

  “Have a good day, Novitiate,” David said, giving him a friendly smile. “Oh, and thanks for the ride. I may need you to teach me that one!”

  The young man waved at him and vanished with a gust of air in his wake. David shook his head, turned, and knocked on the door.

  “Enter”

  He opened the door and found Magister Parkidden, two other Magisters he had been introduced to but was bnking on their names, the Battle Mother, one of the Aelfor who had been wielding a sword of fire during the battle against the strigoi, and two of the Healers he had spoken with all around a rge table. The Battle Mother and two Magisters were seated, the rest stood.

  The Aelfor responded first: “Ah, the one who saved us from the strigoi has arrived!” it sang.

  David blushed slightly at this praise: “I did not act alone; many are at least as deserving of praise as I,” he managed to reply.

  “Enough modesty, false or true,” Parkidden said, “We are not here as a mutual praise society. I trust all of you have heard the news out of D’Gar by now?”

  Most of those in the room took seats while indicating that they had, indeed, heard about the passing of the former Emperor and the ascension of his son Jaryd to the throne.

  Parkidden crified and expanded on this: “While this news is worthy of discussion, minutes ago - and this is why I sent the Novitiate to find all of you and bring you here - a special message arrived indicating that D’Gar is sending a diplomatic team here, and that Jaryd himself pns to head it as he hopes to try and come to an understanding, perhaps even a sting peace, with us.

  “While we are highly skeptical of his motivations, we felt this should be discussed in chambers before we inform the general public.”

  As his words came to a halt, much quiet chatter erupted around the table:

  “You cannot trust D’Gar, ever.”

  “I have met Jaryd and he seems to be a good man, completely unlike his father.”

  “Legitimate or not, he would not leave his nds without a better reason than just holding meetings.”

  Parkidden let the discussion simmer for a minute and then held up a hand for silence. It took several seconds for those assembled to comply, but they did, and he resumed: “One more detail we need to keep in mind, and why I have invited the young Grand Mage here: if, indeed, Thengarian is the Lost Arch Mage of prophecy, he may be the primary reason D’Gar has decided to end its isotion. The prophecy states that the blood of the Lost Arch Mage will be the Empire's end. There is much specution as to exactly what that means, but it needs to be brought up.”

  David wondered if this was the bit of information he was trying to recall. It did not feel quite right, but maybe it was.

  David was lost in his own thoughts for a while and tuned out most of the meeting until the Aelfor's voice cut through it all as he “sung” “We are forgetting this is not the first time the new heir has left the Empire within a week of ascending.”

  There was a moment of silence in response to this, before the Battle Mother chimed in: “This is true! I had forgotten. The two times the old Emperor died before the heir was married or engaged, the new one went out to visit neighboring nds to find a spouse. Do you think he may have a specific Battle Sister in mind?”

  The Aelfor stared at David for a moment before answering: “If he does, it is most likely the one with the closest ties to the Empire’s ally, The Betrayer - the daughter of Mikkledarmius…”

  David felt a chill at this. First Dalrinjian and now an Emperor. This was getting complicated!

  Parkidden chimed in with: “this is definitely something we must consider, but we must not jump to conclusions. For now, we must guarantee that the parade grounds outside the Temple compound are prepared to house his guards, and that we only permit him a few advisors and bodyguards while inside, at least until we can ascertain his true objectives. We have two and a half days to prepare, unless the weather turns and slows his travel. Five days at the most. I will try to meet privately with each of you individually before he arrives, and then again with this full council as soon as we know more about his arrival time. Until then, this was a good session, I think. Oh, do you intend to stay, or will you be leaving today as originally pnned?” This tter was addressed to the Aelfor.

  “I must speak to the others; though we wish to see how Jaryd is taking to his new role, Vel has commitments back at,“ here the Aelfor sung something that David suspected was their name for the city-state that humans called Aelfheim, deep within the Wildwoods bordering the Inner Sea. He continued: “If my mate wishes to stay with me, she may need an escort back, if there are any Battle Sisters willing?”

  The Battle Mother replied: “Talk to your people and then come see me and we will work something out.”

  The Aelfor bowed its head in appreciation.

  “Then, if there are no objections, I have one more matter to discuss and then we can adjourn.” Parkidden informed the room.

  There were general murmurs of assent, and he continued: “I would like to formally invite Grand Mage Thengarian as a permanent adjunct to this council. Are there any objections?”

  David fought a strong urge to raise his own hand at this. No hands were raised, so Parkidden continued: “and those in favor?”

  The Aelfor did not move, and one of the Magisters said, “Concur only if he does not leave after tomorrow’s testing of Thellissandra.” Everyone else in the room, save David himself, raised their hands. “Then it is agreed. Welcome to the Temple Council as an advisory member, Thengarian!”

  Everyone but the one vocal Magister gave a short burst of appuse, and the meeting was adjourned.

  The Aelfor then chimed in: “If I may borrow the Grand Mage for a moment?”

  There were no objections, and as the others filed out of the room, the majestic being said “in your tongue I am called Beliar. Please walk with me, Grand Mage.”

  David nodded and fell along beside the Aelfor.

  They walked in silence until well out of earshot of the others. “Grand Mage, I would have supported your bid, but I sensed you felt some reluctance. That, and also, I am only an adjunct member with no formal voting rights.”

  “As I am not a native of this world, I am not sure such a responsibility is appropriate,” David replied.

  “Ah. My, I believe your term is ‘niece,’ Vel is quite taken with you. I appreciate the time you spent with her.”

  “It was a great pleasure. She showed me that your people are far more interesting and complex than I had been led to believe.”

  “That is good. If you seek to take the Trials, we have a permanent portal near our holdings. I will not be back for roughly ten days, but after that, if you should come to visit, I can arrange for you to use the gate.”

  David was stunned. “That would be an immense honor, sir.”

  “If you are bonded to Thellissandra by then, please bring her, as Vel would love some time with her away from this pce. If you are not, Vel has expressed interest in … perhaps taking her pce in your life. Not in taking you from her friend but in getting to know you better and maybe pursuing a union.”

  David was floored by this. “Again, I am honored. I quite literally do not know what to say to that, especially as I thought she was engaged?”

  There was a pause and then a sound like gss bells ringing and: “That was, essentially, my reaction too. She is very forward, even among our kind. Her generation has taken to an idea of group marriages, and she herself is promised to two young Aelfor.”

  David realized that the gss sound must have been how Beliar ughed. “I will think on all you have said. I am honored by all of it. Truly.”

  There was a pause then before Beliar spoke again: “I like you, Grand Mage Thengarian. I hope for a better chance to get to know you and call you friend. For now, I must take my leave, however.”

  “Yes, absolutely I hope to call you a friend as well. You do me much honor.”

  They bowed, and David went to grab a quick lunch while the Aelfor went to rejoin his own group.