The Ring and The Scroll

 

            Arion was a young boy who lived in Taer Nardin along with Dofert, the potion enchanter. Arion was always eager to go into the forest, but was always kept inside by the red picket fence. The nearest town to Taer Nardin was Haflingor. Beyond haflingor is Taer Baldir, where Clodar the great swordsman lived. Dofert told Arion of Appax, the master of magic. Appax led evil throughout Gelnor. Dofert has found cures for almost every disease except orac. This disease dissolves people and animals alike. Nobody knows what stated orac, but everyone knew that just about anyone who ventured into the forbidden forest would catch orac.

            Winter was coming swiftly to the land of Gelnor. Winter was expected in about three months. Mount Guildor had the finest fruit in all of Gelnor and Dofert was going to leave for the mountain to get a nice supply of it for the winter. Mount Guildor was about five miles north of Taer Nardin, but were-bears hid in the mountain and they attacked anyone who tried to get on the mountain.

            Inside the house, there were two rooms. One small room with two rickety beds was for sleeping and the other larger room was for eating, learning and working. It was just after moonrise and the two were in their beds. Dofert was just about to drift off to sleep when Arion asked a question. “Dofert, when will you leave off for Mount Guildor?” “When I first see the sun.” Dofert replied.

            The sun arose and Dofert got Arion up and handed him a wooden dagger. “What is this for?” inquired Arion sleepily. “The were-bears are tough up on that mountain.” responded Dofert. Arion was shocked when he realized that he had permission to go to the mountain with Dofert.

            They walked out of the small house and saw a fairly large bottle along the Great Bldrad River, the largest river in all of Gelnor. Arion went to get it and hurdled the red picket fence for the first time ever! As he neared the bottle, a giant bird swooped down and grabbed the bottle in its powerful talons. As the bird flew away something fell out of the bottle’s damaged bottom, and flutter to Arion’s feet. It was a scroll. He picked it up and handed it to Dofert. “What does it say?” inquired Arion as Dofert took the scroll from his hand. Dofert read it aloud.

Titan,

          Nikodemus owned ten magical rings, three he hid in the wilderness, Lord Wood was given five, and two are guarded by the Giant Knights. Whoever owns all ten will have power over all. If you, Titan, have any from the wilderness surrender them to me or suffer the consequences.

                              Appax

Dofert looked up with a pale, frightened look on his face. “I have found one of the rings from the wilderness, surely if they knew we had even one ring, Appax would have us tortured to death just to gain the ring.” Arion was frightened now, but that fear was quickly replaced by his eagerness to see Mount Guildor. Dofert walked to their small stable and let out their two horses, Llyr and Mb. Arion hopped on Llyr and the horses jumped over the little fence. They started toward the looming mountain in the distance.

            That night Arion and Dofert reached the mountain. Trees covered with oranges and apples were in small orchards just thirty feet from the mountain. Arion could not help but notice the large tunnel that went deep into Mount Guildor. He was also amazed at the size of the mountain since it seemed to pierce the large cloud looming overhead.

            Just then a voice called out “Get out of my food!” Arion turned to see a gnome. “Who’s orchards are they?” Arion started to say when the gnome interrupted him again. “They are mine! All mine!” he said grinding his teeth. “What is your name?” he asked. “Arion of Taer Nardin.” said Arion wishing he had not been so brave. “And what is yours?” inquired the gnome as he looked at Dofert. Dofert told him his name. “Dofert!” exclaimed the gnome as he dropped to the ground in a fit of laughter. “Why? What is your name?” inquired Dofert solemnly. The gnome stopped laughing and stood straight up. “I am a specialist at robbing evil stuff, My name is PicPoc and I can also pick locks.” replied PicPoc with a smile on his face. Dofert fell to the ground in a fit of laughter. “What kind of name is PicPoc anyway?” he chuckled back at PicPoc. “I don’t know really. I am afraid you would have to ask my mother about that one. She named my sister Sew.” PicPoc stated. “Well, isn’t Sue a girls name anyway.” stated Dofert. “Why yes it is, but she named her Sew as in sew buttons. Now she is the village tailor.” replied PicPoc. “I have been living in these woods for the last two years. I was kicked out of the village when Appax first came to power because I told Appax he would have to pry his tribute from our cold dead fingers. So rather than fight Appax like I suggested, they cast a vote and expelled me here, hoping that the were-bears would take care of my execution.”

            “This is no place to be living really. You are more than welcome to return to Taer Nardin with us to stay if you wish.” stated Dofert as he tossed some empty sacks to Arion. Everyone filled their bags full of fruit and then they headed of back to town. PicPoc quickly became a town favorite with his tales of adventure and danger, but these tales were real! Dofert was pondering the options that they had for safety from Appax. He had concluded that the only logical response was to go to Dragonor. Suddenly two giant knights approached the city from the north. Doferts first thought was of the letter and of Titan to whom the letter was addressed. They quickly grabbed some rations, weapons and packs for the horses. They quickly mounted the steeds, crossed the Bldrod River into the Greenville Forest and continued to head south from the giant knights.

            After riding for a while, they came upon a large stone hut. It was the size of a enormous arena. All of the sudden two large ogres captured the small group and threw them into an old slimy cell. Once the door was shut behind them, it was very dark in the room. So dark that no one could see anything at all. As soon as the ogres footsteps could no longer be heard, there was a sizzle and a flicker of light as a candle was lit. Everyone’s eyes fixated on the man who lit the candle. It was Clodar! Arion always wanted to meet Clodar. He was Arion’s hero since the time he could hold a play sword. Clodar was a tall man with tanned rippling muscles. He had a broadsword strapped to his back. As a matter of fact, everyone in the room still had swords. Clodar was in an orange and peach outfit. “These ogres are gluttons for pain. I will help you in your battle tomorrow. We are also getting out of here tomorrow as well. Just be ready to fight when they come to get us.” said Clodar. “Now get some sleep while you can.” he whispered as he extinguished the candle.

            Morning arrived and light cut through the darkness of the room from a small opening in the top of the wall. A slot opened up on the bottom of a large door with scrapping noise. A large tray of something was slid into the room. It was foul smelling and looked like grits. “Breakfast.” said Clodar as he grabbed a spoon and started eating some of the grits. “They actually taste better than the smell.” It was at this time that Arion noticed that there were many others in the room. “Is that Vortox?” asked Arion. Vortox was Clodar’s sworn enemy, but it appears even he too has enemies in common with Clodar. “Yes, it is I, Vortox,” said the man. “So, what is the plan Clodar?”

            “The other day when we fought the group of Trolls, I noticed an opening halfway up the wall that is just big enough for us to fit into single file. I figured on going in first to fight my way through. We may or may not get a chance to fight Titan as well.” said Clodar. Arion shivered at the thought of Titan as he remembered the name from the scroll that Dofert read to him and the look on his face when he looked up from it. "That is my plan."