Life is a journey, not a destination.

My adventures in the captivating world of Aden and Elmore... tribute to my friends... encounters with heroes and monsters. Welcome to Nine Lives of Irijs - the Lineage II chronicle.

Friday, January 19, 2007

Valley of Saints


I hadn’t seen you for some time now, you had been travelling in farther areas of the empire doing things not yet comprehensible for me. At first I was depressed, doing everything on my own when I really wanted to do those things with you, going to places where we had been together – being alone there really hurt sometimes… But as they say, time heals everything. I put the memories to the back drawer of my soul, took them out now and then feeling the sweet sadness but knowing that the final call had not sounded yet and maybe some day somewhere we could meet again.
So you could only imagine the emotions rushing through me when I heard that there was a message for me in Magicians’ Guild. I instantly knew it was from you. The time I heard about it I was deep in catacombs doing my usual task of keeping some reckless swordsmen alive – young guys who have no idea of self-survival skills and therefore put a great responsibility on me. Even if my expertise in magic is good enough to resurrect them from dead with almost no harm left, it drains a lot of my energy every time and I feel real tired when we finish. So when my loyal friend in Aden sent me a message that I have to come to the guild to pick up a letter I could hardly wait. After all it had been so long and what could someone your class really need from me… So when we swam out of the catacomb and presented our daily work to the Priest and collected our reward I almost ran to the gatekeeper to teleport me to the castle town. And yes it was a letter from you and the content was really a surprise to me – you wanted me to go with you. You had discovered some good hunting spots during your travels and you thought maybe we should try to go there together because with my spells you will hunt faster and have more power. I was so excited to read that, I had never really been anywhere that far, most of my days dragged along in dungeons collecting the stones of an ancient seal to prevent the evil spirits to enter our world. And sometimes I was guarding young wizards and oracles on their first steps to master skills in magic. So I sent you my answer right away and we agreed to meet at town gatekeeper early next morning because the way was long and a lot of wars were going on so we had to be careful with the crowds.
It was still almost dawn when we met and the town was so quiet, only some warsmith shops were already open to sell shots and arrows to early hunters setting off to faraway lands. We exchanged a quick hello and teleported to a northern town where I had never been before. You told me about the monsters awaiting us as I was casting my protection and empower spells on you and we started running into the desert. It was strange being with you again, somehow the time that had passed since our last meeting seemed to vanish somewhere and I felt like we hadn’t departed at all. Just what I noticed at once was that you had grown much more powerful and efficient – all your spells landed like ultimate justice upon the monsters, many times so fast that they were dead before they could even approach you. At first I was a bit uneasy not knowing exactly what to do, after all I had been with gladiators and warlords most of the time and those guys just needed a lot of healing nothing more. But as you almost never got any damage from the monsters I had to regenerate your magical energy because the spells you were using needed a lot of mana power. So gradually I became more confident and followed you close among the monsters. Sometimes they attacked me but you were always watching over me so I felt completely safe. Now and then we climbed to the mountains to rest and then you told me what you had been doing and how your clan had been at war with many others and so you had left it. And that you plan to have your own and I might join it if I want. Being in the same clan with you – I could hardly believe that…
The more we hunted there just the two of us together, the closer I grew to you. I was waiting morning to come so we could go again and I could watch you cast spells fast like wind and deadly like a curse from the underworld. And I waited the breaks we made to rest so I could ask things from you and sit next to you so close that only your sword lying on the ground separated us from each other. Sometimes when I was really exhausted you would let me rest my head on your shoulder and put your arms around me. I could feel your heartbeat and hear you breathe, it made me want to kiss you and run my hands down your skin. I wanted to look deep in your eyes and melt in your body. I knew that some day soon I can’t hold it in me any longer and I was going to surrender completely…

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