From the distance, I saw smoke billowing upward from Merric’s village. I was astonished to find the war had traveled so fast, so far south. I crawled among the omnipresent sunflowers of this region to avoid detection. Without their nourishing seeds, I felt like I would have shriveled from starvation.
Getting closer, I heard the shouts of battle and the clang of metal upon metal. I felt the need to seek the protective shelter of my uncle’s house. Knowing these streets well – having hidden in these alleys many times when I was younger – I sprinted between the first rows of cottages. I jumped into the first niche I found. Had I not been so concerned about staying hidden, I would have noticed sooner the foreigner slumped towards the center of the alley.
As I crawled closer, the horrific stench of death and stagnant sea-water was the first sign that the seeming pile of rags was more than just that. I slipped my father’s sword slowly from its sheath, being careful not to make a sound. By the time I recognized the pile of rags hid a face, it was too late. The dark face arose sneering, and I froze in terror as if any movement might set the stranger off. But this was no mere man: he swiped his hand across his face as if tearing away a mask to reveal a green scaly- skinned demon with a singular pointed horn protruding from its forehead. I jumped away horrified, dropping the sword behind me.
I looked back. We both stared at the sword on the ground, then at each other. My knees were locked in terror. He pushed himself upright and began to reach for the only tangible vestige I had of my father. I determined not to let even a demon of the nether world take it from me alive.
The demon was closer, but in the mindless chase that ensued to this day I’m not sure how I raced ahead and stole it back. Perhaps the sword slid into my grasp as I reached for it? However I came upon it, the demon did not challenge me for it any further, but simply slinked back into its corner it must have called its temporary home, bowing its head, and disappearing again among the pile of unholy rags.
“Mak!” my uncle excitedly screamed at me when he saw me standing in his doorway. “By the all the gods that are good and holy, what has happened to you?” He grabbed me, squeezing me in tight. In an instant, all that happened to me over the four days flooded over me. I just slumped into his arms, unable to speak, with tears rolling down my cheeks.
“It’s okay now, my Mak, Angrin told me everything by carrier-pigeon. I have already made arrangements to send you south. You can meet with Merric there,” he said, expecting that such news would cheer me up. He was right, of course; I needed the companionship of an old friend.
Grabbing me by the shoulders and looking me squarely in the eyes, he continued, “The raiding party burnt much of the town and most of the shipyard and docked ships. There are only a few scattered battles now, but we’ll have turned them back soon. I’ve arranged for you to leave here soon on the last merchant ship. You’ll be safer in Verbononc than anywhere around here, though I won’t be able to join you south…”
I jerked up, shocked: even my uncle would not accompany me? First my father abandoned me, then Angrin, now Molar?
Sensing my discomfort, he explained, “Listen Makaus, I have important duties here and in the Gnarly Forest. These are extremely dangerous times, and I’m responsible for the safety of thousands of people. I would stay there with you, you know that. I tell you what: I’ll accompany you to Verbobonc, but afterward, in my stead, I have found a guardian for you.”
“Uncle, I want to look for my father.”
“Makaus, you are only fifteen years old. What do you hope to accomplish when the entire world is at war?” But his protest was surprisingly meek. He continued, “Angrin warned me about that too. This is what your heart seeks, huh?”
All I could do was nod. It was what I wanted with all my heart.
“Well then, I’ll arrange for a guide in Verbobonc too.”
“Uncle, was my father a Knight of the Hart?”
“One of the best. Anything else?” sensing that was not what I truly wanted to ask.
“Who are the Illumanati?”
Molar seemed startled, and I could never remember a time I have seen him so. He always took everything Merric and I did or said in stride. “How you came to know that your father was a Knight of the Heart is surprising enough. He was a man of secrets since he wanted you to have a better life without the violence he knew. Fewer secrets he kept closer to his heart than that. But there are certain secrets – powerful secrets – that only a handful of this world knew.”
I never saw him so serious in all my life. A man of playful teasing, a welcoming smile, had become stern much as my father had always seemed. Now I saw the other side of Molar that could single-handedly save his village: a loving uncle one moment and a heroic ranger-warrior the next.
He continued, “How you even caught a glimpse of one of the most powerful of all I dare not ask. Your father would have died first before revealing it to anyone, including you. I ask only this: dare not speak of it to anybody, the fate of him and the good people of Oerth may very well rest on its security.”
I vowed to obey him with all my strength.
I was told Verbobonc would be about two days journey west by river. Aboard the merchant ship, the scent of sunflower seed oil emanated from their oak kegs.
Not a few hours into the voyage, a sudden shift in the wind brought an unwelcome reminiscence: the same overpowering watery-death smell I had encountered earlier that day in the alley. Instinctively, I looked for a shadow, or some other place to hide. The central mast of the ship had to do. And as I peered around the mast to search for the demonic origin of the stench, I saw it again, only this time it was upright and staring out across the bow. I had to warn Molar.
I was able to reach the rope ladder leading into the hull without being detected by the dark-ragged fiend. When I found Molar below deck, I tried to explain, panting, that there was a demon above deck.
“Makaus, there are no demons aboard this ship,” he said almost too assuredly.
“It’s…up on the deck…in da-ark clothes,” I stammered, fear gripping my tongue tightly.
“Show me then.”
When I pointed him out, Molar merely snickered – not exactly the response I was expecting – grabbed my arm, and walked me towards it. There was no resisting Molar’s grip. Anyway, I felt safer beside him then anywhere else on this ship.
“Makaus, say hello to your new guardian.” I couldn’t believe it. How could my uncle do this to me, I wondered. I found I couldn’t say or do anything except stand there.
“Thaer, I want you to meet your charge.” Thaer turned, but instead of the green skin and horned forehead, I saw his dark faced mask. The mask reminded me of Angrin, except it had half-closed eyes. It looked down at me vacantly, and turned
away without saying a word.
I would later learn that Thaer was no demon, just a nomad from the far reaches of the north with the capability at the flicker of his hand to create the most fantastic of illusions, including changing his appearance to that of a demon to frighten pestering children away.
