Phoenix: The nuruk beast.

Chapter 19:

Kaldin:legendof the rajmirik.

 Far away from the borders of Dameran, darkness shrouded the inside of a cave just as well as the silence within it. In Its depth laid the decayed carcass of a creature long dead. All that was left of its remains were its bones that suggested it died laying on its back. And then from amidst the darkness of the cave, a thin human figure concealed by a black hooded cloak appeared at the ingress of the cave, and with it came a green glow that illuminated the cave. A green mist that spread below it made it seem like it hovered above the ground when it moved towards the skeleton. The figure moved in circles around the bones muttering strange words silently as it did so. The figure held out its hand and out of nowhere, a glowing green marble appeared on it. The figure dropped the marble in the ribcage of the skeleton and continued its movement around it. Again and again, the figure created green marbles out of thin air and dropped it in the skeleton's ribcage. After dropping the fifth marble, the cloaked figure vanished into thin air. Suddenly, the skeletons finger twitched.

It was morning in Dameran, deep in forest was a large grassy field surrounded by trees. And at its middle stood a structure that seemed to be an incomplete castle. Its unpainted brick walls had all sorts of weeds growing from its crevices. The castle however was large and sturdy enough to serve as the hideout to a group of bandits. One that Lydia and Aldrich had now successfully snuck into. It had been a dreadful task getting into the hideout as every possible entrance was guarded by armed men. With footsteps more silent than whispers, they both cautiously snuck through the hallways avoiding every watchful sight that came their way. Well hidden in the corner by a wall, they both saw a wooden door a few ways ahead of them. Lydia assured Aldrich that behind that door lay what they sought. The door was however guarded by a large brawny man that was armed to the teeth. He sat by the side of the door facing away from both of them. Lydia tapped Aldrich on his shoulder and whispered to him,

"Go knock him out, silently."

"No, hell no!" Aldrich detested as silently as he could,

"Just grab hold of his neck firmly as I taught you." She said nudging him gently on his shoulder. Aldrich still retorted;

"The last time I tried that I broke someone's neck."

"Well now you just need to lessen the strength of your hold."

"But if it comes out too light, I'll alert everyone."

"Then you best not do that." Aldrich let out a weary sigh and slowly got to his feet,

Feeling anxious, Aldrich slowly paced behind the guard. Finally, he found himself right by the door with the guard none the wiser. As Lydia advised, Aldrich wrapped his right arm firmly around the guard's neck and covered his mouth with his left hand stopping him from breathing completely. It wasn't long before the guard was knocked out cold.

After Aldrich hid the guard's unconscious body away, he and Lydia opened each side of the door as gently as they could and closed it behind them. Inside, was a room full of stolen gems, jewellery and many priceless objects all stashed around the room. What they were seeking though sat in a far corner of the room. It was a blue crystal as large as a man's head and shaped like a falling drop of water. As Aldrich went over to fetch it, Lydia opened a satchel she wore by her side. She collected the crystal from him and gently placed it in the satchel.

"Well, we have what we came for." she said to Aldrich.

"Did you really have to make me do that?"

"Of course."

"If I had failed---"

"Slage the best time to learn is when there is a lot at stake." She then climbed out the window of the room, as Aldrich followed behind her, he muttered;