Gaiagon

Chapter 12: Conflicting Truth

"Hello again, Seth. It's me, Dominic." "Hey. Is there anything I can help you with?" "Actually, there is something I need you to do for me tomorrow." "Ok, I'm all ears." "You guys are planning to look for the Arch-Gaiagon after you get your armor from Mike. During your journey, you will be forced to choose between going over or around a mountain. I need you to go over the mountain. It's as simple as that." "So, you just wanted to make sure we go over a mountain rather than go around it...ok, I'll remember that. Oh, I forgot to ask you a question last night. Why do you want to contact me?" "Well...it isn't just you. I contact your friend, Jeffry, as well. He, however, doubts me a little more than you, so he can't hear my voice. However, I am able to show him the future. Think of all this as my contribution to your quest." "By why is our quest so important to you?" "Well, I thought that was clear to you. I am helping you because I want those demons taken down." "But why aren't you physically helping us?" "Seth, there is a time and place in the future in which I will be required to take matters into my hands. Now, on the other hand, is not that time. For this reason, I need you to take action. Show some faith." "Alright, you haven't done anything to make me doubt you yet. I trust you."

Seth opened his eyes to see Jeffry sound asleep. Suddenly, Jeffry woke up, as if he had just had a nightmare. "What happened?" Seth looked over at Jeffry who was panting. "Oh...I just had a really bad dream." "Care to tell me what it was?" "If it is another future-predicting dream like the others, I probably should. You, Sylva, Fang, and I came to a crossroad. You convinced us that we should take the path that leads up the mountain. As we walked the path, a gang of thieves ambushed us and almost killed us. I woke up right before I was stabbed." Seth was silent. "Seth...you have something you don't want to tell me...don't you?" Seth nodded. "Come on, Seth...You can tell me anything." "Alright, but I know you aren't going to like it. D...Dominic told me to make sure we take the path up the mountain..." "WHAT? Didn't you hear my dream? If we do that, we might get killed!" "Don't you think I know that? I trust Dominic...but one thing confuses me. He told me that he is the one that gives you those dreams, yet the dream he gave you last night is scaring you away from what he told me to do in mine. This doesn't make sense."

"Rise and shine, boys!" Sylva sang as she knocked on Seth and Jeffry's door. "We'll be down in a few minutes," Seth replied. "Ok, but remember to get packed. We are leaving after we get our armor. I got up early and used some money Malcolm gave me to get some food for our journey." Seth looked at Jeffry and said, "We'll finish this conversation later when you and I are alone." Once they were all dressed, the two went downstairs and had breakfast again like the day before. Sylva noticed that Seth and Jeffry were quieter than normal. When they were finished, Malcolm, Sylva, Seth, and Jeffry went to see Mike at his workshop.

"Good morning, you four!" Mike said with a happy disposition. "Wait, where's that beast that helped you yesterday?" "He's in the woods, waiting for us," Sylva replied. "That's probably for the best. This town isn't used to seeing beasts. Alright, let's get down to business." Mike motioned to a table behind him. "I have prepared three armor sets, one for each of you. I used what I saw yesterday, and a little deductive reasoning, to decide what would work best for all of you. Let me run though them real quickly before I let you go put them on. Here," Mike said as he motioned to the left side of the table, "we have some archer's armor. This includes: a standard metal helmet (made to keep your head safe without hindering your view), metal shoulder pads, half metal/half leather gauntlets (made to protect the inside of your wrists from your bow string and the outside of your wrists from swords and arrows), a standard light weight chest plate, and metal shin protectors. This armor is designed to protect an archer as much as possible without being too heavy and without hindering his aiming or shooting abilities. Here," Mike continued as he pointed to the middle of the table, "we have some thief's armor (or assassin's armor, which ever works best for you). This includes: a mask helm (which covers the entire head and mouth, leaving only the eyes visible), light weight metal shoulder padding, standard wrist gauntlets, a light weight chest plate, and light weight shin protectors. This armor is designed to cover up weak points on the body, while still letting the wearer stay mobile and agile. Here," Mike finished up as he pointed to the right side of the table, "we have the warrior's armor. This includes: a knight's helm, moderately heavy chest protection, moderately heavy metal shoulder pads, moderately heavy metal gauntlets, and moderately heavy metal shin protection. This armor is clearly designed to aid in protection while weighing less than the armor of a normal knight. This armor is also referred to as the 'traveling knight's armor'. Alright, go ahead and try it on."