The Seven Rune Stones

There weren't always dragons in the Valley. That much is true. For there was once a time where nothing magical ever touched this land. It was a peaceful place unknown to much of world. Its lush mountains shielding outsider influence. Time was is its only magic.

No one knew how it began. Many eyewitness accounts were lost to legend or myth. Many died in the event known as the tearing of worlds some centuries past. The iridescent faery fires still burn throughout the land. No one lives in the valley: at least that of humankind. It has been all but abandoned; left to ruin. It is a treacherous place. Few dare to venture into its mysterious depths. For the wild magic is chaotic and ever changing and the Evil grows stronger in its presence.

Thea Rosenthall, an exceedingly talented human spell caster, was gripping onto the branches of a tall crooked pine overlooking the valley. She peered through a spyglass intently. studying every single pattern, broken treeline, the way the river bent, the movement of wildlife on hilly terrain, the flight shift of birds, the way the morning fog shifted off the river. Her red-brown hair mostly braided up into a ponytail for efficiency, with some stray hairs blowing in the wind. Two sturdy boots planted firmly on two branches, one arm gripping the rough bark of the tree. The other arm outstretched, gripping the spyglass. Her green eyes squinting and eyebrows furrowing….

Suddenly a flash of light from across the valley caught her attention. Thea quickly theorized the entity must be humanoid in nature and welding something metallic or reflective. She tried to focus in on the area more directly but found the clearing that she looked upon quickly filled with wisps of fog. She found this very suspicious.

Thea sighed, “I do not like this complication.” and noted the approximate location and details into a small pocket journal, which she then safely returned to the left chest pocket of her tunic.

She packed away her spyglass, took a big gulp of liquid from her waterskin and wiped her mouth with her sleeve. She gripped the two branches with both arms and then suddenly dropped out of the tree into a pile of leaves… before hitting the ground her momentum slowed and she landed gracefully into the center of a ring of suspended leaves.

She now followed elk trails down the mountain instead of upwards and was eager to gain as much distance while the sun was up in the sky. She was making excellent timing which the quest she was set upon required in order to be a success. She was determined to let nothing get in her way.

Meanwhile, across the valley, at that tiny glimmer of light, Faolin Fortanach, was waving his hands motioning fog from the ground below. He was looking over his shoulder and arguing with a tall ebony skinned man with deep violet eyes.

“Khalan, did you really need to bring all those pots, pans, and utensils! The whole valley will know we are here!”

Faolin spun around a half circle, pulling some of the fog with him. He quickly pulled red soil and a few feathers out of his satchel and muttered an incantation. A trail of fog, dust, and feathers bombarded Khalan.

Khalan Bellondash began to speak, “Faolin, you brought me along as your cook… and friend. How am I supposed to cook without my ….” The sounds were silenced from outside of a field of magic. Khalan, now visibly irritated, broke through the incantation with a thunderous roar… his violet eyes producing purple flames… I will re-tie them with leather straps! Please, do not use your magics on me!”

The roar Khalan produced pushed Faolin back several feet and made him fall back, but Faolin’s athletic ability, him being half elf, was in his favor and he managed to roll with the fall and bounce back on his feet. He was unscathed and wearing a devilish grin.

“As much as I love sparing, Khalan, I do need you to be silent my friend. For I see danger ahead.” He motioned towards the bog, maybe three hundred yards down the hill. “You see, we need to cross here. I There and there are imps and quite possibly afflicted waterfowl or waterlife as well."

Khalan lowered his goggles from his forehead and added another magnification. “Yes, I’m seeing maybe two dozen imps and they are clearly creating mayhem by irritating and riding giant dragonflies.” He paused and pondered for a moment, “Why Faolin, do we need to cross here? It would take maybe an hour to go around. Also, you know I hate insects, especially flying ones… and these are giant!”

Faolin smiled, “Because my friend, this isn’t my first time in the valley. There is something beyond there that is very valuable to me and I intend to retrieve it.”

Faolin beckoned Khalan to follow. He smiled with his blue eyes, crows feet pinching at the outer ends, two dimples around each end of his smile. His blond wavy hair, shoulder length, was bouncing with each step. His green-dyed, waxed-hemp robes were trailing off behind him in the wind. He began reproducing the wisps of fog as he trailed off. He was the walking personification of childish joy and adventure. Khalan found his energy exhausting enough to make him roll his eyes often at his unyielding momentum. He found himself almost in opposition to Faolin as far as personalities go. Khalan saw himself as cautious, a thinker, a surveyor, and although, as a sorcerer, his magic was unpredictable, he found comfort in things safe and predictable in nature. Faolin on the other hand was spontaneous, reactive, and from Khalan’s point of view… utterly reckless. He adored him in almost every way other than this and much of his good fortunes came from knowing him. He was Faolin’s only friend and he never wandered too far from his side.

Khalan tightened his belt, the straps of his backpack, and the leather straps to the cookware. He took a deep breath and followed Faolin down to the bog. He met him behind a fallen tree overlooking the bog's edge where Faolin was crouched down whispering and pointing. A blanket of fog followed where he pointed and then he waved his hands, pressed them together and parted the fog down the middle.

Khalan rolled his eyes and sighed, “Does all your magic require such flare?”

Faolin smiled, “Oh yes, indeed it does. The magic wants me to give it flare, which is why it comes to me so easily. It likes me Khalan. It is on my side.”

“If you insist.” Khalan also gave a sarcastic hand gesture with some flair. “Give them a show my liege.”

“Alright, don’t mind If I do.” Faolin whispered. “We need to ride across the water without disturbing it. I cannot focus on the imps and whatever may lie beneath the water. Ride with me on this log.”

“What log?” Khalan questioned.

He was met with the answer as Faolin whipped out a mortar, pestle, and stone, spit into a crushed white powder and with his finger painted it upon the tree in a ring twice. He muttered another incantation and fiercely threw down his two hands upon the tree in a chopping motion. The white powder burned through the wood and the log broke free.

“This log, my friend,” Faolin whispered and then rolled the log towards the water’s edge.

He positioned the log in the water and began drawing glyphs with the remaining white powder. He whispered out loud, “One for sun, one for water, and I need a third point, Khalan”

Khalan scanned the horizon, “Boulder; two o-clock.”

“Perfect. Rocks are strong.” Faolin explained as he wrote the third glyph. “Now we can ride. Now get on.”

Faolin who was alreading sitting cross-legged on the front of the log, beckoned Khalan to come sit down behind him. Khalan was very uneasy to attempt this feat, however, to his surprise the log did not roll or bounce. It remained sturdy in place upon the water. Faolin beckoned again, patting both quads of his legs. Khalan lifted up his long legs and placed them on top of Faolin.

Faolin tapped each of Khalan’s feet twice for fun, turned back and whispered, “Ventos.”

The boat began drifting over the water.. slowly drifting through leaping frogs and broad leaf lily pads. The fog hovered about three feet around them. There was the occasional buzz of a dragonfly or the chittering and high-pitched laughter of the playful imps. Thus Far they had made it halfway.

“Faolin, the fog it is… “

“Yes I know. Look to the west.”

Khalan eyes follow the direction of the West. The fog is spinning and whirling about, being dispersed by a cold front drifting down from the tall blue and white mountains. Giant oak, birch, and pine begin to sway. Leaves drift up towards the dark skies. The meadow around the bog and the cattails swayed in rolling waves. A large wave of wind pushes across the bog at both Khalan and Faolin. Khalan spotted several imp riders now clearly in view and the imp began to change their directions, now approaching faster towards the two on their small raft.

Faolin produced another wind spell to propel the raft forward and drew out a crossbow by unlatching it from his pack. “Hey, Khalan.” He said. “Start paddling.”

Khalan looked puzzled for a moment and then chuckled a bit before unstrapping a large pot from his sack. “See, I told you these were necessary!” He began using the pot as a makeshift oar and paddled fast on each side of the boat.

“Faster!” Faolin demanded.

“I am paddling as fast as I can!” Khalan said in frustration.

Two bolts whizzed past him striking down two dragonflies, hurling their riders head over toe crashing into the water below them. This stopped Khalan for a moment before he took a deep breath and began paddling more intensely.

“Nice shot!” Khalan exclaimed, but he was interrupted by the incoming balls of fire being hurled by the imps. “Incoming!”

Faolin, who was now standing, kicked one fireball away with the heel of his boot and hurled another bolt directly at an imp. It clutched its chest and squealed before falling into the water. Two other fireballs struck the log and caught flame. So now Faolin was dancing to put them out and spinning around shooting bolts.

One imp was closing in on Khalan. Upon closer inspection he could see the imp in detail, as he batted it across the water. It was gangly, black, and similar to a bat. It was cursing in an unknown language with angry red eyes.

Another round of fireballs came flying through the air. Khalan scooped the pot out of the water and swung at two fireballs right after the other. A riderless dragonfly now approached the rear of the log trying to bite at Khalan. He swung, two handed, thumping the dragonfly unconscious; almost losing his balance in the process. Faolin stabilized Khalan by slipping his boot into a strap on his backpack and tugging him back. The unconscious dragonfly lay in the water and then suddenly was swallowed up by a giant turtle, which had just surfaced. Waves of water churned up with each chomp. Two more turtles surfaced at the promise of food. The imps were now in close range. A few of them dismounted their dragonflies and flew towards Khalan and Faolin. They were now maybe twenty yards from the shoreline and forest edge. Hope was now in sight. The imps hurled more fireballs, but this time at the turtles causing them to thrash about wildly, bumping into the boat. Khalan flew in the air and landed in the water with a great splash. Faolin did a backflip and landed on the boat two feet firmly planted on the log.

“Faolin!” Khalan bellowed. “A little help!”

“Swim to the shore!” Faolin yelled. “I have an idea!”

“I was hoping your idea was to use a spell to get me out of the water!” Khalan complained audibly, but Faolin ignored him, or rather his focus was now on the swarm of imps rallying towards them.

Khalan swirled his arms about pulling in the air around him, a wall of nearly twenty fireballs arched through the air. Khalan closed his eyes and pulled them all towards his chest. There they swirled combining into one great ball and then he lunged it at the center of the group of imps. Knocking many into the water below.

Meanwhile, Khalan was being chased by four giant turtles as he approached the shoreline. Their jaws chomped in anticipation he would be their next meal. One got so close it snagged one of his heavy boots with its teeth and pulled him under the water. Bubbles are swirling around as Khalan tries to pull away from the turtle. He can see the other two approaching. He flexes his muscles and screams underwater, eyes flaring up with purple light. A thunderous wave of energy pushes back water, air, turtles, imps, and dragonflies, but not Faolan who is now floating, midair on the log, to the shoreline. The wave of water comes crashing back inwards and pushes them both towards the bog’s edge. Faolin reaches down to help Khalan up. He is entirely dry, while Khalan is drenched in water, algae, and mud.

“I thought you needed water to stabilize the log?” Khalan inquired bitterly. “Also I thought you had a plan!”

“I can balance on a log without magic! Tehee!” Also I did have a plan!” He chuckled, “But yours was way better! A great plan!”

Khalan groaned, “But I didn’t have a plan, I just wanted to get to the shore.”

Faolin smiled, “And here we are! Safe and sound! Now, let's get into the shelter of the woods away from these pesky imps. He waved his hands over Khalan and wind-dried his clothes in less than a minute.

“I don’t like magic on me, Faolin!” Khalan groaned, but it was no use. Faolin was already heading down another trail.

Faolin, light-footed, hopped from rock to rock and ran down fallen trees. Khalan walked the deer trail beside him. As much as Faolin enjoyed being entertaining to himself and others, he still kept a faithful eye on his surroundings watching for any threats. He was rethinking his ventures here some fifty years past and trying to remember the way. Much had changed. The land shifts. New growths of trees emerge where others have died. Rocks weather and break apart. Heavy rain cuts through the earth. The smell of the soil shifts according to what grows or dies. He stopped and stood still, closed his eyes, and listened to the leaves of the trees. He grabbed a handful of dirt and smelled the contents.

“I think we are close!” Faolin exclaimed.

“I don’t know how you can know that from smelling dirt.” Khalan stated with a hint of distrust.

Surely enough, however, Faolin had come across what he was looking for. In a small clearing of mushrooms and rotting wood, there lay the bones of a massive creature. The creature was laying on a stone tomb. Protruding from its rib-cage was a silver sword with a sapphire gemmed hilt.

Khalan pushed aside a tree branch to look upon the scene. He turned towards Faolin in awe. Faolin stood there with both hands on his hips, chest pumped up in confidence. Khalan tilted his head. “You slayed a dragon?!”

Faolin chuckled. “You think I killed a dragon!?” He motioned his hands towards the carcass of the beast before them. “This… is a Pseudo Dragon!”

“So, it’s not a dragon?” Khalan inquired.

“No, dragons get much larger.” explained Faolin.

“But this is the size of four horses combined!” said Khalan in disbelief.

“Dragons can be the size of buildings, my friend.” Faolin opened his arms to indicate a gigantic sized beast. “Hey, can you help me get my sword, Khalan? Last time I was here it got stuck and I could not lift the beast. Now it has lost a few pounds!”

Khalan and Faolin both pulled at the sword. Khalan had one foot on the bone and two hands on the hilt. Faolin had two feet on the rib and two hands on the hilt. Suddenly, the sword broke free. Khalan lifted the sword high into the air. Faolin was still holding on feet dangling a foot off the ground.

“I got my sword back! Now help me get the thing I left behind!” Faolin dropped out of the air with the sword as Khalan released him.

By this point, Khalan was entirely confused. He asked Faolin, “What do you mean by this?”

Faolin was eager to explain, but instead insisted “Here, I will show you.”

He climbed through the bones of the pseudo dragon, grabbed the silver sword, and cut through the stone beneath its belly like it was butter. He cut the sword at an inward angle, like a gem. White flames burned around the sword as the stone turned red with heat. He used the sword as a lever to lift the slab of stone. He peered into the tomb and felt around.

As he did, Khalan read the slab of stone and read outloud, “Artemus Nova…” He paused to try to read the age but it was illegible.

Faolin finished where he left off, “Born 92701 SA, Died 92984 SA… He was one of the first great wizards after the Tearing of Worlds. He was one of the last to fight against the dragons that lay siege to the City of Marothwain, where he sadly perished… and here,” Faolin lifted up an old leather bound book, “Is his spellbook!” He slid the slab back over the tomb and whispered an incantation, resealing the stone.

Faolin began flipping through the book carefully, eyes wide with excitement and intrigue. Khalan threw the sword at a tree and it seared through it with bubbling green acid.

At this moment, green acid was also burning through a long stick, in the hands of Thea Rosenthall.

“Tisk, Tisk.” Thea said in disgust as she peered across a shallow stream that had been poisoned or corrupted in some way.

The ravine that held this small stream was about forty feet across. The stream itself was about twenty across. She was about thirty feet deep. She looked up and around for hanging vines. None could be found. Steep, thick roots of the trees surrounding the stream dug deep into the ground. She saw her way across and prepared her magic. She bent down and put two hands deep in the soil, summoning the roots to uplift above the ground and twist and pull into a walking bridge across the water. Pleased with her work she skipped across the branches and gnawed on a stick of elk jerky.

She was getting closer to the heart of the valley, about three quarters of the way there in fact. The heart of the valley is where she would find a lost artifact. A stone rumored to hold one of seven world spells. Its location is at the mouth of five rivers. At this point, the sun was setting and thunderclouds were rolling in from the west. Thea knew she would need to find shelter from both the storm and the creatures that come out in the night.

She continued running uphill now gaining some elevation, where a shelter would be best suited.

Her stride was efficient and quiet as she sailed over rocks, earth, moss, and leaves. She reached the top of the incline and caught some breath. She pulled out the waterskin and took another big gulp fully aware she would need to refill it at a non-poisoned source. Luckily she did find water, at a natural spring that pooled up out of the rocks. She refilled her water supply and continued to follow the flow of the stream.

A crack of a branch in the distance startled her and she stopped moving instantly peering towards the sound. She saw yellow eyes looking back at her from behind some brush. Another two dire wolves appeared, then two more behind that. Finally the sixth wolf, clearly the alpha, lept out from the brush and began slowly stalking her; leading the rest of the pack.

The gears in her brain quickly worked in overdrive. She wiped out her bow and arrow, launching one arrow straight into the chest of one of the wolves. The wolf cried out in pain and the rest growled ferociously.

“Run!” she told herself out loud, realizing that was a preposterous thing to do.

However, it worked and she had finally freed herself from being frozen. She ran as fast as she could. Darting between trees and over boulders, she tried to outrun the wolves, who chased her on both sides of the path. She managed to throw a blinding spell or two at a few wolves but still half the pack followed. She was running out of speed. They were closing in on her. She ran through a thick patch of pines in hopes to lose them. Branches stinging and whipping her face, as she practically fell through them.

Suddenly, her body slammed into something hard. She fell to the ground, dazed. Looking down at her were two men. Her vision went dark. She muttered, “Wolves!” and fell unconscious.

The two men, Khalan and Faolin quickly took the call to action and braced themselves for an incoming attack. Khalan wielding two pots and Faolin waving his sword. Three wolves leapt through the green pines, red eyed and snarling. Khalan was pretty startled and whaled a pot at the skull of one of the wolves. It yelped and ran back into the woods. The other two obviously needed more convincing. Both wolves ran and lept towards them at once. Faolin pierced the largest wolf. It managed to bite his hand as it succumbed to death. Khalan knocked the other one back ten feet, where it stumbled, and then ran away.

When Thea awoke, the men had set up camp. Khalan had various things cooking over a fire, including freshly killed wolf, and Faolin was bandaging his wounds. Thea was laying on a bed of leaves covered with a hemp roll and pillow. A cool waterskin was tied around her forehead.

“Where am I?” Thea asked groggily.

“You are in the valley of death.” Faolin replied.

She was taken aback by this impersonal and precise answer that it woke her from her stupor. She sat up quickly, clutched her head in pain, and looked around.

“More specifically, we are on a plateau in the valley of death,” explained Faolin. He munched on some boiled cabbage and potatoes.

“I know where I am!” Thea said, a bit agitated. I was just a bit disoriented is all.

“Why are you traveling alone?” Khalan asked, “Don’t you know how dangerous it can get out here?”

“Yes, I am fully aware of the dangers. I have been training for this mission for years. I find traveling with companions to be bothersome as it slows me down.”

Faolin and Khalan looked at each other and said in almost perfect unison “He is my friend-cook.”

Khalan said again, “He is my friend. I am his companion on his quest”

“Well I am certainly glad I came across the two of you. I mean I would have been able to outrun the wolves or create a diversion eventually, but I ran into” … Thea paused and thought not to seem ungrateful… “I’m glad I ran into you, quite literally!”

“May I?” Thea beckoned towards Faolin’s injured hand.

Faolin nodded in curiosity. Healing was a difficult spell. However, Thea managed to do it with ease.

“Thank you very much!” He said to Thea.

They finished the meal. Faolin ate his vegetarian dish excellently prepared by Khalan and Khalan and Thea devoured the well seasoned and cooked wolf. The fire burned out and Faolin and Thea both explained to Khalan that fire would attract evil in the night, so they would make themselves invisible. Faolin casted an air spell that acted as an umbrella over them to keep out the rain. They huddled around the remaining heat of the embers and tucked themselves into their knapsacks.

Thea whispered to Khalan, “He doesn’t sleep?”

Khalan responded in a whisper, “No, he likes to keep watch. He seldom needs sleep.” Occasionally I will take watch but it is infrequent compared to him. Get your rest. You will need it”

Thea didn’t know these men; not really, but felt they could be trusted to keep her safe for the night. The thunder, lightning, and heavy rain rolled over them all through the night. Thea drifted off into sleep. The world felt safe for once.

In the depths of Khalan’s dreams he was summoned with great magic. A loud crack of thunder shook the earth. Khalan’s eyes turned to purple flames and he heard the voice, as loud as thunder, in his head say, “Release me!” even louder two more times it said “RELEASE ME!”

Khalan rose and began walking towards the river’s edge.

“Thea, wake up!” Faolin shouted. “It is Khalan! He is bewitched!”

Thea woke from her sleep and saw the whole scene come into focus. Both Thea and Faolin ran towards Khalan trying to keep him away from the water, but his strength was stronger than both of their strength combined. They all fell into the rapids of the stream, which quickly became a river. The rapids thrashed and threw them about trying to drown them in dark whirls of water. The occasional lightning flash lit up the river. The rush of water took them down miles. Thea and Faolin knew the rapids increasing meant a waterfall was likely to come. That would be dangerous to face even with magic.

Faolin, the only one left with a backpack, pulled out a rope and tied it around the three of them. He summoned a rock from the river to his hand and tied it. He looked at Thea. “We need to toss this rope at a tree to get ashore.”

“I have a spell,” Thea exclaimed. “Throw it there, now!” She pointed at a large oak. Her spell propelled the stone forward. It snagged the tree. Khalan lifted all three of them out of the water and broke through the bonds. He kept walking towards the oak. It was the only tree on this stoney outcrop of land. A clock was carved into its face. As Khalan reached out to touch it a strike of lightning hurled out of the sky. Bands of lightning ran through Khalan and the tree. The tree split into two, flinging branches all around. Khalan’s flaming eyes flickered out and before him stood a man in robes, gray hair, and a gray beard. The man stepped forward and shouted, "I AM LEO VALENTUS! YOU HAVE RELEASED ME!"