To my readers.
Resently, I combined several of my earlier chapters in order to make them longer. This does not change the storyline, so don't get to worked up. But we are now in chapter five.

Hubert Baldar

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    Arina raced through the Forest, pausing every so often to brake a branch on a tree, or to push some stones together with her feet. Behind her was Gradwin, the strange hermit of the forest, followed by Smith Philips, a fifteen year old with no idea what was going on. An unlikely group at best. But then, these were unlikely times, when no one knew what would happen the next day... or if they would be around to see it.
    Arina was enjoying herself immensely. It had been long since she had been able to lead her brother like this. With all the trails she had left behind, it would be long before Arcon caught up to her. Not to mention it got her closer to Smith...
    Smith, on the other hand, was showing signs of exhaustion. Being woke at the crack of dawn, having a small bowl of oatmeal, and running through the forest for hours was not his idea of a pleasant morning. In fact, it was quite the opposite. And he didn't even know where he was going or what he was running from!
    He looked at Gradwin, who showed no signs of tiring whatsoever. Did the man ever run out of energy? He never failed to surprise Smith. And then there was Arina. The Elven princess had, seemingly, dropped out of the sky into the forest, and still, despite spending several hours with Smith, had yet to say so much as a single word to him. Smith was starting to wonder if he could turn invisible, he just didn't know it. He frowned. He would never understand Elves. Ever.
    "So... remind me... why we're... running... again?" Smith managed between gasps.
    "I believe, my dear Smith, that we are not running from someone as much as we are trying to beat someone to somewhere. Make sense?" Gradwin responded without turning or braking pace.
    Suddenly, Arina stopped running. No, she froze in place. She tensed, listening intently, and when Smith moved to ask what she was doing, she put a finger to her lips and shushed him. Smith frowned, but said no more, and listened to the surrounding forest, as Arina and Gradwin were doing. Though he heard nothing, he knew that Elves had hearing far advanced to humans... or at least, in Lord of the Rings they did.
    Suddenly, the forest behind Smith came alive with the noise of a large animal moving at great speeds. Smith spun around, hand moving towards his sword hilt. But it was too late. Whatever had been moving through the forest had reached its target... him. Smith was knocked over and pinned to the ground by a huge, wolfish beast. It look like an Alaskan Tundra Wolf, only it was as large as a Shetland Pony. Arina quickly nocked a arrow in her bow and Gradwin moved in, though he was armed with nought but a staff that he always carried around.
    "STOP!" Barked the wolf in a deep voice that sounded part growl. "Move again and the boy dies!"
    Then, the forest came alive with the sound of a whole pack of these large wolves. They snarled and growled, snapping their jaws. The wolf on Smith, who was apparently the head of the pack, growled deep in his throat and said, "Who are you strangers, and why are you in our territory?"
    Gradwin studied the wolf for half a moment, then relaxed. "Oh, enough of this nonsense, Jel! You know very well who I am, and you know Arina, too! The only stranger here is Smith, but he is with me, and you know me, so enough!"
    Smith was shocked by the tone with which Gradwin addressed the wolf, but that was nothing compared to the shock he had when the wolf smiled back!
    "Gradwin, my old friend, I did not recognize you with that beard! You have grown old." The wolf whom Gradwin called Jel chucked. "And what brings you to my side of the forest?"
    "The destiny of all of Yith." Gradwin stated, then, after a glance at Arina, added, "And childhood games played by grown elves."
    Arina, who had also relaxed, glanced at Gradwin, and Jel chucked again. "'Childhood games'? Does that mean your brother will be along shortly, Arina?" Asked Jel, shifting his gaze toward where Arina was standing. Arina nodded shortly, and Jel grinned wolfishly. "Then I shall make sure he is welcomed to the pack lands." He nodded towards his pack, and they sped away into the forest. Smith, still slightly stunned by all that had just happened, maneged to pick himself up and brush himself off.
    "Come. We must be getting on. Jel will keep my brother occupied for a while, but he will soon be on our trail again. We must hurry." Arina stated as soon as the wolves had left. Smith inwardly groaned. More running!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    "She came through here." Earagorn announced while examining the ground.
    "Can you tell how long ago?" Jalor asked.
    Earagorn continued studying. "No more then two hours ago." Earagorn look up at the small group, grinning. "We're catching up."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    "We're here." Arina announced proudly. Smith glanced around the small glade they stood in, hands on his knees, panting. Nothing about the glade look unusual... in fact, it couldn't have looked more natural. No ruins, no sword in a stone, no odd-looking rocks, nothing save a large hill in the center of the glade. Was the hill what they were racing Arcon, Tina and Jalor too? He looked at Arina.
    "Uh... where's 'here'?" He asked, clearly confused.
    For the first time since meeting him, Arina spoke to Smith. "This is the Place of the Forging. Centuries ago, it was inside that very hill that the Great Swords were forged. And it was here..." She turned as so to look Smith full in the face. "... It was here that young hopefuls were brought to train, to master the art of sword fighting. That is why we are here."
    Smith was now more confused then before. "So... so this is why we've... been running all morning? To... to hone my skill with the... blade? Then why the... the race?"
    "Oh." Arina grinned. "That was for old times sake." Smith blinked at Arina, but asked no further questions. He glanced at Gradwin, who had not said a word since arriving. Gradwin made eye contact, raised his brows, and said nothing. Smith looked back at Arina, who was circling the hill, studying it, obviously looking for something, but just what escaped Smith, who was still trying to catch his breath after the long run. After several moments had gone by, Arina gave a small cry. "I found it! This way!" She exclaimed from the other side of the hill. Gradwin and Smith hurried over to her.
    They found her examining a small rock pile. "What is it?" Asked Gradwin.
    Arina did not answer for a few moments. Then she pressed one of the smaller rocks at the bottom of the pile in, and the side of the hill opened up! "That's it." She said excitedly, and hurried inside. Gradwin was quick to follow, with Smith in tow.
    Inside they found a very cave-like room with dirt floors, walls and ceilings. It was circular in shape as so to maximize the space and fit the hill. In the center of the room was a large furnace, presumably where the workers heated the metal when the forge was in use. There were eight anvils placed in a circular pattern around the room, each with it's own set of tools hanging from the ceiling, such as hammers, tongs and vices. The walls were lined with weapon racks, filled with every weapon imaginable. Swords, spears, arrows, battle-axes, maces, flails, daggers, and javelins. Standing like silent sentries were suits of full body armor, place in between weapon racks, as if to prevent thievery. Glistening silver armor, still shining in the light the open entryway. In fact, everything was still glistening, as if it had just been made yesterday. All the swords, spears, maces, flails, battle-axes, daggers, it was all shining in the light of the sun. How could all this stay so well preserved?
    Smith shook himself, as if to shake off the amazement that the place seemed to inspire. He looked to Arina to find her looking over the weapon racks, occasionally picking up a sword, as if to test its weight or balance. Finally she called to Smith. "Do you prefer heavy swords or lighter blades?" She asked, not taking her eyes off the sword in her hands.
    "Uh... I like broadswords. But I have my own-"
    "These are better." She interrupted, and tossed the sword she was looking at to Smith. "Catch!" She shouted as she threw the blade in the air. So Smith did... barley. He did not anticipate the weight of the broadsword thrown at him, and was almost knocked over by the sudden weight!
    "Oof!" Smith grunted as he caught the blade. After getting his balance back, he gazed at the sword in his hand. It was the most beautiful sword he had ever seen, perfectly balanced, with an elaborate hilt design, seeming of gold, with a large amethyst in the center of the hilt cross. Something was written on the blade, but it was in a language Smith could not read. Smith managed to clear his mind long enough to think about seeing how it felt. He swung it around some, carving the air around him. It was a perfect balance, almost as if it was made for him. "Wow." He mumbled. He quickly removed his sword from it's sheath and replaced it with the new blade. A perfect fit.
    He glanced around the room to see Gradwin and Arina in a heated debate of some kind on the other side of the forge. Not wanting to get involved, he moved outside further test the new sword. After several minutes, Gradwin came outside as well, but not in a very bright mood. He, without so much as a glance in Smith's direction, headed over to a fallen log about twenty feet from the hill and sat down, pulling his pipe out of his sack, and stared into the forest, puffing away. Arina follow a moment later, only she had a blade of her own, and the smug look of triumph on her face.
    "Smith! It is time to test your abilities with the blade." She said.
    "With what?" Asked Smith, sheathing his new blade.
    "With these. They're blunt right now, but that can be fixed in time. Right now, it is time to train." She said, getting in the ready position. Smith, who had expected something like this, didn't wait for her to finish setting up. He launched himself at Arina with all the quickness he could muster given the morning's run, swinging a deadly horizontal chop that, if the blade was sharp and it connected, would disconnect Arina's head from her shoulders. But Arina was faster then Smith had thought. Not as fast as Gradwin, but faster then Smith. Arina ducked low, swinging for Smith's legs. Smith only barley managed to jump in time. Smith swung low as soon as his feet touched the ground. Arina dodged easily by flattening herself on her back against the ground. She entwined her legs around Smith's, then flipped herself, tripping Smith and causing him to lose his grip on his blade. It landed ten feet from where Smith had fell. Arina jumped up, grinning. By now Gradwin was watching the fight, not making a sound or even moving from his spot as so to get a better view, but watching intently just the same. Arina moved in for the "kill"... when something unexpected happened.
    Smith was desperately trying to reach his sword, crawling on his back and wiggling as so to get closer. Then Arina was on top of him, drawling back for the "killing" blow. She planted a foot on one of Smith's arms as so to prevent "escape". Smith made one last desperate grab for the sword.... and the sword came to him. As soon as his hand felt the hilt, he drove the blade upwards, towards Arina's stomach. He stopped the thrust just as the sword point touched Arina's stomach.
    "Dead." Smith said, grinning. "Now let me up!" Arina did so, a shocked expression on her face. Gradwin chuckled in the background. Once Smith had got up and brushed himself off, he turned to Gradwin, who was still watching with a glint of approval in his eyes. "Now would you care to explain what I just did?" Smith asked as the full weight of what he had just done sank in on him.
    "What make you think I know?" Gradwin asked, studying Smith closely.
    "The fact that you're the only one that's not shocked by what I just did." Smith said, frowning ever-so-slightly. This brought another chuckle from Gradwin.
    "All in good time, dear Smith. All in good time."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    Tina, Jalor, Earagorn and Arcon raced through the forest, moving as fast as the dense shrubbery allowed. They stopped every now and again to check for signs or tracks and to be sure that they stayed on the proper trail. As they moved along, they reached a spot that Earagorn had to stop and study.
    "There was... as scuffle here." He said slowly. "It looks as if... Smith was thrown to the ground... by a very heavy animal." He moved on to study a different set of tracks. "This is where Arina stood. She's ready to fire her bow... but something stops her. And here," Earagorn mumbled, looking a set of footprints not far from Arina's. "I don't know who these belong to. But, whoever this is moved to about here." He said, pointing to a spot about eight feet from where Smith was. "And stopped. They were surrounded..." He said, moving about. "By wolves!"
    "Yessss..." Came a young sounding male voice from the surrounding forest, follow by a humorless chuckle. "Yes, they were." Then, all at once, the forest was alive with knights in dark armor, armed with crossbows. Jalor and Tina grabbed for their swords, but the voice spoke again. "I wouldn't. My archers never miss. You'd be dead before you could put the blades to any use."
    Arcon looked in a state of disbelief. "No... it... it couldn't be..."
    The voice chuckled again. "Oh, but it is. It most certainly is."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    Smith and Arina were about to begin another bout when they were interrupted by Jel, who crashed out of the forest in a hurry, a distressed, almost panicked look in his eyes and cut across his body. "Gradwin! Arina! I bring grave news! There are Easterners in the forest!"
    Gradwin was up in a instant, eyes wide. "Where are they headed?"
    "Toward your friends! They were lead a Elf!"
    Arina now spoke up. "Are you sure?"
    "I have seen enough elves to be sure when I see one. This was most certainly an elf. He had hair as black as night, eyes a steely gray, and a face chiseled from stone. He was leading a group of Eastern Warriors to the same spot where you first encountered my pack. I had my pack set up an ambush, but the black knights had the skill of elves with their crossbows. Most of my pack is now dead. I myself only survived by the grace of the Great One."
    Smith, who had been listening quietly until now, raised his voice. "We have to save them! There's no telling what will happen to them once the Easterners get them behind their borders."
    "Agreed." Arina said quickly. "We must not allow my brother to sit in chains while we drawl breath!"
    Gradwin put a thoughtful look on his face and sat back down, puffing away at his pipe. He chose his word's with caution, seeing the unstable mood both Arina and Smith were in. "I... agree. We should do something. But with caution. If this group was big enough and had the skill to kill off most of Jel's pack, then they are more then we can handle." He said slowly, staring at the ground thoughtfully. Arina frowned.
    "Gradwin! Every second we spend in thought is another second those Eastern rats get closer to my brother!" She said impatiently. "We've got to do something! NOW!!" She gave Gradwin a fiery stare, which Gradwin ignored. He didn't want a fight started, though he could have easily won, unity was important if they were to rescue Arcon, Tina and Jalor.
    "Tina... may I speak with you for a moment?" Gradwin asked, looking Arina in the eye.
    So they did. They moved a short distance away, as so not to be heard. It looked to Smith as if Gradwin was trying rather hard to calm Arina down. At long last, the confrontation appeared over. Arina let out a sigh, saying, "Fine. You win this round. We shall wait... for now."
    Gradwin nodded at Arina, then softened. "We will save your brother." His gaze moved to Smith, though he continued speaking to Arina. "There is more at stake here then you may realized." He then seemed to snap out of a daze, for he shook his head, put his pipe away, and took Smith to the other side of the hill. "Smith," he said quietly, not wanting anyone else to hear. "Let me see that blade."
    Smith was quiet confused by Gradwin's mysterious behaviour, but handed over the sword. Gradwin studied it for a moment, then paused, as if just remembering something. He reached in his pack, the same pack he kept his pipe in.
    "I believe..." Gradwin began slowly. "That this belongs to you." He finished as he withdrew the mystery book the stranger had given Smith in the ally.
    Smith was dumbfounded. "But how... I mean... that's... how did you get that?!?"
    Gradwin chuckled. "So then it is yours."
    Smith wasn't sure how to respond. "Well... kinda. I mean, I guess it's mine. It was given to me... by a guy... who SAID it was mine, sooo... yeah, I guess it is." Gradwin handed it over, and a remarkable thing happened. As soon as the book's cover touched Smith's hands, it opened and the pages began turning, as if blown by a breeze, though there was none. It came to rest close to the center of the book, on a page that had a picture of, of all things, the sword Arina had given Smith while in the hill. Smith looked up at Gradwin, looking for any hint of knowledge about what had just happened, but found none. He turned his eye's toward the opposite page, where he found a description of the sword. Only the writing on the page were in the same runic tongue that the writing on the sword itself was in. Smith was unable to read it, or even guess what language it was in.
    "Gradwin... I can't read this." Said Smith, handing the book over to Gradwin, who studied the page for a few moments. Then something dawned on Smith. "Hey... how come you can see the writing, but my parents couldn't?"
    "It is because, Smith, this is no ordinary book. Only special people can see what's inside these covers. I'm sure your... father is a fine man, but is not one of the Chosen, therefore, he cannot see what he is not meant to see." Gradwin glanced up at the confused look on Smith's face, and smiled. "In time, Smith, you will learn to read this, as understanding comes to you." Smith was still confused, but he nodded his understanding. "Good. Now then!" Gradwin clapped his hands and rubbed them together excitedly. "Smith, there are many things this sword can do, but for right now, you only need to know a few of these things. The rest will be revealed in good time." He handed the sword back to Smith. "You will be needing this, I think." Gradwin said as he reached into his pack yet again and withdrew a small pouch, just big enough to fit the book. "You may carry the book in this. I thought it would be of use, seeing how it saves you the trouble of carrying the book in your hands at all times."
    Smith took the pouch, placed the book inside, and placed the pouch over his shoulders. The weight felt good. He turned his attention to the sword. "So," Smith began, addressing Gradwin. "What can she do?"
    Gradwin paused, thinking over the sword's many abilities, trying to decide which would be most useful. Picking a few, he began. "To start, as you have already learned, the sword can come to you, if you truly need it. To do this is not hard. In fact, it requires nothing. The sword will come to you. How it does this, I am not sure. But it does, and that is all that need be known. Also, in times of dire need, the sword can give off blinding flashes of light, stunning most creatures of darkness. This can be done quite simply. Hold the sword above your head, and shout 'Give me light'. Then, depending on how you say it, the sword will do one of two things. It will ether, as I said before, give off a burst of light, stunning enemies, or it will give off a small glow, allowing you to see in dark places. It all depends on what you what at the moment and how you give the command." Smith nodded, then gazed amazed at the sword. He looked back at Gradwin.
    "How does it do this?" He asked, wonder and suspicion in his voice. A sword giving off light? Unheard of.
    "I do not know all things, Smith. The workings of this sword are as mysterious to me as they are to you. Some say one of the Great Beings forged the sword, along with the other seven. Others, that after the forging of the blade, it was blessed by the Great One as a special blade, for a special purpose. But no one knows for sure."
    Smith still wasn't convinced the sword could do what Gradwin said it could, but Gradwin had never been wrong before, so he went along with it. They headed back to the others, only to find Jel gone. Arina said that Jel said that he had somewhere to be, though where exactly she couldn't recall. He had left shortly after they had gone to the other side of the hill, and she hadn't really payed much attention. She had been preoccupied.
    Gradwin reached into his pack, pulling out a map of Yith, and spread it out on a rock. "We are here." He said, pointing to a spot on the map. "I would guess that our friends are about... here." He pointed at another spot on the map, not far from where they were. After a moment of study, he finally came to a conclusion. "We will need help, but I know where they are headed."
    "Where?" Asked Smith, peeking over Gradwin's shoulder.
    "Here." Said Gradwin, pointing a mountain range along the Norgin border.
    For a moment, Smith was confused. "Why would Easterners head for Norgrus? Norgrus and the Eastern Empire have been at war with each other for longer then any other races on Yith!"
    This caused Gradwin to pause for a moment. "Tell me something, Smith. How else would Easterners get into the Forest of Gorox, if not through Norgrus? There is no way they could have passed through Nictar, and sailing through the Southern Ocean is far more dangerous then most think, for it is the only ocean that still hold Leviathans and Sea Serpents. So how do they get here?"
    Smith studied the map for a short time, and when he was unable to find any other path, he shrugged. "It just seems unlikely, that's all."
    "It is, but not if Norgrus and the Eastern Empire aligned."
    Arina balked at this. "That crazy! Even if the Eastern Empire did go along with the idea, Norgrus would never-"
    "There is no other option. That is where they are headed. We must get there first."
    Again, Arina was the first to protest. "How? Unless we have dragon steeds, there's no way-"
    Gradwin again cut her off, this time with three short whistles. Then he hurried to the top of the hill in the center of the glade. Arina and Smith quickly followed. Before long, there was a small dot to the north, quickly growing larger, until you could almost make out the wings. Sunlight glinted off the scales, and the shape of the magnificent creature came into focus. Smith stared, dumbstruck.
    "A real dragon..." He whispered in awe. As the dragon got closer, one could make out the color of the scales... this one's were red, with a yellow underbelly.
    "Quick, get off the hill! This is where he shall land." Said Gradwin, hurrying down the hill, closely followed by Arina and Smith.
    Arina quickly closed the distance between her and Gradwin, obviously upset. "Gradwin! Are you mad, trusting a dragon?!? They aren't trustworthy!"
    "Since when?" Asked Gradwin, turning to face Arina.
    "Since the Betrayal of Denoth!"
    "That was years ago, and only a single dragon did that, not the whole race."
    "But that single dragon was the Dragon King, and his race follow in their kings footsteps!"
    "Not all of them. I know this dragon, and would- have trusted him with my life. A great many of the dragon race are followers of the Great One."
    They continued back and forth, never noticing the dragon, who had landed without a sound, intently listening in. Nether party took notice of Smith.
    After letting the argument continue for a few moments, the dragon interjected. "If I may, I would like to speak on behalf of my race." He said in a deep voice that seemed to shake the ground. Arina jumped, startled by the sudden intrusion. Gradwin merely nodded his head. The dragon, in turn, inclined his. "The Betrayal of Denoth, though many years ago, is nowhere near irrelevant. Indeed, most of the dragons that were alive then are still alive today. I myself was but a youngling at the time, so I have no recollection of the event. However, Denoth was denounced by near the entire race for his actions, and was banished by the High Council of Great Dragons, and has not been seen since. All of the dragons that were with him on the matter, left with him. There is no evil left in the race."
    Arina still wasn't convinced. "Then why did you go into hiding, if it is as you say?"
    The dragon gazed into Arina's eyes for a long time before speaking again. "I understand you mistrust, for it was the Elvish race that was hurt the worst by the betrayal, but it is misplaced. Me and my race went into hiding because the other races of Yith would no longer have us. It would have come to war, and brought about unnecessary death and destruction. We could not have that, so we left for the good of all Yith. Though we do in fact wish to reconnect with the other of the Four Great Races, we must first shake off the shame we have carried for so long, for some of us feel that the sins of one of us reflect upon the entire race. I, myself harbor no such feelings, but one dragon cannot move the heart of an entire race."
    Arina still didn't like the idea of riding on a dragon, but in the end she went along with it... until she found out that the dragon, who's name was Paradel, could only carry two riders at a time, so she would be unable to come along. This she fought with all her might, but Paradel was insistent that he would be unable to carry more then two riders, and Gradwin was unmoving in his decision that the two would be himself and Smith. After much arguing, Arina gave in and said that she would catch up later. Gradwin nodded at her, then turned his attention to Smith.
    "Now then. Smith, I can assume you've never mounted or rode on a dragon before?" Smith nodded, still somewhat awestruck by the fact that he was standing in the presence of a real dragon. "Not surprising. Few have. Well, no better time then the present to learn. It is rather easy, really. Do you see that one spot, right at the base of the neck?" After a moment of study, Smith nodded. "Very good. Now that is where we will sit. Usually, a special type of saddle is used, but we don't have one of those handy, so we shall have to make due without. Now Smith, all you must do is climb up the tail to the spot at the base of the neck and seat yourself. I will be right behind you."
    It only took a few minutes to mount Paradel, and then they were off. The assent was so sudden that Smith desperately clung to the neck of Paradel with all his might and would not let go. Paradel did not seem to mind. Once they were air born, Smith started to relax just enough to see below. The view was breathtaking. Almost the most beautiful thing Smith had ever seen. Almost.
    For hours they flew, and Smith never tired of it, though his legs were very sore by that night. However, it was well worth it, for they had far outdistanced they foes... that is, if they were coming this way.
    "So Gradwin..." Started Smith, looking at the huge mountain range that lay before them. Each mountain was easily as tall as Mt. Everest, so going over the mountains was near impossible. And according to the maps, there was only on way through this natural wall... the Balmor Gap, home of the Fortress of Yin, which, in turn, was the home to 650 of the best trained knights and warriors in the land. It was probably the most well guarded fortress in Yith, other the Nixon Goroth, the Black Fortress.
    "Yes, Smith? You had a question?"
    "Yeah... why is it so important for us to be here first? What are we doing?"
    Gradwin answered without looking at Smith. "There are only a few ways to get past these mountains. The first, and most well known, is the Balmor Gap, but it would be impossible for a group of Easterners to get though there. That leaves one of the many tunnels and caves that riddle the insides of these mountains. However, most of those tunnels are filled with ether Goblins, who would sooner chop your head off then look at you, Cave Trolls, and I won't ever begin to speak of what they have been known to do to their prisoners. That leaves Dwarfs, but they rarely intervene with travelers in these tunnels, unless you are in theirs. We must enlist the help of the Dwarfs to stop the coming Easterners."
    Smith understood instantly. With the Dwarfs help, it would be impossible to pass through the mountain without their approval or knowledge. "But, how can we enlist the help of Dwarfs? They never come out of their caves anymore."
    "That is where you come in." Respond Gradwin without hesitation, stunning Smith for a moment.
    Upon recovering, Smith tried as hard has he could not to look totally shocked. "Me? What have I got to do with this?"
    Gradwin looked kindly at Smith, and said, "Smith, dear boy, there is much more happening here then you may realise. You will learn all in time, but for now know that the future of Yith rest in your capable hands. That is why I am here. To help you, advise you, and guild you." He placed a hand on Smiths shoulder. "You are never alone, young Smith. Know that, if nothing else, and you will be fine."