The Potion of Life

Knijster

"It doesn't matter to me what Ryko has told you. This week, I will be staying here with Knijster. This is very important for the future of Pivanu, do you understand that well, Thio?"

"Of course, Mr. Oudenhuysen, I just find this very unusual. You and Duriël never come here. Only Ryko comes here to see how the training of the recruits is going. He also told me that I should warn him if anyone enters this location unannounced."

"I'm not just anyone, Thio. I'm François Oudenhuysen, and I have as much to say as Ryko. So if I tell you not to tell him anything about this, you do that, understood!"

"Of course, sir." After these words, Thio leaves the room, and Oudenhuysen sits quietly in his chair, deep in thought. "Knijster, come out, I need to talk to you."

After these words are spoken, he appears immediately. "Of course, master, what do you want to discuss with me? I suspect it's about the Viking?" 

Oudenhuysen nods at this suggestion. "The last time I saw him, he was in the village. He is currently looking for the innkeeper of the inn where he was attacked. He has no idea that we are behind it."

Oudenhuysen looks tired. He is deep in thought. After a few minutes, he finally starts speaking. "I simply don't know what to do. On one hand, you can go to him now and bring him back, but then what? Suppose we have him, what do we do then? Interrogate him until he tells us where the gemstone is? Suppose he tells us and leads us to the gemstone. What then? I don't think I need to remind you how powerful Vilijn Dahvar is."

His master certainly has a point. In his entire life, Knijster has never been so perplexed. He has never met anyone who could match or surpass his magical powers. His back still feels strange since his encounter with Vilijn.

"I really thought this gemstone would help Pivanu. Now that I know Vilijn knows about our organization, I can't just give the gemstone to Randar. The plan to wield power over Borgon through Clarus and, by extension, over Midbad won't work as long as Vilijn knows us. How is it even possible that he knows Pivanu? Do we have a security leak?"

"We still have a few days, master, to think about this. Didn't you say you wanted to bring the gemstone to headquarters? We can investigate the gemstone further there. That way, we can find out why Vilijn wants it."

"I did say that, Knijster, but I'm not so sure about that plan anymore. If Vilijn knows our organization, he probably also knows the location of our headquarters. He'll have a hard time getting in, but I don't want to put countless lives of our recruits at risk for a gemstone whose value I don't even know yet." Then his master falls silent again.  Knijster wonders whether he should disappear again. But as long as his master doesn't command him to leave, it seems a better plan to stay in the room and wait. "It doesn't make sense to fret over this gemstone. We don't even have it in our hands yet. We first need to find it, Knijster, and then we'll take it from there. Bring the Viking to me as soon as possible, make sure no one sees you!"

After this command, Knijster flashes away from the office and appears in the village. He is at the location where he last saw the Viking. The Viking is, of course, no longer there. But if he hasn't left the village, Knijster will find him quickly enough. After all, this village isn't very big, and a Viking stands out. After walking around the village for a few minutes, Knijster arrives at the market square. There are a lot of people at the market square; it seems as if the whole village is there. A stage has been built, and everyone is looking at it. In the crowd, there is an Adonis who is in a heated argument with one of the men on the stage.

When Knijster looks at what's happening on the stage, he can't believe his eyes. Not only is the Viking in this village, but also the giant and the templar. Could they be here with the Viking? However, the Viking is not present in the market square. Just as he's about to explore the village further, Victor passes him, the innkeeper of the White Pony. Victor hasn't seen him; he's walking very quickly. This is for good reason because the Viking is on his heels. Should he take the Viking with him now, or should he wait? Things have changed now that the giant and the templar are also here. Could the jester and the Tuareg also be present in this village? 

He decides to follow Bjorn. This way, he sees how Victor walks to a secret entrance to the hideout where Oudenhuysen is currently located. Both Victor and Bjorn use this entrance to enter the hideout. To make sure he is not seen, he flashes away to a narrow passage in the secret hideout. This passage is located behind one of the walls of the main passage. In this wall, various small holes have been made, allowing him to follow what is happening in the main passage. He helped design this hideout; he knew this double passage would come in handy one day.

When he starts looking through the holes, he sees how the Viking gets closer to Victor. Eventually, he stands right behind him. Before Victor can surrender, Bjorn kills him with his axe. Then it becomes clear that the Viking is not the only one in this passage. The templar and the giant have followed him. They start talking, and he hears their names. The Viking's name is Bjorn, the templar's name is Emelina, and the giant's name is Colos. This information may prove useful later.

After they speak briefly, more people arrive in the passage. This time, it's the Adonis he saw at the market, along with his knight. It's soon clear that no one knows this Adonis or his knight. Yet, they all come to the conclusion to explore the passage further. Bjorn wants to find out why Victor came here. So they would be walking directly toward them, giving enough time to prepare for their arrival. This must be told to his master immediately; it will brighten his day.

"Knijster, you're alone. Why isn't the Viking with you?"

"Because the Viking will come to you himself, master. He is currently in the main passage, and he's not alone."

"What do you mean he will come to me? Has he seen you? Why are you so calm, Knijster?"

"Because, master, the Viking is coming here with the templar and the giant. Their names are Bjorn, Emelina, and Colos. They have no idea they are walking toward us. They are just exploring the passage out of curiosity. Now, the only downside is that Victor is dead, but if that leads to finding the gemstone, it's worth it."

"You know their names, good work! Now they will never be able to escape from us!" Oudenhuysen starts looking more relaxed. After thinking for a moment, he starts speaking again. "So they're in the main passage now? Have they already passed the various doors, or is that still on their path?"

"They are still at the very beginning, it will take them a while to reach us."

"Good, make it as difficult as possible for them, Knijster. Eventually, we only need one of them to tell us where the gemstone is. It's okay if someone dies on the way to me. That will show them that they can't steal from me without consequences! If they are in this office tonight, that's good enough, have some fun with them in the meantime."

"Okay, master, until tonight!" Then he flashes back to the main passage. The group of adventurers has already made significant progress. However, it's not easy to infiltrate a base of Pivanu. They will soon find out. He's going to have a lot of fun in the coming hours.