Aveyond: Rhen's Quest

Chapter 7: A Quest Unfolded

This time she was back in the forest again. Some of the landscapes are similar to the forest before but this time there was an eerie silence, as if all the critters in the forest are in hibernation. No bats, no swishing sound, no howling wolf. At this moment, the same melodious voice echoed through the forest.

"Rhen...Put on the ring...I can't find you...Put on the ring..." The voice faded afterward.

"Who...Who are you? Priestess?" Rhen asked but heard no reply. "Are you there? Anyone?"

Before she realised something she had already woke up. The blazing sun lightened up the whole room, to the depths of her dream as she woke up, dazed and a little confused.

~~~

"What a strange dream, was that the strange priestess I saved so long ago?" thought Rhen while she was getting herself dressed. "I think I should go find the priestess ring that the slave trader stole from me." She went into town to do some detective work on the stolen ring.

"From what I've heard, he sold it to a junk dealer in Veldarah," said Rhen to herself after her research on the slave trader. "I think I better go there and see if he still has it." without another thought she ran to the junk's store a stone's throw away.

~~~

"Good day, ma'am. Feel free and have a look, and you might have something to buy from me." the junk dealer welcomed Rhen with a smile on his face, fit for a jester.

Rhen explored the shop and noticed most of them were useless to her: a broken wand, a glass for nerd, a malfunction compass, etc. Until something caught her attention.

"How much does this birdcage and the mirror cost?" asked Rhen as she saw the fancy mirror and the birdcage with an empty bowl in it.

"There will be 400 pennies at least."

"Wow! That's a highway robbery!"

"Well, take it or leave it."

And without bargain Rhen paid him rather unwillingly. As she was on her way out, she saw a lovely, beautiful silver ring with a sapphire engraved on it. She gasped as she saw the ring that the priestess gave her when they met in Clearwater a year ago.

"Sir, how much does this ring cost?" yelled Rhen, excitement getting the best of her.

"The replica of a priestess ring? 10 gold pennies at the very least!"

"Wow, that's expensive! I can't imagine how much an original priestess ring would cost!" said Rhen, wondering if it's actually a replica or not.

"An original would be priceless thing to die for, ma'am."

And~ so Rhen paid the junk dealer for the ring as soon as possible, to her last penny.

"What a luck." thought Rhen. She wore the ring back on her finger. When she was about to leave, someone appeared in front of her.

"You! It's you! The woman! The priestess!" exclaimed Rhen in shock.

"I have finally found you." spoke the priestess with a hushed but sweet tone.

"How did you find me?" Rhen barely managed to get a hold of herself from excitement.

"The ring. While you wore it. I knew where you were, but shortly after I gave it to you, you disappeared from me." there was a pause and she continued. "Now that you've touched it again."

"I was supposed to meet Peter by the sheep pen. But right outside the village, a slave trader caught me. He took the ring and sold it," explained Rhen while she was trying to recall that fateful incident happened a year ago. "He sold me too, as a slave."