Aveyond: Rhen's Quest

Chapter 11: The Task

"Hey, there's a rowboat by the shore," pointed Rhen as they were currently south-east of the isle. "Maybe we can ask the boat dealer about the price of it."

"We noticed you had a rowboat out front. Any chance we can buy it from you?" inquired Talia as soon as they had reached the boat house.

"Sell my rowboat? Never!" the boatman, who introduced himself as Remlak, roared. It made the three of them jumped. After that Remlak's mood quickly turned sour, to their dismay.

"Is there any problem?" asked Lars rudely.

"Well, it's just that... It's lonely here by myself. If only I had a wife." said Remlak softly.

"What sort of woman are you looking for?" asked Rhen.

"Hmmm. I'm looking for an exotic woman with a mean bite," described Remlak.

"If we find you a wife, will you sell us your rowboat?"

"I'll think about it."

"We'll keep an eye out for you," after the small talk, the trio headed south into the Wildwood.

~~~

Eithera was badly-injured. Scratches and cuts all over his body. The opponent was walking slowly towards him, torture him more and more. The druid summoned barrage of spears, arrows and swords and shot rapidly at the daeva, but the demon finished them off with a blaze. The horn-headed daeva, who was known as Saurva, started murmuring, until suddenly the druid was unable to move anymore due to the bad condition he was in.

After that, Saurva stood in front of a door, which was sealed by the Druid of Strength years ago, and started chanting.

"Just a little while longer, Sire. And you'll be set free," whispered the demon while performing the dark ritual. Just then, Eithera used the last ounce of power in him to summon a genie lamp.

"Ginee, I Summone Thee!"

The lamp then dropped at the back of Saurva. It opened its lid and sucked the daeva into it.

In the end, Ahriman failed to escape from his lair. Unfortunately, the druid turned into statue, standing motionlessly beside the genie lamp.

~~~

Rhen, Lars and Talia stood in front of a different cave. Along the cave lies a few people, all turned into statues. Many of them had the same expression. Sad, angry, frowned, shocked.

"So here we are, the hind's whereabouts," whistled Lars. "Well, let's go."

While they were exploring the cave, they heard an ethereal melody. The party plugged their ears with the beeswax they found back in Aveyond. They continued exploring, unaffected by the Charmed Song halfway through the cave. They saw a hind standing right in front of them, unmoved. She had the head of a human and the body of a horse. The hind was playing its Golden Harp.

The hind's beauty was so unearthly that the adventurers forgot to breathe. Awe washed over them and their limbs began to stiffen.

Oh my, she's using the Petrification Spell! Only if I can reach it... With her remaining strength, Rhen pulled the hand mirror out of her backpack and thrust it to the hind.

A wail followed and the hind turned into stone in the end, a victim of her own curse.

"Rhen, we should take the hind's harp back to Veldarah. Master Harald said we had to accomplish a noble deed and bring back proof to Veldarah," suggested Lars after the Petrification Spell wore off.

"You're right, Lars. The Legendary Harp of the Hind should be the proof that we need to be raised," agreed Rhen after they unplugged the beeswax. She took the hind's harp and went out from the cave.

~~~

"Why haven't I noticed that there's a cottage in the forest?" asked Rhen when they saw smokes rising in a distance.

They knocked the door and a voice replied. A man was sitting by the fireplace. He saw the trio and welcomed them to have a seat.

"I like the serenity out here, no one to bother me but my memories," said the woodsman.

"What memories could be so terrible to bring you so far away, woodsman?" asked the Dreamer.

"I know this voice, a voice from another lifetime. No, I must be mistaken. All who I've known are gone," he sighed.

"Stop moping, you wooly-eyed-buffoon! This pitiful self-declared misery does you no good!" nagged Talia.

"So it's you. My dear friend, Talia Maurva," he smiled.

"You're so dramatic, Devin Pendragon! What has become of the spirited young man I once knew?" scowled the Dreamer. "The boy who could not wait to leave his tiny village to venture the great kingdom of the west!" she continued as she was recounting the events years ago.

"Ha! Look what good it has done to me. A ruined man, a failure of a king, a nation destroyed, all hope destroyed."

"Is that so? You act as if all is lost!"

"My wife... my daughter... my people..."

"Er, where did you say you were from?" asked Rhen as she realised that she and Lars were out of their topic.

"Thais...I am... was Devin Pendragon, King of Thais. But Thais is no more," answered Devin hopelessly.

"Thais lost? What made you think of such a foolish thought?" snapped Talia.

"Don't deny that you saw it fall."

"You really are a buffoon. Thais still exists. But how did you get here?"

"I... I don't know. I thought I had died, but when I woke up, I was here. A fitting punishment for my mistake," sighed Devin, again.

"Devin, this place is not good for you. Why don't you come with me to Aveyond? You can think about your plan there," offered the Dreamer.

"I don't know..."

"Devin, no squabbling!" snapped Talia to his depressed friend.

"Hah! You always make me do things that I never thought I would. For you, Talia Maurva, old and dear friend, I'll go anywhere."

"Children, you have convinced me that you're capable of taking care of yourselves. I'm going to take Devin to Aveyond. We'll meet you there," said Talia after Devin accepted her offer.

After bidding farewell to Rhen and Lars, Talia and Devin left the cottage, leaving them standing where they were like a pair of scarecrows.

"Let's get back to the academy and get promoted," offered Rhen, who was as lost as Lars' at the previous conversation.

~~~

"We have brought you the Harp of the Hind in hopes of being promoted to Sword Singer and Sorcerer," spoke Talia to the headmaster when they're back to the academy.

"This is indeed a noble thing you've done. The golden hind has haunted the Wildwood for years," nodded Master Harald. He cleared his throat before he began the inauguration process for both of them.

"Rhen Darzon, Shadwood Academy recognises you a Sword Singer," said the headmaster as he gave her a Sword Singer outfit.

"Lars Tenobor, Shadwood Academy recognises you as Sorcerer," he continued and gave him a blue sorcerer robe proudly.

"Please change into your new outfits as soon as possible. Since you're no longer students you should not dress like them," the headmaster smiled at them, who were over the cloud nine.