Songs of War

Chapter 1

Far beneath the snowy mountains of Northwind, Thalleous Sendaris finished reading and stepped back from the Wall. He turned to his companion.

"Hawken, I fail to see..." he trailed off, noticing that the human had dozed off against a wall. "Hawken!"

Hawken jumped, startled into consciousness. "Ah, yes, yes, exactly! So you see what this means, Thalleous?"

Thalleous sighed. "Hawken, were you sleeping through-"

"Look here!" exclaimed Hawken, zipping over to the history-telling Wall and pointing at the writing on it. "Where do the Walls of Time say the final duel took place?"

Thalleous's head tilted slightly to the side, confused and a bit curious. "Mount Velgrin."

"Indubitably! Most legends, including these bungled Walls of Time, fail to state that the final duel took place on the mountain's peak."

Thalleous's head tilted even more. "Alright... so what does this mean?"

Hawken took a breath and started pacing back and forth. "I've heard rumors of a presence on the peak of Mount Velgrin. Being the naturally curious scholar that I am, I sent a few scouts to transform those rumors into facts." He paused for emphasis. "That was two weeks ago."

"And what was their report?" Thalleous questioned.

Hawken whirled and faced Thalleous, his arms waving wildly. "There was no report! None ever returned! Why do you think that is?"

"I'm not entirely sure-" Thalleous began.

"The Voltaris, Thalleous, the Voltaris!"

The older Ardoni raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "You think the Voltaris are at Mount Velgrin?"

"Indubitably! I'm aware you've been hunting Voltaris ever since the Great War ended, so I brought you here to inform you of this lead."

Thalleous gazed at the Wall for a moment before he spoke. "It has been years since I lost the trail of the Voltaris. I should ride to Mount Velgrin and see for myself." He turned to go.

"Hold up there, Thalleous," Hawken said. "Although I'm no Chronicler, I feel it my duty to accompany you and record whatever information we find." His gaze lowered. "I'd also like to... discover the fate of those I sent to investigate."

Thalleous stared at the scholar, a dumbfounded look on his face. "You do realize that there's a chance we'll encounter the Voltaris, and who knows what other perils?"

Hawken raised a hand. "Fear not, Thalleous, for I am prepared to fight!" With a flourish, he pulled out a raw fish. His face reddened. He shuffled through his inventory, a small pile of items growing beside him. "Wait, w-wait a moment, I have a weapon in here somewhere..." A stick went flying over his shoulder, landing in the pile. "Unless I lost it..." A stone sword clattered to the floor, having fallen out of Hawken's pack. "Ah, here it is!"

Thalleous sighed. "Very well, then, come on. Most likely this will turn out to be a simple misunderstanding." He walked toward the cave's exit.

Hawken picked up his sword and followed, taking two steps for each of Thalleous's.