Private Tales The Fifth Word

[Magdalena Elbion]

This wasn't her typical type of work and, frankly, her typical crew. Riding along in the back of their supply wagon, Magdalena had spent the majority of the two-day trip to Baron Cvernn's estate with her nose in several books. The Baron wasn't very well known among Elbionese society given his penchant for isolation in the distant mountainside to the west. He'd sent a missive to the college asking for assistance with an excavation on his lands - he'd uncovered a crypt of dubious and questionable origins and inside were magical artefacts.

This wasn't her area of expertise, but something about the nature of the request struck her.

Ancient engravings on the walls.

Unknown language.

The artefacts she could leave to Esmond, but the language...

"Did you have to bring him along?" Esmond sat on the wagon across from her. They were words she knew he'd been holding his tongue with since their departure and he suddenly, inexplicably, couldn't hold them anymore.

Magi looked up from her studies and tracked Esmond's gaze back to the scruffy countenance of Mackenzie Erris who rode two horses back to keep watch on the party's rear.

"He's the only one who applied for the guard position," Magi sighed and turned the page, "after the expedition into the Kalit... good protection has been hard to find on our budget."

Esmond snorted derisively, "Just tell him to keep his knickers on this time."

 

[Mackenzie Erris]

From his place at the rear, it was all too obvious to him when someone turned their head. It wasn't like Mack could really hear what they were saying, but his eyes were sharp enough. There was something about annoying certain people that he really, truly enjoyed. When Mack could see the disdain on Esmond's face, for whatever reason, he couldn't help but get a charge out of it. The arrogant, toothy smile he returned to him satisfied Mack's own need in the moment. He knew Esmond hated it.

He puffed on his pipe, and vanished into a vast plume of smoke before the wind took it from him, and smoke slowly rolled from his nostrils.

He turned his gaze away, letting the mood lighten for a few moments so that his favourite person could forget that he existed for a little while. He instead focused on the surround, which was what he was supposed to be doing anyway.

Mountains to the fore, flatter lands to the rear, yeah yeah…

Wait...

The sun was beginning to set low, not so low that they needed to make camp quite yet, and not so low that when his eyes tracked again to their front that the smoke rising to the north-west of them was just visible enough. It was not so much as to hint at something necessarily precarious, but it did hint that perhaps they were not the only ones heading to this place. It was, however, absolutely more likely to be nothing of the sort. As they approached the mountains they were more than likely to come across a local or two.

Come to think of it, he didn't really remember where they were going, some kind of church or something...

"Hey, Magi, look over there," he pointed, "could be trouble. We should send Esmond to take a look!"

---

Magdalena Elbion ​

 

[Magdalena Elbion]

Hey, Magi, look over there,

Curiousity would always kill this cat, but Magi quite literally could not help herself. The attraction to intrigue was in her veins, her father had told her, and she would always be drawn to the mysterious, the new, the unusual, and the unknown. She just had to learn to balance the cost of learning - but she hadn't really learned that yet, so, naturally she looked.

"Miss Elbion, to you," Esmond scowled back at Mack.

Magi's gaze shifted to their scruffy guard, then followed his pointing finger off to the horizon that set just askance of their intended path. A plume of grey smoke rose up through the woods that skirted the lower mountain slopes. She craned from her seat to get a better look.

"It's a campfire," she said, fairly sure of her assessment.

"I'm not going out there, that's his job," Esmond eyed the smoke.

"Well," Magda settled back down and closed her book with a clap, "we're heading that way anyway. I'll take one of the horses and ride ahead to see what's what." Book nestled snugly back in the supply crate, she locked the lid back into place and slide from the moving wagon.

"Don't be daft," Esmond pointed back at Mack, "stay here with the team and make him go ahead. It's what you're paying him for isn't it?"

 

[Mackenzie Erris]

Truth be known he'd have been more than happy to head off on his own to the nearby interest. He'd pointed it out knowing full well that Esmond's rebuttal would be to send him anyway. But Magdalena's own decision to investigate made things all the better. He hadn't really spoken to Magi much since her last expedition, which may or may not have been his own fault. But, she hired him for this one, so he decided to assume that he'd carry on as he always had.

Why wouldn't he?

But even more, he could gloat in the face of Esmond just a little bit more, whose irritation had apparently become Mack's goal for the moment.

He brought his horse up alongside as Magi readied her own, and he tilted his chin to Esmond saying, "look at it this way, if she's going, then I have to go."

He craned his neck back to Magi, who was clearly not quite ready, and he shouted, "come on, now! We don't want to be late for church!"

Fully believing he knew exactly what he was talking about, he urged his horse forward and bolted on ahead. He'd of course ease up very shortly after his dramatic departure for her to easily catch up, maintaining his feigned sense of urgency for only so long.

---

Magdalena Elbion ​

 

[Magdalena Elbion]

Esmond seemed to reconsider his words as he realized now that this meant Magda would be off alone with the sloppy vagrant, "This is ... not, just wait a moment," he blustered, pushing himself off the cart to shuffle over to her side by the horse, "just let him do his job, Magdalena."

Magi looked up from where she was presently untying her horse from the pony ring on the side of the wagon and watched with wide eyes as Mack took off like a bat out of the ninth gate of helle.

Her expression took on that of odd confusion as she glanced shortly to Esmond, "Church?"

Esmond threw his hands in the air and sighed dramatically.

Either way, she hated that he was blasting away without her and sharply yanked on the rope several times until it came loose. "We'll be-oop!" her foot missed the stirrup as she moved to mount up. Magi huffed, threw her brown curls out of her face and yanked the stirrup over her boot, then herself up into the saddle, "we'll be right back Esmond. It's clearly just a campfire. Stay with the team and don't go anywhere."

Reining her horse around to the side she clucked it forward into a lopsided lope to catch up.

"You know," she pulled up alongside Mack, scowling in self-frustration, "I'm not paying you to be an ass."

 

[Mackenzie Erris]

"That's just included in the price," he said, turning to her with half a smile. It wasn't until then that he noticed the expression that she wore, so he relented some from that direction and instead went another, "I'm just trying to get Esmond to lighten up a little, he's so..."

He finished his description with only an exaggerated gesture, not one of disdain but one that was obvious in its meaning. It was clear Mack thought him too uptight, but then, he supposed he wasn't perfect either. Close, but not quite, he'd say. The thought made him grin.

He drew in a relaxed breath, and asked, "so what are you looking for out here anyway? Some holy texts?"

---

Magdalena Elbion ​

 

[Magdalena Elbion]

It wasn't that she didn't appreciate the effort of lightening the mood, but Magdalena was still sore and cross and confused over the whole situation in Harth. She'd been on plenty of expeditions and projects with Esmond, who was growing to be quite the serious and talented artefact hunter. His magic was rather niche, all things considered, but he had an intelligent way about him that reminded her of her father.

She had inextricably become enamored with him despite her current choppy relationship with the Elbion Patriarch. One night after a successful excavation in a newly discovered shipwreck off the coast of Harth, Esmond had asked her out to walk the beach during sunset. It was clear from the start he'd been meaning to break new waves with her, to court her, but Esmond was genuinely awkward with such things. The awkwardness was cute in a way and Magi supposed she'd felt flattered.

It had been quite some time since anyone had taken any serious or romantic interest in her.

Then Mack ruined everything. Well, she thought as she grumpily glanced over to him making his excuses, he ruined the moment. Esmond had finally drummed up the confidence to express his feelings and Magi was quite certain he'd been about to kiss her just when Mack's naked hide came tearing down from the sand dunes, whooping and yelling and bronze in the sunset. He'd knocked them both over in his exuberance, leaving Esmond with his face in the sand and Magi to watch his perfectly chiseled figure trounce into the waves.

Now she was grumpy and confused and it had been over a month since that incident.

"Esmond is," Magi piped up to her colleague's defense, "just fine the way he is."

Right? Fine. He was just perfectly fine with his dweebish tendencies and pale, skinny limbs. Surely he'd fill out some day. Maybe get some facial hair? At 21 years old there was still a chance, right?

"Holy texts? Gobfrogs, were you not even listening when I gave our pre-departure talk? I gave you a written overview of our project," she gestured at him, "did you...did you even bother to read it?"

 

[Mackenzie Erris]

"The guy needs to-" he stopped himself, somewhat uncharacteristically, but he could tell pushing that button might be a little... much. So he continued with, "lighten up." It was good advice, really, or so Mack thought to himself. It could have done him some good to have learned it himself much earlier on, but better late than never. It certainly could have done Esmond some good that night at the beach - the pair of them, actually, now that he thought of it. The water was beautiful, and they were wasting their time just walking around.

He shrugged.

Then she pulled out the even listening remark, and he realized he wasn't paying attention. Luckily, or so he gathered, he caught the important parts of what she was saying. He gave her a side-eyed look as he puffed on his pipe, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah, of course, but it was late, and...the candles were burning low, it was getting dark."

He may have glanced at the plans, and he only half listened when she was talking before they left. Beyond that his only other interests were what threats there may be, and when that came down to it - as he'd become so accustomed to doing - he figured he'd just follow his nose. He had a general idea of where they were going, and his job was fairly obvious. As for the details he missed, he just sort of filled in the blanks as to what and why.

He wore a kind of upside down smile with his pipe hung off his lip as he avoided eye contact with her, only really half-satisfied with his excuse.

 

[Magdalena Elbion]

Somehow she was both infuriated and completely unsurprised at the same exact time.

No, of course he didn't listen. Of course he didn't read the overview. Normal, civilized people do that! But he wasn't normal was he? No he was rugged and swarthy with too many abs and a nauseatingly charming smile. Magda's expression soured even more and she wasn't even sure why.

She side-eyed his smile, briefly imagined smacking the pipe so hard it lodged itself into the back of his throat until the smoke came out his ears, then flicked the reins at her horse.

"Let's just focus on finding out who's camping on the road."

They didn't have much farther until they reached their destination and she hoped beyond all hope this was simply some travelers taking a break from a long journey and nothing more. They could reach the Baron's estate tonight if they pushed the team a little more. Magda sent her horse into an easy lope, deciding she was feeling strongly about something but she wasn't sure if it was fury or bravado, and moved on ahead past the treeline and around the bend of the road.

 

[Mackenzie Erris]

If nothing else, he succeeded in diffusing the situation well enough, or at least that's how he saw it when Magda seemed content to move on. He followed after her at her pace, remaining just a short distance behind her as they rounded the bed and drew near to the campsite from where the smoke they'd spied rose from. It soon became quite obvious that it was nothing more than a traveler's camp where a pair of adventurers were just nicely settling in.

As Magda and Mack came near they addressed one another, and they exchanged a few words with each other before shortly bidding their farewells and turning to make back toward their caravan. The traveler's had heard talk of bandits in the area, and were kind enough to pass the rumour on to them before their leaving, to which Mack thanked them as they departed.

It was on their way back to the caravan, and Esmond's pleasant company, when Mack asked with an air of admittance to his tone, "so, what is this place we are going to, anyway?"

---

Magdalena Elbion ​

 

[Magdalena Elbion]

Well that was a rather pleasant outcome. She'd been nervous leading through the woods to the campfire, thinking she may have bitten off a bit more than she could chew, but the appearance of two simple travelers had never come as such a relief. Magda was sure she'd caught Mack smirking at her but telling his smirks apart from one another wasn't a language of expression she'd mastered yet.

He, too, had been well behaved. Was, still, if the tone of his voice was anything to go by. He was trying, maybe.

Her blue gaze shifted over to him suspiciously, waiting for any sign he was about to play some sass up his sleeve, and when he didn't she sighed.

"Baron Cvernn's estate in the mountains," that probably meant absolutely nothing to him, "he's a bit of a shut-in. We don't see him much in the city, but he sent a missive in requesting a team to investigate a crypt he uncovered on his lands. There are some artifacts he alleges to be of magical nature, that is why Esmond is here, and there is etched writing on the walls in an unknown language. That's why I'm here."

 

[Mackenzie Erris]

He nodded, puffing on his pipe and shrouding himself in one large cloud of smoke after another, all quickly wisping away in the wind. He kind of wished he'd been paying attention before, now. It was not that he was a particularly paranoid sort, but the more she explained what they were doing out here, the more uneasy he began to feel. It seemed odd for some unheard of recluse, Baron or not, to out of the blue come calling with something like this. It seemed like something that someone would like to keep to themselves, or at least that's what Mack thought.

But as they drew close to their caravan he said, "well I hope we can find somewhere to go swimming on our way back. Dusty bones make me sneeze." That wasn't exactly true, but the thought of doing a little swimming did sound about right now that he'd mentioned it.

Mack's eyes turned sharply when they caught sight of Esmond, and he found himself incredibly tempted to fire off some smart remark...

---

Magdalena Elbion ​

 

[Magdalena Elbion]

That he smoked a pipe had been a source of contention on jobs. Pipe embers anywhere near old dusty anything was a recipe for disaster, or at least uncontrolled flames. But the contention was less with him and more with herself. As a matter of fact she quite liked the aroma of the pipe smoke and damn it all, the whole clouded in smoke look was just outrageously intriguing.

Mack might be mysterious and debonair if he'd just keep his mouth shut.

"There will be no naked swimming interludes during this project, Mister Erris," Magda informed him. Yeah, she was still mad about that.

Nearing the team, she decided to remain aboard her horse.

"It's just some travelers making camp ahead, let's get going. We should make it to the Baron's estate by nightfall if we pick up the pace."

THE BARON'S ESTATE

Magda had estimated their arrival well. The moons were already hanging in a blanket of stars above their heads when they pulled into the gate circle at the front of the manor. It was smaller than she had expected, given all the rumors that surrounded the mysterious Baron, but she quite enjoyed the near quaintness of it amidst the old growth trees that flanked its sides.

It did, however, seem a bit run down and untended. The gardens lacked pruning and attention, and what was one a very lovely fountain was full of algae and hoppers. The manor itself was aged by the old vines climbing its walls and the peeling of white wash from the stones. She frowned as she imagined how such a place came to be so ... neglected.

"Good evening," an older housemaid approached them at the stairs before they could fully disembark from their carts, "I'm afraid the Master has taken quite ill recently and will not allow visitors within the home. There is a caretaker's house up the steps to the left that you may make use of for your stay."

"Ill?" Magda asked, "does he suspect it is related to the crypt he uncovered?"

"Oh I cannot say, Miss," replied the woman, "the Baron has been in poor health for many years. Please make yourselves at home. The stable is back just beyond the caretaker's house."

"Is...there no caretaker to speak of?" Esmond queried.

"I am all the Baron has," the woman took in a long and slow breath, affirming a weary smile, "please let me know if you need anything."

Magda frowned, exchanged a look with Esmond, then dismounted from her horse, "Right. I'll get the horses settled in the stables. Mack, please help the others move the living supplies to the caretaker's house, leave the research supplies here by the fountain until we learn the location of the crypt."

 

[Mackenzie Erris]

Riding up to what he had expected to be a much grander estate, Mack was made curious by the derelict state of the Baron's home. He looked it over inquisitively from atop his mount, examining what he determined was more than a handful of years worth of increasing disrepair. He puffed on his pipe while he thought for a moment, ignoring the conversation between Magda, Esmond and the housemaid pretty much entirely. It wasn't until Magda called his name that his head turned sharply and he acknowledged what she said with an abrupt oh. He slid off his horse, and after giving it a gentle pat on the neck he turned a went to tend the supplies.

"Some place," he said aloud to some of the others, most of whom just gave him a look.

He got the impression he was looked upon with, not disdain, but a kind of uncertain distrust. It humoured Mack, knowing full well it came from their perception of his perhaps haphazard ways. He shook his head, muttering something about lightening up and then he grabbed a crate. Reaching the caretaker's house, he stopped before it and gave it a very similar assessment as he'd given the estate itself. His mouth twisted to one side as his brows furrowed deeply, and then he sniffed the air a few times.

Something stunk, but it was fleeting and vague.

He traversed up and down the staircase several times with a crate in his arms, until finally only the research stuff was left. He puffed on his pipe a few times before meandering his way toward the stable. If Magda was even still there by now, she'd hear him coming before she saw him.

"... where the hell is everyone, I thought this guy was someone important," he swung the door open, "you'd think there'd be more than some old lady working for him."

---

Magdalena Elbion ​

 

[Magdalena Elbion]

He'd stepped inside to find a startled Magdalena standing in with one of the horses.

"Oh! Uhm-" Magi quickly wiped at her eyes, hoping that the darkness of the stable would make it difficult to see she'd been crying, "I just-" she sniffed, looked around, quickly pocketed something into her red traveling jacket and brushed some loose hay from her hair, "one of the horses was a bit lame. There was a rock..."

She turned to find Mack and suddenly realized she had no need to explain herself to him.

"I - nevermind," another quick wipe at her eyes, "is everything all unpacked?"

 

[Mackenzie Erris]

Mack Erris was and could be many things. He could often come across as dismissive and perhaps even a little insensitive, usually downplaying the severity of situations to an almost artful degree. He was not, however, completely oblivious, only so much and mostly willingly so, and he was not truly apathetic. And he was certainly not blind.

His voice trailed off as he entered, and he studied her with an inquiring eye as he approached, tucking his hands into his own pockets.

"Yep," he replied with a puff of smoke, rocking back on his heels a little bit, lifting the toes of his boots. Another puff, and then he reached up and took his pipe in his hand, quietly smacking his lips together a couple times before saying, "is everything alright, Ms. Elbion?"

---

Magdalena Elbion ​

 

[Magdalena Elbion]

Magda had already opened her mouth with a rebuttal for what she expected to be sass, as had become routine for conversations with Mack, but stumbled over any reply at all once his question finally registered.

She blinked at him in mild alarm, stared for several uncomfortable seconds, looked to the doorway he'd just waltzed in through to see that no one else was there, then allowed herself a moment of consideration. It didn't do well to look emotional while out on live projects. Especially not when she was the team lead. Had to keep her wits about her, had to look like she had her shit together.

Appearances were everything.

It was something she'd been taught by her parents, but they'd also taught her the importance of allowing herself to feel. She didn't want to end up an emotionless slab of stone like her sister.

"I..." a frown settled heavily onto her expression as she squeeze the fingers around the object she'd just put into her coat pocket. Withdrawing her hand she revealed the small wild flowers picked along the path to the stables. Small, blue, delicate.

"These were my mother's favorite flowers. My father would pick them for her anytime he found them in his travels. She uhm..." she bit at her lips to stop them from trembling at the fresh welling of grief, "I just found them on the way to the stable. She was killed in the cataclysm of Elbion."

That terrible sting of tears returned, pushed up behind her eyes by the clenching of her heart.

"It ... uhm ... I-" nope, couldn't talk anymore lest she devolve into blubbering about it.

 

[Mackenzie Erris]

Since he'd met her, Magdalena had been nothing if not poised. She was determined and capable, and she'd always exuded an indomitable and unrelenting ambition. She was intelligent, and she was strong. But as he'd come to realize in his time, one so rigid could not help but form cracks. But, in truth, in their time together Mack had grown to appreciate Madga as she was. He'd even come to quietly admire her, and the fire she so readily displayed. It disheartened him to hear of the burden she carried and hid, and though to another he might still, for her he refrained from is usual lighten up approach.

He started forward as she opened up to him, thoughtfully and with an uncharacteristic care in his step. He came near, perhaps a little too near, and reached up to touch the petals of the flower she held in her hand.

"I am sorry," he said, looking down at the blue hues she held, "your mother must have been very beautiful if these brought her to your father's mind."

---

Magdalena Elbion ​

 

[Magdalena Elbion]

For those few quiet moments Magda found herself frozen to the spot, afraid to move lest she truly lose composure. That hand of his, reaching to touch the flowers - she'd nearly jerked them away for fear he'd mean to smush the petals in his fingers as some crude laugh. Yet as he gently touched at them, she found herself taken-aback instead.

His words were not at all what she expected to hear from him, either, and it churned the clench of her chest ever tighter. Mack was ... being kind? Considerate? Thoughtful? She had not known he was even capable of such things.

A tight nod was her response as her free hand lifted to cover her mouth and keep the sob inside. Magi's eyes squeezed shut, forcing tears loose onto her cheeks. The resurgence of pain was horrible. How terribly it suffocated everything else from her mind, all the wind from her lungs, and the words from her lips. She could feel the ache of her throat from holding it all back and immediately wanted to flee but her feet wouldn't move.

"I miss her... so much..." strangled through her lips.

 

[Mackenzie Erris]

For one of the few times since he'd become what he is now, he found himself at a genuine loss. Usually he could navigate himself through any situation without so much as a second thought, but he found himself hesitant to do so now. Maybe it was seeing someone who was usually so together, begin falling to pieces. For whatever reason, this wasn't just something he was ready to brush off so candidly.

But, as he was quickly beginning to realize, he wasn't so good at comfort if he was being genuine about it.

"H-hey now," he reached to her, and then held his hand still just away from her arm, "everything's going to be alright."

Nice one, Mack. Nice one.

---

Magdalena Elbion ​

 

[Magdalena Elbion]

Oh god this was such a mistake.

Why, why of all people did she let herself go in front of Mack?

Clearly this was above his paygrade and emotional capacity. She should have known better and now she was upset with herself for being upset in front of him. The frustration was clarifying, at least, and Magi suddenly found the will to pull herself back together.

"It won't," she returned brusquely, wiping quickly at her eyes and shoving the flowers back into her pocket, "it's not like she can ever come back. I'm sorry you had to see that."

Taking a moment to compose herself, Magda looked up at her Guard with a wary but stern gaze, "Please do not speak of this to anyone. It's not their business."

 

[Mackenzie Erris]

Mack did his best to hide his frustration with himself, and it proved easy enough. He berated himself only so much for fumbling the situation a bit, but the bright side for him was that it did seem to do the trick. Or at least, as much as he really needed it to. He was comfortable with Magdalena when she was herself, he wasn't quite so when she wasn't, apparently. So now, with a composed Magda looking sternly up at him with strict orders of secrecy, he pursed his lips a little and then slid his pipe back therein.

"Sure thing, Mags," he said, stepping back and to the side to open the space between them, making the exit all the more accessible to her, "seems its none of my business either."

Holding his pipe steady in one hand, he puffed on it a couple of more times while he gave her a quick study before she decided to leave, and then offered it to her, "might be nice?"

---

Magdalena Elbion ​

 

[Magdalena Elbion]

Well, it wasn't any of his business, and Magda was about to concur on that point, but she caught herself as she looked back at him now standing aside as if to say flee at your leisure. Something ... strangely genuine about this whole encounter that very strongly caught her off-guard about him. It was almost - Magi could not believe she was even feeling this way - endearing.

The sternness of her gaze softened faintly for a moment, shifting instead to a feeling more akin to ... Gods was she nervous? Anxious? Embarassed? Was she blushing or was that just the remaining flush of her emotional breakdown? Could he please stop puffing on that damned pi-

might be nice?

Magda blinked at the proffered pipe as if he'd just pointed at her and stated she was blushing.

"Absolutely not," she stammered rather suddenly, "don't smoke that in here with all this dry straw, it's a fire hazard! Get out! Shoo!"

And she shoo'd him all the way out the open door with flailing arms and flaring nostrils. How dare he? Then closed the barn doors behind her as she stepped outside herself. Deciding not to let him see how flustered that entire moment had made her, she yammered something about returning to the caretakers house for the evening and stormed off back down along the wagon path without so much as a glance back at him.

 

[Mackenzie Erris]

For hardly even a moment, Mack almost thought she was going to take him up on his offer. In truth it was nothing other than a defusing gesture, so that they may move on from the discomfort of the moment. He hardly expected her to have any real interest. But then, just for a breath, it seemed to have the opposite effect and the tension seemed to grow. That was until it snapped and he was firmly turned and "forcefully" escorted from the stable. Instinctively he leaned against her gentle shoving in a defiance resembling a child's, but he only resisted so much and only in a skewed confusion.

Then he found himself standing there, just outside the stable with a hand in one pocket, his other holding his pipe to his lip, and eyes wide as saucers. The barn door slammed behind him, and Magdalena brushed past him with all the tension of a storm cloud on the horizon. She said something about the caretaker's house, and he thought he'd wait a little while before he followed.

He smacked his lips, puffed on his pipe. Rocked on his heels.

"Well... that was somethin'," he said quietly to himself, remaining still in place for a moment before taking a look one way, and then the other. A little unsure of what to do with himself, he meandered off in no particular direction, but no where that would take him far, and certainly not out of earshot. He decided he may as well familiarize himself with the surroundings before he chose to approach Madga again.

---

Magdalena Elbion ​

 

[Magdalena Elbion]

Their little caretaker's home was a cramped sort of place for how empty and barren it was. Magda opted to lay out her bedroll next to the campfire and sleep under the stars beneath the canopy. The next day arrived with a quiet sunrise flooding through the mountain wood. The crew was up and moving early after a short breakfast, then following the old maid out through the trees to a barely-worn pathway up the mountains.

"You keep following this here, we marked it with white circles on the tree trunks. It's about a two hour hike up. Can't be missed."

So that is exactly what they did. Without a path wide enough to take a wagon, Magda set the packs on the horses and loaded them up to lead by hand. It took them just over two hours after some confusion on the poorly marked trail, but just as the old woman said, it was easy to find once they were in the right area.

Cast in the shade of the mountain and old growth trees, Magda stepped along the rocky and root-grown landscape before the entrance with wonder in her eyes.

"If I'm not mistaken, this looks to be of dwarven origins," Esmond remarked, "look at the carvings along the support pillars. Second age from the looks of it, don't you think Miss Elbion?"

"Sure..." Magda replied absently, her eyes and mind too busy taking in the sight of it.

"It looks completely untouched!" Esmond continued excitedly, "What a rare find indeed."