Chapter
11: The Plan The Spy
Chapter
12: Supplies for an Army
Chapter
14: Brand New World...same old problems.
In clipped tones Parawn says, "Torana is leading an attempt to get past the barrier by traveling through a dimensional portal to this location in another dimension. Travel within that dimension and the return back to this one." He continues, his voice dripping with contempt, "He believes this will put him within orc territory..."
"The idea", Torana interrupts, "is to find away to influence your government to stop this war before the barrier is breached. Our method is impractical for a large-scale operation, but we can send a few people through."
Comprehension dawns on the Professors face, "And once in our territory you will need a guide and a representative that will not report who you are and have you arrested, or try to tear you limb from limb." The blind man finishes, "That is why you need me. Though I don't know if I would be a good representative as my people aren't particularly fond of me at the moment."
Magnus adds, "We must end this war quickly, one way or another, hopefully as peacefully as we can. If I may ask, what is the one we are going to like?"
"Hard to tell actually." Jadir says, "There is a plain where we have woods but it seems to be devoid of anything but plant life. The air is breathable, the sky is blue and the temperatures are relatively cool, so dress warm. Thais about all we know of the world so we will have to be prepared for anything."
"Including hordes of marauding flying pigs," Torakas laughs.
There is silence for a moment as many of the magi are either lost in their own thoughts or studying the stranger before them.
"Interesting politics you have." Parawn asks, "You say that the first attack was upon a school for children?"
"Yes", says the blind man.
"It would have to be a rather large school to be mistaken for a military camp", Parawn comments.
"Well, it was a private school, all of the students must live near the grounds, so their domiciles could from one point of view be considered barracks," the old man concedes.
"Then they teach many things at this school?" Parawn presses, "Do they teach perhaps teach the principles of rune flows?"
The Professor smiles, "Yes, the study of the arcane is considered a profitable and esteemed study track. Although classes are getting smaller as fewer students elect to follow it. Merely because, strength of arms and things you can do with your own two hands, seems to be the style with the children these days. Our kind are considered to be weak, since few children wish to be considered weak fewer students choose arcania as a study track. But I'm sure its just a passing fad."
Relentlessly digging for information Parawn continues, "How big is an average student group in the study of arcania?"
With much visible regret the Professor finally admits, "Recently class sizes have been dropping to around 10 to 15 students per class."
This revelation is a cause for much consternation amongst the gathered magi.
The blind professor picks up on the distress, but misattributes it. He quickly says, "I know the numbers are alarmingly small, but please gentlemen be assured It is just a phase that children are going through. I'm sure the counselors will be making sure that children of promise are steered back onto this study track. They won't let the study of arcania reach critical levels as it would put a lot of teachers out of a job... And the job market for proficient magi offers good incentive for future generations of children."
"Really." Parawn says, "I'd love to hear more about how you train your children for jobs?"
Jadir interrupts, "That can wait until later. For now our guest will need to rest and there is a long day of work ahead of us. It will take us a few hours to set up the appropriate runes. We shall leave in the morning. And there are few things I want to look up before we go."
"We?" asks Parawn, "We who?"
Jadir turns to Parawn, "Don't worry. I wouldn't dream of taking you away from your precious research on trying to get past the barrier or that sword you're so interested in. We shall keep this team quite small. Myself, my apprentice, Torana, his apprentice, Nahabedian and our honored guest shall undertake the journey. Since the rest of you know as much about the barrier as we do, our presence shouldn't be missed and in the case of battle you are more than competent to counter the orc attack. Besides the elemental we conjured should put a significant dent in their forces, should they attack."
The meeting adjourns soon after and Gwydeon catches up with Magnus.
Magnus sees his old friend and says, "Hello Gwydeon, it's been a while! So much has happened since we last met."
As the pair walk down to his room Magnus tells Gwydeon about his encounters.
Gwydeon tells Magnus of his recent plans, including his recent addition of two members to his growing band*.
After talking for a while and catching up on old times, just as Gwydeon leaves he turns and asks, "Have you heard anything about or seen Mordred?"
Magnus thinks for a while and says, "Can't say I have not recently."
Gwydeon bids Magnus good-bye.
Magnus looks around trying to decide what to do next and his eyes fall upon his staff. The apprentice gathers his materials together and sits upon his bed with the rune before him as he begins the long arduous task of scribing the rune onto the surface of the staff. As he draw the rune, he sees that there are slight depression in the staff that is similar to the rune. Sometime later he looks at the staff, examining it critically. Finally setting the staff aside,
Magnus looks up at a quiet cough. He sees Lieutenant Beris standing at the door. "I'm calling it a night, I've got early duty tomorrow morning. So I won't be back until the day after." Beris eyes shoot back and forth nervously as if he expects the walls themselves to begin moving any moment.
Magnus smiles reassuringly and says, "Good night". A glance out the window shows night in full bloom. A not-so distant rumble brings to his attention that he hasn't eaten recently.
Chapter 12: Supplies for an Army
Magnus puts down his staff and heads off to the kitchen for his last easy meal in a while. Considering this, he eats a little more than usual leaving himself quite full, as opposed to just sated as he usually prefers.
Afterwards the bloated apprentice heads toward Torana’s lab looking for the mage. He enters the lab which seems empty and very quiet. Almost too quiet. Instantly the mages instinct kicks in as he looks for his masters latest practical joke.
He makes his way through the lab without incident but he is sure that something is still up. Cautiously the apprentice taps on his masters door.
"Enter!" calls the familiar voice. Magnus pushes the door open waiting several seconds before entering. He cautiously enters and finds the Professor, Jadir and Torana talking around a table.
Torana looks up and says, "So have the two of you run out of mischief to get into?"
Magnus blinks as a blur appears on the edge of his vision. He turns toward it as it the blurring vanishes revealing Vel'im. He sighs, "Ah well it worked for awhile."
Magnus asks, "Is there anything special we shall need for the trip?"
Jadir says, "Since we are unfamiliar with the dimension we are going to, we should prepare for the worst. We shall need any shelter scrolls you have as well as some equipment for various terrain."
Torana says with a hint of pride in his voice, "As far as equipment goes you don’t have to tell my boy twice, you should see him take off on a mission. He brings enough tools and supplies for a small platoon! We travel incredibly light compared to him."
"Well then, Vel'im go with Magnus and help him prepare for the trip tomorrow." Jadir says, "Proper preparation may save your life one day! Oh and see about packing some extra cloaks. I think we shall need them once we get into orc territory."
As the pair exit the room, Magnus closes the door and he here’s Vel’im mutter under his breath, "Proper preparation...Proper preparation....as if he ever prepared for anything in his life other than making a rune."
As the pair head to the pantry, Vel’im says, "Do you know what his idea of preparation is? We were to take a simple little trip to pick up a few flowers. He didn’t mention the flowers grew in the middle of a mini-swamp. When we got there I didn’t even have a stick to defend myself against crocodiles. Since he floated above the ground the only problem he had was a stray bird or two! I don’t want to mention the time he wanted a live ram! Do you know how cold the top of a mountain is when you’re wearing this stupid robe! Speaking of robes, what is it with this stupid robe thing anyway! Everyone wears them, but every now and then I see them wearing loose clothes and it doesn’t effect their casting in the least. I can see based on how paranoid you were earlier that your master isn’t much different."
As Magnus checks the bags, Vel’im continues his rant against Jadir. Finally he quiets down and says, "Sorry I just needed to get that out of my system. Didn’t mean to be rude. Its just sometimes I wish I could get away, but he always drags me along, without any preparation what so ever."
Vel’im finally looks around and says, "Hey he wasn’t kidding you do pack enough for a platoon! Do you think we’ll actually need all of this stuff? I’m mean I’ve seen this stuff before, but never actually used any of it."
Magnus looks over the items making sure he has everything and exclaims, "Whoa! I almost forgot torches! Even though it's not hard to make magical light, I find that mundane means can accomplish some things quicker and better than any magic."
Vel'im looks at him in surprise and says, "Really? It hadn't really occurred to me, but then I've not had the chance to actually use my skills in the field since I was made an apprentice."
Magnus finds seven torches and spreads them out among the packs, "So Vel'im how long have you been apprenticing to Jadir?"
"Seems like forever, but actually I think it's only been about four years. I've learned a lot in trying to research spells, unfortunately I've never actually gotten the chance to put any of it to the test with my own runes. We are always working on his runes. Oddly enough I think in the entire four years, we've actually managed to complete research on two runes. After an initial period of copying runes forever and a day, he jumped straight into research and that's pretty much been it. I've had more free time since we came here than I've had in the last three or four years."
He looks a bit ashamed, "I've been wasting all this free time exploring the city outside. You can't believe how much I actually miss other people. What I haven't figured out is what's with all the ingredients that he finds necessary for these runes. You know we haven't used a single one. Like that ram, once we got it back home. He penned it up and had me watch it taking notes on its actions and behaviors." In an impressive imitation of Jadir's voice he says, "Keep all notes on this single sheet of parchment. But make sure you write down everything! Don't forget a single detail."
Vel'im sighs, "Well somehow I managed to get everything. Even though in the end I was writing in tiny script in corners on the back of the page, but I got it all on one sheet. So what kind of torture testing have they put you through?"
Magnus says, "Torana basically has the hands-off approach unless I do something really wrong."
Vel'im looks at the mage in surprise, "I guess what they say is right, "Torana really is insane! Do you have any idea how dangerous this stuff can be when spells go wrong! Stopping you after the fact is usually too late! You could find yourself two feet tall or turned into half mouse-half cat and chase yourself around trying to eat yourself for lunch."
This jogs Magnus memory and he decides to tell Vel'im about one such incident where things went horribly wrong while he was experimenting with a special ice missile rune, which backfired at a critical moment and encased his arm....which led to telling of the background story of how he ended up on the battlefield and how he got the rune and eventually ended up with the original mission.**
As Magnus finishes, Vel'im attitude becomes something like a man who finds himself in a pit with a hungry man-eating tiger. "Oh...ah....my you are resourceful. Now I see why Nahabedian insisted that you two come along."
Realizing his companions nervousness he tries to distract him by attempting to change the subject, "So what spell were you using to shadow me? I usually can sense people around me better than that."
"Oh that's one of the two successful runes that he finished. I asked him to enchant my cloak with it. Supposedly it protects me from being detected. And up until I came here, it's usually worked on the occasional visitor we had. Oddly enough after I used the rune in demonstration for Jadir, he considered it a complete failure and destroyed all but two copies of the rune. I've hidden them for later, when I can decipher them myself."
He opens the cloak and shows Magnus a rune that seems to float just along the inside seam of the cloak.
After looking at the jumbled mess, Magnus feels a headache approaching and quickly looks away.
Vel'im notes this and says, "Yes, the same thing happens to me to. I figure one day I'll be good enough to decipher the flows."
Magnus starts to examine his healer's bag and checks for various herbs, powders and bandages, restocking a few necessary items as his head clears.
Vel'im says, "What's with all the plant and things? Are those spices for dinner. Of course you have to cook for him too. I guess your masters... unusual personality would like specially spiced food."
The darkness had deepened considerably by the time Magnus manages to get across the true use of the herbs.
The mage says, "Traveling with Torana you never know what injury will come next." He smiles as he says this not to alarm the talkative apprentice.
Once comprehension dawns upon him, his response is "Oh! Now I see." He frowns, "There must be a rune to do all that! It would be much more convenient. I'll have to ask the master if he has any ideas."
As Magnus begins finishing up the backpacks and locating a few oilskin cloaks, skimmed from the piles of captured loot from the orcs he asks, "Vel'im, have you experimented with the Orc rune system at all?"
Vel'im looks at Magnus puzzled and says, "What's to experiment with? Don't they use the same rune system as we do?"
"No actually." Magnus says, "It can be fairly useful for lower level mages such as ourselves. The runes power is derived more from the crafter of the original rune then from the wizard who uses it, and it helps to have the runes handy when there is a battle."
Vel'im frowns and says, "But what if the crafter of the original rune was much more powerful than we were. Are you saying that if I read a meteor rune created by Jadir instead of myself, then I could shoot as many meteors as he can conjure not as many as I can conjure."
Magnus nods and Vel'im looks at him suspiciously, finally making up his mind. The look of a man trapped with a tiger re-appears. "Okay that sounds like fun." It's obvious that he thinks something is wrong with Magnus.
Chapter 14: Brand New World...same old problems.
Magnus laughs and gives Vel'im a smile. "Well I believe we are all packed, I'll just add several flasks of lamp oil, in case we need fire quickly and in the rain."
When Magnus finishes everything up he asks, "Would you like to eat dinner before we call it a night."
Vel'im replies with relief, "Yes, I'd think I could use a bite or two. Considering my last few outings with the master I'd better eat my fill now. I don't know when I'll be eating again."
The pair amble off toward the kitchen. As they near it the smell of fresh baking bread wafts through the air. Stomachs growl as they approach the room. A pleasant surprise greets them as platters of meats, bread, cheese, potatoes, and fruits are piled high on a table.
As they approach the platters, Magnus notices that someone seems to be laying in wait just beyond the platters. Stopping Vel'im before he can get too close, Magnus moves around the outside edge of the room giving him plenty of space when the figure finally leaps out wielding a rolling pin and shouting, "HA! THOUGHT YOU COULD STEAL MY FOOD YOU LITTLE THIEVES!"
The figure that leaps out is a rather short slim woman. She starts swinging the rolling pin like she was wielding a mace. "GET OUT OF MY KITCHEN AND BACK TO THE VILLAGE YOU THIEVING LITTLE URCHINS!!!"
Magnus and Vel'im retreat back toward the door trying to avoid the woman's nearly expert swings. Finally as the rolling pin passes him. Magnus grabs hold of it and plucks it out of her hands.
The woman spins around in a circle before looking at her empty hands.
"Please ma'am wait there's been a misunderstanding," Vel'im says.
The woman moves into a mock fighting stance and says, "YEA! YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD SNEAK FOOD FROM MY TABLE!! GO BACK TO THE VILLAGE AND EARN YOUR OWN MEALS!!"
She attacks with an ineptitude that is almost comical in nature and is quickly subdued. It still takes a bit of talking to convince the woman that the pair of hungry magi are not thieving urchins and actually live there.
Finally in desperation, Vel'im activates his cloak and vanishes. The woman pales and stammers and apology, "I'm sorry good sirs. It just that I'm used to having to deal with urchins and the master never bothers to come to the kitchens for his meal. So I just assumed..."
Vel'im asks, "Who is your master milady?"
The woman pulls away a bit from the pair and straightens out her clothes and says matter-of-factly, "Master Torakas, the greatest wizard in the world, of course."
"Oh! Well we just came to get something to eat, since we have a long day tomorrow", Vel'im explains.
"Well you can't have these platters, they are for Master Torakas, which reminds me I'm later for his dinner already!" She hurries back to the platters and then does something quite surprising. Even though the platters, which are a good two feet across, are piled high with food this small slim woman picks one up in each hand and easily hefts it like it was nothing at all. She hurries out of the room carrying the plates perfectly balanced. The last thing she says, "Remember don't touch the other platters. There is some stew around here somewhere you can have that..."
Vel'im looks at the doorway and says, "With an appetite like that it's no wonder he is as big as an ogre."
A brief search and the pair find a some warm thick stew, whose looks reminds Magnus of the stuff he's scrapped off of Torana's lab dishes.
Vel'im however takes a sniff and says, "Ah blackberry stew." He eagerly scoops some of the thick mess into a bowl.
Magnus looks at it with some trepidation unable to get the image of a similar looking goo splattered all over Torana's lab out of his head. He looks back at the trays which seem to contain all the edible food in the tower, entertaining the though that perhaps he won't miss just one slice of meat.
Unfortunately, the tray begins moving as the woman returns to easily heft the remaining trays of food and bolt out of the room.
Magnus turns back to the pot of bubbling goo and pours out a bowl of the stew. The strange scent makes the mage a little uneasy. Vel'im attacks the stew with a vengeance. Magnus takes a hesitant bite and is surprised by the tart fruity taste and chucks of something. He decides he doesn't want to inquire too deeply as all in all it tastes much better than it looks.
As they eat Magnus asks, "Why did you decide to become a mage?"
"Ah, well there was this guy who came around every spring and fall to my village and he would tell stories of great magicians going on wonderful quests and he even performed such magic for us to see. The master says the man was probably a charlatan and not a real mage, but even what I remember now seems pretty real. So when I had the chance, I sought out Vel'im and he took me on as his apprentice." I should have waited for the wandering magician and went with him.
After the meal Magnus retires to his room and begins to scribe runes onto scrolls. After a long night the mage finally manages to get some sleep.
The next morning Magnus wakes and gets ready. After a quick breakfast he finds Nahabedian, Torana and the Professor in the room with the giant runes. Vel'im appears a few moments later huffing and puffing as he carries one of the packs they prepared last night and drags the other behind him.
He collapses in a huff while the three magi talk quietly amongst themselves. After a short break Magnus helps Vel'im with the rest of the packs. By the time the two are done the rest of the magi have appeared and a single rune has been drawn upon the floor around it is a large golden circle. Nahabedian says, "Everyone put on a cloak, we don't know what kind of weather we will have when we reach there, so it's best to be prepared."
After getting ready the supplies are placed in the center of the rune. Nahabedian, Torana, Vel'im, Magnus, Jadir and the Professor all stand inside the circle. The others begin chanting the rune and suddenly the walls of the tower vanish and there is nothing but blackness outside the walls of the circle.
Looking around, Magnus sees a single silver spot on each of the people Each spot suddenly sprouts a line that runs off into the darkness.
The darkness suddenly becomes a dull misty gray and lines to off into the distance. Vanishing light a road leading into a fog bank. The mist swirls around getting thicker and thicker until Magnus can't see his hand before his face until it hits him.
He feels strange as if he is suddenly being stretched tight. There is a feeling of being pulled at both ends. Suddenly the mist is gone and visions of worlds flash before his eyes. All the while the feeling of being pulled apart on a rack increases with each passing moment. The pain becomes more and more intense. He opens his mouth to scream, but nothing comes out. Magnus can't guess at how many worlds have passed before his eyes before they stop flashing. Suddenly the darkness encases everything again. Everything is completely silent. Then someone says, "There are more stars out tonight than usual."
Magnus looks up and sees nothing. He looks around and sees light spilling in from his left and a figure standing in silhouette.
After stumbling over to the cave entrance walking like he was moving through mud and bouncing off several walls, he stumbles into the light and finds himself dragging a rather upset Vel'im by the hem of his robes.
After untangling themselves, they join the others in staring up at the sky filled with stars and the five moons that dominate the sky.
Looking around they realize that it's almost as bright as day. It is instantly attributed to the light reflected from the many moons.
The professor takes in deep breaths and smiles, "The air has a strange tang to it. It's rather uplifting."
Nahabedian says, "We should be going. I believe the equivalent location of the orc capital should be this way."
Each mage takes a pack. Jadir shrinks his and puts it in his pocket. Torana puts his on his back and it seems to be absorbed into the back of his light blue shirt. Nahabedian simply slings a pack along each shoulder and says, "Professor, you can follow me I shall guide you."
The Professor smiles and says, "Thank you very much I can get along fine in civilized areas, but these wild areas are a real pain."
Jadir turns to Vel'im, "Begin taking notes on the things we come across we shall need accurate records of this world."
The light shed from the giant full blue moon as it slowly move across the sky, is more than sufficient light for the small group to travel by.
The others moons seem to be in various phases, and only two of the five show great illumination.
The air has a strange tart fruity smell to it, though no fruit trees are visible.
The brilliant blue light gives the landscape an eerie alien look.
Magnus looks around he sees that the cave they just left, leads into a small mound in the ground. He senses, by way of his hydra shirt, life all around, in an abundance that he is not used to and for several moments he is overwhelmed.
The is a loud cry overhead and the sound of flapping wings. In the distance the stars are eclipsed by what looks like a pair of wings.
Vel'im, takes out a quill and parchment and begins making notes on every thing he sees. Frequently tripping over stones and other obstacles because he was looking in the wrong direction.
Nahabedian sets a brutal pace at first, but then realizes he is not alone and slows up, through the effort to move at a slow enough pace for the others to keep up seems almost painful to the mage.
Before too long Jadir has had enough. He speaks a rune and begins floating above the ground. For a moment he floats up and down, before he zips forward at about the same speed Nahabedian had initially set. A puzzled Jadir zips back toward the party.
Not to be outdone, Torana pulls out a pair of walking boots from a hidden pocket in his pants and puts them on, "Well since we are all in a hurry, lets go." He begins moving forward so fast that his feet have taken several steps before his torso moves. He is several dozen yards away before his torso can catch up with his feet.
Nahabedian looks back at the Professor and the two apprentices and rolls his eyes. The Professor asks, "What is going on? I think I heard one of you use a flying rune, the other is suddenly walking very fast. I'm afraid I didn't have time to memorize any runes recently."
Vel'im just continues on walking in a daze as he writes about everything around him. As he goes along he becomes more sure footed to the point where even when he is looking behind him, he walks forward testing each step and moving on. Like his feet have gained a mind of their own.
The group soon enters an area of small hills.
Nahabedian says, "Some of us have gotten tired of the slow pace and have speeded things up a bit. While I would prefer a faster pace, given your limitations, it would not be safe."
As they move on, Magnus begins to be able to pick out two creatures ahead moving around erratically.
Most of the moons eventually dip over the horizon. The large blue moon actually moving the fastest, almost as if something were chasing it. There is one in its last quarter that seems to be taking its time.
Soon the sky lightens in the north and the sun of this world makes its angry appearance. The horizon seems to be on fire. As the sun climbs so does the temperature. Whereas before it was a relatively comfortable temperature at night it becomes insufferably hot during the day. At first the cloaks are abandoned as being too hot, then put back on as being the only bit of shade. In the morning light the green sky makes a marked contrast to the bluish grasses and orange-ish weeds.
As the sun rises into the sky, so does the number of creatures entering Magnus sensing range, which seems to have increased dramatically.
The sounds of chirps, squawks, and sounds not quite identifiable. Flocks of what might be birds fly high above. The low grasses seem to come alive as small scaly creature begin moving around with alarming speed. Rather disturbingly large insects begin to make their appearance and somewhere in the distance is heard a mighty roar.
Everything about this world seems alive, the rocks, the grasses, even the air itself seems supercharged. The energy lends itself to the travelers boosting their spirits despite the oppressive heat.
Looking over at Vel'im, Magnus finds the mage walking sideways drawing a picture of what seems to be an silver-armored rabbit. The creature watches them as its ears twitch nervously. Vel'im stumbles and recovers, but that was enough to spook the creature which takes off in huge leaps across the grasslands. Vel'im watches it go while furiously scribbling on the parchment, it is a wonder how he manages to walk in one direction while working in another direction and still manages to keep up with the accelerated pace.
The Professor seems to be having little to no problem at all keeping pace as Nahabedian watches the ground ahead making sure of his footing. The pair have been talking about magical concepts that make about as much sense to the pair of apprentices as algebra to a 2nd grader, at least they think its magical concepts. Vel'ims only ventured opinion is, "Given the behavior of some of the magi I've seen, I wouldn't put it past them to be making up the whole thing as they go along just to make us feel stupid." He returns to his note taking and they continue on.
Magnus looks around in all directions as his senses tell him that they are surrounded by small creatures but they seem to be keeping their distance. But something breaks through all the others. Something large and fast moving. It seems to be somewhere ahead, but he can't tell what direction it's moving in. The apprentice stops, trying to get his bearings. Trying to locate the large creature that seems to be moving rapidly. Suddenly there is an explosion up ahead as they dirt begins flying up and away in large chunks. Nahabedian turns to Magnus and says, "Guide the Professor and catch up to us as soon as possible."
He takes off in great strides vanishing over a few small hills. Vel'im continues on seemingly oblivious to everything.
There is a roar that seems to reach to the heavens in the distance.
There are several bright flashes and for a long time there is a loud roar as something cries out in pain. Magnus footing becomes slightly spotty because of the sensory overload. He tries to focus on the creature ahead and walking.
After cresting a couple of small hills they look down into a small depression and see quite an interesting pitched battle.
At the center of the depression is a creature half-buried in the ground. The creature looks to be an armored worm, twenty foot tall and about five feet in width. It has with the eyes of an insect, with silvery gray scales. Each scale is the width of two touching hands with finger spread wide. There are several scorch marks on the armor and one or two places where holes have been punched through the beasts armor.
Jadir and Torana seem to be baiting the creature, moving in close and then zooming to safety the minute the creature looks at them.
As Magnus watches Nahabedian stand in front of the creature baiting it. Both hands holding one of the packs. Magnus blinks for a moment, perhaps it is just an illusion or the distance but Nahabedian seems much larger than usual.
The creature snaps down at the mage, who nimbly jumps to one side and smacks the creature with the pack. The worms head is knocked for a loop and a bit more of it is exposed to the air.
*Authors note:
For the full story read Navarok's Empire
**Authors note:
For the full story read The Shadow Walker
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