Chapter Two
By Kavnil

Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.
Added 08/08/2002.

The thunder, my pounding heart. The flickering lightening, my rage. The pelting rain, the unused arrows in the my quiver. The storm that rages within me seems to be reflected in the one above. I've been running for over an hour from Rodigue. I refuse to become his wife. I will not marry a man whose father brutally killed my mother.

No this can't be, I'm trapped against the cliffs! I can hear Rodigue approaching closer because the hounds are baying. A silent prayer, 'Please God, give me strength.' The dagger inside my boot is the only weapon I have, for I lost my bow. Not much longer and that beast will be here to try to claim me. I will not surrender alive.

Crashing from the woods to my left. A man in a robe. 'No...please!' I whisper. Lightening streaks revealing Father. I gasp, "Thank you, God!"

Father is shouting at me, "Take these! You'll need them to survive." A pack is thrust into my arms, a bow into my hand. They're both very heavy.

Father's chanting in a language I don't understand. What's in his hand? A beautiful gem. I step closer and look. The gem and Father's chanting have me hypnotized.

A gush of wind from behind and a bright light. What??? Egads!! An entrance to a cave. A part of my father I've never known. He'll be accused of sorcery and burned alive at the stake!

"GO!!" Father has pushed me. I am not falling but floating. What has Father done? My scream is stuck in my throat.

THUD! My scream erupts, my body has hit a stone floor. 'Get up!' My mind tells me. 'No.' I whisper. 'Yes, you can. You are the daughter of a great warrior.'

Finally, on my feet. Where am I? Inside the cave? I remember the pack. It contains food, water, Father's journal and other things. This is odd, a scroll. No it's a map. What is this writing, Travels in Dereth, I recognize it to be Father's. It can't be. The stories Father told me when I was a child must be true. The ones about a land he came from with magic and dragons. Why would Father do this to me?

I've walked the corridors of the cave for hours. I am lost....but wait. I smell something cooking. I move with caution. Caution! A fire and yum... food. But there is an odd person there. Not a person a creature. I stifle a scream for a weapon is pointed straight at me.

What? The creature has withdrawn its weapon and is pointing at my head. Slowly I touch a helmet. Where did this come from? 'Father!' My mind answers.

The creature keeps repeating something over and over. 'What are you saying to me?' I wonder silently. I focus on the creature. I began to understand.

"What about the helmet?" I ask.

The creature looks at me funny. The language it speaks I've not used in several years, and I stumble over the words.

"It belonged to great warrior." An answer from the creature.

Father was a great warrior from another land, possibly this one.

"Then you knew my father, Richard the Great." I said.

"No but my friend Yodah did." It answers.

"Can you take me to Yodah?" I ask.

"No, Yodah died."

A moment of silence for I feel lost and confused then I ask, "Who are you?" Adding, "What are you?"

"Kavnil. A Lugian." A calm response from the creature.

That makes sense, that was one of the creatures Father told me about.

"You are?" Kavnil now questions me.

"Eleanor Elsa. Daughter of Richard the Great." I reply.

"Then he has fulfilled his promise. For you are here." Kavnil says. I look at Kavnil and ask, "What promise?"

"To return and keep Dereth free from evil." He replies.

Kavnil has informed me of the great fire storm and the days seem like years, besides we are stuck in this cave. Our food source at times, seems to run low but Kavnil always finds something to eat. During the long days spent in our confinement, Kavnil and I have exchanged our life history. I've come to learn of Dereth even more by what the Lugian has told me and what is written in Father's journal. Kavnil told me he would never forget the helmet Yodah gave to my father. I also learned that my father had sent me here through a portal. What still seems to strike my cord of interest in this Lugian, is how well he has an understanding of the human race and the compassion he shows for it. From what I've read in Father's journal is that Lugians and Humans are brutal enemies. Like my father did, I'm capturing these events in the empty journal I found in my pack.