Chapter 11 The Town of Hedak
A day had passed since they left Durem’s home. It was morning when upon Misara’s request, the companions paid a visit to the Temple of Misar along the way. High Servant Nabat of the Temple was now a very old man. He had been sick for some time. His many ills leave him bedridden most of the day. The contemplatives constantly ministered to the High Servant’s needs. Misara alone was allowed to enter his private chambers. The other companions waited outside. Misara emerged an hour later. It was afternoon when they continued their journey.
On the way to Hedak, Revik was trying to recall what he had read in one of the archives of the Tower. Accounts of the Time of Despair repeatedly mention great tomes of magic. There were two that caught his interest. One was called the Tome of Shadows. It purportedly dealt with some aspect of the dark arts. Another was the Tome of Ascension, though very little was written about what it contained.
Revik remembered what his teacher had once told him, “The core of Elemental Magic is transformation. The essence of all things in this world is the same. When you are able to fully understand this, you can transform this essence into whatever you wish.”
Revik had only just begun the mastery of Elemental Magic. It would be a while before he could truly have command over the elements, he told himself. But he also recalled what his teacher said, that Elemental Magic is just one of the many schools of arcane lore in the world. He came to know of other towers of magic scattered throughout the realms. This kindled in him a desire to learn their mystic secrets as well.
It was late in the afternoon the following day when the companions arrived at their destination. Hedak was a farming community that had fewer inhabitants than Torinth. Fields of various kinds of crops were the first thing they saw. A number of people were busily tending the fields. They followed the road until they reached the town proper.
“Where do we begin?” Misara asked. “What I usually do when I come to a new place is look for the town tavern,” Kort said.
“It’s not that difficult to guess what you do there,” Beret said to him as his lips started to form a grin.
“I go to the tavern to ask people,” Kort said. “What was it you thought I did sir knight?”
Beret just kept grinning as they rode towards the center of town.
“I see the tavern,” Revik said. A number of horses were tied to posts just outside it. Men were coming and going. Some clearly had one too many glasses of ale.
They all stopped right outside. They began to dismount when Kort said, “I think it best that I enter alone. Too many strangers going in would invite the wrong kind of attention.”
Kort made sense, Revik thought. They were strangers in Hedak and a whole group of them in a place filled with drunken men may not be the best idea. They also had a cleric and himself to consider.
“We will wait outside then,” Beret said.