“Yes, Sire. We have been taught about them during our training. But for almost all
people, visitors are legends. If I have not dreamt of the All-Father, I would not have
believed it myself. The things I have seen you do are not within the ability of anyone in
Adar, save the gods. Though for an apprentice trader, your lack of knowledge about
many of the towns in Skaney raised my suspicions.”
“And yet I still lack a lot of knowledge about magic and its limitations.”
“I will try to help, Sire. I have little knowledge about higher magic but what I know I
will gladly share with you. Combat magic for warriors is still based on runes. But my
knowledge is limited by the fact that what is taught to us is merely what is needed for
battle and combat purposes. Its direction is different from the path of knowledge for
mages.”
“About this magical exhaustion thing, what do I need to know about it?”
“As I said, we are but mortal. Hence magical ability is limited from person to person.
Magical exhaustion is identified by three progressive stages. The first is the feeling of
slight physical and mental exhaustion. The second is manifested by extreme dizziness
and headaches. In some instances, nausea. The most dangerous stage which may lead
to death or madness, is extreme body weakness, inability to think, continued dizziness,
increasing pain of the headaches, and mental exhaustion. The mind starts to find it very
difficult to think. If the body shuts down and the person loses consciousness, his body
may have already incurred some damage. If the brain is severely damaged, then
madness sets in. If mind and body are both damaged too much, then the person may
not awaken anymore. Death may occur even before these occurrences when the mortal
vessel cannot handle or control extreme magical energies passing through it. As I said, I have seen a man burned from the inside by the magical energies he couldn’t control.”
Freak me! I better watch for those signs. I nearly died out there!
“What can I do?”
“Pace yourself, Sire. Suffering from second stage symptoms does not inflict permanent
physical and mental damage. Reaching the final stage, as you did, is the dangerous
part. The best way is to recognize the signs. You have to find a way to cast spells or
defend yourself while recovering your ability to manage magical energy. All you need is
to give time for your body to recuperate from handling magical energy.”
“Lesson learned, Jorund. Thank you. I owe you my life.”
“No, Sire. We owe you our lives. Not only your abilities but also your planning enabled
us to win our battles and survive up to now.”
But before Tyler could continue the conversation, a strange occurrence caught both
their attention. A small plantlet suddenly erupted from the ground in front of him. He
could only stare at the sprout which was rapidly growing. Jorund had already brought
out his battleaxe and had moved closer to Tyler. He was in a crouch, both hands on his
weapon and his eyes were focused on the strange plant. In the span of thirty seconds,
the sapling had become a small tree. Of what kind, Tyler couldn’t tell. But it was bushy
and had a large trunk. It looked like a miniature oak. Then its body split open and a
small man stepped out.
“Good afternoon, lads! Now, what do you think you’re doing in my part of this forest?”
The being looked like a gnome! Without the bright colors. Wearing a brown shirt and
trousers, topped off with a tiny leather helm. A sword, scaled to his size, was at his hip.
He looked a Grumpy. A Disney Grumpy. Only with more beard and bushier eyebrows,
mostly gray with streaks of black which may be hair. Or not. A petrichor smell
accompanied his unexpected appearance.
“Landvaetter,” Jorund whispered. The man took a step forward and gripped his
battleaxe tighter.
“Now, now, now, warrior. Put that swinger to the side and sit down. Take a load off
your feet. Let your armored behind rest on the ground,” said the strange creature. He
didn’t sound intimidated by Jorund’s size or by the man’s battle-ready stance.
The creature sat on a tree stump which rose from the ground. He carefully looked at
each of them, his hands on his knees.
“So! What do we have here? Two humans with a third running around somewhere playing tafl with those jotnar by his lonesome. No humans have been in these parts
since the time of those hunters who stayed in the clearing you came from.”
He then laughed seeing the surprised faces of the two.
“Why? You don’t think we don’t know what’s going on in this small forest? But you have
been busy. Wrestling with those dokkalfr and jotnar. Oh, don’t worry. You humans
turned out to be a lesser evil than them. You did burn part of the forest but it was for a
good cause.” He then laughed so hard he nearly fell off his temporary chair.
“But where are my manners? Rumpr’s the name. And as I said, don’t worry about the
fire. You did try to make sure it didn’t spread. And a controlled fire once in a while is
good for the forest. You did contribute the dokkalfr and jotnar fertilizer for it.”
“I am Havard the mage. This is Jorund. Our companion is Habrok. You’re not angry?
We didn’t have any choice except to start to the fire to protect ourselves,” Tyler
responded with some degree of relief.
“Oh, no, my lad. I saw the entire thing. Those jotnar had been a pain in our backside
for so long. My grandfather did talk about a great forest ranging from the Gap up to
what you call now as the Mountains of Sorrow. Well, that was until those gods thought
it a good thing to bring their fight to these parts. Then Ymir came with his jotnar. Then
the dokkalfr. But the jotnar have always been our bane. All they want are forests
wrapped by the cold. Their kind of cold. Not all plants and trees can survive that. Not to
mention the animals.”
“Don’t you have a forest guardian? Almost all forests have one, I have heard.”
“We did have a guardian. Past tense. That was when this forest stretched up
