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Prologue - A Shadow Rising
It was a cold afternoon one autumn day that Shai'tan set out from his house in the city of Fealon. He was traveling north towards the Crossroad city, a city that lay where the main road split in two. One way to the harbour city, from where you could travel to Angelion, and the other to Dithal. It was there he was going to meet ShadowNinja and JKL;!!!!!. They were going to the city of Dithal, which lay not too far east of the Crossroads. It was one of the larger cities in the land and a great place for merchants. The river Ila runs straight through the city and you had to go through the city to reach Sachil, the city on the far most north-eastern point of the land. It was also connected to a harbour-city to the south-east that traded with the Islands of Yuilu, a place with rare goods and strange people, or so the rumours say. Shai'tan had set out by order of his father, who was a metalsmith in town, it had been a good season for the family and he had earned some extra gold, so he was sent out to Dithal to order fireworks, buy ale and meat, and to meet the son of a good friend of his father, Richard. They were going to have a great party to celebrate a good year.
Shai had set out with great haste. It was rare that he had a chance to leave the city, and he had never been as far as Dithal. Before he left his father had given him a sword, was engraved with a white tiger, was very light and sharp and it was something very precious to his father. He would never let anyone touch it, it had been a gift. From whom Shai didn't know, but he knew it must have been someone important, it was of very high standard and few swords were engraved these days. He had also been told to be very careful, rumours had it that bands of bandits were roaming the farms and areas around the Main Road looking for easy prey, he were to avoid them at any cost and not to use or show his sword if he could manage it.
So it was that Shai rode all the way to the Crossroads. It took many days and he met few people, not many dared to walk outside now. Winter was closing in and it had started to snow. He had not seen any bandits on the way, but he had seen what they would do to travelers. It had been an early morning, the sun was a little above the tree tops when he saw the bandwagon on the road ahead. It had been tipped over to one side and dark figures lay around it, some of them rather small. Shai looked away, frightened of what he might see there. He hurried on before the stench of death could reach him. There was no sleep to be found that night.
At long last he saw the walls of the Crossroads, marvelously high walls with guards roaming them. It was a large city, perhaps a bit smaller than Fealon, but still large enough to hold many thousands. The one thing that made it different from Fealon was all the noise, there were merchants everywhere, either heading for Dithal or coming from there. He rode into town and looked around for an Inn called The Brave Heart, it was where he had arranged to meet ShadowNinja and JKL;!!!!!. He asked around a few times as he rode through the town, looking at all the great buildings, he even saw a palace or two, before he finally reached his destination. The barman was a big, round man that had a large smile and a couple of sharp eyes. He looked at Shai with a smile that reached both eyes, "A room for the night? Perhaps some fine wine and a place before the fireplace? It must be cold for a man that comes from so far south.", he said and examined Shai. "I'll take that offer, Mr..? And I would also know if you happen to know some friends of mine, they are called ShadowNinja and JKL;!!!!!. I believe they stay at this Inn...", Shai said and looked around the room.
The room was about halfway filled with people who sat and enjoyed their drinks, some over a game of dices or cards, others just relaxing. There was one thing that caught his eye though, in the corner, almost hidden, was a young man sitting, watching him intently. "Mr. Hellerman, Sir, and I indeed have a guest by the name of ShadowNinja, but none of the name JKL;!!!!! I'm afraid. Infact, ShadowNinja is sitting in the corner there.", Mr. Hellerman informed him. Shai payed him for the room and a glass of wine and went over to ShadowNinja. "ShadowNinja? I'm Shai'tan, I was supposed to meet you and JKL;!!!!! here...?", Shai said and held out a hand for him, Shadow accepted it, "Well met, have a seat. I have yet to see JKL;!!!! I'm afraid, he was supposed to be here 3 days ago. Something might have happened to him..."
Shai and Shadow sat there for several hours, discussing what to do, whether to wait for JKL;!!!!! or leave without him. In the end they decided to wait one week for him, if he didn't show up by then they would leave him.