On the Road?

Lionel walked behind Drindle into the three-sided barn. One wall was completely open to the environment. There had been a continuous light rain since they arrived in Astia.

"Hellllooo, anyone here?" the old man hollered upon entering the barn.

"Yo, roun' back. be with ye in a moment." a male voice could be heard on the other side of the barn.

There about twenty stalls lined up along the closed in wall. Only about five of the stalls had horses in them though.

"Looks like slim pickings." Drindle mumbled while eyeing an old brown and white mare. His voice gave away his disappointment.

"How can I help you gentlemen?" A tall burly man walked through the other end of the barn leading a beautiful black horse to an empty stall. The man had a mustache that stuck out on either side of his face. It appeared that the massive mustache was waxed in place as it only shook a little as the man stepped forward. The man had a large chest and stood a good two heads taller than the horse.

"Looking to buy a horse." Drindle spoke in a direct tone while eyeing the beautiful beast being led into the stall.

The mustached man looked over his shoulder at the grumpy old geezer. "I got four here that you can buy." The man locked the stall and walked towards the old mare Drindle had already eyed.

"I want this one." The old man hadn't moved. He stood there looking at the black stallion in the the stall.

"Harthling's not for sell" the response from the tall man wasn't gruff but left little room for bargaining.

Drindle looked at the mustached man, his face looked innocent. "Well sir, ya see I am headed to the capitol and I need a beast that will fit in. Ya know Ben sent me. Told me you have the best horses around"

The tall man took a second to think. Lionel could almost imagine the man's thinking that it would be a good opportunity to get his name to the world. "The name's Alan, and Ben told ya right. I got the best horses here in Astia. look sir, I am going to shoot it to you straight. This is my best stallion. I can't part with him cheaply. It will cost you.." He thought for a few moments looking up at the ceiling. "1200 gold"

"Done, but I want the tack for horse as well" The old man's innocent face became a sly smile as he pulled a small pouch from his dark robe and handed it to Alan.

Alan stood with an incredulous look on his face. Lionel had almost the same expression. 1200 gold was enough to buy all of the other horses and possibly the barn. Alan's face soon became disheartened while looking at the old man's smile.

"If anyone asks where Harthling, come from point 'em my way." at those words the Tall man took the pouch and opened it. He finished counting it out before walking to the barn wall. he pulled down tack for the horse and geared up Harthling. Once he finished he handed the reins to the crooked old man.

"Dimwit, let's go."

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Drindle and Lionel made it through Astia leading Harthling. They made it back to the opening in the wall on the west side of town. They saw two new guards at the post. There was neither the tall or fat guard from before. The two new guards barely spared them a glance as they walked through the gate headed to where the wagon was hidden.

Drindle led the horse towards the front of the wagon and began to hitch him up. Harthling seemed to be a calm horse. Lionel had only seen horses when his old landlord would bring some to the field to help with the plowing. He could tell that Harthling was an incredible beast in comparison to the horses he had seen prior.

"Are you gonna fall in love with the horse or help me hitch him up?" Drindle spoke while turning to look at Lionel's face. He had one big bushy eyebrow raised he seemed irritated. "I don't want you to fall in love with me either, so stop staring. Now go to the other side of the wagon and pass me that strap."

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After Harthling was hitched up Drindle sat in the driver's seat while Lionel sat in the cargo space holding the Mage's Guide book. The path was bumpy and made Lionel rock back and forth. They were headed back towards Astia. They had to pass through the town again so they could continue east towards the capitol. It was already nightfall when they had set off. Drindle didn't want to stop until they were through the town. The rainfall had since quit once they got the horse. Drindle simply whispered into his little box hidden in his robe and the clouds started to clear up.

Lionel was trying to focus on the book in his hands but his mind kept wandering. What kind of a person was Drindle? The old man seemed to be incredibly powerful but also weak. It appeared the majority of his powers either came from items or just a thought. Lionel couldn't wrap his head around the old geezer. He sat thinking. He knew the old man was being cautious but he was not totally sure why. It seemed like the old man didn't want to be recognized as Drindle.

"Drindle, Why don't you want to be recognized? Aren't you a hero for helping the Wastial Nation to Prosper? That's what I had always heard growing up." Lionel spoke while looking at the back of the old man's robed head.

"Phhaaa.." the old man signed and turned slightly to look at Lionel. "Boy, it isn't that simple. People who are powerful are used. It has taken me more than a hundred years to finally get out of the limelight. I don't want people in my business. I just want to be left alone to do my own thing. I don't care about this world anymore." The geezer continued to speak. "I had to make up some excuse about the weather shrine appearing in different locations just so the royals and nobility would leave me in peace. Hruuahhhh... you will soon see what I mean once we reach the capitol." The old man turned back towards the horse as he finished speaking. Lionel had noticed a tinge of sadness in his eyes as he had spoken.

"But why are we going to the capitol in the first place if you don't want to be bothered?" Lionel couldn't understand why Drindle would willing go to a place he disliked so much.

Drindle didn't even turn his head to reply. "Because I am done being a dog."

Lionel was unsure what else he could say to get more clarification. He felt lucky that the old man had even answered him truthfully.

As they drew closer to Astia the road became more level. Lionel closed his eyes and focused within searching for the Vervane. There was darkness all around him. He could see a small hazy purple light in the distance. He began to move towards it. It felt like he had no arms or legs. He was just a thought gliding through the dark space. The hazy violet light soon became a large pond that seemed blurry. He drew closer to it and the image became clear.

There was a large pond that seemed to be a comprised of a lilac colored fluid. There were no banks that held the lilac fluid in place. It seemed that the pool of fluid was floating. I appeared to be contained by some invisible wall. Lionel moved toward the invisible wall. As he crossed the barrier his figure started to become clear. He hung in the air over the surface of the fluid.

His figure appeared ethereal. Lionel leaned and touched the water's surface with his fingers. He felt energy flowing into him. He closed his eyes and bathed in the feeling. His mind raced and he felt a sense of freedom. His mind expanded and he could sense something behind him. He jerked around and saw a cloaked figure hovering in the distance over the purple fluid. The cloak obscured the image of the figure. Lionel hung frozen staring at the humanoid figure

a deep throaty voice resonated. "You took longer to reach here than I thought you would." It was the same being that had visited Lionel on the mountain's peak. The being felt stronger than when he first encountered it.

"Wh.. Who are you?" Lionel asked the cloaked being.

"I am known as Dextera Domini" The cloaked figure grew faint when his name was said.

"Why are you in my mind? What do you want?"

A sudden pain pulled Lionel back to the wagon. He opened his eyes to see Drindle standing over him. The old man was smacking him repeated with his knotted cane. He yelled "What the hell are you doing!?! Are you trying to call all of the Underbeings towards us!?!"

"Ouch!!! No.. I'm sorry!! I don't know what I was doing, I saw the purple lake and touched it." Lionel was trying to block the incoming rod with his hands.

Drindle stopped suddenly and looked at the boy with a very serious expression. "We are going to stay in Astia tonight. Your little antics even scared the animals, I'm afraid we are in for a long night."

"I don't understand. What did I even do?" Lionel rubbed his chest and shoulders where Drindle had struck him.

"Boy, you released a torrent of energy into the environment. I could feel the Amulet's call through that energy. If you only touched the Vervane's surface I can only imagine what would have happened if you bathed in it." Drindle shook his head while staring wide eyed at the boy.

The old man's pensive expression showed as he spoke. "We find lodging and stay in Astia tonight. Who knows what heard that call."

They were almost to the opening in the wall when a low howl could be heard in the distance.