"Hey, there's a rowboat over the shore," pointed Rhen as they were at the south-east of the isle. "Maybe we can ask the boat dealer about the price of it."
"We noticed you had a rowboat out front. Any chance we can buy it from you?" asked Talia politely when they were in the shop.
"Sell my rowboat? Never!" the boatman, whose name was Remlak, roared. It made the three of them jumped. After that Remlak's mood turned sour.
"Is there any problem?" asked Lars rudely.
"Well, it's just that... It's lonely here by myself. If only I had a wife." said Remlak softly.
"What sort of woman are you looking for?" asked Rhen.
"Hmmm. I'm looking for an exotic woman with a mean bite," described Remlak.
"If we find you a wife, will you sell us your rowboat?"
"I'll think about it."
"We'll keep an eye out for you," after the talk, the trio headed south into the Wildwood.
~~~
Eithera was badly-injured. Scratches and cuts all over his body. The opponent was walking slowly towards him, trying to torture him slowly. The druid summoned numerous spears, arrows and swords and shot towards the daeva. But the demon finished them off with a blaze. The horn-headed daeva, who was known as Saurva, started murmuring, and the druid can't fell himself anymore.
After that, Saurva stood in front of a door, which was sealed by the Druid of Strength years ago, and started chanting.
"Just wait for a while, Sire. And you'll be free," whispered the demon while performing a dark ritual. Just then, Eithera sacrificed his last willpower to summon a genie lamp.
"Ginee, I Summone Thee!"
The lamp then dropped at the back of Saurva. It opened its lid and sucked the daeva into it.
In the end, Ahriman failed to escape from his lair. But unfortunately, the druid turned into statue, standing motionlessly beside the genie lamp.
~~~
Rhen, Lars and Talia stood in front of a cave. Along the cave lies a few people, all turned to statue. Many of them had the same expression. Sad, angry, frowned, shocked.
"So here we are, the hind's whereabouts," whistled Lars. "Well, let's go."
While they were exploring the cave, they heard an ethereal melody. The party plugged their ears with the beeswax they found back in Aveyond. After that they continued to explore, unaffected by the Charmed Song. They saw a hind standing at the end of the cave. She had a body of a human and a body of a horse. The hind was playing its Golden Harp.
The hind's beauty was so unearthly that the adventurers forgot to breath. Awe washed over them and their limbs began to stiffen.
Oh my, she's using the Petrification Spell! Only if I can reach it... With her remaining strength, Rhen pulled the hand mirror out of her backpack and thrust it to the hind.
A wail followed and the hind turned into stone in the end, a victim of her own curse.
"Rhen, we should take the hind's harp back to Veldarah. Master Harald said we had to accomplish a noble deed and bring back proof to Veldarah," suggested Lars after the Petrification Spell wore off.
"You're right, Lars. The Legendary Harp of the Hind should be the proof that we need to be raised," agreed Rhen after they unplugged the beeswax. She took the hind's harp and went out from the cave.
~~~
"Why haven't I noticed there's a cottage in the forest?" asked Rhen when they saw smokes coming in a distance.
They knocked the door and a voice replied. A man was sitting by the fireplace. He saw the trio and welcomed them with a big smile. They had a sit and the conversation followed.
"I like the quiet out here, no one to bother me but my memories," said the woodsman.
"What memories could be so terrible to bring you so far away, woodsman?" asked the Dreamer.
"I know this voice, a voice from another lifetime. No, I must be mistaken. All who I've known are gone," he sighed.
"Stop moping, you wooly-eyed-buffoon! This pitiful self-declared misery does you no good!" nagged Talia.
"So it's you. My dear friend, Talia Maurva," he smiled.
"You're so dramatic, Devin Pendragon! What has become of the spirited young man I once knew?" scowled the Dreamer. "The boy who could not wait to leave his tiny village to venture the great kingdom of the west!" she continued as she was recounting the events years ago.
"Ha! Look what good it has done to me. A ruined man, a failure of a king, a nation destroyed, all hope destroyed."
"Is that so? You act as if all is lost!"
"My wife... my daughter... my people..."
"Er, where did you say you were from?" asked Rhen suddenly as she felt that she and Lars did not belong there.
"Thais...I am... was Devin Pendragon, King of Thais. But Thais is no more," answered Devin hopelessly.
"Thais lost? What would make you think that foolish thought?" snapped Talia.
"Don't deny that you saw it fall."
"You really are a buffoon. Thais still exists. But how did you get here?"
"I... I don't know. I thought I had died, but when I awoke, I was here. A fitting punishment for my mistake," sighed Devin, again.
"Devin, this place is not good for you. Why don't you come with me to Aveyond? You can think out your plan there," offered the Dreamer.
"I don't know..."
"Devin, no squabbling!" snapped Talia to his "emo" friend.
"Hah! You always could make me do things that I never thought I would. For you, Talia Maurva, old and dear friend, I'll go anywhere."
"Children, you have convinced me that you're capable of taking care of yourselves. I'm going to take Devin to Aveyond. We'll meet you there," said Talia after Devin accepted her offer.
After bid farewell to Rhen and Lars, Talia and Devin left the cottage, leaving them standing like a pair of scarecrows.
"Let's get back to the academy and get raised," offered Rhen, who was as lost as Lars' at the previous conversation.
~~~
"We have brought you the Harp of the Hind in hopes of being raised to Sword Singer and Sorcerer," spoke Talia to the headmaster when they're back to the academy.
"This is indeed a noble thing you've done. The golden hind has haunted the Wildwood for years," nodded Master Harald. He cleared his throat before he started the great moment (For Rhen and Lars, of course).
"Rhen Darzon, Shadwood Academy recognises you a Sword Singer," said the headmaster as he gave her a Sword Singer outfit.
"Lars Tenobor, Shadwood Academy recognises you as Sorcerer," he continued and gave him a blue sorcerer robe proudly.
"Please change into your new outfits soon. Since you're no longer students you should not dress like them," the headmaster smiled at them, who were over the cloud nine.
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