He rose and looked around the now empty fairgrounds. Wisps of smoke
were
still floating in the air from the fires of the night before. Besides
the
footprints in the sand, that was all that was left for evidence of the
great gathering.

Drake smiled to himself as he thought of the practice battles. He had
not
faired as well as he hoped, but had learned so much that would help him
deal
with the everyday rabble of the land. So many thoughts of what he
could
have changed and what spells he wanted to learn flew threw his head.
So
much to do.

The oiling of his armor and sharpening of his fine axe was just at its
end
when a he felt a burning sensation on the side of his neck. I must have
gotten a good scratch last night was his thought. He lifted his axe,
with
it’s mirror like blade, to asses the damage. To his surprise and shock,
there wasn’t a scratch there at all, but what could only be described
as an
image of a lugian fist. He had seen enough of these in the last past
week to
know the appearance well - there was no mistaking it. The burning
sensation
subsided as the image became more clear. What could this mean?

Haunted by this strange occurrence, Drake hurriedly finished his
morning
duties and headed out. He knew that the night had left him low on some
all
important tapers so he decided to make the run to Mayoi before he
looked for
some answers.

The jog to the Samsur portal wasn’t too far to the East so Drake headed
in
that direction. As he crested one of the hills before town he spied
his
King and friend, The Silent Spearman. Always glad to see his powerful
Monarch, Drake ran over to great him.

As the distance closed between them, the image on the side of Drake’s
neck
began to burn again - this time much more so than the first. Drake
stopped
and grabbed the side of his neck, the pain was almost blinding. He saw
the
look of concern on TSS’s face until red dots began forming over his
vision.

Drake felt himself pull out his axe and arm himself. "What is
happening?",
he tried to scream, but the words never formed. All that was heard was
a
feral growl. He realized that this came from himself and was horrified
as he
felt his body leap towards his beloved king. The Spearman is more than
a
match for one as young and inexperienced as Drake and he evaded the
attack
as if he expected it.

After a few more swings Drake was barely able to control his limbs. His
whole body shook as the inner battle continued and he fell to his
knees. He
begged TSS for forgiveness through gritted teeth. The Spearman nods
and
shows him a parchment that he had received earlier that morning. It was
from
Lugwig, the King of the Lugians. It explained a curse that had been
placed
on Drake.

The weight of the words hit him hard. The momentary loss of
concentration
sent his body springing back at TSS for another attack. The always
aware
Spearman leapt away knowing that Drake had lost his grip once again.
The
Silent Spearman gestures that he knows what the curse entails but can
not
bring himself to go through with it. There must be another way.

Drake gabs control once again and the TSS takes that time to exit,
hoping
find another way to break the curse which has trapped one of his
subjects.
Once he was out of the vicinity, Drake grasped complete control and the
burning subsided…but not for long.

The voice of Dhali made it all too clear why the burning was starting
again.
Drake’s control was lost in a split second as Dhali approached. He
jumped
on him with all the fury that he hadn’t even known he possessed.

Dhali was caught by surprise, but no where near unprepared. He was
very
careful to keep himself protected as well as keeping Drake alive. Drake
could hear his voice but couldn’t make out the words. He fought with
all
his might and control was his once more. The guilt was almost
suffocating
to him. He once again asked for a friend’s forgiveness then dropped
the
parchment on the ground for Dhali to view.

Refusing to believe that the curse could only be broken with Drake’s
multiple deaths, he suggests storming the Citadel and demanding the
curse to
be removed. This gave Drake some hope for the future. He asks Dhali
to
leave him before he loses control once more. Once again, all of the
violence leaves him when the Source member, and good friend, is out of
sight.

Now there was no time for the run to Mayoi, Drake needed answers
quickly.
He had one option open to him, he was practiced in a skill that all had
and
few used - the power of universal energy. He found a good safe spot to
prepare himself. Once everything was in order, he sat down and closed
his
eyes. Breathing deeply, he fell into a relaxed, trance like state. In
the
darkness of his mind he asked his astral messenger to find a way to
break
the curse.

Hours passed before the messenger answered his question. Dhali’s
suggestion
was very close to the mark and Drake smiled at that - Dhali has always
been
a smart one. The images of the answer wrapped through is mind. He
could
see Gigas and Lithios lugians. The images changed to show a key being
pulled off one of the light blue giants. The key then engulfed his
vision.
Then the thoughts were completed: To break the curse, a key must be
pulled
off a Giga in the presence of the cursed. When Drake opened his eyes,
he
felt much more relieved, but there was still some trying times ahead.

While all these thoughts were still fresh in his mind the burning
started
again. Drake stood up fast, and tried to run in a direction that would
lessen the pain, hoping that also meant that he was moving further away
from
a Source member. The opposite happened.

Gobei crested the hill just as the control slipped from Drake’s grasp.
Not
knowing what was going on, but hearing the feral growl, Gobei readied
himself. That was all he got to do before Drake’s axe cleaved him and
sent
him to the lifestone. Control was once again Drake’s.

At his feet he saw his long time friend and Vassal. "What have I
done?",
were the words repeated through is head. It didn’t take Gobei long to
return, covered in Ashron’s protection. The burning didn’t start again
either. Must be Ashron’s power. He showed Gobei the scroll and told
him
what he had learned. Knowing that he can do very little to help, and
for
his own safety, Gobei expresses his sorrow and leaves while Ashron was
still protecting him from further harm.

It was late in the day when Drake arrived at the Lugian Citadel. There
was
little chance in him making it to the inner room not to mention
actually
killing the Gigas. He would try though, over and over again but, for
now,
he needed some sleep. It had been a long day.