Marianne frowned. There it was again. The evil that rose had grazed her mind again for a few seconds. She had dedicated her life to Torqua. There were no own interests. Torqua always led and directed her. Therefore, she had learned to trust her feeling because it was not her own feeling. She was completely attuned to the God of Justice and the Empire and consequently every single of her intuitions was always the truth, even if it might not have looked like that in the beginning. She had to go southeast, close to the border to the seven cities. Her feelings told her that the terror was lurking there. And even if she were wrong, the followers of the King of the Dead would still try to leave the Empire for Pest Bay as soon as possible. Uhlheim. This was the ultimate base of the Mahjagothian guardians. From there it was only a few day to the desert by horse.
Marianne shoved her sword "Lagonir's tongue" into the it´s scabbard. "Berik!" she called, walking to the door of her chamber. Master Zuge Nakatani was already waiting outside. He wore the bright white robe with red flames of the combat magician who had joined the guardians of Mahjagoth. He was a good friend and companion of Marianne of Stormrocks' father and about fifty years old. He was her patron saint and had been watching her all her life from the background. Zugi was her bodyguard, her closest confidante and, what nobody knew, Berik's father. He was the only man Marianne could give herself to.
A man who exuded a serenity and security even to her that only her father had. Marianne secretly looked at him now and then as Torqua's incarnation. He never lied. He was always fair. He did not doubt and did not hesitate. He was the only one in the castle, in the order, even in the entire empire, to call her Marianne because she had no siblings and her parents had already died. He was one of the three pillars on which her life rested and her strength was founded. The second was Berik, her son and the third, of course, Torqua. Zugi looked at her calmly. "To Uhlheim?".Marianne nodded. Berik came up the stairs, armed and with a backpack on his back. "Here I am Colonel Mother." Marianne eyed him. The armour was in perfect condition. Berik looked calm, but she knew that the fire of youth impatience blazed in him. "I have already saddled the Whitearrow and Stormnoses is also ready. I just wanted to…" "We are not riding Berik," interrupted Colonel of Stormrock her son. "If you were so friendly Zugi." The latter nodded, reached into the deep side pockets of his robe and brought out a blue stone. Berik grimaced: "Not again mother!" "If you don't want to serve the Lord just tell Berik," replied the latter, placing her hand on the stone. Berik reluctantly put his hand on the stone and finally Zugi. Then Zugi raised his other hand, his left, clenched as a fist.
"Ragesh no Nidata su Zaakuhl"
Hardly spoken, flames rose from his raised hand in all directions around the three companions and formed a ball of flames around them. Eventually it started to shrink quickly and shrink until it finally disappeared into nothing, and with it the Guardians. Marianne went black for a moment, then her eyes cleared again, and she found herself in a large hall, which she immediately recognized as Torqua's prayer house. Around them, a group of 8 guards had formed a circle around them and pointed their swords at them. A priest a few steps away had already created the Torqua's symbol. She smiled inwardly. Her men were on the ball here too. After a blink of an eye, the men lowered their swords and an awe-inspiring look spread instead. Now they fell on their knees, supported by their swords. "Torqua in greeting Colonel of Stormrock." The priest wiped the symbol away with his hand and came smiling at the three who had just arrived. Greetings to Marianne of Stormrock, and the justiciar. And of course also greetings to you young master Berik." "Don't call him master for my sake. Calling him in the same breath as Master Zugi disgraces the title. He still has a long way to go until he may renounced Master, Actually he is just Blade Berik?" "So it is Colonel, it is not necessary to lift me up because of my origin." "Good, good," the priest smiled and made an inviting gesture. "Follow me to the sanctuary and let me hear how his humble servant can help him." "Go ahead father Wieland." The priest turned in amazement." You know my name your exaltation?" "Of course Father Wieland, you once gave my father the third blessing on Crossridge. You don't know, I was present at this ceremony." Father Wieland laughed in surprise. "That was 24 years ago," he said with sparkling eyes. "And yet I can remember that moment and the kindness that you have shown to my father." Marianne of Stormrock put her hand on Father Wieland's shoulder as she walked slightly up the stairs behind him. "Dark times are about to break Father. The terror of the plague bay rises, and it does not happen far from our walls." Father Wieland turned to her with a frown as he strode further up. "Nobody can break the curse of the sun. No man can penetrate the protective spells, and by the way, no woman too, if you want to mention that. It is the strongest curse of all and it was spoken by the most powerful magicians of the tower of the sun. I studied this curse and you know, the magicians from Krimfeld, derive most of their counter-spells from it." father Wieland opened the door to the sanctuary. The sanctuary was the inner sanctuary of a Torqua temple and only high consecrated people were allowed to enter it. Father Wieland, Colonel of Stormrock and Master Zugi entered. When Master Zug was standing in the door, Berik sent himself to follow them. Master Zug raised an eyebrow meaningfully and Berik let his shoulders drop and said: "Of course, I'll keep watch as long as possible." The sanctuary was an eight-square building with artistically painted, high windows. In the center, the Torqua symbol hung from the ceiling above an altar covered with gold. Two benches, also covered with golden velvet, stood in front of the altar. All three knelt before the altar and lowered their heads. Father Wieland raised his hands to heaven and prayed: "Torqua our mighty lord of heaven. You have gathered your humble servants to receive your will so that we can find what needs to be wiped from your face. Hear our supplication and give us your wise advice. Show us your adversaries and bless the eyes, heart and sword arm of your warrior and judge so that your people and your empire will be cleansed from evil and the flames of injustice will be nipped in the bud." The symbol of Torqua began to shine from a glittering golden light and the light continued to expand until it completely enveloped Marianne of Stormrock and Zugi Nakatani. Both felt warmth and power penetrate and fulfill them. Then the light retreated and the symbol hung from the ceiling as before. Colonel of Stormrock opened her eyes and looked at Father Wieland. "Very well. We are to serve him here in this matter. And we are in the right place. "
Marianne opened the door to her quarters. She took her backpack from her shoulders and placed it next to her bed. Zugi stood in the doorway and leaned against the frame. Marianne looked at him and said: "What do you think who we are dealing with?" Zugi looked at her, thought for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders slightly and replied: "I think we have two options here. The most obvious possibility is that there are servants of the King of the Dead, and I strongly assume so, and they somehow managed to overcome the protection spells. Another possibility is that the prison was opened by accident. We cannot ignore this possibility. After all, his prison was never found. That means that it is definitely somewhere in the mountains or in a cave. Under these circumstances, it would be quite possible that an access had been cleared by an earthquake, a landslide, mines or something else." Marianne crossed her arms over her chest:" Torqua sent us to Uhlheim. However, the prison was opened, the Dead King's jar was stolen from the prison and it is herenow. Zugi nodded:" Certainly. But we may not be looking for necromancers, sinister magicians, or servants of the arch demons. If the prison was opened by accident a miner or a hunter may have found his jar. Do you know what his vessel is? "Marianne shook her head:" Unfortunately there is nothing in the scriptures about it. "Suddenly both heard someone hurry up the stairs. An older keeper came running down the aisle to Marianne's quarters. When he reached her, he saluted briskly and said: "Colonel of Stormrock, I bring bad news. A small town on the road to the 7 towns was attacked by slave hunters last night. Commander Jarek has already made 20 guards ready to fight. "Marianne went to the door and looked at Zugi:" Is it a coincidence? "To the messenger she said:" How did you find out about it? "The older keeper replied:" A magician wanted to deliver a message to his fiancée there with a crow. He saw through the eyes of the animal the destroyed city and the corpses at the marketplace." "Where is he?" "He is waiting for you down in the hall." Zugi said: "Speak to him, Colonel of Stormrock. I'll take a look at the matter myself." With these words, Zugi turned and went to his quarters. Marianne followed the older keeper down into the hall. Berik met them on the way: "What happened Colonel? The house is in a riot. The keepers are getting ready to fight." "Auenfries was apparently recently attacked by slave hunters. A magician saw the devastated city through the eyes of a crow." Marianne grabbed her son's arm. "Listen to Berik. A great evil that had long been trapped in secret was released. This happened just yesterday. We don't know what all of this means, but He sent us here. He sent me. We have to be very careful and not doubt or hesitate. There will be days when you can't ask me for advice. Always remember his word. Think of his nature and do nothing that violates his commandments, then his strong arm will always guide your blade and his divine spirit will guide your mind. Never think of your young head as a better advisor than his word. And now come. We want to talk to the magician and hear what he has to report. "