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Everything was grey and dark. Caitlin felt how her heart grew heavy and with every second she had the feeling to suffocate. She felt on her knees and touched the cold stone in front of her. She wept, but her weeping was unheard. The gravestone had an inscription…

… Caitlin opened her eyes, which filled slowly with tears. “A dream”, she thought. “A nightmare.”
She was in the house of the druids and Pendar slept next to her. He was holding her hand, while sleeping.
Caitlin slowly looked over to him and examined him quietly. Watched him breathing.

“Please forgive me…”, Caitlin began whispering, though she knew he wouldn’t hear her. “Today I was too much confronted with the fact, that I could lose you. My heart wasn’t able to bear that. The thought you could face Gerard alone… it let me tremble because of fear and I wasn’t able to have any clear thought. I’m not afraid of many things, Pendar, but I’m afraid of losing you. More than everything else. This fear even haunts my in my dreams. You are the air that I breath and the rain which let me grow. How shall I live without you?”
Caitlin took a quiet breath.
“I know that you are fighting for what you believe and that you would die for it. Today I pilloried your for that, though I’m not better. I felt like you would have forgotten me.”
She closed her eyes.
“Maybe I have to learn to accept that. You are following your heart, like I do.”
Caitlin looked again at him and pondered. Her heart still felt heavy, but then she suddenly started smiling.
“I wonder what I have done that I deserve something wonderful. I love you more and more every day, though I always think that it can’t increase. There is no reason to be sad, ‘cause we are together and we can stand any problem. Nothing can get us down, as long as we are together. And even death can’t part us, nor our love. No might on earth can.”
Caitlin bent over and kissed the sleeping Pendar gently on his lips, before she carefully got out of the bed.
She put her cloak over her shoulders and left the house of the druids through the door. The air was fresh and though there wasn’t a sun seeable – the horizon already grew brighter. It dawned.
“You gods”, Caitlin started praying loud, though in a gentle tone. “Now there is a man in our town, owning the goblet of Adron. But I guess that’s nothing new for you. Now I wonder what you expect from us? In this town there are a lot of your followers, who pray to you, serve you and who are trusting you. We are doing what we can so that we can bring the goblet back to its rightful owner. But there lies the problem. We are just normal people, but have to face a man with a godlike power, which nearly no mortal holds. We could need some support here. You are the gods and I beg you to do something. This is your problem as well as ours.”

Es war alles grau und dunkel. Caitlin spürte wie ihr Herz immer schwerer wurde und sie dachte sie müsste jeden Moment ersticken. Sie fiel auf die Knie und berührte den kalten Stein vor ihr. Sie weinte, doch ihr Weinen blieb unerhört. Der Grabstein vor dem sie kniete hatte eine Inschrift…


…Caitlin öffnete die Augen, welche sich langsam mit Tränen füllten. „Ein Traum…“, dachte sie. „Alptraum.“
Sie befand sich im Haus der Druiden und neben ihr schlief Pendar. Er hielt ihre Hand während er schlief.
Caitlin blickte langsam zu ihm rüber und musterte ihn still. Beobachtete wie er atmete.

„Bitte verzeih mir…“, begann Caitlin leise zu flüstern. Sie wusste, er würde sie nicht hören, dennoch hielt sie das nicht davon ab fortzusetzen. „Ich war heute mehr denn je mit der Tatsache konfrontiert, dass ich dich verlieren könnte. Das hat mein Herz nicht ertragen. Das du dich Gerard alleine stellen willst. Das lässt mich vor Angst erbeben und keinen klaren Gedanken mehr fassen. Ich fürchte nicht viel im Leben, Pendar, aber ich fürchte dich zu verlieren. Mehr als alles andere. Diese Angst verfolgt mich sogar bis in meine Träume. Du bist die Luft die ich atme und der Regen der mich wachsen lässt. Wie soll ich denn ohne dich leben?“
Caitlin atmet leise ein.
„Ich weiß, du kämpfst für das, an was du glaubst. Du würdest sterben dafür. Das habe ich heute angeprangert, auch wenn ich selbst nicht besser bin. Ich fühlte mich von dir vergessen.“Sie schloss die Augen für einen Moment und wusch sich die Tränen von der Wange.
Vielleicht muss ich lernen, dies zu akzeptieren. Du folgst deinem Herzen, so wie ich meinem folge.“
Sie blickte ihn eine Weile an und dachte nach. Ihr Herz fühlte sich immer noch schwer an, doch als sie plötzlich zu lächeln begann, war es, als wenn ihr eine Last vom Herzen fallen würde.
„Ich frag mich was ich getan habe, dass die Götter mir so etwas Wundervolles gegeben haben. Ich liebe dich mit jedem Tag mehr, auch wenn ich Stunden zuvor schon dachte es würde gar keine Steigerung mehr geben. Es gibt keinen Grund traurig zu sein, denn wir beide werden immer alle Hürden schaffen. Nichts kriegt uns so schnell unter, solange wir zusammen sind. Selbst der Tod könnte uns nicht trennen oder gar unsere Liebe mindern. Keine Macht dieser Welt kann das.“Caitlin beugte sich langsam auf und küsste den schlafenden Pendar vorsichtig auf die Lippen, bevor sie sich möglichst leise aus dem Bett machte.
Sie zog sich einen Mantel über die Schultern und öffnete die Tür des Druidenhauses und trat an die kühle Morgenluft. Die Sonne war noch nicht aufgegangen, doch der Horizont war schon leicht erhellt. Es dämmerte.
„Ihr Götter“, begann Caitlin in einem sanften Ton laut zu beten, als sich die ersten Sonnenstrahlen blicken ließen. „Nun sitzt ein Mann bei uns in der Stadt, der den Kelch Adrons besitzt. Aber ich gehe mal davon aus, dass ihr darüber schon Bescheid wisst. Was erwartet ihr nun von uns? In dieser Stadt habt ihr viele Anhänger, die an euch glauben, zu euch beten und euch vertrauen. Wir tun was in unserer Macht steht um diesem Menschen den Kelch abzunehmen und ihm seinen rechtmäßigen Besitzer wiederzugeben. Aber genau da liegt unser Problem. Wir sind nur Menschen, haben es aber mit jemanden zu tun, welcher sich durch einen göttlichen Gegenstand Macht angeeignet hat, die kaum einem Sterblichen gleich kommt. Wir könnten etwas Unterstützung gut gebrauchen. Ihr seid die Götter, ich bitte euch, unternehmt was. Dies hier ist euer Problem, genauso wie unseres.“

Sima walks along the forrest on the direction to the house of Druids. Yesterday was a wonderful day, because she was at home. She lived on the Island Norath. Her parents are so wonderful, but now, she has to live alone and to fledge with every rights and duties.

She arrives at the House of Druids and hears Caitlins voice praying to the gods. She looks into the window and sees Pendar lying in one of the beds and Caitlin on her knees. Sima is confuses and astonished. She knocks on the door, bacause she doesn't want to burst in.

-Hmm...Caitlin seems to be worried. What happend? Why is she so often absorbed in thought?-

Sima meditates a short time and goes away. On the one hand she thinks, that it isn't the right timing to talk to her teacher and in addition, she wants to let her with Pendar alone, but on the other hand, she wants to be there for Caitlin. She goes slowly and hopes, that Caitlin opens the door and asks her in.

Mephistus labours over a large pile of books in the library, he flips through pages and pages of ancient lore, folk tales and rumours in an attempt to find something, anything that will aid taking back the goblet.

He then sifts through the scribbled notes he has made from various interviews with people. Trying to peice together whatever he can on the problem.

Exhausted by hours of study he sits back in his chair, he looks over to the corner of the desk, a sleek black leather bound book sits there, with intricate runes carved upon its cover. He reaches for it.

"No, not yet, not now, I must be patient"

He withdraws his hand and with renewed energy he returns to his studies.

Rising early from his bed the young captain slips from the house of the druids sparing but moments thought for the lady who had shared his bed the night before. The lady who he had to confess in his most private thought had also saved his life, drawing him away from his vigil one the inn and his plan to face Gerard. Yet something else had happened something he couldn’t yet explain as if a fire had gone out on his chest.
Words from last night ran through his mind as he reached for his hammer the cold steel reminding him of the chill in his heart.

Gerard is an abomination in the gods eyes...the gods stand and watch this, do they?
He breaks all I believed in, what I thought holy...he spits on. Perhaps it cannot be explained how a heart might need to face such a creature win or lose. Simply because I have to believe

Then her words her voice etched with pain and the torment he had brought her the final statement that had crushed him.
…..never since your title, honor and pride, your bitterness and your anger took so much space in your heart, that there is none left for me.

She was all he loved and he knew as clearly as ever his heart beat only for her, yet just to be the man he was, the man she loved he should have stayed.
I can smile and laugh because I live free my lady I fear nothing not because I am brave but because freedom knows no fear. Every time I allowed fear people have suffered I have suffered.
Yet for you I have allowed fear, now I know not were I will find my courage.

Forgoing his armor he took of at a run heading for the darkest place he knew on the island the cursed crypt beneath the graveyard. Stepping into the gloom and the cold he smiled crookedly cold outside as within now.
The bones of the cursed scratched and skittered in the gloom there cackling like goading as the young man stepped forward readying his hammer.
Let me show a quick path out of this world in pieces,
Unarmored and wild eyed he stood and swung his hammer surgically as waves of the cursed shattered against it.
He chest burner and muscles trembled cuts and bruises burned as sweat ran down his skin until his strength was spent entirely.
Nearly an hour later he stumbled from the crypt bloody and filthy collapsing on the cool ground of a grave just outside resting his head against the tombstone he laid drawing slow breaths. Unaware of the slow oozing of his old scars something dark as heart blood and thick as tar. His vision faded in and out between pitch black and blinding white.
Just before he lost his awareness entirely he heard a voice at his ear, hideous as the sound of burning flesh.

You are stretched on your grave boy but worry not my arms enfold you now……