The Beginning

                  The group prepared camp for the night, moving their tents into one central location for safety and for solace of friendship. As the others set up tents and gathered supplies and food rations, Enok hoped to find his father’s animals. He tied their harnesses to a tree so they would feel less inclined to wander, but kept the ropes loose enough that if they wanted to pull free, they could in case a predator attacked, or in this instance, they needed to look for food and water in the absence of their caretaker.

                  Several of them still meandered around camp, showing positive signs of safety for the night. Enok wandered out into the surrounding bushes, looking for the others. A few calls, and the others strolled their way back to Enok, expecting a reward for their obedience. Enok smiled. After everything they had been through, he could still report to his father a successful journey as a first-time handler. He carefully counted them, making sure they were all there.

                  “That’s odd.” Enok recounted. “There’s an extra one? That’s impossible?” He counted again, and then thought back to the beginning of their journey, and no matter how he looked at it, an extra pack animal joined their group.

                  The bushes behind Enok rustled, and a voice called out, “Enok?”

                  “AUUUUAHHGGGGGHH!!!!!!!!!!!!”

                  “Sorry, sorry,” an old woman said with a laugh. “It’s me, Brynhilda, I was looking for berries. I didn’t mean to startle you. Oh, it’s so good to see you!” Brynhilda immediately embraced Enok in a tight hug.

                  “You scared me to death! I thought you were a troll or something,” Enok said.

                  “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” Brynhilda said with a laugh as she pulled Enok back to look him over.

                  “No, no, I didn’t see you… is what I meant,” Enok said with a smile, trying to correct his mixed up identification.

                  Brynhilda didn’t care and pulled him in for another hug, which he gladly gave.

                  “LILI! LEILA! Your grandmother is here!” Enok yelled back to the others as he led Brynhilda to their camp. As soon as Leila and Lili saw their grandmother, they flew across the ground to meet her embrace. They tried talking through their tears, but the emotion of reunion overpowered their ability to communicate. The rest of the camp gathered around Brynhilda and her granddaughters.

                  “My sweet little girls, you’re alright, you’re alright.” Brynhilda said as she hugged them. She held their faces so she could see them. “Lili? Are you okay? What happened? Do you feel okay?” Brynhilda could see the wear on her soul. It showed through her eyes.

                  Lili smiled back, still slow to respond. “It’s okay grandma, I’m alright. It was kind of scary, but I’m doing fine now.”

                  “Well, I’ll make sure of that!” Brynhilda turned to Leila, looking her over. “It looks like you have been through quite an adventure. How are you? Doing okay?”

                  “Yeah grandma, just tired.”

                  Brynhilda embraced her granddaughters again. They held for a while when Brynhilda saw the Ruundyr perched on the edge of the cliff looking out over the valley. “I’m pretty sure I picked berries, not mushrooms, so tell me I’m not seeing things. Is that what I think it is?”

                  “Oh, Rune! Yes, don’t worry, he’s a friend,” Enok said.

                  Brynhilda raised an eyebrow.

                  Enok explained all they went through, how he met Rune, how Rune saved them, and how he protected them on their journey out of the Valley.

                  Rune glanced over at the group talking about him. He snorted a huff, then looked back out over the valley.

Brynhilda noticed Torben next. “What happened to you, my friend!?” she said as she immediately brushed the dirt and dust away.

                  “Apparently, I fell in a hole, maybe a couple of times. I don’t know. I’m not remembering much.” Torben said, still acting sluggish.

                  Brynhilda already examined his injuries and wiped dirt and blood off his face with her sleeve. “It looks like you did a little more than fall.” Brynhilda observed several lines of lacerations that looked to be claw marks on his shoulder. “No worries, though. We will get you fixed right up. Don’t worry about your memories. I’ve got some teas and herbs that will help. I can get you patched up and feeling better. You don’t have to worry. I’ll take care of you. For now, just rest.”

                  Torben smiled. Most people let him deal with his own consequences. It felt nice to feel like someone would want to take care of him. Brynhilda looked over at Ella, who immediately went in for a hug, shedding a few tears.

                  Brynhilda pulled her in tight and held her. After a moment, she pulled her back to look her over. “How are you doing? Are you alright? You look much better than the others.”

                  “I’m alright, I’m doing good, just tired that’s all.” Ella said.

                  “Ha, you must have been through something mighty intense if this girl is tired. Relish these moments!” Brynhilda said, looking at the others garnishing several exhausted laughs.

                  Yerik and Hjalmar Geir exchanged their salutations to the old woman, though not as filled with hugs and tears. Then turning to Jonas, her voice took on an authoritative tone.

                  “Mr. Jonas Elmgren!” If she knew his middle name, she would have used it, “Let me guess, after telling you not to go into the valley, you still went into the valley.” Brynhilda had a way of being a mother to anyone.

                  Jonas, sheepishly kicking dirt around with his foot, nodded his head. “Yes, yes I did, I’m so, so sorry, I had no idea what was down there, I never meant to put your granddaughters in danger—”

                  “You put them in danger?” Brynhilda interrupted.

                  “Well, yes, but I didn’t mean to, again, my sincerest apologies. I never should have—”

                  “Stop!” Brynhilda smiled at the squirming Jonas. “It’s in the past, and we are all okay now. Let’s focus on that. Did you find what you were looking for?”

                  Jonas looked directly at Brynhilda with a serious look in his eyes and a gentle nod. “Unfortunately… yes.”

                  “Oh, so you were looking for psychotic dragons that wanted to maim and torture us then?” Ella said with a shrug.

                  “No, I wasn’t looking for that,” Jonas said.

                  “Wait, you said there were dragons down there?” Brynhilda asked.

                  Jonas nodded.

                  “What kind of dragons?” Brynhilda asked. Normally it would be an odd question, yet it made sense in the given context.

                  Ella interjected, “There were all kinds of freakish dragons. First, your typical winged dragons, but they were all gross and slimy looking. Then we found these strange types of mutated human-like dragon creatures, absolutely hideous, freaks of nature, nothing normal about them. Some of them were huge. Some even carried swords.”

                  “Is that true Mr. Jonas?” Brynhilda asked.

                  “I’m afraid so. I had no idea anything lived down there, but apparently there seems to be a cult of dragons, possibly from a lost tribe with connections to the ancient world that still lives there. We only ran into problems because…” Jonas paused for a moment looking at the others, “…we think the dragons practice some form of magic.”

                  “You think?!” Ella said, questioning his clarity. “Did you not see what Leila can do? Or what Lili did. She picked up entire dragons, in the air, in the air! Meanwhile, those dragons could paralyze us with a wave of their hands.” With Brynhilda asking so many questions, Ella found an outlet of fresh ears that would listen to her talk.

                  “Wait, wait, back up. The dragons knew magic, and you two learned it?” Brynhilda asked, looking at her granddaughters.

                  They both nodded.

                  Ella still acted as the mouthpiece for everyone. “We believe the winged dragons knew magic, and the other mutated dragons, we think they acted like their henchmen. They didn’t seem to control any magic. Pretty fierce though. They were good for a feisty battle.”

                  Brynhilda thought for a moment. “Those other dragons, the mutant ones. What did they look like?” Brynhilda shuffled through her bag as the others tried to explain their appearance. Then, pulling out the ancient book she brought with her, she opened it up to the illustration of the disturbing drawing of the dragon creature.

                  “Yes, yes, kind of like that. Well, similarly, the larger upper body, little or no wings, arms and hands more like a human. Most of them walked on their back legs, although it’s the hands that were the strangest.” The others added their observation, confirming what they had witnessed.

                  “How many of them were there?” Brynhilda asked.

                  Jonas shook his head. “A lot, too many to estimate.”

                  “You were down there, right? How many did you see?” Brynhilda asked.

                  Jonas looked at the others, then explained. “That’s what I was getting to. It’s not just a few ruins or a few findings, it’s an entire city buried in this valley. Probably the size of Hallador, if not larger, collapsed, fallen on top of itself. You could probably walk for days through the caverns, tunnels and collapsed buildings. We came across those dragons many times, yet their population could extend far beyond what we witnessed. Something absolutely cataclysmic happened to a very large civilization, and nobody knows anything about it.”

                  Brynhilda nodded, deep in thought. “Somebody does.” Brynhilda held up the book. “Your ancient book is not as ancient as we hoped. Although it appears to be written during the common era, the author still wrote it in old Gumtal, and then, on top of that, they coded the writing with magic.” Lili and Leila made eye contact with their grandma, as she looked directly at them for the moment. “Magic that apparently my grandmother and her mother and their mother practiced before me. Following their instructions, I translated a few bits here and there, and I believe this book is a journal. A journal of someone from Hallador. Someone that knew about this area, someone that knew what happened to that city, someone that saw these dragon creatures you speak of. I just need more time. I need to find out what’s in this book.”

                  Jonas lit with excitement at the confirmation and validation of his belief. “I can probably get you more help. There are a lot of others out there that study the old language. After reporting what we found back to the officials, we could get an entire team of scholars and—”

                  “NO!” Brynhilda said, interrupting Jonas.

                  “Excuse me?” Jonas said, a bit surprised.

                  Brynhilda searched the air for the right words, shaking her head, eventually vocalizing what went through her mind. Brynhilda looked around at the others. “We can’t tell anyone what you found. We can’t let anyone know what you saw, what you did, or that you even went into the valley.”

                  The group stared at her intently, confused, yet too unsettled to disagree.

                  Brynhilda nodded with a quick shake of the book in her hand. “Entire civilizations don’t just disappear. Even if they lived long before Hallador, there would have still been stories. Some people knew about this, some dragons knew about this, dragons in Hallador, dragons in the city's government. The effort to hide whatever is in that valley would require extensive coordination and many individuals working together. I couldn’t translate the entire book. I’m not strong enough yet, but what I could translate began as a typical journal. It seemed mostly innocent, like a journal of a typical life. Yet further in, the author says he feared for his life if they knew what he wrote. He talks of dragons hiding something and what it seems is…” she pointed to the valley, “… that is what they are hiding.”

                  The group stood silent as they thought through the cryptic information Brynhilda shared.

                  Brynhilda spoke, breaking the silence. “Think about it! This journal was written during the time of the common language, and for him to write it in old Gumtal, AND lock it with magic, he wanted to hide what he wrote. I don’t know if those same threats still exist today, but what if there is a reason that people go missing from the valley? What if there is a logical reason people think this valley is cursed? If you walk back into town, being the only person ever to have returned from the valley with the information you have, I don’t know what sort of threats would want to control that information.”

                  Jonas looked concerned. “Do you really think there is still a threat?”

                  Brynhilda looked directly at Jonas. “Have you ever heard of ‘The Dragon Order’?”

                  Jonas nodded, “Rumors. Fodder for urban myths, mostly.”

                  Brynhilda shook her head. “Not according to my ancestors.” Brynhilda looked at the others. “You tell me. You say there is an entire city the size of Hallador buried, and nobody knows about it. There is no history of it, and people go missing when they go in. I hate sounding like I’m creating some sort of fable here, but look at the evidence. You and I both know it’s not chance that nobody has discovered what lies within the Valley of Myrr.”

                  The others in the group looked around at each other. Leila nodded her head. The strange conversation felt surreal to most of them. Except for Yerik. He kept smiling with a slight chuckle the more Brynhilda explained her theory.

                  “What do you suggest we do next?” Jonas asked.

                  “First, I need time to translate the journal, and learn what information it contains. It may give us a deeper understanding of the Valley, and why there are dragons there, and how dangerous this information really is. Then there’s that map. Show me that map again.”

                  Jonas fetched the map as the group settled in around Brynhilda. Opening the map, she pointed to the civilization above Eknor.

                  “I believe this is accurate. If this is Eknor, this up here would be the ruins you found in the valley. If that is true, then what is this civilization over here?” Brynhilda pointed to the other city drawing on the map.

                  Yerik chuckled deeply. Brynhilda looked up at him, as if he had something to say.

                  “Sorry, please continue. This is good stuff.” Yerik listened intently with a broad smile.

                  Brynhilda continued to explain her thinking. “We also need to find out whatever we can about this area. Are there similar stories or legends that surround this location? That type of stuff.”

                  “There’s no detailed maps of that location from what I could find, although we definitely could research local lore and legends.” Jonas said. “The legends seem to be more accurate than I ever would have imagined.”

                  “I think if we start there, maybe we can understand what concerned the author of this journal. Then we can determine if the information is safe to bring public. Until then, please do not talk about what you saw or witnessed down there. We must make up a story, some other event that held you up, but do not tell anyone you went into the valley.” Brynhilda looked at the others for acknowledgement. Their minds still stirring over everything Brynhilda told them. “I’m sorry children, I know how much you will want to tell everyone what you went through. Please, until I find out more, keep this experience a secret?”

                  The youth in the group agreed, while Torben stated he didn’t have many memories to even keep a secret. Yerik nodded at Brynhilda, and pulled out his sword, looking it up and down. Ella’s eyes widened, wondering if he was about to do what she thought he was going to do.

                  With a forceful stab into the ground, his hand on the hilt, he turned to the others. “When a group of warriors survive difficult circumstances and make it through together, a certain brotherhood is formed. A bond of trust that goes deeper than words.” Yerik chuckled a bit. Ella’s eyes went all the wider, a goofy grin slowly growing. Yerik continued, “I never thought this journey would require this, but it seems necessary, given the circumstances. We’ve been through one very difficult and treacherous journey, and you all have risen to the occasion. The trust between one another is more important now than ever. By the sword of our victory, I declare my allegiance. I will fight until the battle is over. I will guard and protect from every angle, with every strength and thought, I pledge myself.”

                  Ella’s head nearly blew apart, if not from sheer excitement, the smile stretching across her face. Yerik initiated the fighter’s pledge, a deep commitment to never give up, trust one another, and stay true until the journey’s end. A pledge only shared amongst the most talented in the direst of circumstances, usually invoked when battles seem to be against the odds. This moment exceeded any fighter’s guild membership for Ella!

                  Ella leapt up, put her hand on the hilt, and pledged herself. Soon the others followed, one by one, placing their hand on the hilt of Yerik’s sword, each one adding their pledge, including Hjalmar Geir and Jonas.

                  Torben held back.

                  “What’s wrong boy, are you not with us?” Yerik called Torben out.                

                  “Well, it’s just that I didn’t do anything. You all fought side by side to escape the valley. I just fell in a hole.” Torben tried to rationalize why he didn’t fit in with them.

                  Yerik thought for a moment, “Enok says we found you much farther into the valley than where he left you. You may not remember how you got there, but you got there somehow. You could have only done that by facing some of the greatest unknowns of your own choosing. I teach my students that concept for years, and they never understand such courageous abandon. Buy you do. Don’t underestimate your courage just because you can’t remember what you did.” Yerik stared at Torben for a moment. “Now get over here and pledge. You are a warrior, just like any of us.”

                  Torben fought back the emotion. He reached in, placing his hand on the hilt of the sword, hiding any tears that might leak out. Nobody ever believed he could be a great fighter. Everyone else considered him the son of a farmer, and that’s all he would ever be. When the great Yerik Goldsword considered him a warrior, a sense of destiny steamed through his veins. He believed something great lay in store for him. He didn’t know what it would be, he just knew it would happen. If Yerik Goldsword believed in him, that was all he needed. Torben placed his hand on the hilt and pledged. The group repeated the pledge again as adventurers, as a team, as close friends.

                  Brynhilda smiled, resting her hand on Yerik’s shoulder. “Thank you.”

                  Then turning to the group, she said, “I’m sorry children, I don’t think our lives well ever be the same again. No matter the challenges or however long the road may be, there is always hope.”

                  Lili smiled as she felt her good luck charm in her pocket.

                  The group finished setting up and securing their camp for the night. Brynhilda served up the berries she picked and others prepared some additional food from their supplies. Rune vigilantly watched over their camp as they gathered around the fire, eating a much-needed meal, telling Brynhilda of their adventures, and all they had been through.

                  For the first time in a while, they all smiled, united in a bond of trust and friendship. Night approached, although they didn’t want to sleep. Their hearts were lit with a fire of gratitude, excitement, and adventure. It was the most difficult thing they had ever been through. They didn’t know what lie ahead of them and had no choice but to enter the unknown.

                  As night fell, and darkness once again surrounded the group of adventurers, they didn’t worry. They had each other, and that was all the light they needed to keep moving forward.

To be continued …