"Where am I?"

It seemed that the world had disappeared, and Oehler was left floating in an empty void. Wracking his brain, he couldn't seem to remember what had put him here. Suddenly, a blinding light shown in front of him, and he saw the doctor leaning over him. It was as if he was looking through fog, or a piece of dirty glass. "Ugh.." he murmured as he began to feel his limbs returning to him with the aching in his side. The doctor was holding his eye open and peering in while Oehler's clear under-eyelid was protecting it. "He's alive." Blackness took the doctor's place as the eyelid was released. "Oehler, can you hear me?" A different voice, deep and resonating. "High Protector." Mouth like cotton, Oehler didn't recognize his own voice. "Yesss, do you remember what happened?" Furrowing his brows, he thought. "Maze....rabid beastsss...kallt!" A moan escaped his throat as it all came back to him. "Kallt...ssstabbed me. I didn't passss...." If Wareipheans cried he sure would have been right now.

Laughter filled the room and Oehler managed to open his eyes just enough to see the High Protector smiling at him. "No one hasss ever killed the kallt in the maze before, they either fool it or dodge it. When I arrived that beast looked like a ssskinned mulefa. If I didn't passss you, the whole Radim would come down to my office cursing! There will be a banquet in your honor tomorrow, for I've chosen you to follow me into the position of High Protector." Flabbergasted, Oehler wasn't quite sure he'd heard the High Protector right. "Follow you....but how do you know I'll receive the proper weapon? What if I get a crossbow or a troll-claw?" He shook his head. "My boy, do you remember your friend that was blessed with empathy? I have had him and another young one who has sssecond sssight keep their eyesss on you. One of the judges had a vision of you, that you would be a very powerful person when you grew. While hisss gift does not allow him to exactly determine the meansss by which you would achieve thisss, he does say that he seesss you on an 'impressive sssteed of fire and wing, ssseemingly both God and mortal flesh' He hasss great faith in you, asss do I. "

An oppressive weight suddenly settled itself on Oehler's shoulders. "You've - just figured thisss out?" With a twinkle in his eye, the man leaned closer and spoke in a soft whisper, even though no one else was in the room. "Tell me, when you were younger, did you not notice a certain...difference in the way you were treated? Did the mastersss give you more leniency when you got in trouble, or were they more patient with you when you got frustrated?" Thinking back on his days, he had notice that, although he was the most belligerent of his class, the master hadn't ever punished him, at least not by flogging. Usually it was clean the room up, or his lunch ration was taken away. "Well...I guessss ssso, in sssubtle waysss. I alwaysss thought it wasss because they sssaw me asss 'ssslow' I sssuppose...it alwaysss angered me."

"No one thought you were ssslow, we were conditioning you."

"Well, ssshouldn't they have been harder on me?" Blinking, the High Protector stopped for a second. "We were harder on you, in equally sssubtle ways. Your testsss were ssslightly more difficult, and there were a few different thingsss I can't remember off the top of my head. I'll leave you to sssleep off your injury. The doctor used sssome herbsss that should have you healed up in time for your feast tomorrow!" Rising, he rested a hand on Oehler's shoulder before leaving the room and closing the heavy door. "High Protector Oehler." he tested aloud after a while. It did have a nice ring to it, but he had yet to prove himself in battle. "No matter, they sssaw it in my future, therefore it must be true." Comforted in this, Oehler rolled over gingerly to his uninjured side and tried to get some sleep.

The Next Day...

Limping was an embarrassing thing, it showed you were weak, injured and easily picked off in battle. Oehler had no choice but to limp, his right leg could barely bear the little weight he did put on it. The two guards escorting him kept eyeing the unseeming child who was to be their High Protector. "Will you ssstop looking at me and just sssay what you're thinking!" he finally demanded. Both pairs of eyes snapped forward and they never looked at him again for the rest of the way to the Forgery.

"Ah, what took you ssso long!" The High Protector approached them as soon as they entered the scorching hot room. With a last imperious glower at his escort, Oehler hobbled to the fireside. Noticing his face, the High Protector said in an admonishing tone, "Thisss young man isss to be respected and treated asss if he were already in my place. Don't let me have to remind you again, for you will not like my method of getting it to ssstick in your headsss." Waving a hand, he dismissed the two men and turned to face Oehler.

"Are you ready?" With a sigh that was a little more shaky than he would have liked, Oehler nodded. "Before we begin, I would like to give you a gift." The High Protector held out a small, pale blue egg dotted with lighter pinkish spots. "What isss it?" Oehler asked, taking the egg. "A rukel, I wasss told. They are small, furry, winged creatures that can speak. Being High Protector can get lonely, I thought you might like a companion." As he spoke, the egg began to crack. Before long, a dark blue snout broke through, followed by a sleek, damp body and darker blue plumed tail. "I thought they were winged?" The rukel looked up at him in disdain and proceeded to butt the shards of it's egg out of his hands, while saying, "Rukels are commonly winged. I, however, am not. Rare, yes; unusual, no." The voice was clearly female, and held an arrogant and haughty note. Just perfect for Oehler, the High Protector thought. "What will you name her?" Shrugging, Oehler watched the little female groom her damp fur. "Keelie." he said after a minute. Looking up, she nodded in agreement and resumed grooming. "Well, give Keelie to me ssso that we can forge your helmet." The High Protector took Oehler's new pet, whom he was already a little attached to, and gestured towards the fires.

Two blacksmiths lead him to a large chair made of heat-resistant metals. "It looksss like a torture device." he thought, and indeed it did. There were five cuffs with which arms, feet and head were held still. Once he sat down, they locked his wrists, ankles and neck down. "Close your eyesss." one said gruffly. "I-I thought thisss wasn't going to hurt." With a laugh, the High Protector said, "It doesn't, but if you move the helmet'sss ssstructure could get damaged. Let'sss begin." Keelie watched raptly as he closed his eyes quickly and swallowed hard, waiting for the searing Sacred Ore to be poured on. Various clanks and a large rush of heat came from the direction of the Forge, and Oehler heard grunts as they lifted the pot of molten Sacred Ore over his head and tilted it to the side.

A flow of glowing metal poured onto his face. It moved as if it had a mind of it's own, slowly curving around his horns and stopping just where his lower jaw began. It ran down his neck and ended an inch from where his backplate began. All Oehler felt was a warm tingle where ever the metal touched. The heat seeped deep down within him, wrapping itself around his heart. Suddenly, he felt his mind being opened. He could hear a conversation taking place on the other side of the radim, hear the tiaod scraping around in their stalls. It seemed that if he listened hard enough, he could hear people's very thoughts.

"No..." Then it hit him, "What if I have empathy, or sssecond sssight! I don't want to be a Judge!" His body jerked involuntarily as the magic sunk even deeper. Fire flowed into his brain and touched places that had never been accessed before. It as as if someone were stirring a fire being smothered by it's own ashes. All too soon, the new sensations were rudely ripped away as the now-solid metal was taken off and plunged in the cooling tank. Oehler opened his eyes. He was still in the Forge; the only fire was in the great blacksmithing pits; the only voices were instructions being shouted over the din of clanging hammers. The High Protector unlocked the cuffs and Oehler slowly rose, swinging his legs over the side. Stretching them out, he realized his wounds no longer hurt. They has healed while the metal cooled. "What..." he whispered, running a claw over the residual scar left from the kallt's tusk. Keelie leapt into his lap to comfort and be comforted, the Forging had left them both a little distressed.

"Magic isss a powerful, indescribable, intangible, mysteriousss thing, Oehler. Those who have the Gift, and can tap into that power are very good to have asss friendsss." Looking up, Oehler saw the High Protector gazing out the slit window. Traditionally, the Forge was the highest point of a radim, set into the face of the mountain itself. It was the only room with windows, a view and natural light. In that light, the High Protector looked very old. "What do you mean, High Protector?" Stepping back from the window, he looked directly into Oehler's eyes. "Very sssoon, Oehler, you will be taking my place asss High Protector. I would like to passss down sssome of the thingsss I have learned from yearsss of being in thisss position. If you could create an alliance between yourself and those with the Gift, you could unite all the radimsss in peace, and help to restore thisss wounded world."

Confused, Oehler looked out the window at the barren landscape beyond the Elmnkim walls. Hardly any plants grew outside the carefully tended and nurtured crops; during the day the sky was an angry orange, causing the brilliant red sun to look even more malevolent; any clouds were instantly burned away, along with most of the moisture on the ground. The only way to survive that Oehler saw was to find a way off of this forsaken planet.

"No one can stop our sssun'sss death, High Protector. We must find out how to leave Wareiph'a." Shrugging, the High Protector asked, "And how do you propose we do that? All technology wasss abandoned that century ago when the sssun first began to break down. Governmentsss collapsed, nationsss fell. Just when we ssshould have united asss one..." he sighed heavily in disgust, "...we crumbled into a million ssscreaming piecesss. Do you know how advanced we were before Earo'sss demise? We could fly, Oehler! We had great ssshipsss with which we traveled the vast oceansss! Roomsss weren't lit by fire, they had lightsss that could be turned on and off by one sssingle ssswitch! Our people didn't cower in dank cavesss like wretched, ssstinking mulefa from the rain...we were an intelligent, artistic civilization. Maybe we ssshould just keep on killing each other until there are no more left, just to ssspare other worldsss of our infectiousss influence."

"Your helmet is finished." Oehler turned from the High Protector to see his helmet sitting on a stand attached the counter. The two workmen didn't dare touch it by hand, they had used tools to form and smooth the metal. Cautiously, he approached it, as if it might leap at him, while Keelie quickly moved to sit on his shoulder. Power radiated from it, and the bond between helmet and person was strengthened when Oehler lifted it up and placed it on his head. All of the feelings he had while the Sacred Ore cooled returned in full force, only his eyes weren't closed. The fires on the pits glowed stronger when seen through the holes of his helmet. Reaching out a hand, Oehler bid the fires to rise, and they responded. "Fire." the High Protector said, "Your power isss fire! Just asss the prophecy sssaid." Awakened from his trance, Oehler asked, "What prophecy?"

"Nevermind the prophecy, we have to get your weapon chosen and forged!" Returned to his usual self, the High Protector led Oehler to a rack of every weapon used at the radim. Swords, crossbows, longbows, axes and hatchets all reflected the light in their deadly blades. "How do I know?" Oehler asked. "Just choose one, practice a little with it. You will know when you've picked up the right one." Hesitantly, Oehler eyed the trident, scimitar and battle axe that protectors used, and decided to try another first. Examining the claidhmore, he hefted it out of the holder and swung it around. Having always liked the sword in classes, he thought it would feel right. It didn't, now it felt like he was waving around a flimsy stick. Sliding it back into place, Oehler chose another.

"The Morningstar, almost like a mace but different enough to warrant a whole new name. Two ssspiked ballsss hung by a chain from the ssstaff. When whipped around, this weapon could do quite a bit of damage. It'sss not really heavy enough to cause sssubstantial damage, however. Nah, this one isn't good either."

"Aah, a longbow. Ssstrong and accurate. But to be ssso high above a fight? No, I need physical contact to enjoy a battle."

Oehler tested weapon after weapon, but one kept drawing his eye again and again. The battle axe. Gently, he removed it and let the heavy blade hit the stone for with a clang. Lifting it up, he swung it around and struck a wooden pillar well-dogged by years of new Battlemen testing out their weapons. The weight gave it plenty of momentum, and the sharp blade sliced neatly through the wood. When it swung, Oehler felt as if he and the axe were one thing. He felt the thunk of the blade in the wood when it hit as deep jolt in his chest. "Yesss, thisss isss the one." The High Protector stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. The small rukel grinned a feral, sharp-toothed grin. "Isss that it?" Nodding, Oehler turned to the blacksmiths, a hungry glint in his eye. "Get me sssome Ore, thisss will be my weapon."