"Denn die Todten reiten schnell;" --from Dracula

Altair opened his eyes, and what greeted him quickly was searing pain all over his body. Lightning and thunder still rolled across the night sky. His head felt like it was going to cleave apart. Then he remembered

Lilian!

He stood up immediately, clutching his aching torso. He dashed outside and into the raging storm. Rain lashed violently against his seemingly frail body, the cold biting and tearing his skin. He looked wildly around at the darkness of Albertas streets.

"LILIAN! LILIAN!" he shrieked.

He ran blindly into the stormy night. He did not know where they went. All he knew was they took his sister and his pride with them. They got his sword.

He tripped and fell, but he continued to run under the pouring rain.

All around him Alberta was like a menacing shadow, unable to offer help or solace. Dank, ghastly buildings stared at him with gray windows, much like hollowed eyes of the dead. He ran and ran, battling against the raging storm.

He fled, exiting from Albertas gate and into the dark forests, which were at that time full of danger for anybody. The soil was soft and gave way easily under his ferocious strides, staining his shoes with thick mud.

"LILIAN! LILIAN, WHERE ARE YOU!" Altair shouted in vain, his voice drowned by the rain.

Altair overlooked a tree root. He tripped and fell, and in the darkness his nose smashed into a rock, breaking it. Blood started to flow, sharp pain tearing at him. He struggled to stand, blinking, eyes blinded by tears and rain.

"Lilian" he sobbed.  "Lilian, Ill get you backIll get you back!"

Altair hated the feeling that was seizing him. It was helplessness, his most dreaded enemy. He can endure any other kind of emotion, except for this one. Helplessness, being unable to do anything for a loved one. He remembered his mother getting beaten up by his stepfather, but he was just sitting there, watching dumbly. Helplessness when the archbishop used his connections to get Altair expelled from the Pronteran Sanctuary and thus end his hopes of being an Acolyte. Helplessness when a friend, Nerva, died in his arms. And now helplessness once more when his sister and his pride were taken from him.

Oftentimes he thought he was strong. But he was weakweaker than anyone.

Altair walked blindly into the forests darkness, wiping at the blood and his tears.

He walked on for hours, all in vain. Only Porings, Willows, Fabres, Creamys and Elder Willows could see his lonely figure wandering in the woods. It was a cold night, and the storm was unforgiving.

Altair finally dropped to his knees in the middle of the dark forest. He knew he was somewhere between Alberta and Payon, but he could not tell exactly where he was. He moaned painfully as he tried to touch his broken nose.

Then a rustling came from behind him.

"Whos there?" he shouted, standing up.  "Who are you?"

The sound of an unsheathing sword caught his ears. He squinted in the darkness, and felt fear stab at him from all sides.

Like a demonic specter, the Wanderer loomed from the darkness, katana in its decaying hands. The white skull and its horrendously grinning mouth gleamed under the short-lived flash of lightning across the sky.

"NoGod help me" Altair muttered, eyes wide, as he retreated.  "Oh Godoh God"

He took a step backward as the Wanderer advanced, ready to strike. Altair shook his head, retreating further.

"Oh god, dont kill me"

The Wanderer leapt to attack. Altair yelled like mad and made to run, only to realize that he had been standing at the edge of a deep ravine. The Blacksmith fell into the infinite chasm, and held out his hands at the last moment. He was able to grab hold of some tree roots and thus save him for some precious moments.

"Help! Help me!" Altair shouted desperately.  "HELP ME!"

The Wanderer appeared above him, laughing diabolically. Altairs life was utterly at the hands of this monster. Raising its bony arms, the Wanderer made to cut off Altairs hands.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"SOUL STRIKE!"

Five ancient spirits illuminated the dark forest as they attacked the Wanderer. Altair saw the Wanderers body being destroyed by the summoned spirits, until it fell to the ground in a heap. But alas, his grip failed, and he fell into Deaths waiting arms.

"NOOOO!!!! HELP ME!!!!"

But a gloved hand caught him just in time. Lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating even the shade of the sakkat. Altair gasped; he knew those eyes. He knew this face, he knew these clothes. It couldnt be.

He died years ago, Altair thought frantically.

Nerva pulled Altair up with just one hand. The Blacksmith leaned against him weakly. Altairs eyes were wide like plates as they stared at his face.

"Nerva" Altair whispered, reaching out to touch him.  "Cantbe"

The last thing Altair saw was Nervas horribly passive face before he passed out.

"NO! LILIAN!"

Altair bolted awake and sat upright, breathing heavily. He looked wildly around. Instead of the darkened canopy of trees, the familiar furnishings of his bedroom greeted him. Gentle sunlight was pouring out of the opened windows.

The door opened and Altair gave a start. Nerva entered, a tray in his hand. There was a bowl of steaming soup, cool apple cider and freshly baked bread. The Wizard set the tray on the table and looked straight at Altair, who had frozen stiff with fear.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Nerva demanded, raising a perfect eyebrow.

"Itisyou." Altair stammered.  "Oh my God, youre alive."

"Of course Im alive, what do you expect?" Nerva said impatiently as he sat down on the edge of Altairs bed.  "How do you expect me to mop you up and cook your breakfast? Ghosts cannot do that."

"B-butyou diedin my armsimpossible!" Altair went on, struggling to find words.

Altair surveyed the Wizard sitting before him. Everything was the same: the short red hair, the pale handsome face, the perfectly bridged nose, the thin lips, the sharp yellow eyes, the robes, the voiceit really was Nerva.

"Your nose." Nerva pointed.  "I Healed it."

Altair blinked and touched his nose. It felt normal again.  "Youcan useHeal?"

Nerva shrugged.  "I dont know. I seem to have become a Wizard-Priest hybrid. Apart from my usual Wizards spells I just found out I can perform Heal without any Vitata card at all. This morning, when you were still out cold I accidentally performed a Kyrie Eleison. In my confusion I shattered some plates back there in your kitchendidnt you hear the bells clanging?"

Altairs jaw dropped open. His mind was buzzing. It gave him an immediate headache.

"This is impossible." Altair gaped.  "Butbut who can Resurrect you? Even Wealthow cannot do soyour body waswas!"

"Destroyed." Nerva finished.  "I dont know who did it. I dont know why or how."

Silence

"Umm, can you?" Altair pointed.

"Ah, yes of course."

Using psycho-kinesis, Nerva made the tray float toward Altair. The Blacksmith started to eat, but uneasily, because Nerva was staring unblinkingly at every move he made. Altair felt chills down his spine.

"This will be a big riot, when everyone finds out." Altair said tentatively after gulping down his apple cider.

Nerva gave no answer.

"It must be greatbeing able tocome back" Altair tried yet again.

"No, it most definitely isnt." Nerva answered in a hard voice.

Altair stared. "Why do you say that? Not everyone is lucky to be able to live once more"

"Oh yes," said Nerva, standing up.  "It must be really neat, having been Resurrected and mauled out of your grave! It must be really cool, coming back into a world and you dont even know where to start! It must be really nice, to be dragged back from peace, that peace which you covet and hoped to have for all eternity! Well unfortunately, I HATE being back."

"Dont say that!" Altair burst out.

Altair saw tears welling up in Nervas eyes, as the latter looked him straight in the face.

"This body isnt even my own!" Nerva spoke, his voice breaking.  "Everything you see before you is not mine. Everything I have outside is justjust not mine. Do you know how horrible this is? The feeling that you are just using somebody elses body? That you are using somebody elses money? You cannot understand, because youve never gone through all of this. You sit there, alive. Youve never died. While I, Ive been thrown to Hell, Altair, right after my death. You dont have any right to tell me not to say what I want to say, because you cannot understand what I mean."

"Butif itisnt your bodythen why? How?" said Altair.

Nerva gave a hollow laugh.  "It is impossible to Resurrect a soul without its original body, Altair. Only extremely powerful Priests can do that. Like my Apocalypse, Deliberate Resurrection also requires sacrifice. Only, Deliberate Resurrection requires the spellcasters body and his life to make way for the one he is reviving. Even Isidore Crane cannot do Deliberate Resurrection. And certainly not our dear Wealthow. I only know two people who can do this powerful divine magic. The archbishop of Prontera and another one called Adulis Alighieri."

Altair could not understand a single thing. Deliberate Resurrection? What the hell was that?

Nerva shook his head and stood up. "You should rest, and let me take care of your house. When youre ready, go ahead and pack."

The Blacksmith looked up.  "Pack?"

The yellow eyes flashed.  "What else will we do but to retrieve your sister and your sword?"

Altair felt a rush of gratitude toward the Wizard. This surprise was truly unlooked-for.

Signy Brynhild was already 33 years of age, but her beauty and her vigor was still with her. She could still run like the wind, shoot nine arrows all at once without missing any target and find a needle in a haystack in less than five minutes. She is still Asgard Inc.s undisputed Guildsmistress and still an active Guildmaster of Firnheild.

Today Signy was sitting in her office, at the highest floor or Asgard building situated in Payon Field 10 near the Hunters Guild. Sunlight poured into the room from a window behind her high-backed chair, and with it came the cool and refreshing breeze with the whisper of the bamboo.

"Get Altair and go to Prontera immediately." Signy repeated the last sentence of Theodorics letter to her. She was frowning deeply, her eyebrows knitted together.  "But whoever could have done? This is urgent, all right"

Signy stood up absent-mindedly and fumbled for rubber bands in her pockets. She tied her long white hair into two separate, low ponytails. She folded the letter and fetched her bow and quivers from her table. She also slung her trap-filled backpack over one shoulder and started to descend.

Asgard guildsmen greeted their Guildsmistress cordially as she passed. They revered her like a hero, knowing of her feats with Firnheild and her role that historical battle with the Shadow. Everyone admired her, not really knowing the grief she bore for a fallen comrade who saved all their skins.

"Going somewhere, Miss Signy?" Charles, a Sandman and Flasher expert greeted at the main door five floors below.  "Tis good, you havent embraced the woods for weeks now, always holed up in your den."

"Im not hunting today, Charlie." She answered.  "Im going to Alberta."

She stepped outside and observed the skies. Numerous falcons were circling high above among the clouds, cawing and flapping their graceful wings. Signy prepared to call her falcon.

"NERVA!" she shouted before whistling shrilly, the sound echoing far and wide.

A falcon swerved in midair and soared toward Signy. The bird perched himself on his masters shoulders, tucking his great wings in. He cawed loudly, blinking his sharp yellow eyes that reminded Signy of that Wizard whom she knew briefly and lost over to death.

"Were going to visit Altair today, Nerva." Signy told her falcon.  "Wealthows got a troubling matter back there in Prontera. Wed pull off our hunting for now."

Nerva the falcon just blinked benignly.

Traveling on foot from Payon to Alberta was something only high-level people can do. The lush forests between these two city-states were highly dangerous, especially for first-job people. Wanderers roamed freely, hiding in the shadows. And that horrible Sohee, the ghost of a murdered princess, added to the animosity of the Payon-Alberta territorial boundary. Many other unfortunate men and women died in these haunted woods, and it has been said that their spirits could not accept the fact that they were dead so they took revenge on the living out of jealousy.

But Signy was not terrified of the forest. She knew very well all of its moods and movements. Payonese Hunters alone could venture under the dark canopy of the bamboo and come back alive aside from the Priests, Knights and Wizards. Six hours later, the beautiful and prosperous coastal city-state of Alberta loomed into view.

"It has to be Cedric Hawke." Altair told Nerva bitterly.  "Who else can keep a grudge? And who else can know about Heavens Blade! He took my sister and my magnum opus with him! It is unforgivable!"

Nerva sipped his tea quietly as Altair buried his face in his gloved hands.

"The Red Roses" Nerva said softly.

Altair looked up.  "What?"

"I remember." Nerva continued.  "The family of Hawke, traditional guildmasters of the Red Roses. My family, the house of Thor, and the house of Hawke, had long been rivals. Forming separate guilds, the Covenant and the Red Roses, its members and masters hope to oust one another."

"Sohes been your familys long-term rival?" Altair asked.

Nerva nodded.  "Weve met, Cedric and I. We were still Novices back then. Hes one weird kid, if you ask me."

"Will you really help me get her back?" Altair asked softly.

Nerva paused, looking deeply into Altairs eyes. He opened his mouth to answer when a knock sounded on the door. Both he and Altair gave a start.

"Ill get it." Nerva stood up.  "Go ahead and pack your weapon and stuff. Well leave tonight for Etheria Island."

 Altair went to look for his hammer while Nerva headed for the door. Nerva, thinking it was just an ordinary person who didnt know him, did not care to wear his sakkat to hide his face. He reached for the doorknob and turned it open.

"Yes?" he asked.

But Signy, seeing who was standing right infront of her, screamed at the top of her lungs.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"

With that she fainted in fright.