The day-light broke with a crisp and cold wind. The Fleeing night leaving the vast meadow grass drenched in a thick morning dew. Eargrif's mind was still in shambles as he stared at the emblem lying across his chest. He stood as the sun's light shined down through the sparse gaps in the overcast sky. His mind was locked in turmoil unable to comprehend anything in his world or any other. Time meant nothing and what he had come to know eluded his understanding. The only thing he could focus on was the emblem which remand still, mocking him with its existence. A faint laughter proceeded from the fog clouding Eargrif's mind. A haunting laughter that brought the realism of his dream to his attention yet remained just out of his grasp. Thud.
Eargrif's mind suddenly righted itself as his senses heightened at the sound. His hands ached and seemed devoid of any weight. Reality tore into Eargrif like the wind that had chilled him down to his bones. His actions now under his control, Eargrif started to gather "his" scattered belongings. Warmth quickly spread through his body as the slightly soggy items were replaced to their proper place in the pack. Feeling finally returned to his hands as he placed several red pears inside before carefully securing the closings on the pack. Hefting the bulk onto his shoulders Eargrif return to the spot of his earlier laps in sanity. There lay the only source of knowledge toward who he may be, its silver hilt glinting as it was caught in a ray of sunlight. Eargrif retrieved the sword that had brought him back from thoughtless void that had threatened to consume him earlier.
Eargrif slid the sword into its scabbard closing off his mind to all that troubled him, his thoughts shifting instead to the world around him. His gaze swept over the wet landscape surrounding the small grove, as he breathed in the moist laden air. Clouds were gathering in the sky, slowly smothering out the warmth and light of the sun. The atmosphere was changing, however Eargrif decided that rain would not come for some hours still. He checked the ground a final time for any overlooked possessions, while he readjusted the baldric at his hip. Once satisfied he gathered two discarded red pears for his morning meal, and then started off down the road once more.
The rain held off till what Eargrif thought to be an hour after noon. At the first sprinkles Eargrif stopped and pulled the traveling cloak out from the top of the pack. This was the first time he had really looked at the cloak, was a little upset that he had failed to notice it's color before. It was the same very dark blue as most of what he figured were actually his belongings. He was not the least bit surprised when he unfolded it to see a white dragon-like symbol starring at him. The surprise on his face was attributed to the small piece of parchment which fell to grass.
"Now what is this one for" he said sarcastically, almost complaining.
Eargrif grab the parchment off the wet ground and slipped it into a pouch on his belt. The ever strengthening rain was first on his mind, whether this could help him or not would have to wait till he was safely out of the threatening weather. Eargrif put the pack on again then draped the cloak over his shoulders. He raised the hood before pulling the cloak tightly around his body. The cloak was made of a very soft and light material; the cut was a little over sized as well to allow more freedom of movement. Unfortunately Eargrif was soon to realize that this cloak was not meant to be worn with a pack. The cloak remained slightly open in the front allowing a little water to trickle down the front of his shirt; however he preferred to get a little wet than to let his pack suffer the weather. Holding the cloak closed as best as he could Eargrif resumed walking down the road, hoping to soon find a dry place to wait out the rain.
The rain had stayed fairly light the past two hours, but now the clouds started to build forcing the meadows into darkness. Eargrif feared the storm would unleash it's full force before he could find a suitable shelter in the endless fields he passed. The pace at which he had been traveling was starting to wear on him and he had no desire to have to rest in the open. Eargrif's clothing had become quite wet in the last couple of hours, his pant legs were becoming uncomfortable as they rubbed against his skin. He had been grateful earlier when his pants had shown resistance to the rain, but now all his clothing were becoming as annoying as the endless grasslands surrounding him. As he walked Eargrif's mind wandered off into visions of a warm bed, hot meal and a roaring fire.
The world lit up around Eargrif followed by a great tremor that shook through the ground and Eargrif alike. A tremendous clap of thunder deafened Eargrif as he fell to the ground which still quaked violently beneath his feet. Mud caked his hands and knees, the front of his cloak fell victim to it as well. Another flash of lightning and the heavens broke open sending frightening amounts of rain and sleet at the world below. Eargrif regained his footing and stood as the soft ice and water beat down on him, grabbing the cloak and pulling it close about him before hurrying on. Again the sky sent a brilliant bolt of lightning at the ground, this time Eargrif steadied himself not wanting to fall again. The land ahead of him had changed in the dark, there were now hills and rock in sight, he started off again at a light jog.
Eargrif's spirits may have been lifted by the chance of finding shelter, but he knew if he were to slip in the mud he could easily twist his ankle. Lightning and thunder danced between the ground and sky as Eargrif raced down the road as fast as he dared. Many times he stopped as the ground moved under him, once it was safe again he would continue through the mud and puddles. His boot's long since soaked through and covered with mud weighed down his legs making the muscles burn. Half an hour since they had first come into sight Eargrif began to climb up the side of the first small hill. By the time Eargrif reached the top of the forth hill he had to slow down, the ground had become too slick to attempt any pace faster than a walk. After crossing over several hills Eargrif came to a group of hills that was made up of rock.
There were many ledges that would provide some protection from the rain, but Eargrif passed these all seeking instead to find a cave or opening he could crawl into. Eargrif was cold and wet, he wanted to be entirely out of the rain. A fifteen minute search provided him with a shallow cave that went back ten feet but was only three feet tall. Grateful to find this Eargrif removed his cloak and pack then climbed through the opening. Inside he removed his boots, socks, belt, baldric and armored shirt, leaving on his cloth shirt and pants. He then wrapped the cloak around himself, before pulling a couple of the pears from his pack. Half way done with his second pear Eargrif fell into an uncomfortable but very content sleep, the parchment long forgotten. Outside the Storm grew more violent as the winds picked up, off in the far distance trees were up rooted, the road the Eargrif had walked the day before was mostly washed away by flooding waters. Thunder and lightning continued until the early hours of morning taking most of the rain with it, the clouds remained with the promises of more bad weather in the days to come.
Eargrif woke with the sun the next day, other than a few knots and kinks from sleeping in a cave this had been the most fitful night's sleep he'd had. He untangled himself from the clock and felt a sore spot in his right hip, during the night he had rolled over onto the hilt of his sword. He started gathering all of his things together and putting on his discarded gear. His socks were still wet so he dug through the pack till he found more, they were not his size but they would serve the purpose. Once he had all of his stuff together he grabbed his water skin and drank the rest of it. He then went outside and found a clean pool of water and refilled the water skin. While outside he saw the effect that the storm had on the landscape and was again thankful he had found the shallow cave before the storm had become too powerful. The clouds still showed signs that the rain was not through yet so Eargrif decided to just wear the cloak all day.
The thought of the cloak reminded him of the parchment that had yet to look at. He reached into the pouch on his belt and pulled the paper out turning it over he found an unbroken seal on one side. The seal held signs that this may at least tell him something about himself because the wax seal was the white dragon-like symbol in dark blue wax. Eargrif broke the seal and unfolded the paper, it read:
You must find her
You must protect her
When you have done this you will know who you are
Eargrif reread it and check for anything that may have been written somewhere else, but that is all there was. With nothing else he could do Eargrif put the paper back in his pouch and went to collect his stuff from the cave. After he retrieved his belongings he set off for the road again. Eargrif set his pace at a brisk walk, while he enjoyed the unusual yet splendid taste of the red pears. By the time he finished his morning meal his body had warmed up and the knots and kinks from sleeping on the ground of the cave had worked themselves out. He did notice a soft spot in his right hip where he had been lying on his sword that morning.
"Well it doesn't look like I can get very far today, so I should have no trouble with this slowing me down" he said to himself while massaging his hip.
