Note: Those who have asked me about Guarin's Story Chapter 2...I will be getting this ready to go over the Christmas Holiday.

Kenlen scanned the rest of the room and saw that his belongings were stacked neatly on a small table across the room. He has been sleeping in under clothes although the ones he had on were not his. Whoever had found him had apparently washed and dressed him before putting him to bed. This seemed to him a good sign that his host was probably a benevolent person, which always figured well for him. Being a traveler between worlds had its perils, not the least of which was never knowing where you might wake up.

When he sat up on the bed and put his feet down, the floor of the room proved to be made of a smooth, highly polished stone. The stone was warm under his feet probably from the large amount of sunshine on it through out the day. He was unable to guess the hour directly, but guessed it to be late afternoon. The rumble in Kenlen's Stomach signaled to him, that it had been quite a while since he had laid down to sleep on the previous world.

He padded across the room slowly stretching out as he did so, easing the pain in tight muscles. Kenlen found his clothes freshly washed and neatly folded on the table. He found a chamber pot on the table and relieved himself. He then dressed.

As Kenlen was about to start strapping his weapons on he thought better of it. He appeared to have a gracious host in this place. He thought that to greet his host so armed for the first time would probably be a breech of protocol. "Best to greet someone for the first time as friend, not not to assume that they are an enemy..." he thought echoing his old training master back at the Knights Keep. Kenlen did strap on his sword however, no sense taking chances. It was also in most places allowable for a man of the military to carry his sword, it usually being considered a part of the uniform. Kenlen also pulled it slightly free of the scabbard as he strapped it on and saw that it was not pulsing. He was supposed to be here.

Before exiting the room, he rapped on the door twice to alert anyone outside that their guest has awakened. He also did it so that they wouldn't be startled by his exiting. He had made that mistake once, and still suffered a soreness in his left leg on cold mornings as a result.

It turned out that there was no one outside the door, in fact the entire large hallway was completely empty of any person or activity. The walls were made of similar stone to the walls of the room he was leaving. They were also of similar height, about three times his own height. The near wall had many windows near it's top, much as his room had, filling the corridor with late afternoon sun. Much of the wall space was covered with large woven tapestries. Most of them depicted landscapes, castles, and animals. There was one, however, that especially caught his attention.

The room he was leaving was at one end of the corridor. As there was only one direction to go, he started down the hall toward the tapestry that had caught his attention. The Tapestry depicted a large dragon like creature, arching its neck back and breathing fire into the air, in a battle with a much smaller knight. The interesting thing was that the knight had a green sword in his hand. He was thrusting the sword into the dragon's breast.

He wasn't sure what it meant or if it had any connection, with anything in this own world, or his own sword which would glow green in battle. However it was interesting for its content. The green sword could simply be the whim of the artist that had created the tapestry.

After studying the tapestry for a while and marveling at it's artistry, Kenlen moved on down the hall. He wasn't sure where he was going, but it was the only direction to go in anycase. There were no other corridors which branched off, no other doors into other rooms were visable. He walked down the hall slowly, in no particular hurry since there was no where to hurry too. He walked for a long time, so long that by the time he reached a cross corridor the windows were dark. He noticed however that the hallway had not gotten any darker. He looked about and realized that the tapestries were glowing with a soft orange light that kept the hallway lit similar to having light coming in through the windows. Still more evidence of his hosts stature, he was either a Maji himself or was likely able to employ one to do the upkeep on the spells over the tapestries.

The cross corridor he had come to, was similar to the one he had been walking down. Kenlen Noticed two difference about this new corridor. The first was that this corridor had no windows on the walls at all, and so apparently did not pass along an outer wall. The other difference was that the tapestries in this corridor glowed a soft blue color. The effect made the corridor seem to be frozen at the moment of dawn or twilight. Kenlen wasn't sure which direction to head in, but it seemed to make sense that he should head into the building, so down this hallway.

It was more likely that he would find his host in a room somewhere inside the building than near the outer wall.

Kenlen turned to the right and down this new hallway. The tapestries in this hallway were similar to the ones in the first. He did notice however that there was another of the knight and dragon hangings. This one was different however from the first. The depiction on this tapestry showed the dragon slain and the knight laying injured and bleeding. Upon further observation he could also see that there was a second knight, and that there was depiction of a spirit of the dragon raising from the slain body. Both knights had their swords raised defiantly at the dragon spirit.

Kenlen turned away from the hanging, and continued down the hall thinking about the meaning of this depiction.

The further he walked in the huge structure the more he was impressed with his potential host. This structure was already at least twice as large as his home, the Elruseian Knights Keep, the largest structure he knew of till now. If as he believed he was walking to the middle of this place as he thought, it was a massive structure unlike any he had ever imagined. The sheer labor which must have been involved in construction this place was unimaginable. He continued on down the hall still seeing no doors or other signs of entrance into the rest of the building. He eventually came to the end of the blue hall.

At the end of the blue hall was another cross hallway, this one with a soft green glow. The color reminded Kenlen of the forest under a thick canopy on a sunny day. This intersection had an important different from the previous two. Standing across from the end of the blue hall, in the walls of the green hall, were a set of large floor to ceiling bronze colored doors. This left Kenlen with a question of what to do next. Open the doors and perhaps intrude on a potentially private area, or turn down the green hall.

Kenlen stood for a moment considering the decision. Suddenly however it was made for him. One of the large bronze doors swung open enough for a person to walk out into the hall. Out stepped a young woman, perhaps 14 years old. She wore a floor length, brightly colored, loose silk robe. The predominant colors were blue and orange in the robe's pattern. She looked up at Kenlen, Exclaimed "oh", and turned back into the room behind the doors, pulling the door closed easily as she went through. Kenlen wasn't sure what to make of this, so continued to stand at the end of the blue hall to see what might happen next.

I moment later his patience in waiting here was rewarded as the door opened again. This time the young woman stepped through followed by and older man in robes similar to her own. The mans hair was bound into a tight braid down his back which nearly touched the floor. He also wore long braided mustaches which reached to his chest, and a braided gouthee which was nearly the length of his neck. He had a gentle sense about him, like one who contemplated much, but was troubled by little.

"Welcome, Welcome traveler....I trust you you slept well and recovered from your journey?"

"Aye, I did" responded Kenlen "Thank You, its rare I find myself in such comfortable surroundings after a long journey"

"It is no trouble traveler, only what should be expected for so noble and important a person...come, come, into the hall and sit, it is nearly high supper. I will have a feast brought to honor your arrival among us."

"Thats not needed, I require only a small meal and I will be on my way, I wish to trouble my host and lord of this house no further" Kenlen, responded to the offer not wishing to put anyone out on his account.

"Non-sense we are to eat anyway another seat at a table of hundreds matters little...especially in such rare and important company...and since I am your host I really must insist" With that the man that Kenlen now knew was his host bowed and turned back towards the door motioning Kenlen to follow. The young woman stood aside and allowed both of them to enter the hall.

Inside the feast hall was a confusing riot of colors. Every color that could be conceived of, and probably a few no one ever had, seemed to be represented in the silks hanging on the walls. All of them glowed, like the tapestries in the corridors, lighting the feast hall. Kenlen's host led him through the hall, past table after table of men and women. There were even a few dogs here and there begging for scraps at the many tables. Kenlen got a sense of where they were headed. There was a large table on a platform at the far end of the feast hall. As they got closer, he realized that there were less people here. He also noticed that as they had walked the floor inclined gently so they were now in a quieter place and above the din and noise of the rest of the hall.

His host sat down in on a cushion at the head of the low table. He then gustured to a seat to his right inviting Kenlen to sit. The young woman then carried a bronze tray with crystal glasses and a purple colored drink to the table. She kneeled beside the table setting out the glasses and pouring the drink into the them. Kenlen's host picked up the glass in front of him, took a sip, and smiled with satisfaction.

"Drink good sir knight, the juice of the Sadaberry, my favorite cold refreshment on a warm summer night such as this."

Kenlen, took the glass in front of him and took a small sip at first. The juice was sweet, not heavy with sugar like some juices. It had been chilled quite cold as well and felt good going down relieving the heaviness of the air in the room. Kenlen had not noticed, till now, but it was quite warm in the feast hall. There was also a close haze of unvented smoke near the ceiling of the room. As Kenlen continued to drink, for he now realized that he was quite thristy, he scanned the room to get a better sense of his surroundings.

The room was heavy ornamented in addition to the silk hangings that served as decoration and lighting for the room. There were gold, silver, copper, and iron hangings all about the room. The area that attracted his attention the most however was the area directly behind his host's seat. Yet another knight and dragon tapistry hung there. This one depicted a different scence than the previous two he had seen. In this one the knight was battling the dragon spirt, although the form of the spirit in this picture looked more solid than in the previous one. Around this hanging were hung many weapons of various design. However hung centered over the tapistry was the most interesting of them. The weapon that hung there was the sword of an Elruseian Knight. It was particilly pulled from its scabbard, and glowed a pale green on the blade. He was in the home of another Knight, or at least the decendant of one. This explained his treatment in this home and why he had been brought here and treated with respect.

"Yes, good sir this place was once home to another of your order..." began his host after noticing the direction of Kenlen's gaze. "..in the time of my great great grandfather."

"Well it is good then to be amoung those who know of the Knights and our mission"

"Yes it is good sir, all who protect the many worlds from evil are welcome here. It would seem that we now know what this past knight's mission here was. I have heard it said that the sword draws your kind to places for a reason, although they sometimes may not know why."

"That reason may yet be unknown, my good host...there might have been some nobler purpose than my own coming for this past knight to have come here....but I suppose it may remain to be seen." Kenlen finished, smiling.

Kenlen's host realized suddenly that he had not yet introduced himself.

"Oh good sir, where are my manners....I have spent these many moments with you already and not yet made introductions..." Kenlen's host said quite apologically..."I am Qiu-Loit Shuo, master of this house, and Lord of Taelset the Kingdom by the Sea. Shuo will do however in conversation. This is my daughter Qiu-Loit Sepi. One day she will be lady of this house after me, but for now she serves in the Paihi."

"I Lord Shuo am Kenlen Silverguard, Knight of Elruse, and I am very pleased to meet you, it is rare to meet others who have direct knowledge of the Knights or our mission. It is certainly true that the Legend of the Knight, nay Myth in most cases is known to few who are truley accepting that a Knight might be in their presence."

"Well met good Knight, Well Met"....laughed Shuo. "Are you hungry Kenlen, may I offer the delights of my hall to you..." Shuo clapped his hands twice and additional servants appeared from behind the silks on the walls, with more drink, and platters of food. Kenlen noticed, now the difference between the robes his host wore and those of the servants. Shuo's robes were mainly blue with orange and silver accents. The servants, including Shuo's daughter Sepi, were mostly orange with blue accents. Kenlen also found himslef wondering if the tapistries had been hiding other doors, similar to silks function here, as he was walking through the building.

"...You come on a day of great celebration, we have only recently made peace with the nearby kingdom of Peyergeut, the kingdom of the Mountain. On this day we celebrate the making of peace and their Lord Teru-Ghest Jerel pledging his alligence to me as my vasal."

"Truely a great day indeed, Shuo, as someone who's mission is to bring good and peace to all of the many worlds hearing of peace recently created is a pleasant thing. Did you fight long to achive this peace?"

"No, not long at all...there was actually never war with Peyergeut, this is simply a solidification of political ties and recognition of my own kingdoms strength. While we have long had peace with those nearby us, there are other parts of our world, where this is not true. The nearby kingdoms have deceided to unite under the common banner of the Kingdom by the Sea to better position, as a whole incase of attack by the more un-civilized kingdoms."

"A sound plan, the strength of many is always the best defense, or even way to stop an attack before it happens."

As many cources of food were brought out, and taken away over the next hours Kenlen and Shuo continued to talk of many various subjects. They discussed this world which Kenlen found out was called Pelvet, the world near the edge. They discussed the many places, that Kenlen had been, and the things he had seen on his journeys. Eventually Shuo brought up the subject of the Dragon and Knight tapestries when he noticed Kenlen observing the one hanging behind the table closely.

"Are they not exquist works? They were commissioned by my great grandfather a gift to his parents, on the occasion of their 25th weddinganniversary. Although only this one was completed by the celebration, the rest were finished over the following ten years. They depict the prophesied final battle against the ultimate evil. A subject I am sure you are quite familiar with, good knight. There are fithteen of them in all hanging in various parts of the keep here. It is said they were created carefully from descriptions of the prophesy as told by the knight who came here long ago. "

"Yes, they are very beautiful, and I had suspected that the Knights prophesy was the orgin of the depictions. I do find it interesting that the knight battles a dragon, since it has been told to me all my life that the ultimate evil was once a man like you or I."

"Ah, I have heard the same Kenlen, but tis, easier I think to imagine evil as a beast...then to imagine it as something we might bear within ourselves."

"A good point Shuo, I suppose that is true, simply an artist's embellishment...but I also found it interesting that one of the tapestries shows two knights..."

"There is an interesting story there, actually its said that just as that particular work was to be be delievered that one of the craftswomen working on it was struck with a fainting spell...when she awoke she insisted that the picture was wrong that another knight should be present...she stiched it in to the fabric in secret. This caused no end of anger to my great gandfather its said since the stiching could not be removed without destroying the work."

"...A very interesting thing, since the knight who slays the ultimate evil is to do it wih no other main or woman able to hear the battle, someting I had always thought would mean he would fight that battle alone."

"This I have not heard before, and I thought I had great knowledge of the prophesy..."

"Few do know this, besides yourself in fact there is only one other I know of who has that information on the final battle, and that is the Knight who will fight that final battle. I was told by the Oracle at my raising, that I would be the one to fight the final battle...so the knight you see there is me..."