Atoh's eyes are drawn to the terrible beast in the vision. " Gmork…" She feels her memory about the nightmare changes its shape. Now the girl sees the face of faceless darkness, now she knows the name of the nameless enemy. " Gmork." Name has power and name is power! That was what the gray wizard told her. Atoh forgot it a long time ago. " GMORK!" 

" Are you okay, buddy? " " I'm fine. " Atoh smiles at Tola who looks at her with worry. " The worst part of fear is you don't know what it is. And that part is over. When a wolf hides in the grass it is a monster. After it comes out, it is just a wolf. And like the sun lights up the world, the darkness reminds me who we are. " One by one, Atoh looks over her friend's face. " We might be a part of great circle. But it doesn't matter. But what important is doing what we can do and do it with our best. Sun will fall, winter will come. But we will keep riding our mount and traveling with horde, believing that we will meet sun and spring again. That's the way of my people, Khun. And the way of all the people of the Grassland." Atoh holds the hand of the Sorceress tightly yet gently. " Wise Sorceress, we were going to the Tower of Elephant to visit the Mystics. But it seems we have to deal with the army of Vader and Gmork first. Please show us the way and how we can make our best to achieve our goal. " 

Chuba addresses her bandmates moreso than their esteemed host. "So what are next steps? Where do we look for the Shard? Or the Triforce pieces? Is Vader involved such that we should confront him or his forces? Or do we continue to the Tower of the Elephant?"

Orin asks “You mentioned the Champion and that you will know them. Is there anything we can do to help you? Time is not on our side. Are there characteristics you can share?” 

Brevon addresses Chuba, but ensures that the Sorceress and Melisandre can hear.  "Our ally Greko has already told us.  If his information is true, Ganon, an ally of the Lord of Darkness, has the Triforce of power and the Sacred Stones. Greko’s sources tell their band that Ganon is going to unlock the Temple of Time for what lies within.”

"Sorceress.  Melisandre. Do you know anything of Ganon, or the Temple of Time?"

The Sorceress smiles sadly at Atoh.

"I don't know how to tell you to deal with these things."  She says.  "But the way is northwest from here, nearly two weeks, and a long way over the sands of the Shem that has kept me safe for so long.  Perhaps, when you say 'deal with the army', you don't mean fighting Vader's forces.  If that's the case, I do not think there are so many in the desert so far that it's unavoidable, but there is no doubt that will change soon."  

She shows them a route of travel on her orb that will be quickest and has the most stops for available water.  

"I do not know."  She replies to Orin's question.  "My predecessor said simply that I would know the Champion when they come, and even once I believe I have found that person, they'll still have to find and combine the two halves of the Sword of Power."  

It's Brevon's words that seem to bristle the Sorceress.  Melisandre shifts behind him and utters a faint 'I know little, my Lord', but the Sorceress of Castle Grayskull is able to deliver.  

"Of Ganondorf I know little.  Of the Temple of Time I know a great deal more.  The Temple stands guarded behind the walls of Hyrule Castle, and was erected over a thousand trine ago, before the second great conjunction.  It stands as a holy testament to the Goddesses as well as a defense of the Master Sword, the Pedestal of Time, and the door to the Sacred Realm.  If Ganondorf has the Sacred Stones he will be able to unlock the doors of the Temple, but he'll need all three of the pieces of the Triforce to gain access to the Sacred Realm.  He'll also have access to the Sword that Seals the Darkness if he has the Sacred Stones.  A great tragedy, that.  No one has been inside the Temple since shortly after its construction.  And if he goes to the Pedestal of Time with the Ocarina of Time...he'll be able to traverse forward and back in time with impunity."  

Jek is in shock as all these images and facts come about. Vader was bad enough, but now Sauron's tower fell to the nothing, Gmork hunts them, and Ganon has one of the pieces of the triforce! This seems to be too much.... What can he do, what can any of them do? .....

With a deep breath, he calms himself. They all have a purpose, there parts to play. He is a shadow of the bright lady and must do his part. All he can do is his best and keep going forward on the righteous path. 

He thinks on Chuba's question. "Uhhh.... Sorceress lady.... What of the crystal shard? Do you know anything about it, where it could be? Can the urRu, the mystics, help us? They always told stories of the crystal of truth? ..... And it would be great if we had a champion for you. They would probably be a lot of help. Anything else you could tell us about the other triforce pieces would be a great help, too." 

Dageron steps back from the group and walks purposefully around the room they are in. His eyes take in the architecture, ornamentation, sense of magic to the place. Its immensity. As he speaks, his voice is measured and commanding - as if addressing an assembly of soldiers about to go into battle. There is a mixture of matter-of-factness and depth to his tone. The gravel in his voice checked by the trained cadence of a battlefield commander. "Forgive me everyone, for I am a new traveling companion to this cohort and its quest. And forgive me Sorceress, for I am a guest within your realm. But it strikes me that what some things you are telling us contradict reason." He stops walking around the room, having traveled a full circle some twenty feet from the Sorceress. "I know war. I would wager I know it better than anyone else here - including you Sorceress, for it is evident to me you have never left this place to wage it, regardless whatever magical insights you have access to. You say there are only two possibilities. In the first, whatever we do does not matter because the conjunction is upon us. Therefore, we can act to try to thwart the forces we oppose for all the righteous reasons we may have, and little will it effect the outcome. Or, something threatens the cycle, and all that is may soon no longer be. Including this place - and you - and your inheritance to keep it and its secrets. If the latter comes to pass, you will have failed at your only purpose - preserving this place. And, you have no idea which is happening, the first or the second scenario. You imply Vader taking this place is a possibility, and with it some power will be gained for his side. If you are ambivalent to that outcome, why not simply give whatever power would be taken to us? Only one of two possibilities exist - either it won't matter in the end, or it may be the thing that saved existence itself. Furthermore, you view too little of your role in all that is unfolding, I fear. You mention those that came before you, and what they told you about various things. You see yourself as you were taught to by those that came before - as an observer, a watcher, one who waits and does not interfere. That time is passed. You cannot be the student or the sage any longer - you must be the Sorceress. You lose nothing in helping us, you lose everything in remaining as you are. I propose instead that this place, and the apparent knowledge and power you have access to, serve as a kind of central command headquarters for the forces that must need rally in this conflict. The shattered survivors of the desert peoples, and those like myself, to name a few. But so many others as well. With your abilities, battlefield intelligence becomes instantaneous. Forces can muster against threats in real time. And, most importantly, in making this place the centerpiece for the defense of this continent, the host of a new army will come here to recover, resupply, and organize. Any assault on this place and the secrets it holds would be met by such a force. A force that, whatever else they seek, would serve to preserve existence itself. You cannot sit this war out, nor wait for some vague inevitability. You need men at arms, if but only you would accept them." He pauses a moment, a thoughtful look upon his face. His shifting to a softened conjecture. "Also, if an allied army were to assemble outside these walls you may find the one you seek, as surely, many likely candidates would be drawn here to fight in defense of life. What I am proposing is two-fold. Don't wait for Vader to take whatever power he could from this place - give it to us or use it with us against him and the forces aligned against existence. And, be a part of the defense of this realm - a rallying cry against the nothingness." He stares directly at her, his commander's voice returned. "What say you?" 

The Sorceress scrunches her eyebrows and thinks when the little Lightless asks his question.  She holds the scrying orb between her hands but nothing shows up.  

"I can't tell you where to find the Shard of Division."  She says.  "I can, however, tell you who may know more about it than I do.  Mother Aughra.  She lives in her observatory in the northern ends of the Thra wastes.  Though, for the urRu, I can't vouch for their ability to aid you or not.  They're quite knowledgeable of the Crystal, though.  They've retained much of their knowledge from the Age of Innocence, though I don't know how much of it may or may not be applicable to your cause.

The Power chooses the Champion.  I don't know how it is selected, exactly.  It seems that the world has been short on heroes for a long time.  At least, those called upon by the Power or the Blade that Seals the Darkness.  Destiny, it would seem, has forgotten Hyboria for a long time.  

The Triforce...I don't have a complete answer for you, but I can help you some.  The Triforce of Courage is on the floating island of Celestia.  I'm not entirely sure where, but there is said to be something terrible there guarding it.  That may be why Ganondorf doesn't have it yet.  So, if he has the Triforce of Power, and we know where the Triforce of Courage is, that leaves figuring out where the Triforce of Wisdom lies."  

The Sorceress listens to Dageron patiently as he makes his case.  Her words are measured when she finally responds. 

"I'm not sure you understand my role in this neverending story."  The Sorceress says gently.  "I feel your frustrations, but the pact that I have made is to the Power.  The Power will draw its Champion when it has found them, and the Power will serve whoever is destined to take it through their own strength.  I will do my part in this, but ultimately my path is to uphold my pact and not to fight this war.  When they come, I will stand stalwart until I cannot.  That is my destiny.  Whatever happens at Castle Grayskull doesn't matter if the whole world is consumed by the Nothing or plunged into the endless night that the death of the unicorns would create."

She thinks for a moment, closes her eyes, and takes a deep breath.

"Even if I am destroyed and Lord Vader captures the Power for himself, he doesn't have the Sword.  And even if he gains it, what good would it do him to allow the Nothing or the Lord of Darkness to destroy everything he has worked so hard to take?  Perhaps I am a fool, but it would be better that Vader had the power and held the world under his thumb that it may be regained later...than for the whole of everything to be annihilated.  

Just like it is not for me to give the Power, it is not for me to call forth an army.  The armies of the world will be lucky to hold back Vader's onslaught now that he is on the march.  I would hate to think that I was so concerned with my own survival that I called their armies here and let Vader's forces slaughter countless innocents, destroy innumerable towns, or worse."  

As the Sorceress responds, Dageron's expression shifts ever so slightly from one betraying a hint of hope, to a face as unreadable as a mask of stone. When she is finished, he nods slowly, then replies.  "As you say, Great Lady." He steps back to the group without further remark, his face remaining neutral the remainder of their visit. 

"Thank you, Sorceress."  Brevon does not begrudge the Sorceress her servility to destiny.  They are all destined to do what they will.  "It would seem that our business here is short.  May we be so bold as to request your hospitality for the night, then leave at first light?" 

Chuba remained stoic and attentive throughout the meeting with the Sorceress. She soaked up the information she could, but she'll need to continue to rely on her bandmates to make sound judgments on next steps. Her hand mindlessly slipped into her cloak to finger the edges of her shard of the Everstone and her mind wandered to the needle she never felt.

Her attention was snapped back when Brevon asks about a night in the castle. Chuba looks around, her eyes darting to the Sorceress, this red witch that is following them around, any guards in the room. Her hand grips the warhammer still strapped to her back as a child grips a favorite blanket. She will not like spending a night in this place with so much of the environment out of her control. But Chuba feels safer than usual knowing she'll be with these powerful magic users, her adopted tribe.

 Jek will count off on his hands as he speaks quickly. 

"Okay...so.... Tower of the Elephant has Mystics, who know about the Crystal, they may or may not be useful; Mother Aughra might know more about the shard, she's in an observatory in the north of the Thar wastes....where's that?.... Triforce Pieces: Courage is at a floating island called Celestia.....Don't all islands float? Aren't they all just bobbing up and down in the ocean? Or does this island float differently? ....... Sorry, where was I..... Wisdom is somewhere, we should probably keep looking; Power is with Ganonduf....Ganondarf....Ganond..d...d..Ganon. He also has some sacred stones and he can get into a temple of time with all of them....how many stones are there?.... And there's a master sword there....Is that the sword you were talking about sorceress?..... and can go back in time with a Ocarina? And can go to a sacred realm with all the Triforce pieces.  And....hey wait, Red Lady, did you just say you knew something about this Ganon guy or that you didn't know? You where mumbling a bit.... I think that's the gist of everything, right?"

He will look over to the others for there acknowledgment. 

 If the Sorcerous lets the Order stay the night at the castle, Jek's curiosity will get the better of him. He's only ever heard stories of Castle Grayskull, and now he's here! He will start wandering about the castle. He won't try to go through locked doors, but would probably go through unlocked doors and might riffle through some stuff. Nothing malicious, just curious.

There are no guards when Chuba looks around; only the Sorceress of the Castle.  

"Of course."  The Sorceress says to Brevon.  She motions around the room.  "You're free to stay here in the seer's hall tonight."  

She listens to Jek and his questions patiently, correcting some of the information as he goes.  "They don't all float like this one...  It floats in the clouds...  There are three sacred stones...  Yes, that is the sword...  Yes, the Ocarina of Time..."  

"I'm sorry.  I'm not sure what you speak of."  Melisandre said once the Sorceress had time to speak her piece.  

The Sorceress rose, and the scrying orb dissipated as she did so, the ethereal blue returning to the wellspring from which it rose.  She walked away from the Order of the Phoenix, looked out the portcullis of the castle, then wandered off into the depths of some other wing.  

Dageron approaches Chuba, a grimace on his face. In a low voice, he says. "As a child, our Elders spoke of this place. They said that the witch who lived within was a necromancer, and that the skull was a true skull that once belonged to a Titan. They believed that its body rested under the ground, and that the castle is little more than a helmet. The Titan Greyskull. Older boys told me it was a story to scare... but now that I am here and have seen a small measure of the Sorceress' power... I'm not so sure. Perhaps she is unafraid to die. Or... perhaps she knows what will happen to Vader if he comes unbidden. Either way, I have the deep sense that we do not belong in this place. It does not like us here."

Brevon wearily takes a seat at the wall, resting his head against the old stones.  He holds AURYN in his hands.  "Greko the Green reports that Ganon has destroyed Kokiri Village in the Kokiri Forrest.  I should report to the other AURYN bearers as well.  As soon as I can gather my thoughts..."

Brevon takes several minutes to collect his thoughts, conferring with his band-mates, Dageron included, on the details given by the Sorceress.  When he believes he has the details in more or less of an order, he holds AURYN aloft, speaking to it with his will.

“Greetings.  This is Brevon with the Third Band.  We have much to tell you.  Our band has traveled to Castle Grayskull.    Outside we met she who calls herself the Red Priestess, Melisandre.  She has been sent to us by the Lady of Light to fulfill her will.  Melisandre is not the defender of the Power and of the castle, however.  That title belongs to one who is simply called The Sorceress.

“The Sorceress has given us refuge for the night, and has told us a great many things. Are they true?  Can she be trusted?  I do not know, but here is her telling.

“Lord Vader has been active in the west, moving to claim Castle Grayskull and then all of Fantasia.  Vader has been serving Sauron, but Sauron’s own tower has been swallowed up into the sky by the Nothing.  Yes, as unbelievable as it sounds, The Sorceress has shown us a vision of the entire tower being pulled up into a great blackness in the sky! 

“She tells us that the Power of Grayskull can be wielded only by a champion, for whom the Sorceress waits.  When the Champion comes, the Power itself will choose them and become wieldable by this Champion.  This may be the best way of stopping Vader.  

“The Sorceress tells us that this is not the first of Hyboria’s great cateclysms.  This is, in fact, the third!  The first great conjunction signaled the separation of the urSkeks into the urRu and the Skeksis.  The second marked the damage sustained by the Crystal of Truth from the Skeksis that split it into the Dark Crystal and the Shard of Division.

“The Sorceress believes that the Nothing has come this time because the incomplete Crystal is dying, and it's taking Hyboria with it.  The Nothing may be an equalizer.  The Nothing does not simply travel from place to place, but simply appears at various locations.  This is most unsettling, of course, for there seems to be no way to predict its behavior.  She speaks of a Third Brother appearing in the sky, which will mark a significant moment of these times, and may be related to the Nothing.  To be certain of why the Nothing is here, she suggests we speak to Mother Aughra or, better yet, Morla the Ancient One.  But she does believe that the reconstitution of the Crystal would put a stop to the Nothing.

“The Sorceress does not know of Ganondorf, but she does know of the Temple of Time.   The Temple stands guarded behind the walls of Hyrule Castle, and was erected over a thousand trine ago, before the second great conjunction.  It stands as a holy testament to the Goddesses as well as a defense of the Master Sword, the Pedestal of Time, and the door to the Sacred Realm.  If Ganondorf has the Sacred Stones he will be able to unlock the doors of the Temple, but he'll need all three of the pieces of the Triforce to gain access to the Sacred Realm.  He'll also have access to the Sword that Seals the Darkness if he has the Sacred Stones.  No one has been inside the Temple since shortly after its construction.  And if he goes to the Pedestal of Time with the Ocarina of Time...he'll be able to traverse forward and back in time with impunity.

“The Triforce of Courage is somewhere on the floating island of Celestia, guarded by something great and terrible.  So, if Ganondorf has the Triforce of Power, and we know where the Triforce of Courage is, that leaves figuring out where the Triforce of Wisdom lies.  

“She also tells us that we, the Third Band, are being hunted by the Gmork, a herald of the Nothing that seeks to stop us in our mission.  It races through the darkness of the underworld to find us.  Pray for us, friends.”

The waste surrounding Castle Grayskull gives way to the desert roughly a day later.  The Red Priestess follows the band as far as they will allow her, offering up water from her decanter of endless water and otherwise trying to be a help without being a hinderance.  They travel for days, approaching a week, the cool of the evenings and night being their friend.  It seemed like the defeat of Barok and his small group had ended the immediate threat of Vader's forces coming south and discovering them, but there was no doubt to any of the Order of the Phoenix that these enemy groups would be back, and back soon.  

Khan's Oasis comes into view in the middle of the night as the band catches glimpses of fires in the distance.  Many, many fires.  As the band draws into the palm forests of the oasis they realize that these multitudinous fires are all a rouse; the hordes have built more fires than they have people to create the illusion of huge armies sleeping at the Oasis.  

There is only one Luck Dragon sleeping near the shore of the oasis.  

There are only a handful of warriors to greet them as they approach...

Brevon offers Melisandre a seat by his side on the wagon.  He takes care during travel to speak to her, trying not to turn it into too much of an interrogation.  Where does she come from?  How did she come to know of the power of the Light?  In turn, he explains his own background and the origins of their mission.

-----------------------------

At the sign of the meager warrior band, Brevon extends a hand into the air.  "Hail!  Well met.  We come in peace!"  He climbs down from the wagon and approaches the warriors.  "We come as emissaries of the Childlike Empress.  Tell us, what has happened here?"

Atoh's heart pounds painfully in her chest as she approaches the Oasis. The Khun Clan's white dragon flag is smeared with blood and hangs from the pole. The golden flag of Raza-Khan which is standing next to it makes the sight even more sad. Atoh never saw her people look so injured, tired and so… so defeated. And the dragon who is sleeping beside the Oasis has unmistakable golden mane. It must be Safk, the most beautiful dragon of Khun and partner of Esin. That means Guld, her third brother and boy who should be the next Dragon Khan is… 

Atoh forwards her mastiff next to Brevon. She raises her shield with the dragon emblem and says. " It's me, Atoh! The fourth daughter of the Khan! What happened to you? And where is Esin? Where is my sister! "