Cold mountain air hit with ripping force on young Nesanets face. She looked around. The path that she followed led over the back of an extensive hill covered by lime green grass. The foggy sky already started to dip into orange-red light and the dawn could be felt.

I'm still not high enough, she had to acknowledge, since according to her information, the goal she pursued should have been resting in the eternal ice of the highest mountains. Exhausted, the young woman leaned against a rock that protruded higher out of the ground than the rest of the landscape.

Three months...

Nesanet had only recently received her title as Kinsor Master and she had started her journey right away. She was searching for explanations.

Knowledge.

At first, she had gone to the legendary Aztec pyramids to hunt for clues. But this turned out to not reap any success. Thereupon which she went on to travel through the dense forests of the Amazon – once again without results.

And even after changing my course and walking around the giant Lake Titicaca or the steplike ruins of Machu Picchu, there was nothing I could find.

The Kinsor looked to the ground and observed the stone covered in green beneath her feet. Slowly she raised her left hand and focused her mind. The ground trembled and rose, like a living being. Two thin stone cylinders started to intertwine and dance one around the other. Out of this spectacle a fascinating mineral mesh formed, which built a protecting ring in the earth. Subsequently Nesanet put her collected firewood in the center and bend forward, closer to her creation.

And now a bonfire.

She closed her index finger and thumb to a circle, approximated them to her lips and gently blew through them. A narrow stream of fire shot towards the wood and ignited it. Shortly afterwards the flames already blazed and crepitated, and the Kinsor Master sat down exhausted beside her creation.

The young master looked up and analyzed silently how the sun slowly descended until it was swallowed by the sharp ridge of the mountain. Deeply engulfed by her own thoughts she longed into her mantle and took out a piece of bread.

The evening arrived and brought sleepiness with it. The Kinsor Master laid down closer to the bonfire and rubbed her hands against to heat them up a little. Her eyelids got heavier and soon she was already sunken in a profound sleep state.

*

"You're not far from your destination, Nesanet!" it resounded behind her.

Startled she turned around swiftly and caught the glimpse of the figure of a man who was staring right into her eyes.

"Who are you?" she inquired while trying to hide her drowsiness.

She wiped a strand of her curly hair from her face. Behind her back she firmly held her Kinsor Staff – her weapon – ready, should it come to a fight. All of her muscles were so tense that the slightly ached.

The man laughed and looked once again into her chestnut-colored eyes.

"Just a lonely stroller." he said while smiling.

According to the ambient illumination Nesanet judged, that the sun was about to search its place onto the sky. The air was fresh on that dawn and a cool breeze of air tickled over the young woman's chocolate-colored skin. The mist was still as dense and dark as on the previous day and it seemed, as if it was listening to the words of the mysterious man.

"You are searching for the Well of Wisdom." the man continued and raised his arm, which seemed to be covered in a vast inscription, which irradiated different colors at any instant of time into the daybreak. "Good!"

The Kinsor Master was stupefied. She was still dizzy and confused by the situation, which had woken her up so abruptly. Her brain was still not working at full power and she needed some time till her memory caught up with the situation. She had already read about such encounters, once: A solitary roamer appears and helps the desperate ones.

"I can show you the way. But be wary of the guardian, because the Spirits protect their hideouts and existence by all means..."

The man seemed to completely ignore Nesanets reactions. He simply turned his body and extended the index finger in a seemingly arbitrary direction. Nesanet, puzzled, let her gaze wander to the indicated spot. At first there was nothing to be seen but gradually a part of the fog started to dissolve, and a high mountain appeared behind it. A warm feeling grew inside the young master's belly and she whipped around to thank her guide, but he was already gone. She hadn't had the time to even properly watch the man, let alone thank him. Finally, she let her Kinsor Staff fall and relaxed.

But now I have to go.

She bent down, picked up her belongings, stuffed them into her Kinsor Mantle and put out the fire. The Kinsor Staff she attached to her back, in the way that most Kinsor did. With a simple hand gesture, she let the stone ring sink back into the earth and stood up.

Excited she moved towards the mountain. She shot past pointy rocks and advanced on the ever steeper turning terrain. After a few minutes the path was already almost completely perpendicular and Nesanet had to grab small ledges to crest the geological body.

Her movements were fluid and almost melodic. She climbed during what she perceived to be an eternity until she reached a bigger rock overhang. After a short pause to catch her breath, she glanced down.

Wow, I probably already climbed around 200 meters.

The ambient was being illuminated gently by the first rays of the sun. The green of the grass covered wide patches of the hill and irradiated extraordinary serenity. The air was cool and clean and the only sound to be heard was the distant chattering of birds.

After a while Nesanet was already feeling recovered and immediately continued her ascension. This time around, though, her activity turned out far more difficult than before. There were less usable ledges, onto which she could hold and the stone turned ever more smooth. She resolved the problem by using earth magic in fluid motions to build her own grabbing opportunities as she climbed on with outstanding speed. Slowly the temperature around her dropped and the mountain was frozen at some points.

She took hold of an irregularity in the rock and wanted to pull herself up, when suddenly her fingers slipped. She hadn't taken enough care and the ice layer over the stone had burst to fine snow, under the influence of her rock manipulation. This caused the woman to not get a right grasp.

The body of the Kinsor Master fell several meters

Desperate she stretched her arm and pulled it back to her core. A stone platform shot out of the mountain beneath her. A scream slipped out of Nesanets mouth when she hit the rocky surface.

This... this... was close!, she thought and gasped.

Slowly she erected her spine. Her body was in no way harmed by such a fall, for that it was too resistant, but Nesanet had to sit quietly, since she had had an enormous shock from the experience. For a short moment she had thought, that her end had come. Maybe she could have reacted better – with air magic – but she wasn't prepared for that and earth magic had always been her strong suit.

Once recomposed, Nesanet started rapidly soaring up the hill again – this time, though, with greater care. The ascension still took a long time. For the young woman it seemed like hours when she finally arrived – breathless and with her heart racing – on a plateau. She would have needed some minutes of rest, but she was far too pumped by the adrenalin of the discovery and simply couldn't stand still.

Nesanet looked around her.

The ground beneath her feet was unnaturally smooth almost as if it had been polished. In front of her – at the end of the intermediary plateau, she was standing on – the mountain continued rising and she could see thick ice caps higher on. But what impressed her the most was the decoratively ornamented wall, that seemed to be incorporated into the rock and conveyed the impression of being an entrance.

Hm... What is the Spirit Guardian of this place?

Nesanet straightened herself and approached the construction. It was structured in the form of a trapezium and built out of seamlessly joined stones without the use of mortar. On top of a platform that protruded out of the wall above her was a giant sculpture of an approximately sic meters big Andes Condor. The statue appeared to be made of iron and showed vestiges of rust. The Condor was portrayed with closed wings and gazed over the plateau, as if it protected the entrance like a gargoyle. Beneath him was written "In memory of Ayar Kachi" in Spanish, using Latin letters.

The explorer took a closer look at the monument and stroke lightly with her finger over the smooth surface of the wall. Suddenly, her nail hit an irregularity. She bend closer to it and read the fine engraving.

"Igdrono Alandrido."

Well of Wisdom in the antique language Engalon Hiiva!!!

Without warning, everything turned dark. Nesanet jumped backwards and recognized, that she was standing in the middle of a huge shadow. Slowly she directed her gaze upwards and realized, that the Condor Statue had directed its eyes directly towards her and was standing there with opened wings. A cold sensation of fear flowed through her spine. Quick as lightning she grabbed her Kinsor Staff to defend herself without ever taking her eyes off the metallic creature.

Unexpectedly, the eyes of the bird glared red. The condor shook its feathers and they began to glow silver-golden. The wings slowly stretched even more. A loud bird cry ripped through the silence and with an enormous impulse the bird threw itself from its resting place. The sound of giant wings filled the whole space. And then, a big bash.

What?

Nesanet turned swiftly around her own axis and stared at the sic meters tall silver-gold Andes Condors eyes. He had landed behind her to cut off her escape route. She held her Kinsor Staff more firmly with her shaking hand. Her heart started racing and she remembered the words of the mysterious man: But be wary of the guardian, because the Spirits protect their hideouts and existence by all means...

The bird made a movement with his wing and propelled itself closer to the paralyzed Kinsor. Its red glowing eyes analyzed her carefully. Then it emitted another strident shriek and a zirring sound could be heard.

This noise... Could he be a magical Automata? Or robot, as the Kinsain call it?

All of a sudden, the metallic bird grabbed the Kinsor Masters leg and brought her closer to his eye. A freezing shock of fear spread in Nesanets chest. She couldn't look away, she couldn't move, only the red eyes existing in front of her.

And then it happened.

It was as if the Automata scanned her memories. Feelings started sprouting. Images, smells and sounds. Her parents, a dangerous and sinister world, her Kinsor Training and finally the man, who had shown her the way. Suddenly everything turned golden and a harmonic melody resounded.

Nesanet fell to the ground.

The condor had dropped her and looked down at her with a reverent pose. Then he walked to the rocky construction, produced a clacking sound with his beak and the wall opened wide. Startled and a bit terrified the young woman got back to her feet and walked past the bird, which bend down its head, as if it was bowing to and welcoming her.

He.. He judged me worthy?

She stumbled into the glowing cave. Tired she analyzed her surroundings. At first glance it seemed to be a huge stony hall in a castle. But upon further inspection it became evident, that it was a library. Shelves of pure crystal grew on the walls and sprouted out of the ground at several places. They were filled with books, scrolls and stone tablets of all type and languages. As a whole, the crystalline exuberance and the various books lend the room a pleasant radiance, similar to the hearty smile of a proud teacher.

Nesanet approached them more.

"The Well of Wisdom..." she whispered.

The young Kinsor Master stroke her finger along the adorned back of several books. There were so many interesting exemplaries among them, that Nesanet almost forgot what she was searching. In the middle of the cave, there was an especially big bookshelf, which extended up to the four-meter-high ceiling and at the same time served as a pillar. It was a cylindrical construct with the sign "Inbolion", the Engalon Hiiva word for "Legend".

Nesanet immediately walked up to it and looked for a very specific exemplary. After some minutes she found at approximately two meters of height a very old, dusty and thick book. She didn't quite understand why, but it seemed as if the piece was quietly calling for her.

With a gracious flying jump the Kinsor Master took the hard cover out of the shelf and landed light-footed. Rapidly she went to one of the stone armchairs. Warily she sat down and realized amazed, that it was warm and cozy. The connection to the stone was so strong, that Nesanet could suddenly feel the earth breathing. Everything moved and twitched beneath her and it was as if she could feel all movements of the earthy inhabitants. But she didn't let herself get distracted by this anymore. She put the book on her lap and wiped the dust away.

Finally, I have found it, she thought.

She looked closer at the work. It was astoundingly well preserved for a 1240-year-old book. The leather cover was immaculately well kept and emanated a sweet scent. But what wondered Nesanet was that it had no title. The young woman opened the book. It was completely written in Engalon Hiiva, which was no problem for an experienced Kinsor Master such as her.

On the first page was written: "The work is divided in parts. Each part has to be read without putting the book aside or closing it. Lest the reader shall be destroyed."

"That sound amazing..." smirked the young Master.

But, being a Kinsor, she could renounce food for weeks and could stay awake at least the same amount of time. She wouldn't lose focus easily and could transport water from the nearest well with a simple hand gesture to her mouth. So, she decided to read on.

The following page was blank.

After taking a deep breath and getting the feeling of being ready, she finally turned the page once more.

"Part 1: Selat, Revolutionary Rendezvous" read Nesanet. "Warm sunrays shone..."

She passed her hand over the page and was startled. The young woman had already held many magical books in her hands, but one, of which the page felt like rubber stretched over a frame, she had never seen. The book almost fell out of her hand, but something inside her knew, that if that had happened, the book would simply swallow her.

So, she continued reading.

***************

Let me know your thoughts on this chapter. :P