Amadeus found himself high up above the clouds - the moon shone upon his body unhindered, and there was nothing to hold him up but air. When he looked down, he felt as though he had died and gone to heaven. Beneath his feet was a sea of clouds, illuminated by moonlight. The sparks from the stone had disappeared and all that was left was a strong shimmering of indigo waves. Had the stone run out of energy?

Before he had time to figure out what to do next, he plummeted towards the ground. He did not know which was worse - being devoured by wolves or smashing against the ground at an incredible speed. Well, at least the view was nice, he thought to himself. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and screamed loudly with his arms flailing all the way down. It was not one of his finer moments.

Fortunately, on his way down, he collided with a group of pine trees and the branches on the trees broke his fall. After many snapping branches, a few broken ribs, and many bruises later, Amadeus landed on the ground with a crunch. He could hardly move his limbs, and his body ached all over.

"Great, now I'll just lie here and starve to death," Amadeus mumbled to himself.

"You have got to work on your landing," said a gruff voice which was followed by a familiar deep laughter.

Amadeus could hardly move his body, and only managed to turn his head towards the voice. He was surprised to find Enoch walking towards him, laughing as though he did not have a care in the world. Enoch! It was Enoch who had given him those gloves! And now Enoch had appeared out of nowhere, and he seemed greatly amused by Amadeus' fall from the sky. Was he watching the whole time?

On any other day, Amadeus would normally have a smart and scathing remark to say to others who made fun of his misfortune. However, today was not one of those days, and all he could muster was a whisper. "Why?"

He looked at Enoch with accusing eyes. Why indeed. A flurry of questions swam in his head. Why would Enoch give him such a dangerous pair of gloves without telling him what it was capable of? Why didn't Enoch teach him how to use them? Why was Enoch nowhere to be found when he had needed help so many times on this very night? Why was he only here when Amadeus was half dead and unable to move? And most importantly of all, was Enoch his friend, or his foe? Just in case Enoch meant him harm, Amadeus struggled with all his might to escape. All he could manage was a little wiggle.

"Be quiet, and stay still." Enoch said. He knelt beside Amadeus and without any explanation or another word, placed his open palm on Amadeus chest and held him down. Enoch then started muttering under his breath. Amadeus could not hear what Enoch was saying, but reckoned that with his luck, Enoch was probably using magic to curse him. A strange sensation spread across his chest and travelled all along his body. It felt like a fire had started burning on his chest and was providing warmth to his entire body. He felt like he was being burned alive, only that the pain on his entire body was slowly leaving.

Suddenly, the sensation halted. Enoch stopped muttering and examined Amadeus from head to toe. "You'll live," Enoch said as he stood up and brushed the snow off his dark bearskin cloak.

Amadeus tried to sit up, and was surprised that he was able to. What surprised him more is that he was able to move his limbs. He looked at his hands and tried to move his fingers. "Did you use magic to heal me?" he asked.

"Do I look like a Noble to you? No, I did not use magic," replied Enoch who appeared disgusted that Amadeus would even ask such a thing. "Magic is a consuming evil; all who use it will be tainted by its lure."

"What did you do then?" Amadeus pressed on, curious at what happened. He examined his wounds and found that they had closed up and looked like they were mere scars from wounds that were inflicted many years ago. His clothes and cloak however, as ragged as they looked before he had left White Harrow, were now in shreds, and would not do much good in keeping him warm. Fortunately for Amadeus, although he would be shivering from the lack of clothes, at least he had enough shreds of sackcloth left on him to keep him looking decent.

Ignoring his question, Enoch explained to him, "You have seen a glimpse of battle tonight, and though you were timid and cowardly, you managed to muster a glimmer of courage. Now, you are ready to know about the Lighvel, for only those who have courage may wield its power."

He pointed at the shimmering stone in the middle of the palm of Amadeus' left glove. "This is Lighvel, which is the essence of lightning and is the only one in existence. You have been chosen from many others to wield the Lighvel. This precious stone was forged in the heavens and bestowed in your care. It holds the power to bend and yield lightning but will only work when there is lightning nearby."

"I am the weakest commoner from the weakest family in the smallest commoner camp. Why choose me?" asked Amadeus.

"You keep looking at things on the outside, but he who chose you looks at qualities on the inside," Enoch replied, patting Amadeus on the shoulder. "Now, do you want to learn how to use the Lighvel or not?" he continued. He then leaned his gnarled staff carefully against a tree and prepared to demonstrate how to use the Lighvel. Amadeus watched intently at the demonstration.

Enoch opened up his hand, showing Amadeus his palm. "If there is no lightning held in the Lighvel, exposing the Lighvel like this will charge the air around it, calling forth lightning to strike the Lighvel. Once it has been struck by lightning, it fully absorbs the energy of the lightning bolt, and will become fully charged. Once the Lighvel has harnessed the energy of lightning, it will move in accordance whoever is wielding it."

"What do you mean by 'move'?" asked Amadeus.

"Well, the Lighvel will bond with the person who is most in contact with it, and will do all it can to fulfill that person's requirements at all times." Enoch replied.

"You mean it reads my mind?" asked Amadeus with his eyes wide open.

"Well, I guess you could say that. Whether it is shooting out bolts of lightning, or letting you travel across great distances; the Lighvel just takes that lightning energy stored in it and does what it can to help its owner. I haven't used it myself so I can't say for sure what else it is capable of. I just know it does those two things since you just made the Lighvel do them a few minutes ago," replied Enoch half-laughing.

"How do I tell if the Lighvel is charged or empty?" asked Amadeus, ignoring the old man's amusement at his recent escapade.

"Look at the surface of the stone," said Enoch, pointing at the Lighvel in the palm of Amadeus' hand. "The strength of the waves dancing across it will determine how much power it has left. The faster the movements, the more power is left. If the color remains stagnant, the stone is void of lightning energy," he continued.

Amadeus blinked, trying to digest what had just been said. He had so many more questions to ask. "Alright, now that I know how to use it, what am I supposed to do with the Lighvel? And who is the one who chose me? Is it you?"

Enoch ignored his question again. Instead, he rapped Amadeus lightly on the head and said, "Your head is still full of hot air, there is much I need to tell you, but you are not ready to hear it. When the time is right, you will know. For now, just finish your quest and save the camp from the Nobles of White Harrow."

Suddenly, Amadeus' eyes widened. The quest! He immediately patted the ground around him, frantically looking for something. "My bag is gone!" Amadeus shouted in frustration. "It must have dropped off while I was fighting the wolves. My map, my food, and the...t-t-the feather! I can't complete my quest without it! Help me find it!" He stood up immediately, forgetting that he had only just been healed from serious wounds and started searching in the piles of snow around him.

Enoch stood there, watching him as he plunged into heaps of snow like a mole, digging around like a madman searching for a needle in a haystack. He stood there for a moment before reaching out his staff and tapping Amadeus on his shoulder.

"Pocket," Enoch muttered.

"What do you mean by pocket, old man?" grumbled Amadeus as he continued clawing the piles of snow and peering behind trees and under rocks.

"Before you left the camp, you took not one, but two feathers." Enoch held up his hand, showing two fingers.

Amadeus stopped in his tracks. He patted the pocket of his shredded tunic. Thank goodness, it was still intact. Reaching into it, he pulled out a ruffled feather. It was still recognizable.

"Thanks." Amadeus said as he smiled to himself. He felt rather foolish and forgetful for not thinking about the second feather he had kept in his tunic pocket. I knew it was a good idea to keep the second feather separate from the first as a precaution.

"Two feathers are better than one," came the nonchalant reply.

"Will you at least help me on my quest? I need to reach the Avianath Tribe or my entire camp will be slaughtered!" Amadeus pleaded. He knew that Enoch was indeed more powerful than his humble appearance made him out to be. He had at first thought that Enoch was an eccentric old man who had no one else to talk to, but now it appeared that this old man certainly had many surprises up his sleeve.

"These are dark times Amadeus, and the beautiful thing about dark times; is that it forges heroes from common people like you and me. Suffering works like fire - purifying gold and silver, making it flawless. However, before there can be a hero, there must be a person in dire circumstances. For you see, heroes are not born, they are made." He put a comforting hand on Amadeus' shoulder. "You worry too much. Some journeys needed to be taken alone. Look, you are already further than you think. " said Enoch, pointing in the distance.

Amadeus turned around and saw the North Mountain in the distance. It was indeed much further than it was when he had just started. He could no longer see White Harrow.

"It's just the North Mountain," he turned around to answer Enoch, only to find that Enoch had once again (not so much to his surprise this time around) altogether disappeared. This 'Enoch' is quite a curious fellow – appearing and disappearing all the time. I can't quite figure out who he is. I've never seen him before.

Sighing, he found himself standing alone in the middle of nowhere. He looked back at the direction Enoch had pointed at, trying to figure out where he was. He knew he had been flung a great distance by the Lighvel, and hoped that it was in the right direction.

Looking slightly to his right, he saw a deep valley, and all throughout the valley grew clusters of trees, so thick that they covered everything beneath them. They sprawled on for miles and Amadeus could not see their end from here. The entire valley looked like fields of green and white – for the tops of the trees were sprinkled with snow. It was impossible to tell what dangers were hidden beneath the trees.

Amadeus widened his eyes in shock. The Lost Valley, I'm already here! He must have been flung a great distance. Looking at the moon, which was now uncovered by clouds, he realized it would be at least a few more hours before daybreak. It would be crazy to venture into the Lost Valley at night, so he thought it best to wait until dawn.

Amadeus shivered. He had never slept outside of his tent in the commoner camp of White Harrow, and was not used to the chilly night air. He rummaged through the trees and found a large leaf, big enough to cover himself. Well, I don't know how to start a fire, so this will have to do.

Amadeus wrapped the leaf around him in an attempt to keep himself warm. This quest is more dangerous than what I had first thought. I wonder how Uthaes is doing.

Sitting in the dark, he struggled to remember the way to the Jagged Peaks. "First I go past the Lost Valley..." he recited to himself. "...then the Crystal Plains..." His mutterings trailed off as he drew the map in his mind again and again.

Okay, that should do it. I should be able to remember the map by heart. He scrawled three lines on the ground. Only three more days before Malevolent Drake burns the camp to the ground.

Looking up at the stars, Amadeus felt daunted at the long journey that lay ahead of him. He was very tempted to continue onwards, but knew that he could not make it far in this condition. Exhausted from his little adventure, his eyelids grew heavy. When he could no longer resist, he closed his eyes, curled up into a ball and decided to take a much deserved rest.

Author's Note: We're at the end of chapter 3, and Amadeus is still alive - surprise, surprise. I hope you've enjoyed the story so far. I think I've rewritten the first three chapters over and over again so many times that I lost count of how many permutation cycles it has gone through. I hope the diligence was worth it and you do like the polished work you are reading. If you think so, do remember to vote and comment :)