The Hand’s return to Tharkia with the rescued princess and her entourage was a triumphant one. The king was overjoyed, the people jubilant, and the Baron of Gevdan both relieved and deeply impressed with his nephew and his nephews boon companions. Once the initial celebration was spent, he insisted that Devrik and the others spend some time at Kar Gevdan. The king granted them leave to do so, but only for a span of days, as he much desired their council as he set about reordering his kingdom and trying to end the war with Ukala whilst keeping his kingdom intact.

After being hosted by the Baron Gevdan for three days most of the Hand were quite happy to return to Zurhan and their comfortable quarters in the former safe house Haplo had set up for Master Vetaris. None of them considered themselves lightweights when it came to partying, but the Olvânaali took the sport to a whole new level. Although Devrik remained to enjoy time with his family, and Vox joined him for the stories, the others were content to return to sobriety and even politics.

Master Vetaris himself spent much of his time at Kar Zurhan, meeting with the king, his military advisors and the surviving Tharkian nobility who had managed to return to the city once it was freed. But he had felt it proper for neither himself nor the Hand (they were, after all, official agents of the Crown of Ukala) to actually stay in the royal castle. Mariala, Vulk and Toran often accompanied him to the castle, however, as witnesses for their own rulers, as did Haplo, ostensibly the Gray Mage’s private secretary. Erol and Korwin, with little interest in the local politics, spent much of their time getting to know the city in which they seemed destined to spend the winter.

While they were all anxious to return to their own homes, most especially Devrik, who missed Raven and the wee baby Aldari intensely, no one was in any hurry to find out if Madame Vortex had booby trapped any other Nitaran Gates. Master Vetaris thought it unlikely, and himself used the local Gate occasionally to return to Shalara, but he was still working out exactly how his mother had done what she did in the first place, and he couldn’t guarantee their safety. With a harsh winter in full swing and enemy troops still thick between Zurhan and the Ukala border, it seemed the Hand were stuck.

When not meeting with the Tharkians, Vulk spent much of his free time going over the papers and scrolls that Mariala had liberated from the vestry of La’Urantu (as he’d learned the Ur-Tel’naru priest they’d killed in the Golden Skull Shrine was named). He still retained a moderate facility with the Dark Telnori tongue (Reshki, they called it), and since they used the same Omünish script as the true Telnori he could read it, if haltingly.

Almost a tenday after their return from Barasina Island Vulk stumbled onto a reference that caught his full attention and, after doing a little research in both the library of Kar Zurhan and that of their own house, he called the others together to discuss it. Devrik had finally returned from Kar Gevdan, and was running out of entangled parchment with which to communicate with his wife, making him restless and more than a little snappish.

“Are you all familiar with the old Legend of the Winter King,” he asked as everyone tucked into the breakfast he’d arranged in Vetaris‘ study. Everyone made agreeing noises around their food and hot chocolate, if not terribly interested ones.

“The one about the Gyantari wizard who became a master of the Avokari Convocation and called himself the King of Winter?” Mariala finally offered, taking pity on her friend, though she didn’t see why he was interested.

“The Winter King, actually,” Vulk smiled. “The stories are always very uniform on that point. But yes, that’s the one. I found a reference to the tale in the papers you recovered from Barasina, and notes on the actual location of the Winter King’s mountain fortress.”

“Really?” Mariala’s interest was suddenly piqued. “I had no idea the story was that old.”

“It’s not, which is part of what caught my eye, at first… it’s a disturbing point, if it means the Ur-Tel’naru have received outside information since their imprisonment. As far as I can tell in doing my research, the story is about 1300 years old… the events that inspired it must have happened at least two centuries after the Dark Telnori were exiled to Barasina.”

“Intersting, if true,” Korwin said, pouring another cup of chocolate. “But more of a long term issue for the Star Council to address, rather than an action item for the Hand of Fortune, I should think”

“If that’s all it was, yes,” Vulk said. “But the night after I discovered this information I had a dream. And it was one of those dreams… I think most of us have had them? The kind that are more than just dreams.”

All of the Hand who had been at the lost city of Yalura, and been possessed by the Great Beasts, suddenly looked more serious… the others just looked confused.

“I dreamt of the battle between the Winter King and Hasora-Tar… which was the Telnori mage’s actual name, not Hastor as the modern story would have it. It was as if I was truly there, and it was a massive arcane fight. Although it didn’t last for  three days – more like three hours, which was impressive enough. I saw the two retreat into the Winter King’s fortress, but the vision didn’t follow… after a time Hasora-Tar reappeared, alone and without his staff. He was badly injured, but he left the mountain top alive, and at that point the dream faded and I woke up. It’s still as clear in my mind as when I first awoke.

“Then I had the dream again last night. Identical in every respect, as if it truly was showing what had, in fact, occurred… like one of those stories made of moving images we saw on Areth. And, in that way you know things in a dream, I knew that Hasora-Tar was also the mentor and teacher of Dügora Oakheart, the Telnori who became the Great Beast of Earth, Ghoratok. The mentor who bequeathed me my own Torazin powers.”

“What are you saying Vulk?” Devrik asked, eyes lighting in sudden interest.

“I think Dügora is telling me that I – we – should find and recover the Staff of Summer.”