Msaka raised his arms above him, incanting the words to a spell of levitation. The spell took hold, and he drifted rapidly upward until he became level with the platform above. Stepping forward onto it, he dropped his arms down to his sides, ending the spell. Unlike most of the other places in the village, this treehouse had no ladder or other way to climb to it. Only those with sufficient magic could reach it, which was exactly the idea. This was the home of the shaman, who did not appreciate casual disturbances.

Msaka remained at the edge of the platform, gazing at the bead curtain over the doorway to the hut, wondering why he had been called here. While the shaman was not a bad person, he could be quite short tempered at times. Since he was also the most capable spellcaster in the village, this only made people more wary of crossing him, as he had a habit of calling those who displeased him out to a magical duel which he would invariably win. While such duels rarely caused serious injury, they could still be quite painful or embarassing to lose.

Realizing he wasn't going to get any answers, good or bad, by standing there, he stepped up to the curtain. "Shaman, I am here as you asked." he called through it, and waited for a response. "Enter then, and be quick about it!" came the almost immediate reply. Not too good a start, Msaka thought. Parting the beads with one hand, he stepped inside.

The interior of the hut was crowded with artifacts used in the shaman's ritual magics, leaving only a small amount of space to move around. The shaman himself stood near the door, arms crossed in front of his chest. Msaka faced him and waited to hear why he had been summoned.

"Last year," the shaman began, "We came very close to war, a war which would have meant a great many deaths for us, even without the demon attack that would have followed. You know this as well as anyone else. That those deaths would have happened as a result of outsiders' attacks is unacceptable. I intend to make certain we will never face such a situation again." The shaman paused for a moment, then continued, "In order to prevent it, there are things I need, things which can not be acquired here. I have spoken with the chieftain, and we have chosen you to get those things."

Msaka blinked. This was certainly not what he'd been expecting, and he had a sinking feeling that having been challenged to a duel might have been preferable to what was apparently now being asked of him, or commanded of him, in this case.

"It will not be easy to do this," the shaman continued, "You will certainly need to deal extensively with outsiders that we do not know at all, or who are hostile towards us. You will have to find some way to get what we need from them. You will be given what we have and can spare to trade or buy things from them, but that will not be much. You will leave tomorrow, so prepare quickly."

"What will I need to find?" Msaka asked, trying not to sound flustered. If he was going to leave his home behind and be among outsiders for who knows how long, he at least wanted to know exactly what he was trying to do in the process.

"There are three things that I need," the shaman declared. "First is the heart of a creature of magic. One that is magical in itself, not just one that knows magic. The second thing needed is the hair of an ocean dweller. The third and final thing is a captured creature of the essence of water. Outsiders call them elementals. They are dangerous, but vital to what must be done."

"What could those three things do?" Msaka thought. "He intends to harness the elemental somehow..." Bringing his attention back to the shaman, he queried, "Where will I find these things? I know very little about other places, and what may be found there."

"That you will have to discover for yourself." the shaman answered. "From what was learned from the outsider who prevented the war last year, there is a desert land to the north where elementals are common. You will probably need to go there to find one. As for the other things, you will have to ask someone who knows more of other places than we do. There is, we know, a spellcaster in the liontaur city west of here, who might know where these things could be found. That would be a good place to start looking. You may also be able to find a way to get to the desert land from there as well."

"May I ask what you will do with these things once they are found?" Msaka ventured, only to receive a stern look in response.

"It is better that you not know." the shaman snapped, "It can not be accidentally learned by outsiders that way. If they learn what is to be done with them, they will probably go to war with us to prevent it from happening. But I am willing to risk that war to prevent it from ever threatening us again."

Msaka nodded. "If it will do that, then it will be worth the risk. I will do my best to find these things, and send them here when I have found them. I performed the Ritual of Storage on my hut some time ago, so I can send them there."

"Yes, I know that." the shaman said, somewhat impatiently. "Likewise, we will leave food there for you to call upon when you need it, and if anything else is to be sent to you, it will also be placed there. We will speak by sending when needed. Now, go get ready! It will be dawn soon, and you will leave as soon as it grows dark tomorrow!"

"As you ask." Msaka nodded, and stepped back out through the door, brushing the beads aside as he did. His thoughts on what might lie ahead, he levitated back down to the ground, and raced back to his hut.

He spent the next half hour readying what he had to take with him on his journey, and was brought several more things which he could take to bargain with, and a supply of food. Some of those things he put away in a small pack to carry with him, others he laid out neatly on the floor of his hut, ready to be summoned to him when he needed them.

When everything was prepared, he lay down on his bed to sleep, though the sun had climbed some distance into the sky before he could relax enough for slumber to overtake him. He slept uneasily, memories of the near war of last year, and the deaths of several of his people it had caused, troubling his dreams.