One of the Dark Lords of the realm knows.

That was what the crone of the swamp had said. It did narrow down Raviel's search quite a lot, but did not make it considerably easier. If he hadn't already met the Lady of the Lake and that strange messenger of the Viscount of Shadows, all the Dark Lords might have just as well been folktales and superstition.

Saska knew names - Raven, Lady of the Lake, Old Man of the Mountain, Viscount of Shadows - but he had rarely wandered outside the Raven's territory and certainly made no contact with any of the lords before meeting Raviel. Although he offered to contact Outcasts again, the elven mage was not very fond of that idea after what had happened at the swamp.

Instead he chose to seek out another who traveled a lot: Tessa. Admittedly, her friend's advice had gotten Raviel into trouble last time too, but at the very least those two had also pulled him out of it. He could not say that much for the Outcasts.

Maybe there were only bad and worse choices here. But he -needed- that information. And...he kind of wanted to see Tessa again.

He tracked the huntress with the same spell he had used last time, eventually finding her in the middle of wilderness. She was bathing in a shallow stream apparently without a care in the world and with the way she smiled at Raviel when she saw him, she might have as well been expecting him.

Raviel hurried to cover her with his own cloak as she stood up, water still running down her lovely form. Saska could only stare.

Tessa smiled and gave him a teasing kiss on the cheek. "Always a gentleman." Then she turned to look at Saska. His clothes were considerably more worn than Raviel's, he didn't seem to carry any weapons and one of his eyes was covered with bandages. Not exactly what she would have imagined. "I take it this is the companion you wanted to save?"

Raviel nodded. "Yes, this is Saska."

She gave the boy a charming smile. "Nice to meet you, Saska. I'm Tessa."

Saska blushed. He was not used to stunningly beautiful women paying any attention to him. "N- Nice to meet you too!" he hurried to say.

Tessa giggled. "I'm sorry, Saska, but you are a little too young for my taste. No offence." Then she turned back to Raviel. "So is this a thank-you visit, or do you find yourself in trouble again?" she asked with a flirting smile.

Raviel smiled back. "A little bit of both." He looked around briefly. "Nightshade isn't with you, is he?"

"I last saw him when you did. But I can contact him if you need me to?"

"No, hopefully not. I don't...really trust him very much. I need information about the Dark Lords. One of them knows about my brother's whereabouts."

"Hmm. Well, I have heard my share of stories. But before we get to that..." She moved a little closer to the elf. "...perhaps a little chat just between the two of us?"

Saska almost rolled his eyes and pulled their horse's reins a little to get her to follow him. "I'll go take a walk or something."

"Don't go too far."

"Raviel, I am not a little child. I can take care of myself just fine."

"...Alright." The boy sounded angry, or at the very least annoyed. Much more so than reasonable - at least in Raviel's opinion - over being asked to make himself absent for a while. Maybe he was jealous?

~*~*~

About half an hour later the elf had left Tessa at her camp and gone to seek out his traveling companion. Saska had not even made an attempt to be stealthy, so following his tracks down the stream was quite easy.

He found the boy busy peeling off some kind of moss from the streamside trees. Close to his feet were a handful of pieces of cloth, different kinds of leaves laid out on each.

"What?" Saska asked as he saw the elf. "Did you think I'd just go off to sulk? I can sell this stuff. It might not be much on your scale-" Although Raviel had said nothing about it, he was almost positive the elf had gotten a good amount of money or trinkets to sell from that creepy necromancer and the other islanders, "-but to me every copper counts."

Raviel smiled. "That's good." He watched as the boy tied the pieces of cloth into neat little pouches. "You know, Saska...If it's...the lack of female company that irks you, there are surely establishments where-"

"Of course there are," Saska snorted. "Aren't there everywhere?"

"I mean I can pay. For you."

"Doesn't make a difference. They don't serve Outcasts either. Nobody does."

"Don't tell me you've already tried."

Saska sighed. "Not really. But if even talking with one can get you cursed, what do you think might happen if you actually coupled with one?" He deposited his small herb pouches into his bag. "That's the kind of superstition you will run into everywhere."

Raviel was pretty sure Saska was exaggerating. The Outcasts sold things to other people, at least sometimes. That meant talking to them. But he had seen that people could be quite hostile towards them too - or anyone they as much as suspected to be an Outcast. "I'm sure we could find at least one place willing to ignore it. Anyway, Tessa is waiting for us to come back."

Saska untied the reins of their horse from a tree branch. "Coming."

When they got back to her camp - a campfire and an oiled leather cover propped up over a bedding roll to shield it from the rain - Tessa took a rolled-up parchment out of a long circular container. Then she handed it over for Raviel to hold.

The elf unrolled it. It was a map. It looked considerably well-made, with the lay of the land and the locations of even smaller farming towns burned into the canvas. "This is very good. Where did you get this?" he asked. Accurate and detailed maps were not easy to make.

"Nightshade gave it to me. It's a copy of one he's made during his travels." Tessa smiled to herself. "He's probably been to every corner of this world at some point. I wish you'd have the time to listen to his stories someday too."

"Maybe someday," Raviel agreed. Then he asked, "What can you tell me about the Dark Lords?"

"Raven's territory is largest." She traced a wide strip of land from the northern sea to the southern. "I've heard stories he's fought some other Dark Lords in the past and obtained their lands, but who knows? They're just stories."

Old Matt had said that the Raven didn't like elves. "So it's most likely he'd know something."

"If you're certain someone knows, possibly. He doesn't seem very interested in actually taking care of his lands. The towns are still standing despite the monster population, but beyond that I've never heard he'd actually step in and...well, do anything. And he hates elves. He'd be just as likely to chop off your head as hear what you have to say."

That was a problem. A human wanting to chop off his head would hardly be a problem, but these Dark Lords were considerably more powerful beings. "What about the others? I have met the Lady of the Lake already and she didn't know where my brother might currently be, only that he visited her domain soon after he came here."

Tessa tapped a small peninsula at the southeastern corner of the continent. "Shepherds live here. But they don't like visitors. I've never heard of any strangers being allowed into the peninsula. Although..." She smiled to herself again faintly. "...some have sneaked in nonetheless."

"Shepherds? Not a shepherd?" He had thought all Dark Lords were individuals.

"They're...legendary beings only those who become their soldiers have actually seen. Pale, regal, full of magical powers."

Could it be? "Those soldiers...Is their skin almost white? Are they stronger than normal humans, emotionless? Do they act like they don't know their loved ones anymore?"

Tessa was surprised "Y- yes. How did you know?"

Raviel bit his lip before answering. "Moon elves. I wouldn't call them legendary, just...nasty." This really wasn't looking good. "Is there a single Dark Lord who wouldn't want to kill me or turn me into a mindless slave the moment they see me?" Despite all the warnings the Viscount of Shadows was starting to sound like a good option.

Tessa was quiet for a moment. "That really only leaves the Old Man of the Mountain. His domain is here," she traced another outline in the southwestern corner of the map. "The local baron resides near the mountain where he lives. He has the means to contact him."

It was south of the Lady's lake, west of the Raven's gigantic domain. "And what about these lands?" he asked. Tessa hadn't covered everything.

"Monsters, or Lords who really want to keep quiet about their presence. I've told you all I know."

"And the Viscount?" Raviel asked.

"You can't contact him. Not even Outcasts can. He contacts you if he feels like it. But..." She smiled at the elf. "...I'll see if I can dig out something. Just for you. I wish I could promise I'll find your brother, but I'll try."

Raviel kissed her gently on the mouth. "Thank you, Tessa. We'll start with the Old Man of the Mountain. Can we meet you somewhere once we're back?"

She pondered the question for a moment. "Here," she pointed at a small dot at the south coast, near the mountain ridge separating the Old Man's domain from the Raven's. "This is the easiest passage to where you need to go and back. Unless you'd rather scale the mountains or brave the monsters beyond the Lady's domain."

"The sea isn't really that safe either," Saska pointed out.

Tessa just smiled at him. "Is anything really safe? But fishermen still go out every day. The Lord of the Waves may claim some lives, but he leaves most alone."