It loomed there up on the mountain, like a hawk looking down on its prey.
Nobody would go near it. Few would ever even speak of it.
And those who would? Well, they weren't exactly the pleasant type.

I stepped into the tavern and was greeted by the stench of unwashed bodies and alcohol. The place was a mess. People talking over each other. Barmaids rushing to and from tables. I scanned around for the guy I was meeting. Middle aged man, bearded, rough work clothes. That would be... Everyone. I was told he always had a knife stuck in the table. There, in the corner.

I walked over to the corner. "You Gethin?"

"What's it to you?" Gethin said, looking down at the table.

"I was told you know something about the mansion."

"Bad news that place, the man who owned it?" He said."Secretive fella, had all kinds of strange business going on around there."

"Whatever happened to him?" I said. Maybe this one who actually have something useful.

"S'pose the old man Grimm must've died up in that there mansion. He aint left since before I was alive." Gethin waved his tankard toward the window. Out there was the forest spread behind the village, the mountain towering above it. And halfway up, there sat the mansion, a blight of wood and shingles on a rocky outcropping.

"Why didn't anyone go up there and visit him?" I said, taking the seat across from Gethin.

"He don't have relations or nothin'. But here's where things get real interestin'." He glanced at the others. "Now don't go telling people I said this, boy, but up there is a great treasure. Ancient and mighty powerful, but no one can get at it cause of a curse."

He leaned back and took another swig. "Now run along boy, can't give you all my secrets."
I'd gotten all I could out of him, as much as that was.

I left my seat and walked out into the rain. Gethin was the last one willing to talk. I'd asked every other drunkard, lowlife, and teller of tall tales. No one had any answers. If it wasn't curses it was ghosts. I looked at myself in a puddle in the road. Green eyes and dark hair, they said that meant I was strong-willed. It didn't mean anything. Not everything could be attributed to just ghosts and hair color.

I continued my hike down the muddy road. My mother would worry if I were out too long.
"Ithel, where you headed?" I started and turned around to see Celyn running up to meet me.

"Just walking home." I said, as he fell in beside me.

"Were you out interviewing people again? Who was it this time?"

"Gethin, he wasn't any help." I sighed.

"If your mother finds out, you're in trouble."

"I just... got to know. We've lived our whole lives in the shadow of that place, it's always been this taboo thing. Why?" I said stopping to look up at it.

"Well, what if you went there?"

"Weren't you just talking about how much trouble I'd be in for just mentioning it?"

"Yeah, if she found out. Live a little dangerously."

"Perhaps I should..." I said. I would finally get answers. "To the depths with it. Let's go."

Celyn's grin spread ear-to-ear. "Meet by the tree?"

"Meet by the tree."

As we parted ways I shivered, but not from the rain. Tomorrow, everything would change.

I stared at the rafters as I laid in bed. I could feel the straw poking through the mattress. The early morning sun shone through the window above my head, casting a spotlight in the otherwise dark loft. Time to get a move on. I pulled on my clothes. Here in Ter most clothing was made from sairge, a sort of wheat-like plant, with soft fibers at the head instead of grains. The rich snobs could afford better, but since Grimm we hadn't had any of those. I grabbed the bag I'd packed the night before and slung it over my shoulder. Reaching under the bed I grabbed my life's work, a book titled; Aloysius Grimm, The Truth. Everything I learned about him I put in that book. Most of the pages were blank.

I headed down the stairs and crept out the backdoor, trying to avoid catching my mother's attention.

"Ithel, can you haul some water in before you go?" She said, lifting the pot onto the stove.

"Alright." I sighed. I dropped my bag and grabbed the pail. I walked to the well, noticing a gathering over by the village. Yggsil traders must have come to town, I thought pulling the pail back up. Odd little fellows, I'd never met one taller than a guy's knee. They'd come with some harvesting contraption or planter to barter for foods. Always a big deal for a town full of farmers. I headed back into the house and set the pail on the kitchen table. "I'm headed out Mom."

"Don't you want breakfast?" She said, slicing a loaf of bread.

"I've got a busy day, so I packed breakfast last night." I said about to leave.

"Bye Ithel!" Said Anwen coming into the kitchen to help our mother. She was too little to be of much real help, but she still tried.

"Bye!" I said. There was a bounce in my step that I hadn't felt before as I begun my journey. I could feel the glares of the others my age as I walked through the village. Here in Ter it's decided from birth whether you get a "pure" trade or an ordinary one. Me and Celyn were the only ones who got a pure trade in our village, that's why we never had to get an apprenticeship, or work on a farm. My trade was Alchemy, Celyn had Mechamancy, it would be a few more years before either of us went into training.

I left the village and begun to walk up the hill. No taller than a house, the hill had an old apple tree that we'd met under since childhood. As much fun as having next to no responsibilities was it left us with a lot of free time to spend. And as I got older I ended up spending much less time playing games, and more asking questions. The mansion being one, and even my religion. Why did only a select few get a pure trade? We were told that our god Ternyll needed warriors to fight for him, and the "pure" would be those people. But that didn't answer why some were pure and others weren't. I was soon interrupted from my internal ramblings by Celyn's cheerful voice, as he saw me reach the summit.

"Ithel! Took you long enough, I was worried you were having second thoughts." He was leaned against the tree.

"Nothing will keep me away from that mansion, you should know that."

And with a laugh from Celyn we took off down the hill. The forest stood guard a ways ahead. The sun shone down on the forest, yet from this distance it seemed none broke through the canopy. I had never been even this close before. Getting even nearer I noticed how much taller the trees were, I'd never seen anything tower so far above. They seemed to touch the clouds themselves. We came to a stop right at the edge, looking deep into the shadowed woods.