to sleep all night and was now waiting for them to leave. He too was fed up with wandering the woods alone and you couldn't believe how much he wanted company. The warm morning wind made his hooded cloak flutter. In the time he had read the books of the druids, he learned a lot of spells and one could call him a magician today.


A noise made him look up. Inside in the courtyard, he heard the clash of swords and wild cries of battle. As he looked down at them, he saw his new friends chopping into the air. Benedict shot energy balls of blue fire through the air, which suddenly exploded in the air.On closer inspection, he noticed a strange rosy, semi-invisible veil tearing through their centers. He seemed to go right through her and her swords chopped into space as well. Only when the wanderers were touched by the creature did they slip and hit the ground. The demon had awakened, it shot through his head and jumped off the parapet. How long had they been fighting?


Benedict moved incredibly fast, he dodged the attacks of the enemy and then let magic speak. Every time the demon was caught a wreath of blue fire formed around the animal and it backed away.


Then the teacher noticed a little twinkle. It flashed in Albert's hand. A knife with a bright glow. The gnome furiously lunged at the creature and struck. The veil-like creature stopped moving and one recognized its bird-like face, which looked like the face of a vulture. Now it winced and reared up.His screams shook everyone's marrow and bone. Gotthard realized what kind of demon it was. The phoenix! What enemy had made him so aggressive? The animal flapped its wings violently, shaking off the wanderers. The wind threw them against the wall, which immediately crumbled and buried Benedict under itself. The rest of them just managed to save themselves and were seriously injured. When Gotthard ran to the place where the magician was buried by running along the wall, he glanced briefly at the gnome's weapon.It glowed as ever in a wonderful light. The steel spring had a new owner. Whether Benedict has noticed that too, he wondered to himself and began to roll away the stones. The rest of the group began to fight the overwhelming enemy again. At that moment, Gotthard had an idea for the name of the world. There were four talismans for the elect, one to kill the four demons and an egg that foretells the future.Then why shouldn't the world be called The World of Talismans?


"Again something ge ..." he didn't get any further, because Benedict's head now appeared. He was passed out. With the last of his strength, he heaved his upper body out and shook it. Blood emerged from a gaping wound on the wizard's forehead. Finally Benedict opened his eyes and whispered: "I've already seen what it is like to die! It doesn't matter, you think that you are being drawn into a deep abyss and cannot do anything about it. Please Karl, let me die. You will now lead the group. Put your hand on mine ...! " Karl Gotthard did it and fell silent. While Benedict was still dying, the entire knowledge of the magician was transferred to the teacher. Now the feeling of connectedness disappeared and Benedict closed his eyes. Gotthard's eyes filled with anger and he conjured up the technique he had just learned.


After a short time, a hail of energy balls flew towards the monster and it staggered back."Now!" shouted the new wizard and Albert lunged at the demon and rammed the steel spring into his invisible heart. It was not the talisman itself that drilled the hole in the avoidable opponent, but its shadow. When the creature was still raging and seemed to notice nothing of its injury, hatred rose in the gnome's eyes and he yelled at him. His face was contorted with pain and you could see the veins protruding from him. The demon seemed so startled by his anger that he backed away. At that moment Gotthard threw another swarm of fireballs at the animal and it was time again to attack with the steel spring. Albert attacked with full power and the dwarf did the same by throwing his battle ax.


Destin stumbled back as the transparent monster became visible in an explosion of energy waves. Everyone's anger was gone when the lifeless body of the demon stopped moving. It was now made of solid mass and all the fighters were sweaty.Only now did they recognize the dead Benedict, who was lying in the pile of stones and no longer moving.


They packed everyone to put the stones back in a heap to bury Benedict underneath. It was not unusual for everyone to have tears in their eyes, as they owed so much to him. They nailed a wooden cross from the splinters of the drawbridge and placed it on the top of the barrow.


To pay their respects to the dead, Destin gave a speech:




"My dear friends,


a good friend has now passed away.


Even if half of the people here didn't know him as well as I did,


we all mourn


to the,


that made us all happy.


He was destined to die.


Man shouldn't fool death into the trade.


His friend was also Gotthard's friend,


he died too


his name was also Benedict.


In him rested the reborn soul of the wizard.

He was not brought back to life and


That was why he had done his job.


He was the prelude to a new generation of the chosen and


The talismans were an important link in her life to magic.


Our gnome also has this magic.


He is the reborn Tom! "




All but Dr. Gotthard looked at Albert, who was still holding the glowing steel pen in his hand. He quickly put it back in its sheath in his pocket and grinned with a shrug.


Nobody wanted to stay here any longer and so they decided to leave immediately. From the attic they fetched armor such as arm guards and steel gloves. They were lucky that the riders hadn't attacked them in the middle of the night. Karl - Heiz was finally happy to have closed the gates and opened it again by turning a council to which a chain was attached. The portcullis lifted and they marched off into the sunny day.



They just walked along the river and soon came to the sea. The sand was fine and white. All except the dwarf and the gnome wanted to go swimming, but then they left it because they didn't want to lose any time and because the gnome claimed the water would damage his delicate skin. The waves lapped steadily on the beach and foamed up slightly. Sea birds circled overhead and heard the calming rush of the water. When they reached the sea, they followed the beach to the left. In the north, the landscape changed almost constantly. Sometimes hilly, sometimes rocky, sometimes sandy, sometimes rich or weakly overgrown and sometimes just meadows and forests. Only after a long time did they get hungry because they had breakfast late and Destin shot with his sling at some birds that tried to peck the fish out of the ground at low tide. Soon he had met enough to prepare a feast. So he went out to the mud flats and looked for them together.Here and there he even got hold of fish. The others had made a fire in the meantime and were already waiting for him. Since the sun was very hot, they put up a small tent to sit in the shade.


Over dinner, they told each other jokes and let the wine, which Gotthard had conjured out of water, pass through the rows. The party lasted until evening and the friends became real drunkards. They had a starry night ahead of them and they used the tent to be safe from wild animals. They also left the fire burning for protection. So they rolled out their sleeping bags and slipped into them drunk.




Their sleep was long and heavy. The next morning they woke up with a headache and limp limbs. Destin rubbed his arms to finally wake up properly. The bones of their nightly meal were still lying around everywhere. They would have loved to go back to sleep, but the tide reached into the tent and the crabs washed on their feet.It was a windy, sunless day. A day like most days by the sea. In the distance they made out the palisades of the fishing village and a red-haired woman with white streaks waved to them. It was Tom's girlfriend and everyone knew her name was Sandra. Happy to have found a friend, the hikers pounced on her and hugged her. She was older and more wrinkled than when she last met. Gotthard stood a little to one side and eyed the beautiful woman. He immediately fell in love with her and, unconscious of what he was doing, he hugged her. Sandra felt what he felt for her and felt the same. The moment when they looked into each other's eyes seemed to last forever and then they kissed. When their lips touched, Sandra turned to stone and so did the teacher.


For a brief moment everyone was shocked. What happened?


Suddenly the gnome declared that love between wizards and humans is forbidden and should it ever happen, the lovers should be turned to stone and everyone who they touch should also be.When he said this, his squirrel, which had been sitting on his shoulder the whole time, scurried towards the stone ones. As soon as it touched her, it turned to stone too.


"Oh no, Etkar! What did you do there again?" regretted Albert the squirrel.


"Who is Etkar?" Destin asked with an ignorant expression on his face. The gnome pointed to the animal that had turned to stone.


Albert then opened his pouch, sparkled his eyes, took out a small bottle and poured the contents onto The Lovers and his little friend. They immediately turned back to flesh and blood and sagged unconscious.


"What...?" asked Destin and the dwarf.


"The water of life!" the healer answered them with a crackling voice and a smile on his face. The squirrel didn't move, however, because it was too weak to be brought back to life.


The two stirred and a