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Wilhelm returned to his cell to collect his helmet and spear. As he readied himself, Lovisa approached him and held in her hand a swampoose steak wrapped in cloth. "Take this with you when you go," she said to him.
The young man thanked her, but as Lovisa turned Wilhelm called her name. "Wait," he said. The thought of what he could accomplish with the Staff of Darkness still dwelt in his mind. "Surely you know that the Staff of Darkness could help me," he said to the maiden.
Lovisa shook her head and smiled at Wilhelm. "You are brave, but foolish. Even with the Staff of Darkness, you may still fall from an arrow through your breast."
"But Queen Hendrika holds the Staff of Fire-" Wilhelm began to protest, when the maiden spoke again.
"The Staves of Light and Darkness counter one another, for they are life and death." Lovisa looked at Wilhelm. "The Staves of Fire and Water counter one another, for they are creation and destruction both."
Wilhelm pondered what Lovisa had told him. "The Staff of Darkness would not counter either of those staves?"
Lovisa nodded and the maiden looked at Wilhelm in a way that he had not seen before. Her countenance had changed, and he saw the nobility that ran in her blood. "Heed my words, Wilhelm of Helmbarte," said the maiden in black. "If you truly wish to oppose the Dragon Lord, you must first seek the Staff of Water."
