Journal of Hedger Sledge as recorded by his servant Gnat.

Renewal 25 AOH

"Forked paths," my father always said. "Not crossroads. The devil lives in that patch of dirt."

He was right. That witch of Hempwood not only lived at the place where Heartland path intersected Sun path, she dug a ditch for Gnat and me. A ditch deep enough to bury us both. Gnat, my man servant (**Gnat's note: I am not his servant, but his travelling companion whom he treats like a servant**) is no bigger than a horse fly (**Gnat's note: of average height, just look smaller next to this brute**) and just annoying, but myself, well my mother always said I was the size of a moose with the temperament of a bear, and I was always the biggest boy in Meadow-down village. So that ditch had to be plenty big to hold me since I can fit Gnat in my nap sack (**Gnat's note: another embellishment, but you get the point**). We were searching for the Sun Blade, because I am the Hero chosen by the Creator to wield it against the dark one.

How do I know I am the chosen hero? All the signs point to it. Apart from being the tallest, strongest, and need I add, quit handsome in a rugged ranging kind of way (**Gnat's note: he's a farmer's son, a lazy son at that, spending his time trying to catch fish, as told by his father. He still smells like a farmer with a mixture dung and sweaty skin. He hardly shaves that thick black beard so it's hard to tell his hairline from his jaw line. I've seen cats with less hair***), I was born on the night of its forging. As the sword was lifted by the blacksmith's hands from the fire of the deep dark forge, I was ripped from my mother's womb crying out for the Mother. This Mother safeguards the sword until I claim it.

First, I have to find it.

That is where the Hempwood witch enters my story-- the Creator's hand to guide me along my path.