Once again he found himself on those steps... And like before they formed a certain curve
going down what was left of a castle which had been worn out by the hands of time.
Reaching the end of these flight of steps led to a pair of seemingly thick curtains, their
colors paled by years of neglect but still able to hide what was inside.
He pushed the curtains aside, coughing as he passed through a cloud of dust to reveal a
large throne room. Worn out drapes hung down over broken windows on each side of the
hall leaving a lone window without its curtain as the only source of light for this room.
The moonlight shone in, forcing its way through the darkness as it revealed what lay
inside.
Dirt covered walls which produced the four corners of the hall along with marble covered
pillars so dark but glittered they could pass as black diamonds that ran along both sides of
the room and stretched all the way to the seemingly never ending height of the ceiling on
which hung numerous chandelier that had lost their use. The marble floor which had lost
its reflective property as years of neglect had rendered most parts of the floor broken and
other part completely covered in dirt.
At the center of the hall was a round stage signifying an area secluded for performance
and was just a bit lower than the rest of the room. The light was able to reflect off what
was left of the pillars as it gave more clarity to what this room really entailed.
Towards the end of the hall were two dragon statues on opposite ends of the room facing
each other placed between two pillars on each side which stood on a slightly higher
elevation than the rest of the room. At the very foot of the elevation was a small flight of
stairs with just a few steps rising up to the very thing that had brought him here.
Tearing through the wall of webs that had formed over time he made towards the
majestic chair with wyvern heads at the end of the arm rests which connected to the main
body that rested under the head of a dragon looming over the chair as if to show
protection of whoever sat on it. The body was entirely made of tough dragon hide and
scales that lay underneath the cushion that wore rich red silk that even brought out the
scales as if to compliment the very power that rested within it. Connected over it was an
arch that shielded it from any and almost all forms of light as it reached into the very
darkness of the corner of the room.
Though shielded from light, all features of the dragon throne were brought to life as the
features were buried into his very consciousness giving out an aura of total and complete
power of dominance.
Though the throne itself was an image of power and the overall center of attraction, what
caught his attention this time wasn't the throne, but the glowing tiles that went from the
foot of the stairs towards the throne, but goes around the throne entirely and stops behind
the throne itself. It was completely out of place because every other thing was either
extremely worn out or crumbling.
These tiles on the other hand looked like they were just finished today. Curiosity finally got the better of him as he followed the tiles around the throne and was faced with a large door that still looked completely intact, something which conflicted with the condition of the rest of what he was sure was a castle. The door which had inscriptions in a foreign language over the arch of the door.
The depiction of a dragon was over the center of the door. Even more peculiar was the fact that this door had no handles, only a hole where the mouth of the depicted dragon was. He just placed his hand in the hole without even thinking about it...almost like he set the lock himself.
At first nothing happened and he wondered if he that was really how it would be opened. He was still in thought when the hole in the mouth glowed dark red, the light then spread to the eyes, then several lines of light ran along the body of the dragon bringing out the full detail of the dragon. The light flowed along all visible lines on the dragon accompanied by rumbling and an eerie hum that let a sense of unease sneak into his consciousness as it reverberated all over the room.
The light then rested on a crystal on the head of the dragon after which all the light that glowed on the body finally stopped except for the crystal on the head. Then light ran down the middle of the door which signified where the door would part. He shut his eyes as the door finally glided open expecting a bright light or something of that nature. He was now questioning all logic because nothing but darkness could be seen inside.
At this point he wanted to turn back as his survival instinct kicked in as he stared into the darkness that lay ahead. At the same time he couldn't help but ponder the possibilities that lay ahead.....his mind lit up with confidence seeing as the door wasn't made to be easily opened but in fact opened to him which could only mean he was to go inside.
Curiosity finally won over reason and he went in though with extreme caution as darkness covered all that lay ahead of him. He finally got to a set of stairs leading down. He could see nothing but he felt like he was being drained of energy as he went further. Now starting to regret his decision he turns back only for the door to close behind him.
He was now left with one option...keep going. Every step he took down the stairs felt like more and more was being drained from him as the air felt too thick to properly breathe in. The feeling of being crushed now started to settle in as the pressure became more intense as he went further down
On getting to the end of the stairs and which by now his legs could barely keep his body up as the pressure he felt was now extreme, he scanned the area to find the place even blacker than where he had begun. Just as he was calling for someone to help him.....he heard a rumble from the very ground...two glowing red orbs each much bigger than his entire being gleamed in the distance as if to let him know what the source of the rumbling was.
On closer inspection even as his vision started to blur, he realized they were eyes. As if the fear in him had not already rendered him frozen, this just shattered whatever sanity he had left as the eyes began to come closer and closer till he was staring directly at whatever this creature was that had him almost mad with fear.
A sudden glow emanated from the body of the creature and he instantly recognized the dragon depicted on the door he opened earlier. The dragon then straightened up, as if trying to further drown him in its dominating presence. This was when he realized just how enormous the dragon was as even its foot stood way taller than he was. The dragon spread its massive wings then gave off the most terrifying sound he had ever heard as the dragon's roar shook everything from the very earth beneath his feet to the very space around him.
He noticed a similar red glow from behind the dragon and traced the glow from the tail which seemed endless down to the legs that looked like formidable colossal pillars to the scales on the entire body even down to the claws on its feet....at the point he looked up to meet the gaze of the dragon again, the dragon charged at him mouth open to devour him whole....finally drowning him in complete nothingness.
"AAAARRRRGGGHHH!!! NOOOOOOO!!!!!!" he screamed as the nightmare finally came to its brutal end. "Damn, I really should lay off the anime, these dreams are getting serious". Rhaegah sighed to himself.
His eyes fully opened to reveal the realm of chaos and catastrophe he knew all too well.....his room.
Rhaegah, even more organized than most was "apparently in a rebellious phase" as his guardian would always put it. After taking almost an hour preparing for school, Rhaegah set out still trying to make sense of his dream.
Although he'd been having the same dream over and over, there were never any tiles or a hidden door in his previous dreams as the dream always ended when his eyes set on the dark throne.
He pondered as he walked on to school the meaning of this additional content his mind provided him in his dreams. After finally giving up for the morning seeing as he had wasted most of his morning walking and thinking, he rushed on to school to catch whatever was left of his class.
Rhaegah was a student of Legion High, the newly established island school that was just past the harbor. Gaining admission into this school was considered a great privilege as admission wasn't even open to the general populace but only to the people of great influence who wanted their kids to attend so as to prove their status.
Rhaegah had no such restrictions as he didn't really answer to anyone besides his guardian that would always show up at ridiculous times to deliver insane news like the time he delivered Rhaegah his admission letter while hanging from the roof at 2am wearing only a loose shirt and a pair of socks with the happiest look on his face.
Getting to school with only twenty minutes left of a two hours lecture he walks past the front gate not even sparing the guard a glance. He walks into the classroom, ignores the lecture going on and strolls to his seat stealing a glance at the board which had the words "Substitute Teacher" written on it and "Mr. Cooper" written directly under that. Mr. Cooper, enraged by the complete lack of respect finally yelled out..."BRAT!! Don't know who the hell you are and i don't really care, but that form of disrespect will not be tolerated in my class".
Rhaegah said nothing and took his seat, staring out the window. A vein popped up on Cooper's head realizing he'd been completely ignored. "Hmph...You know what? Since you're so uninterested with what we're doing here, how bout you help us end the class with a little pop quiz from the lecture today?" stated Cooper again, the wrinkled expression on his face clearly portraying his frustration.
"Not sure that's gonna happen" Rhaegah stated absent-mindedly
"WHAT?!" Cooper's mind screamed, constantly observing the looks of ridicule and jest the other students were starting to give. "Why you litt-"...
"And it's Rhaegah"
Cooper stared in disbelief as this little shit rudely interrupted him, "What are yo-"
"The name's Rhaegah"
"Impossible, this little shit is actually mocking me". "I need to do something quick or this little shit will have the whole class forever make a mockery of me" Cooper thought as his mind desperately tried to figure out a way to retain his reputation.
His eyes then lit up with assured victory as he looked up at Rhaegah ton find him pointing to the wall behind him. Cooper turned to know what was being pointed to as the clock on the wall struck noon as the bell resounded through the halls signifying the end of the class rendering all of Cooper's brain-storming useless. Without a word Mr. Cooper stormed out of the class.
"Wasn't that a bit too harsh, Rhae?" Kaneko, a Japanese exchange student and currently Rhaegah's only friend asked from the seat behind. "You almost had him in tears...that's not like you".
Rhaegah spared a glance at Kaneko before turning to face the windows. "Not sure...I guess I didn't like his tie".
Kaneko, knowing this wasn't the case decided not to press on it, "How bout another match after school?"
Rhaegah always felt suspicious as to why Kaneko always wanted a match of tennis, table tennis in fact and no other game. "Sure, why not...could help clear my mind anyway".
"So there is something on your mind. Girlfriend I don't know about?" "Surely you jest"
The two said nothing more as they made their way to their next class.
Classes were finally over and as one would expect, Rhaegah had no reason to stick around and then decided to head home and make sense to his maze of a room. On walking past the stadium he saw Kaneko standing just at the entrance to the stairs that lead down to the sports center under the stadium. "Surely you didn't forget about our match now did you?"
"Course not!" He yelled back.
"Your expression betrays you" Kaneko shot back, "Of course you forgot"
"I guess I'm lucky this school isn't finished" Rhaegah sighed "Who knows what ridiculous activities you'd force me into?"
"You can thank whoever decided to admit students before all facilities were built"
They both made their way down to the sports center and upon entering, they were greeted with the steady and exited eyes of all who were present.
All the other students were always exited to watch these two play their supposed tennis as they always have since they first met at that same table. They both placed their bags down and without even changing into the sports attire provided for the students which they never seem to do anyway, and casually strolled to the table.
Kaneko picked up the ball staring coldly at his opponent in front of him as he raised the bat. "Shall we?"
"Bring it"
Kaneko finally swung down and struck the ball with a force as if to destroy it, surprisingly the ball was still intact as it was sent flying towards Rhaegah who gave a swift backhand to return the ball as it flew towards the corner of the table....it bounced off the table and was heading over for Rhaegah's win when it was struck again at a speed not many could follow as the ball was once again sent back to Rhaegah with near blinding speed.
For the average person this would have been impossible to deflect but for Rhaegah who had become used to this fast paced game had enough time to process the environment and determined that Kaneko would be unable to block at his right due to his leaning too much on the left to pick the corner ball.
Rhaegah smiled as he pulled off one of his many skills as he swung at the ball with the notion to hit it towards the same direction Kaneko was, only to swiftly change the placement of the bat on his palm and redirect the motion of his arm as he now struck towards the right with a force that rendered most people blind as they could not follow the ball's movement. Kaneko's face was of pure confusion as Rhaegah stated "don't think it will be as easy this time".
Just as the ball bounced off the table to give Rhae his first point, Kaneko suddenly spun rapidly only balancing on his pivot foot to end up backing Rhae as he smashed the ball while not even facing it, "aren't you underestimating me a little?" was Kaneko's reply as he smiled at Rhae who dashed for the ball only to miss it slightly granting Kaneko the first point.
Time passed with the scores now four to five in a game of seven in Rhae's favor and the two were now fully heated up for the match as they had completely drowned out all other noise and were in their own realm entirely due to the immense concentration on the game.
Rhaegah swung at the ball at an even greater force and speed than before as it flew passed the net and was sent back by Kaneko even without it bouncing on the table first only to be struck downwards towards Kaneko's left side which seemed open, but Kaneko dropped almost as fast as the ball was moving and swiftly scooped it back towards Rhaegah's left side.
Anticipating this move he took a step back, processing the situation all in a split second and scanning in the entire area around them to figure out where to strike the ball to.
After predicting that Kaneko would rush back up to protect his center after that last strike left him open, Rhaegah then motions to strike the ball to the right but before contact with the ball redirects the position of his wrist which also drives his hand and then the rest of his arm to strike the ball back to the left where Kaneko was coming from which threw him off balance as he could only watch the ball fly towards the other end to grant Rhaegah another point. Kaneko who had already fallen for Rhaegah's misdirection could only watch as the ball shot towards the other end of the table beyond his reach.
Rhaegah was already celebrating at his point as the ball shot past him at a speed even he couldn't counter. On looking back at Kaneko he could only stare in disbelief as to what he saw in front of him.
Kaneko seeing as he couldn't stop his movement and return to where the ball was heading towards rapidly spun while going down and tossed the bat at a position where it flipped and hit the ball at just the right angle to send the ball tearing through the air and passing by Rhaegah to score his fifth point in the game.
All the other students were completely silent as though. The last strike by Kaneko only made the crowd watching go wild with sheer excitement as these two had given them yet another spectacle to watch.
Now the match was about to reach its climax as the two were swinging back and forth. Kaneko pulling of his twin strike as he called it where he hits the ball with just the right side of the bat and before the ball leaves the bat he hits it again with the left side giving one strike the sound of two as well as slightly re-adjusting the direction of the ball although towards the same direction unlike Rhaegah's misdirection which changes the direction of the ball completely.
This strike was one of the most troublesome of Kaneko's skills as it was extremely difficult to determine the extent at which the ball's path would be altered. Rhaegah, deciding to not waste time thinking about it followed his first instinct and swung down hard at the ball only to realize his error as the ball started to deviate from the path he predicted and he was going to miss the ball.
The ball was just on the verge of going out and Kaneko had already turned to the crowd to entertain the spectators even more when Rhaegah suddenly remembered how Kaneko tossed his bat at the ball to hit it back earlier and with a clear vision in his mind, he flicked his wrist and the bat flipped so slightly and struck the ball which sent it flying upwards towards Kaneko.
"Didn't see that coming did ya?" Rhaegah thought as he smiled to himself while relishing the thought of victory.
"I have to say.....I AM impressed" was Kaneko's instant reply as Rhaegah looked up to see Kaneko in the air with his arm raised to deliver the final strike on him. Kaneko at that moment gave off a feeling of extreme domination and pressure that inflicted a certain fear like the scene from Rhaegah's dream.
Rhaegah's expression went from what seemed like complete focus to extreme fear as the feeling he felt in the castle was brought back, but as fast as the fear fell on him, he was able to shake it off as his vision cleared to see Kaneko smash down with a thundering force as the ball zoomed past Rhaegah to grant Kaneko his sixth point.
Kaneko landed softly, eyes fixed on Rhaegah who was now moving to get a towel to rub over his face as the fear he saw on Rhaegah's face was now a clear image in his mind. Now Kaneko was even more curious as to what was going on with his friend as fear was a foreign sentiment to Rhaegah.
Rhaegah finally dropped the towel and without a word made his way towards the table with the same steps he took in the lair of the dragon.
Each step bringing back the very aura of the dragon to memory as he made his way to the table, picking up his bat from the floor along the way.
Rhaegah cursed himself for even feeling fear of this magnitude as fear was something he had never felt.
Kaneko could feel a great sense of unease as he watched Rhaegah walk up to the table, picking up a new ball as the old one had bounced off elsewhere. He finally decided to say something but the feeling of unease only grew with each step Rhaegah made towards the table.
"Oi Rhae, what's u-"
Rhaegah finally looked up with cold dead eyes as he raised his hand to serve.
On reaching the point to strike the ball, Rhaegah was the very image of the dragon that caused his rage, motioning towards the ball with the intent to devour...swinging his arm even more viciously than before as he forced every fiber in his body to follow suit as if trying to smash all the sense of fear he was feeling.
Kaneko froze, not sure what he was feeling as sweat trickled down the side of his face and even the chill he felt went up his spine not down. His heart pumped so loud he was afraid the people watching would hear it.
All those feelings were still entwined and rendered him speechless until he was brought out of it by the sound of the ball breaking apart on hitting the floor.
Kaneko stared at the destroyed ball on the floor and then turned his attention back to Rhaegah who was also shocked as to what happened.
"Probably best we leave it as a tie...don't you agree?" Kaneko asked trying to ease the tense aura that was still in the air.
"Uh.....yeah sure"
They only just realized it but the entire hall was dead silent...students still trying to make sense of what they just witnessed. Some already calling them monsters and others just shocked speechless.
"You gotta admit though.....I almost had you. Too bad you quit on me" Kaneko teased as they made their way out.
"You're the one who insisted on a tie"
Kaneko, finally relieved that Rhaegah's mood was somewhat lifted jabbed at Rhaegah.
"WOAH!! Shit...I'll never understand that skin of yours"
Rhaegah was born with abnormally hard skin that was tough even to the point of not getting any injuries when hit or his skin being punctured only when enough force that could probably snap a person in two was directed at him would he finally succumb to minor injuries.
Even that was not Rhaegah's unique trait...That would be the marks under his eyes which very much looked like scales. This, if not the main reason played a major part as to why Rhaegah didn't really have friends as people were mostly freaked out while others were plain scared of this scaled freak.
"That's rich coming from you" Rhaegah replied as he glanced at the boy with two different colored eyes. "Cos heterochromia is just your everyday birthmark huh?".
Kaneko had been born with heterochromia. His right eye being a mixed shade of gold and hazel but which the gold was more prominent. His left being a magical shade of blue that many have referred to him as having the eye of the sea.
"Girls love my eyes, but I'm not sure about your condition though, cos not all that's hard is great.....just saying" Kaneko stated with arms raised with a dubious grin on his face.
On getting back to the gate he sees his guardian standing by the gate while leaning on the lamp post on the side-walk.
"What do you want this time Walter?" Rhaegah asked not even stopping to face him.
"I hear you almost made a teacher cry today.....Oh and nice game by the way, but try to keep it down ok? you know your benefactor doesn't like unwanted attention".
Looking at Walter now Rhaegah remembered how this man though a complete idiot at times was formerly in the us special ops squad and was in charge of all of Rhaegah's extra-curricular activities. Extra-curricular meaning the constant training he'd receive everyday as Walter always tried to push Rhaegah past his limits with a variety of training exercises ranging from martial arts to tactical missions training.
These thoughts flashed through Rhaegah's mind as he once again coldly stated, "Not like I know who the hell that is. Sometimes I feel this is all just some sick joke that'll reveal itself eventually".
"Oh it's real alright. Don't worry.....you'll meet in due time" Walter replied as he followed Rhaegah out of the premises.
"Need a ride home?"
"Maybe next time" Rhaegah replied as he strapped his backpack firmly and began walking down the long road to the harbor.
"Next time huh?"....."Like that'll ever happen" Walter scoffed
Finally in town Rhaegah made his way through the alleyways he was used to as this provided a shorter means of getting home. This trip home was particularly different because at every turn he made Rhaegah couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched. At first he dismissed the thought but he would always hear the tap and tap of steps following his every turn.
"Who's there?" he asked calmly not wanting to seem like he was scared. On hearing nothing he continued walking down the alley.
At random intervals he would turn back suddenly so as to attempt to catch who was following him off-guard but he didn't see anyone at all. He decided to keep going with the theory that if anyone was following him they would show themselves eventually.
The feeling, all intensified now was really starting to freak him out as the steps got louder. He paused facing the direction the steps were coming from as he grabbed a thin and long piece of metal leaning on a trash can nearby.
"I said who is there" he demanded again raising the metal rod in anticipation that whoever attacked him would have a sorry tale for their friends later. He prepared himself as the steps got even louder signifying that the source was now really close.
"CLANG"...a noise came from the adjacent street as he stood his ground only for a cat to run past him not even acknowledging his presence at all.
He gave a sigh of relief. "Kaneko would never shut up about this if he ever finds out I got freaked out by a random cat running down the alley"
With that the sound of steps could no longer being heard, he still couldn't shake that feeling of being watched. He finally shrugs it off as he came to his front door. He pauses to look round so as to clear his suspicion. Seeing as nothing was out of the ordinary, he went into his apartment just as the cat ran across the street into the alley and stared inquisitively at the figure that stood there quietly observing as Rhaegah went into the apartment and shut the door.
"Finally, at long last...I've found you"
Rhaegah even after turning off the lights in his apartment did not sleep right away as he instinctively went towards the window and shifted the curtain only slightly to get a view of the street. He scanned the area and managed to catch a glimpse of someone standing just opposite his apartment in the dark alley.
He looked back quickly to confirm what he saw but by the time his eyes landed on that spot, there was no one there.
"I guess even I can see weird stuff when I'm tired". With that he turned in for the night
Across the street in the alley a figure could be seen dashing through the darkness moving so swiftly and silently he could put ninjas to shame. Kicking off the wall and using a dumpster to propel himself even more he landed on a nearby rooftop as he never slowed in momentum. Avoiding obstacles as he made his way from rooftop to rooftop then back to the ground until he came to a wall at the end of the alley he was on.
Anyone watching would think he missed a turn in his parkour event and ended up at a dead end, but all was going to plan with whoever this was.
Looking around to make sure no one was around to witness what was about to happen, he took out a glowing object and began writing as glyphs and magic runes began forming on the wall as it followed his every gesture until he had drawn a complete magic circle which then pulsated as if coming to life.
The symbols all merged to open up a portal where the circle was drawn. Without hesitation he went through the portal and the circle of light vanished without a trace leaving not a single mark on the wall.
The portal opened and the hooded figure jumped out and landed softly once again looking around as the portal suddenly diminished in size and vanished behind him.
"Now that's a face I haven't seen in a while". A voice said from behind him causing him to stop in his tracks.
The hooded figure, recognizing the voice looked up to see a man in fully covered robes. The color being rich gold except for the sash which was black and had the the engraving of the sun at the middle. A long black cloak rested over the robes with gold lines running down the edges. Looking up to see the man's bearded face and hair so blonde it seemed to glow when just little enough light is shown on it. He turned fully to be face to face with his master Nygel.
"How can you even tell? The hood was meant to-"
"I raised you didn't I?" Nygel replied almost laughing at the same time.
"I know you didn't come back just to see me...your too stubborn for that. So what brings you back?" Nygel added as his countenance became more serious.
"I found him"
"WHAT?!"..."Are you sure?" Nygel asked again.
"Yes...I have seen him"
"Excellent work child, you have done well"
Nygel thought for a while as he strolled out of the room they were in and walked down a long hall.
"Where did you find him?"
"On Earth...just as you suspected".
With this Nygel smiled again as he turned to face the boy standing behind him. "Go back and continue to watch him...and by no means should you attempt to communicate with him"
"Will do"
"His whereabouts must be kept secret for now"
With that a portal opened up and the hooded figure went through it leaving Nygel walking towards the balcony. On reaching it he gave a sigh of relief as he looked out to see the Giant eagles that flew in the distance, dancing through the skies with the aid of the men who rode them as they flew around one of the many floating cities in the distance. A vast land of green could be seen filled with gigantic majestic trees which made up Faireim, the land which fairies called home. He looked over the forest of trees and watched the fairies rush about as their individual glows could be seen from the balcony Nygel stood on. Towns could be seen on hilltops which stood above the magical forest adding to the beauty of the scenery. A cool breeze blew towards Nygel as he closed his eyes to hear the cheerful chatter of the fairies down below as they went about their business, the chirps of the birds that lived on the trees and the sound of leaves rustling as the branches danced in the wind.
"Finally" He said as he opened his eyes.
"All is not lost for this world".
VORFALLS.
A small farming town east of Faireim. Vorfalls was a town that rarely had visitors as the inhabitants were always away to sell their produce. Located at the outskirts of the town was a guild building hidden amongst the trees in the woods,
Sunlight tore through the trees around and rested on two people walking towards the guild building with rapid steps.
"And you're sure you can do it?"
"Symonne, I thought our time together would've made you realize that I don't make inaccurate remarks"
"You know I do not doubt you...I'm more concerned on whether or not you can handle it. It will not be an easy task Auia"
"And it is for that very reason that I should be the one to do it"
"Very well Auia...not like we have another elf to help us"
"Exactly my point" Auia replies as she walks through the doors but not before looking up at the word inscribed onto the foreside of the building.
"LEGION" The word meant more than just the name of the guild as this was the one place she called home.
Symonne and Auia make their way down the halls of this seemingly run-down building until they get to a carving of a wolf with a serpent curled around it on the wall right in the middle of the hallway. Symonne placed his hand on it and fed some magic into it as the wall opened to reveal a flight of stairs leading down. They go down the stairs and are met by three guards who greet them as they push on without even stopping to reply them.
They got to the main guild hall which was quite large given the structure of the building overhead. People of different races rushing back and forth as these two made their way across the room. They then head to the guild meeting room on the lower level of the underground structure. They meet the two guards stationed there and give only a nod of acknowledgement as they proceed into the room.
"Will this do?" Symonne asked as he shut the doors behind them.
"I should be able to sense him clearly now" Auia replied sitting with legs crossed as she closes her eyes to focus.
An aura of mana became visible around her as she continued to focus on trying to keep her mana flowing around her and not fading away. She is rushed with a throbbing pain in her head as everything around her comes into view even with her eyes closed. She looks around to see trails of different colored lights flowing around. Following one of them, she traces it until her eyes rest on Symonne.
"I see trails of energy moving around us"
With eyes wide Symonne replied "Then it's true.....with this power you can find him"
"I see something, it's faint and it's not like the others"
"Could it be-?"
"It HAS to be.....but I don't understand this. There are little pieces of it everywhere and at the same time it's not here at all"
Symonne tries to think about what that could mean. "It would appear the dragon-born of myth will not be found so easily I presu-"
"AAAARRRRGGHHHH!!!!" Auia screamed as the pain in her head intensified and was now spreading to the rest of her body as the pale blue aura had turned a dark and cold blue on the verge of going out of control.
The aura disperses as she falls into Symonne's arms. "AUIA! Are you alright?"
"I'm fine.....but there's something very wrong here" her voice still shaken as the pain had not fully left her.
"It's just..."
"It's not just about being able to find him.....it's like he exists here and doesn't at the same time"
"What in the world could that mean" Symonne replied even more confused than the girl in his arms.
"It means he is in a different plane of existence" A voice came from the corner of the room.
With a reach for his dagger Symonne turned to find the source of the voice keeping his eyes on the other end of the room where the voice had come from. He could only keep his eyes on the corner of the room as Auia was still weak in his arms.
"Calm yourself Symonne" The voice came again as a robed figure stepped out of the shadows and removed the hood that was over his head.
"NYGEL?! You crazed devil. Would you stop doing that? I could have killed you"
"It would seem fear has halted your ability to reason to think you can kill me" Nygel shot back holding a laugh.
"What's this about a different plane of existence?" Auia's voice interrupted
"You could sense only traces of his energy here but there would be no way to locate the source as his body resides elsewhere". "At least not with your level" Nygel stated as he helped Auia to her feet.
"But perhaps I can help with that" he says and places his fingers on her forehead and motions for her to try again.
She tries to focus again but finds no difficulty as a surge of mana rushes through her body and manifests as an aura of a large golden orb of mana forms around her. She sees the faint energy again but this time as she focuses on the pieces, they then form a single trail that seemed to dangle in front of her as if teasing her. She steps forward to touch it and after taking a few steps turns back and to her surprise sees herself still standing in place where Nygel had his hand on her.
Looking at herself now she was completely glowing and at the same time she seemed ghostlike. Deciding not to think too hard on it she reaches out and grabs the dark trail of energy and was hurled through the ceiling the through the roof of the main building so fast she didn't have time to process the things that swooped passed her. The thick line of mana then drew her through the clouds and through the very fabrics of space and finally warped into a different world.
"Where.....where is this place?" she thought to herself before she was again hurled through strange looking buildings and roads with various types of machines running on them. People dressed in weird attires walking around with some sort of object they placed on the side of their heads.
She was now wondering just what was going on when she was brought to a particularly small house at the corner of the street facing a dark alley. She paused, not sure what to expect as the trail of mana was going through the door of this house.
She walks up the small flight of stairs and goes through the door revealing a small living area which was empty besides the long chair and a slim box which hung on the wall. Looking around she sees the trail going into a different room as she takes cautious steps forgetting she was not physically there.
She go to the room and walked in to see a boy lying on some sort of bed. Focusing on the trail of mana she had been following, she found that the end of the trail rested on this boy.
"So this is where you're hiding" she though, looking at the boy as he lay there. She reached out to touch him just as dense dark mana pooled out of him making her jump back in shock. She watched closely as the dense aura of mana swirled around him as if to shield him. Looking at this she was starting to feel uneasy as she stood there. The mana pouring out gave off an eerie feeling as though coming in contact with it would mean your demise. Looking into the cloud of dark energy in an effort to see the boy, eyes glowed through the dark energy as the mana started to take the form of a dragon's head. At this point she was completely overcome with fear as she backed up but hit a wall behind her. Knowing fully well that nothing physical could touch her right now, she turned to find that the mana oozing from the boy had formed a wall around the room trapping her with whatever this monster was.
She fell to her knees as the fear rendered her incapable of standing anymore. The dragon head whose size just about filled most of the room and seemed to keep on increasing in size. She tried to speak but the words could not be found. Never in a million years would she have expected this turnout as she was wrapped in a shroud of mana and brought towards the dragon's head. She was now only a breath away from its eyes as she looked through it to the still sleeping boy oblivious to what was happening. She found her voice as the dragon gave out a roar in an attempt to shatter her consciousness. She screamed just as the boy suddenly shot up and turned to her. It was then that she was hurled back and warped back to her body.
She woke up to find Symonne and Nygel staring at her with worried faces. "Child, are you alright?" Nygel asked.
"What happened?" She asked
"You went silent for a while, then you just began screaming and struggling until you collapsed" Symonne replied her, worry still evident on his face.
"Did you see him?" Nygel calmly asked
"Yes, he is on the world called Earth"
"Earth?!" Symonne bellowed. "How do you know of Earth?"
"I...just do" she replied massaging her forehead.
"So he was right" Nygel murmured to himself.
"You knew?"..."You knew where he was and didn't see it fit to tell me?!!" Symonne screamed out.
"I only just found out recently from Larcell that the dragon-born was on earth"
"Larcell? he's on earth? How is the lad?" Symonne asked still tending to Auia
"Hard to say.....he didn't really stay for too long"
"Guild master!!!" Herke one of the guards outside the meeting room screamed as he burst into the room. "They've found us!!" he exclaimed again.
"That's not possible....how could this happen?!!!" Symonne asked with an enraged tone in his voice. "Stay with Auia, I'm going"
"Sir you must leave, they've gotten even more powerful than before". "Those were Trina's last words to me" Replied Herke
"Trina's dead?!" Symonne burst with anger as the ground began crumbling at the sudden release of mana that shunted out of him.
"Get whoever is left and leave this place" Nygel said as he placed his hand on Symonne's shoulder in an attempt to calm him. "I shall go and retrieve our missing piece" Nygel said again as he left the room to stand face to face with three dark elves.
Dark elves were known to have dark skin colors with varying color of eyes. These ones however had black soul less eyes and rune markings on their bodies as they stared blankly at Nygel before they dashed at him.
Just as the elves were about to hit him, he seemed to flicker for a moment and then vanished from sight as two of the elves were sent flying into a nearby wall leaving a lone elf both confused and filled with fear as all this happened in a split second.
"No.....Yo- You weren't supposed to be here!" Screamed the elf as he scurried away as fast as he could looking back to see a glow of magic around Nygel's hand.
"WHAM!" The elf fell back wondering what he ran into only to see Nygel standing there.
Nygel then waved his hand over the elf as the glow got even brighter. "Shatter"
The space around the elf began to warp and bend until everything around and inside the space shattered leaving a small crater where the elf was. At this he turned to Symonne and with a reassuring smile said..."I shall bring him here, you have my word". With that Nygel vanished from sight as Symonne fought his way out of the guild building.
Rhaegah woke up looking around in shock as to what just happened. "Who was that girl?" he thought to himself getting up to take a shower as the image of a terrified girl had him wondering just what was going on with him.
"Great, first a freaking dragon and now I'm seeing banshees? Ok I really need to lay off anime for a while" he says staring into his laptop screen to hear a low voice mummur "I am the bone of my sword".
"Yep, and i'm the bane of my life...wanna switch?", he says as he turns it off.
He gets dressed and heads out to meet up with Kaneko. Still thinking back to the dreams he'd been having, he opened the door to reveal a man in brightly colored robes with the widest smile he had seen. "Hello child, I am Nygel"
"Ok? what does that mean? And what are you doing outside my apartment?"
"Wait...did Walter send you? Cos I've got nothing so say to him"
"Calm yourself child, I mean you no harm"
"And is it not customary to let guests in?" he added
"Depends....I'm not interested in letting a homeless dude into my house just cause he asked" Rhaegah spat back.
"Oh I have a home alright, and it is in grave danger" he sighed as he walked passed Rhaegah into the apartment.
"Look man I've got stuff to do so could you maybe GET THA FU-"
"I've come from a plane of existence quite different from this one" Nygel interrupted as the image of the cosmos seemed to manifest from his hands.
Rhaegah's eyes lit up as the image then morphed into a single planet while Nygel simply continued his explanation. "My world exists on said plane. Peaceful and beautiful".
"But now it is on the verge of destruction by an army so evil they will stop at nothing until all of Valoren is plunged back to the age of darkness. It is for this reason that I have come to find you as we need your power to help prevent this"
"My power?" Rhaegah's eyebrow arched up as he massaged his forehead. "I'm not even gonna pretend to believe you but still...my power?"
"Yes child, to defeat the dark elves and their demon lord we need the power of the dragon-born"
"Wait a sec. dark elves, dragon bor-? Alright...you can get the hell outta my house now" Rhaegah snapped
"All I ask is that you reflect on what I have told you. We really do need your help and there's not much time to waste"
"I shall return in two days to hear your reply" "Oh and do be careful" Nygel added and with that he walked off into the street putting a hood over his head.
"My life's a complete joke now....from dragon dreams to banshees and now the ancient one actually comes to my front door?" he vents out, going through his alley route to meet up with Kaneko.
Still in deep thought on his way to meet his friend, his cell phone rings bringing him back to reality. He turned back to head home on seeing the caller ID "Kaneko", he answers the call.
"Rhae uhmm, I'm not gonna be able to make it today....how bout tomorrow?"
"I figured.....tomorrow's fine"
With that he strolled back through the maze of streets and alleyways still trying to process all what the old guy told him.
Once again he felt eyes on him but this time there was an ominous feeling to it. Stopping to focus on his surroundings he picks up a rustle in the wind just in time to duck, dodging a straight attack from a masked man judging from the build.
Sticking his leg out he tripped the man and leapt off the ground towards the falling figure, he was right over the masked man as he placed a palm on his back to further increase the impact he'd make on the ground.
"BOOM!" They landed with Rhaegah on the back of the now unconscious man as he tilted his head to the left just as an arm drove passed his face, wind rushing passed his cheek as he turned swiftly to be met by a boot to his chest.
Rhaegah coughed up air as he was launched through the air and crashed into a nearby dumpster. He shot back up just in time to dodge another attack from a smaller masked figure...a female this time.
"Just who the fuck are you guys?!" He asked as he beamed towards the female reaching
for the face only to merely scratch the mask as he landed behind her
Looking back he was dumbfounded as he couldn't believe what he was looking at. Long black hair flowing dow across smoothly across the face of a girl whose beauty would put every girl he knew into the grave. Even this was not what caught his attention. Sticking out the sides of her head were long pointy ears that had a type of jewel hanging on them that glowed in sync with several markings on her skin.
"ELF!...You're a FREAKING ELF!" He yelled as the elf rushed at him taking advantage of his shock to close their distance and struck him in the gut.
Wincing due to the pain but refusing to go down, Rhaegah attempts to escape but is surrounded by three more elves.
He shut his eyes in anticipation as the elves rushed at him just as he felt a rumble around him. Now wondering why he hadn't been hit, he opened his eyes to see four elves on the ground quite the distance from him. The elves got up but this time had their attention not on Rhaegah but something behind him. Turning quickly he looks up to see Nygel about 5 feet in the air and his body covered in a bright gold glow.
Nygel looked at the elves as the mana around him became even more prominent. "Mana Chain" he muttered as the mana around him spread out like massive glowing tentacles that headed straight for the elves who simply dodged as the chains curled back to maintain pursuit not giving them any chance to breathe as they tried desperately to avoid getting caught.
"Collapse" his voice sounded again and the area around him fell to bits throwing the elves in all directions as one fell into a dumpster, another crashing into a nearby building and the rest simply knocked out by the impact on the ground.
"Maybe it's just me but don't you think two days is a long time?" Rhaegah said as he got to his feet.
"I can guarantee that more will follow....all the more reason why you have to come with me"
"Urghh! might as well...you saved me, I guess I could here you out"
Nygel stood facing the wall of a nearby building and motioned for Rhaegah to come over. Placing his palm on the wall he fed mana into it as a large magic circle appeared on the wall signifying that the portal was opened. Rhaegah looked up at the portal as a smile appeared on his face.
"Most people unfarmiliar with magic would either be terrified or overcome with doubt on what they really DO know...but yet, you smile instead?"
"Let's just say I have a feeling that a lot of things will finally make sense to me now"
With that they both went through the portal leaving five unconscious elves and a whole lot of destruction behind.
Stepping out as the portal opened up, Rhaegah was met with the glowing lights of tiny humanoid creatures as they flew passed in various directions, grass so green and soft to the touch, the breeze bringing with it the scent of flowers that danced in the wind. Trees stood tall and flocks of the most beautiful birds he had ever seen flew above them as the sky came into view with a shade of blue and just a hint of purple with clouds gliding gracefully above. Even more fascinating were the floating structures hidden in the clouds with giant orbs of light around them. All these rushed into his subconscious as his mind struggled to grasp the wonders of this whole new world. Nygel seeing the amazement in Rhaegah's eyes patted his shoulder and with pride in his voice.
"Welcome to Valoren"