The Mystic's Awakening

[Avalon Silvasti]

Avalon's eyes slowly fluttered open. When her vision came into focus she was in shock. She came into the realization that she was not where she had originally fallen asleep. She was in a cavern, on a rock that was surrounded by water. The cavern was lit by blue famed torches that hung from the ceiling. Avalon looked around and noticed that strange runes covered most of the walls of the cavern. They were unlike anything she had ever seen. Her gaze ventured to the space before her. A large altar with a wave statue seemed to rest on the water though it did not move with the gentle sway of the water. Avalon had no idea where she was the last thing she remembered was falling asleep in Guang's arms. Fear suddenly gripped her, she had no idea how she got to this place and she had no idea if Guang was safe or even alive. She slowly started to get to her feet and looked down in amazement, she no longer wore the sheet that she wore in Guang's arms but now she wore a shimmering blue armor that hugged her lithe form. She had armor but no weapon at her side which made her feel a bit uncomfortable.

Avalon took a hesitant step towards the altar until the water touched the tip of her armored foot. The moment the water touched the armor the runes on the cavern walls started to emit an eerie blue glow. The water before her became so still it resembled glass all except for a small portion before the altar. It swirled in a small whirlpool and a shimmering stone rose from the pool, suspended in the air. A moment passed as the water beneath the shimmering stone stilled. Time seemed to stop momentarily as the shimmering stone shattered filling the cave with a blinding light. Instinctively Avalon raised her hands to shelter her eyes. As the light faded back to the blue glow of the runes she slowly lowered her hands. Before her stood a beautiful woman dressed in shimmering white dress with long flowing aqua colored hair.

"Avalon..." The woman smiled at the elf before her. "I have waited a very long time to meet you." Avalon took a step back shocked the woman knew who she was. "Don't be afraid Avalon you have the blood of the mystic's running through your veins. You are born of my own personal blood. You have the potential to do many great things."

Avalon looked appalled to hear the woman claim her to be of her own personal blood. "Who are you and how did i get here?" She snapped at the woman, "And where is Guang?" Venom laced the last question bearing the pain that she was trying to hide from fearing the worst of her companion.

"I am Galatea, I am the Goddess of Water, the life of the planet. I brought you hear though teleportation and your friend Guang is fine." She waved her hand dismissively as she lowered herself to the water. She walked on the water towards Avalon. "You are here due to your blood, you cannot run from your destiny my dear. Your blood is that of the mystic's, people of power that will bring justice back to this land." Galatea was only feet from Avalon when she stopped and reached out her hand, her finger tips lightly resting on the armor Avalon now wore. "Your power is not yet awake fully. Let me give you a boost." Water curled down Galatea's arm at an alarming rate and crashed into the armor. As the water surged around Avalon's armor she was lifted into the air. Pain seared across her tattoo on her left shoulder causing her to fling her head back in a cry of pain. Moments later Avalon was slowly brought back down to the earth. "Your powers are now fully awakened my child, now for the task at hand." Galatea turned and started to walk back towards the altar that bared her crest. "There are more of you that bear the blood of the Mystics. You need to find them. Some of them know what they are and have went into hiding, others have no idea. Find them awaken them and save the planet. There are forces at work that will bring the destruction of this planet. You must stop them! I will help you when i can but you must do this on your own with the aid of your companion." She waved her hand causing the water at the other end of the cavern to part reveling an exit. "You are not far from the town I called you from. Now go."
Galatea gave Avalon no time to ask any question before she turned into water and receded into the water before her altar.

Avalon turned and walked out of the cavern. The weather out side had taken a turn for the worst. Avalon caught her barrings quickly and sprinted towards town. She ran through the main gates of the town and rushed towards Guang's house. She knew he must be worried about her. She rounded the corner of the street leading to his house and stopped dead in her tracks. A group of six men clad in black armor was approaching Guang's house. Someone in the town had given away where she was staying to the Draklore and they were coming for her. Guang was in the house unaware they were almost to his door. Avalon looked around quickly for something she could use as a weapon. A fisherman's spear rested against a house. Thinking quickly she grabbed it and charged the Draklore that were practically at Guang's door. Screaming a ferocious cry she impaled one of the men. She tore the spear from the corpse and stood defensively between Guang's door and the men. "Here I am. you want me? Come get me!" She snarled as the rain pelted her armor giving her a look of madness as she stood to protect the one person in the world that meant anything to her.

[HoudiniDerek]

Guang raced around the house, frantically looking for Avalon again. He had done this several times already, looking to see if she was there, looking to see how she might have left, and looking to see how someone might have gotten inside his house undetected. Nothing was coming to his senses. How had she gotten out and where was she now?

Guang got dressed and prepared his weapons. He strapped his short sword on and slid a knife into a release holster in his arm. He had been practicing with the bow and arrow, but he was not proficient enough yet to try it in a downpour. He looked around again and left.

In the darkness of the front porch, he saw someone coming through. He slunk down the side of the porch, the rain and mist. The one person became several and he saw a group of six men approaching his house directly. His mind wandered back to Avalon's story about being hunted and his body went cold.

He turned and went to the back of his house. He heard a shriek and turned back. Curious as to what was happening, he scrambled up the downspout off his gutter and crawled onto the roof. He slid on his belly to the top and looked down.

The men were standing with their weapons poised and one of them spoke. "You will come with us. We care nothing for the gnome. You have to answer for your crimes, Avalon Silvasti."

Guang's heart soared as he heard that Avalon was alive, but was tempered momentarily by the realization that she was facing five men alone. Not bad work catching one of them with his back turned.

Guang eased his knife free of the holster on his arm and whipped it forward. The knife lodged in the throat of the man to the right of the speaker. He tried to scream in surprise and pain, but the blood was flowing from his throat and mouth. The man fell back into the man behind him, causing both to tumble.

Guang heard Avalon yell, but he couldn't see what happened after that as Guang's short sword came out and he slid down the other side of the roof into the two men he had just knocked down. Two quick strikes took those men out and he turned to see Avalon finishing off two others.

The leader was standing with his sword out and his eyes burning into them with rage. Guang faked a rush and then swung his sword low. The leader of the gang parried quickly and rushed Guang, knocking him to the soggy earth, his sword flying from his hand.

The rain and mud were in his eyes and Guang tried to crawl for the approaching figure. "Avalon!" he yelled frantically, finally getting to his knees.

[Avalon Silvasti]

Avalon heard Guang's cry and turned towards it. She seen him down on his knees and the enemy quickly approaching him. Turning the spear over in her hand she slammed it into the chest of the man that was facing her with so much force that when she turned to pull the spear out the shaft split in two. Shifting the half staff in her hand she broke into a full run towards Guang who was still on his knees. The Man before Guang rose his sword to strike him down. Avalon ran as hard as she could and put herself between the Draklor solider and Guang. She stopped in front of Guang with her arms stretched out, sheltering Guang from the blow. The sword came down onto her chest plate armor and glinted off the armor. The solider took a step back in shock seeing that his strike caused no damage to Avalon's armor. Quickly regaining his senses he readied himself for another strike. As he readied himself time seemed to slow and eventually stop, suspending the falling rain in the air for a brief moment. Avalon tossed the broken spear to the muddy earth and brought her fists up. "You will not harm him." She snarled at the soldier as she rushed him. He swung his sword at Avalon as soon as she was in range. Avalon was prepared for the strike and dodged it gracefully as she brought her fist up into the man's helm. The power behind the blow knocked the man's helm off revealing his tainted lavender eyes. She didn't stop there, after her fist connected with his helm she swung her leg out in a low sweeping kick that knocked the soldier to the ground, his sword falling freely at her feet.

Avalon looked at the soldier before her and something inside her snapped. His dark skin, his white hair and those magic tainted lavender eyes. She hated him, the army he was part of, and most of all their leader. At that very moment she knew what she had to do to be able to have a peaceful life with Guang. Galatea was right, this was her destiny, she had to do this.

The rain landed gently on Avalon's pale sky blue armor as she bent down to pick up the sword. A moment of regret flickered across her face as she slammed the sword into the back of the soldier. The moment passed as she twisted the sword sharply to ensure a quick death to the man. Armed with a new resolve, she turned to Guang who was still on his knees. She was unsure if he had seen exactly what had just happened and fear struck her. What if now he was afraid of her, what if wanted nothing to do with what she had become, what if she lost the one person that has ever shown her any sort of kindness. She approached Guang in silence with her hand extended. "Are you alright?" She asked, her voice meek and tainted with worry. "Are you hurt?" She knelt down next to Guang waiting for his response.

[HoudiniDerek]

Guang took Avalon's hand and came to his feet. There was blood mixing with mud everywhere in his yard, but at least there were no more bad guys. He looked around, trying to figure out what to do with the bodies. He couldn't let the Tamasha guards find them, especially when one had been stabbed the way the leader had.

"I'm okay," he sputtered, wiping mud and blood from his mouth. "We need to get rid of these guys before they cause more trouble. Luckily, the storm has kept most people inside and away from their windows."

Guang turned to Avalon and smiled. "Thanks for the rescue by the way. That was pretty talented work." He winked and gave her a quick kiss. "Go inside and dry off. I'm going to take care of these guys. It might not be right if you are caught with one."

*************

Guang carted the last body to an alleyway across town and came back. He was exhausted and the carrying of the dead made him realize he had time to think. And he had thought about Avalon:

How had the blade not hurt her? When she had met him, she had no such armor and then suddenly she was wearing it outside of his house? Where did she get it? Where had she gone?

Why had she killed the leader of the men? She seemed to NEED to kill him, the anger in how she had slain him. Guang had seen battles before and frustration could win the day quite often, but he was not sure what had spurred this action from her today.

Guang was toying this over as he approached his house. His house? He had been teasing the idea of making it a home of two, but the security Avalon needed, he could obviously not provide. Subconsciously it seemed that he was now referring to it as his house. He frowned to himself and stepped on the porch.

He was waterlogged as it was still raining. He took off his boots and clothing and stepped inside. The fire was roaring and a towel was by the door. Guang smiled. Avalon had been very considerate to know he was going to be soaked.

"Avalon," he called, picking up the towel and rubbing himself dry. "I'm home!"

[Avalon Silvasti]

When Guang left to dispose of the bodies Avalon slipped into his house. An overwhelming shock hit her full force. She had just slain a man that was unarmed. Shaken she started an attempted to take off the sky blue armor that Galatea had blessed her with but to no avail. She tugged at the gauntlets and the chest piece but neither would unhook and come free. She looked around for something to cut the pieces with when suddenly a voice intruded into her mind.

"You control the armor. Will it to come off." The voice of Galatea soothed her panicked state.

"Will it..." She whispered as she closed her eyes and concentrated. The armor shimmered around her and disappeared, leaving behind a shimmering blue pendant. Reluctantly she reached down, picked it up and placed the pendant around her throat. She looked down and noted that her clothes that the armor was protecting was completely soaked. Walking to the restroom, she stripped herself of the soaked clothes and wrapped herself in a towel. She pulled an extra towel out for Guang and set it by the door. She knew that he had to be drenched to the bone upon his return home. As she approached the fireplace she sunk to her knees and buried her face in her hands. Her thoughts turned to Guang as she started to softly cry. She knew what she had to do but she didn't want to put Guang in harms way again. She had to either leave her happiness behind or ask him to journey through these perils with her. The Goddess's words were clear, this was her destiny, she had to do this or the world may be destroyed. Her thoughts were shattered as she jumped at the sound of the door opening and Guang call her name. "I'm in here." She called meekly as she tried to wipe the tears from her face.

[HoudiniDerek]

Guang heard her call from the front room. He wrapped the towel around his waist and ran his hands through his wet hair and stretched. He was exhausted, even though he had done little the past couple of days with Avalon.

He walked into the room and saw Avalon sitting in front of the fire in just a towel. She didn't turn at his approach, but he knelt down beside her and kissed her exposed tattoo. "You don't have anything to worry about," he whispered in her ear. "I made sure the bodies could not be found or traced back to here." He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.

[Avalon Silvasti]

Avalon wiped the rest of the years from her eyes and nuzzled into Guang's chest. "I'm sorry if I am causing you problems. Are you alright? The armor... The Goddess..." Her words faded as she started to silently cry again. "Galatea said I can't run from my destiny but I don't want to leave your side Guang. What should I do?" She sunk her face into his chest and clung to him.

[HoudiniDerek]

Guang listened to Avalon's sobbed words and had no idea what she was talking about. The armor would explain how she had not been hurt, although not where she had gotten it. But the rest of it about a goddess, destiny...? What was she talking about?

Guang gently leaned her back from him so he could look her in the eyes. Her face was flushed from crying and he wiped a stream of tears away from her face.

"Avalon, you are going to have to catch me up. What happened after you left here? How did you leave here? Why?" Guang paused for a moment before continuing. "I don't intend to leave your side, but I don't know what you are talking about. Tell me..."

[Avalon Silvasti]

Avalon took in a deep breath and looked Guang in his eyes. "I did not leave this morning of my own free will. The Water Goddess Galatea summoned me to her shrine outside of town. She told me that I cannot run from my destiny, that I need to embrace it. She told me that the world is in great danger and that i need to find the bearers of Mystic blood and help them to awaken their powers. She granted me the armor that you saw me in earlier. I thought the tales of the Mystic armor was just a fairy tale my father told me and my sister to sate our imaginations." She paused and looked down to the sky blue crystal embedded in the pendant that she now wore. "The armor is kept in here and when I need it I can summon it. The Goddess told me that I must set out and find the people born of Mystic blood but she said that her guidance ended with the visit she arranged earlier." She broke eye contact with Guang as tears sprang to her eyes. "I do not know where this road will take me and i know the journey will be littered with peril and I dare not ask you to put yourself in harms way. The balance of the world lies in the hands of the Elemental Mystics and I must gather them and save our world." Avalon ran a hand through her hair and set her jaw as she turned her gaze back to Guang. "I know I said that I cannot ask you to join me but I cannot stop you if you so choose. I just wish not to see you fall in battle." Her voice broke as she flung her arms around him and clung to him tightly.

[HoudiniDerek]

Guang clutched Avalon back, his mind still foggy from what he had just been told. Elemental Mystics? Water Goddess? Even for a tribe like the Gnorash, these tales seemed a little too far-fetched, even for Guang. And yet, she did have an amulet that seemed to protect her with armor...and she had disappeared and reappeared easily enough.

Guang felt the heat from their naked bodies as they clasped each other and he knew that he was not planning on leaving her side. Even if she left him, he would track her down. She was the only person he had cared about in a long while...the only person he could ever remember romantically. He hugged her back and gently pushed her back.

"We had better get a good night's rest," he said, smiling. "I have no idea how many Mystics there are or where they are, but I'm betting it's going to be a long trip." He winked at her and stood.

"Let's eat and pack. We can go to bed early and get up with the dawn," he said. He turned to look outside and saw the rain continue to beat down. "If there is a dawn..."

[Avalon Silvasti]

Avalon nodded at Guang's response. "I don't know how many there are either. When I was a child my father would tell my sister and I about the tale of the Mystics. I can't remember every detail of the story that he told us but i remember he said something about temples that housed the powers of the Mystics. I've studied every map of the land my father had in his library but i never found those temples, only ruin's left behind by ancient people..." She paused and a look of shock came over her face. "Guang darling you don't think that those ruins are...the temples?" she asked as she looked at him.

[HoudiniDerek]

Guang thought about it for a minute and then nodded. "It's a possibility, especially if the Mystics are in hiding." He stretched and ran his hands through his still wet hair. "I remember coming across a set of ruins deep in the Selkia when I was a kid..." He trailed off, remembering it as a happy time of his life before becoming the outcast he was now.

"I would suggest we go to that one and start. I know the area and the terrain. Plus, if we get stopped, I know some of the tribes in the area of the ruins. We shouldn't run into too much trouble there." Well, she shouldn't anyway.

"I'm starved. Let's go eat." He grinned at her and pulled her in for a long kiss.

[Avalon Silvasti]

Avalon kissed Guang back and stood up. She tied off the towel in a make shift dress and walked towards the kitchen. All the while she thought about what he had said. "So these ruins are just outside of town in the woods?" She grinned as she took a cup from the cabinet and poured some water into it from the jug on the table. "Has anyone been out to the ruins?" She asked as she leaned against the table. "Have you been there?" Questions invaded her mind quicker than she could ask them. Her head swam in a sea of curiosity. She wondered if the ruins have been activated to a Mystic, if they had been defiled, and if the Draklore had found it first. "Please Guang tell me everything you know."

[HoudiniDerek]

Guang cut a slice of bread that was on the table and chewed thoughtfully. "I haven't been there for a long time," he said, remembering back. "They were overgrown with trees and we just stumbled into them. At first, we thought they were old houses that had been abandoned, but the more we looked, the more we saw. There were several houses among the other buildings...and I seem to remember them as temples. They had the right make-up for it."

He took another bite and grabbed a swig of water directly from the jug. It was hard to concentrate with Avalon's nearly naked figure standing there, but he tried bravely. "I might remember more if I was there. They seemed to be endless, but that could have been because of all the overgrowth on them. It didn't look like anyone had been there for hundreds of years."

"I went back from time to time when I had to travel to other villages, but I never saw anyone or heard anything. If there were Mystics there, they were very good at hiding." Guang looked over at Avalon. "Are the Mystics all of the same race or were they spread out among the races? Could a gnome have been a Mystic?"

[Avalon Silvasti]

Avalon sat her glass down and hoisted herself on the table. She sat at the edge and crossed her legs at her ankles. "The story my father told me of the mystics said that they were people of different races that gained the powers of the elements that saved the world from destruction once long ago. So I suppose any race could be of mystic blood." She ran a hand through her hair and leaned back bracing herself with her hands on the table. "If those are ruins of the Mystics then they would be long abandoned... My mother sang of the Mystics fall and the destruction of their people the night my sister and I came of age." She raised her right hand to her forbear and a look of sudden clarity stuck her facial features. "By the gods...." She gasped. "My sister must be of mystic blood too... But she was captured by the Draklore..." A along sat there wide eyed at the shocking realization that came over her. "My sister may not be dead if they knew that she was like me." She sat there for a long few moments the took another drink. "Guang darling, I need to get to those ruins tomorrow before we lose any more precious time. Are you sure you want to partake in this journey with me? You may find a greater purpose in life or you may perish..." Avalon's voice caught inherent throat at the later of her statement. The thought of losing Guang was unbearable to her and tears rushed to her eyes, stinging them.