Startled from a restless sleep Ten' leaped to his feet. There was a commotion out in the village; immediately he gathered himself up and headed out. They were under attack again! It was the brigands, the *Teengu. A bird like a race, a humanoid type with bird’s head and humans body. Feathers on their arms almost like wings. They would go from village to village, attacking people and gathering slaves. Normally Ten' and his friends were able to fend them off. But they had the **Darksouled, the ones they fought 5 1/2 months ago, with them. As the battle raged on Ten' in his weakened state was unable to defend the village properly and went down. Solv tried to defend Ten' as best he could, casting waves of fear and revulsion at the soldiers. Luna, Neco and the others tried to defend the villagers, finding that a difficult task indeed.
A Darksouled wizard appeared over the crest of the hill. Watching as the soldiers herded the group together. He waited till all were in range, then he would blast them and clear the way for finding the girl. Just as they were all in a circle almost back-to-back, Ten' in the center feeling weak with Luna leaning over him. The Dark Wizard aimed at the group with a beam of energy. A figure leaped, thrusting itself in between the beam and the group. It was the girl! She stood between them, with her left hand up cast a reflective spell sending the beam back to the wizard blasting him to bits. With her right hand she aimed at the group and projected a ray of healing energy that enveloped them all. Immediately following that the girl dropped to the ground. Ten' though exhausted staggered over to her scooping her up in his arms, only to have her dissolve into beads of light whisking away to his place. Started he looked around, finally noticing the familiar blue and white flame engulfing the town once again. He noticed this time, however, it was burning slower and covering ground at a slower pace than before. Knowing who cast it and that it was going that slow....it worried him. Leaving the others to deal with the aftermath. He raced back home.
He arrived back in his place, just in time to see her collapse on the enclosed balcony. Somehow she had awoken from her coma, hearing a call to save the innocent once again. Racing up the stairs to reach the balcony she was on seemed to take forever. He reached her in time to see her writhe in pain and suddenly go still. He had realized it was her saving the village again but at what cost this time. He wanted to talk to Maria but decided he should rest first. Scooping the girl up, noticing that she'd grown taller in height and developed proportionately more in body. Placing her on the single bed, he tucking her in amazed and confused. He went to his room and fell into a fitful sleep.
Waking up only hours later, again the nightmares! He might as well get up. He went to check on the girl. She seemingly hadn't moved since he laid her down eight hours ago. Moving a strand of hair out of her face he stood there. Amazed, he felt such peace. And yet felt so, not scared but apprehensive like knowing there was something wonderful behind the door, but afraid to open it. Feeling perplexed he turned and walked back to his room. Stepping out onto the balcony, looked out onto the town. He wondered if the people would return. Or were gone for good this time.
It's amazing how you can lose track of time when you're not paying attention to it but the minute you do this seems to take forever. The nine people left in the village had just picked a routine to repeat over and over because they couldn't focus on anything else. This is the second time they had to face losing their friends and family. Ten', Jett, Nici, Gizzmo, Solv, Brigh, Peaches, and Luna all went about their day to day activity as if in a daze. Two months later, Ten' was sitting and talking to Maria's stone. Finally, after seven months she answered," Have you come to your senses, will you take me to the Temple and let me join The Opal Stone?" She saw Ten' hang his head silently. After a moment she noticed he was sobbing," Ten' what's wrong, why are you crying?" “I’m afraid if I let you go it will be like denying our love, afraid I'll never feel this way again."
“Ten’ I will never leave you entirely or stop loving you, we just can't exist this way. I want you to have life full love and happiness. I feel she can give you that. Please give her a chance. She needs you just as much as you need her." Maria said. They talked for hours. Things would never be the same, but had the chance to get better. Convincing him of that would be another matter. It was almost evening when they finished talking. It been a long, exhausting day. Caring for another, and battling to save his village and losing them....again was taking a toll on him. It seemed to be a farewell a long time coming. When they had finished talking he sat with his head in his hands mulling over what they had talked of. From the open window he hears a commotion coming from the direction of the village. Out of curiosity he arose and went onto the balcony to check it out. The sight before him was a welcome one. Turning with excitement he called the others. They confirmed the return of the villagers once again. As He called them one by one to confirm the sighting, they all asked about her an how she was fairing. When he checked on her she seemed to be resting peacefully.
The Dragasi Hedrian awoke with a great thirst. She leaped off the bed crouching on all fours. She sniffed around seeking water. Following the scent trail in the dark wasn't hard as she just used her night vision. She could see well enough to avoid most objects. Ones of glass gave off an odd light making them almost invisible or blinding depending on the density and refraction of light in it. There was only natural light shining through the ceiling. For the moment she saw only in a gray spectrum. She made her way to the bathing room though she did not know it by that name. To her it was just a vast area, with water that's all she cared about. Finally! This she found a pond and drank readily. Hearing a sound off to her right she scampered up the wall a perched, looking over a small ledge. Like a chameleon she blended into the rock wall and ceiling.
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