Meeting the Headmaster

That night, I was laying in the bed when the Headmaster came in.

"Hello Rahiel." He said.

"Hello sir." I said. Ceorn whimpered on the bed next to me until I put a hand on his head.

"I just wanted to make sure that you're okay, my son likes to take his jokes too far sometimes." He said.

"No harm, sir." I said.

"Just let me know if you have any questions." I did have one that had been burning at me.

"Sir, what is a Twilighter?" I asked. He looked surprised.

"So that was you, was it?" I nodded, and he sighed. "I shouldn't say anything, but you deserve to know." He said. "Only certain people know this, strong, experienced Aurains who guard secrets and abilities that should never be used called Keepers." I suddenly got the feeling of being a little kid lost among power and people beyond my comprehension.

"There is only one Twilighter per generation, one born every 30 odd years. Among them are the greatest warriors, mages, Keepers, mercenaries, villains and demons. The Twilighters are the only ones who have Auras that truly conflict with each other: Darkness and Light."

"They have the potential to do amazing things, but they teeter on the edge of evil and good. Some of the strongest Paladins, and Necromancers, have been Twilighters. Although never proven, it is said that each Twilighter has a unique power." He said.

"That's it?" I said.

"I don't think you understand, Rahiel. Twilighters are either the Great Heroes of the Age or the Villains." He said. "Rahiel, you're young. Nothing decided yet, and here you'll be allowed to explore yourself, your inner being to decide on which side you'll choose. Get up to speed soon, I'm sure Pylor'll run you and the others hard." He pulled the Earth Aura back into his hand that he was playing with and left me to comfort Ceorn.

Day 5: The Darkness Comes...

Their pain was too much, I couldn't stand the cries. I continued the sweeping motions I had seen this form doing earlier, trying to protect at least a small group, but I couldn't do it, it wasn't enough. Even the areas I passed over multiple times seem to grow darker and darker, as if it knew that it would only be swallowed by the darkness.

I was beyond pissed (excuse my language on here, but it fits the character. Hopefully, I can avoid it most of the time). I started searching for the source of the darkness, following the most desolate landscape. There were denizens that were following me, but I couldn't tell why. Why did they follow? Were they going to help somehow? They didn't seem like much, even if they were Aurians, but I couldn't tell what they were. As I flew lower to the ground, all but a few scattered in fright. I felt a pang of sadness as I flew higher, and they came back.

The Darkness suddenly engulfed me, my Light not enough as I flew on. The air was tinged with a dark golden light, just enough to give color, but not see by. Flying on, I realized I was alone. The denizens were gone, as was the landscape. I seemed to be in a sort of limbo, and I was tired of flying by the time a shape came into view. It seemed to be flying to meet me, and flying closer, the shape became more defined.

It was another bird, just as big, just as brilliant, but irradiating black Light. I was scared, trying to avoid the Dark Phoenix, but it matched each movement that I made. As I dove to my left, it dove to its right, as if there was a mirror between him and the infinite void of darkness beyond. We were close, two titanic, never ending birds about to clash, Lights blazing brilliantly, when I felt a heavy presence on my chest. It settled there, almost comfortably. I couldn't figure out what it was, but it was joined by another sensation, sharp pinpricks running through every feather, every fiber of my being. Light appeared behind the Dark Phoenix, making it a silhouette outlined in white light. I quickly dove under my dark twin, managing to squeeze by I head to the only source of light I'd seen throughout my dream. I felt the warmth coming through, the sensation of the world beyond calling to me.

Light blinded me as I realized where I was waking up, in an infirmary. I was alone, but with a second glance, realized that it wasn't true. Ceorn was curled up on my chest, obviously not sleeping peacefully. I petted the back of his head gently as I took in where I was. A light room filled with beds. I was the only human occupant of those beds. I felt the IV drip in my hand, an almost cold liquid flowing through the tube into my veins, and I felt that I wasn't wearing my gift from the Academy. I managed to sit up slightly, only a little dizzy. After a few minutes, a nurse comes in and is surprised to find me sitting up, petting a slightly soothed Ceorn, who was awake by this time. She came over and ran a few elementary tests, which I passed. After that, she left. About half an hour later, a doctor came in, leading Elywin, Baron, and Pylor in.

"So you finally woke up?" Pylor asked. "You were out pretty long, and I couldn't get back in."

"How long?" I asked.

"A week, and you're going to miss another day at least," Elywin said. "Baron and I are part of the Obaraten Squadron. You'll meet our two technomancers later, after rest and some up to speed training. Pylor here is our mission researcher and assigner." She smiled at him. "Get ready for some hard training."

Day 5: What's Going On

I felt this panic rising, and I flew back, trying to stop the darkness from overwhelming the denizens, who were crying out in pain. I heard every scream, every cry, every plea. It was awful.

"Bleak future, huh?" A voice said out of nowhere. I suddenly felt a presence on my back. I looked over my wing to see Pylor standing there. A cry came out of my beak. "Don't worry, your body's fine. I'm surprised that you're in this position actually, I usually have to cause it, but your future seemed to call out to my Aura. Guess I should of warned you, I have Fire and Dream auras, combining to make Prophecy. I can enter anyone's future, but only as an observer. The main trick, though, is that while I'm here, I can hear your thoughts. Your future is strong, most never see me."

I'm going to turn into a freakin' bird?

"Probably not, my prophecies tend to have symbols in them, have fun interpreting them. Should I try to wake you up? Your wolf seems really worried."

Please! With that, Pylor left. I kept flying, doing what I could, flying in circles, trying to stop the darkness, but I felt the loss, the pain, the suffering that each denizen had.

Day 5: Beginning of the Dream

I woke up to the sound of Ceorn growling, only slightly concerned as I looked at the new person in the room. He was wearing all red, a dark red shirt and matching pants with a crimson jacket. Even his hair and eyes were red as they looked me over. After introducing himself, Pylor promptly collapsed on the other bed and fell asleep. I was starting to leave when I got dizzy and felt myself falling into something that felt comforting but cold.

My eyes were open as darkness over took my vision, but it wasn’t black. Strands of gold were floating before me as a shape loomed out of the darkness, coming closer and closer to me. The shape kept coming, but it never seemed to get closer. It was made of golden light, the source of the gold floating before me. I started to relax, still trying to keep my guard up as this light seemed to try and invade my body. I was surprised when I realized I had something to fight for, but I laid there, in the dark, light trying to invade me, trying to figure out what it was I would fight for.

Could it be a girl? No, I haven’t met anyone yet, at least not that anyone. Ceorn? Maybe, but the emerald wolf would be looked after. I absentmindedly pushed away a strand of light. My parents were dead, I didn’t have many friends back home, nobody notable, so what was I fighting for?

I felt my wings starting to flap, and I found that I was the source of light in the darkness before. I continued to fly as I pondered why I would fight, feeling the light tear at the darkness surrounding me as if my feathers were swords. I turned behind me to see a lighter side, but the darkness was slowly enveloping it. I saw a landscape, not the watery landscape of my world, but plains of grass. The darkness seemed to race through it, but I was safe. It ignored me, but it attacked the denizens that were working in the planes. As it reached them, I could see their hearts become corrupt and the minds turn dark. I was horrified, but knew this vision had something to do with me.

But what?

Day4: The Test

The room was getting pretty full with other prospective students. The boat that I had come on was one of many that came full of students, and the other boat's students were beginning to arrive, making me claustrophobic. I closed my eyes and sat forward, Ceorn curled up on my lap, trembling. I was stretching my neck when the girl sat across from me and she finally introduced herself. Her name was Elywin and her panther was named Nayne. She was wearing a simple dark blue tank top and tan cargo pants, her outfit clearly meant to be for function. Her light blue hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Her emerald eyes met mine as we talked, trying to pass the time.

A few hours later, the Head Proctor came out. He was a rather imposing man who was entirely decked out in black. He started to call out names in groups and individuals. I was called up with Elywin and another guy named Baron, who wore a brown robe with a bow on his back. Bows were favored over guns for a number of reasons, but mostly because guns, when wet, don't work. We were told to go and change into battle clothes that the school was providing based on our Auras, and we were directed to a room where there were three packages and three changing rooms. I quickly opened up the package, surprised by what I found. Black cargo pants and a black tee-shirt were on top, but what was under that was something I didn't expect. A snow white trench coat type jacket was folded up neatly, the golden border shining in the dull light. I quickly changed, finding everything fitting comfortably. I took my sword and tried a few techniques, and I seemed to have even more mobility and comfort than when I had my old clothes. I noticed a pair of black gloves with no fingers still in the box, as well as white shoes. I was sitting when Elywin came out in a dark blue shirt, and loose light blue pants. Baron came out with full blown plated bronze armor, but he moved as naturally in it as he did in the robe.

There was a knock at the door, making us jump. The proctor who checked me in led us outside to the mountains and we were given our task, find the Aura Cavern in the mountain range by the end of the day. Ceorn and Nayne joined us, as well as a falcon that was apparently Baron's. We were told the general direction and left to our own devices. If we made it, we were to bring back proof, three Aura crystals, one Light, one Water, and one Earth, and if it was too much, we were to return with nothing. It was also an all or nothing deal, meaning we all had to come back.

Our first plan was for Baron's falcon, Stane, look from the air. We started running, trying to find the cavern. We hadn't even been searching for an hour when Stane came back, leading us to the cavern. I let my Light form an orb in my hand, lighting up the cavern. Walking forward, words from the old language were written on the far wall. Elywin translated them:

Only sand can stop the sand of time

After she read the words aloud, the walls cracked and sand started to flow from the rock. Baron stepped up, trying to clog the holes, but the sand would just flow around his aura. Elywin figured it out as the sand reached our ankles, and she combined her Air aura with Baron's Earth, creating a sand storm. Their sand clogged the holes and the wall crumbled away. Running in, we found the Brown Earth crystal and the White Air crystal, but the Yellow Light crystal wasn't there. I accidentally let the Light dim, but light emanated from another source. I let the Light go out all the way, and the crystal appeared next to the cluster of Earth crystals. I grabbed it and we made our way back to the Academy, where we presented the crystals and were given our room assignments, where I went and crashed after putting my pack on a desk and making a bed for Ceorn again.

Day 4: The Arrival

The mainland was in sight when I woke up, sore and tired. The wolf pup was asleep in the bed, but he woke up with a growl when I turned the light on. I roughly made up the bed, grabbed my pack, and then took him with me to wait on deck. I got many compliments as the mainland approached, and I didn't have much time to myself, even after we got off the boat. Luckily, the girl who was there with us yesterday sat next to me on the bus. She didn't seem to be too impressed with me, so I was left in peace for the ride to the Academy, except for the occasional fighting between the wolf pup and the girl's panther.

The two hour trip was a normal two hour bus ride with teenagers, periods of loudness followed by periods of deafening silence. As the bus wound its way up the mountains, some students were obviously getting sick, many of them trying to sleep it off. The girl next to me fell asleep almost immediately, but her panther wouldn't sleep with my wolf pup sitting on my lap. I watched the landscape roll by, but nothing of note was there, just lots of snow.

A half-hour before the school came into sight, the driver came on with instructions for us. When we got off the bus, we were to line up and wait for our turn to get enrolled to take the entrance test. The Academy was a school for those who had a certain skill with Aura already, it was more the fine mechanics of control and use of Aura that was the main focus of the Academy. The entrance exam was usually a series of trials that were designed to test the limits of a person or squad, which ever the luck of the draw put an individual in.

The Academy came into view, and I was surprised. I had been expecting an ancient Cathedral style building, but it was a modern architecture building. The steel and glass building was situated on a lake, overlooking the lake and a field, against a backdrop of snow covered craggy mountains. As we pulled up, I saw snow starting to fall, and we were ushered inside. There, we lined up and waited for a proctor to sign us in. They tested each prospective's student's auras and recorded them. The tests were tailored to the auras of the people involved, as well as fighting style and knowledge. I was motioned to, so I went over to the proctor that had beckoned me and did as I was told. She had me stick my hands out over a metal strip, and my right hand glowed with Light, which I knew would happen, but my left hand pulsated with Darkness. I had never been able to call my second aura, one of the reasons I was so good with my Light, and also why I was here. Watching the proctor, she wrote down "Twilighter" under a block labeled Aura. I was asked to register my wolf pup, meaning he had to have a name. I settled on the name Ceorn, which he seemed to respond to anyways. After that, I was told to go next door to a main room and make myself comfortable while the others registered and the tests were designed.

Day 3: The Sea Serpent

I was shown to my room for the journey over, a sparse room with a bed, a table, and a closet. I quickly made a bed out of sheets for the wolf pup. I couldn't settle on a name to call him, and it was getting increasingly distressing to call him "wolf pup". I looked out the room's window as we pulled away from port, and then watched as the dark blue and white water rushed and surged by.

I was startled by a crashing sound. That's never a good sound on a ship, and this sounded loud. Grabbing my sword, I rushed out on deck, seeing what I could do. Other prospective students were there as well, but only a small group of us had weapons drawn. Another crashing sound was heard, and I was almost thrown off balance, and few landed on their sides. As they collected themselves, another wave rocked the boat. I watched as a large shadow rose out of the water, blocking out the sun as it rose to a height twice the size of the boat. A group of students cried out, another group started to jump up to the roof of the boat, a few of us suceeding. I landed smoothly, having practiced it extensively at the ruins, and let the Light that I called up disperse through the roof. I looked up and examined who was up there with me.

There were four of us, three guys and a girl. Two of us were wielding swords, another an assortment of knifes and chains, while the girl didn't have anything drawn. I didn't give it another thought, however, when I heard the creature roar. I turned to it to see a tail with sharp fins swinging towards us. On instinct, I ducked and put up a shield, the tail bouncing off and sending me back a bit. I saw the other with the sword jump, but missed all together, landing in the water. He was suddenly thrown from the water onto the deck, as if the sea had spit him out. The creature was distracted long enough by this incident, however, for me to jump onto its head, but as I landed, he saw me, and I saw what we were fighting.

A sea serpent, a SEA SERPENT! What in the?!?! Come on! These were some of the thoughts that ran through my head. This thing shouldn't even exist! Genetic experiments were banned when it was found that the synthesized creations were more susceptible to becoming a Daegel creature, and even with eons of evolution, the thing before me shouldn't exist naturally. Where did this come from? It had to be a least a mile long, 20 feet wide at the neck, and that was as far as I got in examining it before it through me off. I saw ice form below me and quickly situated myself that I would land safely. I jumped again, this time landing on the boat's roof again. I was panting, but not too worse for wear, but the girl was trembling. She was obviously the one who had saved the other guy who jumped and myself as well, but she didn't look like she could do it a second time. The guy with the knives obviously was trying, but nothing he threw made a nick on the serpent's hard scales.

A flash of inspiration came to me when I thought about where I had landed before, and I asked the guy for a long chain, and without question, he gave it to me. I jumped again, landing where I had before, but this time making sure I wouldn't be shaken off. I wrapped the chain around a horn on the top of the serpent's head, binding it with my Light aura as I tested it. I drew my sword, letting my adrenaline take hold now as Aura raced through my sword, making it longer and sharper. I took a deep breath and jumped off the side, the chain wrapped around my arm as I swung through, running my sword along the neck of the serpent, which threw its head back and forth. I felt it suddenly stop thrashing and the sensation of falling took over. I managed to pull myself up the chain to hold onto the severed head just before it crashed into the water. I quickly undid the chain, accidentally breaking off part of the horn, jumped, and landed on deck. I gave the chain back to the owner among cheering, went to my room, and collapsed on the bed.

Day 2: A New Friend

Arriving at the port city of Acoor, I immeaditely went to the ferry port. Finding the ship that would take me to the city of Nemt, the closest port to the Academy, was hard and expensive, even with the Prospect's discount the Academy offered. I had plenty of money left over, but I still felt the loss of a fourth of my savings.

I was mulling this over at a sea-side diner when I noticed movement in the alley way, watching a shadow crawl along the wall. The Daegels weren't supposed to be able to get into inhabited land, but there was always the risk. I drew my sword and jumped over the railing next to me after taking a last gulp of water and leaving money on the table. I let my aura's primary element channel through the sword, making it glow with a white Light. As the shadow sunk down, I carefully and cautiously turned the corner, expecting to find a horrible creature with anything from horns to tentacles charging at me.

It wasn't a Daegel, that much was clear when I didn't see a large shape looming around the corner. The other thing was that there was filled with the metallic smell of blood, and Daegels don't bleed. I let my aura pulse outwards, leaving no shadows in its wake, and the creature was hard to spot at first, but I saw it as it tried to bury into some garbage to get away from the light. I cautiously and slowly went over and pulled the bag away, seeing a brief flash of emerald fur try to get behind the trashcans. I recalled my aura, feeling its warmth flood me, and ran back to the diner, where I found my plate of half eaten food. I gathered the scraps of food and my bag, and returned to the alley to see the creature walking down the alley, clearly thinking that I had left it alone. The emerald furred wolf pup heard me approach and limped quickly over to find shelter behind a metal sheet that was lying against a wall.

Cautiously approaching him, I held out some of the food. He poked his head out from his shelter as I stepped away. He eagerly went to the food and devoured it, then waited expectantly for more, sniffing my hand. I was crouched, as the pup wasn't much bigger than a loaf of bread, and I could see that a paw was bleeding profusely, as was a cut in his side. Looking through my pack for the medical supplies, he sat, still expecting more food. I quickly bandaged him, finding that his paw was sprained and his side's cut was deep. I picked him up, much to his protest, and carried him back to the diner, where I put him on a table. He seemed to calm down some as I scratched his head. I started to daydream when I heard a ship's whistle blow. I looked at my watch and realized what time it was, realizing that my ship was due to leave soon, and picked up the wolf pup again, carrying him with me to the ship. This time, he fell asleep, making me laugh a little.

Day 1: Setting Out

I've decided, I need to get to the Academy on the mainland of Mircea. Living on the Appa Archipelago's main island, Dark Rock, the journey will take a full day at sea. The Academy is a place of training mind, spirit, and aura in order to join to join the ranks of the Aurians.

After packing the backpack I was taking, I decided to take one last look at the ruins. The ruins were interesting, nestled in the valley down the mountain. There were three structures still standing from before the Daegel wars, as well as some sort of alter. Not many tourists visited the ruins anymore because the ruins were deemed dangerous. I took the sword from my room's wall and strapped it across my back, making it easy to reach without any restricting movements. Weaving my way through the forest and down the mountain after locking my house, I made my way to the ruins.

As I toured the ruins one last time, I examined the alter I had trained under so many years. It looked like, at one time, there had been three pillars, but they had been gone for years before I found it, leaving three identical, two story outlines of the missing pillars. I saw three old-rune words, and I was determined to find out what the words meant. I turned my back on the alter and quickly started the journey to the port city 10 miles south.