In Fate's Hands (Sinbad of the seven seas)

Chapter Five Avalon

Avalon's arms were tired and sore from the day of training she had set for herself. The first of August was swiftly approaching and she would need all of her skills if anything went wrong. Of course it would be nice to have an actual person to spar with rather than just trees and swinging dummies. She sunk into her makeshift couch outside the cave and stretched until she was satisfied that she could train tomorrow without having any setbacks.

The sky was beautiful and so vast, with clouds decorating the base blue velvet. She hates completely clear and cloudless days. She felt like an ant under glass, burning because of a child's amusement until she escapes or the child becomes bored. Avalon fiddled with the ring on her right ring finger. The ruby encrusted dragon looked at her expectantly. She thought about Aratonous, the man who gave her the ring in the first place. How he had a matching one, but encrusted with sapphires.

She had been waiting for her Aratonous to come. She believes that he still exists. That he'll find her. But it was wishful thinking. Her Aratonous was dead. Or maybe he never existed in the first place. But this still didn't change what happened and no person could be foolish enough to forget what happened.

For these past eight years alone on the island, she's felt as though she's been a ghost between worlds. Not existing on either side, and numb. Numb to the point nothing could entice her to give in for a moment of ecstasy or a fit of rage. As far as she was concerned, she's been dead these past eight years, and as long as everyone else in the world thought that way, she was fine.

Avalon's senses and call to fight pricked as she heard an anomaly of footsteps that were not her own and certainly only belonged to a human.

Avalon knew the sounds of her part of the island and when she heard stomping footsteps and giggling near her training field, she presumed the worst. Avalon took off her sandals and hopped from tree to tree, before she found a couple of locals stumbling over each other as much as they were stomping. Annoyance bubbled up in her as she realized her anxiety was in vain as the two drunk horny teenagers started to kiss against a tree.

"Ick." She whispered to herself, as she looked for a loose branch to knock down on top of them, but they were all strong healthy limbs on the tree. She notched an arrow. Normally she wouldn't use actual visual threats to scare away the locals. It usually brings more angry men around. She aimed right next to the guy's head and released it. They didn't even notice, let alone flinch at the arrow landing on the trunk of the tree. Annoyance and concern bubbled up in her chest. 

Disgusting. She thought hypocritically, years ago she was just like them, but she wasn't going to risk anyone finding the mirror by accident. Especially when the seal was on the weaker part of it's time cycle. There could be no room for mistakes. She took a decently sized pebble that one could argue as a rock and aimed it at the girl's thigh.

"I am so sorry for the bruise you're going to get." She whispered, as she released the string on her bow.

"OW!" She yelped, pulling away from her lover and tending to her now slightly bleeding thigh.

"What, did you rub up against the tree to hard?" Her lover said.

"No, something hit me." She scolded the dumbass. An idea struck her head as the world's detailed lines blurred and each living thing glowed in lumpy shapes. She thought about panthers on one of her trips with Aratonous. How she thought for sure they were going to at least get maimed by the sleek elegant creature. She managed to mold one to stalk the two lovers.

It was the man to scream first and dash off, leaving his lover behind. The woman was actually trying to pet the glowing panther. The teenager clicked her tongue at Avalon's ilusion, trying to entice friendship. Avalon couldn't feel disappointment because that would be something she would have done, if the panther she encountered didn't try to chew her arm off. She couldn't make any sounds with her light show, and she isn't a good enough actor to make the sounds for the vision. She made her panther dash at the tree putting deep scratches on the bark.

If that wasn't enough to scare her away, Avalon didn't know what else to do except scratch the girl. Avalon could already feel the strain of creating and upkeeping the big cat's appearance as sweat beaded down her forehead.

"Please, leave." She whispered, making the big cat bare its fangs. This made the girl run away. Avalon stopped as soon as the girl was out of sight and out of mind. Avalon's knees were weak, and her tattered clothes were drenched with a cold sweat. Shields are one thing, but creating a predator so big and with so much detail takes more effort than she realizes. She never does until she's already used her abilities. It's her worst flaw, too much is never enough to her. 

Avalon dragged herself back into the cave and looked at herself in the reflection of the basin, using the hem of her cloak to wipe away the dirt off of her face. Again she could have sworn she saw her Aratonous behind her. Today she could have sworn he was actually there, his ghost print touch fading away as she looked around. She looked back into the basin jar and saw that his reflection was gone. Her fingers on her left hand went over the cracks of the water basin as her other hand crossed her torso and traced over the scar on her lower rib. She remembered the burning poking pain healing herself had caused her, that pain turned to fear.

The prison holding it's prisoner was getting weaker, this was to be expected, but these cracks were ones that you'd find in ruins. The prison was deteriorating faster than normal. She wouldn't have seen such a giant crack a month before it was time to reseal it. She still needed more time to regain her strength from last year. She was also still waiting on a shipment of obsidian. She needs that obsidian to keep the mirror sealed for longer than this annual showdown.