Dawn of the Elements - Book 2: The Hand of Threngar

Chapter Eight: Voices

Silver stood in a misty clearing. Trees surrounded him, about Sixty feet away from him, in all directions. Looking around, he turned the wrong way, and felt a sharp pain tear through his chest. Looking at his chest, he saw a hole, singed straight through where Caius had stabbed him.

"Silver." An ominous voice spoke from deep in the mist. Silver looked for the source, but found nothing. "You went in, without a plan."

"I had no choice!" Silver shouted, covering the hole in his chest with his left hand. "I couldn't find any other answer! I even tried burning it off of him, and it failed!" Silver saw a faint light, far off in the mist.

"There is always a choice." The voice continued. "Your sister chose to stay by your side, while you recover. You chose to face Loran Silverlance, without backup, or a plan." Silver watched the light change colour, from a brilliant yellow, to a vibrant purple. A shade of purple he recognized.

"Purple." He said, walking towards the light. "The colour of Tao Ren's true power." He reached the source of the light, and watched as a vibrant purple flame flickered before him.

"You and your sister share my Powers, Master of Fire." The voice, revealing himself to be Tao Ren, Elemental Dragon of Fire said. "Only together, can this threat be thwarted."

"Silver." A new voice spoke, one he didn't recognize. "My powers belong to you, and your sister." A man, which Silver had only seen in visions walked out of the mist.

"Together, the two of you can fix the mistake I made, so long ago." The Original Elemental Master of Fire said, a soft smile on his face. "Make me proud, my boy."

Silver looked in at the purple flame, and the Original Elemental Master of Fire. He knew he had to wake up, but for some reason couldn't. "I can't wake up. Why can't I wake up, the way I did last time?"

"Your mortal body is still healing, my beautiful boy." A man and woman walked out of the mist. "If you try and wake up now, the only thing that will be keeping you alive will be your inner flame." The woman explained. "until your mortal body heals fully, that is." She smiled, softly. "However, as long as your inner flame is healing you, you will not have access to your powers."

"I have to go back, Mother!" Silver shouted. "They need me! Now more then ever!" Esmelda smiled at her eldest child. Grenbor did the same.

"That's the boy we've been watching over." Esmelda said, pride in her voice. "You've grown up, not just into the man we always wanted you to. But into the King you will be." Silver was shocked, seeing how his parents weren't around when he proposed.

"When you go back, tell our baby girl we're proud of her." Grenbor said, smiling. "Now go." Silver ran to his parents, hugging them both.

"I miss you both." Silver said, becoming Ethereal. "Every single day." As he vanished, he heard them both say one thing, and one thing only.

"We miss you too, son."

Silver's eyes flickered open. Looking around, he found he was in an empty hospital room. He tried getting up, and immediately regretted his decision.

Looking at his chest, he found it was wrapped in bandages, soaked in moderately fresh blood. Letting his wounded form rest a moment, he felt where he had been hurt.

He felt flesh, which he was relieved about. But upon further inspection, he noticed that the flesh underneath the bandages felt almost incomplete.

Lifting the bandages, he found that his flesh had scarred over, with slight gaps. Those gaps contained what he assumed was his inner flame.

'They weren't joking.' The Master of Fire thought. 'My inner flame is what's keeping me alive.' After a few moments, he felt the flesh slowly sealing up.

Taking a moment to regain his composure, he realized that what he had just experienced, was the moment, close to the end of his healing cycle. He'd been given the warning, in case he'd regained consciousness too early.

Grabbing a housecoat, he left the hospital. Gazing down the hallway, he noticed lights coming from his office, which just happened to be a few doors away.

Walking up to the door, he heard familiar voices. "You pulled us away from Silver, to tell us youve found nothing!?" He heard Gold's voice shout. "What were you thinking!?"

"My brother is crafty." He heard Silana's voice say next. "If he doesn't want to be found, he will not be found." Silver stood in the doorway.

"You're overthinking it." Silver stated, making himself known. Gold and Lyna turned to face him first. Lyna, excited, went to jump into her fiancé's arms.

"Lyna, I need to speak with my sister first, if that's alright." He said, watching her nod. Silver approached Gold, and gingerly hugged her.

"I saw them." Silver said, holding his little sister close. "Mum and Dad." He heard Gold start crying over his shoulder. "They said to tell you how proud they are of you."

"I tried being strong, Big Brother." Gold said, through tears. "I tried so hard." She began bawling her eyes out. Silver rubbed his sister's back, softly. Then letting go, he held his arms open for Lyna to jump into.

The Princess of Light jumped into her Fiancé's arms, crying. Silver felt a jolt, letting him know that his healing cycle was still working.

"There, There." Silver said, softly. "It's going to be alright." Silver then looked at the assembly before him. "I woke up before my healing cycle was completed. My inner flame is all that's keeping me alive right now. And because of this, I have no powers."

"Which means, that even though we have you back." Queen Serenity stated. "We are still without our big gun." She went back to looking over Silver's notes.

"I may not be in fighting shape yet." Silver informed the entire assembly. "But I'm here. I'm alive. And until I'm back to my old self, I'm the best consultant we have for this."

Queen Serenity looked at Silver, and was shocked at what she saw. There was a fire in his eyes. Certainty was on his face. She wasn't looking at a teenager. She was looking at a leader.