Genesis

Chapter 18

A calm breeze dances over the horizon. Already Duiguid and company were up and moving. Never before had Duiguid felt like this. This immense energy, this craving for power. He loved it. He looked back and saw he was way ahead of the others. He slowed down a bit, so as not make them feel bad. His new power seemed to awaken alot within him, even his speed. The pendant glowed and pointed south. He turned, the others following. Only moments before midnight it had begun to glow, tugging vigorously at his arm. After an explanation from Sadigq, Cali and Miguel fully agreed to join their team. Cali however, was more concerned about the strange priest he had heard of. Perhaps he could give the answer he was looking for.....

Lili awakes. It was still some time before dawn, but she found she couldn't rest. She looked at Jarad. Sound asleep. No doubt Accro was somewhere underground. The priest however, was nowhere to be found. She rememberred what Accro had told her last time and so was not in the least panicked. She walked on for a bit in the direction of the cliff, when she heard a voice. "It's almost time master. Will you be dancing this time?" 

"Maybe." It was Nicholas. But to whom was he speaking? Another servant? Ever so carefully, she moved in, hiding behind a nearby tree. Nicholas was staring over the cliff, his hair flowing in the calm morning breeze. He was deep in thought, his mind afar off.

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Spikes crept up from the ground. Blood, freshly spilt, walked slowly down the once clean blades. Nicholas grimaces at his own body as he sits atop the deathly shrine, punishing himself. His Elder approaches. She sees the child and her heart melts away with pity. "Young one, why torture yourself so? Isn't the outside world within itself, a source of enough pain?" Nicholas ignored her as he foucsed his mind on the pain he was causing himself. To him, this was all he had left. The elder continued. "This place is known as the Forgotten Valley. It is where those of the Dark, Human and Meda-Human may come to live. It is a place we can exist in peace, away from even the people and clans who live among us even now. Life here is not easy, but at least we can live as who we are and not for what others assume us to be. Why then, do you insist on torturing yourself? In this Valley there is suffering enough for all. Nicholas stares at his elder. Then ever so slowly, he holds out his right hand. Then from out the ground comes a spike that pierces his hand. "We, we hide ourselves from those of the outside world. Yet they, even they run from us. Why should we have to hide ourselves as though we are unclean?" He pierces his other hand. Do we not have the right to live?!!"

"Perhaps it the only way that they feel safe. By banishing us from their hearts and minds, it would seem that we no longer exist. It may even be the last vestige of their pride."

Tears flow from Nicholas eyes. "We wish to live among them, but the price is too high. Where we would seek to live in peace they wish to destroy me for the very blood that flows through my veins. I have desires of peace, but then truth forces it into anger. What other course to take than to torture myself?"

A song is heard dancing through the dim wind of the valley. "That sound?" In an instant, all the spikes that supported his body broke and he fell to the ground. He looked up and saw a spinning blade, more beautiful than any weapon he had ever seen. "She will dance with you only when you have come to peace with yourself. Can you not come to understand your own feelings? Can you not come to peace with your own heart?"

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Nicholas exhales deeply. "What a pity. A pity that I no longer know what that means....." Lili then ever so slowly, drifts back to the where Jarad rested and resumed to act as if asleep. Although she wondered whom was he speaking to, she figured it best to act as though nothing had  happened. It was now morning and the team of travelers were already halfway to their destination. As always, Accro and Jarad were out of sight whereas she and Nicholas were in plain sight. She wondered if there was any reason as to why he asked them to do this. Nicholas' voice awakes her from her thoughts. "Instead of daydreaming, take a look at the scenery around you. Is it not beautiful?" And indeed it was. The land was sprinkled in small lotus and sakura, all in bloom. The scent of the frangipani tickled the air. They painted the landscape with color for miles around. Lili was marveled by the sight. But something in the distance caught her attention. The very top of the hill was pitch black. It was faint, but she also detected the scent of burning flesh. She stopped Nicholas. But he had already noticed the landscape. "Do you see it Lili? Someone is coming to greet us." Lili looked and saw that the black smudge was getting closer and bigger. As it neared, the smudge went up in smoke. From within that smoke, a blazing hand is seen coming down above Lili's head. Nicholas stops the hand and counter strikes. Then, with a flick of his hand, clears the smoke. What happened next left Lili in horror. It was a man, his body slowly corroding away, burning with a blue flame. His smile told the tale of a demented and tortured soul. "Finally I found you priest. You shall pay for my suffering." Jarad came out of hiding. "Master isn't that?...."