Avatar: The Legend of Anzen Hyriu, Book 1: The Legend of Beifen

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Of Temples and Visions

I was looking down at my feet when complete silence filled the Hall. I looked up to see if the crowd was waiting for something. When I looked up, I was very confused, the crowd was still cheering but I couldn't hear anything. It was just an eerie silence.

My hearing started to come back, I could hear screams of excitement again. No, those weren't screams of excitement, but screams of terror. I looked around to see what was happening but everyone was still smiling, clapping, and cheering. Now, I was really confused. I heard explosions now, and sounds of a battle, but still the crowd kept on cheering. A few people noticed the confused and panicked look on my face and gave me weird looks. Then quietly at first, I heard a ringing in my ears. It steadily grew louder and louder until it masked all the other sounds, and all I heard was the ringing. It got so loud, I felt like my head was going to explode, I clamped my hands over my ears, it made no difference and more people were noticing my strange behavior. I closed my eyes so their looks wouldn't bother me, the ringing increased. I was just about to cry out in pain, it hurt so much, when it stopped. There was no sound at all, I opened my eyes and saw the horrific scene in front of me.

The Hall was deserted and in ruins. Part of the ceiling had fallen in, and the banners on the walls were in flames. There seemed to be an air of sorrow and loss about the place, as if something terrible had happened, and it had nothing to do with the city's destruction.

A man walked in the ruined Hall. It was the robed man from my previous visions. From across the Hall I could see his red eyes glowing, and he must have been smiling wickedly because I could see his teeth glinting in the fire light.

He then spoke to me in a voice anyone would fear if they heard it. It was the voice in the wind you heard while walking alone at night. It was the voice that made little children scared of the dark. It was the voice in everyone's nightmares. It was the voice of Darkness. "I am coming," he said menacingly. "I am coming," he repeated venomously. Then he began to laugh the coldest laugh I have ever heard. It chilled my blood; the warmth of the nearby fires was gone. My limbs went numb, and I collapsed onto my back. Suddenly, the man was standing over me looking down at me as if I were a thorn bush blocking his path. "I am coming - for you!" he shouted.

I was back in the undamaged Hall, but no one was cheering. I realized I was on my back and the concerned faces of my friends were above me.

"Hyriu!" someone shouted, "Hyriu, are you alright?" It was Lina.

"Yeah," I said weakly, "Yeah, I'm alright."

She helped me up, "Are you sure?" she asked, and as she was helping me up, her hand touched the exposed skin on my arm, she gasped, "Hyriu, you are freezing."

Everyone around me all put his or her hands on my forehead. When they felt how cold I was, they drew their hands back quickly. Yugoda came over to me and swirled some hot water around my head. That really helped. I got to my feet with Lina and Yugoda's help.

"See, nothing to worry about," I heard Chief Arnook telling the crowd. "He's just overwhelmed is all. And can you blame him?" He stared to chuckle to try to calm them all down, and a few people joined in his chuckle. "Well now I bid you all a good afternoon. I really must get going if these children are to enjoy their gift properly."

With that, the crowd started to disperse. I saw Hana close to the stage, a concerned look on her face, but her eyes were still full of suspicion. I also noticed she had put on a long dark blue coat, which I thought was odd since it wasn't too cold out. I waved and smiled at her to show I was alright; she waved back and left the Hall with the crowd. We went into the back rooms of the Hall. I saw the whole Royal Court, my friends and Wei; they were all giving me concerned looks.