The Spark And The Flame

History, Repeated

It quickly became apparent the trek through the forest would be a difficult one. The surrounding forests were densely wooded, and as of late, in just as many other areas in the land, there was a problem with sporadic and uncharacteristic weather. Going around the forest wasn't an option. His destination, a rocky outcropping deep in the woods, was on a small plateau around the the middle of the forest, perfect for a golem.

Theran saw a sprite following a fire lizard, "hmm, thats odd, this part of the forest is quite damp" he mused to himself. He pulled out the encyclopedia, and immediately upon opening it, she said "Fire lizards, eh, I always liked the way they steam in the rain. Aw, how cute, that ones got a sprite following him, or is it a her, I cant't tell you without a closer examination, or what type of sprite that is. Oh no, it could be a fire-blood sprite crossbreed, you gotta go save the lizard! The sprite might eat him! Can we keep the lizard! Lets name him blaze! Can you put blaze in the satchel with me? It gets cold in there"

"Woah, calm down there, the lizard is safe, I can tell what animals have a connection with fire due to my connection with Torak, that sprite can't touch him without bursting into flames."

"Oh, good, I was worried for a second."

"I could tell. Anyway why is there a fire lizard in the middle of the 'rain part' of the forest "

"Well, as you know, fire lizards, and their counterpart, ash lizards, are born in extreme heat. Chances are there was a fire somewhere in the forest that was put out by a particularly nasty storm."

"Good, this might not take as long as I thought" Theran said, putting the book away. His destination would no doubt be surrounded by the worst creatures in the forest, but that wasn't his worry, it was the plants that bothered him. The forests in this province had plants that could make travelers "disappear", only the main road was safe. Theran began his journey, starting mostly uneventful. Every once in awhile coming across a woodland creature, it reminded him of the war. Bitter nostalgia gripped him for most of the first day. Yet, somehow he missed it, the hunt, leading his squad for the ladder half of the his time of the war. Only two from his original team made it that far, the teams prophet, a child of Ferrinal, Dolor. Always said he was gonna settle down and have a child, its a wonder if he ever went through with it, the war never really ended for him.

"Fear, if rightly earned could be more than just a hindrance. It could be a weapon, or a warning." He muttered to himself, echoing one of  his mothers sayings from before he was shipped of to the war. If his mother only new the things he did in the war, he didn't fear a night in a forest, no ordinary beast fazes him any more. Nightfall passed, he hunkered down next to a tree, and waited. He could feel it in his bones, rain would curse his dreams. And as the sky started to release its many tears, he slept, steam forming around him.

Theran woke at dawn, the forest around him was damp. The green of the forest was vibrate and rich, birds were singing to one another. If his daughter was here it would be the perfect morning, he hadn't a moment to mourn. Dwelling on it made it hurt more, his life's only meaning was be protect his daughter, but that was taken. Replaced with the drive to make sure she had a world to grow up in. He was still groggy, having fallen into a deeper sleep than he intended. He walked over to a near bush with extremely large bowl shaped leaves and splashed water into his face. he looked into the water and noticed something. His eyes, they changed, no longer were they normal. The pupils were gone, instead a constant, solid orange. Continually wavering on the edge, like a fire, seeming to almost glow.

"Huh" Theran said nonchalantly, looking closely at his eye, assuming that it was from becoming a champion. Realizing he didn't know what being a champion entailed. He had no idea what about his ability had changed, the changes in the abilities aren't predetermined. It could be anything, he could have the ability to destroy cities, or maybe just absorb heat.

Best not to ponder until its important. Theran thought to himself, and he once again headed onward. About midday he had reached the burnt area of the forest, having been walking at a faster pace for most of the day. Theran noticed a fire lizard and an ash lizard fighting, and getting nowhere. With the open skies he no longer needed to walk, it would have been a lot more challenging anyway, having to scale the countless fallen trees. Instead he could resort to the fast method, jumping, in hindsight the concept was a bit comical, but nothing if not effective. He got there much faster, but it was still near dusk, he knew from experience, it was unwise fight an earthen creature in the cover of the darkness. So he waited until there was once again daylight, and continued in the morning, the plateau now extremely close. As he reached the place he realized it was covered in burn marks, many resembling the vines that were once grown onto the stone, having since burnt off. It was difficult to say how high up the stone went, it was definately past what would have been the treeline, but not by much. The stone was a different color at its base than at the top, down here the stone had a hint of red. Flint protruded from it in various manners, its jagged edges daring anything around to test how sharp it was. Theran broke off a large piece that in itself could be used as a blade and fastened it to his blade using some twine he found in his satchel the previous day. Then, after sheathing his blade he stared climbing the stone, starting with a jump. It didn't take long, soon he arrived at the top, seeing nothing but loose stones and boulders. There didn't seem to  be any living thing up there, only the birds flying by. He walked around for a minute, but something caught his eye, or rather a glint caught his eye. He walked over to examine it, and when he picked it up he immediately realized what it was.

"Oh no" he said, ducking a moment later. The massive stone only barely missing him as it flew over his head. He started running to the center of the plateau, as a mass of stone started coming together, swarming around a previously motionless chunk of stone ruffly the size of a barn. Upon noticing it he stared towards the mass in a B-line, that has to be were the obsidian core was. He had to get there before more stone encompassed it and made a layer too thick to break. However he wasn't fast enough, and more stone fully encompassed it. Then once the entire thing was formed into a humanoid shape, the chunks didn't quite melt, but it started to shift, and became completely smooth. From the completely smooth surface emerged what seemed like armour. The shoulders adopted sharp edges, along with its chest, and from the head, and a face with a stony expression.

Gods above, its a paladin elemental! Theran thought in horror. He looked into the blank flint eyes of his enemy, this was going to be a long day.