Fire Scarred *Un-Edited Version*

Chapter Sixteen

"It's called the Hourglass Rise. It's supposedly where the first nature spirit was born. It's also said that if a non nature spirit goes there, they'll imediately be engulfed in flames and shall perish."

"That's nice," I muttered.

We'd been walking through the dark forest for what had felt like hours. I had begun to wonder if we were lost, then proceded to ask Leo multiple times if we were, until finally he explained to me where we were going. His hand had long ago been removed from mine, but the warm tingles remained like the memories of yesterday-- fresh and new, but would soon fade in time. The way he moved fascinated me. His confident posture, quick reflexes, the way he bit his bottem lip when he was nervous. How had I not noticed that before? I wanted to know what he was thinking every single second, and know what he was feeling whenever he'd look at me. I wanted to be able to feel his heart beat, and know he was alive; I wanted to listen to the small in takes of breath he took to know for sure he was breathing. It was an odd thing, these feelings that I had. I didn't understand them, but I took them, and I focused on ignoring them.

Leo let out a breath and turned to face me. "We're here." He spread his arms out to his sides, then turned to let me by.

The land before me was clothed in emerald green contrasting with the saphire rising sun. The field was dotted with an array of fallen leaves and random wild flowers that swayed softly in the wind. Large oaks guarded the land, magnificant in the dawning light. Leo's hand was in mine again as he lead me to a large granite stone. We climbed to the top where we could look out to the low land below. The over hang gave the perfect view of the sun, the sky, the fading stars; the flowers, the trees, the open plains that rest in the drop off below. My heart picked up to all new levels as I took in everything. Sparks shivered through my limbs as the magic around me raced through my veins. Everything seemed to radiate with an intense kind of magic I couldn't yet claim. The world around me shimmered like it was in a never ending summer rain. My fingers instintively ran across the surface of the stone's beautiful crystals that glittered like fallen stars. I was in awe of this massive expanse of beauty and nature. My voice was trapped in my throat, and as I looked to Leo to express everything that this place was, my mouth could only hang open totally devoid of words.

"It's stunning," I finally gasped out.

"It's an illusion," Leo's voice was laced in the same kind of amazement mine was as he told me this, but only slightly more composed.

I tilted my head to the side in confussion. "It is?"

His hand tightened on mine and pulled me to his side where he sat on the ground. "There once was a man named Zephri. He was the human ruler over a city filled with wizards, witches, and warlocks. He had some powerful allies at his side that helped him keep the power struggle of the humans versus supernaturals at bay. After years of fighting between the human and nonhuman citizens, Zephri had one of his warlock allies make a barrier around the city, and claimed no one could leave until everyone lived at peace with each other. This new law of his worked for nearly a decade, until a dark clan of supernaturals deemed they'd had enough. One night, they snuck into Zephri's home and kidnapped him, and took him to--"

"Hourglass Rise?"

"It was called something rather different then, but yes. They took him to Ashwoald Cemetary, where they would proceded to try to inflict as much pain as he did on them to him. The six supernaturals each took the power of a nature element to use as their weapon. At midnight, they fired their power onto him. The impact of their storm hit the earth at exactly twelve o' one, causing the giant explosion that killed the clan. Hours and days ticked by, and even though the bodies of the supernaturals were found, no one could locate Zephri. After a year, the city gave up hope and quit searching. Years passed until one day a chain of explasions began again. For each person burried in Ashwoald Cemetary, a loud pop rang out. The city shook, the land gave out, and everything was lost, only for one person to survive. From the center of the Ashwoald Cemetary rose a long thought dead man, only he wasn't a man at all. When the explosions sounded, and the power of nature was shot into Zephri, his human body couldn't take it. While he was thought dead, his body sank into the earth where it absorbed the land's power for years. On his final days, the left over life from the dead was sucked into him. When that wasn't enough, the lives of the living were taken into him. Needless to say, when he found himself the only one left, he went a little crazy. After aquiring a wife and a few kids, he began to return to normal. But, when he was called to save his first soul, and he succeded, he went off the deep end, and may have commited suiside."