The Spark And The Flame

The Cost Is Great Pain

Dolor got to his feet, tears still wet in his eyes. He approached Theran with his arms loosely hanging at his sides, his eyes were darting rapidly back and forth like he was trying to follow a fleeting detail. All the while they were glowing a bright white, but not solid, as Theran's are, instead, the pupils were white and the irises slightly grayer. When he had drawn near to Theran his eyes had faded again and he seemed to be back to the present, but his troubled expression was somehow worsened.

"By the gods... I'm sorry... Theran... your daughter lost her father for no reason..." Dolor said, his voice trailing off, his gaze was distant as he replayed the situation he saw in his mind again and again.

"What do you mean?" Theran asked, a hint of desperation in his voice.

"You fail, in every foreseeable future you die... countless times. You try to take on 'The Empty Ones' but you lack the power, and they kill you, then they brought you back so you can die again, it never ends, even when this world is destroyed, years from now, when they devour it. Until the very moment the empty ones cease to exist as well, you will suffer."

A silence hung in the air for what seemed like an eternity, Theran and Dolor both lost in thought, memory, and sorrow. Theran, stricken with an intense look of grief asked, "Is there a chance you are wrong?"

"No, but I might be able to change that," He said, seeming to be his old self again, his woes pushed down if only for a moment.

"What do I need to do?"

"Just stand there and brace yourself, I have no idea whats going to happen, it might even hurt, if your lucky."

"Why would that mean I'm lucky?"

"Because that means it worked."

"Your not giving me much to go on here, talk to me."

"That's not important... fine. I lost my family... ten years ago, and I saw it coming. The night before, I had dream't it and I didn't want to believe it, my denial left me without a family, even though I had a chance to change it if I had just acknowledged it, but regardless, it happened. My god, Ferrinal had seen me in my grief, and made me his champion. However, being a champion of fate gifts far to much power, thus I had only been permitted ten years of service, and when it ended, all the grief came back. But, thanks to my service, I was given one last use of the power. And here we are. With luck, I can use it to remove you from this point in time onward."

"Alright, that's a pretty decent explanation, but what does that entail exactly?"

"Well, I don't know, I've never even considered it an option before now, but I'm not sure there are many other options to give you a chance. But if I had to assume what would happen, my guess is that you would most likely be invisible to the gods and anything else when looking through time, except... if someone were to look at people you interact with, at which point... I think you would be visible, oh, and it might mean you will never age, who knows," Dolor said wonderingly.

"If you haven't done it before, how do you know its going to hurt?"

"I guessed, I mean seriously, I am about to rip you out of time and thus shield you from the eyes of the gods, even if the act doesn't hurt, the result will."

"Your not making this any more pleasant of an experience, just get it over with."

"Good on all fronts? Okay, here we go." He said, taking a few steps away, getting better footing and putting his hands forward. His eyes once again flaring a bright white light, except, it flickered slightly as he winced. Then the light left his eyes, departing from his being and approaching Theran, stopping a foot in front of him and drifting to the floor, were the orbs of pure white light created a circle around him. Then parts of it started to drift and grow upwards. Theran gazed with an inquisitive yet worried expression, until the moment it started to take affect.

Were he suddenly yelled out in pain, bellowing a horrible death rattle. His eyes were wide, his pupils dilated, and his fists clenched. Blood dripped from his nails which were dug into his palms.But it was only clear for a moment, because his form started to flicker, and stutter. What could only be described as a mirage of himself appeared on either side of him. They slightly blurred into each other, details sporadically became unclear or extremely focused, between the three forms there were quick details, scratches, some on his face, his arms, his torso, and then blurred away. Blood covered his face with his cloths torn, and then it blurred away and returned to normal. On his arm, armour was visible, guarding from finger to shoulder, and then it blurred away. All the while the pain persisted, and intensified, as it continued one detail seemed to refuse to form, it flicked several times before becoming clear. His arm was gone, instead, all that remained was torn flesh and broken bone, and just as suddenly as it had been severed, his arm returned. It continued, and his screams echoed on, when suddenly a massive hole opened in his chest, through it the building behind him was visible. Yet before it blurred away, the hole started glowing a brilliant orange light, and sparked into fire. It swirled around in his torso, before quickly bursting outward and engulfing him. The heat was intense, and the crackling of the flames was deafening, drowning out Theran's screams, sparks flew in all directions. It spun around him and flared, all the while he was not visible, and his voice was not heard. And after a moment, the fire seemed to recede, and when it was gone, Theran was on the ground, was trying to hold himself up, his knuckles digging into the dirt. Dolor immediately ran to his friend and started to help him up. Getting up seemed to be a challenge for Theran at first, but his struggle lessened as he got to one foot. When at least he got to his feet he stood tall, but unsteadily. His arm over Dolor to keep himself up. At least he seemed to have regained his composure and looked more alive than he had previously.

"Is it weird that I'm hungry?" Theran asked.

"A little."