BEEP!BEEP!BEEP! Shawne grumbles as the alarm breaks the quite. Her hand fumbles on the nightstand next to the bed, hitting the snooze she rolls back over, "Five...just five more minutes." she mumbles as she slips back into sleep.

*Shawne...Shawne...*

"Whose there? I can't see its so dark.."

*Shawne time grows short you must come to Tarranu, the circle must be formed.*

"Circle? What circle? What are you talking about? Why is it so dark?" fear began to creep into the edges of her voice.

*Hurry Shawne he knows who you are now! I am sorry for leading him to you but we could wait no longer. The circle. The circle must be formed*

The fear and desperation in the mysterious voice brought tears to Shawne's eyes "Please I don't understand" she could feel the presence begin to fade, "Don't go...please I want to help but you have to tell me how" the presence faded and was replaced by another, this presence was darker, she could feel the hate flow from it as it washed her in fear. Now for the first time she could see, glowing red eyes looked at her seeming to the core of her very soul. She felt it move as if it were getting closer. Panic gripped her as she looked for a way out, she could feel it getting closer and closer. She had to WAKE UP! WAKE UP!

BEEP!BEEP!BEEP! She sat bolt up right in bed sweat glistening on her forehead, "Was that just a dream? It felt so real...what is the circle?" she says aloud to herself. She looks over at the clock and all thoughts of the dream were put from her mind as she realized she was late. "Crap! Why must I be late on the day we take our final!?” she swore to herself as she lurched from the bed and began to get ready for class.

The roar of her motorcycle came to life as Shawne dropped the small, yet quick Aprilia RS 125into gear, the front wheel popping up a bit as Shawne raced through the streets toward her the university where she attended. She was in the process of getting a Masters in writing, despite her mother's wishes of just getting a degree in something that could be more helpful to a young woman who expected to become independent and live on her own. Shawne hated going against her mother, but she felt the need, the drive to write.

Leaning hard to the right she whipped the bike around a corner as she drove at a somewhat reckless pace as she rushed to get to class on time. The talent and flare she had for writing stemmed from the random dreams and images that she had randomly throughout her childhood. This amazing world where she could do anything she wanted and people revered her almost as if she was a god. HONK!! “Fuck!” screeching a bit as she hit the brakes and jerked the bike out of the way of a box truck that had seeming to come out of no where in front of her. Looking over her shoulder at the driver who was now promptly giving her the finger she laughed as she finished her trip to school. The bike was also something that her mother did not approve of, figuring that her daughter would kill herself on it. Still she had paid for it herself so there was little the worrisome mother could do other then buy her the leather jacket and helmet in hopes of helping to protect her one and only child.

Screeching to a halt this time outside of the building where her class was held she killed the engine and looked the front to prevent theft as she climbed off and ran into the building, helmet and all still on her head. Climbing the stairs two at a time and ignoring the odd looks of those she passed Shawne ran on till she reached the fourth floor where she then had a good sprint down the hall to the last classroom on the right. The door was just closing as she stepped her foot inside, the professor opening the door and leveling a disapproving gaze at Shawne “So happy you decided to grace us with your presence Ms. Jones.” the hag of a woman spat from her crooked mouth as Shawne entered the room.

Taking the begrudgingly offered final from her professor Shawne climbed the steps of the small amphitheater that housed her Advanced Sociology class, nudging a few people as she went up as they gave her approving smiles and grins with her ability to **** the old hag of their professor off with seeming no effort at all. Setting the test down she test she removed her book bag followed by the black helmet on her head. Shaking out her short hair, helping it to fall back into place about her face as her grey eyes gazed down at the professor who was standing there staring up at her. Hand on her hip and her foot tapping those cheap and ugly heels, “Anytime now Ms. Jones.” she spoke with disdain and mild hate.

Shawne smirked and made it a point to put her helmet upon the desk with enough force to make a good bit of sound, causing a few who were dozing off in their seats to jump, and a few others to chuckle as the professor just glared all the harder as Shawne took her seat. “You have two hours to complete the test as well as complete the two page essay on the back. Begin.” she snapped out to them amongst several groans of disapproval as most of them were not expecting the essay. Taking out a pencil and pen Shawne flipped open the test booklet and tried to focus as she read the first question, though in the back of her mind she kept thinking about the 'Circle' and what it could mean.
************************************************** *******
Jasmine swore under her breath as she was thrown back from her seeing pool by that bastard, “Why must he always interfere with my plans?!” she practically snarled in anger as she slammed her fists on to either side of the pool as she hunched over it in barely controlled rage. Her raven locks falling forward like a dark thick silken curtain as she stood there a moment taking deep ragged breaths as she calmed herself. After a moment or two she sighed and stood, her caramel eyes softening again as her full lips turned up into a smile and she smoothed the robes of her silken gown, “No time to be wasting on him, the message has been sent now I must work at providing them a means to come to me.” her smiling growing more devious as she began to chant softly and wave her arms over the pool before her; it was time to bring them all home.

_________________

Nothingness, that was all, no feeling, no life, no sounds, no smells, nothing. Next came falling, then heat, pain, horror, grotesque faces with eyes that chill the blood. More heat and pain, then came loneliness, isolation. Everything was wrong everything was not as it should be. Everything changed again, a room, concrete walls and black granite floors with red veins. It was cold, bitterly cold, dark claws came up out of the ground groping in the air. Grabbing the granite and throwing it outwards the red veins turned to fire. A figure emerged out of the ground, his very presence sent ice down ones back, his hands, or what should have been hands scraped the walls leaving deep gouges in the concrete. Laughter, cruel malevolent laughter could be heard, the creature threw back his hood and his dark eyes from hell itself scanned the room, looking for something..... or someone. There was no one there..... or was there, those eyes filled with evil landed on the right corner of the room, the clawed had was raised seeking to grab something.

Erik sat straight up in bed, breathing hard and looking around frantically! He had been in that room, not physically but like his spirit was there. Chills laced up and down his spine causing goosebumps to form. Laing back down Erik stared at the ceiling. He didn't want to sleep, no he didn't want to dream again. It didn't matter that a long day of classes was in front of him, he wouldn't sleep. Getting out of bed and walking down stairs Erik turned on the lights, they flickered like lightning before finally coming on. Erik winced at the harsh white light came to their full brightness.

Erik lived alone in a small two bedroom house, it had been his great grandfathers and no one cared to live in it so he took it. It was close to school and he didn't have to worry about room and board. Utilities were cheap enough. It was an old run down place but the year before Erik got here he invested a lot of money into the place and now it was all upgraded and looking nice. Small but very well put together.

Erik walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge, looking up and down through the shelves, he couldn't find anything, giving up he closed the door before the alarm went off. He glanced at the oven the time said 3:30, he had four hours before he needed to be at class. Stretching his arms out he let out a long yawn. He was used to not getting much sleep. He had insomnia and his dreams were way too vivid. Most blamed these problems on the stuff Erik read, saying his mind was always somewhere else. But that wasn't it, no he had been having strange dreams since before he could read. People didn't understand. That was alright though. The quiet railing on him when they found out he actually was going to college and had a nice house that he himself had fixed up. That seemed to make people think he might not be so hopeless after all.

Opening the pantry Erik grabbed some cereal, not bothering to get a bowl he walked to his living room and plopped down on the couch. Grabbing the remote he turned on his TV and DVD player. The movie he was watching the day before started right back up. Erik reached into the box of Trix and grabbed a handful, cupping his hands so nothing fell he grabbed a few at a time. He hated milk with his cereal, the only dairy product he liked was ice cream. He especially hated cheese.

The sun started to climb into the sky, Erik yawned again and got a iced mocha from the fridge. He needed a pick-me-up. Taking three large gulps he downed the drink and headed back upstairs to get ready for the day. He browsed through his wardrobe trying to figure out what to wear, a pair of black jeans with holes at the knees hung in front of him, grabbing the jeans he tossed them on his bed. He wore black 90% of the time. Now it was time to find a shirt, flipping through the items hanging in his closet he finally found a black shirt with silver foil angel wings on the back and a strange circle on the front. Grabbing his days cloths he went into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Turning the water to lukewarm he hopped in. He took coldish showers in the morning to help him wake up. After drying off he turned on his music player and began to blast some upbeat music, another thing he had to do to wake up. Brushing his teeth and getting his hair in order Erik grabbed his black leather book bag and marched down the stairs. Grabbing his car keys Erik opened the front door and unlocked his car. It was a black two door car with leather interior. Erik opened the driver side door and slid in. Tossing his book bag to the passenger seat he inserted the key into the ignition. He loved it when his car came to life and he could feel it vibrate. Before switching it into drive Erik hooked up his Ipod and the music continued. Erik lived to music, he loved it and he had spent a lot of money upgrading his speakers on the car. Smiling he put the car into drive and drove to the University.

Parking toward the front Erik locked the car and walked to his class, Math, his most hated subject, and to boot today was the final exam. Erik slouched some as he walked into the class, his teacher an old curmudgeon stood at his desk looking as if he would like nothing better than to fail the entire class. While most teachers prided themselves on their high success rate Mr. Lank prided himself on his high fail rate. Erik never understood the man and often wondered how he stayed as teacher year after year. Settling into his desk Erik pulled out his pencil and waited for the test, the next two hours were going to be brutal.

Erik walked out of the test feeling exhausted and hoped that he got a passing grade, if he did than he was free and would never have to take math again! Erik walked over to the cafeteria, he had a long wait period before his next test, good thing too, he needed a break after that wringing! Erik sat at a table by himself with a cup of coffee with plenty of cream and even more sugar. He observed all the students, some of the older students in the masters program were coming in from one of their exams. Erik leaned back sipping the coffee preparing himself fro the next test... though his mind often turned to that dream..... it was so vivid and it disturbed him, he had to wonder what it meant. He tried to push it out of his mind cause it was distracting him but he couldn't escape for long the look in those eyes.

_________________

"Listen to the music of the night.... for in it is the melody of life."

~Master to Butler Vilora

Flickering shadows danced across waving branches as the sounds of hooves clattered over gravel. A pair of glowing, yellow eyes drifted in the darkness, then disappeared behind a large tree. Horses kicked up dirt as the squad gathered and torchlight shone in the night.

"Sir, no sign of it anywhere!"

"It can't have gone far! Search until you kill that beast!" the Captain ordered.

"Sir, our best trackers have no leads. It's gone!" The Captain cursed and spit on the ground in disgust.

"The general isn't going to like this. We've been tracking this beast for weeks now. He's going to have our heads!"

"Better he than that monster..." Someone muttered. This sparked quiet chatter among the gathered soldiers until the Captain slammed the end of his pike into the ground.

"I just might take them if you continue this insubordination!" he yelled, pausing for a moment, "Return to camp. We'll catch it another day."

The sounds of hooves traveled into the distance and darkness enveloped the area once more. Heavy footsteps thudded as the yellow eyes reappeared and a sudden flash of flame lit up the rest of the Dragon, standing upright. It raised it's head as it brushed the bark from it's hands, it's claws clicking together quietly. With a huff, it turned and headed towards the nearby lake, tail ablaze with a dancing flame.

A roaring fire danced before him as he sat, staring into the flame. He was tired of being chased like this. He knew they would be back but didn't know when. He just wanted peace and to be left alone. With a sigh, he laid beside the fire and closed his eyes, folding his wings neatly behind him and curled his tail toward him, slowly drifting off to sleep...

This was as close to peace as he could get. The external world fell away, all the people who unjustly hated him were gone, no one left to be afraid of him. No one to judge him by how he looked.

In the darkness, he felt at ease, but he suddenly could sense another. It was odd, to be alone, yet knowing someone was there.

"The Circle must be formed..."

"Who is there?" he called into the darkness.

"The Chosen will arrive..."

"The Chosen?" he asked, "Who?" The voice didn't respond after and his dark, comforting world suddenly began to brighten, being replaced by the flickering fire, and a pair of long leather boots before his face. Panic gripped his heart as his yellow eyes snapped open and he glanced up at the person leaning over him, but calmed when he saw the smiling face and long pointed ears.

"Dreaming again, Drake?" she asked, "This is new."

"Aye." he grunted as he sat up, "And odd dreams they are."

"Care to share them with me?" She asked, taking a seat on a log beside him. Drake stuck his bare hand in the fire, his claws grasping the smoldering logs as he stoked the fire to make it brighter.

"It wasn't much. Something about a Circle to be formed and the Chosen arriving." he said, hearing her gasp he added, "Tara, what is it?" The Elvish woman looked into the fire as well as she spoke.

"That would mean the Dark Lord will rise again." she said, "I'm sure I've told you the story of the Circle."

"That old Legend? I suppose it would be related."

"Our Champions will be arriving?! How exciting!" she swooned, "I wonder what they will be like? What worlds they will come from? How powerful will they be?"

"It was just a dream, Tara. I doubt it was a premonition of whatever is to come." he said, "I'm more worried about the King's men."

"Ah yes, about that." she said, digging in her bag. Her staff lay beside her resting against the log, it's large purple stone softly glowing in the darkness. She produced a parchment and handed it to him.

"A wanted poster? Not really what I asked." he said, huffing in disappointment.

"The King was unavailable." She said, "I'm sorry, love. But the local Adventurer's Guild had this up for their members. The bounty is offered to their members."

"Great. More people to worry about." he said, "I did nothing and they want me dead...." Tarathar stood and went to his side, putting her arms around his thick neck.

"I'm sorry, love. But we either have two options. Leave to another land and hide, or keep running from everything trying to get at you." she said.

"Or, I could fight and give them a reason to want me dead.." he muttered, letting the wanted posted fall into the fire.

"Now is that what you really want to do?" she asked. Drake put his massive arm around her waist and sighed.

"No. I wouldn't hurt anyone. I just want peace." he said. After a long moment of them simply holding each other and staring into the fire, Tarathar turned to sit on his knee and lean against his hard, scaly chest.

"I wonder why you were dreaming of the Circle and the Chosen out of the blue like that?" she wondered aloud, "I don't suppose you're one of them..." Drake's gaze drifted down to her and a chuckle began in his throat quickly leading to the two of them laughing together...

_________________

Osarin stood on the edge of a cliff, the water below roiling against the jagged rocks. The sky a similar order, the clouds almost dancing in the clear blue sky. "Osarin." a voice whispered, Osarin's calm smile faded, the voice echoing softly around him. "Osarin..." He felt eyes on his back, but dared not turn to see the owner. "The circle..." the voice trailed off, he could feel the warmth of the breath on the back of his neck. "It shall be formed. The chosen must be called."

"Who?" Goosebumps erupted on his skin. He turned slowly, sweat forming in beads on his forehead. As he turned, all he caught was a glimpse of glowing eyes, and felt hands on his chest, pushing him back. Before he could catch himself, he was falling. Falling. He felt the wind whipping past his ears, chilling his skin. He landed, with a sudden gasp in his own bed.

"The circle..." Still it echoed in his mind. He was sitting up, gripping the sheets white-knuckled. He breathed hard, his deep green eyes tried desperately to take in the room, but it was so dark.

"Osarin? Osarin... are you alright in there?"

"Yeah dad." his voice cracked as he stood. Leaves crackled beneath his feet. "What time is it?"

"Noon. uhm... is there a reason vines are growing out from under your door?" After a moment, Osarin could hear his step-mother's voice. "You're mother's worried about you." The worry plastered on his face made his age shine through, at nearly seventy, his father was worn and ragged, but his youth still shined in his eyes.

"My mother's in a tree. The woman you married to replace her is worried that I might accidentally destroy her perfect little home she worked so desperately to wreck."

"Osarin!" The vines receded, light filtered in through his window, and from under the door, which opened first chance it got. "I know you miss your mother, but that's no reason to take it out on Heather. She cares for you." His father was tall, and dark, Osarin was reminded, at least daily that his father was quite the catch. It takes quite a bit to earn the love of a dryad, and his father had.

"Sure. Thanks for letting me stay here while I was back in town." Osarin pulled on his loose sky blue shirt, and worn cloth pants. His feet left bare, he made his way from the room. "I'm gonna go see mom."

"Osarin..."



"Mom?" He called through the grove. "Mom, it's me, Osarin."

"Osarin? It's been a while, you've grown so much." Osarin turned, and his mother stood before him, her long red hair framing her perfect, pale skin, and glowing green eyes. Bark grew on bits of her skin, and flowers bloomed in her hair. "you look so like your father." She smiled.

"Don't say that." He didn't like being compared to his father, who had driven his mother away, tried to separate her from nature. "I need your help." He looked past her, staring out into the clearing of oaks.

"Are you alright?" She asked, her voice sobering.

"Yeah, I think, I've just been having really odd dreams lately, I don't want to talk to dad, I assumed it was a dryad thing."

"Dryad's don't dream, sweety." She stared at him worriedly, "What kind of dreams?"

"Well, I'm usually in a clearing, or on a cliff, or near water." He walked to a nearby, overturned tree, sitting down, he cringed slightly, having to recollect his dreams. "In the latest, I heard a voice."

"What did it say?" She sat next to him, her green eyes full of worry for her child.

"I don't remember. uhm...a cycle.. a chosen cycle or something." he shook his head, and ran his hands through his short, dark hair. "I don't remember." he repeated.

She stared at him, the worry fading, replaced by a stark stoicism, "Was it a circle? A circle of chosen?"

"Yeah!" He looked at her, hopeful. "You know what it means?"

"Kind of, I've heard stories about a circle of chosen ones, but I don't know much about it, I can't say I have much of a taste for human lore."

"HA." Osarin scoffed, "I wonder why." He remarked on the lore that dryad's were lusty beings of ill-repute, often only wanting to trick mortals out of money.

"Sorry I can't be of more help."

"It's ok, Mom, I'm just glad to see you again." The topic changed, his mother smiled, her face showed no signs of the last 2 thousand years she had been alive, while Osarin showed signs of maturity at an age most immortal races consider little more than infancy. "I stayed at dad's. He's remarried. She's a ****ing." he laughed in sync with his mother.

"That's horrible, you shouldn't talk about his choices like that." She knew she should lecture him, but didn't honestly care what he said about his father's new wife. "I'm sure he's happy with her."

"After life with a dryad, how could he be?" He remarked on her unearthly grace and beauty. "Oh, I got a job, I'm officially a bard! I work three nights a week at a local tavern back in Soles." His voice showed signs of pride, he had worked at being a singer for a long time, although many saw him as unnatural, or his competitors saw his heritage as an unnatural advantage. His voice was haunting, a trait he inherited from his mother.

_________________

Deep in the bowels of an old parking garage distant roars and cheers of a crowd echoed throughout the different levels. Towards the lower levels the roar of the crowd grew louder and louder. At the lowest level the cheers were near deafening. A large crowd gathered around an equally large caged arena. Two heavily built men grappling and punching, kicking and kneeing, slamming and throwing each other around like ragdolls. The slightly larger of the two stood from a surprise takedown. The second fighter rushed in for another takedown but caught a knee straight to the face, followed by a solid left hook knocking him out cold. The bell rang and the ref rushed in to announce the victor.

“Jeff ‘SteamRoller’ Banks still holds his title. Someone get in here and mop this poor sucker up!” The ref pointed down to the unconscious fighter. A couple of bouncers ran in and dragged him out of the ring. As they reached the end of the crowd, an all black custom sport bike pulled up and the rider looked on as the bouncers hauled away the loser. Flicking the kickstand down and settling the bike, the rider swung his leg around and approached the small betting table. The cashier, busy counting the earnings of the last fight slowly looked up as the rider stood over the table, blocking the light.

“Ah, Lucian. Come to collect?” the small man pushed up his thin glasses and sat back in his chair.

“Yup. You know the drill. Give me half the earnings from tonight so I can deliver them to McCalister” Lucian’s voice was deep and intimidating as usual. It was his usual run tonight. He went around to all the underground fighting spots to collect for a man who funded these unsavory events. Lucian was the only man McCalister ever trusted with this sort of task and tonight was to be no different.

The cashier reached under the table and pulled out a large jar full to the brim with cash. After a couple minutes of counting it he slid half the stack over to Lucian.

“That’s ten g’s right there. Most we’ve made all month actually. But there ya’ go, that’s it.” Lucian looked over the cash carefully then placed it into an envelope, then into the inside of his jacket pocket. He began walking back towards his bike until a voice over the loudspeaker stopped him.

“Hey chicken ****! I heard you haven’t fought in a long time. Whaddaya say, want a shot at my title?” Jeff, the large fighter from the previous fight, stood at the entrance of the caged ring holding the ref’s microphone. Lucian turned and dipped his sunglasses down his nose, his deep blue eyes piercing over the top rim. The crowd looked on in silence. It was true though, it had been almost a year since Lucian participated in any of the fights he ran earnings for. But tonight he was feeling froggy.

Lucian calmly made his way through the crowd and stepped up into the ring. The crowd still in dead silence. Before the bell even rang, Jeff lunged forward with a fast right hook, but it wasn’t fast enough. Lucian had already ducked underneath it and positioned himself behind him. The crowd suddenly jumped up with excitement and the cheers were deafening. The ref ran over and closed the ring entrance on his way out. Lucian took this time to remove his glasses and put them in the other inside pocket of his jacket.

Jeff shot forward with another swing and a miss, followed by another, and another. His grunts of frustration brought a smile to Lucian’s face.

“This is where I put you down and make you look like a ****ing€ Lucian let his arms hang down loosely at his sides and took a couple steps back, enticing his opponent to approach with another attack, and he did. A failed left hook followed by a lazy straight kick, then as he stepped forward with one final right straight jab, Lucian sprung into action grabbing the inside of Jeff’s wrist with his left hand and drove his elbow straight up underneath his chin. The impact was so hard and loud, it shattered Jeff’s teeth. All at the once the entire crowd groaned and cringed at the sickening sound, but Lucian was far from finished and quickly he pulled down on the man’s shoulder and launched a knee straight into the center of Jeff's torso. The impact caused the him to spit out a large sum of blood and teeth across the ring. Lucian slowly lowered his leg and Jeff sank to his knees, bloodied and beaten in two moves. Lucian held him up steady by his throat and just looked at him. Suddenly Lucian’s vision started to blur and go double. He looked back at the fighter’s face and it slowly began to focus but he wasn’t looking at a man. A blurry visage of a woman appeared on the throat Lucian held.

“Chosen…Lucian the chosen must gather…the circle must be complete…the circle Lucian…” Lucian closed his eyes and shook his head. After opening them he saw that he still held the defeated fighter in his hand. Almost as if the strange vision had never appeared, Lucian tightened his grip then stepped to the side with his right hand reaching back. With a big step forward Lucian unleashed the most vicious punch witnessed in this underground scene. The collision of Lucian’s fist smashing through the side of Jeff's face was loud and truly horrifying. But to Lucian, it was just another victory he didn’t care about. Wasting no time he made his way out of the ring and back to the betting table.

“I’ll take my money now” he spoke softly but there was something in his voice that struck terror in the cashier, who nervously handed him his winnings.

“Th..th..tha…that’s three g’s man” his hand shook almost uncontrollably as his brought his hand back under the table.

“Preciate it” Lucian turned and made his way to his bike. The engine revved and he took off. The pillars of the garage went wizzing by and Lucian’s mind wandered. The sound of the engine faded and all he could hear in his head was the strange female’s voice echoing.

“The Chosen…” Lucian shook it off again and continued his route to McCalister.

_________________
"Told me to prove to them what I was worth
We’ll teach you to move without mercy and give you the tools to go after the causers of hurt
You'll become death. You will take breath
This is for everything you’ve ever loved
Use all the pain that you’ve felt in your life as the currency go out and trade it for blood
You are not you. You are now us
We are the only ones that you can trust
You’ll become fear. They’ll become dust
Before this moment you didn't mean much
You are the smoldering vessel of punishment born to do nothing but justify us"

Shawne had a smirk on her face as she passed her professor, knowing that she had aced the test which would of course **** off her professor but she truly did not care. Bookbag and helmet slung over each shoulder she navigated her way toward the cafeteria, in search of food and some company. The food part was somewhat easy to obtain, a bit of jostling in line, some readjusting of the stuff she was carrying and Shawne emerged holding a tray with a slice of pizza and a coke. Now with the food issue taken care of it was time to get some company. Scanning the sparsely filled room her eyes landed on a lone figure who was quietly sipping some coffee and looking he had about as good a start to the day as she had. Going to the table she set her tray down and then her bag and helmet.

“So Erik….let me guess your Math exam went about as good as my Sociology exam?” her lips forming a casual smile for her friend while she cracked open her can of coke. How she and Erik became friends was not really something she was sure about? There was the age difference between them and the fact that there was in different classes, but still they had managed to somehow gravitate to one another.

Setting her can down after taking a slow sip, she sighed “I have a couple of hours to kill before my next class want to head over to the mall or something? Clear our heads for a bit?” she offered to him before going about eating her, as she feared, cardboard tasting pizza. “Getting something decent to eat” she added with a look of disgust while pushing her tray from her and focusing only on the coke now.


Power pulsed and radiated about Jasmine, her lips moving though only a low murmuring could be made out as she stared in a fixated gaze into the boiling cauldron before her. The murmuring was gradually building in pace and power, the spell she was working with building and building. The Chosen needed to come to her world, but there was little time for her to wait for them to devise a way of doing it themselves so she was going to have to help them along.

_________________

Erik smiled warmly as Shawne sat down at the table. Erik had always been able to get along and talk with people older than himself, all things considered he was pretty mature for his age. He normally didn't like hanging out with older people cause they tended to be stuck up and always put him down cause he was young. But Shawne was cool, she may have been getting a masters but she wasn't stuck up like the people getting a masters. So somehow the two of them had gotten along. It was odd but fun.

Erik almost laughed at the look on Shawne's face as she ate the pizza, "How many times do I have to warn you not to get their pizza! It is always bad, we should find a new cook..... or we should just raise more money and order take out." Erik grinned, "Well Math sucked as usual, the prof was his normal cranky self and if he had his way I would fail. I am not too worried though, I think I passed." Erik rolled his eyes, he hated math more than anything else, he stunk at it and he made no attempt to hide it. He just wanted to be done with it.

"The mall sounds good to me. I am sure I could find some good food there, I also need a book and a new pair of pants." Erik tapped the table, "So if you don't mind doing those few things with me I say we should go. Do you want to take my car?" Erik flashed a mischievous smile, last time Shawne had driven with Erik they had almost gotten in big trouble with the cops.... Erik wasn't a bad kid or anything he just liked speed and driving fast down an open highway with very loud upbeat music..... the cops seemed to think otherwise though.

_________________

"Listen to the music of the night.... for in it is the melody of life."

~Master to Butler Vilora

Shawne could only roll her eyes at his mention of the pizza, yes it was something that he told her time and time again but still she ignore him, mostly it was the fact that pizza was easy and usually something that she could eat on the go. Which is usually what she was doing as she was often off zipping about campus to turn in this assignment or that and pizza was the one thing she had learned to eat while on her bike; though her mother of course has no idea about that.

She shrugged at his comment about his math test, “Well look at it this way you have what…one more semester of it then you are done for good?” she stated more then asked as she began to gather her things up in preparation to leave while he went on about things he wanted to get at the mall. The idea of a new book sounded good to her, not to mention a new game for her Playstation three, not that she had finished any of the ones she currently had but then again they were mostly fighting games or first person shooters. With those she spent most of her time playing online smack talking with the best of them as she hunted down her online prey and eliminated them with no prejudice. It was while she was musing about this that he slipped in his comment about him driving that had her snapping to attention and waving her hands about as a look of mock terror took a hold of her face.

“Oh no! Not again! Either you can ride with me on my bike or I can follow you? But I am not under any circumstances getting back in that death trap you call a car and allow you to take on a ride that came be easily compared to ‘Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride’. Thank you but no thank you” she smirked at him as she stood to clean away her tray and the wasted pizza, “Come on. We can figure out the travel arrangements as we walk”

For some reason the urge to walk or more to the point just get moving was strong for Shawne, it feeling almost as if someone or something was tugging her along. Making her feel unrest when seated, like there was something out there calling to her, trying to get her to come to it; she would trump it all up to the dream she experienced last night and nothing more. Why should she think it anymore than that?

Finally! The spell was done and she had it in place! All that was needed now was for the chosen to stumble across it and then they would be brought here to Taranu. Yes, it was all going perfectly to plan and that bastard had so far been unable to stop her. Soon the prophecy will be fulfilled and the circle would be completed and the fight for life as they know it would begin.

_________________

Drake didn't dream after that. They both fell asleep beside the fire together, and the Elvish woman breathed softly against his scaly chest. Drake woke with a start hearing an odd sound. He laid there for a moment, listening to it, but then Tarathar woke beside him and was aware of it as well.

"What is it?" she asked, "Some beast?"

Drake closed his eyes and strained his ears. It was like a loud buzzing noise that varied in pitch at different intervals, and another sound like a beasts growl, varying in pitch like the buzzing. The odd thing was that the sound seemed to be echoing off of something flat through a narrow space, like a stone tunnel.

Now on his feet, Drake faced the woods from where the sound was coming from, trying to find the point from which the monster would emerge, but still the sound seemed to be coming from the whole forest, until a bright flash blinded him for a moment, then three small lights came bouncing through the trees.

Drake dodged to the right as one light flew past him, and Tara went left as the bigger one barely missed her. Drake turned to watch the smaller one head towards the lake, then fly off the bank into the water, trailing a red light behind it. Someone was riding whatever it was and Drake saw them land further away from their ride in the lake with a loud splash, and the other bigger machine skidded through the trees and down a ravine nearby.

The two stood surprised for a moment, then it was Tarathar who spoke first to get them moving.

"You go after the smaller one, I'll see to this one." she said pointing to the path that was cleared by the large machine.

Drake flapped his wings and flew out to where the person landed, then hovered over the water for a moment to peer into the darkened water below. Then he let himself drop into the cold water, diving down to see the silhouette of someone desperately trying to reach the surface. Drake swam down and grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to the surface, not far above. Once above the surface, Drake held her firmly so she couldn't struggle and brought her to shore, helping her to the fire. It was there that the dim light from the fire lit up the oddest helm he had ever seen. A smooth, onyx helm that seemed to be made of glass, yet hid the face of the wearer. It was obvious from her clothes and form that she was female, but Drake couldn't tell what age she was without looking at her face. Her clothes were something he hadn't seen before either. She sat before the fire coughing and trying to catch her breath, but Drake knelt on one knee to bring his towering form a little closer to her to scrutinize her more closely, which seemed to go unnoticed to the woman.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

----------------------------

Tara ran after the large machine, bounding over broken logs and trenches. A particular large log crossed her path but didn't make her slow down. Jumping from a large rock, she sailed through the air, and her body was suddenly surrounded by a flash of light, then a large black panther landed on the log, it's sharp claws digging in to pull it up and over. Using her agility, Tarathar continued on down the small hill towards the machine in the ravine, bounding from rock to rock.

When she neared the machine, it was still running but the man inside was groaning in pain. Before she came into his field of view, she changed back into her normal form and called to him.

"Hey! Are you injured?" she asked, coming to a stop beside the side door. The metal now dented and bent, would not come free, so Tara took on the form of her Bear spirit, then dug her claws into the door to rip it open. A moment later, she had the man out of the machine and on the bank where she changed back once more to inspect for injuries, her healing magic making her hands glow a soft, green hue.

_________________

Osarin made his way slowly back to the town, his mother hadn't helped him as much as he hoped she would have. He was lost in his head, maybe he had inherited enough Dryad to be intimately in touch with the earth, but not enough to be void of dreams. He sighed, and stared at the canopy of trees, watching as it thinned as he neared the town. It took twenty minutes of walking under the clear blue sky before the clack of his shoes on pavement alerted him that he was in town. He looked down, to see who all was out and about. Very few people buzzed around, it was a small town, very homey. Osarin wasn't fond of it.

Bored, and a little restless, Osarin just ignored the town, and kept walking. Eventually he would find something interesting, or get lost, whichever came first would be his escape. The sun beat down on his dark skin, warming him. The Circle could wait to be unraveled, today was a beautiful day, and he was bound and determined to enjoy it. A soft smile graced his lips as the sun danced in his deep green eyes. It wasn't long before he was again lost in his own head.

Osarin sat at the top of a mountainous cliff, a river drifting lazily below. So familiar. He took a deep breath, and the soft scream of an arrow passed nearby. He stood, and turned from the river to face the trees. There, the dark hunter stood. Statuesque, he faded into the forest. Osarin smiled playfully, and began the chase. The dark skinned hunter gave chase, running swiftly through the trees, his footfalls little more than than the sound of the leaves shuffling under his feet. Osarin felt clumsy in his run, cracking twigs, tripping on roots, ducking branches. Soon, Osarin paused, there was a clearing, and he had a plan. With a soft grunt, he faded away into a tree. The dark skinned hunter neared the clearing, looking for his predator. Osarin watched as he neared his tree. Once close enough Osarin fell face first, his foot stuck on a small jutting rock.With a hard thud, he hit the ground, his arms shielding his face. With a sigh of disdain, he rolled over. The sky was still gorgeous and clear, the air smelled of rain though.

As he sat up, he heard feet behind him, turning to see who it was, he found a knife at his throat. Lovely. "You're coming with us. Ma'am." One man said. While not ugly, his missing teeth and scraggly, patchy beard detracted heavily from his overall attractiveness.

"Whatever." Osarin agreed. At least this would lead to interest.


It wasn't long before Osarin, hands bound behind his back, found himself entering a larger town, he recognized it, but had never seen it from the slavers entrance. "Hmmm." He smiled, curiously.

"You're gonna make someone very happy." The smaller, thinner, rattier man stated smugly. Osarin had no idea how he was getting out of this, but he knew he was going to have fun doing it. The coach stopped, and the two men escorted Osarin out, and up some back alley stairs into a large, elegant manor.

"We got one." The tall, bulky man stated. "Where's the reward?"

"On the table, ma'am, please go upstairs." While polite, it was easily a threat, as an armed guard grabbed Osarin's arm, and lead him up the stairs, only releasing him once outside a room. With a quick slice, Osarin's binding were cut, and he was ushered into the room, a bedroom, go figure. There were silk sheets on the bed, and fancy curtains. A bottle of champagne sat in a half full container of ice.

With a sigh, Osarin set to work. he grabbed all the silk sheets he could carry, the champagne, and a decorative bow set hung over the dresser. he looked at the windows, they weren't barred, but they were bolted closed from the outside. Nothing ivy couldn't fix. With a stern look, the ivy growing down the sides of the building wound to the window, and it's tiny leaves acted as hands, unbolting the bolts. With a smile, Osarin tried to push open the window. Click. Still locked? He searched around. There was no reason he could see, so he took a step back, and the ivy grew over the window, layering it, cracking it. One piece fell to the floor, the rest were pulled outside by the tiny hand-like leaves of the ivy.

Boring.

Osarin Pushed the silk sheets out the window, the ivy parting for him, and looked down. Only the second story? Felt like more, maybe entered through a basement. He shrugged, and pushed the silk further out, throwing it into a nearby tree. He soon followed it. The climb down was aggravating, the silk getting caught on every branch and bit of bark. Once on the ground, he wrapped everything up in one of the silk sheets, which was then tied to his back. the yard was huge, and well tended, but the guards were less than attentive. it wasn't until he reached the gate that he had trouble. he doubted he could fit through the bars, and didn't know how to open it. The gate was taller than he was, and he didn't really want to climb it. At his inspection of the gate, the guards started questioning his presence, looking to each other, "Get Her!"

"Crap." it was made evident that his escape was just that. With a hard thud, he slammed into the gate, which did little other than hurt his shoulder. He could run through a tree, but all his looted goods would be left behind. Hesitating, he put his hands in the air, and shrugged. "Ok, I give."

"Bring her back up here, now!" The polite man from before now shouted. As the guards neared, Osarin smiled, and waved his hands.

"I didn't say I surrender." He said with a soft laugh. "I said I give. Aren't you going to ask what?" The guards, perplexed, slowed, glancing to one another. "I give... Plants." He smiled happily. He turned his palms up, and brush grew from under the guards, lifting some off their feet, pushing some back, most just tangled up in the mess of shrubbery. With that, Osarin threw a sarcastic smile, and began pulling himself up the bars. Once in the street, he made a break for the exit of the town. "Well, certainly not bored anymore." He smiled, laughing as he ran.

_________________

So Shawne and Erik decided to ride their respective vehicles, neither truly trusting the other to do the driving on either contraption. So it was that they rode out of the school, Shawne in the lead on her bike with Erik following behind in his car, the two of them making their way over to the mall which was a bit of ways away from where their school was but traffic was light so the trip was light and easy. Getting to the parking garage they began the slow decent to the lower floors, wishing to park near the food court which at this mall was near the bottom.

Shawne was not exactly paying attention to where she was going; it was actually a rather bad habit that she had when riding her bike or did anything somewhat monotonous. Her mind would wander on whatever little road it chose while her body would carry out the learned skills for the task at hand. It just happened that at this moment she was thinking about that dream she had and what it was all about, though thinking of it lead to her thinking of the other smattering of odd dreams that she has had throughout her entire life. This was probably the reason she had not noticed that they seemed to have been traveling for longer than they should be or that the lights had disappeared and they were now traveling in darkness.

Suddenly the front tire slipped rousing Shawne from her thoughts as she looked about the foreign world about her, her street grade tires continuing to slip on the damp grass. Panicking she struggled for control only making it worst as she inadvertently hit the throttle and soon she found herself shooting out into the air and much to her dismay landing in some body of water.

She floundered and flailed about a bit beneath the water as she struggled to get to the surface, though it would seem that help was on its way. Before she could do much of anything someone yanked her out and then as for as she could tell they flew her over to the shore and gratefully to a fire. Shock was working on making itself a permanent home in her mind, which can probably take the blame as she stuttered, “M…M…My bike!” pointing frantically at the lake and that was fast becoming the grave of her beloved bike. The helmet obscured her view of who was talking to her but with the addition of shock she could have been talking to the jolly red man himself and it would not have phased her in the least.

_________________

"Bike?" Drake asked. He looked back out to the lake where it could barely be seen under the surface, much closer to the shore than she had flown. Drake began wading into the water to his chest, which for any man would be clear over their head, and fished the machine out, its noise halting as he lifted it onto his shoulder. Coming back to shore, he set it down and water poured from it, dripping from the smooth metal.

Drake was intrigued. It resembled something to be ridden, like a horse, but it was not alive. It had wheels like a carriage, but made of something he had never seen before. Poking the front tire with a claw, he found the texture different than what he had expected, and realized it felt like it was full of air.

"What is this machine?" he said, marveling at it as he stood. He returned to the fire and sat on a log, then stoked the fire with his bare hand again to liven it up, giving more heat to his soaked friend, "I know not where you came from, lass, but you were lucky we were around. My companion is seeing to your friend. Are you sure you are alright?"

_________________

Erik smiled as he jumped into his car and turned it on, the music picking back. He followed Shawne to the mall, they entered the parking garage and it soon became dark, Erik look down for a moment to find the switch to turn on his head lights, he felt a bump, figuring it was a speed bump or something he didn't look up, finding the switch he flipped it on and looked up. Too late though, his car ran right into a tree. The airbag went off and Erik hit his head hard. Blacking out he saw bright lights, a palace, moans of pain could be heard. Something evil was in there. He started to get pulled toward the palace against his will, he struggled to break the force pulling him. Fear mounted in him, something horrible would happen to him if he entered that place, he would never escape. Using the last of his strength he pulled and found himself sitting straight up.

Gasping for breath he looked around frantically, trees..... what was going on here, had just been in the malls parking garage.

He saw a woman near him with glowing hands.

"Whoa there!!!"

Erik jumped up and backed away very fast, the woman looked like something out of a video game..... an elf. Erik was having a hard time taking it in.

"Where am I?! Who are you?! What do you think your doing?! And where the heck is Shawne?!"

--

Valek frowned as he felt his control slipping.

"Damn! That fool of a queen!"

Valek cursed and turned around facing the wall, his black cloak catching the air and swirling about him. Walking toward the window his feet making no sound he placed a pale hand on the window cill.

"So she has what she wants, she has summoned the chosen! There isn't much time.... no we I must be swift to ensure they won't be too much trouble."

His eyes scanned the ground before him his army was gathering, the sound of hammers clanging as the smiths were about their work making weapons and armor. He could hear the soldiers training, "Well my dear Queen your rule is coming to an end. Savor your reign while you can because nothing is going to stop me, not even your precious chosen will be able to."

Turning around he opened the door and walked down the stairs, "General, I want you to take a message to the hunters. The chosen are coming and I want them brought to me before they reach the queen. If we can succeed there she will have failed and everything shall be better than we could have hoped for!"

_________________

"Listen to the music of the night.... for in it is the melody of life."

~Master to Butler Vilora

It was a long ride to McCalister's place; a large mansion in the far outskirts of the city. Lucian's bike moved quick through the city traffic, skillfully dodging car after car but driving like that usually attracts unwanted attention and sure enough a local squad car pulled up behind Lucian, it's red and blue lights flashing vigorously in his side mirrors. Lucian repositioned his sunglasses further back on his nose then let the bike go full throttle, immediately jumping his speedometer from 60 to 90 in seconds. With the dense traffic the cop didn't stand a chance and Lucian glanced in his mirror to see the lights fading in the distance. But as Lucian turned his eyes back to the road, his vision began to blur just as it did in the parking garage. The city noise faded and all Lucian could hear was the sound of that woman...

"The Chosen Lucian...it is time..." By the time the street noises and his eye sight came back into focus, it was too late. A taxi pulled out from a parking garage entrance right in front of Lucian's bike. At 90mph Lucian hit the taxi hard and he went flying into the air, just clearing the top of a stop light that was 30 yards ahead. Lucian closed his eyes as the asphalt approached rapidly. But something didn't feel right. He should have hit the ground by now but instead he still felt like he was falling.

Lucian opened his eyes and saw the tops of trees directly below him and he barely was able to guard his face before falling through the branches. Lucian struggled to get a hold of at least one to stop or even slow his rapid descent but it just wouldn't happen. Moments later he finally hit ground, and hard. His sunglasses popped off of his head as he let out a loud "Oouf!". Lucian tried not to focus on the pain but rather the ground he was on. This was dirt which was thankfully softer than the asphalt he was heading for. His ears were ringing and his vision was blurry, although this time likely due to his impact and not that strange woman's voice. Lucian tried to focus on the voices in the distance and what he could only guess was a campfire. The voices were mere echoes for the moment; Lucian tried shaking his head back into focus.

Determined as usual Lucian forced himself to his feet regardless of whatever injuries he may have incurred from that awful landing. Slowly he began staggering towards the campfire, though his vision was still too blurry to make anything out. So far he could see a large red figure and a smaller one right next to it. Lucian stumbled to a nearby tree, barely able to prop himself against it. Finally he managed to speak after a vicious cough.

"Where am I?"

_________________
"Told me to prove to them what I was worth
We’ll teach you to move without mercy and give you the tools to go after the causers of hurt
You'll become death. You will take breath
This is for everything you’ve ever loved
Use all the pain that you’ve felt in your life as the currency go out and trade it for blood
You are not you. You are now us
We are the only ones that you can trust
You’ll become fear. They’ll become dust
Before this moment you didn't mean much
You are the smoldering vessel of punishment born to do nothing but justify us"

After a while of walking, Osarin found himself outside of the wretched town, back in the forest, his stomach still churning from the separation from nature. He smiled, and sighed, staring at the sky, and unloading his loot from his back. The silk of the bag was stretched, and twisted, leaving unique, probably permanent marks. He shrugged, the silk was a commodity, a nice trinket, the bow is what he wanted. He dug it out. It shimmered in the light that filtered through the canopy formed by the large oak he sat near. "Gold?" He asked, touching it lightly. He had never seen gold before, save for a bracelet he got as a tip one evening, but he didn't have that for long. The arrows. They were long, white stalks, with bright red feathers, the tips a shimmery silver metal. "Not a bad haul." He sighed, and sat heavily by the tree, leaning his back against it.

The air was cool, and smelled heavily of salt water. The sun warmed his soft skin, his deep green eyes closing slowly. Not a bad time or place for a little sleep, He resolved. As his eyes closed, he saw the same burning eyes "The circle..."

"Oh god!" He sat up stark, his heart beating wildly. "This circle business is getting old real fast!" He stood up, and turned to face the tree, "This is ****, My dad's not psychic, and my mom doesn't dream... what is this?" He yelled at the tree, knowing it wasn't the tree's fault, and that it solved nothing. He sighed heavily, slowly exhaling, and turning, running his hands over his face, and through his short dark hair. As it fell back into his face, he heard a loud roar, and a splash. He turned the direction it came from, he looked around, he was completely unsure what kind of creature would make that sound, but he knew he didn't like it. He gathered his things, wrapping them back up in the sheet, and turning to walk away from the sound.


After a couple minutes of walking, curiosity gnawed at him. What was that sound? I hope everyone's ok. He shook his head, blinking the thoughts from his head. "Everyone's fine, it's a human mage blowing himself up, or summoning some ungodly creature that then ... threw him... into... a lake." He furrowed his brow at his own logic. He turned to see a young man staring at him, the young woman behind him looking as though Osarin were mad. "There was a roar." He justified. He sighed, and turned back around. "Gods protect me." He mumbled as he ran back to the forest, and through it. He kept an eye out for whatever made that unholy sound, surely it would make another horrid sound. He heard a bit of talking, but not much else. With a sigh, he suddenly felt very crazy, "Come on. You're chasing some mysterious sound, you're having wild dreams, and now you're lecturing yourself. Admit it, you're crazy." He stood there, hands in his hair, his eyes closed, facing the sky, hoping somehow he would suddenly realize he wasn't.

_________________

"Whoa there!!!"

Erik jumped up and backed away very fast, the woman looked like something out of a video game..... an elf. Erik was having a hard time taking it in.

"Where am I?! Who are you?! What do you think your doing?! And where the heck is Shawne?!"

Tarathar stopped her spell when the guy backed away from her. She held up her hands to show she meant no harm and smiled warmly.

"Calm yourself, sir. I mean you no harm. I was merely trying to heal your wounds." she said, "I am Tarathar and you are on Terranu." she held out a graceful hand to him, "Your companion is being looked after by my friend at the top of the ravine. Are you well enough to join them?"

Tarathar led him up the ravine, ducking under broken logs and over upturned boulders, her mind racing about who these odd clothed people were. When they reached the still intact campsite, she found Drake staring at an odd machine that still dripped water and a cold, wet woman sitting beside the fire, wearing the oddest helm she had ever seen.

"Is everyone well? What happened?" she asked. Drake finally left the machine alone and returned to the fire, adding another log to make it rise higher to increase the heat output. Again he stoked the fire with his bare hands.

"I am well, but it seems the girl is in shock." Drake said as he sat down cross legged, "Come, sit. Warm yourself." he said to the man with Tara.

_________________

Erik stared for a moment at the dragon.... dragon! Shawne was right there if she hadn't been Erik would have done something stupid to wake himself up. He had had weird dreams before but this one was reaching the top! He felt pain! Maybe he wasn't dreaming.... no he had to be! As much as he wished elves and dragons and other creatures like that were real they just weren't!

Rubbing his eyes he sat next to Shawne opening and closing his mouth a few times, no words coming out. He absently put an arm around Shawne, he just wanted to make sure she was real. And sure enough he could feel the cold, his senses were heightened there was no way this was a dream.... but..... stuff like this didn't happen in real life!!! yes in novels and stuff but to him? Never, he was a normal nothing special college kid who had his head in the clouds! This was just..... he wasn't sure anymore.

Swallowing he finally spoke, "Um..... thank you all for you help....." Erik looked at the dragon again, "Um.... sorry for staring and stuff but.... what are you? I know your friend here Tarathar said I was in Terra something but to be honest I have no clue what it is.... I am not dreaming am I? Are you all even real or am I having one big hallucination."

Erik swung his head around as he heard a cough and someone ask "Where am I?"

Erik just stared, apparently they weren't the only ones! And with this person being all confused they must be sane! Something began to stir in Erik, it was odd. But as he started to realize this was real he almost felt happy. He had always thought and dreamed of something like this..... it was almost too good in his mind.

_________________

"Listen to the music of the night.... for in it is the melody of life."

~Master to Butler Vilora

Swallowing he finally spoke, "Um..... thank you all for you help....." Erik looked at the dragon again, "Um.... sorry for staring and stuff but.... what are you? I know your friend here Tarathar said I was in Terra something but to be honest I have no clue what it is.... I am not dreaming am I? Are you all even real or am I having one big hallucination."

"You are in Terranu." Drake said, "And I find it hard to believe you have never seen a Dragon before, nor heard of one. Do they not have them on your world?"

"Where am I?"

Tarathar spun around her staff now in hand and the pink stone in the head glowing brightly. She watched with her guard up as another strangely dressed man walked out of the trees and she lowered her weapon as his face was illuminated by the fire.

"Another one? If these really are the Chosen, I find it hard to believe this is coincidence they all arrived so close to us." Tarathar said, "Welcome sir, Please warm yourself by the fire. We are all friendly here."

"Aye, sit." Drake included, trying to do his best to smile, but his jagged teeth weren't helping.

_________________

Shawne sat staring at her bike but not truly seeing it, her mind else where as it brought back a rush of confusing images and emotions. This all seemed way too familiar and yet alien at the same time, like all those dreams as a child that she had but so very real, what else could it be but real? The images continued, seeming to be playing across the inside visor of her helmet. She could see what looked to be her standing beside a shadowed figure in a lush green land, but something was missing...something was wrong....where was Erik?

Suddenly she felt an arm about her shoulder and reality came crashing in around in a very hard and abrupt manner. Stumbling back and over the log she had been resting against, she began to hyperventilate as her helmet became too tight, too closed it and so with a savage yank it was pulled from her head and then thrown to the ground. Still her chest heaved as her body fought with itself for air, whilst her brain struggled to get a grip on what was going on.

"A dream....a dream....this is just a dream...I will wake up in my bed safe with my mommy.....this is just a dream....a dream....a dream...." she chanted softly to herself over and over again her eyes closed tight as she tried to take a complete breath and force herself to wake up. A couple heartbeats later she opened her eyes but found herself still in this dream world, which caused a groan of despair to come from her lips as she sagged to her knees and continued to mumble over and over again.


Jasmine felt them, felt them all, yes her spell had worked and it was now time to act. Turning from her scrying pool she rushed from her private chambers making a beeline for the throne room to where her beloved husband was holding audience with his generals in the late hour. Waving the page boy off she entered without an announcement her husband the king rising from his seat along with his generals, "M'lady the hour is late why are you here? Is there something wrong?" the concern evident in his voice as she came to him and he without hesitation hugged her tenderly to him, not caring that his men see him in such a tender moment with her wife.

"M'lord the Chosen...they have come...." Jasmine said to her husband looking up at him from the embrace they still shared.

"The Chosen? Are you certain?" his tone hopeful but still hesitant to truly believe.

"Yes my love. I have seen them and they are here right now. Just waiting for us to come and find them" she said with complete certainty in her voice as she continued to look into his eyes.

Tobias stared down at his voice seeing her conviction and knew that her words were true, some had said marrying a woman from the witch tribes to the south was gong to be the death of him and his kingdom but now here they were about to go and get the chosen and save his kingdom. Nodding to his wife he turned to his generals, "Well you heard her! Form parties! Get the hounds! I want those chosen found and brought here immediately!" he snapped to his men somewhat, his excitement getting the best of him.

Sometime later he stood on a rampart with his wife in his arms as they watched the men charged with the task of finding the Chosen racing out across the land. He just hoped that they got to them before the enemy, the Chosen were their last hope.

_________________

Lucian's vision still struggled to get into focus as he was still dazed from the fall. His presence was unnoticed until he spoke and one of the persons around the fire turned sharply to face him, pointing something. Lucian's reactions kicked in as he pushed himself off the tree he was leaning on and stood with his arms raised, ready to fight and defend himself. But then he saw they lowered their weapon and even offered him a spot by their fire to warm up.

Due to his sudden movements, Lucian dropped to his knee as he attempted to step towards the fire, still weakened. He rubbed his hand over his eyes and shook his head some more before staring down at his hands trying to focus his vision. After a few seconds he began seeing the rough details of his hands, lightly illuminated from the nearby fire. Even the grass beneath him was becoming clearer. as Lucian raised his head revealing his glowing blue eyes he saw the group of people in front of him and he almost fell back from the surprise. Lucian found himself staring at a dragon-like being and something of an elf! He tried rubbing his eyes again thinking he was just delirious and suffering from shock or something. But when he removed his hand and opened his eyes they were still there and this time in even greater detail. They were dressed like they were from a fantasy movie but then two others caught his attention, two people wearing familiar clothing and the confusion on lucian's face grew.

"I expected hell to be a bit hotter than this when I died..." Lucian said quietly as he forced himself to his feet. His mind reeling back through his last memories, re-tracing them out loud.

"There were cops...I flew off my bike doing 90 and I was about to bite the cement hard...then there were trees...I was falling through trees instead of smashing on pavement...what the hell is going on here...am I dead or what?" suddenly a sharp pain shot through Lucian's lower back. Slowly running his hand over the spot he felt something poking from the inside of his motorcycle jacket. Carefully he removed the jacket and felt again, this time he knew what was protruding out from his lower back: a large splinter from his fall.

Lucian sighed in frustration as he settled a firm grip on the exposed half of the splinter. With a light snap he broke it off leaving the other half inside so as not to cause it to start bleeding profusely.

"What the ****.." he cursed softly as he tossed the broken piece off to the side. Lucian reached both arms up to grab the opposite sleeve of his T-shirt and with a quick tug he ripped them both off, revealing the rest of his fit arms dressed in scars and tattoos of small tombstones with a mixture of names from the very few friends he had that died to men he's killed back when he fought in the underground scene. They all held the same meaning for Lucian, and that was they were reminders for him to change his life.

After wading up the sleeves Lucian applied them to his wound to soak up any blood. When he was convinced that he had at least stopped the bleeding, Lucian made his way to the fire and sat down with the rest then looked around at the others realizing that regardless of the situation, they were all here together for some reason.

"I'm Lucian..."

_________________
"Told me to prove to them what I was worth
We’ll teach you to move without mercy and give you the tools to go after the causers of hurt
You'll become death. You will take breath
This is for everything you’ve ever loved
Use all the pain that you’ve felt in your life as the currency go out and trade it for blood
You are not you. You are now us
We are the only ones that you can trust
You’ll become fear. They’ll become dust
Before this moment you didn't mean much
You are the smoldering vessel of punishment born to do nothing but justify us"