Assailant
The flame-licked bird still hovers before him in his mind’s eye, its words hum teasingly in his ears, and both only add to the growing sense of excitement that has rooted itself deep in his chest. The magic of Beqanna has smiled on his little group, has granted them the chance to resurrect Tephra from its obscured state. A mild twinge of guilt lies just beneath the surface of his enthusiasm, for he knows his motivations can’t hold a candle to the others that he’d convinced to go on this quest with him.
He genuinely doesn’t know if anything can mend the rift that he accidentally created between himself and Adriana, but he would be amiss to not try. No longer wanting to be the kind of man to do things halfway, why not make the grandest gesture by returning her home to her? There is a part of him that does not want to consider the possibility of her rebuffing him even if they succeed in the quest, but that part of him also quietly acknowledges that as long as she is happy with having Tephra again, that will be enough for him.
By the time he descends the Mountain, the sun has begun its own descent beyond the horizon and he pauses to soak in the regal beauty of the sky painted so richly in varied shades of red and orange, with hints of blue and purple creeping in at the edges. Strange how he never used to notice such things before and now that seems to be all he does. He stares a moment longer then starts moving toward the Forest, where he’d asked Kreation to meet him. He figured that if he was to look for pieces of Tephra, there was no better place than where this journey had started in the first place, the place where he had emerged from the waters after centuries of entrapment, the place where he had first met Adriana.
It doesn’t take him long to reach the edge of the forest where it happened and he stops to observe the area, faint snippets of their conversation whispering hauntingly to him. He shakes his head to clear the memories and he realizes that something else calls to him from deep within the crowded trees, so he turns to them and hesitates for only the briefest of moments before plunging into the shadows.
At first, the air is heavy with the sounds of nocturnal creatures stirring from their slumber, preparing to go about their usual activities. As he trudges deeper into the woods, the noise level falls to the dullest of roars as the creatures attempt to determine if he is friend or foe before continuing their routines. Suddenly, he notices a soft golden glow begin to pulse nearby. Intrigued, he heads in its direction but before he can reach the source, a strange noise freezes him where he stands..
All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware
--Martin Buber
@Kreation
quest post #1
word count: 488
total count: 488