Welcome to Gaia! ::

Abel distanced himself from the group as they tread the path up to the Temple. He figured he would have to eventually open up to them, but he wasn't quite sure he was ready for that. Silently, he remained thankful for Rhovanion's monopoly of the conversation. It drew the attention away from himself.

The more the others spoke of their homelands, the more Abel grew homesick for his own. Thoughts of the bright reds and browns that were the palette of the land. The charred beauty that was etched into the mountainside. Warmth flooded out from his heart and into his palms and he noticed a distortion of the ground behind his hand. Lifting his palm upwards the others faces began to undulate as though they sat behind a veil of invisible fire. The heat was comfortably warm with no risk for burning, he wagered. Remembering that his abilities were tied to his emotions, this was the first step in realizing his power. A sudden epiphany struck him as connected in his mind thoughts of home to this invisible, cozy fire. Wrapped up in excitement at unlocking the first secret to his abilities, he forgot his reservations about opening up and spoke.

"I'm from Runya." he said, his eyes aglow with reminiscence. Rather comedically, he stopped there noticably entranced by thoughts of his home.

The replies she got - mostly the ones in response to what she'd said, and not what she'd asked - surprised her a little bit. Saya seemed to really think Me'a was a great place! That, of course, made Sari smile. Her smile was beautiful, and it seemed to bring all the little pieces of her, pieces that one probably hadn't noticed had been scattered, together into a luminescent whole.

Then came Sev's turn to reply. Though his voice was quiet, it held a certain something in it, a something that felt... old and mysterious and beautiful. It didn't sound like any of the others'. Sari's eyes met his own, purple ones for but an instant, and afterwards Sari wished he'd kept looking. They were very interesting eyes, with very interesting things behind them.

Kaiya's reaction probably surprised Sari the most. "Yes; my father was," the blonde replied quietly, accompanying her words with a smile. She listened as Kaiya enthusiastically told Saya about the tour she could give, and silently wished that she could see it too. All of it! She couldn't become fully at home under the water, but she could stay there indefinitely, and she was a better swimmer than most! Sari grinned dreamily upwards as she thought about seeing the ocean, Rani's rolling gait reminding her of the ocean.

Rani's sudden halt marked the ending of her reverie. "Huh?" Sari murmured, peeking around his great shoulder to see Abel... from Runya... in front of her. He seemed to have just... stopped. Rani reached out with his soft muzzle, gently sniffing at the back of his neck before pulling back with a surprised snort and reversing a couple steps. Sari calmed him quickly, then turned to focus on Abel. "...Abel?" she asked quietly, curiously, her eyes inviting him in a friendly, not sexual, manner.

Seorsa turned to Kaiya and laughed a little. "Well of course! Tarna is the combination of all the elements. The centerpiece of the world. It's got everything any of you will need." As they approached the temple, she held out her hand and touched a large silver stone in the center of the wall. There was no door. Speaking loudly for all to hear, she turned, keeping her hand in place. "Watch carefully. Activating this stone is the only way to get into the temple, besides the dragon's keep. And I know none of you want to go up there unannounced. The only way to activate this stone is by soul energy, which all of us have. It is the energy that powers the elements. The energy that Tarna masters in. It is the beginning of all of Sarnon, and as we are to save Sarnon, it is within all of us. It's not hard to summon. All you have to do is think of something that fills you with a strong, but good emotion. I will open it this first time, but it would be best if you all practice on some of the crystals you will find within the temple." She knew all of this only because of teachings from Maranwe. Mara was her only friend in the two years she had spent training. She had come early only because it was her time.

She then turned once more to the stone, and closed her eyes. Within a few moments, the mark of the Chosen beneath her top began to glow, so bright that it shined through. But the shine moved. First to her shoulder, then down her arm, and then stopped in her palm. All happened within a few seconds. The glow, after another few seconds, began in the stone, and traveled throughout the solid wall like blood in veins. It soon illuminated the outline of the door, and as it did, the doors began to open, revealing the temple inside. To Saya, it was a forest filled with springs and rivers, butterflies and animals, and crystals of a soft blue. They already glowed with the soul energy, for she had imagined them that way. That's what the temple of Tarna was. It was a place all your own. Taking the shape of whatever paradise is in the minds of those who enter. The crystals remained always, which is why Saya had mentioned them. But everything else? Everything else was up to the imagination.

Dream of the Infnite Beauty

Seorsa smiled and shook her head. "Thankfully, no. You see...these crystals. They're more of a life force for the world of Sarnon, as Maranwe says. They control the magic of all of this land. The only way to destroy them is to taint them with Demonic Magic. Once that's happened. Well...they become the most dangerous weapon a person can possess. Because of this, they don't leave the Temple. Touching them, or removing them from their place will not harm them, though. They are created by Soul Energy. By the Soul Energy of all of the creatures in the world. There are millions of crystals scattered through out the Temple. Each one represents one of the creatures. When one creature dies, the light dims, and eventually fades off for good, the crystal crumbling into a fine stone. In fact, this stone makes for many purposes. It makes amazingly strong armor, which we will be receiving, it's great for healing, and in some cases, if taken into the body soon enough, will bring a person back to life. But as I was saying, once another creature is born, then another crystal grows in it's place."

She smiled, and sat down next to one of the trees born from her imagination. Stryker came and laid next to her, sighing heavily. "We'll wait here for Mara...she should be coming down soon." Saya now sighed as well. "When she is done talking with us...there is something I must show you all. It's the reason we are fighting...and It's not pretty..."

"Soul Energy? Crystals crumbling, per every creature that dies, renewed by every creature that is born..." Rhovanion found himself mutter the concrete phrase of what she said. His mind was engulfed with thought... imagining the horror that could fall upon the world if the wrong sort of people had gotten in here. The crystals could forge armor and weapons for an army, and if there was not enough, then they could hunt and slay more creatures, more elves. Wait that was already happening, how many crystals were in ruin already? Perhaps the question was, how many were left, but for how long?' His mind was alarmed and he spoke to the others as passionate as ever. "How noble and strong those crystals stand even when we are plagued with war, but if the world destroys itself, then the crystals would flee? Would that mean that this very war could destroy all the beauty, and all the soul of the earth? What would there be left? Nothing!" He thought more and more, not really listening if anyone else wanted to speak, he was too enraptured.

'How did this war happen? Because a group of elves wanted power? Well what better way to get power then by breaking into this temple and stealing those crystals? And having a war would give them all the power they needed in there. But, only those who had soul energy could open it, perhaps the Gods gave them favor, foresaw what was going to happen and made the limitation for only those who had soul energy, their mark upon them. Right? But wait, the door opened for all of them, when only one gave their soul energy. All the enemy had to do was capture one of them and use them on the temple to get it open.' Fear draped itself across his heart, and his face turned quickly to a somber appearance. 'If they got captured, the fate of the world could be sealed, there would be no chance for peace after that. They had to survive, they had to do what Anorad and Alucia told them to do. No ifs or butts. And wasn't there another way to get into the temple? Something about a dragon? Yes, if the armies of Sindarin could muster themselves against a dragon, they could easily flood this temple and take all the crystals, even the ones that were still alive? And what then? Use them with demonic magic more than likely, and try to enslave the whole world. So not only would this group be burdened with doing exactly what the gods wanted them to, but they were encumbered with doing it as soon as possible. Every second would matter. Or so it would seem.'

Sari listened carefully, biting her lip a little bit in thought. So they crystals... are made of life energy? Whose? the mixblood thought, eyeing the one Saya touched with a cross between curiosity, suspicion and awe. The way the thing opened... It was truly a sight to behold.

Not that Rani liked it a whole lot. The stallion fidgeted uncomfortably, dancing to the side when the light wound its way up the stone. Sari leaned forward and began to whisper to him, trying to calm him, and thus lost most of the following conversation. When she tuned back in, she caught Rove saying something about the nobility of the crystals...? And then Seorsa started to talk about dragons.

Now those really caught Sari's attention. "D-dragons?" she wispered, her eyes wide as she took that idea in. It was odd enough to think that she would be considered worthy of capture by their... enemies, but now there were also dragons and soul crystals? What next? the blonde girl wondered somewhat faintly, her faraway grin a mix of horror and excitement.

I am living in a *storybook*. Have I just been dreaming all of this? Sari thought, thinking back on what had happened to her so far. Nothing had even really happened yet, and already it felt surreal. Sari had always grown up thinking she'd die in the little town she was born in, yet here she was about to... what? Do battle with an entire army? Fight alongside dragons? Adventure around with this merry band of wanderers? "Does anyone else feel like they're in a dream?" Sari asked, her voice soft and surreal, as though she'd spoken a thought out loud. In truth, that was exactly what she'd done, but she didn't yet know it.