The rain was flinging itself down from the dark clouds hovering above, and splattering against the glass that stood between Morgan and the storm. The plinking of the rain of the sheets of glass hypnotized Morgan into a trance that left him tired and unable to break his continuous stare at the angry ocean before him. The crests of the aggressive waves topped white, while the depths were a deathly shade of blue. Morgan imagined that even the giant sea serpents of Liquious could be traveling underneath the water, and no one could be ever the wiser. The thought brought back the headache that Morgan had hoped he had escaped, and he finally broke the stare to press two fingers to his temples.
Morgan knew that he should not be thinking about the sea serpents, and that he should not even be here; this close to the ocean. Any body of water that was bigger than a bathtub that was within hundred miles of him, his subconscious could summon… her. But, no he must not think about her. His years of training to push her desires out of his mind would be destroyed within a few seconds, and he would be helpless to do anything but kill everyone that he loved. Or, at least that's what they said that would happen.
Morgan suddenly recalled a memory from a long time ago in his childhood. It was the last time that he had been visited by her. She had been so vibrant and golden, and had reflected the light of the Sun into his eyes, temporarily blinding him. She had wrapped him up into her wings until she had completely healed him, and had uttered the crooning call of her affection to him. Then they had come and taken him away from her. Morgan now knew that this was the best for all of humanity, but he sometimes yearned to relive that moment again.
Morgan cursed himself. He had known that this journey and night alone would be a bad idea. He had told the Assembly Elders of the Crystal that he could not be trusted. But, they had seemed to think that the outcome would outweigh the risk of it all, and had sent him anyway. They had said that this trip to and stay at the Pinnacle of the Equinox would be the final step in his rejection of her.
Morgan sighed and turned away from the glass that covered one half of the Summoning Dome, and turned towards the main entranceway. The two massive doors were almost completely laden down with gold pictures and gems cut in the likeness of her. The gold was plastered into all the nooks and crannies of the doors, and even swirled around the two giant locks that had been locked as soon as he had been admitted into the Pinnacle. Morgan knew that there was the Master of Wizardry Londor, who was escorted by an entire legion of quite burly guards; you know, just in case there was a problem.
Morgan looked around the Pinnacle, his eyes searching every nook and cranny. He hadn't ever been here before, and had never been allowed here either. The Assembly of Elders had not wanted to chance Morgan summoning her, and "destroying everything that makes humans great". Evidently, from what people told him, Morgan had been a feisty child and the Elders had wondered if he would ever be trained to reject her. But their patience had won out against Morgan's short temper and wiles.
Morgan looked over to the two cauldrons that sat at either sides of the Dome. He knew exactly what they were for, despite never actually being told. He had actually learned about this place not from his Elder teacher, Hepheroth, but from the legends that he had overheard being chanted from the streets. The cauldron on the left that was encrusted with all number of emeralds was for the Tears of the Blessed, and the one on the right that was similarly encrusted with rubies was for the Blood of the Blessed. The Blessed, as Morgan had eventually found out through pointed questions to Hepheroth, was in fact none other than himself.
As the legends go, the Blessed is chosen by her at birth to be her master and rider. She would protect the person who was the Blessed until he died, healing him whenever he was hurt. But, she could only be summoned into the Earth by the Blessed crying into the emerald cauldron and bleeding into the ruby cauldron while it was raining outside. The rain would mix with any large body of water to create a time portal for her. Once summoned, she could not be taken out of the world unless the Blessed wanted her to go. Morgan had commanded her to leave, under the pressure of a knife to his throat, years ago.
When Morgan had heard that he would be going to the Pinnacle to be left alone in the Summoning Dome on a rainy day, he had been shocked that the Elders would have allowed something like this. They had kept him cooped up in the Mydrias Tower of the Assembly ever since they had captured him and forced him to banish her. This was the first time he had seen the outside world without being above it all.
Morgan stepped back to the glass portion of the Dome and looked back out to sea. Through all the thoughts that were whizzing around in his head, he couldn't help but admit that it was majestic. The water portrayed such power that he had never seen before. It reminded him of her. And the headache was back. Morgan began to wonder if the banging in his head was not the distinct lack of water that he was feeling right now, and was instead her trying to communicate with him. Morgan shrugged this thought off and slowly massaged the sides of his head.
Suddenly, there was a flutter of light that Morgan just caught before a humongous explosion echoed across the water and knocked Morgan to his hands. Morgan looked up to the ocean, wondering what could have made such a powerful blast, only to see another flash and to be knocked to his side. His head banged the stone on the floor, making his headache all the more prominent. Morgan gently touched his head and pulled his fingers away; all of them bloodied. And so now he was bleeding. Morgan didn't have enough time to pull himself together before there was another flash and blast that smashed his head back onto the stone. Morgan looked back at the two huge doors, wondering what Londor and his legion was doing. Couldn't they hear the booms? Morgan tried to right himself, but a fourth blast sent his forehead crashing to the stone, making him dazed and sending a shock of pain jutting through his entire body. Morgan wobbly stood up, his view still swimming, and fell down again. He reached up to try and grasp something to hold on to, and found a large metal object. Good enough for him. Just as soon as stood up, another boom smashed through him, but Morgan was steady enough to resist being thrown around again.
Morgan could feel a large amount of blood leaving his head and dripping down onto the support that he was holding. Come to think of it, Morgan could feel the metal that he was grasping head up. Morgan had clenched his eyes shut to resist starting to cry on account of the pain, but he could see a faint light emanating from his support as it penetrated his eyelids. What was he holding onto? Morgan opened his eyes. It was the blood ruby cauldron. Morgan staggered back, shocked at what he had just inadvertently done. Morgan bumped into the other cauldron, which halted his retreat. Morgan whipped around, not wanting to look at his mistake, and then realized that he had just made another one. A tear of pain had managed to creep its way out of his eye and now was falling off of his chin and into the cauldron. Morgan opened his eyes to see the tear start to sizzle at the bottom of the cauldron, and the emeralds begin to glow. Morgan's eyes widened as he realized what he had just done. He looked out into the ocean, looking into the water. Morgan knew what was about to happen. The water did not change for a few moments, and Morgan breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe he hadn't screwed everything up that he had been trying to fix. But then the water began to swirl and churn; glowing a dull shade of gold. The water began to bubble and pop with heat, sending waves of heat through Morgan's body. The two stone doors behind him began to tremble with the legion trying to break through the door. Obviously the keys had failed them all, and their last resort was brute force. Just as the water surface broke, and she flew into the sky in all her glittering glory, the doors gave way behind Morgan.
Morgan heard a soldier scream to Londor, "It's her! It's the Dragon! It's Equinox!"