Prologue

Looking around the white planes around him, Evantarin couldn't see what was so important to him. What was it about this scenery that had called to him constantly that time, ages ago it seemed, that he had visited the eternal purgatory that was the Realms of Grey? The one its inhabitants call Earth? Finding no answer, he closed his eyes and lay back in the fields of wheat.

"Evan?" a voice muttered beside him, heavy with sleep. He turned his head to look at the girl, young by his own standards, snuggle closer to his side.

"Yes Lady?" he asked, pulling her onto his chest. He didn't feel the warm sensation, just above his navel, as he had in past years when he held her like this. "Is anything wrong?"

The girl pushed herself up to look at him through tired eyes. "Yes," she nodded. "You. You're wrong. What's wrong?"

"What are you talking about, Lady?" he chuckled, cringing at the hollow sound of it. She blinked at him curiously, and sat up, leaving him alone. He felt cold, despite the sun above him. "Are you sure you are alright?"

"You're hurting," she pouted. "All the bits and pieces of you are hurting… I can feel it."

He smiled at her concern. "I'm perfectly fine, Lady." Pulling himself to a stand, he helped her before they started the long, leisurely walk back to the little house the girl, Rebecca, had found herself living in. They walked in silence.

When they arrived there, she went excitedly about her routines. Unnecessary, but a habit Rebecca had brought back with her from Earth. Evantarin watched her as he leaned against her doorframe, but after a few moments, something distracted him. He could have sworn he had heard music… looking towards the horizon, he tried to catch the distinct tune again; or at least figure out why it seemed so familiar to him.

A few bars drifted through his mind, and a pang sounded at his heart. A shatter was heard, demanding his attention. He looked at Rebecca, to see her picking up large pieces of porcelain. He moved to help her, the music drifting away as fast as it had come.

He didn't need to ask her why she had dropped the plate; she would tell him when she was ready.

They cleaned in silence, and before long not a single grain of glass was left. Rebecca was left standing in the middle of the room as he fixed her with his measuring eyes; she didn't meet his gaze.

"You were hurting," she mumbled. "Just then… when I dropped the plate… you were hurting. I don't want you to hurt, Evan."

"I'm fine, Lady," he smiled at her as best as he could, lifting her face up to see her eyes. She wasn't scared, just confused.

"But you do hurt, Evan," she stated. It was simple to her; he hurt, there was no other explanation for it. Why would he say anything else? "By saying you aren't, you're-"

"Lying?" Evantarin interrupted. "I cannot be lying, Lady, for lying is a tool of the darkness. It would cause me too much pain to lie, especially to you."

"But you are," she blinked innocently. "You don't glow anymore. Evan, I know you hurt, because I feel it. You don't glow anymore."

He stared at her with his own confusion, before the music came back to him; he stared back out to the horizon. After a few moments, Rebecca pushed him towards the door. Not needing to ask why, he left and found himself following his own feet.

He didn't know how long he'd walked when he was through, but he managed to walk all the way back to where the gates would appear in the barrier, should he be invited back to those Realms. He didn't know why he was there.

"Someone is calling you," he looked up, startled, to see the face of his only elder in the entire Realm. Bathed in folds of white, he looked at Evantarin with such a calculating look, he couldn't help but shiver. "Haven't you heard them?"

"I've heard a song," he asked. "Or… bits of a song, anyways."

"I see…" the Elder sighed, and closed his enchanting eyes as he thought to himself. Evantarin looked at him, worry nipping at his bones. "Evantarin, have you been… different, lately?"

"No," he blinked. "Should I have?"

"I would think so," the Elder stared at him again. "The Light is fading from you."

"…What?"

"You're powers are fading, Evantarin," the Elder stated. "And with every passing moment it not only fades ever more, but a new Light grows. Do you know what this means, Evantarin?"

He looked up at him, shock settling in with understanding. He nodded. "I'm dying."

"Not quiet," the Elder shook his head, causing him confusion. He wasn't dying? Then what was happening? "You're fading by choice, Evantarin, not because you are dying…. Why did you lie to the Lady today?"

"What?" Evantarin blinked again. "But I didn't lie to-"

"You're heart is in pain, Evantarin," the Elder stepped closer to him; he reached a hand to touch Evantarin's brow. "Do you not hear? This song… this person calling you… it's your own music. Don't you remember anything?" Reality suddenly settled on him, and he gasped for air as, for a moment, all his former glory was returned… only to have it slip away again. "You are no longer able to carry the Light, even if I force you to. You can no longer be an Adept, Evantarin. Now listen."

And he did. The music came, uplifting but lonely. He wanted it to stop.

"What is it?" he asked, silent tears staining his cheeks as he clutched at his ears. His chest was burning him.

"You don't recognize it?" the Elder asked him. "You spent years, visiting people's subconscious as you schooled them on the subject. Think, Evantarin, and the answer will come to you."

"…love?" he looked up at his Elder, almost wishing it weren't true when he nodded. "But I know what love is. I love all the creatures around me… this cannot be-"

"It is," the Elder chuckled. "I'm surprised at you… but maybe it has something to do with the Light leaving you. You have been forgetting. Do you remember the people you love, Evantarin?"

"Rebecca," he said shallowly. Another pang sounded.

"But Rebecca is here," the Elder sighed. "And no one here would wish you any pain… who else do you love, Evantarin?"

He opened his mouth to name the next piece of Light he knew, but he suddenly couldn't remember. All the names were washed from his mind, leaving a blank sheet. This confused him even more.

"Don't you remember Evantarin?" The Elder drew him to a stand, and smiled at him. "But of course you don't… the matters of the heart are fickle to an Adept, if gravely important. But you are no longer an Adept."

"But I am!" he protested.

"No," the Elder shook his head again. "You are not. Someone is calling you. Someone aside from yourself. You cannot hear his call, and neither can we, but someone is calling. You must go, Evantarin. Let you're heart rest before it fades."

He heard gates opening behind him, and turning, he saw a familiar courtyard. The structure of the University almost beckoned him, and for the first time in a long time, he felt excited about going somewhere. He took a step, and faltered.

"I will come back." He looked over his shoulder at the Elder.

"No, you won't," the Elder shook his head for the final time, pushing Evantarin out into the courtyard. Away from the Light. "And in two weeks, you will fade. You know what you have to do, Evantarin. Now do it."