Chapter 34
Rena summoned up her courage as she mounted the winged horse, she had never left home before, but as it was said, now is as good a time as any. She felt the weight of her bag on her back over the cloaking armor she and her mount wore.
The black fur of the Pegasus shimmered slightly in the cool breeze as she glanced around her at the world she had grown up in. It was a silent creature, preferring the sound of the winds to its own voice, though it spoke when its opinion was needed.
She had raised it herself since it was but a foal, one of a rarer variety due to lack of desire for rather than ease of breeding. Most people wanted a white Pegasus with the wings of a dove, she desired a black one, with an eagles wings, bred to be strong, fast, hearty, and with a rather high endurance. It was as close to perfection as she thought that one could get to. Her father raised various breeds and let her pick one, she chose a small foal with a strong heart and powerful stride, and smart to, well as smart as a race of bird brains could get, but it was rather wise if not knowledgeable and quick learning.
She muttered to herself about what she would do if she found that the prophecy was wrong and with the proper use of a time spell what her revenge on the man or woman who wrote it down would be.
She urged her mount skywards as she mentally counted down the time until the gate from Avalon into the rest of the world would activate. It only happened twice a day and the path would remain open for but a minute. At eleven-eleven during both morning and evening were the times the magic barrier was designed to weaken enough that one could penetrate it at certain points. Of course, occasionally, an outsider would stumble in during those times and have to be bribed and duped into either forgetting that it existed or thinking he or she was but dreaming it had occurred, either way, the nation had remained hidden for over a millennia.
The count was down to two minutes as she came into view of the rim of the world as it opened into the normal world. She remembered hearing about how it became known as the rim, but it was something that she wasn't sure how true to real life that tale was or if it was in fact nothing more than a fairy tale itself.
The existence of fairies themselves were being debated as they existed in records, but none had been encountered by those from Avalon who left their private world. The records spoke of a Fairy King named Frond who knew Merlin and collaborated with him in developing the first spells necessary in building Avalon as it was today. Though, certain other records spoke of a race of smaller elves that were unlike the ones who appeared mostly human that lived in Avalon itself.
She, herself, was half-elven and perhaps that is what contributed to her rapid advancement as a mage. Her mother was an elf herself as was Nominus. They still had an uncanny knack for crafting the best supplies in Avalon if not the world, though they seemed to become rather single minded about their fields, she had listened to three elven senior mage-craftsmen debating on the best choice to make a stave from for seven hours when she began her training. One of them was the senior she was assigned to learn from and in typical fashion, she was stuck recording the records of the conversation for the archives.
She closed her eyes and urged her mount forwards, passing through the barrier just before it closed.
Instantly, she coughed at the soot in the air, no wonder a lot of groups had left if the air quality was this bad not to mention what ever else. She circled twice to find the directions and headed off.
Rena summoned up her courage as she mounted the winged horse, she had never left home before, but as it was said, now is as good a time as any. She felt the weight of her bag on her back over the cloaking armor she and her mount wore.
The black fur of the Pegasus shimmered slightly in the cool breeze as she glanced around her at the world she had grown up in. It was a silent creature, preferring the sound of the winds to its own voice, though it spoke when its opinion was needed.
She had raised it herself since it was but a foal, one of a rarer variety due to lack of desire for rather than ease of breeding. Most people wanted a white Pegasus with the wings of a dove, she desired a black one, with an eagles wings, bred to be strong, fast, hearty, and with a rather high endurance. It was as close to perfection as she thought that one could get to. Her father raised various breeds and let her pick one, she chose a small foal with a strong heart and powerful stride, and smart to, well as smart as a race of bird brains could get, but it was rather wise if not knowledgeable and quick learning.
She muttered to herself about what she would do if she found that the prophecy was wrong and with the proper use of a time spell what her revenge on the man or woman who wrote it down would be.
She urged her mount skywards as she mentally counted down the time until the gate from Avalon into the rest of the world would activate. It only happened twice a day and the path would remain open for but a minute. At eleven-eleven during both morning and evening were the times the magic barrier was designed to weaken enough that one could penetrate it at certain points. Of course, occasionally, an outsider would stumble in during those times and have to be bribed and duped into either forgetting that it existed or thinking he or she was but dreaming it had occurred, either way, the nation had remained hidden for over a millennia.
The count was down to two minutes as she came into view of the rim of the world as it opened into the normal world. She remembered hearing about how it became known as the rim, but it was something that she wasn't sure how true to real life that tale was or if it was in fact nothing more than a fairy tale itself.
The existence of fairies themselves were being debated as they existed in records, but none had been encountered by those from Avalon who left their private world. The records spoke of a Fairy King named Frond who knew Merlin and collaborated with him in developing the first spells necessary in building Avalon as it was today. Though, certain other records spoke of a race of smaller elves that were unlike the ones who appeared mostly human that lived in Avalon itself.
She, herself, was half-elven and perhaps that is what contributed to her rapid advancement as a mage. Her mother was an elf herself as was Nominus. They still had an uncanny knack for crafting the best supplies in Avalon if not the world, though they seemed to become rather single minded about their fields, she had listened to three elven senior mage-craftsmen debating on the best choice to make a stave from for seven hours when she began her training. One of them was the senior she was assigned to learn from and in typical fashion, she was stuck recording the records of the conversation for the archives.
She closed her eyes and urged her mount forwards, passing through the barrier just before it closed.
Instantly, she coughed at the soot in the air, no wonder a lot of groups had left if the air quality was this bad not to mention what ever else. She circled twice to find the directions and headed off.