The next four chapters were terribly written ... so I've been editing them while typing them up. What fun...
{On The Hill ~ Kaze wo Kanjite ~ and opening animation plays....}
Log 25: Legend of the Flame Horizon
"Why did you come back, Keythedrian? You must have--"
"Jason ... you may call me Keith. You were the one who awoke me."
It was evening; Jason was roasting fish on an outdoor fire, Keith standing behind him. Kathryn walked in the rolling waves under Keith's eyes, humming songs unknown to the islands.
"Sorry. Keith."
"I returned ... for my ward and I were given a task by the Wizard's Coucil of Avalon."
"Really? Hey, you want a fish?"
"No ... I am not as you - I do not ... eat."
"Oh. So, what does the Council want you to do?"
"We are to find an egg given to Avalon by the Regency. It was lost after a fire damaged the city of Denbridge."
"I see. You know, I think I can help you."
"Tell me."
"Well, to the north of here is a land with a coast shrouded in flame. We call that place the Flame Horizon. The uminchu and merchant guilds have never crossed the flames. However, a long time ago, the people of these islands traded with the land beyond the flames - but that was before the flames appeared. I think at the same time of Denbridge's burning that a black star streaked over the sky here, towards the Flame Horizon. It was then that the flames appeared. What you might find interesting is that the black star seemed to be carrying something white...."
"That must be ... the egg...."
It is the egg, a Regent's voice sounded in Keith's mind - it was the first time in some days that a Regent had spoken to him. Keith smiled wanly - it was a slight comfort.
"There is something I must tell you about the land beyond the Flame Horizon - old uminchu records say that the god-angels can't take a physical form there. I don't believe you'd welcome that."
Then ... how could I protect her? Keith thought. It was one of the few times he had thought about his duty to Kathryn - often it was when she was in immediate harm, and she hadn't been in such a long time. What if she was harmed, and he could do nothing, all because he had no means to do so...?
Yet it was his duty to protect her ... he would accompany to this land, despite the risk....
"It will be ... a difficulty," Keith whispered. "Yet Kathryn is my ward, and I must be with her."
He stared at Kathryn, watched her play casually in the waters that had swallowed him millennia ago. For perhaps the first time he saw the sultana's fiery hair plastered to her forehead with sea spray, her riding suit clinging to her body with moisture....
A warm feeing entered his heart, one not unfamiliar to the angels, but it gave Keith a startled shock. It was an attraction to the girl - to the one he was to protect! - and a sudden need to be with her ... to touch her....
No ... it was forbidden to him, those actions, those thoughts. Kathryn was mortal - no, a distant descendant of the angelborn - and he could not feel that way towards her.
Yet he remembered what the Regency told him, so long ago - You will love her....
Sigh ... not really one of my best chapters. Next one will feature Jason's buddies - whee!
And a note - the rest of this episode is not coming up until later this week - I'm out on vacation. Sorry!