The Legend of Talon
Chapter 2
Talon was floating…somewhere dark. It was so dark…it was beyond darkness. He felt as though he were rising upwards, toward the sky.
And then, he heard a voice…..
"Talon….Talon….Talon!" the voice said, and Talon was surprised to realize that he didn't hear it. It was as if it were playing inside his head. He tried to shout out, but couldn't. "Where am I?" he thought. Then the voice spoke again.
"Funny you should ask. I'm sorry to tell you, Talon, that you are dead."
"Why can't I speak? And why can't I see?" he thought, hoping that once again the voice would respond.
"Because, you idiot, you haven't opened your eyes yet. Open your eyes and all your senses will reactivate."
Using every ounce of will in him, Talon opened his eyes. He was in a huge room, filled with bright light. A man was sitting at a desk, but this man wasn't a man at all. This man…had wings and was wearing mithril armor. "Whoa…." Talon gaped. "Who…no, what are you?"
The "man" smiled. "I can answer both those at once. I am your Arestolite."
Talon gaped some more. "No way. Arestolites don't exist. Master's stories are all fairy tales and lies. You don't, no, you cant exist! I've been in plenty life-threatening situations, and you've never showed up."
"But that's my job, and I haven't been kicked out yet! I've always been there, controlling your thoughts, so that you wouldn't die. If you thought something that would have caused you death, I'd change it. That was all I ever did. You never saw me, of course." He smiled.
Talon laughed. "Well I guess you'd better prepare yourself to be booted out! I died, didn't I? So you failed!"
The Arestolite laughed back. "True, except I didn't fail. I was under orders. I was the one who made you want to do level 6, because I knew you would die. I was supposed to bring you here and inform you of your destiny, and train you properly for things to come."
Talon stopped laughing, but grinned. "More training? Whoo! Bring it!"
"It will be hard, you know. But after this training, a Fallen will seem like an ant to you. You will be able to smash him like a bug, even without my help." He said.
Talon didn't laugh. "Yeah, right. Let's get started then, I want to live again! What exactly will I do in the training?" The eagerness in his voice was obvious.
The Arestolite said nothing, but pulled a paper out of his desk. "Let's see…. first, personal stasis for a day. That seems a bit harsh….Let's see how you cope with a minute or so…." He frowned.
"Personal stasis? What's that? Will it hurt? How will that help?" Talon asked confusedly.
"Stop asking questions. I'm not all knowing. All right, I'll give you a good ten seconds of personal stasis. Brace yourself…." The Arestolite closed his eyes and screwed up his face in focus, then put out his hands, which were glowing blue.
"Whoa, what are you-" Talon began, but then he found that suddenly he was unable to move at all. He could not speak, hear, or move; it seemed as if he was again being swallowed by darkness, but instead of darkness, he was being swallowed by what seemed to be a giant blue crystal. Suddenly, he could see. But with his sight came something else… pain. The pain that he was experiencing was pain beyond all pain; he felt as if his very bones had just burst into flames. He tried to scream, but still couldn't move. The pain was getting worse, he wanted it to stop, to end, to die -
"Ok, I think that's enough." The Arestolite dropped his hands, and Talon fell to the ground. He looked up and saw that there was a large blue crystal just barely big enough for him to fit inside, but it faded away before his eyes. "That hurt, did it not?" Talon nodded. "Good. Now, how much did it hurt, and where?"
"Well, it hurt more than anything I've ever felt, all over my body. It was like I was being burned alive, but the pain was even worse…." Talon shuddered at the thought. He was surprised to realize he was shivering; he was very cold.
"Wow. The thing about stasis is it hurts more the more power you have. It doesn't hurt weaklings at all. It would kill me to have it done on me." The Arestolite smiled. "I'm going to have that renegotiated. That is way too harsh for you. So, the next thing you have to do is…" He raised his eyebrows. "I think they're overestimating you. Next, you have to defeat a mage in battle."
Talon did not seem surprised. "Some magic freak? Bring em' on, they can't use magic anyway, I'll beat them like rugs!" He laughed
"No, I don't think so. Perhaps we should do the stasis after all. See, personal stasis teaches you to endure pain and helps you resist magic. Our mages could kill you with a flick of their wrist." The Arestolite shook his head and sighed. "Come with me."
The Arestolite stood up and began to walk toward him, then past him. Talon followed him into another room, this one pitch black. There was a sudden flash of light, and when Talon looked around, he saw that he was in a black room, and the Arestolite had pointed a finger at the ceiling and there was now an orb of light there.
The Arestolite checked to make sure there was no one coming, then turned to Talon. "Listen, I'm not supposed to tell you this yet, but the pain from stasis can be stopped. It changes from person to person, so every person has his or her own mood or feeling that will stop the pain from stasis. For instance, some people find pacification in happiness, some in anger…. you get the idea. Just think of a feeling and then think of something that makes you have this feeling. Good luck!" He raised his hands and again they glowed blue, and again Talon was swallowed by the stasis crystal, and pain swept over him like a wave of acid.
Once the pain began, he though of Anna, and encountered guilt. The pain raged on. He thought of Master Tang, and that brought happiness, but still the pain came. The thought of the Fallen gave him anger, and fear; but the pain did not relent. He tried every feeling he had ever experienced, but nothing worked. He went through feeling excited, sullen, depressed, remorseful, pained, and even embarrassed. But nothing stopped the unrelenting agony.
So he just sucked it up and tried to endure the flames in his bones.
Chapter 2
Talon was floating…somewhere dark. It was so dark…it was beyond darkness. He felt as though he were rising upwards, toward the sky.
And then, he heard a voice…..
"Talon….Talon….Talon!" the voice said, and Talon was surprised to realize that he didn't hear it. It was as if it were playing inside his head. He tried to shout out, but couldn't. "Where am I?" he thought. Then the voice spoke again.
"Funny you should ask. I'm sorry to tell you, Talon, that you are dead."
"Why can't I speak? And why can't I see?" he thought, hoping that once again the voice would respond.
"Because, you idiot, you haven't opened your eyes yet. Open your eyes and all your senses will reactivate."
Using every ounce of will in him, Talon opened his eyes. He was in a huge room, filled with bright light. A man was sitting at a desk, but this man wasn't a man at all. This man…had wings and was wearing mithril armor. "Whoa…." Talon gaped. "Who…no, what are you?"
The "man" smiled. "I can answer both those at once. I am your Arestolite."
Talon gaped some more. "No way. Arestolites don't exist. Master's stories are all fairy tales and lies. You don't, no, you cant exist! I've been in plenty life-threatening situations, and you've never showed up."
"But that's my job, and I haven't been kicked out yet! I've always been there, controlling your thoughts, so that you wouldn't die. If you thought something that would have caused you death, I'd change it. That was all I ever did. You never saw me, of course." He smiled.
Talon laughed. "Well I guess you'd better prepare yourself to be booted out! I died, didn't I? So you failed!"
The Arestolite laughed back. "True, except I didn't fail. I was under orders. I was the one who made you want to do level 6, because I knew you would die. I was supposed to bring you here and inform you of your destiny, and train you properly for things to come."
Talon stopped laughing, but grinned. "More training? Whoo! Bring it!"
"It will be hard, you know. But after this training, a Fallen will seem like an ant to you. You will be able to smash him like a bug, even without my help." He said.
Talon didn't laugh. "Yeah, right. Let's get started then, I want to live again! What exactly will I do in the training?" The eagerness in his voice was obvious.
The Arestolite said nothing, but pulled a paper out of his desk. "Let's see…. first, personal stasis for a day. That seems a bit harsh….Let's see how you cope with a minute or so…." He frowned.
"Personal stasis? What's that? Will it hurt? How will that help?" Talon asked confusedly.
"Stop asking questions. I'm not all knowing. All right, I'll give you a good ten seconds of personal stasis. Brace yourself…." The Arestolite closed his eyes and screwed up his face in focus, then put out his hands, which were glowing blue.
"Whoa, what are you-" Talon began, but then he found that suddenly he was unable to move at all. He could not speak, hear, or move; it seemed as if he was again being swallowed by darkness, but instead of darkness, he was being swallowed by what seemed to be a giant blue crystal. Suddenly, he could see. But with his sight came something else… pain. The pain that he was experiencing was pain beyond all pain; he felt as if his very bones had just burst into flames. He tried to scream, but still couldn't move. The pain was getting worse, he wanted it to stop, to end, to die -
"Ok, I think that's enough." The Arestolite dropped his hands, and Talon fell to the ground. He looked up and saw that there was a large blue crystal just barely big enough for him to fit inside, but it faded away before his eyes. "That hurt, did it not?" Talon nodded. "Good. Now, how much did it hurt, and where?"
"Well, it hurt more than anything I've ever felt, all over my body. It was like I was being burned alive, but the pain was even worse…." Talon shuddered at the thought. He was surprised to realize he was shivering; he was very cold.
"Wow. The thing about stasis is it hurts more the more power you have. It doesn't hurt weaklings at all. It would kill me to have it done on me." The Arestolite smiled. "I'm going to have that renegotiated. That is way too harsh for you. So, the next thing you have to do is…" He raised his eyebrows. "I think they're overestimating you. Next, you have to defeat a mage in battle."
Talon did not seem surprised. "Some magic freak? Bring em' on, they can't use magic anyway, I'll beat them like rugs!" He laughed
"No, I don't think so. Perhaps we should do the stasis after all. See, personal stasis teaches you to endure pain and helps you resist magic. Our mages could kill you with a flick of their wrist." The Arestolite shook his head and sighed. "Come with me."
The Arestolite stood up and began to walk toward him, then past him. Talon followed him into another room, this one pitch black. There was a sudden flash of light, and when Talon looked around, he saw that he was in a black room, and the Arestolite had pointed a finger at the ceiling and there was now an orb of light there.
The Arestolite checked to make sure there was no one coming, then turned to Talon. "Listen, I'm not supposed to tell you this yet, but the pain from stasis can be stopped. It changes from person to person, so every person has his or her own mood or feeling that will stop the pain from stasis. For instance, some people find pacification in happiness, some in anger…. you get the idea. Just think of a feeling and then think of something that makes you have this feeling. Good luck!" He raised his hands and again they glowed blue, and again Talon was swallowed by the stasis crystal, and pain swept over him like a wave of acid.
Once the pain began, he though of Anna, and encountered guilt. The pain raged on. He thought of Master Tang, and that brought happiness, but still the pain came. The thought of the Fallen gave him anger, and fear; but the pain did not relent. He tried every feeling he had ever experienced, but nothing worked. He went through feeling excited, sullen, depressed, remorseful, pained, and even embarrassed. But nothing stopped the unrelenting agony.
So he just sucked it up and tried to endure the flames in his bones.