Chapter 8
(Dropping his wet book bag on a chair as he enters his home, Amandil slides off his shoes. The house is dark; only the waning sunlight coming in through the windows remains. A soft pitter patter of rain on the roof can be heard. He flips on the lights as he enters the bare kitchen. A couple of unpacked boxes are piled in the corner. On the counter is a note.)
Amandil (Reading, then speaking quietly to himself): "'Hey, sweetie. I have to stay late at work again. Sorry.' Not again, mum. Why do you always do this to yourself?"
(Shaking his head, Amandil approaches the refrigerator. He opens it, but doesn't find anything to his pleasing.)
Amandil (Smiling): "Water's much better anyways."
(Picking a mostly clean glass from the sink, Amandil fills it with water and takes a sip. Looking down at his watch, his eyes grow large and he rushes down the hall and up the stairs. Across the landing and to the left, he opens a door and shuts it behind himself. Inside, he plops down in a swiveling chair in front of his computer. The entire computer set is a deep navy blue. Through a window in the side of it an indigo colored cathode light gives off intermittent bursts. The monitor flickers on as Amandil presses a small button at its base. An image of rolling green hills and deep azure skies stretches across his desktop. Smiling, Amandil flips a switch on the stereo system beside him. The song "Fields of Innocence" by Evanescence fades in and is soon playing quite loudly; it is half way through.)
Amy Lee (Evanescence main singer, singing): "- trapped in the eyes of a stranger, oh I, I want to go back to believing in everything..."
Amandil: "Time for some fun."
(Clicking several times, the screen turns black. A beautiful blonde appears on the screen. She is calmly holding a staff in her hand. An evil looking lizard-humanoid stands over her shoulder, its tongue arching into the air as it reaches for her. On the bottom of the screen is the text 'Loading...' accompanied by a bar indicating its progress.)
Amy Lee (Evanescence main singer, singing): "Where has my heart gone? An uneven trade for the real world…"
(Several seconds pass before this screen fades and is replaced by another one. A three dimensional world unravels on the screen, and in the center of it is an armor clad young man lightly holding a mace in his hand. The end of the mace glows slightly, giving off shimmering blue strands of magic. He stares blankly ahead. Amandil smiles and looks down at his watch.)
Amandil: "Right on time."
(He looks back up at the screen and clicks once more. As he patiently waits, the camera pans in on the screen until it is all that can be seen. The screen fades to black, leaving the camera in darkness. When the camera moves again, it is coming out of a dark corner in the room. Night has since fallen and Amandil is still in his chair. A different song is just starting, "Harder to Breathe" by Maroon 5. The sky outside is now dark, and the fall of rain is heavy as it batters the outside windows. Glancing through the blinds and out the window, Amandil bites his lip. There is a bright flash, and several seconds later a loud thunder clap that shakes the house. The monitor now has several moving people on it. In the distance is a black ominous dragon which is chasing another person back towards the main group. Amandil types a message to those around him. It is displayed as below, periodically interrupted by the currently playing song.)
[Ilfirinia: Guys, I've got some major lightning action going on here. If I LD it's not my fault. Y'all good on heals without me?]
Adam Levine (Singing): "- when it gets cold outside and you got nobody to love-"
[Leapers: Yup, we should have it easy.]
[Drune: Overkill...]
[Kenila: Don't worry about it, honey. Just get back on as soon as you can! =D]
Adam Levine (Singing): "- is there anyone out there cause it's getting harder and harder to breathe-"
[Ilfirinia smiles.]
(The dragon nears, and Amandil visibly grows more intense in anticipation. His fingers hover over the keyboard. Laughing at himself, he takes a deep breath and leans back.)
[Tinyhiney: Healage plz Ilf.]
[Ilfirinia: I'm on it, Eric.]
(Pressing a key, a soft blue glow begins emitting from the hands of one of the characters on the screen, Amandil's. Amandil watches the screen closely then lets out a sigh of relief after ten seconds time.)
[Merlivon: Nice heal, Aman.]
Adam Levine (Singing): "- does it kill, does it burn. Is it painful to learn-"
[Ilfirinia: Thanks =)]
[Tinyhiney: Crap, he's smackin' me good an-]
(Amandil doesn't see the rest. Time slows down as there is a bright flash outside, lighting up the room. From this new addition of light, the camera accelerates into the unused outlet on the wall. It follows twisting wires down through walls, across a ceiling, down another wall and out of the house into the ground. Jagged bolts of electricity shoot up it further down the line, getting closer and closer to the camera. As they pass, the soil begins to glow green. The electricity gains a distinct emerald color as it enters the house. Amandil's hands slowly move across the keyboard as he reaches to press the combination that will heal Tinyhiney. The electricity surges out of the outlet and moves along the mess of wires and cables behind Amandil's computer. They spread out, several going into the monitor, several into the computer itself. All at once, they converge and shoot out of it into Amandil as time returns to normal. Temporarily suspended in the air, Amandil cries out in pain. In an explosion of energy, Amandil flies back through a door and out into the hall. For a moment, he twitches. His eyes glow a bright shade of green for a moment more before he slumps to the ground, unconscious. A boom of thunder rumbles through the now silent and dark house as the camera pans out on Amandil's motionless form...)
