Chap. 5
Rorek
The figure was tall and slender, dressed in light armor and black cloth. His hair was long and white, draping down over his shoulders. Cloth wrapping covered his lower face, but he reached up and pulled it aside, revealing his handsome face. Slowly he looked over the room, seeing the figures inside. He took in each one quickly, seeming to learn all he needed with but a glance. Then he saw the Almagan and Raven. When he saw those two, he stopped. The two of them stared back at him. "Are you Raven of Azarath?" he asked the empath. "I am." Raven answered. Turning to the being next her, he asked, "Are you the Almagan of legend?" "We are." The figure replied. "Then I thank you for releasing me." The figure said. As those words left his lips, he staggered back, as his eyes rolled back into his head. He began to fall forward and would have hit the floor, had the Almagan not caught him. "Is he all right?" Starfire asked from the back. "Being separated from the book exhausted him. Let's get him to the med-lab." The Almagan replied. Taking the unconscious boy in it's arms, the huge warrior turned to the door and headed for the lab, with the others following it; though one followed a bit more then the others.
The Almagan reached the med-lab quickly, and once inside, set the figure down upon on of the beds. After setting it down, the warrior began to glow gold and black again. As the Titans and BRATS entered the room, the energy surrounded it, but this time, the energies broke away from each other leaving two fields of gold and black. But a moment later, even those fieldsvanished; leaving Brett and Sara separate again. "Are you sure that we shouldn't do a scan or something?" Nelson asked. "I don't think so." Sara asked. "He doesn't have any obvious injuries, and I can't sense any loss in his magic that would have weakened him. He's just exhausted from the separation." "I still can't believe that we pulled it off." Raven said, as she looked at the figure on the bed. It was strange; she'd gotten a mental picture of Malichor from the descriptions in the book. Apparently the dragon hadn't changed too much of the text. The young wizard looked just like she'd pictured him, with the exception of the R on his chestplate instead of an M. His face however, was a pleasant surprise, since the book hadn't detailed that part of him. "Probably just as well." Raven whispered, as she moved up to touch his face. But before she could, the wizard let in a gasp of air, and suddenly sat up on the table. "What happened?" he asked, as he looked around the room. "How did I get here?"
"You fainted, we brought you into our medical lab." Robin explained. "What's a medical lab?" the wizard asked. "And who are you?" "I'm Robin, leader of the Teen Titans." "Titans… yes, you helped to send Malichor back into the book. I owe you thanks for that." Gingerly, Rorek swung his legs over the table and stood. "Where is the Almagan? I wanted to speak to it about what had happened." "You still can." Brett said. "You'll just get two opinions now." Sara added. Rorek turned to face them, then nodded. "Of course, the Shadow and Light Knights. Thank you both for your help." Brett nodded, but said, "We just kept the dragon back. Raven's the one you should thank; she cast and controlled the spell." It was then that Rorek got his first good look at Raven. His eyes widened, as he drank in her frame. "I see the dragon lied again. He said you were merely beautiful." Rorek said. "Thank you." Raven said, thankful that her hood hid her blush. "It is I who should thank you my lady." Rorek said, as he walked over and took Raven's hand. Gently, he brought it to his mouth and kissed it. Underneath her hood, Raven's face went crimson, but thankfully no one could see it.
Brett however, was a bit more vocal. "Wow, I've only had a daughter for five months and I already have to deal with boys." "Daughter?" Rorek asked in confusion. "I though Trigon.." "He's dead." Sara said. "Raven is our daughter now." "You were able to kill Trigon the Terrible?" Rorek asked in amazement. "I have been gonea long while. In my time he was invincible." Turning to the others, he asked, "Please, tell me what else I have missed. What of my homeland, my people?" The heroes all looked at each other, unsure of what to say. "Maybe you should come with us." Robin said gently. "We can talk somewhere more comfortable." The wizard nodded, and the group began to leave for the main room. Rorek lingered a moment, looking around with a mix of amazement and sadness. Raven placed her hand on his shoulder, and offered a small smile. The wizard returned it, and the two walked out. But they were not the last ones out of the room. Milhouse and Beast Boy were behind them, and as they left, Milhouse noticed an expression of disgust on his green friend's face. "Smell something bad?" Milhouse asked. "Maybe." Beast Boy replied, as he walked out of the room. What was that about? Milhouse wondered. Taking a deep sniff, he searched for some offending odor. Sensing none, the young boy simply shrugged and walked off to join the others.
For the next hour, the Titans told Rorek of everything that had happened since he had been trapped. The wizard listened to most of it with interest, but listening to the state of his homeland hit him hard. "All of it? Gone?" he asked in shock. "I'm sorry Rorek. It was invaded a century after you vanished. They burned everything to the ground and slaughtered the people." Sara said. The wizard's head hung low, and his body shook as he sobbed quietly. "It is all right, friend Rorek." Starfire said, trying to comfort him. "There was nothing you could have done." "Then why do I feel like there was?" the wizard asked, as he wiped his eyes. "You can't linger on it, Rorek." Raven said. "You have to move on; the past will only trap you." "Maybe, but I think that's what I need now." The wizard answered. "Then, I knew who I was. I have no purpose in this time, this world. There is nothing for me here. And my home is gone." "Not true." Starfire said. "You could be with us. We could give you a home." Most of the others nodded, but Beast Boy was not one of them. "Wait Star, are you saying we just make this guy a Titan?" "I do not see why we shouldn't." Star replied. "He is strong, courageous…." "How do you know?" the green one asked. "The last thing we let out of that book was good at firs too, and we know how that ended up." "That's enough Beast Boy." Raven said, getting to her feet. "Rorek's been through a lot. He deserves a break." "Yeah, but that doesn't mean we give him the keys to the Tower. We did that before, remember?"
At that, Bart and Martin both stepped forward. "I'm with Greenie on this." Bart said. "We need to be careful about who trust after what happened." "But I think we need to give a chance." Martin said. "Why not give him a trial run? Let him stay here, earn our trust." "That sounds fair to me." Robin agreed. "Any objections?" Everyone nodded, even Raven. "All right then Rorek. You'll stay in the med-lab for now, and once you're ready, we'll give you a communicator and your own quarters." The wizard nodded; raising to his feet, he took the young boy's hand and shook it. "Thank you for the chance, Robin." He said.
As the heroes watched the scene unfold, Milhouse and Brett stood to the side. "You think it'll work?" Milhouse asked. "Rorek's got talent. I think he'd be a good addition. Plus he did fight a dragon. At least Beast Boy showed he learned from Terra." "I don't know if that's it." Milhouse, remembering what hadoccured in the med-lab. Could it have been... naw, no way. Milhouse thought. "What do you mean?" Brett asked. Maybe he knows. Hell, he's more the four hundred years old, he'd know. 'Sides, I think he'd want to know. "Well, something happened after you guys left before….."