Chapter 33: Rite of Passage rewritten

Challege: Also if you read this fic all the time and never review, drop me a review if you have a second!

Sage lay back down on his bed, glaring up at the ceiling. His hand was cramped, his eyes felt dry, and his back felt permanently hunched. Severus had wrote a new meaning under the word 'grounded' in the Snape dictionary. It now read 'torture' instead. At least it felt so to Sage. He was mentally going through everything Severus had made him do since he had been caught under the tree at the Yule Ball.

In fact, now that it was holidays, Severus really had nothing more pressing to do than make Sage miserable. As if stacking new supplies of raw Potions ingredients had not been bad enough. An entire day of carting things back from Hogsmeade without magic. Followed by an entire night of arranging them in the storeroom so that they all fit.

By far the most sadistic thing Severus had done was to arm Sage was an armful of sandpaper and then aim him at the wooden worktables in the classroom. His words reverberated in Sage's head: "They look rather shoddy as you can see, and I rather thought you could give them a new glow. In other words, sand until you can no longer see the stains from where the ignoramuses spilled noxious liquids." Sage's hands were cut apart and scratched up for days. Thankfully, he had been able to cover them up with some charms.

Now his uncle seemed to be contented by placing Sage in front of a table of books with a long piece of parchment full of the most frighteningly detailed questions about the information in the books. It was not the books that bothered Sage. No, he rather liked books. He rather hated being forced, forced to read for hours and hours on end. He spent hours translating things. Then he had spent hours deducing the properties of certain 'black-listed' potion ingredients: a.k.a. 'illegal'.

This was why his hand was cramped, his back was screaming, his eyes were dry, and his vision felt blurred.

But, on the bright side, it kept him cooped up in the dungeons and far away from Amanda. Sage could have been more irritated about that if he was not desiring to avoid her anyway. He was not sure what to say to her.

Laying on his bed simply having his own thoughts seemed so precious to him. He had been so busy with intrusive thoughts about the Yule Ball and his grounding, that he hadn't had much time to just be alone with his thoughts. Strangely, he was looking forward to his trip with Severus – just so that he could get away from Hogwarts. He did not want to see the potions classroom, Mandy, or any of the Gryffindors who might have stumbled upon him during the Yule Ball. This trip that he was to embark on tomorrow was supposed to help him to get back to where he should be. It was supposed to help him find out more about himself.

Now, two days after the Yule Ball, Sage was getting ready for the trip with Severus. As the headmaster had informed him, Severus was taking him somewhere where he would find out how to feel more balanced. As cryptic as that was. Sage hadn't even been informed where exactly he was going until this day. Some place called Lyon Llyonyss: a place that was unplottable. A place that no one knew of, except for those who were supposed to know. Another cryptic message his uncle had given him. Sage was anticipating greatly. All this secrecy meant that this was something well worth knowing and somewhere well worth going.

Now he knew why Severus had insisted upon taking him to Hogsmeade to get him some new clothes a few days before Christmas. Clothes Sage thought much more suited his uncle than suited him. They were a little too traditional for him, a bit too staunchy. Moreover, not one article had been a color other than black or grey. Well, there had been a black cloak lined with a deep purple and the black robes to match that they had purchased, but other than that, no color at all. This didn't particularly bother Sage at all, black suited him fine. The detail surrounding this trip made it sound serious. Not to mention no earrings allowed.

After he finished packing his things, he shrunk his trunk and tucked it into his pocket. There was no way he would think to lug his trunk, full sized, all the way down to the dungeons. He looked at himself in the mirror. The plain black pants looked fine, if not as baggy as would have suited him, but they didn't cling to him either. The black linen, drawstring shirt he was wearing underneath was pleasantly soft, but not something he would really wear unless going out with Severus. The robes with the dark purple lining were rather catchy, he had to admit. They made him look taller and perhaps older. The inside was satiny, he noted, as the fabric touched his hands. The only article he was wearing that he had picked out was his shoes: black, lace-up boots. One side of his mouth curved upwards in acceptance of his appearance before he turned away from the mirror and headed down to his uncle.

Severus looked quite ready to go when Sage walked in. He was dressed and sitting on the sofa reading.

With one eyebrow raised slightly he said, "You had better not have disremembered what I told you," he didn't look up from his book.

Sage sighed, "Yes, sir. I am wearing just what you told me to. Although I don't know what the particularity is all about."

"You will soon know."

Sage rolled his eyes, because his uncle was not looking at him to see it. The man was being cryptic again, and it was getting bothersome.

Severus turned to him a moment later.

"Manners, Sage."

Sage's face whitened. He loathed the fact that his uncle had prescience, loathed it. There was not a whole lot that he could pull off without the Professor knowing, especially when they were so close in vacinity. This was the exact reason why many people thought that Snape had an odd sixth sense about misbehaving, he did. And the rumors about the mind reading, quite true as well. Apparently, it was quite a normal occurance for members of his family to be quite gifted in Occlumency and Legilimency as well.

"You had better not disremember what I said about your behavior either."

"Yes, uncle, I am not going to forget. Listen, don't talk-."

Severus scowled, "I did not ask for you to parrot it back to me. I asked you not to forget."

"I won't," Sage answered, crossing his arms.

"You do not always act as befits you. This is not a time for that."

Sage narrowed his stare at him, "Sir, I won't embarrass you. I can tell this is important and even if it were not it would not matter. I'll do whatever it is that I need to do. I will not disappoint you."

His uncle's apparent lack of faith was quite a blow. He had been trying very hard to please him, after the visit to the headmaster, and had been doing well. Well, up until the point that Severus had caught him two days earlier at the Yule Ball.

"Fine then, let us go. We have a long way to get there."

Sage stared around the woods, wondering where they were. They had gone passed the Apparation border at Hogwarts, and had apparated to this place. A small clearing in the thick of trees. The sun was on its way down, but there was still hours of light left.

Severus cleared his throat irritably to catch Sage's attention.
"This way," he said simply, pushing into the trees.

Sage followed, pushing his way behind his uncle, fighting the brush and branches.

He had not idea how Severus knew where he was going because there certainly was not a path. At least, not a path that he was aware of. The only things he was aware of was branches knocking him in the arms in the wake of his uncle and the smell of greenery.

Suddenly Severus grabbed his arm and stood by a very large willow tree. It was beautifully large, and very old. Bigger around the trunk than any tree Sage had even seen. Severus walked up to the trunk, still holding Sage's arm. He whispered words that Sage did not understand, although they sounded vaguely familiar. Like they were similar to a language he already knew, or had at least heard before.

The bark on the tree crumbled in a certain area and fell to the forest floor, revealing symbols carved into the wood. Some were symbols that Sage had come across in Ancient Runes class, but some he had never seen before. His attention was focused.

The Professor reached out with both hands and touched the symbols, again whispering something in a language Sage did not speak. Severus stepped back, grabbed Sage by the arm again, and stepped back further.

Sage could not prevent his mouth from dropping open slightly. Before his eyes the thick forest that had been in front of him turned into a more sparce forest with a definite pathway starting near the old willow.

Walking around the tree, Sage spotted something rather odd. Two black horses, with strange-looking blue eyes stood there, silently and statuesque.

"He knew we were coming," Severus stated, not bothering to turn to Sage.

"Who knew, sir," Sage said, not able to contain his question any further. He wanted to know what this place was and whom he was going to see.

"Sarmach. It is he who will show you, Sage."

Sage abandoned the follow-up question he had wanted to ask about who Sarmach was, because he knew that his uncle would tell him that he would know soon. How aggravating.

At the sound of their voices, the two black horses perked up and trotted over to them. Severus did not look disturbed by this at all, but then again Severus never did look disturbed. He took a hold of the reins of the one that stopped next to him and mounted.

"Er, sir."

Severus looked down at him and smirked, "It is a half an hour ride or a two hour walk. I would suggest mounting the horse. They know they way better, and we will not have to worry about any wards while on these horses."

Sage raised an eyebrow and growled slightly. His horse raised its head and snorted impatiently, the pink flesh of its nostrils flaring. Sage gave it a glare of his own, before finally getting himself into the saddle.

Before he really was situated, the horses both started to canter off into the woods. Sage found that this rather irritated certain parts of his anatomy as well as his backside.

Before long, the horses stopped inside a stone entranceway that looked strangely liked the ruin that muggles called Stonehenge. Sage hopped off the horse as fast as he could and shook out his legs a bit. The ride did not seem to bother Severus at all. When Sage looked up, the horses had gone off and an older man was standing before them. He had white hair like Dumbledore but very dark eyes, like a midnight blue. He was dressed in black robes, tied at the waist in a black belt, and wearing a long black cloak.

Sage looked to his uncle, unsure of what he was supposed to be doing. He felt altogether awkward.

Severus raised his hands and pressed his fingertips together, making a circle with the form of his hands. He offered a slight bow to the man. The man returned the same ceremony. Sage lifted both his eyebrows. Was he supposed to be doing that? He decided that it would be best if he instead kept a respectful distance. Afterall, the stranger knew they were coming, he must also know that Sage had no idea what to do.

Severus walked forward, meeting the man half way, and they began conversing with unreadable expressions on their faces.

Sage did not dare move. He figured he would be told what to do eventually. He was very rarely in situation where he did not know what to do or how to act, but he was willing to surrender to the fact that he had no idea now, and he did not want to guess.

Finally after a few minutes, the old wizard looked his way.

"Come, Magi. You would not wish your journey to begin without you."

Sage breathed deeply and forced himself to walk slowly and confidently, no matter how much he wanted to hurry himself. As he stopped next to his uncle, before the other wizard, he felt a slight jolt go through his system. Power radiated from this man, at least as much as Dumbledore, likely moreso.

The old wizard, who had to have been only an inch or two shorter than his uncle, stared down into Sage's eyes. It was a penetrating stare, a knowing stare. He felt exposed. Sage's eyes were fixated on the deep, dark recesses of those searching midnight eyes. He did not blink. The older man stepped closer to him.

"He has more balance than any I have seen of this age, Severus, you have done well with him, but his confusion and his apprehension are marked on him. It is quite correct that this is the right time for him to come. It is time for him to know, to learn, what has been inside of him all along."

Sage's eyebrow popped up.

"I have known that you would come, Magi. Merlin was not the only one to see your rising. You have very far to go, much to learn, and very limited time - in all senses of the term. You seek your completion as so many others have before you. Forces have called you here. It is in your blood, Lyon Llyonyss is in your blood." He paused to survey Sage's face. "What is your name?"

"Sage, sir."

The old man shook his head and let out a sigh, it almost sounded amused.

"Your father, he knew, before you were born. He was very gifted, your father, in all our traditions. Maildun taught him well. Your father must have seen it in a dream. He chose your name because of what you are and what you are destined to become. Everything that has ever happened in your life has happened for a reason. It is time you realized all that you are and all that is around you."

"He knew that I was a Magi?"

"Yes, why else the irony of your name? Surely, you can believe that quite easily. Merlin himself was know as a great Sage and Magi."

Sage had never thought his name to be anything but a rather odd coincidence. Now, however, he was beginning to see that there were many such coincidences in his life.

When he was a baby, he never took to his mum. Later in life, his mum was so sick with mental stupor that his detachment from her made him stronger; he was used to not having her so he could not really miss her.

On the other hand, he had taken to his uncle, only to be later placed back with him during his more formative years. The only person he had completely trusted for many years had been Severus.

According to his uncle, his father had been very insistent that Severus take an active role with his nephew. He made him come to the hospital and he always left Sage with Severus. Did his father know what was going to happen? Did his father, just like himself, know that he was going to die so early?

Sage's brow furrowed as his thoughts deepened. He felt a need to know what this old man knew. His heart was pumping so fast at the hunger to know what he had come to this place to learn, learn about himself.

The old wizard nodded. "You see now, but that is only the foothills of the mountains that you must climb. There are no secrets from a true and trained Magi's eyes. What took Merlin many decades to know, perhaps you can know much sooner. You know what is possible, you know what you are, Merlin did not for a long time. It is an advantage, but there is much you still do not know about who and what you are. That is why you are here."

For an hour, Sage had followed Severus and the older wizard, named Sarmach, around Lyon Llyonyss. He had seen many other wizards who he felt particularly strong magic from, compared to the normal wizard in Diagon Alley. They were all dressed in black robes, but some of the robes had different color lining. Sage knew that this must be significant, but he did not ask about it. He knew that everything would be explained to him in time.

The time finally came when Sarmach decided that he wanted to talk to Sage alone. Much as he hated to admit it, even to himself, Sage was a little apprehensive about not having his uncle with him. He still had no idea who these people were. Sarmach, however, was not about to hold this information back from him for any longer. When they got to a grove of trees, Sarmach quickly stopped at two tall, thick tree stumps.

"Sit now, Sage, and close your eyes. Pay very close attention to what I am telling you. It is your history, our history, it marks your path."

Sage obligingly sat down on the stump and closed his eyes, trying very hard to relax, but his mind was naturally inquisitive and to have something held back from him for so long made his anxious.

"I can hear your heartbeat racing in your chest. I will lead you to relax and you will follow." He paused.

Sage heard Sarmach sit down on the other stump. Then the man continued.

"Everything springs from an ability to control yourself and everything about your body. Thoughts at inappropriate times are unwelcome - they will hurt you. It is best to spend much time with a clear mind, allowing the powers inherent in the earth to intermingle with the powers that are inherent inside of you. Think only of the wind whistling through the trees, mixed with the sounds of slow deep breaths from inside of you."

He stopped again, and Sage trained his focus on the leaves rustling and the sound and feel of the wind on his face. It was surprisingly easy to let everything go, while he was sitting there on the stump.

"Yes, good. Now turn that focus to the sound of my voice and allow what I am telling you to take over. At the dawn of time, there were men and there were those who were like us, wizards. Unlike now, all wizards were Magi. The magical powers within them were pure and strong.

"Men and wizards lived together and knew of each other, coexisting. The ancient ways, as we now call them, were what tied man and wizard together. That tie was knowledge of the many Gods, and a worship of them. Wizards, who were then all Magi, were like priests. They were content to keep the peace between man and man, and wizard and man. They cured man's sicknesses with the power of the earth and all life, through making elixirs and antidotes. The Magi had the ability to take magical energy from the earth, and magical energy from themselves. A skill, which would now be, called potion-making. They told men's stories and kept men's history through the bard's skill, which taught children not only of their morals, but also of their ancestry. Magi kept the balance between the harsh and the benevolent, between evil and good, Dark and Light. They were aided in the keeping of the balance by their gift of omniscience and prophecy.

"As time went on, the Magi became overcome by mankind, and were unable to keep their own balance. Thus, they were unable to keep the balance between other things. The skills that were given to them by the Gods began to fade, not because they were taken away, but because the Magi lost sight of them. Many took their own lives, and others, frightened by the self-sacrifice lost touch with their powers. Very few were able to escape this hardship. As the time passed by, the Magi intermarried with humankind, drowning the powers within their blood forever. Few, after this time, were blessed with gifts of pure magic. Lines were crossed. Those who had been pureblooded Magi were long forgotten. Wizards were no longer all Magi; in fact, Magi became a rarity among life. The Gods would, you see, allow wizards to be born from non-magic parentage, with the hope of rebirthing Magi.

"The Old Ways, Ancient Ways were losing their powers. Afterall, humankind and wizardkind alike believed that the Gods had taken away the Magi as a curse or a punishment. Worship of the Old Ways became a selfish worship, concerned only with revenge and power. Those who worships hoped that by giving false worship, the Gods would reward them. As pure worship declined, so did the powers of the Old Ways and the Old Gods. The gift lay dormant in the blood of wizards, the forgotten gift of the Magi. Few lines adhered purely to the Old Ways, compared to the ranks before. These were among the most pure and ancient families of wizards; decended from the original Magi, unblemished compared to others who had lost balance.

"Those wizards, who adhered to the Old Ways, who strived for balance within themselves, so that they could provide it outside of themselves; those who trained their families, male children, in the Ancient Arts became known as Druids. They were among the most feared wizards long ago, because they were among the most powerful wizards. They had mostly abandoned aiding humankind as the worship of the Old Ways among humankind and wizardkind declined almost into nothingness. This was the time of the rise of Merlin, the last Druid who made a direct attempt at aiding humankind or wizardkind, for that matter, because Merlin was born a Magi. Merlin, through many decades, found near perfect balance within himself, like the Magi of old, and he went out and tried to recreate the balance in the world. However, you understand, the Christian God, the One God, was now capturing humankind. In the end, it is all the same anyway; the Old Gods and the new One God were the same entity, for simplification. It was easier for humankind to worship one God than many Gods. Thus, the link that had held humankind and wizardkind togther vanished.

"The Druids, the only true adherants to the Old Ways, took this as the sign that they must remove themselves from mankind's history and start their own history independent of mankind, in order to survive. They were not Magi, as Merlin was, and they thought that they could not aid humankind without destroying themselves, which many still believe. Wizards too, believed that they must escape the persecution of humankind and their pride over their new God. Men no longer understood wizards and thought that they were evil, none were strong enough to stand with man or against man.

"Merlin alone, a Druid warrior and priest, kept the world from falling into a second Darkness - a Darkness that would have been the lack of God. Merlin alone, a Magi, kept the balance between God and Godlessness, Light and Dark. He did not cause the anihilation of the Dark; he caused a balance between the two that has held for centuries. The first darkness, you are wondering, what kept us from the first Darkness? The first Darkness was not avoided, it decended upon the world with the birth of two men: the Magi, Amun Ra, and his powerful Dark Creature, Nag.

"You have read about Ra, I know, so I will continue on a a stricter point about the first Darkness. Nag was a very learned Druid, born with many powers. Many thought he was a Magi when he was a child, but he was not. Nag became obsessed with the idea that the mind was the only barrier to becoming a Magi. He began to study all Ancient Magic in the hopes that he would come across the key. He was only a fourteen-year-old boy. His study led him to believe that blood was the key to having the powers of a Magi. Which it is. Nag, being a naïve despute his own pride, thought that by combining the blood of powerful wizards, he could unleash his own powers… There is no account of how it happened, because once he left the circle of the Druids they could no longer chronicle his activities using the Bard's gift. Nag became unhuman, a creature poisoned with Darkness. He turned into what is now called a Vampyre.

"In effect, Nag got many of the things that he wanted. He became possessed of super acute senses; something only Magi trained in intense focus could achieve. His senses, however, were attuned for the hunt for pure, powerful blood. His body became capable of movement so fast, that none could escape him, movement so quiet, that none would hear him coming. What is more, Nag became possessed of a gift that very few even achieved that were not Magi: prescience. While far from omniscience, which many Magi of centuries before never achieved, it was something that made him very powerful. And last, Nag was able to penetrate the minds of people who left their minds open. He used this skill to manipulate his victims, to scare other wizards into submission, and to mastermind Ra's Nag, a horde of followers.

"Nag had persuaded Ra, a young Magi, that Ra could return balance to the world and create a pedestal for himself as a God for the people. Terror ensued as Ra, untrained and poisoned by Nag's words, created in the world a mirror image of what was inside of himself. Ra was not balanced, he was not made of the Light and the Dark, he was poisoned by the Dark, consumed by it, and thus the world became the same.

"The Druids were among those who chose to defy Ra, by not serving him, and most disappeared from the world with the aims of learning how to defeat Ra, by way of ancient magic. Many died in the attempt, but one Druid, the chief Druid, found the text that would help them. Fawkes was a powerful Druid; able to do wandless magic beyond what any alive had witnessed from any other than Ra or Nag. In the end, it took about a hundred Druid lives, wiping out the majority of the adult Druids, but Ra was killed along with Nag.

"There marks the end of the history lesson, young Magi. What remains is to tell you why you are here, although you must suspect. Lyon Llyonyss is built on top of the caves that housed the High Brotherhood of Druids who gave their lives to return balance to the world. Lyon Llyonyss is where Merlin was born. Is is the only place left in the world where Druids congregate and where Druidic Rite is performed. It is the place that calls all with the purist wizard blood, who are descended from generations of Druids, who were descended from the original wizards at the dawn of time, who were all Magi. Those of Druidic blood are tortured by feeling an lack of inner-balance, and are brought here, driven to come here, by a need to achieve balance.

"Like you, Sage, other Druids find their powers diminished by a state of unbalance within themselves. Like you, Sage, they find an ability to do magic driven by their state of balance. The more balance, the more the magic. Very few are able to hit their ceiling, or the complete use of all the powers that rest inside their blood. Unlike you, Sage, they strive to hopefully one day find that limit. You will strive to surpass that limit at all moments in your life, and if you do achieve perfect balance, you will achieve what would be termed true magical omnipotence. You will be able to do anything your mind deems possible. No Magi has ever done so, as recorded by Druids that were around thousands of years before Ra. Only the original Magi, given their true powers by the Ancient Gods ever achieved something like that, and likely very few of them. You, my young friend, are a compilation of the blood of those original Magi; you are a last attempt by the Ancient Gods, to return the gift of the Magi to the world.

"You come to me during the dawning of the fight to prevent the third Darkness. The other Druids you will find here are like priest, Sage, as you will soon see. They seek to perfect the balance within themselves, and in Lyon Llyonyss, our world. You, as a Magi, are a warrior and a priest in this time of Darkness rising. You must seek to achieve balance and then you must bring it to the world to prevent the third Darkness. That is your task. You alone. While very powerful, the High Brotherhood will no longer fight as they did during the first Darkness, so long as the Gods equip them with a Warrior, a Magi. The Druids who formed the Order of the Phoenix during the Reign of Ra, sacrificed themselves in a pure worship of the Old Gods and the Ancient Ways, pooling together their magical abilities to perform a spell made by the original Magi, giving their life to take Ra's and return balance to the world. Since then, the Brotherhood has always been sent a Magi, during times of impending darkness. As priests of the Ancient Ways, Sage, it is our task to teach you, to show you how to achieve the balance of the true Magi. This is, of course, if your father was correct about you being the One, and of course, if Merlin was correct in his Prohecy. Which I shall see in due time."

Sarmach stopped speaking and looked at Sage.

Sage's focus was entirely tuned. It was stronger than he had felt it in a long time. It was as if Sarmach's voice entrapped his focus. His focus was not yet released.

Without warning, he felt as if his entire being was jolted. Pain crashed down upon him like he was suddenly squished between the rings of the tree. He did not feel himself fall off the stump, or feel his limbs loose control. Strangely, through the most intense pain he had ever felt during one of his visions, he opened his eyes.

Instead of seeing the woods, or Sarmach, he saw a sweeping green valley. He got up off the ground, the pain lingering away in the distance, and walked around this empty space. Draw by something, he began walking down a steep green hill. Laying there sleeping, on a large bed, he saw his father. He knew his father's dream, he was having it as well, as he stared at his father's face. It was a situation he knew all too well. The night of his father's murder. His father had known that he was going to die. When his father woke, he sat up. Sage saw the baby on the bed next to him, he saw himself.

His father picked up the baby and held him, speaking slowly and softly, "I will leave you, and by leaving you start the course for you, and my death will cause the window for you to achieve your own destiny. You have nothing to fear because you are what we have been waiting for since Darkness first crept back into dominion through Voldemort. You are a Magi. You are the One I have been told of, that I have dreamt of. But you will not be alone, you will have two parts that you have brought together in one blood. You will have their presence beside you and in you, giving the three a power that can return the balance. I have no fear in that I must give my life for you, and I have no fear knowing that my blood will take my place, in time.

"Fate will reunite us in the end. You have nothing to fear, as I have nothing to fear. All in the Sign of Eternity."

Before his eyes the bed, the baby, and his father vanished.

He saw many more things, people that he did not know, as he walked through the valley in search of whatever it was that was summoning him in different directions. Finally, he grew tired and sat down on the ground, wondering where he was and if something terribly bad was happening to him. Could he be dead? Did the vision send him into a coma?

The green grass felt silky under his fingers. His eyes were beginning to grow heavy. He lay down on the soft grass and stared up at the perfect blue sky.

"Tired already, no desire to see more?" Asked a voice above him.

He opened his eyes and saw a navy blue robed wizard. Quickly, he sat up, and stared up at Merlin.

"What am I seeing?"

Merlin chuckled, "Nothing that will make sense as this is your first time. Do you wish for me to show you one more thing? I can show you what will give you purpose, Sage."

Nodding, Sage stood up and followed Merlin down a path. The path was dirt, but it almost looked like sparkly silver dust. When he reached the end of the path, he stopped next to Merlin.

There was a woman, robed and veiled in deep black. She was holding something in her hands. He walked closer as Merlin did. He could not see the features of the woman, but he was allowed to see the newborn baby she was holding. It fists were balled up. It had gorgeous big, blue eyes.

Merlin spoke, "This woman represents what should drive you, young Magi. I could tell you many things about her, this child, or her husband. However, I will tell you this. It is love that this woman represents, Sage. There is love between this woman and her child. There is love between this woman and her husband. What you see here is what will happen should you fail. Her husband has been killed, Magi, by the forces of Darkness. What keeps her alive, what keeps her from taking her own life, is this child and the hope that it will not grow up in darkness."

"Who is this woman? Why would her problem drive me?"

"She is as every woman, young Magi. When you find love, in time, you will understand. Once you are tied to this world through allowing yourself to feel you will want to help all people. You will want to save them all from darkness with your life: This woman, this child, her husband, as if she were your wife, you were her husband, and this were your child. You will want to fulfill your purpose, if you only allow yourself a tie to this world. Emotion is that tie, young Magi. Emotion is only a weakness when you allow it to overpower you. When is disrupts your balance."

The woman faded away as Merlin finished his speech.

"You are young yet, Sage, with training, with experience, and with an acceptance of life, everything will be clearer. You must first find balance."

Suddenly, Sage felt himself moving backwards through the valley as if he were floating. He stared at the ground in disbelief. Finally, he found himself lying on the ground where he had first come to this place and opened his eyes to it. Again, his eyelids grew heavy and he closed them. As his lids fell down, he felt himself decending gently, slowly.

Icey coldness enveloped him when he felt himself stop moving. He felt something he had not felt since he had been in the valley, a cold breeze, and the wind whistling through the trees. The valley had been windless, scentless, and soundless, except for what he was supposed to hear.

He moved slightly, he was on a cold, slightly moist, carpet of grass. He opened his eyes again; not sure of what he would see this time. Sarmach was standing over him, the hood of his robes was up. It framed his old face making him look powerful. His body was looking very tall and impressive, a stoical, serious look planted upon his face. It was no longer midday as it had been but dark night.

When he sat up gingerly, feeling tremors go through his body, the forms of tens of Druids surrounding him and Sarmach in a large circle, made his heart jump in fear for a minute. Their large, black hoods, looking quite imposing, framed all their faces.

His heart was pounding so hard against his ribcage, he was afraid it would crack a rib. His face was moist with sweat, and he had a feeling that it had been for some time. Sarmach reached a hand out towards him, and Sage's instinct forced him to attempt to scramble backwards on the ground. He struggled to get up and defend himself, and it was at that moment that Sarmach grabbed a hold of his arm and pulled him up, moving close to him.