Rebirth

Chapter 9: Gone (Avalon)

"What's wrong, Avalon!" Maya shouted in alarm.

Avalon had suddenly grabbed his chest in utter pain and he was doubled over. Rivas had already appeared looking at Avalon from afar trying to discover what was the problem.

"Do you see anything?" Kazan asked Rivas.

Rivas shook her head, "He appears to be normal."

"Avalon, tell me," Maya said urgently.

"He's gone," Avalon managed. His voice sounded shocked.

"Who's gone?" Maya implored.

"Igohl's he's…"

"Dead? Is he dead," Maya pushed.

"No, I don't know. I don't feel him anymore…"

Maya looked over at Kazan when Avalon said this.

"I see, Igohl has found another host," Kazan said.

"No…no, it's impossible!" Avalon proclaimed, "He wouldn't do that. He wouldn't do that."

"Avalon, calm down, it's alright—

"No, it isn't alright," Avalon said his voice growing louder, "We made a promise, damn it."

"What was the promise?" Maya asked in calm tones.

"That we would never leave each other no matter what."

"He's been gone for a while now," Kazan said confused, "I think he broke that promise long before this time."

Maya too wondered why the loss of Igohl mattered so much now—was this a belated reaction?

"You're wrong," Avalon declared, "Physically, he had departed, but I still felt him. Don't you understand? We were still spiritually connected. But now…there's nothing there anymore. That bastard…!"

"Avalon, please calm down," Maya pleaded.

"It's completely empty," Avalon stood up as he said this. He started to look around for something. "Everything he said to me…everything we did."

"What are you looking for?" Maya asked.

"I know I saw it somewhere."

He pushed passed her nearly knocking her down as he made his way to Kazan's room. His frantic eyes swept over the room until he found it—a sword. Kazan was there now standing in the doorway.

"We're still connected. I know we are. Igohl, I won't let you get away with this."

"What are you planning on doing with my sword?" Kazan asked cautiously.

Avalon unsheathed the sharp blade and swiftly pointed it at his heart. Kazan leaped in and tackled the other knocking him completely off balance.

"Get off me!" Avalon yelled, "If I die, he dies. He'll pay—I swear he'll pay. If he won't come back to me, he won't be with anyone."

Avalon struggled against Kazan's grip as he was pinned to the wall. His arm reached out desperately for the sword, but soon Maya had stepped into the room, taking the sword away a good distance.

"What gives you the right," Avalon seethed with he realized he couldn't escape Kazan, "Who made you the ones to decide if I can die or not?"

His eyes glowered now, but this did not perturb Kazan. Avalon was quite harmless.

"I didn't ask for your help."

"Believe me, I agree. If it were up to me, I would have just left you out there, but Maya, she cared too much about life to simply watch you throw it away."

"Well, tell Maya to mind her own business. Tell her, her naïveté will be the death of her."

"As long as I'm here, Avalon, she has nothing to worry about. You just need to be thankful for what you have now and stop acting like you don't give a damn."

Avalon tried again to force his way out of Kazan's grip, but this time his efforts were much more fervent. Kazan, growing tired of this entire ordeal, pressed the pressure point near the nape of Avalon's neck and Avalon was quickly sent into an unconscious state.

"What did you do?" Maya cried from the distance.

"He's a little too hardheaded for my taste," Kazan said climbing to his feet, "Don't worry, I didn't kill him."

Maya rushed over to Avalon's lax form and checked for his pulse. Kazan watched as a relieved expression sprung to her face. He shook his head in response.

"Maya, you just remember one thing; you can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved."

"I know," Maya said softly, "but I can always try."

The night hadn't ended as well as Maya had hoped. Kazan left once again leaving her alone with Avalon. Carefully, Maya drug Avalon's limp body back to the bed and hoisted him back onto it. For a while, May sat in front of the bed with uncrossed legs. She wondered how she had managed to find herself living with two guys. One—Kazan—was more a father figure, but she was no longer a child so he was more like a close friend. He was middle aged, but remarkably sturdy. They had lived together for a while and Maya had learned that he had never had a family of his own and that he was quite solitary. When he was younger, women were a subject that was far from his mind. He had been a warrior through and through; it was only now in his advancing years that he found that he regretted this fact. Maya noticed that Kazan spent more and more time at Suza's house—a woman who was only a couple of years older than Kazan. Since Maya had become of age to take care of herself, Kazan felt less obligated to be around. Of course, old habits die hard—they still lived together.

Avalon was a different story. According to what he said at the fire, his hair had always been graying since the day that he could remember. She couldn't tell from that what his age was. Like an older man, he seemed quite set in his ways. All those years back, Maya had simply been terrified of his presence. His demeanor demanded attention and he spoke with conviction. Now some layers of enigma that had made him seem inhuman really had been removed. Still, she didn't really know him. It was a little too soon to figure such things out.

His eyes added to the various cloaks that shielded his real age from ever being guessed. But his face, that was completely smooth unlike Kazan's. This gave him an ageless appearance. Maya thought he could have been young, but his eyes had too much depth in them as if he had seen far more things than she ever could.

Though his hair was grayish white, the gray seemed to be in a shade not common to older people—only Maya had noticed the subtle difference, but did that mean anything?

Now as he lay unconscious on the bed with closed eyes, he appeared to be younger than usual. There were no stress lines, not even laugh lines—he couldn't be past twenty. Maya wasn't sure about this either, but soon she tired herself out debating his true age and trotted off to her room. If she really wanted to learn his age, she'd just have to ask him tomorrow.