Well finally I am back from my vacation and here is the next chapter. I was told I was doing these author's notes correctly so I pat myself on the back lol. This chapter was a bit disliked by some people and I know that because I was posting this story on another website and the people there were a bit disappointed with this one, but I hope you all like it. Enjoy. J

Chapter 7

Of Temples and Visions

I was looking down at my feet when complete silence filled the Hall. I looked up to see if the crowd was waiting for something. When I looked up, I was very confused, the crowd was still cheering but I couldn't hear anything. It was just an eerie silence.

My hearing started to come back, I could hear screams of excitement again. No, those weren't screams of excitement, but screams of terror. I looked around to see what was happening but everyone was still smiling, clapping, and cheering. Now, I was really confused. I heard explosions now, and sounds of a battle, but still the crowd kept on cheering. A few people noticed the confused and panicked look on my face and gave me weird looks. Then quietly at first, I heard a ringing in my ears. It steadily grew louder and louder until it masked all the other sounds, and all I heard was the ringing. It got so loud, I felt like my head was going to explode, I clamped my hands over my ears, it made no difference and more people were noticing my strange behavior. I closed my eyes so their looks wouldn't bother me, the ringing increased. I was just about to cry out in pain, it hurt so much, when it stopped. There was no sound at all, I opened my eyes and saw the horrific scene in front of me.

The Hall was deserted and in ruins. Part of the ceiling had fallen in, and the banners on the walls were in flames. There seemed to be an air of sorrow and loss about the place, as if something terrible had happened, and it had nothing to do with the city's destruction.

A man walked in the ruined Hall. It was the robed man from my previous visions. From across the Hall I could see his red eyes glowing, and he must have been smiling wickedly because I could see his teeth glinting in the fire light.

He then spoke to me in a voice anyone would fear if they heard it. It was the voice in the wind you heard while walking alone at night. It was the voice that made little children scared of the dark. It was the voice in everyone's nightmares. It was the voice of Darkness. "I am coming," he said menacingly. "I am coming," he repeated venomously. Then he began to laugh the coldest laugh I have ever heard. It chilled my blood; the warmth of the nearby fires was gone. My limbs went numb, and I collapsed onto my back. Suddenly, the man was standing over me looking down at me as if I were a thorn bush blocking his path. "I am coming - for you!" he shouted.

I was back in the undamaged Hall, but no one was cheering. I realized I was on my back and the concerned faces of my friends were above me.

"Hyriu!" someone shouted, "Hyriu, are you alright?" It was Lina.

"Yeah," I said weakly, "Yeah, I'm alright."

She helped me up, "Are you sure?" she asked, and as she was helping me up, her hand touched the exposed skin on my arm, she gasped, "Hyriu, you are freezing."

Everyone around me all put his or her hands on my forehead. When they felt how cold I was, they drew their hands back quickly. Yugoda came over to me and swirled some hot water around my head. That really helped. I got to my feet with Lina and Yugoda's help.

"See, nothing to worry about," I heard Chief Arnook telling the crowd. "He's just overwhelmed is all. And can you blame him?" He stared to chuckle to try to calm them all down, and a few people joined in his chuckle. "Well now I bid you all a good afternoon. I really must get going if these children are to enjoy their gift properly."

With that, the crowd started to disperse. I saw Hana close to the stage, a concerned look on her face, but her eyes were still full of suspicion. I also noticed she had put on a long dark blue coat, which I thought was odd since it wasn't too cold out. I waved and smiled at her to show I was alright; she waved back and left the Hall with the crowd. We went into the back rooms of the Hall. I saw the whole Royal Court, my friends and Wei; they were all giving me concerned looks.

"Now Hyriu," Wei said, "What really happened out there?"

"Well I…I had this weird dream-vision thing," I started to say.

"Wait, didn't you say you had a crazy dream after History?" Koluk remembered.

"So you've had two of these visions today?" Wei asked.

"I've had four," I answered, and everyone gasped.

"This is not good, I have to take Hiko home, you know how he gets worried easily. You should tell everyone here what you saw in your visions. I will meet you at the Plaza Square," Wei said then left.

"Okay," I said, everyone looked at me expectantly. "Well um, I had the first vision in History class. The second was during water bending practice, the third just after practice. And the fourth was just then on stage when I collapsed."

"Okay, why don't you tell us what happened in your first vision," Chief Arnook suggested.

"It happened in a bunch of fast flashes," I started. "The first thing I saw was a temple of some sort behind a large hill of ice. It was a water tribe temple; kind of circular with a large spire on top. The spire was glowing bright blue." Chief Arnook glanced at some of the court members. "After that I saw the Capital, and there was black snow falling. Then, the moon turned red, and a meteor fell from the black sky and landed in a forest, the Earth Kingdom, I think. I also saw someone in a metal cell chained up. His head was bowed so I couldn't see who he was. After that, I saw a very large castle next to a lake. It was burning, and there was a full-scale war going on all around it. The last thing I saw was a large statue of a Fire Nation man in the middle of a lake or a river of some kind. On each shore there was a statue of a dragon."

"Great Gates of Azulan," I heard the Chief mutter under his breath.

"Suddenly little explosions of multi-colored light were all over the place and there were streams of black smoke swirling around, and the statues collapsed. That's all I can remember from the first one," I said out of breath.

Chief Arnook had a very troubled look on his face, "Come with me, everyone else stay here except my daughter, Master Pakku, Yugoda, and Hyriu's friends."

We walked out of the back of the Hall. We were already on the Northern boundary of Hydronia. We climbed a large hill in front of us. When we got to the top, I could see the whole of Hydronia; it was beautiful.

Chief Arnook turned me around and pointed, "Now then, is this the temple you saw in your vision?"

I was shocked; it was the very same temple only the spire wasn't glowing. "Yes, yes it is."

"Well it is said that when the spire glows, that the Avatar has returned," he saw the worried look on my face, "But we can never be certain of anything right now. What did you see in your other visions?"

"I'm not sure if I want to talk about them, now that I see this temple is real and you said something about the Gates of Azulan," I said unnerved.

"Yes the Great Gates of Azulan. I saw a very accurate painting of them and you described them perfectly," Arnook said, "What unsettles you so much about the other visions?"

"Well they have people in them; people I know," I glanced at Koluk and Lamara who were still looking at the temple, Arnook and Lina noticed my glance, "I saw disturbing things and since I now know that they could actually happen…" I didn't need to finish.

"Yes, and the red moon…"Arnook started.

"What about the red moon?" I asked.

He glanced at his daughter Princess Yue, "Oh nothing, nothing at all," he said with a fake smile, though I could see the worry in his eyes.

"Well I guess I should tell you about the robed man," I said, "He was in the last three visions. He wears a long black robe with a hood that casts a dark shadow over his face so I couldn't make out many details. The only part of his face I could see clearly were his eyes," I shuddered. "He has eyes the color of blood, and his pupils, they aren't a circle like ours. They were a sort of cross-like shape," I drew in the snow the shape.

Chief Arnook studied the mark, as did my friends.

"Well this is very disturbing," Chief Arnook said. "If you have any more visions be sure to tell someone immediately. Well we had better get a move on if we are to meet Master Wei in time."

We started back down the hill. When we got to the bottom, we went in the back entrance of the Hall. Before we walked back inside, I saw the shadow sneaking through the buildings nearby. My heart immediately began to beat faster with fear.

"What's wrong Hyriu?" Lamara said seeing a change in my face.

"Nothing," I said quietly.

I could tell by her expression that she didn't buy it; she could tell I was lying.

I sighed, "I have just been seeing a shadow following me since water bending practice, and I just saw it again."

"Should we tell Arnook?" Lamara asked.

"No, better not to worry him. It wasn't anything big any way," I replied.

"Someone has been following you around, watching you, maybe even heard what you said about your visions, and you say it's no big deal. He said you should tell someone if you have another vision, no matter how small," she said, trying to keep quiet.

"Yes, he told me to tell someone, and I have, I told you," I smirked, "I trust you."

She sighed, "I guess."

We had already rejoined the Court and left the Hall and were now traveling down the street. Chief Arnook was in front with Pakku at his right and Yugoda at his left. Princess Yue walked directly after her father. Flanking her on her left were Lina and Koluk and on her right were Lamara and me. Behind us was the rest of the Royal Court. You could see the palace in just about any part of the city. The wall blocking it could be seen in any of the upper parts of the

city.

I looked up at the sky, which was bright blue this morning. It had turned into a grey haze as the storm got closer. The wind had picked up, and a light snow was starting to fall.

We came around a corner, and the Plaza Square was in sight. A crowd had gathered, and they started clapping. We got to the Square, and Wei joined us. I looked around. The crowd was enormous. I looked up at the wall and the grand palace behind it. It was just at that moment when it hit me. I was going to be able to see the inside of it, something I've wanted almost my whole life. A smile formed on my face.

I looked back at the crowd and noticed Taruk glaring at me. I smiled back sarcastically. I saw his hand move and realized he was going to try to make me trip again. I made his attack backfire on him so he tripped himself. I laughed to myself.

Two guards were stationed in front of the intricately carved doors in the wall. Chief Arnook motioned for them to move to the side, they did.

"Now then," the Chief began, "let's not delay these children of their special gift any longer." The crowd cheered. "Open the doors and let the tour, begin."

The Doors creaked open.

Well I am glad to see my story is growing slowly but surely. I hope all of you are enjoying the story so far, but I guess if you made it this far then I suppose you are enjoying it. Please do reviews, even if it is only a few words, they will be greatly appreciated. I now actually have a editor for the story, ha ha ha. It makes me feel professional even though she is just a friend who wanted to help, I am very glad for her help. So once again please review if you can and keep on reading! :D Well I seem to be having problems with the mark that the robed man's eye is like. It is like a plus sign but that wouldn't show up in the post. If you look at the cover of the book you can see the man's eyes.