• Chapter I:
    Awakening

    It was a cool night with a slight breeze, the stars where shining bright and a full moon was in the sky. A man, tall with hair that ran down his back and so pale a blue it was almost white, stood on the roof of a building, he was gazing at the stars "World hardly changes does it?" he thought, then reached in his cloak and pulled out a small sphere almost as pale a blue as his hair. The man rolled it in his hand and it started to glow a glow that looked like mist and was the same color as the sphere, and a room appeared in it.

    The room was plain and unadorned, some clothes laying on the floor, and a man was lying on a mat in the corner of the room, fast asleep. The man was young, about 18 or 19, his hair was dark brown and was a mess and covering the man's eyes. The view in the room turned towards the man's closet, the door was slightly open and for a brief moment a red flash appeared in the closet.

    ""It's almost his time" The man thought as he stored the sphere. The man heard a sound behind him, barely audible. The man turned and jumped off the roof and a scythe appeared in his hand when he landed. A balding man in his middle ages stood there, frightened, "What did you see?" said the scythe wielding man, the balding man stood there frightened out of his mind, "What did you see?" asked the man again, "Nothing! Nothing!" said the other man, frightened. The Blue Man knew that was a lie, he could feel it, "Very well." he said and turned and walked away. Then, in an instant, he turned and swung his scythe at the frightened man, the man stood there for a minute, then his eyes rolled back into his head.

    The blue man straightened and looked at the blade of his scythe, a small orb, slightly glowing with a pale light was impaled on it. The man slid the orb off the blade and looked into it, he could feel the fear the man had felt in his last moments before he died. He let go of the orb and it drifted upwards toward the sky. "Noting like a murder mystery to keep a village busy for a while" and he turned around and his scythe disappeared, and he walked off into the darkness of the night.

    The sun was rising and it's light shown through the window, the light fell upon a sleeping man's face, he moaned and rolled over and covered his face with his pillow, after a bit the man reluctantly got up.

    The man yawned and stretched and got up and put his clothes on, he then walked to his closet and opened the door, he pulled out a sphere, red and perfectly round, and it glowed a glow that looked like fire when he touched it.

    He tied a head band around his head and it kept his hair out of his eyes, and he picked up a sword and strapped it to his side and walked out of his room and towards the doorway at the end of the hall. The man steped out into a bustling village, people hurrying every which way. It was midsummer and the sun was at it's highest point, "Got to love the luxury of sleeping in late" The man thought. The man stepped down and headed towards the market place, people walked around him not minding him and keeping their eyes down from him, out of respect, and out of fear, for he could kill any one the showed disrespect, but he has yet to do that to any one, besides out of towners.

    He reached the market and started browsing about, favoring the meat sellers. "Greetings Sir Zac, what will you be wanting?" said the man at the stall, and the man, Zac, replied "I'll take that slab of beef hanging there." and pointed to a big slab of beef hanging on a hook, much to big for one meal. The man at the stall, a plump balding man, went over to the slab of beef and with a little trouble, got it off the hook, and put it on the counter on a sheet of paper and wrapped it "Only the finest for the Spell Blades." and handed it to Zac, who handed over a couple pure gold coins "Best be fresh, don't want to burn down a house tonight do we?" Zac said and the bald man chuckled "Of course not, won't be needing to do that." Zac took the beef and slung it over a shoulder then went around the market again, this time picking up some potatoes, carrots, and other things, and with a slab of beef over one shoulder and a sack of vegetables over the other, headed home.

    Zac began by cutting up the beef into more sizable pieces and wrapping them in pieces of paper and storing them into a box enchanted by Water Magic used to keep food fresh, a luxury reserved for Mages and Wizards. He put a pot on a stove and put some wood inside it, he snapped his fingers and a fire began inside, and after a while he had him self some stew made. After he finished his dinner the sun was setting and it was cooling down, he went outside and looked around, the village was empty and a few people where just heading out back home, a gentle breeze blew his hair back. Every day in the village of Tyko passed this way, always peaceful, never a disturbance.

    That night Zac awoke, some one was banging on his door, he got up and dressed quickly, strapped his sword on, and got that sphere he always kept with him. He got to the door and opened it, he didn't need to ask what was going on, he could hear it as soon as he came out of his room, shouts of fire and screams where audible in his house. Smoke filled the air and one of the larger homes of the village was ablaze, Zac ran to the people standing outside the house, their faces blackened with soot and ash, "Is every one alright?" Zac asked the man of the house, the man had a fit of coughing then said "No, my son is still in there!" Zac look at the house, it was entirely covered in flames, "Ah hell." Zac said then started towards the house "I'm going in, he might still be alive." He yelled as he started in. Inside was a hell house, the flames where intense and sweat was pouring down Zac's forehead already, many halls where already blocked off from fallen beams, Zac made his way down one hall way yelling "Kid! Hey kid! where are you?" and heard nothing. Zac made his way down hall way after hall way, unblocking some, still yelling, still nothing, then he heard something, a loud moaning, it wasn't a human moan, it was the moaning of a house that was about to collapse, "Damn! I need to find this kid fast before this house becomes my grave!" Zac began to move faster and yelling louder, until finally, he heard something, a little kid crying, "Don't worry kid, I got you!" he yelled loudly, and the crying quieted a little. he moved faster now, moving towards the crying, hardly able to use his eyes for the smoke was so thick, then he tripped over something, he rolled over and looked, it was the boy. He picked the boy up,"It's ok, it's ok, I got you, I'll get you out of here." he said. He looked around, smoke blinding, hardly able to see, then a loud moaning filled the air, and the ceiling started falling in, Zac covered his head so it wouldn't get hit by a falling beam, and he knew the exit became blocked, his heart was beating, he was trapped, the building is going to collapse and he'll be in it, just then, a bright red flash appeared in his shirt, he reached in, and it was that sphere, glowing brightly in it's flame like way, then, the heat of the flames vanished, and the light emanating from the sphere enveloped him, and the flames started coming towards him, forming around him, then he could feel he was being lifted up, taking the flames with him, he could feel going through the ceiling of the house, into the sky, he could see flames all around him, and yet no heat, and they did not harm him, or the boy he was carrying, he could feel a great power awakening inside him.

    The villagers waiting out side the burning house saw the flames receding, disappearing, and people started getting excited, that Zac will make it out alright, then they saw something amazing. A flaming bird shot from inside the house and went high into the sky and spread it's wings, an amazing display of bright flames illuminated the entire village, and some had to cover their eyes to look at the blazing bird, every one knew what this bird was. A Phoenix. The brilliant bird began to fly down to the villagers, and when it neared the ground, it began to disappear, and it became a different form, a form of a man, brown hair down in his eyes, and he wore armor, armor of red and highly ornate, plated every where, and he wore an armor head band, with a jewel set in the middle.

    Zac looked at the villagers and handed the boy in his arms to his parents, he looked over the crowd, every one was staring at him, can't blame them. Zac turned and look at the building that was on fire, all the flames are gone, the house wasn't even smoldering. He stood there looking in amazement, he had no clue what he had become, then a bright red light enveloped him and when it was gone, so was the armor. He turned to the crowed and said "Return to your houses and sleep, what was to see is gone." and the crowd started to disperse, the boy and his family went with the neighbors.

    After the crowd dispersed Zac began to head home, him mind was running about what just happened. He was thinking of a tale his parents used to tell him, about Crystals and their Guardians, the Guardians where stronger than anything imaginable, said to be the embodiment of the Crystals themselves, and for some odd reason Zac felt that he had became one of the Guardians, but he doubted it.

    That night Zac's mind was filled of dreams, dreams of battles fought in the distant past, battles of great scale, and he had a dream of a great civilization where things he never would have imagined existed, and it's cities where in the sky, and then these images faded, and he was in a room of total blackness, a man was standing with his back to him, long light blue hair ran down his back, and a blue cloak was behind it. "Who are you?" Zac ask and his voice echoed, and the man stood there, "Hello?" Zac asked, and the man turned "Hope you enjoyed those visions I showed you." said the man, Zac took a step back, he wasn't liking this "Who are you?" Zac asked again, the man ignored this "I shall answer that question in time, be patient." and the man took a step forward, "Don't come closer!" Zac said as he put his hand on the hilt of his blade, the man laughed "I just took a step forward and you thought that threatening? Paranoid aren't we?" and a scythe appeared in his hand "I don't need to draw blood to kill you, I can rip your soul out even though I am no where close to your location! So don't tempt me, boy!" and the scythe disappeared "I am here to talk, I have sensed you have Awoken." Zac seemed confused "Awoken? What do you mean?" and a red flash appeared in his shirt, he has gotten familiar with that, he pulled out the sphere and it glowed it's flame like glow "That sphere," the man started to speak "Is an Elemental Soul, the sign of a Guardian" and the man reached into his cloak and pulled out a sphere similar to Zac's only this was light blue and it glowed in a mist like fashion "I have one too, you should know the Element by the color." Zac was standing there looking quite surprised, "You are telling me, I am a Guardian, the Guardian of Fire? How?" the man laughed to himself, "Fate, let's leave it at that, for now I have a mission for you." and the man put the sphere back in his cloak "You have no choice, it is the mission of all Guardians, you must seek out the other Guardians, they are all over the world, where they are, your Soul shall guide you, when you awaken in the morning you shall pack and head out, when you reach the mountains surrounding Tyko I shall speak to you again, for now, good bye, and may the Lone Wolf guide you." and the man began to fade "Wait! Hold up! No other guidance than that? No choice?" and apparently he made the man laugh for the man's laugh was echoing, and then he woke up.

    Zac was sitting at his dining room table thinking over the dreams he had over the night, or where they dreams? Should he pack up and head to the mountains just because of what some man in a dream told him? what it was just that? Just a dream? But, it didn't feel like that, it felt real, it was settled. Zac got up from the table and started packing, food, water, clothing, and some first aid supplies, and he strapped his sword to his side and put the sphere, the Elemental Soul, into his shirt and set off.