The Woodland Visitor Ch 21: Revelations II
#23 of The Woodland Visitor
I know, I know. It's too short. I'm sorry about that. This portion of the story was hard to interpret from that cobweb ridden vacuum that I call a mind to a readable piece of art *Laughs hysterically* anyway, it seems kinda confusing to me but it explains a few things I thought you should know. Just PLEASE don't beat me for it or I'll cringe in the corner and whine like a little... well I'll whine and whimper the whole time.
The Woodland Visitor Ch 21:
Revelations II
Suddenly I felt a stirring of power behind me and saw Tanya look up. I turned quickly and saw an old man with a cane walking out of the woods. He looked up at Tanya. Turning back to her, I watched as she dropped down to one knee and bowed her head.
~As you wish. ~ She turned to me. ~I will see you again. ~ Was the last thing she said before she faded out.
I turned back to the old man and watched as he made his way towards me. When he was only a few feet away he raised his hand and I watched as the ground began to flow up like water. Slowly it formed into a couple of chairs and the old man took a seat in one of them. Turning to me, I saw a smile form on his face.
"Please, have a seat my son..."
"How... How... How did you do that?"
The old man looked around. "Do what?"
"The chairs? How did you create the chairs?"
He jumped up and looked down at the chair he was in. "Created this? I think you're confused. I didn't create this."
"But... but..."
"Nah... nope... not me. Now come... come sit down."
I slowly walked over and sat down across from him. He just sat there staring at me drumming his fingers together. I just stared at him for about five minutes waiting for him to speak. Soon it was obvious that he wasn't going to say anything.
"Ummm... what did you want?"
"What do I want? I don't want anything. You called me"
"No... you came up and told me to sit down."
Yes, yes I did, but you called me."
"I called you, how?"
The old man leaned forward and smiled. "Danteai Padrion, even unintentionally you call me.
"You have it wrong old man. My name is Tom Drysdale."
"No Danteai, look within yourself." The old man said as he sat back in the chair.
"Look within myself? What are you talking about old man?"
"DANTEAI, you know who you are. Admit what you have to do and it will come back to you."
"What do I have to do?"
"Brenah is a wise man and a good ally. He can see without emotion clouding his vision. He sees the truth, now it's time you did too."
"Brenah, what do you mea..." My eyes shot open. Brenah's words echoed in my head from earlier.
"I'm saying that the reason that you were chosen could be because you are actually a guardian."
"Yes, you now see what is meant."
"But I'm not..."
"You aren't? Reach into your pocket and take out the stone you hold there." The old man said.
'How did he know about the stone? I never even told Sienna that I had it. I mean, I found it when Pearl vanished.' The memory of how I got it came back to me full force.
I watched the dragon's eye close and heard the dragonet I held cry out. The dragon's body began to glow and then broke apart into a million points of light. I was too shocked at what happened to react and just sat there and watched as the points of light circled and then were absorbed by my hand, flowing into my body. When it was gone the only thing I saw around was a capsule shaped black polished stone about the size of a golf ball lying on the ground and the blood that covered my hands.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the stone. Slowly I opened my hand and held it in my palm. The stone felt warm, as if it had a life of its own.
"Now, I want you to walk over to Tanya's grave. Kneel down and call forth her stone."
Without knowing, I stood up and walked over. Dropping to my knees I unconsciously held my hand, palm down, above her grave. I could actually feel something stirring beneath me. A glow flowed up out of the ground, right up to my palm. Slowly I closed my hand and captured the glow within. Turning my hand over, I opened it up and gasped when I saw the polished black stone that sat within.
Standing up, I made my way back over to the chairs and sat down. Looking up I noticed the old man sat there with a serious look upon his face.
"What you hold is the legacy of the guardians. But you must un-cloud your mind in order to see them properly. Look within yourself. Look with your guardian's heart, not your human mind. Look deep down into the stone and see your sisters as they truly are."
I looked down at the stones. They just looked like stones to me. Polished, black, ston...
Their form began to blur and change before my eyes. They began to stretch and widen forming a gem. It was about four inches across and only a half an inch thick. Black and shiny sat two... gems, or at least the faces of them.
I was speechless as I looked up to the old man. "But..."
"You are seeing with the eyes of a guardian, now you must see with the heart of one. Close your eyes and feel the heart of the guardian. Feel the power that runs through them. Feel the life contained within them, the life that will be incomplete if you do not become what you already are."
My face drained of all color and expressions as I started to feel as if each stone was alive. I could feel... I don't know how to describe it except to say I felt energy flowing from each stone. As the energy flowed through me I heard the old man softly say.
"In your hand you hold what many people have dubbed 'The Dragon Stone'. It is the heart of the guardian. You see when a guardian loses his physical being, he doesn't actually die. The three essences that make up the guardian are drawn apart. The mind is caught in limbo until the spirit is reunited with the body or the heart as it is. At that time will the mind be released bringing the guardian back. In your hand you hold the heart of two of your sisters. When that is reunited with their spirits, they will be again as they were."
The old man placed his hand on my arm causing me to look up at him quickly. "You have the spirit of Danteai Padrion the Chrome Guardian. That makes you Danteai. You also have the heart of Danteai."
"But... but... you said when the heart is reunited with the spirit, the mind is released. If I have the spirit and the heart of Danteai, then why don't I have the mind?"
"You do have the mind, in effect you are Danteai. Your belief that you are a human is so strong that it is suppressing your natural form."
"Isn't a guardian more powerful than that?"
"My son, you are only as powerful as your own mind. Until you believe in yourself, you will never unlock who you are."
I looked back down at the Dragon stones in my hand and saw that they had turned to red crystals.
The old man's voice could be heard as if from a distance. "Remember, only you can help your friends. But you have to help yourself first."
Looking back up I was shocked to see the old man was nowhere to be seen. Even his chair was gone. It was as if it never happened. Standing up I was afraid to turn around, but I did. The whole glade was back to the way it was. There was no sign of the old man or what he did anywhere.
~Tom. ~
I jumped, turning to come face to face... um spirit face... whatever. She seemed as real here as she did the first day I met her.
"You knew, didn't you?"
~Tom, I always knew. ~
"But why didn't you tell me?"
~Would you have believed me if I did? ~
"No, I guess not."
~I'm sorry that I hurt you. That wasn't part of my plan. ~
"So I was only to be part of your plan?"
~I was hoping that you would learn who you really were. I was hoping that you would help me defeat the evil spreading here. ~
"So I was only a tool for you to use? You never did love me, did you?"
~Tom... ~ Tanya reached over to touch my face but I jumped backwards. She just hung her head down and continued. ~The love I had for you was real. I never intended to fall in love with you, but it happened. I found myself more and more attracted to you. I never would have traded what we had for each other, but I had too. ~
"What do you mean by that?"
~Tom, since you knew me, what has been my goal? ~
"To help those who needed help."
~It has been to hunt down the Red Scorpion. ~
That name sent chills down my spine. It seemed that every job we had, had the Red Scorpion's mark on it. Our intelligence showed that he was responsible for hundreds of deaths. He was the most elusive terrorist the world ever knew, or in his case, that the world never knew. He was also the least known terrorist. Somehow we always were able to keep his workings under wraps.
~Did you ever wonder where our missions came from? They came from me. I was tracking down the Red Scorpion. His real name is Rocare Diencin Tovin Ebon Corenna and he is or was one of us. ~
"What do you mean 'He was one of us'?"
~The Red Scorpion is a guardian. ~
"But what he does is evil. Aren't guardians supposed to be protectors of life? He destroyed it."
~In the beginning of time, after the planets and stars were created there were several guardians that disobeyed what they were told by the tree of life. They tried to pass through the nothing wall. ~
"Nothing wall?"
~It is a barrier around the universe as you know it. It is not known who or what created it. Even the tree of life told us that it was there as long as she has been. This barrier, nothing can pass. Objects that touch it are utterly destroyed. Now Rocare's mate tried to pass this barrier believing that the tree of life was deceiving us. She was instantly destroyed. Even the tree could do nothing to bring her back. Heart, mind and soul were destroyed when she touched the wall. Rocare blamed us for her destruction. He even blamed the tree of not wanting to bring her back even when the tree said it couldn't do anything. ~
Tonya turned and looked out across the meadow.
~He vowed that day that he would hut every one of us down and kill us. He also vowed that he would find the tree and destroy it. My mate and I vowed that we would hunt him down and try to convince him of his error. He found us first. My mate was tortured before he was destroyed. ~
She turned back to me. I could see tears falling down her cheek.
~I was barely able to escape with my life. But I did take my mates heart and soul with me. I planted his heart in one place and his soul in another, awaiting the day that he'd be reborn. Until such time, I acted as protector. Hunting down Rocare's agents and destroying them allowing my beloved to be reborn. I had placed his heart into a human male and his soul into a human female. When they had their first child his heart and soul were to merge and he was to be reborn. ~
"Are you telling me that I was your Mate?"
~You were supposed to be. But the tree had other ideas. His heart and soul was replaced with yours. By the time I realized that you had been switched, it was too late. I still protected you as I would have him and awaited the day that you could join me to search for him. I formed the Wolf Pack to hunt down Rocare's agents and try to find him. ~
"The Wolf Pack are all guardians too?"
~No, they are human. Each one was selected for their skills and talents. Even enhanced Rocare's agents were no match for the pack. I knew about every one of his agents and passed that information on to the company who put contract's out on them. Contract's that we conveniently would fulfill. With me leading the pack, we were never defeated. ~
"But your dead. Doesn't that count as a defeat?"
~You see, I finally found some information on Rocare. The only problem was, in order to confirm my suspicions, one of us had to die. By this time... ~
If ever I saw anyone looking depressed. Tanya looked like... I don't know. How do you describe a ghost who is depressed? The look on her face was starting to worry me. With a sigh, she continued.
~By this time I was in love with you and wanted to protect you. As I lay there on that table, the only thing I could think about was that you wouldn't be able to get away. I stopped caring for what would happen to me, it was only you. I didn't want my sacrifice of my life and my love for you to be in vain. ~
I dropped to my knees listening to the words that she said, each and every word cutting deeper into my heart. She could have sacrificed me to find The Red Scorpion. She said one of us had to die. Why did she choose herself? Could she have loved me that much? Did she sacrifice herself, giving up her duties as a guardian for me? Slowly I raised my eyes to her and studied her tear streaked face before I softly asked.
"You loved me enough to sacrifice yourself?"
~Yes I did, I still do. Know this, before this is over, there will be one more sacrifice I want to make. One more that I will willingly make. This sacrifice I make to show you how much I love you and want you to be happy. ~
"What more can you do? You have already given up your life for me."
~There is but one more thing I can give you. Not even the father knows of my plans. As a guardian, it is my right to do this. When the time is right I will summon you along with those that need to know. For now, know that my greatest sacrifice is given because I love you. Now and forever. ~
"I don't understand what you can give me that would be greater than you coming back, but I will do as you ask."
She reached out and caressed the side of my face lightly. Leaning my head into the caress I come to see what I was missing. Tears began to fall as I realized that I would never again feel her warm touch.
~Before I go, there is one thing I can do for you. ~
I watched her place one hand on each side of my head. I could feel power flowing through them into me. Suddenly it was as if a door in my mind had been opened. Things flowed out that I didn't understand. One thing did stand out. It was something I must have seen before. An ancient scroll appeared in a language I've never seen before. Yet I could read it as if it were written in English. It was the prophecy. Suddenly I understood what it meant in part. The whole thing was still unclear, but I understood it now.
~That is all the help I can give you now. ~ She said as she withdrew her hands. I shall summon you when I'm ready.
I watched her slowly fade away. The last thing I saw was her lips moving saying I love you before she disappeared.
Looking around the clearing, nothing had changed, except maybe my life. Slowly, with an aching heart, I made my way back to Sienna's house.
*#*#*#*#*
I opened the door and slowly made my way inside.
"We looked everywhere. He isn't..." Steve suddenly stopped.
I heard a squeal and looked up in time to see this bundle of brown fur running towards me. Sienna wrapped her arms around me and started kissing me. I kissed her back and just held her, feeling the love she had for me. Feeling movement on my legs I looked down to see amber had wrapped her wings around my legs as she held on to them like I would be leaving again, this time forever.
Reaching down, I picked Amber up and held her as she wrapped her wings around Sienna and me. I knew then that I would fight with everything I had to make sure they were safe. Even if it meant that I would be destroyed in the process. I would stop the Red Scorpion from succeeding in destroying them.
"Where were you?"
Lowering my head I softly replied, "I had some issues I had to take care of."
"Are you okay, I mean..." Sienna hesitantly asked me. A look of concern was written on her face as she slid her hand down my cheek.
Was I alright? Did my time with Tasha help me, or...
I took a deep breath before I looked deeply into her eyes.
"No dear, I am not alright. I don't think I will be alright ever again...