One Step Away

I could see the sword embedded in the stone up to the hilt in solid rock. In the center of volcano, everything seemed tranquil, a feeling I was not used to. It felt so good; I wanted to stay there forever. I shook my head trying to rid myself of these thoughts; I needed to concentrate or all thoughts of single handedly liberating my over-run homeland from the tyrannical Darien Morical would be in vain. I jumped foreword, and in one deft moment I grabbed the sword. In hindsight it would have been a good idea to walk up to the stone, because as sword came up out of its scabbard of many years, I accidentally knocked the stone into the lava. Ordinarily, this would have been ok, and only would have made me look like a total klutz, but this was special lava and if any thing touched it, the platforms that were my exit and the mound of rock that looked as if it was not from my planet that I was standing on would sink into the lava. Also, the stone was purposely there, if moved, all of the doors would seal them self. Somewhere I had read that it took the surfaces a full minute to submerge so I thought for a second until it hit me, quite literally. A pebble fell from the hole a previous eruption must have made in the roof. I jumped and sprinted up the slanted roof of the volcano. I ran out of the hole and did a flip while twisting around so I landed on both feet and facing the opposite direction I should have been. As perfect as my land was, I landed three feet from where I should have, and I was facing my noble stallion's rear. I muttered to myself as I saddled up. I looked at the list of equipment I was going to need to become a champion of the light and be able to defeat Morical. One scabbard with ice , a horse that can run faster than any , a sword with supposed fire , one shield that can expand and diminish at the owner's check, pierce- proof armor for me and my check, the knowledge of how to use all this check.

I am Avin Lissen. At my birth the ruling council of my village set me aside from my parents, and sent me to a nine year long training school, at the school they gave me basic and advanced knight training. I was to be the protector of the village. The village had it all figured out. They would choose an infant at childbirth and train him for nine years. Then the nine or ten year old would serve with the grown protector until they passed away and the child became the adult. In my last year of training another village, already controlled by Morical called the adult protector away to deal with a non-existent threat. The army of Morical just marched in and no resistance was offered and all the village people were put in prison. I approached the village from behind, being a cocky nine year old and I was not seen by any of the guards. I was seen out of the prison window by a townsperson that had visited me at the school; I would later learn that this was my dad. He told me the story, and being wise beyond my age I asked him what I should do. He told me to stay with my uncle who lived in the woods at the edge of the village's boundary and when the time was right I could try to defeat Darien. What I did not know was that my uncle was the protector of the village who was called away. He taught me everything I know and he told that when I could lift a giant boulder I would know everything he could teach me. Beneath the boulder was the scabbard, which started me off on this wild goose chase.

But enough of this reminiscent jibber-jabber; I stood waiting for a vision. My uncle, could not teach me about where to find all of the ancient war gear, so some how when I picked up the scabbard, I had a image of why I would need a horse, so I trekked off to find my steed. All of a sudden I was at the front line of an army; we were facing another similar army but in their front row I could have sworn I made out ? The captain yelled shields up but since I had not yet gotten a . Before I "died" I had a vision of the shield balancing precariously on the very peak of the tallest mountain in the area. When I came to and tried to stand up, I saw Mt. Dracon looming in the distance, and a funny glint at the top. I shuddered; I hate heights.

A short horse ride later I was standing at the bottom of a 3,000 vertical wall with some rope and a pick. Half an hour later I was at the direct center where there is a ledge. A bit of meat fell of my lunch and rolled off my leg; I watched it fall down, down, and my horse caught it in his mouth. When my stomach finally caught up to me, I started again. As I reached the pinnacle, which was sharper then my sword, and I drove my pick into the base of this point I watched a hairline crack go up the rock and when it reached the top the formation shattered. I watched the shield slowly rise up and start to fall on the wrong side of the mountain. I secured the rope I had and freefell after the artifact. I caught up with the shield rather easily and then my rope snapped. I imagined myself in a tight cocoon and braced my self for impact. When I hit the ground and bounced, I opened my eyes and saw I was in a glowing container.