I
A new arrival
The Second hour of Life | 11:00 AM
In the month of fire
In the Two Thousand and Thirteenth year.
A body lay shattered on the battle field, Its nemesis tipped a purse of gold coins into his hand counting the loot. A spark of turquoise light floated above the corpse, thoroughly upset by the turn of events. Its master had died, the soul had passed on, now It would reincarnate in its next form, its next dimension… This was to be the last Aether Elemental to die for a long time.
I awoke to the ambient sounds of the forest, leaves rustlers, a toad croaked, In the distance I heard the splash of water on stone. A cockatrice hissed, it sounded as if a scorpion's exoskeleton was broken between the large jaws of an emerald dragon. I opened my eyes. Green light filtered through the canopy, I lay on the marble floor of a temple. As I tried to stand I discovered a Rustler sat on my chest pale blending in with the flimsy white shirt I wore. "Seems to have taken a liking to you." Said a voice, I spun around, the rustler quickly leaping from my chest, it landed graceful at my feet. I got up, smoothing down my shorts, also which appeared to be made from the same material, It seemed abit like fur or feathers, the best description that came to mind was a that my clothes were made from the wings of a giant white moth. I took a step forward shakily than sat down again on the hard, sun-warmed ground. "But dizzy from your incarnation? Don't worry, happens to all of us." I looked up, turning this way and that. "Where…Where are you?" I asked. "Right here." The voice replied. I found myself staring at a man sitting, legs crossed. He wore brightly coloured pants and no shirt. The absense of covering on his torso did not belie the undeniable fact that the man was…heavyset. The Man smiled kindly and any distrust I had vanished. "Who are you?" I asked. "I have many names." He answered in a jovial tone. "Many people call me the Oracle."
I stood up again feeling confident in my strength now. "Have you a name?" The Oracle asked. "I…I'm not sure." Was my feeble responce. He laughed at this, but not unkindly, I might have joined him had I not answered properly. "My name is Mark…Mark Talonwood…Right?" The Oracle sprung to his feet with slightly disconcerting grace. I had no memory before now but I knew few a normal person would have been in part hindered by…Proportions. "If that is the name you wish to take." He said approaching me. "That is the name you shall have." He said certainly, I do not know If he asked in gesture or words that where quickly lost to me but I found myself following him down a path, I discovered myself to be wearing sandles fashioned from seed husks and strapped to my feet with dried brown stems. The Oracle stopped before a pedastal, beyond which stood a piller of green stone. veins curled around it and I felt my heart beat quicken in its presense. I approached and saw my reflections, a moderately handsome if thin face, dark brown hair and green eyes. The Oracle enscribed my name in a ledger and clapped his hands, two tall forest nymphs entered the room, one held some a white tunic with a the symetrical symbol of a growing plant on the chest, the other brought a basket, In it layed several miniature versions of the green pillar, several small tokens. I instantly knew each piller was born of the larger one before me and each gave me a direct link to the pillers power.
The tokens, a scorpions sting, the leaves of a rustler and the beak of a cockatrice I knew to would, If saturated in the Life energy that flowed through the large piller into the small ones, and, I realised, through my own body, they could be used to summon the creatures from which they originated. Summoned in my service. I sorted through the basket and found a bag of ash and a small red piller totem. Fire, I though before "You seem to know what those are for." The Oracle said. "Why don't you get dressed and go meet your mentor through there." The Oracle indicated a small coliseum to the east. I could here the sounds of other elementals, my own kind. I heard voices, the sounds of battle. My new Life awaited.