Rowan stood in the dimly lit market with a victorious smile on his face as he pondered the strange stone in his hand. It was small and warm against his palm as he turned it slowly in the dim light. There were small cuts and scratches that pained him slightly, but it was a phantom pain at best. He could feel warmth radiating from the stone, it was slowly building. The small voice had long since fallen silent, but in its absence, there was a growing sense of import, as if time itself stood still. Rowan felt whole as he looked at the stone and nothing else mattered.

The was a bright flash from the stone and suddenly Rowan fell to his knees as his world devolved into a splitting pain in his head. The stone tumbled from his fingers as he began to roll on the dirt floor of the market screaming with his hands clutching the sides of his head. His vision blurred as his scream grew more and more piteous, tears first filled then streamed from his eyes. His howls of pain were mirrored by the baying at the door where the warg renewed its efforts. Rowan heard a cracking sound as his world collapsed into darkness.

Rowan felt like he had been hit with a stone, but the world around him was dark and muted, “Am I DEAD?” He felt disoriented and heavy as he lay in the darkness. “No…” he said sarcastically. He no longer felt the intense pain in his head and he slowly began focused. “I NEED TO GET UP.” He shouted into the void as if to encourage himself to motion and slowly made his way to his knees and looking around, squinting his eyes as he peered into the darkness, “Hello?” Rowan said warily.

“YOURE AWAKE!” the voice said loudly from somewhere.

Rowan turned and looked for the voice, but again saw nothing, “Where are you? What have you done to me?” as he gained his feet and looked around, he finally saw a small light in the distance. He didn’t wait for an answered, he just began to run towards the light. Rowan knew that where there was light, there was safety. As he ran, he noticed that the light moved slightly, there was no sense of direction to its movements initially, it just seemed to flit from one area of darkness to another. The brilliance of the light distorted his vision as he approached and stopped short and knelt in the darkness, then he watched the orb of light and felt a pang of familiarity with the situation, a sever sense of deja-vu.

Suddenly the light settled and began to move with purpose and direction away from where he was kneeling. Rowan watched with cautious curiosity and interest, “I definitely shouldn’t follow the glowing ball through the dark…” he whispered sardonically as he stood up and let out a long sigh and began to follow the glowing orb. “Find the voice, it will be fine” he continued as he crept along. “I am full of fine ideas today...” Rowan wasn’t bitter, but he did feel a bit silly as he skulked along in the darkness. He kept looking behind him, waiting for some horrible monster to emerge from the darkness and devour him. “I’m just being paranoid.” He kept telling himself, but it did little to sooth his frayed nerves. Rowan hated the darkness, he hated the unknown most of all, but what he truly loathed was the tickle that he felt in the back of his mind. It was incessant. With every step he took he felt like he knew more, like he was feeling more and understanding something ...more.

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It was as if this something was drawing him through the darkness, calling to him to follow, not heard but clearly felt. He kept one eye on his back and the other on the orb. After what seemed like hours the orb finally stopped and hung in the air roughly fifty yards ahead. Slowly and deliberately it began to descent towards the ground. Rowan was once again shocked when a black obelisk began to rise out of the ground. The orb came to a stop just above the four faceted point and pulsed brightly.

It was like a beacon, Rowan reasoned as he waited for what would happen next. For long minutes he stood perfectly still and metered his breathing. Nothing happened, the orb just continued to flash over and over. Rowan began to count as the orb flashed, it was patterned. He could still feel something tugging on him, beckoning him. It was seductive and enticing and that set Rowan on edge, it almost overruled his generally cautious nature. All the same Rowan began to approach the onyx obelisk and pulsing orb. With every step his heart beat faster, matching the pulse of the beacon. “Okay, this is creepy…” Rowan said as he stopped and stood in front of the orb. His hand was shaking as he reached out towards the rapidly pulsing light, bracing himself for what he knew would probably be painful. His brow knitted as he slammed his eyes shut and turned away simultaneously reaching out to the orb.

Rowan waited for the pain as his hand rested on the orb but felt nothing but warmth and a sense of oneness. It was a gentle warmth that radiated up his arm, he felt a light breeze swirling around him, buffeting his hair and clothing. “What is this?” Rowan thought as he slowly opened his eyes turned to look at the orb. His hand glowed and he felt exultant as the warmth surged through his body settling in his head and he felt his mind clearing. The darkness that had surrounded him began to vanish, replaced by polished marble and elegant columns of stone. The sounds of life began to fill the vacant space. Rowan heard running water and what sounded like a mockingbird calling in the distance.

There was a loud sounding that captured Rowans attention suddenly, a crescendo of some strange melody that resonated through the opulent hall. Then a screen appeared in front of the pedestal, with a small golden dragon circling a world. Rowan was taken aback as he read the words that began to fill the screen.

Welcome, Admin Authentication Confirmed.

User Id: RKronis

Avatar Name: Rowan

Password: ************

Days since last login: 1442 Days

Synchronicity Achieved: Initialize Program? Y/N?

There was a blinking cursor at the bottom of the screen next to the Y. Rowan felt something in his chest as he whispered into the darkness, “Yes.” His finger pressed the orb, and rowan felt a slight click.