Shardoe hated this world. The Rhudons to him were nothing more than a means to an end. Shardoe noticed that something was different about this world the moment he got there. He looked around and noticed a thunderstorm off in the east.
“She’s here,” Shardoe said. The priests were smiling; they wanted to take the masters out. Shardoe had five priests with him, and they all slithered their way towards the temple. They were his best, the ones he kept to himself. Shardoe was confident, but a part of him wasn’t sure. He was afraid that if they unlocked their powers, then he was in real trouble.
“They will get there before we do, so we must move,” Shardoe said. They started running, and one priest let go of a bird. Shardoe didn’t notice, and the priest was relieved. They passed villages with no problems; everyone was staring up at the sky, enraged. Some Rhudons noticed them and started to follow. Shardoe kept a mental note of them and made the priests run harder.
Once they were at the foothills, the Rhudons that were following them were beyond reason. They became blood thirsty. They charged the priests, the priests started taking their waters, but it wasn’t good enough; the Rhudons were blinded by their rage. Shardoe realized he had to intervene. He threw water blades and took out the ones closest to his priests and started taking their waters. This time, the Rhudons felt it, and all fell to the ground screaming. Shardoe killed every last one of them, but he was drained. He fell to the ground, angry. The other priests came up to help Shardoe, and Druya’s priest received his bird back. The note read:
Stall him. We’re coming.
He then went up to Shardoe and told him he needed to rest. Shardoe was having none of it. Then Druya’s priest stated that he needed to be at his full strength before coming across the masters. This Shardoe listened to and sat back for a while. Then he heard the water.
“Gift,” the water said, and Shardoe shot up.
“What the fusht is the water doing? I can feel it, it’s changing the rules. It’s not supposed to do that!” Shardoe screamed. He then yelled for them to continue running. Shardoe was acting like a madman, and his priests were concerned.
They had to slow down after a while to save their strength, which Shardoe didn’t like, but he knew it was necessary. Finally, they came up to the temple. Shardoe saw the bodies in the temple, and they all looked different than before. He hadn’t seen water like that in centuries. He had to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. Then he saw one go to the tree. He patiently waited until he realized that she was meditating. He told the other priests to go surround the temple while he went for the tree. They would attack on his signal.
He walked down to the temple and walked around the barrier to come up to her on the other side of the tree. He knew what she was, but then he saw it. The crown on top of her head. He looked at her fingers and saw the ring. His blood started to boil. He wanted to run out, but he needed to be smart. She had powers they both didn’t realize she had, and now she knew it also. He needed to catch her off guard, and as of right this moment, she was fully protected. He calmly came out of the shadows.
“Hello Lannyre,” Lunae said. This took him aback. He hadn’t heard that name in a very long time.