Kendal grabbed onto Ainu for dear life, Ainu, in turn wrapped his
massive wings around Kendal to protect him.  Both clung to each other as 
if they had not seen each other for years.  He had never felt so afraid
in all his life.  Terrfied and feelings of being alone.

	<<Ainu can you fly.>>

	<I can.>

	<<Then lets.>>  Quickly, Kendal saddled Ainu and flew up and off
from the green.  Perhaps the only way the two knew how to cope with fear
was to run away.  Travel high up into the sky and face danger to calm
their nerves was their simple solution.  To face death in their minds was
to be free of fear.  But to confront fear, that was another thing all
together.

	Ainu rose up higher than any dragon could or should go.  Where the
air was thin and bitter cold.  Kendal could barely take a breath, but the
feeling of coming close to the edge calmed him of past fear.  His mind was
clear, fear a distant memory, risking his life was aways an adventure,
even if it had no meaning.  Some called him reckless, others dangerous,
but to him it was not just a game, it was life itself that one saw in
those moments just before death.  Moments that brought him closer to life.

	Slowly before the two began to black out, Ainu began his descent.
Weary of such a strainful journey to reach these heights, Ainu allowed
gravity to pull him back to the ground.  But his descent soon streaked
towards the ground in unparalleled speeds. It would not be long before
gravity would pull them down and forcing them to reach a terminal
velocity, one in which Ainu could not pull out of.

	Plummeting to the ground they did.  Ainu made no effort to pull
up.  Kendal made no effort to get Ainu to pull up.  They both stared
deeply at the ground by which the two saw death.  Their bond felt stronger
and the feeling of fear was gone.  In this moment the two knew they were
one.

	The ground approached, death waiting.  However as the two came
within meters of death, they found courage again.  Quickly thinking of any
image, Ainu and Kendal, teleported only moments before touching the
ground.  To give an example of how close they were, Ainu if he streatched
his tongue way out, could lick the grass beneath them.

	As they reappeared, they found themselves somewhere over the
wasteslands.  Why they thought of this place they knew not, but their old
home they found themselves just right out of.  Figuring a moments rest
would not hurt they entered the cave to find a fire going not to far away.
It was reasonable to assume they someone or something had taken over their
old home.

	Kendal unsheathed his sword and walked deeper into the cavern.  As
he entered, he found and old venerable man, sitting in meditation beside a
fire.  

	"I've been waiting for you, please sit."

	Kendal felt calm and was unafraid of the man across from him.
Taking him up on his offer, Kendal sat beside the fire across form the old
man.

	"You want answers to questions about your home don't you."

	"Yes, but who are you. What are you doing here."

	"The answer lies not within you my friend. You are a brave and
powerful warrior, but nothing more than a figment of a fantastic reality
created from the shadows of another.  The blending of a dozen realms
created from the synapses of several minds beyond any of which our
comprehension would allow us to phathom."

	"I do not understand."  The old man perked up as he came to life,
telling the story he was meant to tell.

	"You are not meant to understand.  For you are the creation of
another creation.  If you ever understood, you would cease to exist.  For
the mind of creations such as us could never possibly know what it is that
dictates us.  You are here now because a force within this realm wills
it."

	"Are you talking about the gods."

	"The gods of this realm are nothing to what it is that dictates
our lives, our beings, our world.  You my friend I know because I was
placed here to know to tell and to inform you because the one of many
wills it."

	"What are you talking about old man."

	"Think boy, think!  You are a daredevil.  One who flaunts death.
You seek to come close to the edge.  Where is this edge.  Where is the
boundry of our existence.  We will never know the mysteries.  Our lives
are nothing more than the fated storytales that string us together."

	"You're crazy old man."  Kendal stood to leave.  He had taken
several steps before the old man spoke up.

	"Perhaps, but it is not my warren being attacked by bubbles of
null-magic now is it."

	Kendal stopped and turned to face him.
	"How do you know that."

	"Like I said, I exist solely for one purpose.  I have no beginning
and my use is short lived.  So come, quit wasting my time and let me
explain to you what is going on."

	The old man stood.  Slowly he arose.  Come take us to the ocean.
Kendal didn't know why, but he helped the old man up onto Ainu and off
they went. 

	<<Kendal, why is this old geezer on my back.>>

	<Bare with me Ainu, this man knows something and I want to find
out what.>

	Quickly, Kendal sent Ainu the images of the nearest ocean.
Teleporting away from the filth of the wastes, they came upon the ocean of
tears.  They call it this, because it has  a mythological origin.  It
was said that the mother goddess who had lost her daughter, cried for
forty days and filled the once great land with water.  Creating and ocean
of her tears.

	Helping the old man off of Ainu, Kendal gave the man a gesture as
to what now.  The old man grinned as he slowly approached the water from
the edge of the beach.

	"Kendal you want to know the answer."

	"Yes."

	Strangely the sea which normal is rather turbulent, was calm and
almost peaceful.  Still as the night air after a storm.

	"Our world is not real, its magical."

	"What are you talking about not real."

	"Shut up and listen.  Our world is not real.  Its a magical realm.
Its existence is made up of a balance of magic.  There is either magic or
no magic.  Those born of this realm thrive on the stillness of magic.  WE
breath it, we are created from this quintesence.  Thus we are like this
fish."  The old man pointed to a small minow that had swum near the
surface.

	"However, magic is like this ocean.  Vast and filled with wonder.
Even the greatest mage could do nothing but tap into droplets of this
force.  However, null magic pockets are formed when something consumes
larger quantities of magic, creating a paradox of sorts.  Thus..."  The
man scooped out some water with his hand, as he did so, the water reflowed
into the empty space.

	"When we use magic, null magic is the reaction.  We cannot create
magic, we can only use it from the magic around us."

	"I don't fully understand but I think I am beginning to."

	"Good, here endth the lesson."

	"What."

	The old man walked into the ocean and continued walking. 

	"What are you doing old man"  Kendal didn't notice it, but the
waves had begun to flow again.  The ocean no longer calm.

	"Get back to shore, if you keep going out, you'll drown."
	Kendal yelled out.

	The old man continued to walk out until the water was up at his
neck. A couple more steps and he would be submerged.

	"Old fool."  Kendal threw off his riding leathers and ran out into
the water.  He swam out to where the old man had been walking, but in a
blink the man was out of sight.  Kendal had assumed the man had drowned or
had gone under.  

	Taking a deep breath, Kendal dove under, the water was clear
enough to sea a short distance, but Kendal could not see the old man
anywhere.

	Coming up for air, Kendal again dove under, swimming around
frantically searching for the old man.

	<<Kendal, he's gone.  I'm right above you and I don't see him
anywhere.>>  Knowing that a dragon's eyes were as sharp and as keen as
anything, he felt sure that Ainu must be mistaken.

	Coming up for air again, Kendal wanted to dive under.  But
something told him to stop wasting his time and go home.  It was like a
small voice or whisper.

	<Ainu, do you hear that.>

	<<Kendal, quit wasting your time.  That old man probably tricked
us or something.  No way he could have gotten away from us so quickly.>>

	<Alright Ainu, lets go home.>

	Ainu picked Kendal up out of the water and soon transported home.
As the two went back to their apartment.  Kendal changed out of his wet
clothes and took a shower to wash off the grime of the wastes and the
salty sea water.  As he stood under the warm water splashing down on him.
He simply stood there and thought about what the old man had said.
Confused, enlightened.  Was the old man gone, because his usefulness was
at an end.  Was what he said true, that their existence is nothing but
magic.  He put it out of his mind, such ramblings would brand him a
lunatic.  

	However, what he said about the null magic made sense.  Kendal
changed quickly after his shower and headed out to talk to Talitha to find
out what she knows of this null magic pockets.


NRPG

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but I'm back and trying to get back
into the game...

Norman


 --------------------------------
Who dares say: Never!
	Who's to blame where oppression rules? We are.
	Who's responsible where the rule is smashed? We are.
	Those beaten down shall rise up tall!
	Whoever is lost, fights back!
	Who can restrain the man who sees his situation?
	The victims of today will be victors of tomorrow
	And Never is changed into Today.
				-Bertolt Brecht

Norman Lee	n-lee5@uiuc.edu
Homepage- http://www.students.uiuc.edu/~n-lee5/index.html