Hey, all! Finally another chapter... I hope all of you are having a good time. Anyway, don't forget to tell me what you think after reading this story. Please send all your comments to colourblinded@hotmail.com and don't forget to make the title of this story as the subject because as of now, I have two stories going on. Thanks.

   Disclaimer: This story is fictional. Anything, or anyone, remotely similar is purely incidental

   Where were we? Brion was successful in joining the army and he was happy, of course, that his dream is finally coming true. Arevan is enhancing his sword skill under no other than the best general in Eadzon, Oerem, who it seems has a different way of teaching. And at last, Eilon woke up, but now he was with the man in the cave (chapter one), Jilm, who was a former minister in the kingdom of Eadzon. Now, here is chapter five...

   Evening came and Brion wandered around aimlessly, familiarizing himself with the streets of Odean. He drifted, or rather, got lost, towards River Omen and found the sight magnificent. The moon made it sparkle and Brion thought he had come to paradise. He drank in the beauty one last time and decided to wander again. There were not that many people in the streets at night and a carriage would pass by occasionally carrying vegetables and important people but the noise seemed to be just as loud as it was at daytime, the chatter and laughter wafting in the air like a permanent atmosphere. It must be the taverns, Brion thought. He turned to a street, looking around but he continued walking, greeting people as he passed them by. In his opinion, the impending winter did not make the city of Odean cold at all. Everyone was welcoming and friendly.

   He found that the street he had turned to led to a lot where tables and chairs were set up. There was a fence around it which had a gap to let people in. Torches sticking up from each of the poles light the place. Women buzzed around serving food and ale to customers. There was a table full of men singing and laughing, enjoying each other's company, and there was a table where a lonely man sat alone. Brion's eyes rested on a boy sitting by himself sipping what must be a wine from a cup. Assessing him, Brion concluded he was probably the son of one of the rich men in the city. His clothes alone stood out from the crowd but it was nothing compared to his beautiful face, almost angelic. But what drawn Brion mostly to him was the air of sadness around him. His eyes seemed to say it all, teary and almost... hollow. His shoulders sagged like he was carrying tons of burdens.

   The boy suddenly looked up and stared straight into the eyes of Brion. He felt his face flush, getting caught staring. The boy's eyes seemed to show even more misery as it bored into Brion's own, and he almost wanted to run and just comfort the boy. The boy. In just a few moments, Brion realized the boy captivated him. He remembered his "brothers" back at Peron. He would do anything to give them a better life. But this boy, he felt something different for him. He wanted to protect him at all costs. He couldn't understand, but he felt like he could give his life... just for this boy.

   A loud crash suddenly broke Brion's eye contact with the boy. He looked at the direction where it came from and found a fight that had ensued at one of the tables, the aggressor clearly inebriated. His punches looked like a lame attempt to raise his arm and his slurry threats resembled incoherent groans more. His opponent did nothing but block his aggression and looked more amused than angry. It became clear to Brion that there was no fight at all, only an attempt to fight by a man who had too much drinks and an attempt to fend off a nuisance by a clear-headed man. A ball of an overly fat hairy man bounced out of nowhere and started dragging the drunkard across the lot and towards Brion. They stopped right in front of him and the fat man shoved the drunkard through the gap out of the lot. The fat man looked Brion up and down as if assessing his ability to cause trouble, but dismissed him when a man at one of the tables hollered his name. Koylo... weird name, Brion thought.

   Brion sighed disappointedly when he looked back at the table, where the boy he was so captivated with sat, to find it empty. He looked around desperately but there was no sign of the boy. With another sigh, he turned around and decided to walk back towards the barracks. He knew he was lost but if he would find the river again, he would be able to find the barracks. Finding the river wasn't hard, and upon reaching it, he figured he should walk southwards along the river and he would find the barracks. He was, however, stopped when he saw the boy from the lot sitting by the bank, the moonlight making his sad face look more solemn... and even haunted. Brion didn't know what else to do but approach him. He crossed the distance between them and was already standing beside the boy when he realized he didn't know what to say. He felt embarrassed and was about to turn around when the boy looked up at him again and met his eyes.

   "You were at the tavern," the boy simply said. His voice was deep, and somehow, devoid of the sadness that Brion felt just by looking at him. Brion gave a sigh of relief and sat down beside the boy who went back to staring at the river. Brion's palms were suddenly sweaty and he couldn't understand why he was so nervous all of a sudden.

   "I... I came from Peron to join the army and I decided to wander around and familiarize myself," he paused and chuckled. "I was actually lost when you saw me there."

   "Well, have you found your way back?" the boy asked, a sudden amused smile invading his melancholic face, and Brion found himself momentarily tongue-tied. He felt his stomach doing flips... all because the boy smiled at him.

   "I... I... Yes... I did," he stammered, all the while thinking what was going on with him. "I figured I just have to find the river and I could find my way back to the barracks," he finally said with a regained composure.

   "I could show you around if you want."

   "Sure, but I don't want to be of much trouble to you."

   "No... I don't do anything much."

   "Tomorrow night, then." Brion smiled at the boy who smiled back at him. He held out his hand and said, "I'm Brion."

   "I'm Rivien." They shook hands and Rivien stood up pulling Brion up with him. "I thought I was tall, but you're taller," he commented laughingly at Brion who was at least an inch taller. "Come on, I'll walk with you to the barracks."

   Brion thought his heart would burst. He had made the boy smile. He had made him happy even for just a little while. Brion was also happy the boy accepted him even for his tattered clothes. It was an exhilarating feeling seeing this angel beside him smile at him. He wanted to make him happy and he was looking forward to being with him again tomorrow night. He couldn't understand what he was feeling but he put the thought at the back of his mind. I don't need to understand, he thought, I want to see Rivien happy. There would be warmth in my winter, light in my darkness, Brion thought as he looked at the boy beside him.

   "I need to dress your wounds, my lord," Kal said.

   The second Arevan entered his room, he stripped himself off everything except the little piece of cloth that covered his privates. There were scrapes on his arms but nothing really serious. However, Kal took it seriously to take care of his master. Arevan looked up at the ceiling and spread his arms, his naked back turned to Kal. "You're as bad as him," he said, his voice cracking. Tears had started to spring up from his eyes and they made their way down his cheeks. Arevan sniffled once, wiped his eyes with the back of his hands, and faced Kal holding out his arms, "Alright, dress my 'wounds,'" he told Kal with a smirk, emphasizing the word 'wounds' because he believed there wasn't really any.

   Kal went to get a chair and Arevan sat on it holding out his arms. He washed his master's arms and then dried it. He started to apply ointment on Arevan's 'wounds' when his master spoke. "Do you think he really ran away?" Kal looked up at his master and he thought he saw nothing but a broken heart. His master wasn't crying but his eyes... His eyes were so... dead, Kal thought. They have lost the light he always sees in them. "Don't be afraid of me, Kal," Arevan said, then added with a bitter laugh, "He isn't."

   "My lord... I don't think so." He was afraid to continue at this point, but his master's face told him to speak his mind. "Something might have happened that made him leave, but I think he had never thought of running away."

   "I think so too, " Arevan said with a far away look. He could only wonder what reason Eilon had, but he trusted him, and hoped against all odds that he would come back. But there's a part of him that believes on the opposite. There's a part of him that believes Eilon ran away. He left him. What if he really wanted to be free?

   Love. It's the only thing Arevan is holding on to now. It was love that wouldn't let him let Eilon go. It was love that made him believe Eilon wouldn't let him go. The love that they've had for each other since their birth... the love of eighteen years... the love of a thousand years. It's all the same, Arevan thought. With a heavy heart, he stood and went to take a bath, not minding the ointment on his arms.

   Left alone in his master's room, Kal sighed sadly and went about cleaning the place and seeing what things are needed in the room. Where are you, Eilon? Kal thought to himself.

   "My grandfather always spoke about the ones that would change the destiny of the kingdom of Eadzon," Jilm said as he and Eilon sat outside the cave, staring out at the vast kingdom before them. "He said, 'Their love will be unmasked as a hundred stars shall fall.' And I would meet one of them. 'The one whose blood is poisoned.' I really don't know anything about the prophecy concerning the two of you, but where it concerns me, my grandfather made me know every bit of it. And as far as I know, it has been precise. I am supposed to teach the ways. Our ways..."

   "Your ways?"

   Jilm looked at Eilon momentarily irritated for interrupting him then continued. "As I have said, Eador and Ayzon were humans but with more knowledge of who and what they are. And so were their ancestors. My ancestors. They were a tribe first. Each member of the tribe knew of the power inside of them and so disaster was inevitable. It became a catalyst for each one of them to think about becoming the most powerful one. They killed each other until our ancestors were the only ones left. Our ancestors learned in the hardest ways to keep it a secret and just help humanity in whatever way they can." Jilm paused and chuckled, looking like he was almost ready to laugh. "But men took those little miracles differently. They began to worship things, both seen and unseen, the souls of their long dead ancestors, and whatever that looks different. The word deity was invented and there came priests who manipulated people at the palms of their hands. It has become pitiful. To me, it looks like teaching a dog to sit, stand, roll, and play dead." He stopped speaking, cutting his eyes at Eilon who sat still as Jilm passionately spoke his mind at what has been going on. And Eilon felt like his eyes have been opened, because it certainly does look like that to him now that Jilm told him, but he didn't find any sense in what the man was telling him.

   "What does this have to do with me? Do I go back there and tell the people there is no god and say they are like dogs following the priests, their masters?"

   The man chuckled at Eilon shaking his head. "Sarcasm. Like what I have told you, you will change all that. I will help you change all that."

   "You mean you will teach me how to become like you?" Eilon asked excitedly.

   The former minister laughed heartily for the second time that day. "By gods, you are such a child!" he said slapping his own thigh as he laughed.

   "Can you blame me?" Eilon asked as he sighed dreamily. "It would be such a big step from what I am right now. I had been a slave and sometimes I think I really am still a child especially... around him. When I become like you, I would be able to do things that would take me on to things that would show much more freedom than not being a slave and do things that will never be considered child's play."

   "But you are like me, and I am like you. Remember what I have said about Eador and Ayzon knowing themselves more than anybody?" Eilon nodded. "You have to know yourself more. You have to know yourself from the inside out. Every bit of you. You are not just Eilon. You are not just a slave... a child. You are a man. You are set above all of creation." The man momentarily stopped as white beams came out of his mouth, eyes, ears, and nose... and every pore in his body. It spread throughout his face and finally his whole body. He became a white shining being, his white hair fluttering with the wind. Gasping in awe, Eilon brought back Jilm's attention to him. In a whisper that echoed throughout the mountains like rolling thunder, he said, "You have the power." At that exact moment, Eilon felt his breath tighten. White spots appeared in his vision. And then all of a sudden, everything disappeared.

   Eilon had fainted again.

   I know this a really short chapter. Forgive me. I've been busy with work and all. I try to write when I'm free but I don't get a lot of that. Please tell me what you think about this story I'm trying to write at colourblinded@hotmail.com. And please don't forget to make the title of this story as your subject.

   J. Cob
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