Kith stiffled as yelp as sharp pain hit him in the chest. A bright light, muffled by his clothing, shone out. He grasped the offending area. His necklace! Out of the corner of his eye he saw brief flashes from some others in the room. What was this? He took off his necklace and examined it. It looked as it always had: a fragment of some crystal or gem bound to a leather thong, the same one he had swiped 3 years ago. He quickly tucked it away, hoping no-one would notice.

Braad was clueless to the revelations going on around the room until he saw faint spots of light on various people. He looked around, confused. There were spots in that strange man's hair, one on another man's necklace, and the women in front of him each had a spot.

As he turned, the pouch around his neck shifted. A small pain touched his skin and he lifted the pouch. He could see a faint light shining through the leather. "What in the world?" he said quietly.

Elarinya gasped in horror as the shard she had in her pocket lit up, its power awakened by another. What devilry is this?" she exclaimed, unable to hide her emotions. She quickly scanned the room wondering who the perpetrator could have been, anger boiling within her. She had tried so hard to remain undetected by the dark forces, wanting to use stealth to track down the enemies that slew her town. Little chance there is of that now she thought bitterly. Even if her prey did not know her motives, they would now certainly track her because of the small diamond in her pocket. Yet the shard made itself known of its own freewill. She glanced around the room, half amazed at all the shards alighting the small tavern. Danae and Braad had one, so did a woman who had a light in her chest, three lights coming from another man at the tables, one light apiece coming from two other women in the tavern-one of whom was kneeling, and she thought she saw a faint light come from a man in the shadows around his neck, but she could not be sure.
Secrecy did not matter anymore. Each bearer was revealed to the other. What this meant, she could not fathom, but she now understood more than ever that she had to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. Although she had no knowledge of the shard's purpose-her heart told her that the crystals on each of them would soon bind their destinies together and that they would now either become the hunters or the hunted.

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AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

There's lots of other people with lightsYes, i need you to relive them of these 'lights' for meWhats in it for me...?Power...Allright, you're on

(as this crystal holds great power, as power is both black and white, then i'm presuming that since they split some peices were 'darker' than others. Since this one is in her heart, then it will be able to express its 'darker' tendicies, so thats just to explain why my shard is evil)

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Made by Lembas

[[Okay guys, I want to add another character... sort of a "main" villian. Bear with me on this one, since he's going to be the first truly evil charrie I've ever done.

Name: Rekithi Nomina
Looks: Tall, very tanned skin, black curly hair, chocolate brown eyes
Personality: Dark, careful, intelligent, and devious
Age: 36
Occupation: Sorcerer]

I'm doing the right thing Merrick argued with himself, She's the only thing I've got left to protect. I'm not going to let her die, I'm NOT.

And then he felt a jerk, like a zap of electricity had surged through every inch of his body. He whirled about in shock, looking for the man who had done this too him, and saw no one. Slowly, he lowered his horrified eyes to his shirt, were the shards glowed inside. Everyone's shards were glowing in fact. He ducked to the ground, clutching at them with his hands and attempting to hide the luminous betrayal. His eyes rose up nervously to see who was watching him... and then his eyes met the man who was pursuing him earlier.

Someone was talking to him, with his back to Merrick. Someone in a thick black cape, with a long hood.

It can't be... he can't be here...

But it was. He turned around and stared at Merrick in the eyes. Then Rekithi smiled, and strode over to the entranceway of the inn. With a small incantation, and a flick of his long, thin fingers... the shards lit up again... only a more powerful and burning brightness this time.

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<center>
"The piano is able to communicate the subtlest universal truths by means of wood, metal and vibrating air."

Danae gasped as she felt a jolt go through her hand and up her arm. She looked down at where her hand rested on her pouch, and saw a bright white light emitting from it. She gasped again and urgently brought her other hand down to cover it, but it was no use the light was too strong.

"What devilry is this?" Elarinya exclaimed, and that's when Danae jerked her head up. She prepared to make an excuse as to why her pouch was glowing like mad, but the words stuck in her throat when she saw.

Many other people in the tavern were also giving off points of glowing light from various places on their persons. "The shards," Danae breathed, voicing the thought that was on almost everyone's minds. Both Elarinya and Braad had one. She gaped at them. How could this be?! She swiveled her head from side to side, trying to spot all the other shard keepers in the room.

Then just as she thought the light was beginning to subside, the room was filled with a furious, burning white light. She threw her arm up over her face, shielding her eyes from the horrible glare. "What the bloody...!" she exclaimed, "What's going on?!"

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I'm back!

Penfire smiled as the shards lit up again. So, that's where the other shard were. But it was obvious each person guarded their shard... accept the Innkeeper's daughter... who was oblivious to what the thing in her pocket really was. He smiled, and glanced around, yes, the lights were bright than when he had done it... and it deffinantly was someone else doing it. Just then Penfire noticed the light from the girl in on the rafters. It was in her chest... easily this was seen...

~~~~~~~

Annalett gaped in shock when there were sudden lights coming from almost all the people in the tavern, even from herself. She took the shard she had from her pocket. Annalett had found it on the ground, and kept it because it was in the shape of a horsehead...

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(}--{)Imagination Inspires Ideas -Zandain(}--{)
Married Cloud Strife 9/17/08

Braad squinted in the sudden, harsh light. He felt a shock coming from his shard-stronger than it had been the first time. "What's going on?" he said outloud, half-frantically.

Elarinya grimaced at the sudden shock from her shard, it's power greater than she imagined. Squinting against the light, she forced herself to glance around the room. Spotting the cloaked figure at the door, she forced herself to face him. "Who are you?" she cried. "What have you to do with us?"

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AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

"What have I...?" he asked, stopping in mid-sentence to flash her a disarming smile. As if by magic, the door behind him bolted shut on its own, and he seemed to grow taller and more foreboding. "My dear girl, give me your hand," he requested in an almost pleasant way, extending a palm towards her.

"Don't listen to him!" Merrick yelled out. "He's a lying cheat, the offspring of swine!" Merrick walked across the room huriedly, until he stood in front of Tricia. His eyesbrows hung like thick foreboding clouds over his eyes, and his eyes darkened to an unnatural hue.

The sorcerer seemed to take no notice of his comments, but kept his hand extended towards the girl.

"You wouldn't really trust the word of a addled fool, would you?" he half-laughed.

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"The piano is able to communicate the subtlest universal truths by means of wood, metal and vibrating air."

"Nor do I trust the word of a honey-tongued sorcerer-he that promises all for a price." Elarinya replied defiantly. Her gaze shifted to Merrick and then back to the sorcerer. So they know one another. she thought. I can sense the animosity that lies between them.

Elarinya continued to study the stranger, though she said nothing. She also knew magic but did not care to use it unless there was great need. For she had learned long ago that it was unwise to reveal too much to a master sorcerer so soon-and from this instance alone, she could tell that he was among the best.

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AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

((Tricia knows magic, right, and it is powerful magic. She just rarely uses it to it's full extent. Just saying to explain this post and those to come.))

Tricia looked up and toward Merrick her Jewel had glowed, so had others. For some reason she had felt a faint sting. But she had seen others in mor pain with their own lighted shards. She got off her knees as she heard the man in the cloak say. "You wouldn't really trust the word of a addled fool, would you?"

She looked at him past Merrick. "I would." She glanced at the man she loved. "No matter what anyone says."

The shard leaped in her chest. As you can imagine this was very painful. She yelled and fell off the rafter at Rekithi, she pulled herself to her feet.
"Stop it" she snarled "That hurt"
"Do you have any idia how hard it is to find a willing host...?" Hissed the shard useing her body to speak. It regonised this man as someone that could be useful to it. ...stop trying to kill it! Cina wrenched her will back, and she glared at this man, yet noting that he was very good looking. Hautilly, she sat down on a bench.

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Made by Lembas

Danae gaped at the woman who fell from the rafters. When she had first spoken, her voice had seemed normal enough, but then it changed. The angry hiss did not match the woman whose mouth it was coming from.

Danae forced her eyes away from the woman toward the exit. She was a theif, and a crafty one at that. She had slipped out of many tight spots before. But then her eyes swiveled back to the cloaked man... the sorcerer. His attention was now diverted to the strange woman, but Danae had no doubt that he was very aware of her and all the others present who had shards. Yes, she had slipped away from her pursuers many times before... but she had never had to face someone who commanded magic. She didn't think she would be able to craft a witty escape this time.

Even though she knew steel wasn't much against magic, she needed to feel less vulnerable. She flicked her wrists quickly, and a dagger spun up into each of her hands from her sleeves. As her fingers wrapped around their hilts, she already felt more comforted. She gave the sorcerer her fiercest glare. "I don't know who you are, but I'd say you'd best let me and the rest of these good people go," she growled, "If you know what's good for you." She tried her best to sound assured and commanding, but she feared that she had failed miserably. She hoped the sorcerer and the others couldn't tell how truly afraid she was.

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I'm back!

Penfire glanced around, then stood as he cleared his throught.
"I be the one who started this tight predicerment. I be, also, Penfire. At my-own service, for I do no service to no one but myself. And I think we should all be able to get out of this predicerment. Now just unbolt that nice door over there, and I'll be on me not-so-lovely way, savvy?" He easily sounded assured, and relaxed, and drunk. Though he was only two out of three of those things, for he hadn't been drinking... too much. He was relaxed, and not afraid, because about every piece of jewelry and nicknack was magic...

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(}--{)Imagination Inspires Ideas -Zandain(}--{)
Married Cloud Strife 9/17/08

Malai stood at the back of the tavern during the exchange, her dark hair blending with the shadows. She didn't know what was going on, but she knew she want to get involved.